Now that the Dota 2 TI regional qualifiers have been completed, we now know exactly what teams are going to be fighting for their right to hold up the Aegis of Champions. 8 teams were directly invited due to their DPC points acquired throughout the year, and 10 teams have just finished fighting their way through their respective qualifiers as well. There is still a long wait until August 20, when the main event will be taking place in Vancouver, Canada.
There are lots of people that may want to watch the tournament but are lacking context surrounding the participating teams. I thought I would try to give a run-down on each team so that you'll know who to root for while watching the event. With that said, let's start with the direct invite teams.
Virtus Pro
If you're looking to root for the general favorite at this tournament, Virtus Pro is the team for you. These powerhouses managed to get five first-place results and one second-place result out of the 22 DPC tournaments, with 4 of those first place results being at major tournaments. Their incredible performance resulted in their team having vastly more DPC points than any other team in the world.
This roster has made a name for itself both due to their highly aggressive playstyle, as well as their infectiously fun attitude both in and out of the game. Their antics with spamming chat wheel sounds has earned the ire of some people in the community. Claiming that their behavior is obnoxious and cocky. Their general response to this criticism is that they're just having fun with tools that were given to them in the game.
Either way, it's almost certain that they will be making a strong showing at The International if nothing else. Certainly, a team worth watching out for.
Team Liquid
Here are the reigning champions of the International 7 last year. They won over the hearts and minds of viewers all over the world last year when they smashed through a lower bracket gauntlet, never showing any fear in the face of adversity, and in the end, claiming the Aegis for themselves.
Watch this video below to get an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at how the grand finals played out. It's one of my favorite videos of all time.
The team had a small slump adjusting to the new meta for a short period after the International but quickly got back on their feet before long. Their efforts got them a first-place result, 2 second-place results, and 3 third-place results at majors throughout the year, as well as 3 wins at minor tournaments. Overall, Liquid is just a very consistent team.
Almost every member of the team is heralded as pillars of the community for their calm, humble attitude and good sportsmanship. Recently, the offlaner for Team Liquid, Ivan "MinD_ContRoL" Ivanov was caught making some incredibly controversial statements in a public Dota 2 match. This became a copypasta meme in Twitch chat for several days until MinD_ContRoL made an apology statement.
At the end of the day, it's your call whether or not to forgive MinD_ContRoL or not. The group is still a top-tier team with a good shot at being the first one in history to win two TIs in a row.
PSG.LGD
I'm going to start this off by saying I'm personally rooting for PSG.LGD, but I don't actually have faith that they will win. You see, there are several superstitions that have somehow stood the test of time for the entire history of Dota 2. Chinese teams have won every other TI, no organization has ever won two TIs, and no player has ever won two TIs.
I'm a big fan of these superstitions, in particular, and would love to see it upheld. PSG.LGD is the best team for that purpose. In terms of DPC points, they're the third-best team in the world, their organization has never won TI before, and almost every player on their team has gotten second/third-place results at previous TIs but fallen just short. It's such a perfect story of rewarding determination.
Mind you, the team struggled greatly for the entire DPC season until early April, when they started getting constant first and second place results back-to-back. They capped it off with a strong third-place finish at the China Supermajor. It remains to be seen if this team can really overcome Team Liquid and Virtus Pro, but I'm ready to see them take the win.
🎙️💬 Yassine Jaada, PSG Chief Gaming Officer
PSG eSports (@PSGeSports) April 19, 2018
« We wanted to partner with the very best around, and it felt natural to us to join our forces with one of the major franchise team in China. »
🔴🔵
They also recently got a partnership with the football club, Paris Saint-Germain. I don't really know who they are, but if you do, maybe that'll be a reason to root for them as well.
Team Secret
Team Secret is a very well-known organization led by Clement "Puppey" Ivanov. This player has immortalized himself in esports history due to just how long he has been an integral part of the subculture. He was even a part of the first Navi roster that won the first TI tournament for the million dollar prize pool.
Puppey in top left
Since then, he's become quite a divisive figure in the community. Allegations have arisen about him being toxic, smashing LAN equipment, not distributing tournament winnings fairly to players, and any other number of controversies. At this point, you either love him or hate him depending on if you want to focus on those aspects of Puppey, or if you want to focus on his talent as a captain, and the good that he has done for the Dota 2 community.
The team had a strong start of the season with a second and first-place result at their first two major tournaments, but have been struggling ever since. They only got 5th-9th place result for most of the season but ended the season with a respectable 4th place result at the China Supermajor.
The team has both old blood from Dota 1 in Yapzor, and fresh, new talent in the form of Midone. We'll have to see if Puppey will be able to lead his team back to greatness like at TI 1.
Mineski
Southeast Asia is one of the more understated regions in Dota 2 esports. Over the years, there have been some rising stars and dark horses like TNC and Fnatic. Mineski is different though, as they feel like a legitimately solid team with a good shot at making it deep.
Daryl "iceiceice" Xiang is a very popular Twitch streamer and pubstar who made some unfortunate statements on his stream. If you've been following the Dota 2 scene recently, you may have heard some memes about the name "Daryl" and people of African descent. Well, iceiceice was the one who started that. Besides that, Mushi is also a fairly well-known SEA Dota player. He was notably the captain of a previous Fnatic lineup last year before leaving in February.
The team got quite a few first, second, and third place results from October to April, but have gotten some middling results since then. We'll see if they can shape up when it really matters.
Vici Gaming
And now every one of the remaining direct invites are just Chinese teams. Out of the 8 direct invites, 4 of them are Chinese, that's insane. But like I said, it is a China year after all. One of these teams probably takes it if history is to be believed.
I actually don't have much to say about this team though, as I'm somewhat ignorant about most of the Chinese Dota 2 teams. That said, Zhang "Paparazi灬" Chengjun claimed first place in the DAC Solo Tournament two years in a row, basically cementing his name as the best Dota 2 mid-laner. Besides him, the rest of the team is filled with veteran Dota 2 players that have all reach strong placings at previous TI tournaments.
Their results this year have been average, but they may still surprise everybody on the main stage.
Newbee
This Chinese team was the runner-up team at TI 7, unfortunately collapsing under the pressure in the grand finals against Team Liquid after an otherwise dominating run through the brackets. Although, after nearly poising themselves atop the world, their failure did seem to impact the team hard. The team could only find a few 3rd-4th place finishes at major tournaments and two victories at minor tournaments. Granted, that still ended up being enough DPC points for a direct invite, so it all worked out.
Will Newbee be able to have another miracle run like last year? Or will they crumble under the pressure a second time?
VGJ.Thunder
Once again, I'll establish that I'm not particularly familiar with the Chinese Dota teams. They were runner-ups at two minor tournaments and one major but have been quite silent, otherwise. With regards to notable players, Liu "Sylar" Jiajun has been second and third place at previous TIs, which is fairly impressive. Also, Leong "ddc" Fat-meng is among three players in the world that have been to every single TI, the other two being Puppey and KuroKy.
I can't really tell how they will perform since I haven't actually watched a great number of their games, but they may be a dark horse out of left field.
Conclusion
That's probably enough for one post. Hope I've been some sort of help for anybody interested in watching The International coming this August. I'll be sure to get a second post out soon discussing the teams that got in through regional qualifiers. Like I said, I'm rooting for PSG.LGD this year for the sake of tradition, but it would be pretty hype if those expectations could get flipped on their head.
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