The Summit is casting studio Beyond the Summit's first foray into organising a LAN event with a large prize pool. While part of it arises from it being one the stretch goals (that was never reached) advertised on their IndieGoGo campaign back in 2012, they have decided to approach the LAN tournament from a different perspective, blending player with caster. BTS aims to develop an atmosphere similar to the HomeStory Cup from Starcraft II, where players will proactively be part of the cast, as well as being able to mingle and interact with the audience. This allows for a more intimate and laid back tournament, and casters and players alike can enjoy the relaxed atmosphere.
The LAN will be held at the BTS House/Studio in Los Angeles, and will feature two invited teams and four qualified teams. When we asked David 'GoDz' Parker about the situation of the players spending all their time in the BTS studio, he had this to say:
The players will be eating our food, chilling on our couches, drinking our booze, and joining in the broadcast throughout the four days of play when they aren't competing! We'll have 2 playing rooms set up for the teams that are competing as well as a practice room, media/interview room and plenty of space for people to relax, watch the games, and unwind in general. There're places where players can be off camera and not constantly monitored as well.
At the same time, GoDz also laid down the objectives and expectations that BTS had going into the event, and what spectators can expect to see.
Viewers can expect to get a feel for the personality of all the teams and players of the event, even those they might not know much about. We aim to really showcase the players and teams in the most natural way possible, and let them be themselves. We'll let players talk about games while they are going on, chill out on our backyard patio, and spectators can hopefully get a feel for all that is going on at the event.
As this is BTS's first LAN event, as well as Dota 2's first LAN modelled after the Homestory Cup, we should be in for a very interesting weekend of games as well as player interaction. In the next section, we cover the 6 teams and their recent performance coming into this LAN event.
Teams
Invited Teams
Team DK
Team DK are the Chinese superstar team, made of some of the biggest names in Eastern Dota history. Having come in second in the just concluded WPC-ACE League 2014 after a gruelling 1-4 loss to Invictus Gaming, Team DK are on their way to Los Angeles with something to prove. They have not been of the hottest form of late, with the 6.81 patch hitting them seemingly as hard as their 6.79 slump.
They come to The Summit with the most impressive achievement list in 2014 thus far, having clocked multiple podium positions in both Chinese and International tournaments alike. Having blazed through their competiton at StarLadder Season 9, they will once again look to prove their mettle at yet another international tournament.
Look forward to this dynamic team perform their extreme teamwork and magic stalling tactics, as well as their unpredictable drafts. With such a diverse team of talented veterans, each possessing the ability to carry the team on his back, they are indeed a force to be reckoned with at any LAN tournament. However, their recent form leaves to be desired, with some problems in the drafting chair, as well as a tendency to overrely on buybacks and split-pushing when they are behind.In the light of The Summit, watch out for iceiceice's trollish behaviour and for MMY to reveal his inner joker for all.
| Team Roster | Notable/Signature Heroes | Team Achievements in 2014 | GosuRanking |
| Zhilei 'BurNing' Xu (C) |    | 1st - G-League 2013/2014 | 5th in World |
| Yee Fung 'Mushi' Chai |    | 1st - Starladder Season 9 | Common Picks in 6.81 |
| Daryl 'iceiceice' Koh |    | 1st - Sina Cup Season 3 |    |
| Zhi Cheng 'laNm' Zhang |   | 2nd - WPC-ACE League 2014 | Overall Winrate in 6.81 |
| Zheng Rong 'MMY!' Lei |   | 2nd - Red Bull ECL 2014 | 21 - 16 (58%) |
Na`Vi
Natus Vincere is the premier team in Europe, possessing a pedigree that none in Dota can match - no other team has reached the Grand Finals of the International twice, much less three times. They are an extremely popular team, with outstanding veterans in every position and consistently placing within the top four in tournaments.
Of late, however, they seem to be in somewhat of a slump, having played few matches and even failing to reach top four at StarLadder Season 9, which they had won 6 of the previous 8 seasons. Furthermore, rumours abound of a lack of team training and practice, contributing to their abysmal 40% win rate since 6.81 arrived.
