If you would have been forced to make a bet the day after the first round, you would have laid your money on ViCi Gaming. They dominated the first game. After, people were wondering if Newbee even would be able to squeak out a single victory.

Then Newbee did what they did all tournament.

They didn't listen to the noise. The team that finished a lowly 7-8 in the group stage did what they do best - play great Dota.

They came roaring back and won three straight. The final game wasn't just a win, it was a domination. This over ViCi Gaming, a team that was dominant throughout the entire tournament against every team but one... Newbee.

Today we crown a new Grand Champion and a new inscription for the Aegis.
2014
Newbee
Chen "Hao" Zhihao
Zhang "Mu" Pan
Zhang "xiao8" Ning
Wang "Banana" Jiao
Wang "Sansheng" Zhaohui

Today we play the Grand Finals to decide who will win the Aegis and be crowned Champions.

It is ViCi Gaming vs Newbee.

At the end of Phase 2 (group stage) there could not have been two teams further apart. VG had dominated the entire set of round robin matches ending on top of the standings with a 12-3 record. Newbee on the other hand, squeaked in with a 7-8 record that forced them into a three way TieBreaker.

VG’s record gave them an instant trip to the Main Event. Newbee’s record gave them the longest road to the main event but that trip forged the team into something new. They no longer struggled, but dominated matches and now enter today from the Upper Bracket and VG comes from the Lower Bracket.

The two have met at KeyArena. Newbee the bottom seed, played VG the top seed to start the Main Event. Newbee is the team that sent VG down to the Lower Bracket that day while they moved on straight to the Grand Finals today. A familiar story but reversed. Has VG's road back from the Lower Bracket created a team that can now defeat Newbee? Or is Newbee unstoppable?

We find out today, Who will reign supreme?

Follow all the action on ESPN3, TwitchTV, dota2.com/watch, and in the game client. You can also follow the discussion on Twitter @Dota2.

For a day with this much drama and excitement, it’s crazy that it ends with just one team moving on and the other three teams eliminated.

We started the day with a match between ViCi Gaming and Cloud 9 that was a filled with team wipes being traded back and forth before Cloud 9 came out on top and forced a game three. The comeback ended for Cloud 9 with a failed early Roshan that they never recovered from. ViCi moved on.

Last night LGD came battling back from behind and handed DK a loss. This morning DK left no doubt in their victories. They took the two games and moved on to face ViCi.

ViCi didn’t let DK’s momentum carry into their match and closed down DK in two straight games to win the right to battle Evil Geniuses. DK ends in 4th place.

The winner of Evil Geniuses vs ViCi Gaming would move on to face NewBee monday in the Grand Finals. The loser would end their run for the Aegis in 3rd place.

ViCi picked up where they left off and won the first game against EG in 16 minutes. EG came battling back to take the second game in an exciting battle. In the third game EG took a Roshan that ended up not only costing them a tower but the Tournament. It ended the third game in a stunning 15 minutes that left KeyArena shocked.

This left only one team standing. One team to move on face NewBee in the Grand Finals - ViCi Gaming.

Today we start with the matches that began yesterday. First up is ViCi vs Cloud 9. ViCi is already up one game in this best of three series. The loser of this match ends their bid for the Aegis.

The winner faces either DK or LGD who also continue their match as well. Last night, we saw LGD make an amazing comeback to snatch a victory away from DK. Can they carry that momentum through the day or will a rested DK be able to turn it around? The loser goes home.

The winners of both the early matches then play to decide who ends the evening against Evil Geniuses. The winner of that match will come back tomorrow and face NewBee in the Grand Finals.

On this last day before the Grand Finals follow all the action on ESPN3, TwitchTV, dota2.com/watch, and in the game client. You can also follow the discussion on Twitter @Dota2.

Tonight at 8:30pm PST, you can tune in to ESPN2 for an exclusive preview of The International’s Grand Finals, featuring highlights from the games, expert analysis, plus interviews with the players and Valve's Gabe Newell.

So today, let’s see who join NewBee in the Grand Finals.

Saturday night ended in laughter with the All-Star match. The crowd favorite for The Cheese included a new Hero - Techies. It was a silly, funny blood bath with even some occasional great playing. If you missed it, watch the VOD.

But while you watch it, one thing will sink in. This is a new International. 7 of the 10 All-Star players have already been eliminated. Today we saw both Na’Vi and iG eliminated and finishing The International in 7/8th place. We will not see a returning champion this year.

