August marks the much-awaited annual Dota tournament, The International 2019 that organised for the past eight years. The ninth edition of the TI competition will take place on the 15th until 25th August at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, China. Eighteen professional teams will play their best gameplays in matches to hopefully win the highest share from a total prize pool that has reached a sensational $14.5 million so far with two months left to go.
Valve are the sponsors and official organisers of The Dota 2 International 2019, the last competition that ends the dota season of 2018-2019. The Battle Pass Sales of 25% on game modes, gaming items like ‘Majesty of the Colossus’ and ‘Planetfall’ Earthshaker Arcana will contribute towards the total prize pool.
History of The International Dota 2
TI6
The Chinese players of Wings Gaming defeated Digital Chaos in the Grand Finals of The International 2016 with an incredible score 3-1. Digital Chaos was on to a great start winning the first game breaking up the map control held by WG after 33 minutes. The second game, Wings quickly picked up their pace while taking advantage of Chaos with their wrong positioning and poor decisions. Decisively, WG continued their unstoppable pace, charging their opponents at every vulnerable moment in the third and fourth games to win the best-of-five final. After winning three games, Wings Gaming triumphantly walked away with the largest cash prize of a staggering $9.1 million.
TI7
At The International 2017, Team Liquid won the Grand Final over Newbee with an unbeatable score of 3-0. Newbee’s journey to the Grand Final, they managed to keep fighting through the upper brackets. Meanwhile, Team Liquid lost their first game to drop down to the lower brackets; they were unstoppable throughout making their way to the Finale. The two favourite TI dota 2 teams faced off each other in the best of five matches, where Liquid dominated in all three games to take home a cash prize of a staggering $10.8 million.
TI8
2018 was the year that pronounced OG, the Dota 2 TI winners of The International. OG was off to a great start in the first game, however, PSG.LGD did not give up without a fight. The Chinese squad picked some unusual heroes that led them to win the second and third games. The fourth round saw a turn of events in favour of OG once again to make the score a tie. The next decider game saw OG’s Topson pick Zeus dota hero showing amazing gameplays that sealed the score 3-2 over PSG.LGD. The European team OG proudly won the premier dota 2 Championship title holding up the Aegis and a cash reward of sensational $11.2 million.
The International 2019 Participating Teams
The upcoming TI9 is fast approaching, whom do you think will win this year’s premier tournament? Upon writing this article, two events have still to take place; the StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Season 2 and the Epicenter Major. These two events are worth watching to help you figure out the best bets on The International 2019 teams.
The International will feature eighteen dota teams competing at the premier event. The top twelve teams that rank in the Dota Pro Circuit will get to receive a spot in the premier tournament. Add to these are six more units will need to qualify through the regions from Europe, North and South America, Southeast Asia, China and the CIS.
At present, the top eight teams have confirmed their participation through the DPC:
- Secret
- Virtus.Pro
- Evil Geniuses
- Vici Gaming
- PSG.LGD
- Fnatic
- Team Liquid
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
The TI Schedule 2019
Kicking off TI 9 will be the Group Stage that takes place on the 15th until 18th August, where the top 18 dota teams will compete for a spot in the Playoffs. Every dota player’s dream is to participate in the main event held between the 20th till 25th August. Top best four units will go head to head in the Semi-Finals in best-of-three games. The two remaining finalists will reveal the masters of Dota in the Grand Final in a best of five matches.
Top 5 Dota Teams to follow at TI9
Fnatic
The dota team, Fnatic climbed the dota rankings acquiring their place to participate at The International. FNC have had gathered over 3K in Dota Pro Circuit points when they finished in third place at the DreamLeague Season 11, fourth at the ESL One Katowice 2019 and second at the PVP Esports Championship among other notable tournaments. If Fnatic goes through to the Playoffs will be a real significant achievement since TI6, will they manage to advance past the Group Stage at The International 2019.
Vici Gaming
The Chinese Team of Vici Gaming have acquired their spot at TI9 after gathering DPC points that reach over 6k. According to statistics and results, Vici won the premier DreamLeague Season 11 and StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Season 1. Among the significant accomplishments was finishing in second at the ESL One Hamburg 2018. Over the past few years, many Dota fans have seen at least one Chinese team in the Playoffs, high time that Vici reached the finals.
Evil Geniuses
The Evil Wizards of Dota have earned their place in the upcoming TI9 as the third team after gathering over 6K of Dota Pro Circuit points. Their notable wins over the past few months were at The Kuala Lumpur Major, The Chongqing Major and MDL Disneyland Paris Major. Back in 2015, EG won The International, so they still have what it takes to retake the Aegis. Will this year’s TI9 be another winning triumph for EG?
Virtus.Pro
Over the past few months, the Russian players of Virtus. Pro has climbed up slowly the Dota Pro circuit rankings. VP achieved first place at The Kuala Lumpur Major, second at The Chongqing Major and DreamLeague Season 11. Other accomplishments worth noting include the MDL Macau 2019 and ESL One Hamburg, finishing in third place. Virtus. Pro has kept on a winning streak beating the likes of Secret and Gambit Esports. The Russian team have proven their worth over the past few months, so there may be a chance that VP will be one of the finalists.
Team Secret
Leading the Dota Pro Circuit is Team Secret. They have won several tournaments through 2019; these include the MDL Disneyland Paris Major, ESL One Katowice 2019 and The Chongqing Major. Other esports championships that Secret have achieved a second place at The Kuala Lumpur Major, first place at ESL One Hamburg and the Major PVP Esports Championship. Overall Secret have been the masters of dota 2 for quite some time, will they fight on for TI championship title?
