In an effort to make The International more accessible to viewers at home and those who want to attend the tournament in person, Valve has moved all games at TI12 to weekend days in October.
It will take three weekends and two separate locations in Seattle, US for TI12 to find its champions.
Along with the schedule change, Valve has also tinkered with the format in hopes of making every match meaningful, splitting the action into two distinct parts: Road to The International and The International.
TI12 group stage and playoffs are packed in a Road to The International part.
Group Stage: October 12-15
A total of 20 teams will enter the Road to TI beginning with group stage matches, which will be held in a new format.
Instead of two groups of 10 teams, as most of the previous TI editions had, TI12 will feature four groups of five teams and two parts of the group play. In the first group stage phase, each team will play only four matches with the bottom team from each group having its Road to TI cut short.
The remaining 16 teams will then proceed to the second groups stage phase, which will pit them in head-to-head matches that will determine who advances to the Playoffs Upper Bracket and who goes to the Lower Bracket rounds.
Playoffs: October 20-22
All playoff matches will be a best-of-three affair, including the first round of the lower bracket. The entire playoff stage will be played in front of a live audience at the Seattle Convention Center’s Summit and will determine which eight teams advance to the final part, which now is the actual The International.
The International 2023: October 27-29
The eight teams that make it to The International 2023 (TI12) will play at the refurbished Key Arena, now Climate Pledge Arena, for a shot at the most wanted Dota 2 trophy, the Aegis of Champions.
Friday and Saturday will feature the upper bracket semifinals and finals, along with the first round of elimination matches. The top three teams will return to the arena on Sunday, October 29 for the lower bracket finals followed by the best-of-five grand finals.
Tickets for the Road to The International playoffs stage at the Seattle Convention Center’s Summit and The International 2023 itself, at Climate Pledge Arena, will go on sale in the second part of August 2023, so stay tuned for further updates.
