The International 2018 Dota 2 Championships: Everything you need to know.

What is The International?

Every year in August, the best Dota 2 teams from around the world gather in one single place to fight for one grand prize - The Aegis of the Immortal. The Aegis is the most prestigious prize in all of E-Sports and in The International's rich 7-year history, The International has been the host to some of the most iconic moments in Dota.

When Valve stepped in and took over Dota, they announced an annual Dota tournament which was simply called, The International. The first version had been held in 2011 and boasted the largest prize pool in E-Sports history at the time - 1.6 million dollars. The same prize pool returned for the next edition and then gradually increased thanks to Valve's introduction of the Dota 2 Battle Pass through which the community was able to contribute to the prize pool. Every year, The International continues to break its own record for the highest prize pool in E-Sports history. To put things in perspective, The International 3 through 7 are in the top 10 prize pools in E-Sports history.

The International 2018 - Location, Participants and Prize Pool.

The 8th edition of the International, TI8 is set to begin on August 15th and conclude on 25th of the same month. For the second time, the location will not be in Seattle, USA. Ever since the first TI took place in Cologne, Germany every TI since then has taken place in Seattle. For the first time in 7 years, The International will emanate from The Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada.

---

The Dota Pro Circuit Season has provided 8 invites to The International and 10 other teams had to fight for qualification. The overall 8 teams have had the best performances throughout the year in all Major and Premier tournaments all over the World. The 8 invited teams to TI8 are:

1. Virtus.Pro - The top team of this Dota 2 season, Virtus Pro leads the Dota Pro Circuit leaderboards by almost 3000 points. The Russian organisation's team has finally found their rhythm and are going into TI as favorites. Line-up - Ramzes, No-one, pasha, Solo and Rodjer.
2. Team Liquid - The second placed team of the season, defending TI champions Team Liquid managed to maintain their unstoppable form throughout the season after winning last year's TI. The line-up of Kuroky, Miracle, GH, Matumbaman and Mind Control goes into TI8 as serious contendors again.
3. PSG.LGD Gaming - The best performing Chinese team of the season, LGD Gaming were taken over by football giants Paris Saint-Germain earlier this year. And the new representation only seemed to strengthen the line-up of Ame, Somnus, Chalice, fy and xNova.
4. Team Secret - Coming in at 4th this season was Team Secret who's consitency was again at display in addition to their inability to win tournaments. Reaching top 4 regularly but always failing to go past that, Secret will go into TI hoping to turn things around. Line-up - Puppey, Ace, Midone, Fata, Yapzor.
5. Mineski Gaming - The only SEA team to be invited, Mineski's success over the season largely rest on their surprise victory at the Dota 2 Asia Championship back in April. The team of Mushi, Moon, iceiceice, jabz and Ninjaboogie look to fight for their region at TI8.
6. Vici Gaming - The second Chinese team to merit an invite, Vici looked strong the whole season, but need to step up their game if they want to be a serious threat to the likes of Virtus.Pro and Liquid. Line-up - Paparazi, Ori, eLeVeN, LaNm, Fenrir.
7. Newbee - The runner-up of last year's TI will be looking for redemption after underperforming much of the season. Also representing China, it will be an uphill battle for Newbee. Their line-up remains the same from TI7 - Moogy, Sccc, Kaka, Faith and kpii.
8. VGJ.Thunder - The 4th Chinese team to be invited, VGJ.Thunder scrapped their way into TI after edging past Optic Gaming at the very last major of the season. They are the lowest ranked team to get an invite and will look to write a successful underdog story. Line-up - Sylar, Freeze, Yang, ddc and Fade.

In addition to the invited teams, 6 qualifiers were held to determine the other 10 teams of the International.

1. Team Serenity and Invictus Gaming qualified for TI8 through the Chinese Qualifiers. Serenity's team of zhizhizhi, Zyd, Xinq, Pyw and XCJ will be making their debut at TI and TI2 champions Invictus Gaming will be returning to the grand stage with Agressif, Boboka, Xxs, Srf and Q.
2. Team OG won the European Qualifiers to reach TI8. The newly formed line-up of Notail, Jerax, Ana, Topson, and 7ckngMad will be performing in OG's 3rd International in a row ever since their formation.
3. Winstrike Team won the CIS Qualifiers to join Virtus Pro as the only other CIS team in TI. Silent and AlwaysWannaFly will be playing their 2nd TI since TI5 while Iceberg, Nongrata and Nofear will be making their TI debut.
4. Fnatic and TNC Predator qualified from the SEA Qualifiers. Fnatic's seasoned roster of EternalEnvy, Abed, Universe, DJ and Pieliedie will all perform having attended numerous previous TI's. While TNC's Raven, Armel, SamH, Kuku and Tims will be making their 3rd TI appearance in a row.
5. Pain Gaming qualified through the SA Qualifiers. The Brazillian team also became the only South American representative in TI8. Hfn, w33, tavo, Kingrd and Duster make up their line-up.
6. VGJ.Storm, Evil Geniuses and OpTic Gaming qualified through the NA Qualifiers to round up 18 teams in the TI. Yawar, Resolution, Sneyking, MSS and SVG make up the VGJ line-up which will be making their debut in TI. TI5 Champions EG return to the grand stage with Sumail, Arteezy, S4, Crit and Fly. OpTic will also make their TI debut with Pajkatt, CC&C, Zai, 33 and ppd.

