TI11 Group Stage Preview

The International 2022 (TI11) will soon move on to the second phase of the tournament as 20 teams from around the world have gathered in the Southeast Asia (SEA) to prepare for the biggest Dota 2 tournament of the year. While 20 teams are confirmed for the group stage, only 16 teams will move on to the Main Event phase of the tournament as four more teams will be eliminated from the tournament.

With that being said, here is a preview of the teams that will be participating in the upcoming TI11 Group Stage.

Twenty teams come in, only sixteen teams will step into the Main Event

Group Stage Format & Dates

TI11’s Group Stage will commence on 15th October and shall go on till 18th October in Singapore. The format of the qualifiers is very similar to the previous years, with 20 teams being divided into two groups of ten teams. However, the top 4 teams from each group will advance to the Upper Bracket Playoffs while the 5th to 8th place teams in each group will play in the Lower Bracket Playoffs. The bottom two teams will be eliminated from the tournament, ending their TI11 journey before stepping onto the main stage.

Group A

BetBoom Team

Formerly known as the Winstrike roster at the beginning of the season, BetBoom Team had an impressive debut season as it went from being promoted to Division I to qualifying for the Stockholm Major, earning itself a top eight finish.

Despite its dip in form during the third tour of the Eastern Europe (EEU) Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) league, the rise of form in Nikita "Daxak" Kuzmin and Akbar "SoNNeikO" Butaev allowed BetBoom Team to qualify for TI11 through the Regional Qualifiers.

Boom Esports

Arguably the strongest team coming out of Southeast Asia (SEA), Boom Esports’s rise to power did not go unnoticed by the community. Changes were made during the first tour of the season where Justine "Tino" Grimaldo was replaced with Motivate.Trust Gaming’s Souliya "JaCkky" Khoomphetsavong. It turned out to be the best decision as Boom went on to win two LAN events at GAMERS GALAXY Invitational Series Dubai & Thailand whilst also dominating the SEA DPC League.

Despite its average performance at the Stockholm Major, Boom Esports became the first Indonesia organization to qualify for The International (TI) after achieving a top eight finish at the Arlington Major. This earned the team a direct qualification. Under the guidance of Dota 2 veteran Chai "Mushi" Yee Fung and the rise of superstars within the team of the likes of Erin "Yopaj" Ferrer & Saieful "Fbz" Ilham, Boom Esports is looking to become the first SEA team to win an International.

Evil Geniuses

While Evil Geniuses (EG) did well enough to dominate the North American (NA) scene, its performances at both the Majors left fans wondering about the team’s chances at TI11 as EG earned a direct invitation to TI11 despite not gaining any points from both Majors.

Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka left EG to join Team Liquid as a coach after a disappointing run at the Stockholm Major, allowing former captain Tal “Fly” Aizik to re-join the team to provide stability. Despite Fly rejoining, EG still was unable to gain a top eight finish at the Arlington Major. However, EG got extremely lucky as their points from the regional league alone earned it the qualification to TI11, to become the 11th confirmed team to have qualified.

Gaimin Gladiators

Formerly known as Team Tickles, Gaimin Gladiators became one of the teams that rose to fame in Western Europe (WEU) during the season, as the team went on to earn back-to-back second place finishes during the first two tours of the WEU DPC league.

Furthermore, Gaimin Gladiators went on to achieve a top four finish at the Stockholm Major, allowing them to gain enough points to qualify for TI11 as the 10th confirmed team despite having a dip in performance during the third tour. However, Gaimin Gladiators is looking to prove itself on the biggest stage of them all.

Hokori

One of the dark horses coming into the group stage, not much is known about Hokori as the South American team was relegated to the second division of the South American (SA) DPC league for the upcoming season. However, the team did achieve a top three finish during the second tour of the league despite the presence of beastcoast & Thunder Awaken.

The community did get to see Hokori in action earlier this month as the team achieved a top three finish in BTS Pro Series Season 12 in the SEA region. Hokori overcame powerful opponents like Fnatic & Team SMG. However, the team will have to perform at its best if it wishes to move on from the group stages of TI11.

OG

One of the heavy favorites to win it all, OG came into the 2021/2022 season with a completely new roster as the team signed former Creepwave members Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov & Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf as well as a rookie in Artem “Yuragi” Golubiev. Despite the team achieving a top four finish at the start of the WEU DPC league, many within the community did not expect OG to be a major threat.

