The luck of the draw is all part of The International experience every year, and this time around TI12 has not made it easy for a handful of Dota 2 teams who have been placed in one of the hardest group stage lineups in recent memory.
Valve revealed the full group stage lineup late on Tuesday, Oct. 10, showcasing a full breakdown of which Dota 2 teams will face off in the newly altered TI format this month. While some, like Team Spirit, have been left celebrating their good fortune, at least one group’s draw has all five teams sweating.
Even with a majority of the group draw being decided based on the Dota Pro Circuit points each team earned throughout the season, two of the three feel very lopsided. This includes one lineup that pits three of the top teams against each other right away.
Since this is TI, no group is actually going to be a total wash, but Group B includes arguably the second-best team from the 2023 DPC season, Team Liquid playing against the top North American roster, Shopify Rebellion, and BetBoom. That means one bad run could lead to an early exit since one team from each group will go home.
There was a point this year where penciling in Liquid and Gaimin Gladiators for every grand final at an event was a safe bet that many fans would take. Meanwhile, Shopify had a strong year overall and, despite some iffy finishes this summer, did finish second at the last pre-TI12 event, DreamLeague Season 21.
BetBoom had a rough DPC season overall, leading to a low seeding for this draw, but they played some of their best Dota of the year over the last three months—including a tight loss to Shopify in the DL21 lower bracket finals. That doesn’t take into account the veteran Chinese lineup of Azure Ray led by Somnus or the South American upstarts on Thunder Awaken looking to make some noise in that group either.
Compare Team Spirit, a roster that dominated the last two Majors, only staring down a regional rival in 9Pandas, who they feel comfortable against, and Evil Geniuses SA lineup that still looks a mess on LAN, and it is night and day.
Group C has a fairly balanced lineup with Gaimin as heavy favorites facing off against LGD Gaming and beastcoast at the top of the crop, while Group D is being labeled as the wildcard as Tundra Esports looks to try and mount an Aegis defense.
Memes aside, TI12 Group B is going to see the most struggle and has the highest chance of a surprise upset if a sudden slump hits one of those top Dota 2 rosters. This is also a rough draw overall for the four South American reps, with only beastcoast and EG favored to make it into the latter rounds.
Action for the new The Road to The International kicks off on Thursday, Oct. 12, which means we will be saying goodbye to our first four teams in the next few days.
