EGamersWorld/News/Dota 2/Main qualifiers of the year — contender for victory, underdogs, madness, valour, and expectations about the closed qualifiers for The International

Main qualifiers of the year — contender for victory, underdogs, madness, valour, and expectations about the closed qualifiers for The International

The International

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The main tournament of the year, The International, always attracts attention. This was the case in 2011 when the world first saw TI. This was the case in 2019 when OG first became a two-time TI winner. And so it was in 2020, when for the first time in 10 years the Dota 2 community was left without the main holiday of the game.

Valve promises to bring back the main esports event of the season in 2021. And although there are still problems (which we wrote about in a separate article), we sincerely believe in the return of The International. One of the main arguments in favor of getting TI again this year is the closed qualifiers for the main tournament of the year, which will start tomorrow.

We tried to guess what to expect from the most important qualifiers of the season and collected thoughts in this article. Let's go through each of the 6 regions and try to find there the main contenders worthy to take part in the $ 40 million race.

Closed qualifications from the CIS

The main qualifying years are challengers, underdogs, madness, courage and what to expect from the closed qualifiers for The International. Photo 1

In an amicable way, it was worth starting from the strongest region and gradually approaching the weakest, but in our case the schedule changes plans. Therefore, let's start with the CIS.

During the season, the teams from the CIS showed the weakest game and are at the very bottom in the ranking after ONE Esports Singapore Major and WePlay AniMajor. This is confirmed by the fact that only 2 teams from the CIS will play at The International, one of which will get there from the closed qualifiers.

This means that in the international arena, our teams had and most likely will have a very difficult time. Fortunately, the qualifiers are held exclusively within the region and in an online format, which is very popular with the players from the CIS.

Potential CIS Qualifier Winner

The most obvious option will be Team Spirit, who showed a really decent game at the last tournament. A slightly less obvious option is the updated NaVi, which, according to many professional players, looked very decent in cw, and the updated AS Monaco Gambit roster, which also played a good game on WePlay AniMajor.

Closed qualifiers from Southeast Asia

Along with the CIS, the main losers in the two DPC seasons were the representatives of Southeast Asia. However, this only applies to the distribution of tickets to The International.

At WePlay AniMajor, the teams from Southeast Asia showed themselves excellently: TNC Predator managed to pass the group stage and fought in the playoffs, and T1 even made it to the TOP-3. By the way, the other day the same T1 won ESL One Summer 2021, which indicates that the guys are in good shape, but now they are already at TI, so we'll deal with them later.

Potential qualifier winner from Southeast Asia

There are 3 main contenders for victory: TNC Predator and OB Esports x Neon and updated Fnatic. However, the region is very chaotic and unpredictable, and therefore I would not be surprised to see the winner of the conditional Execration OMEGA Esports

Closed qualifiers from South America

In terms of the intensity of unpredictability, South America can be put on a par with Southeast Asia. Here, again, any outcome can be expected.

Perhaps, South America qualifiers from South America risk becoming almost the most interesting qualifiers. Considering that teams from the region have tightened up this season, this probability only increases.

Potential Qualifier Winner from South America

The most obvious option is NoPing e-sports. In DPC Season 2, they showed that they can handle the best teams in the region already at The International.

Closed qualifications from Europe

Another place of serious battles in 2021 will be the European region. Nigma, Liquid and OG will play in the closed qualifiers and they may all miss the main tournament of the year.

Especially worth taking a look at OG. They are approaching the qualifiers in the status of the reigning two-time champion, and failure here is very undesirable.

Potential Qualifier Winner from Europe

At WePlay AniMajor 2021, we saw that Nigma are recruiting, which means they will be even more prepared for the closed qualifiers. However, OG, Liquid, Tundra, ViKin.gg will breathe in the back, and therefore Nigma cannot be confidently called the winner from Europe.

Closed qualifiers from North America

The most underestimated by me personally, the region put everything in its place during the season. We have two representatives of North America at The International at once, and at the qualifiers we will get the name of the third.

However, doubts about the viability of the third team still arise. Whatever one may say, EG is two or even more goals higher than other teams in the region when it comes to international events, and Quincy is still far from the level of "evil geniuses". What then can we say about the rest of the teams?

Potential Qualifier Winner from North America

Logically, Undying should pass the qualifiers, and this is very simple to do. They finished 3 twice in the DPC season and their entry to TI would be completely logical.

Closed qualifications from China

This year, the banquet is ruled by China, which has taken two Major tournaments and has 4 direct tickets to TI at once. Another team will make it to the main event of the year through closed qualifiers.

It is foolish to deny that the Chinese region looks the strongest by the names presented in the closed qualifiers. There is definitely something to see here.

Potential Qualifier Winner from China

The most likely winner of the closed qualifiers in China will be the Elephant All-Star Five. The Superstar Company earned 85 DPC Points during the season, finishing in 5th place in the first DPC season. The rest of the contenders in the person of EHOME, MagMa or the same RNGs with CDEC failed to achieve this.

Forward to the stars

A long race for the opportunity to write your name in the annals of history starts tomorrow. We will closely follow the events in the closed qualifiers and keep you informed.

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And remember, all of the above are personal guesses of the author. We agree with them - you are welcome in the comments. No - we also invite you there. We stock up on energy and soft drinks before the start of the Dota 2 summer marathon.