---

The current prize pool of TI8 stands at just over 20 million dollars. Ever since TI3, Valve implemented a new system for collecting the prize pool of TI: The International Compendium. An in-game DLC which gives the player a lot of new content $9.99 only. A level based system where the user earns new rewards every time they level up with virtually unlimited levels possible. Levels can also be bought using real money. The best thing about this system is that for every purchase made by a player, 25% of the money is added to the prize pool of TI8.

The prize pool keeps increasing all the way through TI untill the last day of the tournament as every purchase made till then will contribute to the entire prize pool. Thanks to this system every TI has seen an increase in prize pool since the 2nd version of the tournament. TI8 currently has a prize pool of $20,092,513. While TI7 had a final prize pool of $24,787,916. With over a month to go, TI8 will surely cross TI7's prize pool and it is to be seen how far it goes. One can keep track of the prize pool by clicking this link.

The International over the years.

Ever since it's inception in 2012, The International has been E-Sport's most prestigious tournament. Since the Aegis was made into The International's winners trophy, it has become the most sought after prize in all of E-Sports. Let's have a look at the rich history of the International.

---

The International 2011

Taking place at the Gamescom event in Cologne, Germany. The International's very first edition was Dota 2's introduction to the gaming world.

Ukrainian powerhouses and the now legendary team of Natus Vincere won the $1,600,000 tournament taking home 1 million dollars. Led by Puppey, Na'Vi's roster consisted of XBOCT, LightOfHeaven, ArtStyle and the person considered to be the best player to ever play the game, Dendi.

---

The International 2012

For their second edition of the event, Valve moved the venue to their hometown of Seattle, Washington. The Benaroya Hall will etch it's name in Dota history as this venue will go on to host every International since then.

Na'Vi will again go on to the grand finals losing to Chinese Powerhouse Invictus Gaming. Zhou, Ferrarri_430, YYF, Chuan and Faith would go on to become the first Chinese team to win 1 million dollars and take home the Aegis of the Immortal.

---

The International 2013

Introducing their player base funded prize pool system for the first time. TI3 broke the record for having the highest prize pool in any E-Sport tournament ever with $2,874,380 at stake.

Na'Vi will go on to make history by qualifying for their third straight grand finals but would go on to lose against Alliance in a 5 game series in what was dubbed as the El Clasico of Dota. The Swedish team consisting of Loda, AdmiralBulldog, S4, Akke and EGM took home $1,437,190 in prize money.

---

The International 2014

Breaking the prize pool yet again with a total of $10,923,977, TI4 again upped the stakes. The 2014 edition of the tournament also marked the first time Na'Vi wouldn't qualify for the grand finals. The tournament also moved from the Benaroya Hall to the Key Arena in Seattle.

TI4 saw Chinese domination as 3 of the top 4 teams were chinese incuding the two grand finalists: Newbee and Vici Gaming. Newbee will go on to hoist the Aegis becoming the second chinese team to do so. Their team consisting of Hao, Mu, xiao8, Banana and Shansheng took home $5,025,029.

---

The International 2015

TI5 saw another huge increase in prize money as the total pool became $18,429,613. This also marked the first edition of the tournament where the main event at Key Arena saw all 16 teams instead of just 8.

The entire story surrounding TI5 was which team can beat the Chinese domination of the Dota circuit over the past calendar year. The answer: Evil Geniuses. Hoisting the Aegis after being the only non-chinese team in the top 5, EG beat CDEC Gaming to win it all. Fear, Sumail, ppd, Universe and Aui_2000 took home a whopping $6,634,661.

---

The International 2016

The first International to cross the 20 million dollar mark, TI6 had a prize pool of $20,770,360. With only 6 teams invited, 12 teams had to qualify for the event after Valve's implementation of the Major system throughout the Dota season making this the first TI with 18 participants instead of 16.

