AFTER THREE back-to-back elimination matches, the audience in the Suntec Convention Center was treated to a different team. Four teddy bears, all geared up, joined Yap Jian “xNova” Wei on stage for the Royal Never Give Up (RNG) vs Entity matchup.
The bears would be a substitute for xNova’s teammates who contracted COVID-19 in the middle of the group stage.
It was a tough week for the Chinese Regional qualifier winners as almost the whole team contracted the virus in the middle of groups. It was so bad, that the team had to forfeit their second match against PSG.LGD due to a medical emergency.
Initial reports said that Lu “Somnus” Yao had to be rushed to the hospital after their Game 1 loss against PSG.LGD. He was later confirmed to be positive for COVID-19. After their series against Hokori, the rest of RNG, save xNova, was confirmed to be positive.
A report from dotesport said that the team was already doing well and have spent the rest of their group-stage games in isolation.
Teddy bears took over TI with one of the best games in TI
Even with only xNova on the stage, RNG went on to produce the longest and arguably best game in The International Main stage history.
Their series against Entity lasted 107-minutes or one hour and 47 minutes; the longest single-game record in The International history.
The game also saw one of the most Divine Rapier purchases in TI history.
It was a closely contested game, with Entity taking control for most of the game before RNG mounted a comeback towards the late game. But as the game progressed, RNG found themselves lacking damage to finally break the ancient, trying two backdoor plays but unable to finish it out.
It was the same with Entity who tried to find the one big pick-off to finally open up RNG's base. They would succeed in getting mega creeps, but RNG’s defense was too strong, repelling the Europeans back. But the Europeans' patience would prevail as they finally find RNG’s carry Terrorblade and force a die-back to end the series.
Controversy and heartbreaks
Despite the longest and hypest game in the tournament so far, there was also a bit of controversy in the ending as Entity paused the game at the very end after taking out RNG’s cores.
Seen as a bad-mannered (BM) move, Entity later clarified that it was an accident after their support Dzmitry “Fishman” Palishchuk accidentally hit his keyboard after smashing his desk in excitement.
Heartbreaks continued for RNG and Chinese Dota fans as Somnus, also known as Maybe, seemingly announced his retirement from professional Dota 2. He was a pillar in the Chinese Dota 2 scene, becoming one of the most successful mid-laners in recent years.
Maybe initially played with Vici Gaming before moving to PSG.LGD where he spent most of his pro career. He earned two third place finishes in TI (2019, 2015) and a second-place finish in 2018 in the iconic OG vs. PSG.LGD finals. He would leave LGD in 2020 just before the start of the new DPC, joining the super team Elephant, before moving once again in 2021 to RNG.
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