Day two of The International 10 (TI10) taught us all one very important lesson moving forward: always expect the unexpected — especially if Dota 2’s neutral items are involved.

During one of the matches in Group B on the second day of TI10’s group stage, Team Secret earned an important win against Elephant with an incredibly rare tier 5 neutral item, Book of the Dead.

What is Dota 2’s tier 5 neutral item Book of the Dead all about?

Valve added tier 5 neutral item Book of the Dead in Dota 2’s 7.23 patch, and it has since become a key late-game item after Necronomicon was removed in patch 7.29

The item can be obtained by teams once the game has reached the 60-minute mark, but it only has a 10% drop rate from neutral creeps.

Since there are 11 other neutral items that could also drop, getting Book of the Dead is pretty rare.

Dota 2’s Book of the Dead allows the user to summon four level 3 Necronomicon units (two warriors and two archers) that have 100% more health and do 75% more damage. These units last for 75 seconds and are perfect for pushing lanes in the late game.

Team Secret uses neutral item Book of the Dead to defeat Elephant

Elephant was on the verge of making one of the biggest comebacks at TI10 when the Chinese team chipped away Team Secret’s 17,000 gold lead.

With great team coordination, Elephant synchronized their stuns and bagged an opportune kill onto Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen’s carry Faceless Void.



After killing Team Secret’s carry, Elephant ran straight into the Radiant base and tried to destroy the enemy team’s barracks.

Meanwhile on the opposite side of the map, Team Secret summoned Necronomicon units to destroy Elephant’s final set of barracks.

With Lu “Somnus丶M” Yao’s Void Spirit as Elephant’s last line of defense, Team Secret sent another marauding group of Necronomicon units to destroy the Dire Ancient, which won them the first game in style.

Elephant eventually got their revenge against Team Secret by winning the following game, ending their Group B match in a draw.

Team Secret is currently in 3rd in TI10’s Group B standings with a 6-4 record, while Elephant holds on to 5th place with a 4-6 score.  

Find out how some of the teams made it to The International 10 by watching this Heroes of the Game documentary presented by Foodpanda.

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