The year of the Chinese as it was dubbed as every alternate TI was won by Chinese teams, TI6 saw no different as Wings Gaming took home $9,139,002 beating underdogs Digital Chaos in the finals. Their success would be short lived however as shadow, bLink, faith_bian, iceice and y' would soon enroll in controversy that would halt their professional careers.

---

The International 2017

The most recent iteration of The International had a prize pool of $24,787,916. With the stakes at an all time high, TI7 saw fierce competition as for the first time the winners will receive an amount exceeding 10 million dollars.

Team Liquid lifted the Aegis after team captain Kuroky led them to victory after losing one TI final before with Na'Vi and attending every single TI with the Aegis eluding him every time. Beating Newbee in the finals, Kuroky and co. took home $10,862,683. The line-up consisted of Kuroky, Miracle, Matumbaman, Mind_Control and GH.

Most Iconic Moments in The International History.

Ever since Na'Vi won the very first edition of the tournament, The International has only grown in prestige, prize money and honor. With so much pride in lifting the Aegis, competition has always been fierce as teams give it their all as if winning one game is a matter of life and death. Thanks to this undying spirit shown by the teams, we have seen some truly iconic moments in The International history. Let's run down some of the legendary ones that will forever remain in our memories.

The Fountain Hooks (The International 3)

Na'Vi's fountain hooks from The International 2013 is one of the most famous moments in E-Sports history. During the match between Na'vi and TongFu in the Upper Brackets Semi Finals, captain Puppey and star carry Dendi developed the ultimate cheese strategy to beat TongFu.

Just 15 minutes in, Na'vi used the previously unknown interaction between Chen's Test of Faith and Pudge's Meathook as Puppey would use his ability on Dendi the moment he will throw a hook. Does the hook connect, the enemy at the end of it got pulled into a one way trip to the fountain. Dendi landed hook after hook as Na'Vi won the game thus winning the series 2-1. Check out the fountain hook below:

The Six Million Dollar Echo Slam (The International 5)

One of the most remembered moments thanks in part to TobiWan's amazing commentary on the accompanying play, Universe's TI winning Echo Slam was one of the greatest moments in Dota 2 history. In what is called a Wombo-Combo, Universe on Earthshaker unleashed a nuclear bomb on CDEC Gaming inside the rosh pit.

EG lost their Upper Bracket finals to CDEC gaming 2-0 before beating LGD Gaming in the lower bracket finals to get their second shot at CDEC at the Grand Finals. The first 3 games would alternate between EG and CDEC as EG headed into game 4 with a 2-1 lead. CDEC spent much of the early game focusing on Sumail's Storm Spirit. After picking off Sumail, CDEC looked to take Roshan. However, ppd on Ancient Apparition scouted them out and placed a perfect Ice Blast inside the pit as Universe on Earth Shaker dove in with an Echo Slam. The single skill almost instantly melt CDEC as they were all grouped up and killed off 4 heroes leaving Aggressif's Phantom Lancer alive alone. Within 10 minutes, EG would lift the Aegis. The only words that can describe this play: It's a Disastah! Check it out below:

The Mega Creep Comeback (The International 6)

Evil Geniuses went into TI6 as the defending champions and the favorites to win the Aegis once again. They proved exactly why during the Upper Bracket Semi Finals against EHome. In the 6 year history of the International, no team had managed to come back against Mega Creeps up until that point. But, EG had other plans.

The first game of the series began in a slugfest with teamfight after teamfight with each team trading kills equally. But EHome would grind EG down and soon take a gold and XP lead over them. They would soon take all 3 rows of barracks and sit back with mega creeps. In a master strategy from EG, Sumail on Mirana would build an Ethereal Blade as he himself and his teammates Zai on Shadow Demon and ppd on Ancient Apparition all built Dagons. Coupled with ppd's well timed ultimates, EG would hold against EHome and mega creeps to eventually come back and win the game. The events prompted the announcers to dub the game 'The Greatest Dota 2 Game ever played'.

The Play (The International 2)

From TI2, Na'Vi's 'The Play' is arguably the single most iconic moment in Dota 2 History. Again in the Upper Bracket Semi Finals, Na'Vi faced off against Invictus Gaming. In the second game of the BO3, Na'Vi, down 0-1, pulled off one of the most incredible plays ever.

