Collapse and Mira discuss Team Spirit's early exit at Dota 2 TI 11, soundproofing issues, and future

Team Spirit's early exit on the first day of the playoffs at this year's Dota 2 The International (TI) shocked many. Although the reigning champions didn't have an exceptional Group Stage, people expected them to emulate their historic TI 10 lower bracket run to push ahead. Sadly, that didn't turn out to be the case.

After their elimination, Team Spirit's Collapse and Mira were a part of the Russian version of the Late Game Show at The International 2022, being hosted by Oleksandr "XBOCT" Dashkevych. The two talked about the team's performance at TI 11, the issue with soundproofing, and what the future holds for them, among other things.

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Team Spirit's Collapse and Mira talk about Dota 2 TI 11's early exit, drafting choices, playing in front of a live audience, and more

Team Spirit ended the Group Stage in the middle of the table with a record of 1-7-1. The reigning TI champions did not showcase the usual dominant team chemistry that was on display last year during their Cinderella story. Translated by Escorenews.com, the conversation shed light on the Dota 2 team's mindset at the tournament.

Collapse commented that it was not their patch and they had issues with the drafts in most matches. Mira stated that their best heroes from the bootcamp were out of the meta, mentioning:

"Our best heroes from bootcamp ended up outside of meta, like Batrider, Earthshaker. I was playing ES for the whole bootcamp, we are coming here, and he has 20% winrate. And I'm like: "Well, time to play Nyx Assassin". I'm level 5 in Dota Plus on this hero."

They confirmed that they have not talked about any future roster changes or about what's next, but it is just another tournament and "not the end of the world." When asked what it was like to compete in front of an audience at TI after having played without one last year, Mira said:

"It's very weird when you play a game and hear sounds of Dota 2 from the arena even through the headset. You hear smoke sounds, how someone runs somewhere or someone is getting caught, and everyone screams. And this dude might go somewhere because he hears that everyone is screaming, and he goes: "It seems that they will attack now". It's very weird how it all works. I think it's a big mistake by PGL."

The lack of soundproof booths, a staple in earlier TIs, was noted as soon as the playoffs began, with the community outraged at such oversight. It quickly became clear that players were able to hear some of the words of the caster, including calls regarding smoke plays or what runes have been picked up.

The question arose if the issue gave an unfair advantage to those who could understand English. It was later reported that Fnatic made an official complaint regarding the matter, but a soundproof booth remained absent even on the final day of the playoffs.

Regarding their match against BOOM Esports, Collapse and Mira shared that taking Nyx Assassin was a mistake and that they should have taken Magnus instead. Furthermore, Collapse had forgotten that BOOM also plays Mars in the mid-lane and how Team Spirit got caught off-guard.

Mira also noted that he was surprised after BOOM banned Magnus, stating:

"It was actually quite weird, we haven't picked Magnus at all for the whole tournament, only on scrims against local Asian teams. But BOOM for some reason banned the hero against us in the final stage. Somehow they learned that we are still picking that hero even after he was nerfed. It was very suspicious."

Collapse explained that after coming to Malaysia, he had played Magnus on his main account, which is how BOOM likely knew to ban the hero for the match. Collapse's heroics with Magnus last year, especially in the Grand Final against PSG.LGD, are already a part of Dota 2 TI history.

Team Spirit's early exit meant that there will be a new Dota 2 The International champion this year. While the team's fans will be disappointed with their short run, they did have a decent year, managing to win the Dota 2 Arlington Major 2022. It remains to be seen how the side will bounce back in the future.