With The International seeing a decline in its previously historic yearly prize pool, Dota 2 players have been reevaluating how much Valve’s most prestigious event means to the scene. Some top talent, like Arteezy, think that TI’s value declined and legacy is not a key factor in competitive drive.
During a recent stream, Arteezy was asked about his thoughts on winning TI, to which he responded that he wants to win TI but other events like Riyadh Masters draw their own spotlight now and can mean just as much to modern players. The Aegis is still an important factor in driving top players to compete, but the money aspect is no longer locked to TI.
Before the last two seasons, TI had always seen its prize pool increase year-over-year. TI11 marked the first time that the event’s prizing declined, snapping a historic 10-year streak before TI12 cratered with the lowest total amount in over a decade. By comparison, the Saudi Arabia-backed Riyadh Masters saw its prize pool eclipse TI in its second active year, putting up a $15 million prize compared to TI12’s $3.38 million—with rumors currently saying that number could go up significantly in 2024.
“Ultimately, I think what separates TI [from other events] is the money,” Arteezy said. “Except for Riyadh, for example, I feel was bigger than TI this year. I feel this TI was really bad compared to Riyadh actually. If I won Riyadh, I would not care about TI in terms of if it was one or the other. Of course, you can be like [Team] Spirit and win both.”
Lifting the Aegis of Champions and having your name forever engraved in the history of Dota still drives the competitive scene and not every player agrees that the event is losing its luster. Arteezy’s former captain Fly thinks TI will always remain more prestigious than events like Riyadh, saying it is “like winning the World Cup” even without the massive prize pool. But esports is also a business and players want to chase the bag while in prime position to do so because of how short careers can be in the volatile industry.
Arteezy has been doing just that, moving most of his streams to Kick in a deal that seems to include a controversial element of gambling content baked into his contract. That, paired with his thoughts on TI’s potential decline all lead to his opinion on leaving a legacy in the game—which he thinks doesn’t mean a lot in the long run. “Legacy is not that important to most people, at least I feel like,” Arteezy said. “Ultimately, what happens 10 years from now? It’s not like people talk about [players] like Loda. Even though Loda won TI3 and was a legend of Dota 1, no one really talks about him anymore. Nothing against the guy at all, it’s just not really a thing.”
That sentiment is true for most players, as, once you stop competing or being relevant at the highest level, you fall out of the daily conversation regarding Dota. Loda is a good example of this because his Alliance lineup is one of the greatest to ever play and won TI3, but he only really pops up in conversation when Alliance is making roster moves or he speaks on key issues with the game. Alliance, Nigma Galaxy, and other formerly top-tier rosters have also suffered from this in recent years as they were relegated out of title contention and removed from casual conversation.
For Arteezy, he has finished third at two separate TIs but fallen well short of the Aegis in recent years, including a 13th-place exit at TI12 that saw Shopify Rebellion heavily alter its roster. More comments about player legacy, TI’s place at the top of the Dota’s tournament hierarchy, and the future of Valve’s involvement in the competitive scene will continue to drop over the next several months as we enter 2024 and a year without the Dota Pro Circuit.
