Gambit best TI champions for trophy win

gabhernandez Published 13/01/2019

Gambit Esports captured their latest tournament trophy with an impressive 3-0 win over the defending TI champions.

As fans wait for The Chongqing Major, the WePlay! Dota 2 Winter Madness event brought in some of the top Dota 2 teams in Europe. Team Empire Hope, Pavaga Gaming, and NoPangolier dominated the group stage.

Alliance, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Forward Gaming, and OG were invited directly into the quarterfinal stage, but it was Gambit Esports who would surge ahead and meet OG in the final. Gambit won their semifinal with a clean 2-0 score against Ninjas in Pyjamas, while OG defeated a hot NoPangolier squad.

The first game of the grand final heavily favored Gambit Esports with a middle lane Meepo strategy game against OG’s Razor and Anti-Mage draft. OG initiated a desperate team fight in the enemies’ shrine, but Gambit Esports were prepared and wiped OG’s heroes off the map.

This gave Gambit Esports the opportunity to take Roshan and finish the opening game. Their early domination led to an 18k net worth lead in just 18 minutes.

In the second game, Gambit Esports successfully repeated their opening feat as Keeper of the Light and Elder Titan played vital roles in Gambit’s strong initiation, along with an early Blink Dagger for their Dragon Knight.

On the other hand, OG’s draft lacked synergy during team fights as OG’s heroes were consistently locked down by Gambit’s crowd control efforts. The game ended with a 27-kill advantage for Gambit Esports.

Both teams brought their “A” game in the final battle of the series. Although Gambit Esports were showing good rotations in the early game, OG fought back valiantly.

OG drafted Clinkz and Terrorblade and the TI champions were doing decent damage, forcing Gambit to be careful in timing their initiations. But Vasily “AfterLife” Shishkin’s Pangolier was soon unkillable, and Nikita “Daxak” Kuzmin’s Visage was dominating from his carry position. OG tapped out after 34 minutes.

This was the debut event for OG’s stand-in and new carry Igor “iLTW” Filatov.

Gambit Esports took half of the $100,000 prize pool for their win.

Read Also

Dota 2

Team Spirit wins TI15 to lift a record third Aegis of Champions Michael Hassall Team Spirit has defeated TEAM VISION in the grand finals of TI15, The International 2025. In a full five-game series on Aug. 23, Spirit pulled out all the stops and narrowly defeated an incredible VISION team in a back-and-forth series in Shanghai, China. With Spirit’s victory, Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk and Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov become the first ever three-time TI champions, and Team Spirit becomes the first ever organization to lift ...

Dota 2

The International 2026 (TI15) Finals Preview and Predictions Michael Hassall The International 2026, TI15, has reached its final day, and just three teams remain in the fight for the Aegis of Champions. With the lower bracket final and Grand Final still to come, everything comes down to one final day of Dota 2 action. The lower bracket finalists will first battle for the right to reach the main event’s final series, while the winner will advance to face the upper-bracket ...

Dota 2

TI15’s opening ceremony weaves a tapestry of emotion for Valve’s storied title Michael Hassall The main stage of The International 2026, TI15, kicked off today with the traditional opening ceremony heralding the start of the biggest celebration of Dota 2 on the calendar. On Aug. 20 fans in Shanghai, China, and at home, were treated to a rousing 11-minute series of performances and video packages, introducing TI15’s main stage show. Here’s how the magic unfolded: The ceremony began with a graphic which quite literally ...

Dota 2

The International 2026 (TI15) Playoffs preview and predictions Michael Hassall The Group Stage of The International 2026, TI15, is in the books and we’ve whittled down 16 of the world’s best Dota 2 teams to just eight finalists. One of these talented lineups will be the ones lifting the Aegis of Champions come Sunday, Aug. 23, but until then, there’s plenty of playoff shenanigans that could go on. Below we’ve put together a preview of the upcoming Playoff Games, along ...

News

The Esports Nations Cup Has Been Postponed to November 2027 Ben Boland The 2026 Esports Nations Cup has been suspended until 2027. The Esports Foundation announced the delay on August 18, citing ongoing regional uncertainty. The inaugural competition was scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, comprising over 100 national teams and featuring 16 different games, including League of Legends. According to the Esports Foundation, this decision follows ongoing developments in the region and consultation with key stakeholders. Moving the event ...

Dota 2

Team Spirit vs Iron Wing at TI15: Best Betting Predictions and Picks Owen Harsono The playoffs for TI15 starts off with an absolute banger of a match between Team Spirit and Iron Wing, and the betting odds could not be any closer. Here are our TI15 Team Spirit vs Iron Wing predictions. Tournament: The International 2026 (TI15) Stage: Playoffs Game: Dota 2 Format: Best of 3 Betting tip: This is the closest series we have at the first round of the TI15 playoffs, as ...

Dota 2

Who Will Win The International 2026 (TI15)? These Are Our Best Picks Owen Harsono The TI15 group stage is over, and we’re down to the top eight teams. We’ve now got a pretty good idea of which teams are the favorites heading into the playoffs based on recent performance and season results, so here are the teams we think have the best shot at winning TI15 and claiming some of The International  prize pool. The TI15 group stage saw eight teams exit the event ...