This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

　　

NewBee vs. ViCi Gaming

Chen 'Hao' Zhihao	Liu 'Sylar' Jiajun
Zhang 'Mu' Pan	Xie 'Super' Juanhao
Zhang 'xiao8' Ning (c)	Bai 'rOtk' Fan
Jiao 'Banana' Wang	Chao 'Fenrir' Lu (c)
Zhaohui 'SanSheng' Wang	Linsen 'Fy' Xu

Game 1

NewBee started out the first game of the finals with an offensive trilane, which seemed to catch VG a bit unprepared as rOtk on the Clockwerk had teleported down to place a ward blocking the pull camp, anticipating a pulling Lion support from NewBee which never materialized. Indeed, it didn't take long for VG's incredulence regarding putting a Lion on the offensive to pay off, as VG claimed the first blood, losing only their Shadow Shaman in turn even after NewBee pulled xiao8's Nature's Prophet off the bottom lane to help out in the early skirmish. This was further compounded when Fy on the Shadow Shaman chose to teleport down to the bottom lane, helping set up rOtk's kill against xiao8 and forcing NewBee to scramble to react to the aggression happening all over the map.

　　While it looked as if VG were pulling far ahead early on, they ended up stumbling when it came to transitioning into the early mid game, failing to really hinder NewBee's farm on their core heroes even as they were racking up the kill lead. More importantly, even with the early Serpent Wards from Fy, it was NewBee who took the first Tier 1 Tower of the game. It was only when VG started moving around again and looking for pick-off's that they managed to regain their momentum, killing off Hao as well as Mu on the Alchemist a few more time and setting them up to push on the back of their kills. As the first Roshan of the game fell at around 17 minutes this seemed to be the magic time for VG, who also picked up their Aghanim's Scepter for Super's Brewmaster and the Radiance for Sylar's Lone Druid, as they closed in on their base push timing.

　　It was at 21 minutes of play when VG broke through at top lane, taking the Tier 3 and further extending their kill lead before finally being forced out, up 20-6 and looking almost sure to take the first game. It only took VG a few minutes to return, with NewBee forcing a fight just outside of their base in order to force the Mass Serpent Wards to be dropped out of range of their Barracks, however it was all too little too late, as VG were still able to force the 'GG' call after only 24 minutes of play.

　　

Game 2

The early laning stage for the second game was a lot more stand-offish, with the first big brawl coming some 6 minutes in as the supports of ViCi smoked up and tried to catch out xiao8's offlane Alchemist with the support of Super divind the tower on Viper and rOtk teleporting in with the Nature's Prophet. Things looked to be going great for VG as NewBee teleported in a number of heroes to defend, including Mu on the Brewmaster who was almost out of mana and looked to be going down for naught, only getting off his Split in the very last moment, turning the fight and setting NewBee up with a 5-1 kill lead.

　　This set the tone for the early mid game, with ViCi trying to force the issue, allowing NewBee to play their strengths and react with counter-ganks that stalled VG's progression. Good agressive warding allowed NewBee to anticipate VG's movement and capitalize on their Smoke of Deceits, setting their cores well ahead of VG's counterparts. What followed was little more than a farming of heroes, especially with the Ancient Apparition helping ensure there was no getting away from NewBee once the engagement began to to go sour. Being constantly pushed back it took ViCi only 26 minutes to call the 'GG' even without NewBee ever really threatening their base.

　　

Game 3

NewBee threw up an early dual lane for their offlane, with SanSheng on the Shadow Shaman helping Hao's Weaver get off to a strong start, before rotating to the bottom lane in order set up the first blood on rOtk's Nature's Prophet. As NewBee kept on putting on pressure, this forced VG to try and play the counter-ganking style this game, causing them to put themselves in some positions early on which backfired on them, allowing NewBee to take control of the game for the transition into the early mid game.

　　The poor start from VG was particularly damning, as it ensured that NewBee were able to fend off their early attempts at pushing while the Mass Serpent Wards and the Chen creeps allowed NewBee to open up a considerable lead in terms of early Towers and map control. Lacking a good fallback as they had chosen to run the farming Venomancer on their safelane, VG were forced into trying to sneak a Roshan in order to get back into the game, but were scouted out by Banana, allowing NewBee to setup up to contest the Roshan, causing a critical stalemate around the pit, eventually broken by Mu's Puck setting up the teamfight win for NewBee, forcing out a 17 minute 'GG' call from ViCi.

　　

Game 4

ViCi tried to roam with their supports right off the bat in order to get a kill on xiao8's Doom, however their failed attempt created the space for NewBee to claim the first blood at mid lane against rOtk's solo mid Venomancer, setting Hao's Ember Spirit up to absolutely dominate the mid lane. A further rotation from xiao8 to disrupt the jungling attempt of Fy's Sandking, forcing a disasterous rotation from VG which handed a futher 3-1 trade in favour of NewBee, setting them well ahead in the early game.

　　VG's attempts at coming back into the game through either pushing or fighting all seemed to backfire, with NewBee providing no easy targets and having great abilities for turning around fights, racking up an insane kill lead with a stronger lategame lineup. Only 15 minutes in NewBee were able to force the 'GG', being up 19-3 in kills.

　　NewBee are the brand new International 2014 champions defeating ViCi Gaming 3-1!

　　

Final standings

Placing	Teams	Prize Money
1st.	NewBee	$ 5,028,308
2nd.	ViCi Gaming	$ 1,475,699
3rd.	Evil Geniuses	$ 1,038,455
4th.	Team DK	$ 819,833
5th. - 6th.	Cloud 9 and LGD	$ 655,866
7th. - 8th.	Na`Vi and Invictus Gaming	$ 519,227
9th. - 10th.	Team Liquid and Titan Esports	$ 49,190
11th. - 12th.	Alliance and mousesports	$ 38,259
13th. - 14th.	Fnatic and Team Empire	$ 21,862
15th.	Na`Vi.US
16th.	Arrow Gaming