This year with 90 players heading to Seattle, four stand out as a true exemplification of commitment through the years. For two consecutive years, these players have stood the test of time and hard work as being part of a dying breed.
Three on this shortlist have held the Aegis in above their heads signifying the ultimate achievement. Win or lose, Kuro ‘KuroKy’ Salehi Takhasomi, Saahil ‘UNiVeRsE’ Arora, Clement ‘Puppey’ Ivanov and Leong ‘DDC’ Fat-meng are legends, deserving of the utmost respect.
KuroKy
Kuro 'Kuroky' Salehi Takhasomi
Current Team: Team Liquid
KuroKy started his career playing DotA 1 and made his first appearance in Dota 2 at The International 1, playing for GosuGamers.net. His first run was unsuccessful as his team was eliminated from the tournament in the first round of the Lower Brackets. In a serendipitous string of events, Kuro would get the chance to participate in TI2 with Mousesports as a stand-in, when Alexandru “ComeWithMe” Cr?ciunescu was denied his US visa. Unfortunately, KuroKy made no improvements on the final results of his placement at the event.
KuroKy joined Na’Vi in February 2013, becoming a part of one of the most successful and celebrated organizations in Dota 2. It was here that he was able to secure a stunning second place finish at The International 2013 before slipping into eighth place at TI4.
Following the sub-par results and performances with the Ukrainian team, Kuroky departed Na’Vi together with Puppey to create Team Secret. The synergy and cohesion between the two made for an incredibly strong support duo. Despite being the event's favorites, they couldn't replicate their previous results together and took home a disappointing 7-8th place finish at TI5.
With a completely re-vamped Team Secret roster, KuroKy was left to create an entirely new team with Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen, Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka, Adrian “FATA-” Trinks and Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Borislavov that he called 5 Jungz. A strong start to the new season had caught the attention of Team Liquid who picked them up less than 2 months later. TI6 wasn't much better for KuroKy and company, taking another 7-8th place finish.
A few tweaks in the lineup and strategies after TI6 proved to be the best thing that happened to KuroKy. Team Liquid quickly became one of the top household names in Dota 2 and ultimately went on take the Aegis at TI7, making KuroKy's dreams and hard work come true. Without slowing down this year at all, KuroKy and Team Liquid are poised to be on the verge of making TI history as the only team (and player) to win two (consecutive) International trophies.
UNiVeRsE
Saahil 'UNiVeRsE' Arora
Current Team: Fnatic
Offlaner, Saahil is a well-known and accomplished veteran, having competed in all seven previous International championships.
In the first International, he was part of Online Kingdom, alongside his long-time teammate Fear. Following The International 2011, he had brief stays with various teams, before joining Evil Geniuses, in 2012. At that time, he only remained on Evil Geniuses for a short period of time, before becoming the offlaner for team Dignitas, in January 2013. During his time with Dignitas, UNiVeRsE developed into one of the best offlaners and was credited with much of the team’s success. After finishing ninth at TI3 with Dignitas, Saahil rejoined Evil Geniuses, where he would take a third place finish at The International 4.
It wasn’t until TI5 that he would achieve the highlight of his career - taking The International championship title with Evil Geniuses. At that time Saahil was praised as a paramount key to success as he continued to demonstrate his ability to create space and showcase beautifully executed plays thanks to his timing and positioning.
TI6 was an equally impressive run as a second Aegis seemed to come within grasp, but the veteran was unable to lay his hands on the second trophy ultimately taking third place. Continuing to play for the North American giants alongside his TI5 teammate Sumail ‘SumaiL’ Hassan, the champion offlaner was aiming to re-claim the Aegis, only to end up with a devastating 9-12th place finish.
A bump in the road mid-season left Saahil's fans concerned for his eighth attendance at TI. In December, Evil Geniuses made the shocking announcement that the organization had parted ways with UNiVeRse, adding Rasmus ‘MiSeRy’ Filipsen to the lineup and switching SumaiL into the offlane. UNiVeRsE was a free agent for approximately one month before he headed to SEA, replacing long-time offlaner Chong Xin 'Ohaiyo' Khoo in the Fnatic lineup.