However, lest more naysaying be done, this is Na`Vi, a team that is well renowned for their ability to comeback when on the verge of elimination, especially in double elimination tournaments. They are a team that unfailingly performs at LAN events, no matter how poorly they have performed in the past and how little preparation they have done. Look forward to interactions with the players - with crowd pleasers like Dendi and the serious KuroKy-, Na`Vi have the charisma to charm you off your feet.
| Team Roster | Notable/Signature Heroes | Team Achievements in 2014 | GosuRanking |
| Clement 'Puppey' Ivanov (C) |   | 1st - StarLadder Season 8 | 13th in World |
| Danil 'Dendi' Ishutin |  | 1st - Dota 2 Champions League | Common Picks in 6.81 |
| Gleb 'Funn1k' Lipatnikov |    | 2nd - DotaCinema Captain's Draft Invitational | |
| Alexander 'XBOCT' Dashkevich |   | Overall Winrate in 6.81 | |
| Kuro 'KuroKy-' Salehi |  | 6 - 9 (40%) |
Qualified Teams
Vici Gaming
Vici Gaming are a perennial top competitor in the Chinese scene, and have consistently done well in that scene. Led by captain and experienced veteran rOtk, this is a team that combines experience with youth - the rest of their players are relatively young, and for two of them this will only be their third time going abroad (D2L and ESL One being the two previous times).
More recently, they have done well in China, taking podium positions, but not any championship since their last one at ESL Fall. As such, they are often ignored in Western media that tends to sideline them in favour of the DK-IG rivalry, and more recently, the rise of NewBee. They will definitely look to rectify that in their trip to Los Angeles, with rOtk's thirst for trophies ever burning. As a team, they are quite predictable in the strategies they run, that typically rely on both supports to secure an early-game victory for them with good rotations and early aggression.
At The Summit, look forward to the comedic and charming rOtk telling other players to kiss his ass, as well as his infamous trashtalking ability at any open-booth LAN finals. At the same time, be well aware of Sylar and Fy, two extremely quiet yet consistent players often overshadowed by the media attention on rOtk.
| Team Roster | Notable/Signature Heroes | Team Achievements in 2014 | GosuRanking |
| Bai 'rOtk' Bai (C) |   | 2nd - WVW Tournament | 6th in World |
| Jun Hao 'Super!' Xie |    | 2nd - Sina Cup Season 3 | Common Picks in 6.81 |
| Jia Jun 'Sylar' Liu |   | 3rd - Netolic Pro League #5 East |  |
| Lin Sen 'fy' Xu |  | 3rd - D2L Season 4 | Overall Winrate in 6.81 |
| Lu 'Fenrir' Chao |   | 3rd/4th - MarsTV Dota 2 League | 34 - 24 (58.6%) |
Fnatic
Fnatic are yet another team with a storied history - having made the transition to Dota 2 from HoN, they have not changed their roster since their addition of Trixi almost two years ago. Fnatic are also said to be cursed with being perennially second - they had not managed to take any major championship in Dota 2 until this year, where they won the MLG TKO Europe and DotaCinema Captain's Draft Invitational.
As a team, Fnatic are unpredictable and unconventional. Under the leadership of Fly, they are a team that are willing to try the unconventional, at times choosing to play n0tail's carry Meepo, or even having H4nni on a solo mid Earthshaker. However, this time around they will be playing with a stand-in as Adrian 'Era' Kryeziu is injured and unable to attend The Summit. Instead, they have engaged the services of a 16 year old Swede, Steve 'Excalibur' Ye for this LAN event.
While much is unknown about the pub starlet, we do know that Fnatic is indeed one of the best teams to watch in front of the camera. With n0tail's antics and the amount of focus on healthy living and physical training by both H4nni and Fly, they definitely do well in front of any camera. Pay close attention to Fly if he decides to demonstrate his Krav Maga techniques, or n0tail when he goes into one his pelvic thrust moods.
| Team Roster | Notable/Signature Heroes | Team Achievements in 2014 | GosuRanking |
| Tal 'Fly' Azik (C) |  | 1st - DotaCinema Captain's Draft Invitational | 8th in World |
| Kai 'H4nni' Hanbuckers |  | 1st - MLG TKO Europe | Common Picks in 6.81 |
| Kalle 'Trixi' Saarinen | | 2nd - D2L Season 4 | |
| Johan 'n0tail' Sundstein |  | 3rd/4th - Fragbite Masters Season 2 | Overall Winrate in 6.81 |
| Steve 'Excalibur' Ye | Stand-in, details unknown | 18 - 15 (54.5%) |
Evil Geniuses
Evil Geniuses have been labelled the hope of North America coming into The International 2014, yet those hopes have taken a blow as captain and carry player Clinton 'Fear' Loomis has been sidelined till after TI4 due to an arm injury. He will however, still be travelling to Los Angeles as the EG coach. In the meantime, Mason 'Mason' Venne has been engaged as an official member of the team and will be playing at least until Fear makes his return.
As a team that has dominated the entirety of North America in 2014, EG are definitely out to make their brand name and credentials known. Placing at second in our GosuRanking and also possessing an amazing 82.5% winrate in 6.81, EG come into this tournament as the top competitive seed and with a lot to prove. Carrying North American hopes on their backs, EG came in top in the qualifiers and have an extremely young team mixed with experienced veterans like Universe.
