Indeed, the biggest competitive Dota 2 event in the world is about to take place starting off tomorrow. Yet, up till now we still had no idea regarding the Group Stage. Accordingly, we finally have an update from Valve. Read on to see how The International 10 Groups Stage has been drawn!
The International 10 Groups – How Do They Stand?
Classically, The International has always followed a similar format.
To ensure the safety of all players, talent, and production staff participating in the event, we have decided to refund all ticket sales for the live audience at The International 2021 — https://t.co/JOZQzxZ8Sfpic.twitter.com/77xnfvC5kv
Over in the Group Stage, here’s how it’s going to work. With 18 teams split into two groups of 9, each group will play a round-robin. Specifically, that means each team will play one another once in a BO2 match.
Here are your groups for the upcoming and exciting event:
Group A:
Alliance
Evil Geniuses
Invictus Gaming
OG
T1
Team Aster
Team Undying
Thunder Predator
Virtus.pro
About 12 hours left to lock in your Compendium's Tournament Predictions. Don't miss your chance to gaze into the future, predict correctly, and earn Compendium Points! 🔮 #TI10
Over the past few days, we were concerned Team Aster at TI10. Indeed, due to medical considerations, there was a chance the team wouldn’t make it to the biggest event of the year. Accordingly, read on to learn exactly how – Team Aster Competing at TI10!
Team Aster Competing at TI10 – Playing Remotely
Moving on, we’ve only just recently received a confirmation over the state of Team Aster.
However, in the past few days, the entire team has contracted the ongoing pathogen and hence, will definitely not be able to make it to the venue in Romania.
Accordingly, here’s what one of the people behind the scenes had to say; Wykrhm Reddy, on Twitter:
Team Aster and others that tested positive for COVID will be allowed to play TI10 over the internet from their isolation rooms that will be setup with the required equipment.
Bearing this in mind, it’s clear what’ll be going. Instead of attending the live venue, Team Aster will be playing remotely. Specifically, this will be a secure location while their opposition will be at the venue.
Indeed, this definitely won’t be a major effect on the competition – this is because MOBA’s aren’t so heavily reliant on superb connection.
With a heavy heart, there’s some heavy news to talk about. Accordingly, the biggest event we’ve all been waiting for has suffered a minor setback. Indeed, we’re talking about The International 10 Live Crowd. Read on as we let you know why there won’t be one next week.
The International 10 Live Crowd – Inevitable
To ensure the safety of all players, talent, and production staff participating in the event, we have decided to refund all ticket sales for the live audience at The International 2021 — https://t.co/JOZQzxZ8Sfpic.twitter.com/77xnfvC5kv
So, before we add any thoughts, take a look at the following press release below:
We have been carefully evaluating the continued rise of Covid rates in Romania, as well as the resulting introduction of new local restrictions in Bucharest. To ensure the safety of all players, talent, and production staff participating in the event, we have decided to refund all ticket sales for The International 2021.
We wanted nothing more than to welcome fans live to the event, but we can no longer do so in a way that allows us to prioritize the health and well-being of both audience members and participants. Those who purchased tickets will be issued a full refund automatically.
Historically, OG is one of the top teams in competitive Dota 2 due to performances at The International. Accordingly, as they try to make it three-times in a row wth a victory at The International, it doesn’t look good right now. Read on as we discuss why Ceb OG Missing TI10 is a loss!
Ceb OG Missing TI10 – Another Hit to OG
Indeed, take a look at what’s up with regards to Sebastien “Ceb” Debs” in the following statement from the team:
Credits: Valve
Last week, our beloved Sébastien “Ceb” Debs was diagnosed with an eye condition that could permanently endanger his eye and required surgery immediately. We flew him back to France, where he underwent surgery the following day surrounded by his loved ones. The procedure thankfully went smoothly, and Ceb is resting and recovering.
It is uncertain whether Ceb will be cleared to play The International 10, and we will be waiting on his doctor’s verdict before making any final team decision
Let’s talk about the upcoming The International 10! Indeed, as the largest esports event in the world, the entire world will be trying to watch this exciting event. Accordingly, celebrating the top range of competitive Dota 2 with $40,018,195 on the line! Read on to learn How to Watch this event!
Event Background
Accordingly, there’s something very special about The International 10 this year. Indeed, following the cancellation of last year’s event, we’re ready to dive into this year’s iteration of the event.
Credits: Valve
Originally scheduled for August 2020 in Stockholm, we’re now headed for a live event in Bucharest next week. Indeed, running from 7th October to 17th October in front of a live crowd, we have the top 18 teams in the world fighting for domination.
Organized by Valve at the Arena Nationala, here are your top 18 teams in the world:
Evil Geniuses
PSG.LGD
Virtus.pro
Quincy Crew
Invictus Gaming
T1
ViCi Gaming
Team Secret
Team Aster
Alliance
beastcoast
Thunder Predator
Team Undying
SG esports
OG
Team Spirit
Elephant
Fnatic
After a long year of competition, this is everything that the competitors have wanted for the past 2 years.
