The International 9: An Analysis of OG’s Victory over Team Liquid in TI9

#1 OG’s Mentality and Team Spirit

Image Courtesy: Hypebeast

OG was playing incredible Dota throughout the tournament but what kept them from phasing was their unvarying spirit. The whole team was just having an amazing time and was playing for fun. Having fun will automatically alleviate any stress and pressure a team has. They were constantly spamming chat-wheel taunts at their enemy and at each other too. Ana used illusions to body block N0tail which ultimately got him killed him in the game, this is a perfect example of OG not giving any care to the consequences, they knew they can lead again. It looked like OG did not care if they won or lost they would still have fun, spraying “Loser” on the enemy side and triggering all their players with repeated taunts.

In the 2018 International Truesight documentary, N0tail said that they had pressure at the back of their heads, the weight of winning and being successful. However, he also mentioned that in team talks he always said that they would play to have fun and live the moment instead of worrying about the trophy, win or lose it didn't matter because as a team they had made this far and that is an achievement in itself. Perhaps the same attitude led them this far in the tournament and helped pick up the greatest trophy one could achieve in-game of Dota.