The post-International period has to be one of the most depressing times for Dota 2 fan worldwide. After the epic action between the best Dota 2 teams, the entire professional scene comes to a standstill because players and teams usually take a small break to prepare themselves for what is to come. It will be a while until we see a big Dota 2 event, but this allows us to take a step back and analyze what happened.
As reported, Team Spirit won The International 12 and became the only team aside from OG to lift the Aegis twice. The only difference between them is that OG did that consecutively, and it used the same five-player roster. Team Spirit could not win TI 11 after winning TI 10, and it no longer has Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Khertek on its roster.
Despite that, there is no arguing that Team Spirit deserved its success. The squad was flawless throughout the event and won the Aegis without dropping a match. In fact, Team Spirit only lost two maps at The International 12, and it was against VP and Team Liquid.
There is no arguing that Team Spirit’s performance was nothing short of impressive. However, The International 12 recap will go over some of the other teams that shined and those that failed to impress us with their performance. So, without further ado, here are some things you have yet to notice throughout the tournament.
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Gaimin Gladiators are still one of Dota’s best
Despite being the big favorite to win The International 12, Gaimin Gladiators could not achieve this mission. It had the bad luck of losing the Phase Two match, which sent it into the Lower Bracket early. This was a massive test for Quinn “Quinn” Callahan and the rest because the squad was never at a disadvantage in 2023. After all, it was the best team throughout the year.
Although challenging, Gaimin Gladiators successfully eliminated six teams before reaching the Grand Final. GG only dropped one game in all series versus Team Liquid. After dealing with the WEU powerhouse, GG eliminated the two Chinese representatives and reached the Final.
The bad news for the most dominant Dota 2 team of 2023 was that it couldn’t lift the Aegis. Even though it tried everything, Team Spirit was better and won the competition.
Chinese Dota 2 is Back
An important thing to be said in The International 12 recap is that the Chinese Dota 2 scene is back. China was the second-worst region before the beginning of the tournament after North America. Neither of the big names impressed us with their results in 2023, but they were waiting for The International 12.
Despite being one of the most significant regions in the world, China only had two representatives at The International 12. What’s interesting is that they finished 3rd and 4th, respectively, which impressed most Dota 2 fans.
LGD Gaming was more successful than Azure Ray because the squad lost in the Upper and Lower Bracket finals. In fact, it even defeats Azure Ray in the UP Semifinals. The bad news for Guo “shiro” Xuanang and the rest was that the LGD could not overcome Gaimin Gladiators and finished third.
Azure Ray, on the other hand, impressed us with its results because this was the team’s first International. Having said that, the squad had some of the most experienced players in China, which helped them defeat some of the best Dota 2 teams.
North America Needs Changes
Although we were impressed with the results from the Chinese Dota 2 teams, the same can’t be said about the squads from North America. The International 12 recap reveals that all of North American Dota 2 teams failed to meet expectations. Even more surprising was that nouns, one of the underdogs at TI12, achieved the best results.
Before TI12, Shopify Rebellion had several good tournaments where it defeated many of the favorites. This affected peoples’ predictions because they thought SR would be among the favorites for The International 12. Sadly, this never happened because the squad from North America was eliminated in R1 of the Lower Bracket.
TSM, the second-best team in North America, had more or less a similar faith. Interestingly, TSM eliminated Shopify Rebellion from The International 12, but the squad lost the next match versus nouns. Before these 2 series, TSM couldn’t defeat SR in months, and it never lost against nouns.
Southeast Asia needs a Shuffle
The last thing that people should know following The International 12 recap is related to the teams from Southeast Asia. Although it is among the most exciting regions in Dota 2, Southeast Asia only had two representatives, and neither lived up to the expectations.
Team SMG wasn’t even able to survive in the Group Stage because it finished last in Group A. With that said, Talon Esports advanced to the next stage, and it even defeated Gaimin Gladiators, one of the finalists. Sadly, the team couldn’t deal with Team Liquid, which sent it to the Lower Bracket. There, Talon also lost against the BetBoom Team.
These results prove that the squads in Southeast Asia need to make roster changes if they want to be competitive again. The gap between them and the top-tier names from Eastern and Western Europe needs to be bigger.
Dota 2 Ringmaster Could Change the Meta
The last important thing we need to mention following the end of The International 12 is that Dota 2 will have a new hero called Ringmater. We do not know much about Ring Master Dota 2 yet, but following the trailer, it became clear that he will most likely be able to trick heroes. We will provide you with more information in the upcoming days.