Things didn't come easy for him and his new team. Falling short of grabbing enough DPC points to warrant a direct invitation to The International 2018, Fnatic fought their way through the burgeoning region for their place. This year, Fnatic is considered one of the challengers or antagonists of the TI8 story that could ultimately give Saahil an even more coveted title - Two Time TI champ.
Puppey
Clement 'Puppey' Ivanov
Current Team: Team Secret
Puppey is an incredibly versatile player and one of the most successful players in the Dota 2 scene. The Estonian’s first four years of gaming were mainly playing in various teams and compositions with some accomplishments. It wasn’t until June of 2011 that Clement would find himself a home on Na’Vi, where he would be a stable and prominent key-player for the next three years.
Only two months after joining Na’Vi with Ivan 'ArtStyle' Antonov, Danil 'Dendi' Ishutin, Oleksandr 'XBOCT' Dashkevych, and Dmitriy 'LighTofHeaveN' Kupriyanov, The International 1 was at hand and the team got an invite after having received the beta keys to play the game only three weeks before. The team went undefeated throughout the whole tournament, winning the unprecedented $1,000,000 grand prize. Puppey’s professionalism and talent landed him the captain role for the team after the departure of ArtStyle post-TI1. Under Clement’s leadership, Na’Vi would accumulate innumerable championship titles through the remainder of his tenure with them, including second place at TI2 and TI3. Following the unsatisfying results at TI4 of 7-8th place, Puppey and teammate Kuro 'KuroKy' Salehi Takhasomi parted ways with the Ukrainian organization and formed Team Secret.
Team Secret had made a tremendous splash onto the Dota 2 landscape when they appeared. Kicking arse and taking names the team destroyed their opponents and easily became one of the utter favorites to win TI5. Some internal problems would create an upset, thrusting the team into some disarray with a 7-8th place finish. Months, in fact until recently would be rife with drama, conflict and instability. TI6 saw the team’s low point with a 13-16th finish.
For Puppey, this was just a matter of retooling the lineup and strategy. With a rocky start laden with much instability, Team Secret’s year leading to TI7 had been rough, but the team as of late seems to have found a rhythm that hints at success – giving Puppey a promising chance at making a second claim to The International trophy.
DDC
Photo courtesy of ESL
Liang "DDC" Faming
Current Team: VGJ.Thunder
DDC is the only player in the list that hasn't won an International yet and is also the only non-Western player to grace the stage of all iterations of The Internationals.
Liang was a member of team Catastrophic Cruel Memories which was bought by Invictus Gaming for $6.2 million USD on the August 9th, 2011, taking home a top 6 finish for the organization. However, almost immediately after he joined LGD Gaming, where he remained for three years. With LGD, he participated in TI2, TI3, and TI4, taking third place at The International 2, followed by a disappointing eleventh place, and then an improved fifth-place finish at TI4.
Following The International 4, Liang went to LV Gaming for a few months before joining EHOME in January 2015 where he took a surprising top six result at TI5. By the time TI6 rolled around, another brief stint with LGD had been and gone and DDC found himself as the veteran player on VG.R. While the team was able to make their appearance at The International 6, the results were dismal, finishing in the last 13-16th place.
LGD worked hard to make the changes and adjustments necessary to avoid a repeat performance for The International 7 and DDC found himself once again with a commendable place on the podium - taking 3rd place at the big event.
Despite a solid start for DDC on LFY this season, during the mid point roster locks, he was given 'on loan' to ViCi Gaming J.Thunder and registered with the new team. Following several impressive LAN finishes and some subpar results as well, VGJ.Thunder was able to edge out the competition, gaining enough DPC points for the eighth and final direct invite to TI8.
The International 2018
The International 2018 is set to begin on August 15 and scheduled to run through August 25. For the first time ever, The International will be held in Vancouver, Canada with a total of 18 teams competing. Currently, the prize pool sits just over of $20 million after a significant increase from the weekend bundle sale.
