With the recently crowned Team Spirit, The International 2023 comes to a close. With excruciating plays and intense back-and-forth moments, the historical event kept everyone in their seats. From outplays to epic team fights, DotA 2 has never looked so good. With this, let’s dive into the 20 most epic moments of The International 2023.
20. Yatoro Gets A Double Rampage
Start at 0:04
In game 2 of the finals, Team Spirit was charging up Gaimin Gladiators’ base. Eager to push, Collapse starts it off by using Skewer on Seleri, taking a crucial pick. Yatoro then follows it up by using Chronosphere on a crucial core, dyrachyo’s Morphling. On the other side, Collapse’s Reverse Polarity catches two of Gaimin Gladiators' heroes, making it easy for Yatoro to mow them down, getting a rampage and then another.
With this double rampage and Team Spirit’s insane team fighting ability, they were able to secure game 2 of the finals, crushing Gaimin Gladiators in a very one-sided team fight.
19. BetBoom Team Obliterates Azure Ray
Start at 29:30
BetBoom and Azure Ray were fighting for their lives in the lower bracket stage in order to keep their dreams alive. In game two of round 4 of the lower bracket, BetBoom were on the verge of winning the game, they just needed one final team fight to push their lead to a win.
And in this final fight, they did just that. When Azure Ray jumped on gpk, BetBoom immediately countered with a fight of their own. With Save-’s Terrorize and Nightfall’s Chronosphere, BetBoom obliterated Azure Ray in quick succession, quick enough to win them the game.
18. Team Spirit Easily Turns Around LGD’s Last Ditch Effort to Survive
Start at 1:16:36
In an exhausting 76-minute game between LGD and Team Spirit, Team Spirit was desperately trying to close out every fight. With an intense mid lane fight that started with initiation by niu’s Centaur Warrunner on Miposhka’s Earth Spirit, things quickly escalated. Despite having overly-fed cores and heroes, LGD was unable to make something out of niu’s last effort to turn the game around. Once Miposhka got back on his feet, Yatoro made short work of niu, followed up by a massive Torrent Storm and Ghostship combo by Larl.
With only 3 members left standing on the side of LGD and an exposed Ancient, Team Spirit was able to easily take it down and win the game, putting an end to one of the longest games of the tournament.
17. Team Liquid Steals Gaimin Gladiators’ Aegis of the Immortal
Start at 27:02
When Gaimin Gladiators tried to secure Roshan, Team Liquid tried to get an answer of their own. With a sneaky Smoke of Deceit play, zai’s Torrent and Ghostship beautifully set up his team to catch 3 of Gaimin Gladiators’ heroes. This initiation was followed up by zai’s Torrent Storm, Nisha’s EMP and Chaos Meteor, and m1CKe’s Eclipse.
These were enough to completely obliterate Gaimin Gladiators and secure Roshan for themselves. With this display of dominance in a single crucial team fight, Team Liquid was able to take the Ancient and the win.
16. Somnus Controls the Entirety of BetBoom
Start at 0:00
Have you ever had that one game where you just dominated the whole team fight no matter how long it took? For Somnus, he did it in game 1 of round 4 of the lower bracket. In this intense game that almost lasted an hour, a Somnus-led Azure Ray fought against all odds and finished with a final and crucial team fight to win the game.
Somnus’ usage of Necrophos was pure perfection. Throughout the team fight full of buybacks and back-and-forths, Somnus was able to stay healthy. By holding BetBoom through their throats, Somnus was able to exhaust their resources and slowly but surely allow his team to gain the upper hand. By creating so much space for his team to deal damage, he secured the game for his team.
15. Gaimin Gladiators Beautifully Thwarts LDG’s Roshan Play
Start at 10:57
Using Smoke of Deceit to sneakily head towards Roshan, Gaimin Gladiators quickly turned around the fight in their favor. With an instant Pulverize on NothingToSay’s Spirit Breaker, Gaimin Gladiators were able to start the fight by bursting down a crucial core. In response, LGD tried to counter-attack with Supernova but was quickly mowed down by dyrachyo’s Alchemist. Which then led to 4 LGD heroes getting massacred despite obtaining the Aegis of the Immortal.
With an excellent start to a losing fight, Gaimin Gladiators' excellent usage of their own skills allowed them to quickly turn around the fight in their favor. By disabling their enemy cores, they were able to create so much space for the initiation.
