The end of the Last Chance Qualifier means we finally know all names for the upcoming The International. Dota 2âs most important event will start on 15 October and end on 30 October 2022. During that time, 20 of the top-tier Dota 2 teams in the world will gather in Singapore. Those who want to attend the event must buy tickets and head over to Suntec Singapore for the playoffs or the Singapore Indoor Stadium for the Finals.
The International 2022 will be the 11th annual event where teams fight for a jaw-dropping prize pool. At the time of writing this article, the prize pool for TI 11 is USD ~$13.6M, which is impressive. However, it doesnât even come close to the USD $40M+ prize pool for TI 10.
There are many reasons why the prize pool for TI is not as big as it once was, but we wonât go into detail about it. Instead, this article will provide an overview of the event itself and what you can expect once you start playing. Without further ado, letâs begin.
Contents
Overview
The event will kick off this Saturday with the Group Stage. Speaking of the devil, TI 11 will include two big groups that have 10 teams. They will have to play in a single-robin format. Once the Group Stage is over, the top 4 teams will receive a slot for the Upper Bracket of the Main Event. Those who finish between the 5th and 8th spit will also go to the Main Event, but in the Lower Bracket. The remaining two teams will be eliminated from the event.
Those who want to keep an eye on the main event can do that from 20 October. The remaining sixteen teams will play in a double-elimination bracket. Unsurprisingly, the teams that lose their match in the Lower Bracket will have to leave the event.
Broadcast Talent
Since The International is Dota 2âs biggest and most important tournament of the year, we can expect to see every popular Dota 2 caster, host, and observer out there. For example, the English panel will include the likes of Purge, Lacoste, Slacks, Tsunami, SUNSfan, syndareN, ODPIxel, and much more.
Aside from watching the English streams, the event will also be available in Chinese, Russian, Portuguese and Spanish. Unsurprisingly, Valve and PGL, the eventâs organizers, decided to invite every popular name in the industry.
Teams
Although previous TIs only had 18 teams, this one decided to expand its list to 20. Twelve of them received a direct invitation because of their DPC points. Six of the participants have earned their spots after taking part in the Regional Qualifiers. As for the final two teams, they won the Last Chance Qualifier.
Here’s every team taking part in the competition:
- PSG.LGD
- beastcoast
- Team Aster
- OG
- Team Spirit
- Fnatic
- Thunder Awaken
- Gaimin Gladiators
- Evil Geniuses
- Tundra Esports
- TSM
- BOOM Esports
- Soniqs
- Entity
- Team Secret
- Team Liquid
- Royal Never Give Up
- Hokori
- BetBoom Team
- Talon Esports
Which teams to keep an eye on?
If you are a passionate Dota 2 fan, you’ll want to watch as many matches as possible. Naturally, everyone has his favorite, but as weâve seen in previous TIs, this is the event where everything is possible. No one expected OG to win two consecutive TIs in a row, and everyone was surprised when Team Spirit became the champions of the world.
Having said that, there are a couple of favorites most people will pay close attention to. We know this information is important to some of you, so weâd like to share some information regarding the potential favorites.
Team Secret
Even though Team Secret didnât get the needed DPC points for a direct invitation, nor it won the Regional Qualifiers, this is a team that people will pay close attention to. Puppey is the most experienced player at TI 11, so he has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. We just have to wait and see whether the rest of TS will live up to the expectations.
Team Secret qualified for The International thanks to the Last Chance Qualifier. The team defeated everyone in the Upper Bracket and deserved their sport. Following the qualification, Puppey became the first-ever Dota 2 player to attend every International so far. Needless to say, he also won the actual event when he was a part of Natus Vincere.
OG
OG is the second team from Western Europe that will try to prove what it’s capable of. Bzm and the rest of his crew have already won two big LAN events, but none have any experience at The International. Fortunately, the team is backed up by the two-times TI winners n0tail and Ceb. They will tell the young team everything they should know, which will help them win the trophy for the organization for the third time.
Team Spirit
Many people thought that a given Dota 2 team couldn’t win the most important tournament two times in a row. However, OG broke the stigma two years ago, which is why many people think that Team Spirit can do the same.
The Eastern European team achieved consistent results throughout the year. Yatoro and the rest even won the second Major of the DPC after defeating PSG.LGD. The two met earlier this year in Riyadh, but the Chinese were the better team back then.
Royal Never Give Up
Even though we thought of adding yet another Western European team, a couple of names from the other regions also deserve some attention. We believe that RNGU is one of them because the Chinese team has some of the best players in the country.
Led by Somnus, Royal Never Give Up has the needed experience to surprise its European counterparts. Many people believe that PSG.LGD is the best in China, but RNGU is on par if not better. No wonder the team won Tour 3 of the DPC.
Honorable mentions
Aside from the teams mentioned above, we’d like to include a few other big names, such as Team Liquid. Similar to Secret, MATU and the rest secured a TI slot after eliminating VP in the Last Chance Qualifier. Interestingly, Liquid barely missed out on a slot for the event a couple of times, so the players are happy that theyâre back.
Entity is another European team that will surprise many people. Even though it does not have any big superstars like other popular teams, Entity has proven itself many times in this DPC. No wonder Pure and the rest were flawless in the Western European Qualifiers.
