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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.