14. Collapse’s Initiation Ends the One of the Longest Games of TI12
Start at 1:14:22
In an exhausting 76-minute game between LGD and Team Spirit, Team Spirit was desperately trying to close out every fight. With an intense mid lane fight that started with initiation by niu’s Centaur Warrunner on Miposhka’s Earth Spirit, things quickly escalated. Despite having overly-fed cores and heroes, LGD was unable to make something out of niu’s last effort to turn the game around. Once Miposhka got back on his feet, Yatoro then made short work of niu, followed up by a massive Torrent Storm and Ghostship combo by Larl.
With only 3 members left standing on the side of LGD and an exposed Ancient, Team Spirit was able to easily take it down and win the game, putting an end to one of the longest games of the tournament.
13. Yatoro Goes Beyond Godlike to End Game One of the Finals
Start at 33:24
Gaimin Gladiators decide to cook up a Smoke of Deceit play in order to catch Team Spirit off guard. But what happened next led to them regretting their decision. Upon catching up to what Gaimin Gladiators were up to, Yatoro quickly activated his Black King Bar and quickly made short work of Ace and dyrachyo.
Once Ace and dyrachyo were out of the picture, Team Spirit were able to easily take their teammates and the Ancient. With that massive blow to Gaimin Gladiators’ plans, they were forced to surrender as defeat was imminent.
12. Collapse Obliterates LGD
Start at 22:16
LGD was starting to gain a foothold. In a game defined by a stalemate, LGD was able to create an opening for an advantage by catching Yatoro with Doom and Reverse Polarity. Despite this, Team Spirit was able to maximize this disadvantage by severely outplaying their opponents.
A massive Tidal Wave by Larl quickly pushed 4 members of LGD back to the tower, allowing Miposhka’s Overgrowth to easily catch 2 of these. With the space created, Collapse’s Chaos Knight quickly mowed down those caught, taking 4 down. Because LGD invested so much in catching Yatoro, they were left with nothing to counter Team Spirit’s answer.
11. 天鸽 (Arteezy) Gets A Rampage
Start at 25:30
Shopify Rebellion started the high-ground push by catching ILICH-. With an instant buyback, Thunder Awaken quickly tried to counter with Torrent and Solar Guardian. But with an overly fed 天鸽, his Muerta with Pierce the Veil and BKB was too much for Thunder Awaken to handle.
As he stood his ground supported by Overgrowth and Burrowstrike, 天鸽 was able to obtain a rampage, securing the win for this team.
10. NothingToSay’s Reverse Polarity Locks in the Game Against Azure Ray
Start at 9:01
Azure Ray started off with a Smoke of Deceit play only to get obliterated by LGD. As Azure Ray was walking up, NothingToSay caught Lou, the carry for Azure Ray. Once he was disabled and burst down, it all came crashing down for Azure Ray.
Shiro and niu were able to quickly hunt down and burst the remaining heroes of Azure Ray while only Chalice was able to survive since he was able to fend off for himself by dealing immense damage with his Quill Spray and Bristleback combo. The fight prompted Lou to buy back into the game but was made to realize that it was all for naught as LGD quickly disengaged and took their team fight win with them.
9. Yatoro Stands His Ground
Start at 17:54
Starting off with a Smoke of Deceit play, Virtus Pro was quickly able to take down Miposhka and Yatoro’s Aegis of the Immortal. While almost getting the kill on Larl, Yatoro respawned and activated BKB and Pierce the Veil, allowing him to quickly gain an ultra kill in the end. With his excellent positioning as well as the space created by his teammates, Team Spirit was able to come out on top in this fight.
8. Nouns Esports Wombo Combos Tundra
Start at 0:10
Nothing’s more satisfying than seeing a perfectly executed combo in DotA 2. And in this game between nouns and Tundra, we see that spectacle once more. nouns were on the run. Tundra was hot on their tails, quickly using Doom on K1, nouns’ carry.
When all hope seemed lost and it looked like Tundra was going to win the fight, Gunnar created a beautiful Fissure, stunning 3 and blocking them from Moo, who cast Death Ward. The immense damage from Death Ward followed up by Gunnar’s Echo Slam was enough to give Moo a quadra kill, and nouns the game.