However, the doubters were silenced after OG went on an impressive streak as the team won the Stockholm Major and ESL One Malaysia, on top of dominating the WEU DPC league for the rest of the season leading to it becoming the second confirmed team to qualify for TI11.

Despite the absence of Mikhail “Misha” Agatov during both Majors due to visa issues, OG came to Singapore with its full roster which included its captain Misha. The team aims to win a third TI title.

PSG.LGD

Another favored team to win it all, PSG.LGD retained its roster after TI10 as it looks to earn redemption for not being able to win TI twice. The team started off the season well, earning back-to-back first place finishes for the majority of the China DPC league.

While the team was unable to attend the Stockholm Major due to China’s COVID-19 rules, the team was able to attend the Arlington Major where it finished in second place, losing to the winners Team Spirit. However, the team became the first confirmed team to qualify for TI11 through DPC points alone.

This TI shall be Zhang “Faith_bian” Ruida’s final tournament following which he shall retire. Can PSG.LGD give him the best send-off gift by finally winning TI11? We’ll find out soon enough.

Royal Never Give Up (RNG)

Despite the presence of PSG.LGD and other strong teams, RNG became a force to be reckoned with during the third tour of the China DPC league as the team went on to achieve first place in the league. Furthermore, the team achieved a top six finish at Riyadh Masters 2022, solidifying its position as one of the best teams coming out of the China region.

Most of the team members are veterans of the scene, such as Lu “Somnus丶M” Yao & Hu “kaka” Liangzhi, but many will look out for the performance of rookie Daniel "Ghost" Chan Kok Hong following his amazing performance at the Regional Qualifiers, which enabled RNG to earn its spot at TI11.

Soniqs

Formerly known as Quincy Crew, Soniqs were considered as one of the top three teams in NA after EG and TSM. Despite the team earning back-to-back top three finishes during the NA DPC league season, the team did not manage to perform well as it was eliminated early on from the Arlington Major.

However, Soniqs was still able to qualify for TI11 from the Regional Qualifiers despite a surprising loss to nouns in the Upper Bracket Finals. With the addition of Adrian “Fata” Trinks and the return of Rodrigo “LESLÃO” Santos, Soniqs was looking to go far in the tournament.

Team Liquid

Team Liquid had a good DPC season in the WEU region as it secured back to back top three finishes in all three tours in Division I. However, it could not replicate its success at LAN tournaments as the team ended up being eliminated in the early stages of four different LAN tournaments throughout the season.

However, after an improvement in performance during the Last Chance Qualifiers Team Liquid was able to grab the last spot at TI11 from Virtus.pro. Now that the team has qualified for TI11’s group stage, will it be able to go far at TI11?

Group B

Beastcoast

Arguably one of the best teams coming out of the SA (South America) region, Beastcoast's performance during the DPC season has been amazing as the team achieved top six finishes at both Majors despite constantly losing first place to Thunder Awaken in the SA DPC league.

On top of retaining its TI10 roster, beastcoast was looking to impress as it became the fourth confirmed team to qualify for TI11 through DPC points. In addition, Héctor "K1" Rodríguez’s performances as a carry did not go unnoticed by the community.

Entity

Another major dark horse team, Entity’s journey to TI11 has not been easy despite the team earning a promotion to Division I at the start of the season. While the team was on the verge of being demoted back to the second division, the team persevered and managed to stay in Division I for the third tour.

However, the third tour of the WEU DPC league saw everything change for Entity after it risked itself by signing former Virtus.pro player, Ivan "Pure" Moskalenko. From there, the team went on to qualify for the Arlington Major, where it achieved a top six finish.

The team then went to achieve another top six finish before earning a direct invite to TI11 through the Regional Qualifiers, stomping Team Secret 3-0 in the Grand Finals to become the first Indian organization to attend The International. Can Entity go all the way and win TI11 for themselves?

Fnatic

Having qualified for its 7th International in a row, Fnatic’s journey to TI11 has been interesting to say the least. While the team did beat Boom Esports to earn first place in the second tour of the SEA DPC, the team ended up becoming the second best team in SEA for the majority of the season.

While the team did achieve a top eight finish at the ESL Stockholm Major, the team’s roster issue during the Arlington Major saw TSM loaning three of its players to Fnatic due to visa issues which sparked a lot of controversy within the community. The team was unable to secure a top eight finish at the Arlington Major, but it got involved in another controversy as it became the last team to be invited based on DPC points over Virtus.pro.

