The final game of The International 2023 was played on Sunday as the two most dominant teams in Dota 2 went head to head. Team Spirit and Gaimin Gladiators clashed, and it was Spirit who came out tops, ending the hitherto perfect season of Gaimin Gladiators in a 3-0 sweep.
The result from the game also saw Spirit became just the second team to ever win two TI titles as they did so without even making the fight for the Aegis of Champions look like a contest at all. It is an impressive end to the year for the Spirit, who started the year slowly, although they eventually dragged themselves into championship form with big wins at Riyadh Masters 2023 and DreamLeague Season 21; those two wins helped them carry that momentum into TI12 and nearly ended their run at TI12 undefeated.
Spirits only dropped two games in their entire run while in Seattle, as they finished top of the group and ran riots against the biggest teams in the world in the playoffs. Their two dropped games were one to each of Virtus. pro and Team Liquid. Their win rate at a 19-2 record and a 90.5 percent win rate for TI12 is the highest win percentage for a TI winner in history, effectively beating TI3 Alliance’s 88.5 percent and TI NAVI’s 90 percent from previous years.
In the grand finals, Spirit’s Yatoro led the damages in the game with an 18-kill Weaver, which was 47 percent of Spirit’s damage. However, game two proved to be tougher and closer for Yatoro, but he went nuclear on a rare Faceless Void, which was only seen 19 times throughout the entirety of TI12.
Game three was looking like Gaimin’s game to take after Quinn’s signature Pangolier, and they were looking at the possibility of a great comeback, but Yatoro failed to back out, and Spirits went aggressive and eventually closed out the game.
Spirit thus becomes the second Dota 2 organization to ever lift a second Aegis—following OG at TI8 and TI9. Spirit will earn $1,414,763 from the TI12 prize pool.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
