It is finally here, The International 2018, the biggest Dota 2 tournament of the year. After a whole season of Major and Minor tournaments, 22 in total, it all comes down to this. The reason young gamers all over the world turn from casual players to professional competitors, the reason they give up everything else and dedicate their lives to becoming the best at the game.
A lot has gone down in the history of Dota, and a lot more is yet to come, especially this year. For those new to the world of esports or Dota 2, some things are absolutely crucial to know and understand the grandiose and awe-inspiring nature of The International that drives the ethos of the community.
The International Brief History
Dota 2 was introduced to the world through The International 2011, the first tournament of its kind in the entire esports stratosphere to award $1 million dollars as its first-place prize. Since then it has grown into more than just a game. The places it could reach and the millions of hearts it could hold its place in was perhaps not anticipated even by Valve. Through the years, it has evolved constantly, with new content constantly being added and the dynamic of each hero transforming, all while remaining Free to Play.
The documentary about the lives of some of the professional Dota 2 players and behind-the-scenes stories about their struggle in the game was almost universally well-received. It still stands strong as a great portal into the somewhat isolated world of esports and Dota 2 for the rest of the world.
The Growth
Despite its not-so-humble beginnings, The International has continued to overshadow its previous year, breaking records and monopolizing the throne of the biggest prize pool in esports year after year. After the International 2011, the subsequent events were held in Seattle in the United States of America every year, except for the International 2018. This year, it is being held in Vancouver, Canada for the first time. And although the prize pool has struggled to stay ahead of that of last year's, it is still expected to break the record with 10 more days to go.
Exceptional Plays
There is no debate that the stage The International sets, invites the highest level of competitive Dota 2 plays ever. Through the years, we have witnessed incredible, jaw-dropping plays that have gone down in the annals of history as the best in the business.
The Million Dollar Dream Coil, The Six Million Dollar Echo Slam, The Play are just a few of the most memorable, high-skilled plays that were single-handedly responsible for teams winning the game, and even the tournament. Every single player competing at The International wants to give it their best, but only the rare few make bold moves in a high-stress situation to pull out such plays.
The International Production Value and Content
Over the years, The International has not only been known for its staggering prize pools but also its unique and top-of-the-notch production and content in terms of quality.
The DPC Rewind and International Low Down
Since The International 2015, Jake "SirActionSlacks" Kanner has created his own meme-filled, quirky and hilarious impressions of each team competing at TI called "The International Downlow". This year, Valve officially hired him to do a series of videos on the Dota Pro Circuit and the journey of each team through this season of the DPC called "The International Lowdown". The series is immensely helpful for players new to the game or the professional scene understand the background of each player and team and what they strive for.
Purge's Weatherman Analysis
Starting from The International 2016, the community's most well-known Dota 2 analyst, Kevin "Purge" Godec, gave his insight and knowledge into some of the plays that make or break a game. The response to the sometimes serious, sometimes funny segment was overwhelmingly well-received and is now expected to appear in this year's iteration of The International for the third time in a row.
Viewing options
One of the great things about esports is the number of options you have for watching tournaments, and for an event like The International, that list is only longer. Not only has Valve introduced the Newcomer Stream to help people new to the game understand what is going on in the complex world of Dota 2, but you can also view the matches within the in-game client.
There, you can control all the different aspects of how you want to view the game, including the statistics of every player and how they are provided. You can find information for this, and much more on the official site of The International 2018.
The International 2018 Stakes
The potential for a two-time TI winning team
Never has there been a player or team to win the most illustrious and challenging tournament in the history of esports twice. Few have come close - very, very close, but never quite claimed their stake on two Aegis of the Champions. It is a monumental achievement to win TI once, but to do it twice puts you in a league of your own. And this year, we have perhaps the most fearful TI-winning team in a very long time. Team Liquid has shown us what an intimidating challenge it is to stay motivated and be resilient despite achieving what you always dreamt of.