7. Larl Gets A Rampage
Start at 0:00
With a Soulbind to start things off, Team Spirit looked to try to pick off 3 members of Shopify Rebellion. Abed quickly countered by pushing Miposhka towards his carry, hoping 天鸽 would finish him off. But Miposhka was able to get out and activate BKB, then using Impetus on 天鸽, bursting him with the help of Larl.
With a major core now down for two minutes, Larl was free to assassinate anyone he pleased, which then got him the rampage to end the fight and secure the win in the 55-minute game.
6. Topson Sucks the Life out of Quest Esports
Start at 12:49
Quest Esports was knocking on Tundra’s door, slowly taking away their tier 3 tower and barracks. Tundra quickly answered, charging down with skiter’s Haunt and the rest of the team following.
In a crucial moment where Pulverize was used, Topson was now free to efficiently cast Life Drain with BKB and not get canceled. With this, he was able to do just that with the help of Sneyking’s Overgrowth. With his enemies unable to move, they had no choice but to watch as their health bars slowly disappeared, giving Topson an ultra kill.
5. Larl and Collapse Dominate Virtus Pro
Start at 0:00
What’s great about seeing different heroes is the chance and possibility to see the combinations of their skills in action. In game 3 of the upper bracket quarterfinals between Team Spirit and Virtus Pro, Collapse and Larl were able to set up their team for success.
Once Collapse used Ravage, Larl immediately cast Chaos Meteor, Cataclysm, and then Refresher Orb. Upon using these, he immediately refreshed his skills and cast Chaos Meteor and Cataclysm for a second time, followed by another Ravage from Collapse. This overkill combo defeated Virtus Pro.
4. Gaimin Gladiators and Evil Genius Battle Clutch Up
Start at 26:14
If there’s one word to call this moment, it’s nail-biting. Chris Luck started it off with a Skewer of Seleri for a quick pickoff. dyrachyo quickly countered with an instant Chronosphere, hoping to catch three. But just before it gets off, Whisper and Pakazs narrowly escape, leaving only Chris Luck in the Chronosphere. With this, Panda follows up by using Overgrowth on 3 members of Gaimin Gladiators, hindering their response and allowing them to take down dyrachyo’s Aegis of the Immortal.
While on the verge of dying, Ace’s clutch Shallow Grave and Shadow Wave on dyrachyo allowed him to keep his carry alive while they picked off Pakazs, which then allowed them to push up the mid lane.
3. Azure Ray Turns Around the Fight
Start at 5:55
Entity starts it off with a standard Smoke of Deceit play, trying to pick Somnus off. While they are successful in killing Somnus and fy, what happened next was something they didn’t expect.
With a charged-up Unstable Concoction, Lou blinks in and stuns 4 members of Entity, which gives him and 天命 enough space to wipe out these 4. While this is only one of the many plays done in this grueling 56-minute game, this is certainly one of the more epic turnarounds in the tournament.
2. Team Liquid Shuts Down Talon Esports’ Roshan Play
Start at 36:40
Taking down Roshan gives the killers the chance to acquire the Aegis of the Immortal, which grants one extra life for 5 minutes. This gives a massive advantage to the team wearing it. But in this game between Team Liquid and Talon Esports, this advantage quickly turns into dust.
Boxi starts it off by using Ice Shards to trap 23savage and Jabz. Jabz takes the Aegis of the Immortal and battles m1CKe with the help of 23savage. Despite being in a 2VS1, m1CKe comes out on top due to the immense lifesteal he gets from Satanic. Meanwhile, Nisha and zai jump on Oli and Q, bursting and killing them instantly. This forces them to buy back into the game but realize that it is futile as Q gets killed again instantly the moment he goes back in.
1. BetBoom Team and Talon Esports
Start at 0:00
The fight starts off with a crucial hook by Pure unto Q. With Q having a 2-minute death timer, a huge window opens up for BetBoom. While the two teams battle it out, exchanging blow after blow, BetBoom slowly opens up their advantage mainly through their Io and Muerta combo.
While gpk keeps spamming skills nonstop unto Talon Esports, Nightfall and Save push them back with their auto attacks, unleashing a fury of attacks unto them. With Talon Esports unable to keep up with the immense damage and control BetBoom has, this 70-minute game came to a close.