This is the first time in the history of The International Na’Vi will not be playing in The Grand Finals. Instead of Na’Vi moving on, coming up from the Lower Bracket - Cloud 9 defeated them. Cloud 9 will now be the one moving on to face ViCi Gaming.

Previous Champions, Invictus Gaming, were defeated by LGD, They now face DK. Round one of the DK v LGD game had DK in a commanding lead only to have LGD come charging back and win it.

The winners of those matches will face-off before playing EG Sunday Night. Ultimately one of them will meet the waiting top seed, NewBee, on Monday in the Grand Finals.

Who is going to win The Aegis? Who knows, this International defies prediction. Only one thing is for sure - we need to watch every game.

Yesterday the games decided that NewBee would be in the Grand Finals. It also moved ViCi, DK, and EG into the lower brackets - but it didn’t send them home.

Today we will be saying goodbye to teams as the games aren’t simple matches, but Elimination Matches. We start the day with Cloud 9 vs Na’Vi. The winner there moves on to play ViCi.

The next match is iG vs LGD. The winner moves on to face DK.

The loser of those matches goes home. Their International is over.

There are no easy games today, each one is a must win if the team wants to move on and claim The Aegis.

So sit back, make yourself comfortable and pick a way to watch the game. The International is available on ESPN3, TwitchTV, dota2.com/watch, and in the game client. You can also follow the discussion on Twitter @Dota2.

Remember, On Sunday, you can tune in to ESPN2 for an exclusive preview of The International’s Grand Finals, featuring highlights from the games, expert analysis, plus interviews with the players and Valve's Gabe Newell.

So today, let’s continue to decide - who will be in the Grand Finals.

The day started with top seeded ViCi Gaming taking on NewBee. NewBee had been fighting hard since last Saturday when they had to play a TieBreaker to end the day. They won that match.

The next day they started with an elimination match against Titan. They won that match.

Then they played Na’Vi. They won that match.

Next they played iG for the Upper Bracket spot. They won that match.

This morning they played the top seeded ViCi. They won that match.

That sent ViCi down to the Lower Bracket.

Our second match of the day was DK vs EG. EG was the second seed and DK had won their bracket by beating Cloud 9 on Monday. EG took care of DK in two straight games to set the stage for the last match of the day.

The winner would move on to the Grand Championship Monday. The loser would have to fight their way out of the Lower Bracket.

It was NewBee Vs Evil Geniuses. NewBee won that match in two straight games.

EG is now in the Lower Bracket.

NewBee WAS beatable, the same day they won the TieBreaker and started the run, they first lost to Na’Vi. They had a record of 7-8 in the Round Robin - they just barely beat more teams than beat them… but something happened during that TieBreaker Round. It changed the team. It made them seemingly unstoppable and it left just one question hanging over The International - can anyone stop NewBee.

We started the Tournament with 19 teams. After the Wild Card games, Round Robin Stage, and more elimination matches we end with 8 teams entering the Main Event today in Seattle.

Four of these teams enter in the Upper Bracket - ViCi Gaming, NewBee, Evil Geniuses, and Team DK. Four more will need to fight their way up from the Lower Bracket, those teams are: Cloud 9, Na’Vi, iG, and LGD.

We start today with with a best of three match between ViCi gaming and NewBee.

Welcome to The International 2014 Main Event brought to you live from KeyArena in Seattle and streaming at dota2.com/watch, TwitchTV, ESPN3, and in the game client. Let the games begin.

Monday started where Saturday ended for NewBee, an elimination match. Saturday they won two straight to move on. Monday morning, they had a little rougher time against Titan. NewBee took the first but Titan took the second game forcing the third. NewBee was one game away from elimination, but in the end, they were too much for Titan.

Titan had a good run, but all Tournament they could just never piece together enough wins in a row to move on and now they are eliminated from The International.

NewBee then faced their next competitor for the day, Na’Vi. Na’Vi had an up and down tournament but still finished 8-7, enough to get into the final eight. NewBee made quick work of them in this stage, beating them in two straight including a twenty minute second game. Na’Vi will enter the Main Stage in the Lower Bracket.

Next up was the dominating iG. iG had a solid tournament ending 4th with a 9-6 record. NewBee didn’t care and destroyed iG in sixteen minutes. But iG didn’t lie down, they came charging back and took the second game. It was all down to one game for NewBee and as they had done again and again, they rose to the occasion and took the third game from iG who will now enter the Main Event in the Lower Bracket.

