Vici Gaming finished day 1 of TI9’s group stage strong, defeating Fnatic with a convincing 2-0 score.

During the early moments of game one, VG had a gold lead against Fnatic who drafted an Alchemist on their team. Fnatic had no answers in game one, especially against Zeng “Ori” Jiaoyang’s Storm Spirit, who ran circles around the Dire team.

Even when VG was forced to fight without their Gyrocopter, Fnatic couldn’t find a way to get back into the game, and shortly after another lost team fight, they called good game.

The second game between VG and Fnatic was a long-drawn-out match that reached 57 minutes. Fnatic’s draft of Enchantress, Arc Warden, and Pudge drew some questions, and rightfully so. Fnatic struggled to find damage in the early stages of the game, and VG capitalized on this by winning team fights and gaining a significant gold lead.

During the 46-minute mark of game two, VG tried to put Fnatic away. But because of Arc Warden’s insane damage output, VG was forced to play extremely safe, even when they had a massive 52,000 gold lead.

Ten minutes later though, VG tried again. And now with a ridiculous 60,000 gold advantage, Fnatic was forced to call it a day and take another loss from the talented Chinese team.

VG finished day 1 of the group stage undefeated. Meanwhile, Fnatic finishes their first day of TI9 with a 2-0 victory over Evil Geniuses, and a disappointing 0-2 loss to VG.

Be sure to check out our coverage of The International 2019 Group Stage for more TI9 action.