Is it the year of the Chinese at TI 10?

China has been the most consistent lot when it comes to The International Dota 2 Championships. Hell, they have been the most consistent region in almost every tournament ever held.

Difficult to believe? No worries, I gotcha covered!

The Chinese have made a grand finals appearance in six out of the last nine TI’s held and emerged victorious in three.

Talk about consistency.

Up until TI7, the Aegis of the Immortal changed hands alternately between the West and China. However, the tradition changed when OG came into the picture and began their onslaught from TI8.

Yes, you heard it right.

Source: Valve

Hunger breeds desperation

That OG who was on the brink of not attending TI8 due to a colossal roster change, and had a Cinderella story run at TI8 after having to go through the open qualifiers.

The monsters within the beast woke up again in time for TI9, creating history by becoming the first team to register consecutive championship victories.

Seismically shifting the balance and going against nature, OG created a vacuum. A vacuum that the Chinese are desperate to fill- and they seem to be hungrier than ever.

Hunger breeds desperation and desperation breeds competitiveness. However, a starving man is not a thinking man, it is one who plays off instinct, and not thought.

Fast forward to the current DPC year, the Chinese teams have conquered the ecosystem and are looking to stamp their flag onto the Aegis of Immortal.

The results speak for themselves. China conquered The Singapore Major, they conquered the WePlay AniMajor and have set their eyes on the crown jewel Dota 2 event; The International 10.

They seem to be in a rush to conquer everything there is to conquer, right?

Ain’t gonna happen at TI10!

Source: Valve

Despite their consistency, China has one disadvantage; lack of creativity, and with the new patch, it’ll be incrementally difficult for the Chinese to come up with a meta of their own.

Yes, PSG.LGD rocked the boat with the new patch but not against the elite teams.

This is where hunger becomes a detriment – desperation to become better has led to stagnation in innovation.

Chinese teams, unlike Wings, aren’t even nearly on the level as the latter was at TI6.

While every region has their own meta, the West takes the cake on the creativity front. Not to mention that even Southeast Asia is being unusually creative. Can China keep up with the pace, especially now, since OG has made it to TI yet again?

That’s about as likely as Pendragon coming back.

It ain’t going to be the year of China. Period.