Was Dota 2’s TI9 Shanghai Skyline image real? Opening Ceremony highlights and more

During the opening ceremonies of the Dota 2 The International 2019 main event, fans saw images of the competing teams’ logos beautifully broadcast onto the Shanghai skyline.

Update 8/20/2019 2:04 PM PST: 

According to esports journalist Rod “Slasher Breslau, the graphics created by Valve in the trailer were made for the event, and not something that’s actually being done in Shanghai. 

Original article follows.

The pageantry of the opening ceremonies for the Dota 2 International is like nothing else in esports. And this year in Shanghai, it was no different.

The ceremony began with a beautiful performance highlighting Chinese culture, supplemented with the outstanding music that goes with Dota 2. Each of the main event teams then came on to the main stage, accompanied by drums. The champions from last year’s International, OG, came out last and returned the Aegis of Champions to its stand, where it will sit until a new champion claims it.

• Read more: Why were TNC Predator booed by Chinese Dota 2 fans?

After all the teams had been introduced, Valve co-founder Gabe Newell came out and spoke to the electric Chinese crowd, as CS:GO fans at home sulked and wondered why dad hasn’t come to one of their games. 

Then a video package played, energizing the crowd just a little more before the main event. The video hyped up the different tiers of teams heading into the main event, by showcasing the teams’ logos on the sides of buildings on the Shanghai skyline. This included the heavy favorites (Virtus.Pro, Team Secret, ViCi), the longshots (TNC Predator, Keen Gaming) and the veteran-heavy teams that still have a chance (Team Liquid, NiP, Evil Geniuses and more).

At the end of the video, they showed the entire skyline, and Twitter user @wykrhm shared a high definition version of that photo that is positively gorgeous.

Truly this is one of the most beautiful images to come out of esports.

The Ninjas in Pyjamas shared their own view of the Shanghai skyline on social media as well:

Day two of the Dota 2 International picks up at 22:00 EDT on August 20. Alliance, FNATIC, Keen Gaming, and Natus Vincere were all eliminated on day one in the best-of-one first round of the lower bracket. PSG.LGD shocked VP in the first round of the upper bracket with a 2-0 win in the first series of the main event. Day two begins with OG and Newbee meeting in the upper bracket.