The format
TI10 takes place from 7-17 October. 18 teams from all over the world will fight for the record breaking prizepool of $40,018,195 USD. If you have been out of the loop for a while: TI could not take place in 2020, and as such the crowdfunded money from the Battle Pass that year was simply kept as prize pool for this year and there was no new Battle Pass to collect money in 2021.
The event is split into a Group Stage and Playoffs. The teams will play the Group Stage from their dedicaded training rooms they got from Valve and the Playoffs will take place in the Arena Naţională. This year, there will be no live audience due to the pandemic.
12 of the teams earned their slot by collecting enough DPC points among the two Regional Leagues and Major tournaments in the past season. The remaining six participants went through Regional Qualifiers.
Group Stage: 7-10 October
- All 18 teams get assigned into two groups of nine teams each
- Round-Robin format
- All matches are best-of-two
- Top four teams in each group advance to the Upper Bracket of the Main Event
- The bottom team in each group is eliminated
- Remaining teams advance to the Lower Bracket of the Main Event
Main Event/Playoffs: 12-17 October
- Sixteen teams compete
- Double-elimination bracket
- Eight teams start in the Upper Bracket, the other eight in the Lower Bracket
- First round of the Lower Bracket is best-of-one
- All other matches are best-of-three
- Grand Finals are best-of-five
Prize pool breakdown:
- 🏆: $18.208.300
- 🥈: $5.202.400
- 🥉: $3.601.600
- 4th: $2.401.100
- 5th: $1.400.600
- 6th: $1.400.600
- 7th: $1.000.500
- 8th: $1.000.500
- 9th: $800.400
- 10th: $800.400
- 11th: $800.400
- 12th: $800.400
- 13th: $600.300
- 14th: $600.300
- 15th: $600.300
- 16th: $600.300
- 17th: $100.000
- 18th: $100.000
Where to watch
The matches can be watched on the official Twitch channel for TI: dota2ti. You can also follow the games in the Dota 2 client.
The participants
Teams that made it through the DPC
Teams that made it through the Qualifiers
The Group Stage
Valve announced the two groups this Wednesday, 6 October. Get ready and choose your fantasy line-up in your Compendium!
Group A: Alliance, Team Aster, Evil Geniuses, Invictus Gaming, OG, T1, Thunder Predator, Undying, Virtus.pro
Group B: beastcoast, Elephant, Fnatic, PSG.LGD, Quincy Crew, SG esports, Team Secret, Team Spirit, Vici Gaming.
The opening matches of the Group Stage kick off on Thursday, 7 October at 9:00 CEST. These are the first four encounters:
- EG vs Aster
- iG vs T1
- VP vs Undying
- OG vs Alliance
The Groups have been announced! Tune in for the Group Stage of The International 2021, kicking off in less than 24 hours. #TI10 https://t.co/j3WQq9BknP pic.twitter.com/kldfNA0KOA
— The International (@dota2ti) October 6, 2021
The talent
There are five different broadcast teams bringing TI10 to life this year: English, Russian, Chinese, Portugese and Spanish.
Fans can also purchase a signed in-game autograph from each talent member for 99 cents, as well as leveling it up and unlocking voice lines to spam in matches.
The International 10 English Broadcast Talent. #TI10 #Dota2 pic.twitter.com/5CuYeGPPwl
— Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) September 16, 2021
The Compendium
While there is no traditional Battle Pass to fund the prizepool, there is a special Compendium where players can unlock rewards such as a new teasure. The The International 2021 Lineage Treasure includes nine already released hero sets reworked in the black-and-gold theme of TI.
Players can also make their tournament predictions, collect player cards and set up a fantasy roster for each day. If you still need to choose your predictions: Hurry up, there is not much time left!
What do you think: Which team is going to lift the Aegis this year?
Photo credit: Valve
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