OG was the team in everyone's sights. The lineup was the first to win two official Valve events -- the Frankfurt Major and the Manila Major -- and entered The International as the favorites for the Aegis. The team's signature style revolved around beautiful early rotations, team fight execution and the ability to outplay opponents regardless of the situation.
OG looked great during the early stages of The International. It had the second-best record in the group stage and looked to be in elite form entering the main event and the upper bracket. But then the dam broke.
The first cracks: MVP Phoenix, 1-2
Fresh out of the group stage, OG encountered its first challenger in the upper bracket. Game 1 was competitive; Amer "Miracle-" Barqawi played up to his reputation and looked like he would pull his team to victory, but the rest of the team was simply too far behind. MVP Phoenix crushed the draft with three comfort picks: Phantom Assassin, Bounty Hunter, and Spirit Breaker. From the first moment, MVP Phoenix played the game that suited their style: fast paced and littered with fights. The Bounty Hunter pick kept a foot in the door for a comeback at any time, and OG was unable to prevent its big mistakes.
Game 2 looked like the dominant OG. The end score was 37-11 and OG bullied MVP Phoenix the entire game. From Miracle-'s brilliant Outworld Devourer play to Tal "Fly" Aizik's clutch Oracle saves and disables, this was the kind of hero composition that befitted a championship contender.
But MVP Phoenix was impossible to condition. The Korean team played their blitzkrieg style, and OG did not adjust accordingly. Again, MVP Phoenix was allowed Phantom Assassin, their preferred carry pickup, and ramped up the speed with Axe and Ogre Magi. The guide to defeating MVP Phoenix had already been written, but OG didn't even glance at it, instead allowing the opposition to play their style and dictate the pace of the overall set.
The finishing blow: TNC Pro Team, 0-2
This set was nowhere near as close as some of the numbers indicated. OG was thoroughly outplayed and outmaneuvered by the underdog TNC Pro Team. OG drafted compositions that favored their style of outplay, but the team did not account for the hunger of its opposition.
TNC Pro Team went all-in at every turn. They pushed the high ground without a significant advantage, overextended to kill valuable targets, and made quick decisions to secure neutral objectives. And why not? TNC Pro Team understood the odds against them and played to win the game in every fight. OG's adjustments were slow and sometimes nonexistent, allowing the hero composition to favor TNC Pro Team in both games. In the end, OG just never adjusted when it came to the important factors of the game.