Lost, BKB! — the TI2 moment known as “The Play”

TI2 in Seattle: Na'Vi vs. Invictus Gaming

The International 2012 was held in Seattle, and one of its matches was Natus Vincere against China's Invictus Gaming. According to Liquipedia, it was the second round of the upper bracket, a best-of-three played on September 1, 2012. Na'Vi won the series 2–1.

As Sportskeeda wrote, the famous moment came in the second game of the series. It has since been included again and again in lists of the best moments and memes in the tournament's history, from Igromania and Respawn to sports.ru blogs.

A year earlier, Na'Vi had won the first International. The TI2 playoffs were double elimination, and Na'Vi and iG met again later in the grand final, where iG won 3–1 and took the title.

Naga Siren's song, Black Hole and a flawless wipe

iG caught Na'Vi in Song of the Siren, Naga Siren's ultimate that puts nearby heroes to sleep. The fight looked lost before it started, but the opposite happened: Na'Vi not only survived but killed every enemy without losing a single hero.

According to Sportskeeda, Na'Vi had grouped up to take the bottom tier-two tower, and iG smoked up and came through the river to catch them from behind. Naga Siren put Na'Vi to sleep, and iG's Tidehunter cast Ravage. Dendi escaped with Force Staff and stole Ravage, while the enemies were trapped in a Black Hole from Dmitry “LighTofHeaveN” Kupriyanov. That produced the team wipe. Black Hole is Enigma's ultimate, although accounts of the moment usually name the ability rather than the hero.

Right before his ultimate, LighTofHeaveN popped Black King Bar (BKB), the item that grants magic immunity, and, according to Sportskeeda, caught four iG players in his Black Hole. Respawn describes it as “a BKB from Lost at the only possible moment.” Na'Vi won that game, and the series with it.

Who Lost is and whose voice that is

“Lost” is one of LighTofHeaveN's nicknames: Dota 2 Wiki lists Light, Lost, LostMySelf and LoH. So the shout “Lost, BKB!” is aimed squarely at him, for the BKB he hit just in time before Black Hole.

The line is credited to Vitaly “v1lat” Volochai, a Russian-language Dota 2 caster: Igromania attributes it to him, and clips of the moment are labeled with his handle. «БКБшечка» (“BKB-shechka”) is a diminutive of the item's abbreviated name.

From “The Play” to praise in chat

The moment spread through highlight clips and made it into lists of The International's greatest plays. In the English-speaking community it is known simply as “The Play,” no further explanation needed.

In the Russian-speaking community, it was the caster's line that stuck. People type “Lost, BKB!” in chat and comments when someone pops Black King Bar at exactly the right time or pulls off a perfect teamfight, as a way of admiring someone else's play.

A four-way split of the TI2 broadcast

The catalog card shows a frame from the TI2 broadcast split into four windows: the game map, fans in the arena, Na'Vi players in yellow jerseys in their booth, and their opponents in their own booth.

“Lost, BKB!” in captions

Examples made up for illustration: “Our support bought BKB for the first time all game and popped it before the stun. Lost, BKB!”

“Saved the project one second before my laptop died. Lost, BKB!” or “When three seconds of magic immunity decided the whole teamfight.”