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That out of the way, let's get to the Upper Bracket match-ups. First series was between the defending champions, Team Liquid and the monstrous PSG.LGD Gaming. In a heart wrenching moment for all the fantasy fanatics that gambled on Liquid players were met with nothing but disappointment as the sole Chinese survivor routed them off to an easy 2-0 victory thereby cementing themselves in the Upper Bracket Finals. Coming to the highlight of the day, it was the perfect and most hyped showdown between EG and OG. Former comrades and brothers pitted against each other, this series had it all, excitement, emotions, upsets -- you name it. We were witnesses to spectacular plays, debacles and throws in this breath taking final series of the day. Kind of like an anime showdown, the three game series was nothing short of a spectacle. To everyone's surprise, OG took game one off EG in a very convincing fashion. As Crit- later mentioned in the loser's interview, "OG kind of threw the second game", made a comeback by EG possible after a clutch base fight when n0tail and co. had the upper hand thus drawing the series 1-1. Game three was perhaps one of the best games of the tournament so far, if not the best. It consisted of EG dominating early game to mid game with an exemplary performance by Sumail on Tiny with 31 kills to his name. However, with a Spectre on OG's side played by Ana and some fabulous itemization from Ceb's Centaur Warrunner turned the tide in OG's favour as they were able to recover from a 20k gold deficit and two racks down to take the series and move to the Upper Bracket finals where LGD will be awaiting them. To those who missed out, EG vs OG is a MUST WATCH. PERIOD! Finally this picture speaks a thousand wordsThe International 2018 Day 3 Standings. #TI8 pic.twitter.com/rROFwTByrx
— Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) August 23, 2018
That being said, LGD and OG have guaranteed themselves a top three finish thus netting themselves a minimum $2.6 million in prize-money. Feature image credits: MeteoraIt has been so long since we have since a fire of this level on a @DOTA2 stage. Big Daddy whipping the tail!! pic.twitter.com/TKcjafGH4R
— Toby Dawson @DOTA2 #TI8 (@TobiWanDOTA) August 23, 2018