One of the most prestigious competitions of the eSports industry, The International 9 is all set to take place in a few months. To be more precise, the International will kick off in August. As we come closer to the competition Valve is starting to release some information about the event. Let’s have a look at all the things that we know so far about the TI9.
Firstly, we are well aware that just like last year, 18 teams will compete in the International 9 to write their name in the history books. Valve is yet to release the format, but we are sure that it will be the same as last year.
Out of the eighteen teams competing in the tournament, at the time of this writing only four have qualified. These teams are Evil Geniuses, Vici Gaming, Team Secret and Virtus.Pro. Each team has performed exceptionally well, while EG is the only team to sneak into the top four without winning a single title. Yet they have constantly made it to the top 5 of all the Major competitions.
EG and the other three will compete with other twelve will compete for the Aegis from 16th to 25th August in China at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai. No other competitions will take place in the Arena at that of the year. So the place will be fully dedicated to the activities of the Dota 2 community. The playoff of The International 2019 will take place August 20-25.
The color theme of the competition is purple, it was revealed less than 24 hours ago with the teaser of the Battle Pass. According to some online sources, the theme falls under the category of the original event. Since the first TI theme was red we could hope the Valve follows the ruins scheme and TI 10 battle pass will be golden.
Tomorrow… pic.twitter.com/3ybh3p1WBe
— DOTA 2 (@DOTA2) May 6, 2019
New DPC Circuit
A few days ago Valve also announced the schedule of the next major and minor tournaments. The approach of dates and the number of Majors and Minors makes it clear that the structure of the DPC (Professional Circuit of Dota 2) will remain the same for 2020. Valve will intervene and decide not only on the allocation of the places for the regional qualifiers but also in the format of the tournament and the qualifiers themselves.
This decision is due to the fact that some events this year were carried out with different format, generating discomfort and controversy in the community. Examples of this were the Minor of Dota PIT in Croatia or the Minor of StarLadder in Kiev, where only four teams arrived at the main event. The developers are currently accepting the bids of the organizers for the opportunity to host the 2019-2020 DPC events.
We are now accepting proposals for majors and minors on the 2019/2020 DPC season. https://t.co/bDADNrcZE2
— DOTA 2 (@DOTA2) April 30, 2019
We will continue to post all the information about the TI9 as the tournament draws near. Be sure to keep an eye out for the Battle Pass as the developer said it will be introduced on the 7th May. We hope that it will come up with the base prize pool of the International 9. Last year it was $1,600,000.
