The International 2018 and the History of The International DOTA2 Championship

Valve hosted annual DOTA2 tournament The International is starting next week. The group stage starting 15th August with 18 teams divided into two groups. The matches are scheduled between 15th to 18th August. Main event starting on 20th August. 16 teams will play in a double elimination format over 6 days. The eighth edition of The International will be held on Rogers Arena – Vancouver, Canada. This is the first time a point system based on sponsored official Minors and Majors will decide the direct invites. The International evolves with every edition, there is always something new. Let’s take a look back at the history of The International Championship.

---

The International 1 (2011)

Natus Vincere the Champions of TI1

Valve announced the first International Championship on August 1 at 2011. $1 million USD for winning DOTA. It was unbelievable. 16 teams were invited to the tournament. A tournament that was being streamed in four different languages. English, German, Russian and Chinese. It took place in Cologne, Germany with a prize pool of $1.6 million. The final of TI1 was between the Natus Vincere (Na’Vi) and the legendary Chinese team Ehome, with Na’vi being the champion and Ehome finishing as Runner’s up. In 2014 they released a documentary named Free to Play based on The International 1. Showcasing the legends, the upsets and the new emerging stars of the game.

The International 2 (2012)

Na'Vi Booth

The International Championship 2 was announced on May 2012 and held at Benaroya Hall in Seattle from August 31 to September 2. The prize pool remained $1.6 million USD with $1 million for the Champion.

Again for the 2nd time, Natus Vincere was Playing in the Finals against another legendary Chinese team Invictus Gaming. Invictus Gaming wins the championship by beating Na’Vi by 3-1.

The International 3 (2013)

Enter caption

The International Championship 3 was announced on April 25, 2013. It was held at Seattle from August 7 to 11. Including the defending champion, Invictus Gaming 13 teams were invited to the Valve hosted annual tournament and 3 teams were selected by two qualifying tournaments and one match before the tournament. The first interactive International compendium which will contribute to the prize pool of the tournament was announced on May 6. The International reclaimed its previous record of being the tournament with prize pool surpassing the $2 million League of Legends tournament with a prize pool of $2,874,380 USD.

This year Natus Vincere again managed to reach the final being the first team to reach 3 TI finals back to back. The final was played between Na’Vi and Alliance and the world saw the Legendary Puck of S4 with Alliance snatching the Championship after a series of nerve wrecking games.

The International 4 (2014)

KeyArena- Seattle

On March 31, 2014, Valve announced The International 2014, which would take place from July 18 to 21 at the KeyArena, Seattle. 11 teams received direct invites and 4 teams were selected by regional qualifiers while the 16th spot was decided by wildcard qualifier between runner’s up of regional qualifiers. The Prize pool of the tournament again broke all records for being the largest E-sports tournament by reaching the $10,000,000 USD prize pool on June 27. After this tournament, 8 DOTA2 players became the highest ranking players in terms of Prize money won surpassing the highest ranking players at that time.

Newbee emerged as the new and 4th International Champions.

The International 5 (2015)

Team Evil Geniuses

January 5, 2015 Valve announced the TI5. 16 teams attended the event held at KeyArena, Seattle. The prize pool reached over $18 million USD. The direct Invited teams were Vici Gaming, Evil Geniuses, Team Secret, Invictus Gaming, LGD gaming, Cloud 9, Team Empire, Virtus Pro, Newbee, Fnatic. Rest of the teams were selected by regional qualifiers and wildcard qualifying games.

Evil Geniuses played in the Finals against the Chinese team CDEC gaming and emerged victoriously. The world saw the famous $6 million Echoslam.

The International 6 (2016)

TI6 Venue

March 31, 2016 Valve announced the annual dota2 championship TI6. Open qualifiers started on June 21 with regional qualifiers following on June 25. The International 2016 was also the fourth Major tournament of 2016. The tournament was hosted in Seattle for the 5th consecutive year, 3rd consecutive year in KeyArena. Open qualifier, Regional Qualifier, Wildcard qualifier and Direct Invites decided the teams that will play in the main event. 16 teams played in the main event in a double elimination format over 6 days. The prize pool was a record-breaking $20,770,460.

Wings Gaming played in the finals against Digital Chaos as Wings snatched the Aegis of the Championship emerging as another new champion of the Valve hosted annual event.

The International 7 (2017)

TI7

TI7 began with the online regional qualifying tournaments on June 2017. CIS, China, Europe, North America, South America and South East Asia Regional qualifiers started prior to the group stage event on August 2-5. The main event was held at KeyArena, Seattle with 16 teams. Evil Geniuses, Invictus Gaming, Newbee, OG, Team Liquid and Virtus Pro received direct invitations. 16 teams played against each other for a prize pool of $24,787,916 USD.

Team Liquid played against Newbee in the finals and won the championship by a shocking 3-0 becoming the first team in the history of TI to whitewash a Final.