The six teams to receive direct invitations to The International 2017 are announced.
It’s almost that time of the year; the one where the top Dota 2 teams from around the world descend on KeyArena, Seattle. This year we’ll see eighteen teams head to The International 2017, all hungry for their share of what has been the largest prize pool in esports history for the last three iterations of this event. Six direct invitations were sent out to teams who have shown their excellence and proved their worth throughout this year.
The directly invited teams to TI7 are:
OG
Virtus.Pro
Evil Geniuses
Team Liquid
Invictus Gaming
Newbee
OG
The invite for OG comes as no surprise after the team secured the top spot at The Kiev Major earlier this year alongside their first place at The Boston Major late in 2016 and a 2nd place at The Dota 2 Asia Championships 2017. OG have constantly performed amazingly in the Valve Majors but lack the ultimate prize – The International trophy – maybe this will be their year.
Virtus.Pro
After a superb 2nd place finish at The Kiev Major and winning the DOTA Summit 7 tournament just a few hours ago, VP have secured an invite to TI7. While VP failed to qualify for TI6 last year, they’ve shown their worth this year, fighting tooth and nail to reach the top and flying the CIS flag proudly. With a direct invite, VP will be heading to Seattle in an attempt to secure the TI7 winnings for themselves.
Evil Geniuses
There’s not much to be said for EG’s direct invite, as it was bound to happen. The team may have not had the greatest season of Dota 2 but their win at The Manila Masters just a few weeks ago proved just how strong they are. While the squad is quite different from the TI5 winning one, they remain a force to be reckoned with and definitely contenders for the TI7 trophy.
Team Liquid
Team Liquid have recently pulled themselves back into the limelight, taking top honours at multiple events late into 2016 and this year, including their defense of their EPICENTER title a few weeks ago. Alongside their win at the StarLadder i-League Invitational #2 in May, Liquid’s direct invite is definitely well deserved and the team will be looking to secure a top finish come TI7.
Invictus Gaming
IG’s TI7 invite comes as a no surprise – the team have performed admirably this year, taking first place at the Dota 2 Asia Championships but have suffered from fairly average results since then. However, this is not to count the Chinese squad out at all. Their win at DAC saw them take down OG multiple times, which is no easy feat – plus they have had 3rd-4th place finishes at 2 major events since then. While the team may look shaky on paper, they are certainly able to produce fantastic results and The International 2017 stage may just be where they shine.
Newbee
Newbee have recently seen a magnificent rise to form, after a terrible finish at The Kiev Major, the team progressively found better results up to their 2nd place at the Manila Masters – followed shortly by first place finishes at the ZOTAC Cup Masters and Galaxy Battles just a few hours ago. The Chinese squad are definitely deserving of their direct invite after they’ve shown that they are willing to fight for their place at the top.
Let the battle commence
With these 6 direct invites now sent we look toward the Open and Regional Qualifiers coming to us on June 22nd and 26th respectively. Thousands of teams from around the world will attempt to claim 1 of the final twelve slots to fight for the Aegis of Champions – but in the end, only 1 can be the true victory and hold that trophy high. The battles will be intense but we look forward to every second of the action.
With the prize pool having just broken the $15,000,000 mark, TI7 is assured of being just as amazing as the last 6 years of TI action. You can keep up with all The International 2017; from prize pool increases to qualifiers and the teams that get through, here.
Click here for results, VODs and all the other information
images courtesty of Wykrhm Reddy
news source Dota 2 website