NewBee who was almost eliminated in a TieBreaker playoff, is now going to join EG, DK, and VG in the Upper Bracket. They will get a hard earned break until this Friday when they will kick off the main event against ViCi Gaming.

To see the compete brackets and order of the games each day here visit the watch page and click on the appropriate day. The action starts back at 9am PST this Friday, see you at the Main Event!

Sunday started with a best of three elimination match between Liquid and LGD.

Liquid had risen up from the wild card round to end with an 8-7 record. They had outplayed everyone’s expectations. LGD had battled back from a slow first day where they started 1-4 to end with a 7-8. It was a good record, but not good enough – they had to play a three way tie breaker on Saturday to assure their spot in the top 10.

Both teams had earned their place in this round, but only one would move on to the Main Event. The other would be going home. Only eight teams are playing at the Main Event this year, the others will just be spectators.

LGD took the series in two straight games and ended Liquid‘s bid for the Main Stage.

This earned LGD the right to face Cloud 9. The winner of that match would then play Team DK to decide who would start their Main Event in the Upper Bracket.

After the first day, Cloud 9 was leading the Tournament with a 4-1 record but the next day dropped down to 5-4 only to bounce back to 8-5 Friday and ending the round with an 8-7 record. They were in the middle of the top 10.

Cloud 9 was able to take the first game but LGD’s never say die attitude had them winning the second game. In the 3rd game, after forty-six minutes, Cloud 9 came out on top. That loss put LGD in the Main Event but in the Lower Bracket.

The final match of the day pitted Team DK against Cloud 9 for a place in the Upper Bracket at the Main Event. DK had a rough start to the Tournament with their player LaNm being rushed to the hospital only to be examined and given a clean bill of health. With that distraction, they went 2-3 the first day. The following day they went undefeated and rose to 6-3. Eventually ending with a 10-5 record, which was good enough for third place but not a guarantee to the coveted Upper Bracket.

The first game of the best of three went a grueling seventy minutes and ended with a last ten minutes filled with so many epic team fights that there were almost as many kills in the last ten minutes as the first sixty!

After the two teams took a quick break, DK had enough. They were not up for another long game and decimated Cloud 9 in eleven minutes.

That was it. It was decided.

Team DK would join Vici Gaming and Evil Geniuses in the Upper Bracket. LGD and Cloud 9 would go on to the Main Event in the Lower Bracket and Team Liquid would be going home.

If you missed any of the action, you can watch all of the day's matches on the Sunday Page.

Saturday, every game mattered and they were all interconnected.

A win by Evil Geniuses not only raised them to join ViCi Gaming as the two teams going straight to KeyArena, but it also eliminated last year’s champions Alliance. This means, for the first time at The International, we will not see the returning Champions vying for the Aegis.

We also saw LGD’s charge which started Thursday leave them with a 7-8 record. Their final win eliminated teams and caused a three way tie with LGD, Mousesports, and NewBee. After the TieBreaker, LGD and NewBee both moved on and Mousesports was eliminated.

DK, Titan, and iG could not catch EG. By defeating NewBee, Na’vi secured the one win they needed. Cloud 9 and Liquid both fueled LGD and Mouz’s runs. All of this left the final order of the top 10 as – ViCi Gaming, Evil Geniuses,Team DK, Invictus Gaming, ,Na’Vi, Cloud 9, Team Liquid, Titan, Newbee, and LGD Gaming .

All ten move on, but two of the ten will not be joining us at KeyArena. Sunday starts with a best of three elimination match between LGD and Liquid, and Monday has the same between Titan and Newbee. The other matches those days help decide seeding for the main event which begins Friday morning at 9am at KeyArena.

If you missed any of the action, you can watch all of the matches at dota2.com/watch.

While Friday was another day filled with teams moving up and down the leader board, at least we did get a little clarity. We know six teams that are guaranteed to move on to the next round: Vici Gaming, Evil Geniuses,Team DK, Invictus Gaming, Cloud 9, and Liquid.

What about everyone else?

We have a short day scheduled Saturday on purpose. While we have only three rounds officially scheduled, we can also look at the current standings and project out so many possibilities of different sets of ties that… well.. well.. we might be here a long time sorting it all out Saturday. But then again, who really can predict how any single game let alone 12 games will go at this International?

We all need to keep watching. Nothing has been decided.

