The International 2014: a Grand Champion emerges

Warning: spoilers below.

Chinese team Newbee has claimed the Dota 2 Championship crown at The International 4, along with a grand prize check worth more than $5 million.

The International ended in an unexpected fashion today as Newbee, which went 7-8 in the group stage, prevailed against ViCi Gaming in the finals. ViCi Gaming, another Chinese team, put on a much more dominant performance in single-match action, with a 12-3 record that included, prophetically as it turned out, a loss to Newbee. ViCi actually defeated Newbee in the first match, but came back with a dominant performance to win.

— ESPN3 (@ESPN3) July 21, 2014 July 21, 2014

This is the first year that two Chinese teams have gone head to head in an International final. Newbee's victory earns it a first-place prize of just over $5 million, a huge increase over the $1.4 million earned by the winner of last year's event. As the runner-up, ViCi Gaming will take home just shy of $1.5 million.

Photo credit: Toby Dawson

PC Gamer's coverage of The International 2014 is brought to you by SteelSeries . From now through July 21st, all Dota 2 and team gear is 25% off. While supplies last.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.