Dota 2
Let’s learn more details about Team Spirit, one of the favorites to win The International 12.
Team Spirit will be one of the TI winners who will be a part of The International 12. Even though some people expected the squad to fail to secure enough DPC points, Yatoro and the rest proved why they’re among the best in the world. Consequently, they will be one of the teams trying to win TI again after doing it a few years ago.
Speaking of this tournament, the first match will take place on October 12, and it will be held in Seattle. 20 of the best teams in the entire world will compete for the massive prize, which is yet to be determined. If Valve does not decide to release a big update, TI 12 will take place on 7.34b, which is an exciting patch that has a lot to offer.
After taking a look at Team Liquid and Gaimin Gladiators from Western Europe, it’s time to check out what Eastern Europe has to offer. So, let’s dive into Team Spirit, one of the big favorites for TI 12. Keep in mind the TI12 qualifiers are on, so we will have more info about the other remaining teams at the world’s biggest Dota 2 event.
Team Spirit Overview
When it comes down to the best teams in Eastern Europe, there’s no arguing that Team Spirit’s on another level. This is the only club from the region who’ve won The International, and it happened 2 years ago. Due to the COVID pandemic, TI 10 had the biggest prize pool in esport’s history, and it went in favor of the Eastern European powerhouse.
Team Spirit began their existence in 2015, but they didn’t become one of the strongest organizations in Dota 2 until 2020 — when they decided to take on the Yellow Submarine’s roster consisting of the likes of Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk, Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov, Yaroslav "Miposhka" Naidenov , and Alexander "TORONTOTOKYO" Khertek. The young players had pretty good results and definitely had a lot of potential, which is why people weren’t surprised by the squad’s amazing results.
Although 2020 wasn’t the best year for Team Spirit, the team achieved their strongest results in 2021, eventually winning The International. 2022 was also pretty good for Yatoro and co; the squad won the Riyadh Masters 2022, as well as the PGL Arlington Major 2022. Sadly, they failed to live up to the expectations at TI 11 and were eliminated very early on. This loss led to a roster change, which means Team Spirit’s current roster is:
- Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov
- Myroslav "Mira" Kolpakov
- Denis "Larl" Sigitov
- llya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk
- Yaroslav "Miposhka" Naidenov
Team Spirit’s results in 2023
2023 has been an interesting year for Dota 2 because players and fans had the chance to watch one of the most dominant teams in the world. Gaimin Gladiators ripped through the competition in almost any event and proved themselves the best in the world. However, there have been a few tournaments where Team Spirit has shown they have what it takes to bring down its Western European opponent.
The first big challenge for The International 10 winners was The Lima Major 2023. Yatoro’s squad was one of the favorites and they achieved pretty decent results during the Group Stage. However, the team failed to defeat Shopify Rebellion in R1 of the Upper Bracket and was sent to the LB. They defeated PSG.LGD, but it wasn’t enough because Team Spirit lost to Talon Esports, elimating them from the tournament.
The next important tournament for Team Spirit was DreamLeague Season 19. Yatoro’s squad was in Group B, but they failed to meet the expectations and were eliminated after securing 4 draws and 1 loss.
ESL One Berlin Major 2023 was a bit better for the team because they escaped from the Group Stage. However, Team Spirit had the bad luck of meeting Gaimin Gladiators, and weren’t able to win the series. To make matters worse, TS also lost the clash against Team Aster in R1 of the Lower Bracket and was eliminated from the event.
DreamLeague Season 20 was not good either, even though TS finished first in the first group stage. The bad news is that the squad wasn’t able to do the same in the second one, so they failed to secure a slot for the event’s Playoffs.
The team was hoping to win the Bali Major 2023, the last big DPC tournament before TI 12, but this wasn’t the case. Team Spirit went straight into the Lower Bracket after the group stage, and losing their match against PSG.LGD.
Riyadh Masters 2023
Despite the disappointing results throughout the DPC, Team Spirit rose from the ashes and won the Riyadh Masters 2023. This was the year's biggest tournament so far because of its jaw-dropping prize pool. After the squad reached the competition's Grand Final last year, they did the same this time and won it.
It definitely wasn’t easy because Team Spirit had to go against the absolutely best. After the impressive results in the Group, the team eliminated Team Aster, BetBoom Team, and Team Liquid. Coincidentally, Spirit met the latter in the Grand Final, where the Eastern European team was the underdog. Despite that, they defeated Michał "Nisha" Jankowski’s team and won the competition.
We can see Team Spirit’s results in 2023 haven’t been quite as impressive as the team probably wanted them to be. If we exclude the Riyadh Masters 2023, Spirit failed to achieve anything big in the other tournaments. This means most people won’t have TS among their picks to be one of TI 12’s favorites.
However, considering the team’s experience and the fact they won the last big event, we wouldn’t be surprised if they secured a top 4 finish. It’ll be very interesting to see what’s going to happen, so we’ll keep an eye on everything. Follow BLIX for more TI 12 updates.
