Meet the teams vying for a share of The International’s $40 million prize pool

The International is Dota 2’s biggest and most prestigious event, featuring the largest prize pool in all of esports. After the pandemic led to the postponement of last year’s tournament, The International 10 will take place Oct. 7-17, with a record prize pool of over $40 million.

The tournament was originally set to take place in Stockholm, Sweden, but will now take place in Bucharest, Romania. Twelve teams were invited after earning enough circuit points in Dota Pro Circuit regional and major competitions, and six teams made it by winning their region’s qualifying tournament. Before TI 10 gets underway, here’s a primer on the 18 teams that are competing to raise the Aegis of Champions.

Invited teams

Evil Geniuses

Evil Geniuses qualified for TI 10 as the top team based on the Dota Pro Circuit points rankings. They finished first in the North America Upper Division Season 1 and second in Season 2. They finished second at each of the two DPC majors this year, which included an impressive lower-bracket run in the second major. They went on to win five straight matches to reach the final. The org has an illustrious history competing at The International, having won in 2015 and finishing third in 2014, 2016 and 2018.

PSG.LGD

PSG.LGD have been one of the strongest Dota 2 teams all year. They were one of the best teams in the DPC’s China upper division and won both the WePlay AniMajor and the OGA Dota PIT Invitational. Although the org has never won TI, they are one of the most successful orgs at TI. They’ve qualified nine times (more than any other org) and finished no lower than fourth in each of the past three iterations of the tournament.

Virtus.pro

Virtus.pro are the top team from Russia at TI 10. They went undefeated in both Seasons 1 and 2 of their regional circuit for a perfect 14-0 record, but they didn’t go far in either of the DPC international majors. They have qualified for The International six times in their history but never finished higher than 5th-6th.

Quincy Crew

Quincy Crew are a newer org that was created in 2018 and will be making their first ever appearance at TI. They are one of nine orgs that will make their International debut at TI 10. They competed in the DPC’s North America upper division circuit, finishing second in Season 1 and first in Season 2. They improved on their 9th-12th place finish in the first major of the season by placing 5th-6th in the second major.

Invictus Gaming

Invictus Gaming won the first season of the DPC’s China upper division and finished fourth in Season 2. After being knocked down to the lower bracket by Evil Geniuses in the first major of the season, they got their revenge in the final, beating EG 3-2. Invictus Gaming won The International 2012 when the prize pool was a mere $1.6 million.

T1

T1 at TI. It has a nice ring to it. The org known primarily for Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and League of Legends got into Dota in 2019 and will be making their first appearance at TI. The teams finished third in the Southeast Asia upper division circuit in Season 1 and first in Season 2. Their signature tournament victory this year was finishing first at ESL One Summer 2021.

Vici Gaming

Vici Gaming finished third in Seasons 1 and 2 of the China upper division, and they placed fourth in the second major of the season. They are no strangers to TI, and have qualified five times, finishing as high as second at The International 2014.

Team Secret

The top European team at The International checks in at No. 9 based on circuit points. They finished first in the first season of Europe’s upper division and fourth in the second season. Team Secret features one of the longest-tenured players on any roster at TI. Clement "Puppey" Ivanov has been with the team since 2014. He is also one of the most decorated Dota 2 players in history, with the distinction of being the only player to qualify for all 10 iterations of The International. Stability appears to be a hallmark of this org, since they haven’t made any roster changes in nearly two years.

Team Aster

Team Aster rounds out a very strong contingent of Chinese teams at TI that qualified via circuit points. In fact, four of the top nine teams in terms of circuit points hail from China’s upper division. Team Aster finished second in Season 1 and first in Season 2 of their regional circuit. Unlike fellow Chinese teams PSG.LGD, Invictus Gaming and Vici Gaming, Team Aster failed to perform as well against international competition in either major.

Alliance

Alliance finished second in Season 1 of Europe’s upper division and first in Season 2. They have finished better than 9th-12th only once in four previous appearances at TI, and that was when they won it all in 2013.

beastcoast

The beastcoast roster is the same squad that was signed by Infamous and finished 7th-8th at The International 2019. It was an inspiring run by the predominantly Peruvian roster and the highest finish for any Latin American team at TI. The team finished first in Season 1 of the South America upper division circuit and second in Season 2.

Thunder Predator

Thunder Predator rounds out the group of 12 teams who qualified for TI via circuit points. They are the second predominantly Peruvian roster to qualify, which has never happened in TI’s history. Although they do not boast the same history at TI as their Peruvian brethren on beastcoast, they did finish 5th-6th at the first major of the season, which bodes well for them in facing international competition.

Qualified teams

Team Undying

Team Undying are the third North American representatives at TI. However, they are not nearly as accomplished as Evil Geniuses or Quincy Crew. They finished third in both seasons of the North America upper division and qualified for TI by winning The International’s North America qualifier with a clean run through the bracket in which they didn’t drop a map.

SG esports

SG esports are a Brazilian roster that qualified for TI via The International’s South America qualifier. This is only the second time that a Brazilian team will appear at TI. The first was paiN Gaming in 2018.

OG

OG are the back-to-back defending International champions, but they almost didn’t qualify for TI 10. They finished fifth in the first season of Europe’s upper division and sixth in the second season. They didn’t place high enough to compete at either of the two majors so they had to do it through the Western Europe qualifier. Three of the five members of their roster were on the teams that won the previous two TIs. Martin “Saksa” Sazdov joined the team in early 2020, and Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan (who won TI with EG in 2015) joined this summer.

Team Spirit

Team Spirit are the second Russian team that will be at TI. They made it through the Eastern Europe qualifier, in which they won a close 3-2 final over Team Empire to punch their ticket to TI. Their signature accomplishment this year was finishing second at the OGA Dota PIT Invitational.

Elephant

Elephant are the fifth team that will be representing China at TI. They finished well below the other four Chinese teams on the circuit point leaderboard, but given the strength of the Chinese region, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Elephant make some noise at TI.

Fnatic

Although Fnatic usually represent Europe, they actually compete in Southeast Asia in Dota 2. They started off the year with a first-place finish in Season 1 of the Southeast Asia upper division, but didn’t perform as well the rest of the year. This will be the org’s eighth appearance at TI, and their best finish was fourth in 2016.

Lead image credit: Valve