The International 2018 Prize Pool
Another aspect that sets Dota 2 apart from the rest of esports is its unique concept of accumulating the prize pool of its biggest tournament through crowdsourcing. Year after year, the TI prize pool has broken its own records, never once being challenged by any other esports tournament. Let's be honest, this year's prize pool has struggled to stay above that of last year, but if statistics are to be trusted, it will almost definitely cross that of last year's. Over $24 million dollars in the prize pool equates to over $10 million dollars for the champions, which means $2 million dollars for each player of the winning team, a life-changing amount.
The hopes and dreams of players
There is nothing more positively emotional than to see your favorite players win The International, and even more soul-crushing to see them fail at the one thing they strive for the whole year. Young gamers join the game and strive to be the very best because of TI. And while the climb to the top is anything but easy, it is the journey, not the destination, that makes for the best memories.
What to Expect: The International 2018
Professional Dota and fun-filled segments are not the only things that we will have the pleasure of watching this year. There has been tremendous progress and innovation outside the standard concept of the game that has given birth to new ideas and facets of this multi-dimensional world.
News about Artifact
After the initial announcement of the Dota-based card game Artifact at last year's International, Valve remained almost completely silent about its development, making players hungry for news. And just a fortnight ago, they announced new information on the pricing, release date and basic features of the game. What is most exciting is the fact that players will have the opportunity to play the game for the first time in Seattle, United States (the original venue for The International for the past six years) just a few days after the culmination of the main event.
Arcana Vote Results
Like every year, a season-long of voting by hundreds of thousands of community members boils down to determine who will be the winner of the Arcana vote. Rubick was denied his Arcana last year by the smallest margin in the history of the vote, just 0.008%. This year, he comes back with a vengeance. And although we won't have the opportunity of witnessing The Arsenal Magus vs The Grand Magus showdown in the finals, this just might allow Rubick to swoop in for an easy win.
OpenAI Match
After defeating the best mid-players in the game, the OpenAI project has developed at an astounding pace to now compete in a 5v5 match against a team of humans. They have been beating amateur players for some time now, and even destroyed the team of some of the highest-skilled human players that fall in the 99.95th percentile in the world a few days ago. Now is their chance to truly determine who reigns supreme, as they go up against the best professional players in the world at The International 2018.
All-Star Match
This year's lineups for the casual, gap-filler All-Star match has a quirky and unique set of characters. With players representing all the different regions in the world, it is expected there might be some communication barriers that will need to be crossed. It is anyone's guess who out of the two lineups will win this year, but the All-Star match is seldom played to win, but more so for the crowd-pleasing entertainment.
The International 2018 Format and Schedule
The format of this year's International has been lauded as being extremely well-thought out and fairly balanced. Although the general community sees it differently, analysts and statisticians have broken down the numbers and found good reasoning behind the seeding of the groups.
- Group Stage - August 15th - August 18th, 2018
- All eighteen teams are divided into two groups where they play in a Round Robin format
- All matches are played in a Bo2
- The top four teams in each group advance to the Upper Bracket of the Main Event
- The bottom team in each group is eliminated
- The remaining teams advance to the Lower Bracket of the Main Event
- All eighteen teams are divided into two groups where they play in a Round Robin format
- Main Event - August 20th - August 25th, 2018
- Sixteen teams play in a double-elimination format over six days
- Eight teams begin in the Upper Bracket, eight in the Lower Bracket
- First Lower Bracket round is Bo1, Grand Finals are Bo5, all others rounds are Bo3
- Sixteen teams play in a double-elimination format over six days
The schedule for the group stages of The International is jam-packed. It will be hard for any single person to follow all their favourite teams, simply because it is likely that they will be playing at the same time. Teams from both Group A and Group B will be going head-to-head in a best-of-2 against other teams in their group. Four series will be played simultaneously and broadcasted on the four different official streams for The International. In order to keep up with all the best possible moments in the matches, players can also choose to view the multistream that will show selected highlights from all the different matches. Casting the matches will be an eclectic mix of personalities, paired up as an analyst and shout-caster based on their chemistry and synergy formed over the years.
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 is over a staggering $24 million with just five days left until the main event.
