We take a look at five teams who could take the aegis at the International 11.
The International 2022 will begin around a month from now, and the event will take place in Singapore. Aside from the impressive prize pool that is currently over $10M, this will be the first TI in Southeast Asia. Needless to say, this is one of Dota 2’s most popular regions, so people were more than happy to have access to the tournament.
Speaking of the devil, the TI qualifiers are still on, so we don’t know all of the participants yet. Fortunately, the Major and the DPC Tours are over, so we have our direct TI invitations.
Unsurprisingly, most of the teams on the list are also going to be the favorites for the event. That’s why this article will show you some of them that have real chances of winning. Having said that, The International is one of Dota 2’s most unpredictable events, so we expect to see a lot of surprises. Don’t forget to check the latest Dota 2 betting tips if you want to find the ultimate site where you can punt on TI.
OG
The first team on the list won’t surprise everyone, especially after winning ESL One Malaysia 2022. The new OG squad seems better than ever and will do everything in its power to win the most prestigious tournament in the world. It definitely won’t be easy, but bzm and the rest have proven themselves against the best in the world.
Many of us didn’t expect OG to be so dominant, especially after picking five new players, most of which are young. However, the boys stacked really well and won the first Major of the DPC. Even though OG failed to do the same in the second one, the team was victorious in Malaysia, which was the last non-DPC Dota 2 event.
The fact that OG has achieved such good results lately definitely makes them one of the favorites. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean the rest will go down without a fight because some of the other names on the list are also special.
PSG.LGD
After pointing out that Ame is one of the best players in the world right now, it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that LGD is on this list. The Chinese powerhouse is one of the most consistent Dota 2 teams when it comes down to results. Ame and the rest have almost no competition in China, and only a few European teams can go toe to toe with them. That’s one of the reasons why LGD had no problems winning the Riyadh Masters 2022 and getting more than $1.5M.
Although LGD’s performance in Tour 3 was not as impressive as people expected, the Chinese dominated everything on the international stage. After ripping through its opponents in Saudi Arabia, Ame and co. did the same at the PGL Arlington Major 2022. Sadly, the Chinese failed to win the event after reaching the Grand Finals.
Following an epic match, Team Spirit won the series. This is why they are the third team on the list.
Team Spirit
Unsurprisingly, the current TI champion is on the list because the CIS powerhouse looks better than ever. Unlike other TI winners that are usually affected by the “curse”, these fellows continue to dominate their opponents.
As you can probably guess, Team Spirit never had any real competition in Eastern Europe. In fact, Virtus.Pro was the only team that came close, but TORONTOTOKYO and the rest were better and had no problems in the DPC.
Speaking of the league, Team Spirit failed to win the first Major. However, the team ripped through their opponents in the second Major and won the PGL Arlington Major 2022. Despite losing against PSG.LGD in the UB Final, Spirit defeated Team Aster and had the chance to take revenge. Fortunately, the CIS squad won this match and became the champion.
No one expected Team Spirit to win last year’s Major, but this time, the situation is different. This is undoubtedly one of the big favorites, so it will be fun to see whether TS can repeat OG’s success story and win the event two consecutive times.
Team Aster
Some people may consider Team Aster to be Tier 2 Chinese Dota 2 club, but this is not true. Sure, they might be in the shadow of LGD, but if you take a look at Aster’s lineup, you can clearly see that the team has what it takes.
Although Monet and the rest are yet to win a big international event, the team didn’t have many problems domestically. In fact, Aster was always one of the top teams and even played very well against Ame and the rest.
Aster’s last big international event was the PGL Arlington Major, which concluded a few weeks ago. Despite failing to win, the team reached the Lower Bracket finals, which was impressive.
BOOM Esports
We’ve considered adding EG to the list because this is one of the best North American teams and has some more impressive individual players. However, the organization’s lack of success internationally prevented us from adding them here. That’s why we’ve decided to list none other than BOOM Esports.
To be honest, BOOM definitely looks less potent than the names mentioned above. Sure, the team is probably the best in SEA (although the battle between them and Fnatic is always interesting), but it will be hard for them to win against the likes of LGD and Team Spirit.
The reason why we’ve added BOOM is that The International is the only tournament where the underdogs can win and change their lives. We’ve seen this a few times already, such as with OG’s first title and Team Spirit’s latest success.
BOOM has the needed players that allow the team to shine, such as Yopaj. He is one of the best mid-laners in the world and will be among the main superstars to keep an eye on. Hopefully, he will be able to carry his team to victory.
The WEU, North American, China, and SEA qualifiers are still on, so we are yet to see what will TI’s final lineup look like. Be sure to follow us for more information if you want to keep up with everything new.