My day job sometimes sends me out to places with no cell phone reception. It’s usually not a big deal, until I have to spend a week camping during the biggest Dota tournament of the year. When I got back into phone service, I was scrambling to figure out which TI7 games I absolutely needed to see. You know a match is good when you get that sweaty palm, heart-pounding feeling. TI7 delivered plenty of games like this, but some matches stood out more than others. If you weren’t able to watch the largest esports event of 2017, these are our picks for the best games of TI7.
Best Games of the Group Stage
The round-robin format of the Group Stage means all the teams play each other within their groups, which guarantees some exciting matchups.
I feel like we don’t see nearly enough Ancient Apparition anymore.
It’s hard not to include lots of Team Liquid games on this list – they played absolutely wonderful Dota throughout the entire tournament.
As a Cloud9 fan, I am sad. But it’s great to see Team Empire back in the big leagues.
If you watch nothing else, make sure you check out the Semifinal matches between LFY and Liquid.
I’ve been watching/reading a lot of sports anime/manga recently. If you like ultimate hype, three-episodes-worth back-and-forth sports matches, Game 1 of the Semifinals is for you.
*Spoiler: there’s almost an anime-esque epic underdog comeback. Almost.
TI7 Grand Finals – Game 3
More often than not, the grand finals in just about any sport tend to be a letdown. They’re often total blowouts, and can feel disappointing when you compare them to the tension of the matches that got the teams there.
That being said, Game 3 of the grand finals at TI7 was a masterclass. Brilliant drafting, impressive outplays, and astonishing teamfights were all on display in the final series at TI7. Liquid’s bait around the Roshan pit towards the end of the game was magnificent — these are the kinds of plays that keep us coming back.
This is by no means a comprehensive list, and there are some great games I haven’t mentioned here. Hey, maybe you’re a really big fan of salty SEA Dota. Whatever floats your boat. If you haven’t caught up with all the TI7 action, take some time out of your day and check out these matches.