The International always brings lots of interesting stuff and this time has not become an exception. We are talking about what remarkable things have already happened at TI 11 and you can follow the Dota 2 news at https://egw.news
Teams and participants
The number of participants in the main tournament has grown this year - there are 20 teams now. It made the group stage more important - only 2 teams out of 18 had been eliminated the previous year but 4 teams out of 20 were eliminated at this tournament. As a result, the competition was harder at all levels - both for advancing to the upper bracket and staying at the tournament.
Another remarkable thing is the appearance of the Last Chance stage - this is a qualification, in which 12 teams took part, and only two of them made it to TI 11 - Team Secret and Team Liquid. The usefulness of this stage proved that both teams have made it so far - they are still contenders to prevail at the tournament and will be in the top 4, at least. They would not participate in TI 11 without the Last Chance stage.
Puppey is especially remarkable among the participating players, the captain of Team Secret is the only participant in all 11 TI tournaments, and he has also broken another record - his team has entered the top 3 for the fifth time.
The prize pool
In previous years, the prize pool of TI became bigger and bigger but this year has become an exception. As of October 27, $17,9 million has been raised. This is not a final sum but it will not repeat TI 10 with its $40 million prize pool, and it will not beat a few previous world tournaments too. But it does not mean that Dota 2 is doing badly, low prizes are related to the actions of Valve and there is a suggestion that the company wants to balance the prize pools of TIs and Majors.
A potential champion
The main favorites had included Team Spirit, LGD, and OG before the start of the tournament but none of the teams achieved high places, OG proceeded the furthest of all - the 7th-8th place. There are 4 teams in action: Team Secret will face Tundra in the upper bracket final and Team Aster will play against Team Liquid in the lower bracket. Very few related these teams to the main favorites but they have demonstrated a nice performance and exceeded all expectations.
It is clear that Western Europe is doing nicely at TI 11 - three out of four teams are from this region but the last hope of China has not given up, the Chinese have not won TI since 2016 and it is time for them to do it again.
Interesting moments of the tournament
TI 11 has brought lots of bright matches and series both in the group stage and the playoffs. First of all, it is worth mentioning the bo1 elimination match between RNG and Entity - the match was extremely spectacular and it is not worth talking about it in detail - it is very interesting to watch it even if you know the result of the match.
Such spectacular series as Team Liquid versus Entity, beastcoast versus LGD, and Team Liquid versus Thunder Awaken are worth noting. There are four series left to play, and some of them will enter the list of the best ones for sure - maybe not only at this TI.
Conclusion
Another great TI is coming to its end but the break will be brief, another season starts soon - many teams will change rosters and start fighting for making it to the next TI event.
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