Format
So, let’s talk format.
Credits: ESL
First things first, we have the Group Stage running from 7th October to 10th October. Although the groups are yet to be determined, it’s clear that we’ll be enjoying two groups of 9 competing for a spot in the Main Event. Here, teams will be looking to making it in the top half of their group in order to make it to the Main Event later on.
Otherwise, running from 12th October to 17th October, the Main Event will likely host a double elimination bracket to sort out the top competition, although this is yet to be confirmed.
Credits: Valve
For those unaware, a double elimination bracket will involve an upper and lower bracket. Teams starting in the Upper Bracket will have a cushion should they lose and fall to the Lower Bracket instead of being eliminated. However, a loss in the Lower Bracket results in elimination.
Note, that this is the format that’s always been used and celebrated at The International.
Schedule for The International 10
Although unofficial right now, the schedule looks to be made public by Valve at the following event page. Visit the event page for The International to view the entire schedule once it’s made public.
Watch The International 10 on esportsguide
You can also watch The International 10 live stream via our very own website. Providing an extensive list of the biggest esports together with streams for each esports match live today or upcoming matches.
Up to this point, we’ve enjoyed the Dota Pro Circuit. Accordingly, most teams in this event did qualify through this framework outside of the Qualifier teams.
Credits: Valve
Indeed, we can take a look at the rankings for the Dota Pro Circuit 2021 right below:
Evil Geniuses – 1700
PSG.LGD – 1300
Virtus.pro – 1200
Quincy Crew – 1100
Invictus Gaming – 1100
T1 – 1070
ViCi Gaming – 950
Team Secret – 950
Team Aster – 800
Alliance – 800
beastcoast – 800
Thunder Predator – 800
Taking a look at these rankings, it’s quite clear who the favourites for this event are.
Indeed, both PSG.LGD and Evil Geniuses look to soar to the top and claim the majority of the $40,000,000.
Indeed, with The International finally a week or so away after two years, everybody wants everything to go perfectly. However, that’s not how the cookie is crumbling for the likes of Team Aster. Unfortunately, the news of Team Aster Test Positive is unfortunately true and could be devastating for the team. Read on to learn more.
So, officially thanks to the team’s Weibo page back in China, the following players/staff have been listed as testing positive in the past 24 hours:
Du “Monet” Peng
Lin “Xxs” Jing
Ye “Borax” Zhibiao
The team’s coach, manager and video team
What else do we know? Supposedly, all players and individuals seem to be asymptomatic with only mild symptoms. Accordingly, what’s more worrisome is that the team is currently housed in the same hotel in Romania as the other Chinese teams.
Credits: Valve
Indeed, the likes of Elephant, ViCi Gaming and Invictus Gaming have also been tested but seem to be perfectly fine.
Sadly, the truth stands that TI10 will kick off on October 7th. Across the past few months, we’ve seen how testing positive has ruined tournaments for teams.
As of right now, we have no official rulings coming through.
After 2 years of waiting for The International to come back, everything simply meet expectations. Accordingly, one aspect many were concerned over was the venue and live audience. Luckily, we can finally confirm details regard The International 10 Venue!
The International 10 Venue – Live Fans is the Only Way
Credits: Valve
Indeed, Valve went live with the announcement on their press release page, offering details regarding tickets and attendance. Here’s a short snippet:
We are pleased to announce that after careful consideration, tickets to join the audience live at the Main Event for The International 2021 in Bucharest, Romania will go on sale September 22, 2021.
Please note that our efforts to keep this event safe for all involved include some additional requirements—which are outlined below—for those who choose to attend, as we aim to bring the community together both in person and virtually to finally watch the best teams in the world battle it out for the Aegis of Champions.
Having just discussed G2 Esports’ disappointing LEC season, the story for NaVi Dota 2 is similar. Although having a strong regular season across the year, the team failed to qualify for The International. Bearing this in mind, a new Dota 2 NaVi Coach ArtStyle has been confirmed – read on for more!
Dota 2 NaVi Coach ArtStyle – A Familiar Face
Okay, here's what everyone's been waiting for… Meet the renewed NAVI #DOTA2!
Roughly a day ago, Natus Vincere Dota 2 announced a new roster including the following players:
Alik “V-Tune” Vorobey
Volodymer “No[o]ne” Minenko
Viktor “GeneRaL” Nigrini
Ilya “ALOHADANCE” Korobkin
Alexey “Solo” Berezin
However, for competitive Dota 2 no team is complete without a coach.
Speaking of which, Ivan “Artstyle” Antonov is back in the lineup. Indeed, the coach is actually a former competitor for Na’Vi from 2015 to 2016.
Credits; NaVi
With his main point of success being the coach for the successful run of Virtus.pro back in 2017, the coach is ready to help NaVi when they need him most.
