It’s more than just being the grandest Dota 2 world championship
What is The International?
The International, often abbreviated as “TI”, is an annual Dota 2 esports tournament hosted by the Valve Corporation, an American video game developer and digital distribution company. This grand competition is traditionally attended by the best Dota 2 teams from around the world since its debut in August 2011 at Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany.
This year serves as the eighth iteration of The International and 18 Dota 2 teams from North America, South America, Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), China, and Southeast Asia will fly to Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada for the glory of being crowned as the best Dota 2 team.
Yeah, I understood zero words in that statement. Can you explain it to me in a way I can relate?
Have you ever wondered why your social media feeds get an influx of basketball content annually from May to June? Why your annoying Facebook friend, who you never saw post anything about basketball, is suddenly claiming how he was a fan of Golden State Warriors since 2015? And why your unathletic but smart and objectively correct most of the time Twitter follower is tweeting how LeBron James is the greatest player of all time? That’s all because of the NBA Finals—the conclusion of the year-long basketball season.
The International is like that. Except you replace basketball with Dota 2, and the NBA Finals with The International, and the Golden State Warriors with Team Liquid, and LeBron James with Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao. (The last analogy is debatable.)
So, if The International is like the NBA, does it also have its own regular season?
Yes, but we call competitive Dota 2’s ‘regular season’ as the Dota Pro Circuit partly because it sounds cooler. This is the first The International that implemented this system since it was only introduced in July 2017.
The 2017-2018 Dota Pro Circuit begun on October last year and it had 22 tournaments, divided into Minors and Majors. Participating Dota 2 teams competed for heaps of cash prizes and qualifying points. At the end of the Dota Pro Circuit, the top eight teams with the most qualifying points were directly invited to play for The International.
Who are the top eight teams of the Dota Pro Circuit that were directly invited to The International 2018?
In order of dominance: Virtus.pro from CIS, Team Liquid from Europe, PSG.LGD from China, Team Secret from Europe, Mineski from Southeast Asia, Vici Gaming from China, Newbee from China again, and finally VGJ.Thunder also from China.
But you said 18 teams will attend The International 2018? Where did the 10 other teams come from?
From The International 2018 Regional Qualifiers. It’s basically another tournament except the only thing Dota 2 teams are fighting for are the allotted slots for their region. Here are the list of the teams that will be going to The International 2018 through the regional qualifiers:
- North America: Evil Geniuses, VGJ.Storm, and OpTic Gaming.
- South America: paiN Gaming.
- CIS: Winstrike Team
- Europe: OG
- China: Team Serenity and Invictus Gaming
- Southeast Asia: Fnatic Dota and TNC Pro Team
Okay. So what’s at stake here?
The highest form of recognition coveted by all Dota 2 players around the world which was brought to life in the form of a tournament trophy—the Aegis of Champions. The winner will also receive the biggest chunk of the tournament prize pool which currently stands at $22,000,000+.
WHAT?!
Yes! In all these years, no team or player have been able to claim the elusive Aegis of Champions twice. That’s how intense the competition in The International 2018 gets!
No, I mean those video game players compete for THAT amount of cash? How is that even possible?
Okay. First of all, they are professionals. Second, since 2013, the prize pool of The International has been crowd-funded through a downloadable in-game feature. A percentage of the sales of the in-game feature, which is called the Battle Pass, contributes to the base prize pool of The International which is set at a constant of $1,600,000.
In last year’s The International, teams fought for a prize pool worth $24,787,913. Up to this day, it is biggest tournament prize pool in the entire history of the esports tournament, but The International 2018 prize pool might catch up and, as is the norm for all The International tournaments, break that record.
When did you say this tournament will be starting again?
The International 2018 group stages will officially start on August 15 and will run for 10 days until August 25. But because of the hype and excitement, The International can relatively start as early as now.
Okay, I’m getting convinced. Are there any other things happening in The International aside from the greatest Dota 2 games?
Traditionally, all big announcements are revealed in The International like new heroes or new in-game features. Last year, Artifact, Valve’s Dota 2-inspired digital card game, was first teased in The International 2017.
All-star matches and Gaben Newell cameo can also happen in The International.
Wow, that sounds awesome, but you said that The International 2018 will be held in Canada and I am living on the other side of the world. Where can I follow the latest updates about the tournament?
I honestly wish I can point you to it, but you’re already here at Mineski.net, the number one esports journal in Southeast Asia.
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