Dota 2: The International Tournament - An Introduction
The International Tournament is drawing near! After months of competition, twelve teams have received their invitations to TI, with eight more to be added after the upcoming regional qualifiers.
The International Tournament is followed by millions, from casual players to experienced veterans and retired professionals. Every year, we strive to find new ways to make the International Tournament even more exciting, entertaining, and accessible than ever before. This year, our focus has been on enhancing the viewing experience for a broader range of fans.
The New Face of The International Tournament
With TI 2023 on the horizon, we want to explain to you every detail of the format changes that the developers are trying out this year, as well as their thoughts behind them.
The Schedule
An obvious difference this year is the event schedule. A live competition is always more exciting when people can watch it live and not hours or days later. That's why the developers want to enable more people to do so.
To achieve this, they plan to schedule almost every game over a Friday-to-Sunday weekend. It will take three weekends to accommodate all the games of a Dota 2 tournament with twenty teams - one weekend for the group stage (October 12-15), one weekend for the playoffs (October 20-22), and one weekend for the grand finals (October 27-29).
The Road to The International Tournament
As a prominent esports event, The International Tournament attracts viewers who have never played Dota or seen a live gaming event. First-time viewers often express the same message to the developers: The TI is exciting but can sometimes be overwhelming.
Therefore, this year they have divided "The International Tournament" into two distinct phases with two different names: The Road to The International Tournament, which includes the group stage and playoffs, capturing all the drama of the clash between the top 20 Dota teams; and the International Tournament itself.
Group Stage and Playoffs
In the group stage, four groups of five teams will compete over two days to advance to the playoffs. And in the new playoff format, it will be even more thrilling!
In the playoffs, starting on Friday, October 20 at the Seattle Convention Center's Summit, the top eight teams will battle for the four spots in the upper bracket of The International Tournament.
On to the Grand Finals!
Get your Steam Keys ready and let's go! Because from October 27 to 29, the final eight teams will compete at The International Tournament for the title of the best Dota team in the world! Tickets for both phases of The International Tournament will go on sale in the second half of August.
