posted by Smyke,
It's almost that time of the year for us to hear those familiar words again. Last year we didn't see Gabe Newell on stage, but maybe this year will be different. In all the excitement, we take a look at the opening ceremonies from the previous The Internationals.

The opening ceremony of The International 2013



Let's start with TI3, the second TI in Seattle. Valve CEO Gabe Newell opens the tournament with a small phrase which would become a symbol for the tournament. Gabe is for the The International what the Olympic Flame is for the Olympic Games. The speech is a short one without any big highlights or surprises, but it will never be forgotten.



The opening ceremony of The International 2014



The opening ceremony already changed for TI4 - the first TI being held in the famous KeyArena. The fans celebrated Gabe opening the event and Valve gave us a first small highlight with a hype video.



The opening ceremony of The International 2015



A light show, sound effects: TI5 wanted to surpass the previous events. It's the first time we talked about a real opening ceremony. While it was not our first hype video for TI, Valve introduced an orchestra that played the music for the video - pure goosebumps. It was one of the best ceremonies of all time.



The opening ceremony of The International 2016



However, for a lot of people the opening ceremony from 2016 is the best of all time. Gabe Newell entered the stage while wearing flip-flops to open the event. Another highlight implemented violins like in 2015, but this time a famous musician was in the spotlight: Lindsey Sterling was the main act for 2016's opening.



The opening ceremony of The International 2017



Everybody was waiting for Gabe Newell to walk on stage in 2017, but it never happened. He just featured SirActionSlacks and Kaci's video with a small Cameo. For some fans this is the main reason why TI7's opening ceremony was considered not as good as the previous one.

However, the video made by the content creators' reached a higher production level than any other before. It felt like a short movie. Also: Slacks in a Crystal Maiden costume next to a Donkey was pretty much the funniest moment in the history of the opening ceremony.

Afterwards Valve introduced the new main stage with an Acapella band playing the familiar sounds of Dota 2 - impressive!



The opening ceremony for TI8 is coming closer and closer. Tonight we'll know what they prepared for this year and whether or not Gabe comes back to the stage.

Which is your favourite Opening Ceremony?



Photo credit: Valve

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