Despite the controversy, Fnatic went on to claim a fourth place finish at ESL One Malaysia where Djardel “DJ” Mampusti performed at his best against Entity on his Nyx Assassin. However, both ESL tournaments saw Fnatic being eliminated by OG. Will Fnatic be able to perform with its superstar roster at their home TI? The community will soon find out.

Talon Esports

Many within the community expected Talon Esports to be a force to be reckoned with as the season progressed. However the start of the season did not go well for Talon as the team placed 5th in the second division of the SEA DPC league.

Roster changes within the team at the start of the second tour saw instant impacts from the newcomers, Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon & Worawit “Q” Mekchai, as the team earned promotion to Division I at the end of the second tour. The team then went to finish in second place in Division I to qualify for the Arlington Major, however the team bombed out of the Major rather quickly.

Despite all of that, Talon Esports earned its ticket to TI11 after winning the Regional Qualifiers and many expect Talon to perform when it matters most.

Team Aster

Team Aster had an amazing season, having constantly earned back-to-back top three finishes during the Chinese DPC league.

The team improved massively during the Arlington Major, where it achieved a top 3 finish and confirmed its spot at TI11 as the 5th invited team. Aster also finished second at ESL One Malaysia, losing to OG in the Grand Finals despite an impressive run. Zeng “Ori” Jiaoyang will be a player to look out for during TI11, as the mid laner impressed many people during the season.

Team Secret

It’s not surprising that Team Secret has had an average DPC season in the Western Europe (WEU) region as the team constantly placed 5th in all three tours in Division I of the WEU region. Furthermore, the team underwent a lot of roster changes as it looked to return to its former glory.

However, the roster changes seemed to have worked its magic as the team managed to qualify for TI11 through the Last Chance Qualifiers. With Clement "Puppey" Ivanov’s perfect TI attendance secured, can Team Secret go on to win its first ever TI?

Team Spirit

Many thought Team Spirit’s form would go down after winning TI10, however the doubters were proven wrong as Team Spirit went on to earn back-to-back top three finishes during the EEU DPC league. Furthermore, the team went on to win the Arlington Major and secured itself a spot at TI11 as the third invited team.

Team Spirit will be looking to defend its title in Singapore as one of the heavy favorites to win it all, as it looks to become the second team to win back-to-back TIs after OG. Will Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk break his previous record of playing 14 different heroes in the carry position?

Thunder Awaken

Thunder Awaken is another dark horse team to look out for, as it became the top dog of the SA region by claiming first place in all 3 tours of the SA DPC league during the season. Despite its lackluster performance at the Arlington Major, the team did manage to achieve a top six finish at the Stockholm Major, sealing its ticket to TI11 as the 6th invited team.

Thunder Awaken will be looking to cause upsets during the tournament, as Crhistian "Pakazs" Casanova’s performances throughout the season have not gone unnoticed by the community.

TSM

TSM entered the Dota scene after it picked up the former Undying roster. Many in the community believed that Quincy Crew deserved the sponsorship more than Undying . However, TSM’s faith was rewarded as the team earned top two finishes during the first two tours of the NA DPC league. Furthermore, the team placed second at the ESL One Stockholm Major allowing it to secure its spot at TI11 as the 8th invited team.

Many eyes will be on the offlaner, Jonáš "SabeRLight-" Volek as he looks to make TSM the best team in the world by winning his first TI with the team. Additionally, with TSM & Entity being in the same group many will be looking forward to the trash talk battle between the two.

Tundra Esports

Tundra Esports started the season relatively well, as the team secured a top three finish during the first tour of the WEU DPC league. However, the team made a controversial roster change as it removed its captain at the time, Adrian “Fata” Trinks in favor of newcomer Martin “Saksa” Sazdov.

However, it seemed like the roster change was worth it as the team secured third place at the Stockholm Major and first place in the third tour of the WEU DPC league. While the team did have a lackluster performance at the Arlington Major, its DPC points were enough to secure itself a ticket to Singapore as the 9th invited team.

While Tundra Esports does have a good roster, many eyes will be on Neta “33” Shapira as many within the community see him as one of the best offlaners in the world.

Only 16 teams shall be able to enter the Main Stage event. Who do you think will be eliminated at the end of the Group Stage? TI11’s Group Stage will commence on 15th October and shall go on till 18th October.