Na'Vi had drafted a push-heavy line up of Enigma, Rubick, Juggernaut, Shadow Shaman and Enchantress. While IG relied on a wombo-combo line up of Naga Siren, Tidehunter, Dark Seer, Lina and Puck. At around 17 minutes, IG smoked up and tried to pick Na'Vi from behind as they pushed a Tier 2 tower with minimum vision. The Naga Siren initiated with her Song of The Siren as all 5 Na'Vi players were disabled by the sleep. But within the split second between the Song's end and Tidehunter's Ravage, XBoct's Juggernaut activated his Bladefury and LightOfHeaven activated his Black King Bar. Neither of them got stunned and Dendi on Rubick force staffed himself to safety. Dendi stole ravage as LightOfHeaven caught 4 IG players in a Black Hole. Dendi's Ravage would go on to kill 4 heroes from his and Juggernaut's damage and Na'Vi chased and killed Lina who was the last surviving member.

Kuroky's Redemption (The International 7)

Kuroky is a German proffessional Dota 2 player who had started his career as a position one carry but switched to support midway through. Kuroky is one of the only 4 players to have attended every single TI. TI1 with Gosu Gamers with a first round exit. TI2 with Mousesports again getting eliminated first round. TI3 and TI4 with Na'Vi bagging a second place finish at TI3. TI5 with Team Secret getting a 7th-8th finish and TI6 through TI8 with Team Liquid. Kuroky played for all the right teams at all the wrong times as he failed to lift the Aegis.

Initially being invited on to Na'Vi by best friend Puppey, Kuroky finished second at TI 3 and developed a hunger to win TI and lift the Aegis. A hunger that will drive him for the next 4 years. After joining Puppey at Team Secret, a team formed by Puppey himself, and again failing to lift the Aegis. Kuroky decided to permanently shift to support and create his own team of youngsters. Kuroky was joined by young prodigees Mind_Control and Matumbaman and more experienced FATA and Jerax. But their campaign at TI6 would be unsuccesful yet again. A roster change soon saw wonder boy GH come in for Jerax and arguably the world's best player, Miracle joining the team. With Miracle and GH Liquid went on a tear throughout the season and finally, 4 years after losing a TI Grand Finals, Kuroky finally won the Aegis beating Newbee 3-0 in the Grand Finals to do so. The crowd chanting Kuroky's name as Liquid stand on center stage with the Aegis will remain one of the most iconic moments in Dota 2 history. Catch Liquid's winning moment below:

The International 2018 - Favorites and Format.

With the International just around the corner. Here is everything you need to know about the event. The International will be the concluding event of the Dota pro circuit season 2017-18. It will be held in Vancouver, Canada with the main event taking place in Rogers Arena.

The group stages will begin on August 15th and conclude on August 18th. A team will face every other team in it's group in a Best of 2 series. The top 4 teams of each group will go on to the upper brackets and the next 4 will comprise of the lower bracket. The last placed team on each group will get eliminated. A pictorial representation is given below:

Group Stage rules of The International 8.

The Main Event will take place over 6 days from 20th August to 25th August in front of a live crowd at Roger's Arena. All matches will be contested in a Best of 3 series except for the first round of the lower brackets which will have a Best of 1 format and the Grand Final which will be Best of 5.

Every match in the lower bracket is an elimination match which if a team loses, they go home. Whereas every match in the Upper Bracket is a qualification match towards the Grand Finals. If a team loses in the Upper Brackets, they slip down to the corresponding lower bracket fixture. The format is much better represented in the picture down below where the losers of an Upper Bracket match gets demoted to the lower bracket match vertically below them.

Main Event brackets of The International 2018.

Going into the tournament Russian team Virtus.Pro is the favorites on paper. Out of the 9 Major tournaments this year, Virtus Pro has won 4 of them while managing top 4 finishes in 3 more. Out of the only 2 Majors they didn't finish top 4 in, they withdrew from one and finished 6th in another. The line-up of Solo, NoOne, 9Pasha, Rodjer and Ramzes has been the most impressive and are the bookmaker's favorites going into TI8.

Defending champions Team Liquid are still the force they were last year. They proved it with their victory at the season's last major, The China Supermajor. Garnering top 4 finishes in 6 of the 9 majors and winning the Supermajor, Liquid kept their name atop the Dota community as Kuroky, Miracle, Matumbaman, Mind_Control and GH they headed into TI8 placed second on the Dota Pro Circuit charts.

2018 is supposed to be the year of the Chinese. With a non chinese team winning last year, past results indicate a Chinese victory this year. Their best hope: PSG.LGD Gaming. Ever since Football Giants Paris Saint Germain took over LGD Gaming they went on a tear. Finishing in the top 4 every major they participated in winning them twice, PSG looked as strong as any team going into TI. Ame, Somnus, fy, Chalice and xNova looks to bring the Aegis back to China.

You can watch The International live on here. The site will come online once The International starts and the official Streams are online.