The top team after today is ViCi with a 7-1 record. If they lose the rest of their games, they end up with a 7-8 record. Arrow is at the bottom with a record of 2-8. If they win the rest of their games, they end up with a 7-8 record as well.

Is a 7-8 record enough? Remember, you don’t have to be the top team. While the top two move on to the main event Saturday, the next 8 move on to phase three and are still alive. You just need to avoid being in the bottom six as their run is over Saturday.

And while seeing the hot ViCi lose their next 7 games may seem far fetched, remember we saw Cloud 9 start today on top the standings with a 4-1 record only to fall into the middle of the pack finishing the day at 5-4. DK ended yesterday toward the bottom with a 2-3 record, but climbed up into 3rd place with a 6-3 record.

The middle of the pack is filled with teams that are going up and down in the standings all day. This is still all wide open, so come back tomorrow morning and catch all the action starting at 9am PST.

Today we was our first look at all 16 teams. In this phase, each team will play one game against every other team. No one game will decide anyone’s tournament, no single loss will sink their hopes, and no single win will guarantee their success.

Instead it will be the cumulative effect of all 15 games they play across four days. What record will a team need to be in the top eight and move on? We didn’t find that out today. Instead, we found out how evenly matched the teams are. That no team was able to get through this first day unscathed.

Some came close, but it was that kind of day. Cloud 9 looked unstoppable until Mouz handed them their first loss. That also happened to be Mouz first victory to bring them up to 1-3. Undefeated Newbee looked to be rolling along until wild card team Liquid - who started the day with a quick 15 minute loss to Na’vi.us - ended Newbee's run with a long hard fought victory.

As Liquid celebrated their success, they were told they had 5 minutes until their next game, they asked simply - “We just had a 75 minute game, can we have 10 minutes?” Sure but no more, there was no time to relax today. There are 15 teams to play.

Liquid won the Wild Card round today with an impressive 4-0 record. With their coming out on top, tonight they can relax, they survived. Tomorrow they become one of the 16 teams battling to make the final 8 who will move on to KeyArena and the Main Event.

With their victory, we also have say goodbye to three teams: CIS, MVP, and Virtus.Pro. It was a great day of Dota 2 playing, but in the end it was Liquid’s day. You can watch all the games on the July 8th page.

Alongside the Wild Card round, we also ran the Solo Championship. s4 won the Final by defeating Ferrari_430.

Tomorrow we have even more Dota. Games start at 9am and there will be 36 single games played. We will be running four games simultaneously with four single game streams and one stream - Dota 2 Multicast - that will hop between all four to not miss any of the action. We will also have Dota Newcomer's Stream available. You can view the order of the matches and the pairings on the July 9th page where you can also rewind, pause, and jump to the live action in the video player on any of the streams.

We also have video interviews and content from around the web available on the top of the news page or at the YouTube Channel page.

In addition to yesterday’s previews we also have a couple of more tonight so you can get to know the teams playing tomorrow:
GOSU Gamers
E Sport Max

For most players, this weeks starts with a relaxing pace. Fly into Seattle, see old friends, play some foosball, run through boot camp, attend the player's dinner, relax until their start time on Wednesday. But for four teams, there is no time to relax. Tuesday might be their one and only day playing at The International this year.

Four teams enter this year's wildcard play-offs - CIS, Liquid, MVP.Phoenix. and Virtus.pro - all competing for the one lone spot to join the other 15 teams. The games start at 9am PST and you can see their bracketing on the watch page.

If you need to catch-up on teams, here are some previews from around the web: Esports Max's Wildcard Preview, Dota2.ru, Team Liquid, and Join Dota. Tweet @Dota2 any other previews or coverage you think we should be including.

If three teams being eliminated in one day wasn't enough for you on Tuesday, we are also concurrently running the Solo Championship and end the evening with the Solo Championship Finals. That makes for one long day of Dota 2, so try and get some sleep between now and then. I know of at least 20 players who might be a little too excited to sleep tonight.

Welcome to The International News Blog for 2014.

We will be updating this space with news posts and video content from around the web.

With teams starting to arrive in Seattle, our coverage of The International is already going on Twitter (#Ti4) and Instagram.

Throughout the event, we will also include spoiler free updates on Facebook and the main International page will hide results from the current day and our new Spoiler Free DVR Broadcast will let you catch up on the games.

Be forewarned, this space, Twitter, Instagram, and Flickr will be filled with spoilers – filled!