Eastern European Dota 2 Personalities React to Fnatic’s TI11 Qualification Over Outsiders

Fnatic's direct qualification for The International 11 (TI11) in place of Outsiders has been met with mixed reactions from the community. In the initial standings posted on the Liquipedia portal, it had almost been confirmed that Outsiders would receive the 12th and final direct invite for TI11, but Valve later clarified that it was Fnatic who received the invite because Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) points were calculated differently by truncating points totals following each deduction.

A number of personalities from the Eastern European (EEU) Dota 2 community, including members of the Outsiders roster who will now have to play the TI11 qualifiers, were upset with this final outcome and have since taken to social media to express their disappointment.

The EEU Dota 2 community weighs in on Outsiders missing out on a TI11 direct invite

According to the DPC points tally on Liquipedia, Evil Geniuses and Outsiders were presumed to have secured the final two direct invites to TI11. However, as the Arlington Major concluded on 14th August, a discrepancy was observed between Liquipedia's total tally, which listed Outsiders as the 12th place team with Fnatic trailing by just 0.05 points, and Valve's total tally, which listed Fnatic as the 12th place team with Outsiders trailing by 1 point.

Finally, Valve confirmed that its point tally was correct, and that Fnatic was the final team to receive a TI11 direct invite.

Disappointment over Outsiders missing out on a TI11 direct invite

Outsiders support player Egor "Xakoda" Lipartiya stated that the team had missed qualification by one point and urged fans to come out and cheer them on during the grueling qualifiers.

Ilya "Illidan" Pivcaev, a Russian Dota 2 player, was harshly critical of Valve's mathematical technique of calculating Outsiders' DPC points. His frustration also went towards Valve's shortcomings in recent years, such as the size of rooms at TI10, as well as the lack of a proper Dota 2 ecosystem when the pandemic hit in 2020. Even after all of this, he doesn't see a lot of criticism directed at Valve from the most influential Dota 2 personalities.

According to Dota2.net, Ukrainian Dota 2 player Bogdan "Iceberg" Vasylenko was visibly upset with Valve's decision in his Twitch stream. In his opinion, Valve should have clarified earlier that Fnatic was still ahead in points when it lost to beascoast. Iceberg believes this would have changed Outsiders’ mindset heading into the series with beastcoast, which Outsiders eventually lost and got eliminated from the Major.

“Honestly, it's just a total ***. It's too bad about the guys, I'll tell you what. I don't even know how to describe this whole *** so I don't get banned later.

“Don't feel sorry for them, they should have played better and they would have passed." So how do you know how they would have played if they knew they weren't getting into TI yet? They make announcements first, then they play with beastcoast. We don't know how that would have affected them in this match.

If you think it's okay to make an announcement that Virtus.pro gets to TI, and then they fly out of the tournament, arrive at the airport, and it says no invitation. I'm judging from a player's perspective, how much of a tilted *** it is.”

The implications of Outsiders participating in the TI11 Qualifier

The implications of this outcome in the TI11 EEU qualifier were explored by Russian analyst Yaroslav Vladimirovich "NS" Kuznetsov. He said NAVI and BetBoom Team were now at a disadvantage since Outsiders was the favorite for the qualifiers. “In short, the most important thing is that from our region just minus one team, and with a high probability this team - Na`Vi,” he added.

Dota 2 caster Nikita "4ce" Kotkov stated that it wasn't the right approach to simply pick Outsiders over NAVI and BetBoom. According to him, there are factors such as momentum and the release of the new patch that can cause unprecedented things to happen in qualifiers.

The emphasis turns to the qualifiers

Dzmitry "Fishman" Palishchuk, the position five player for Entity, was disappointed with the result but wished Outsiders good luck in the qualifiers. “It's a shame about the CIS. But what can you do. Good luck at the quals,” he said.

Danil "gpk" Skutin, Outsiders' midlaner, wrote on Telegram that although the discussion about receiving a direct invite can continue, it is important that the team concentrates on the qualifiers.

[transcriptions via cybersport.ru, translations via DeepL Translate]

There are 15 teams competing at the TI11 EEU qualifier, which runs from 3rd to 18th Sept. The first place team qualifies for TI11, while second and third place teams qualify for the last chance qualifier. TI11's last chance qualifier takes place just a few days before the group stage, where 12 teams (two from each region) compete for two final spots.