Accordingly, NaVi is hoping that under new leadership, this new team can really put together an incredible effort next season.
Like this, they hopefully won’t miss out on The International again – the biggest event of the year.
Slowly and gradually, we’re approaching The International this year – the largest esports event ever. Accordingly, the event has been a long time coming and the community can’t wait. Indeed, in this time of anticipation, let’s dive into a review of the past year of competitive Dota 2 2020/21!
This Time Last Year – Left in the Dust
Credits: Valve
First, we’ll have to start by talking about the elephant in the room.
This time last year, competitive Dota 2 was in a poor state. Accordingly, the community suffered the cancellation of last year’s iteration of The International.
What’s more, is that other esports scenes were still hosting events – such as their direct competitors in League of Legends who managed to host the Worlds 2020 regardless of the global situation.
Credits: ESL
With the Dota Pro Circuit 2021 having to reform due to the cancellation, casual and competitive communities were curious to learn what’s next.
Here’s how the year went!
Fact Sheet – The Best Dota 2 Esports Events Over the Year – Competitive Dota 2 2020/21
As always, we’d like to credit Esports Charts for all the viewership statistics.
OMEGA League: Europe Immortal Division – August 2020
Online
$500,000
Peak Viewers – 412,391
Average Viewers – 116,657
Credits: OMEGA
At this point in time, it was still uncertain as to whether or not The International would be taking place or not.
Bearing this in mind, excitement was at an all-time high in anticipation – with the OMEGA League taking place right before it to warm up the teams.
This is easily viewable in the strong viewership statistics this event demonstrated, despite being online.
ESL One Germany 2020 – October 2020
Online
$400,000
Peak Viewers – 272,973
Average Viewers – 74,033
Credits: ESL
Here’s where we start to see the effects of cancelling the biggest event of the year.
Trying to replace the excitement, ESL One Germany was an honest attempt at hosting some competition to start off another season. However, as you can tell, viewership simply wasn’t there in October compared to previous events.
EPIC League Season 2 Division 1 – December 2020
Online
$500,000
Peak Viewers – 263,542
Average Viewers – 108,781
Credits: Epicenter
Moving onwards to December, another event from EPIC helped light up the holidays with some competition.
Yet, once again, with $500,000 on the line, viewership fell slightly short despite the great level of competition at hand. Also, it had been a long while since an offline event with fans was held for the community – a loss that was felt.
ONE Esports Singapore Major 2021 – March 2021
Offline
$500,000
Peak Viewers – 597,732
Average Viewers – 194,703
Credits: ONE Esports
As we enter March, this is where things really spice up for the community
Finally, after half a year, competitive Dota 2 would enjoy a live event with fans present.
Indeed, this lit a fire in the community, with viewership spiking to almost 600,000 at one point!
Beyond this event, the fact that it was held was a sign that The International would be a possibility this year.
WePlay AniMajor – June 2021
Offline
$500,000
Peak Viewers – 645,141
Average Viewers – 272,806
Credits: WePlay
With this year’s The International confirmed, excitement was through the roof.
Every event began to rack up the viewership, as exemplified by the WePlay AniMajor 2021 held in June. This offline Major kicked things into gear with a peak of 650,000 viewership at one point.
ESL One Summer 2021 – June 2021
Online
$400,000
Peak Viewers – 282,677
Average Viewers – 151,393
Credits: ESL
Of course, such momentum will waver back and forth before the main event. Accordingly, ESL took this opportunity to host some competitive events to fill in the time.
ESL One Fall 2021 – August 2021
Online
$400,000
Peak Viewers – 232,433
Average Viewers – 114,660
Credits: ESL
And now, the last event we have to discuss before the big one later this year.
Accordingly, with the conclusion of ESL One Fall 2021, the dip of viewership is not worth concerning over – especially since expectations are higher than ever for this year’s The International planned for October.
Over the past week, the ESL One Fall 2021 event took place for competitive Dota 2. Accordingly, it served as a final chance for teams to compete prior to The International. Read on to learn how Tundra Esports managed to surprise everyone!
ESL One Fall 2021 – A Great Event
With the underlying storyline behind Tundra Esports, the event in general was great for competition. Indeed, the $400,000 helped drive intense matches over the week.
Kicking things off, they were not favourites. Seated in Group A, the roster managed to place second beneath Virtus.pro with a 4-1 record.
Earning a spot into the Playoffs, this is where the run would kick off. After taking care of beastcoast though, they’d need to challenge Virtus.pro once again. However, although losing to them in the Group Stage, Tundra Esports managed to sweep them 2-0.
Credits: ESL
Further on, with a date into the Grand Final, they’d face one of the favourites with PSG.LGD.
Accordingly, this grand final was incredible. Here, a back and forwards battle between Tundra and PSG.LGD ended in Tundra clawing their way back in and claiming the win.
Although an incredible performance, it’s unfortunate to know that Tundra Esports won’t be at The International 2021. Regardless, a win is a win.