Look forward to PPD's monologues and insight on the streams, as well as Arteezy living up life at the BTS House. Arteezy might decide to share some of his insight as well, and interact and perhaps troll together with Twitch chat, as he often does on his stream.
| Team Roster | Notable/Signature Heroes | Team Achievements in 2014 | GosuRanking |
| Ludwig 'Zai' Wahlberg |  | 1st - Monster Energy Invitaitonal | 2nd in World |
| Artour 'Arteezy' Babaev |   | 1st - MLG TKO America | Common Picks in 6.81 |
| Sahiil 'Universe' Arora | | 2nd - Netolic Pro League 5 West | |
| Peter 'PPD' Dager |  | 3rd - StarLadder Season 9 | Overall Winrate |
| Mason 'Mason' Venne | | 33 - 7 (82.5%) |
Na`Vi.US
The latest team to acquire a sponsoring organisation, Na`Vi.US, previously known as North American Rejects, are literally a team of North American Rejects. While each of them have a long history in Dota 2, they have all been part of the extremely unstable and temperamental North American scene that has seen teams disbanding and reformed ever so often. With two members from LGD.int, two from Dignitas and one from Liquid, they have all attended multiple LAN tournaments with each of their teams. Their ability is unquestioned after they swept the North American qualifiers, earning themselves a direct invite to the main event at the expense of Team Liquid.
As a team, they are diverse and run a variety of strategies that showcase their creativity and diversity, while also highlighting their shrewd experience in playing different lineups. A fairly new team, they do not have much to their name, but as the second North American representative and bearing the pedigree of Natus Vincere, they definitely want to do their new sponsors proud.
Watch out for the insightful commentary from both Fogged, who wowed spectators at the TI4 qualifiers, as well as 1437, well known for his casting antics together with Litt-Binn 'WinteR' Chan of Orange.
| Team Roster | Notable/Signature Heroes | Team Achievements in 2014 | GosuRanking |
| Braxton 'Brax' Paulson (C) |  | 1st - Gigabyte Challenge #4 | 18th in World (NAR) |
| Steven 'Korok' Ashworth | | 3rd/4th - American Dota League | Common Picks in 6.81 |
| Jing 'Sneyking' Wu |  | Winner of TI4 American Qualifiers | |
| Ioannis 'Fogged' Loucas |  | Overall Winrate in 6.81 | |
| Theeban '1437' Siva |  | 38 - 15 (71.7%) |
Place your rares! (item betting + schedule)
GosuGamers recently announced item betting, where you place rares on certain matches. All the round robin and playoff matches of The Summit will be eligible for item betting. In order to get started, first head over to "My Itembets" and deposit some rares, after that it is just like regular GosuBetting. For more information, read this. Links to all round robin matches are found below.
The Summit will be played in a round-robin group stage followed by a double elimination bracket. Each team will play every other team for a total of 15 best of 1 games. The top four seeds of the group stage will advance to the winner's bracket, while the bottom two teams will start off in the loser's bracket. The top seed of the group stage will get to choose who they wish to play in the first round of the winner's bracket.
The elimination bracket which will be best of 3 for every match, except for a best of 5 Grand Finals.
Day 1, Thursday June 5
- 08.00 PST / 17.00 CEST / 23.00 SGT -- Team DK vs Vici Gaming
- 09.15 PST / 18.15 CEST / 00.15 SGT -- Natus Vincere vs Vici Gaming
- 10.30 PST / 19.30 CEST / 01.30 SGT -- Team DK vs Natus Vincere
- 11.45 PST / 20.45 CEST / 02.45 SGT -- Natus Vincere.NA vs Vici Gaming
- 13.00 PST / 22.00 CEST / 04.00 SGT -- Natus Vincere vs Evil Geniuses
- 14.15 PST / 23.15 CEST / 05.15 SGT -- Team DK vs Fnatic
- 15.30 PST / 00.30 CEST / 06.30 SGT -- Team DK vs Natus Vincere.NA
- 16.45 PST / 01.45 CEST / 07.45 SGT -- Vici Gaming vs Evil Geniuses
- 18.00 PST / 03.00 CEST / 09.00 SGT -- Fnatic vs Natus Vincere
- 19.15 PST / 04.15 CEST / 10.15 SGT -- Evil Geniuses vs Natus Vincere.NA
- 20.30 PST / 05.30 CEST / 11.30 SGT -- Fnatic vs Natus Vincere.NA
- 21.45 PST / 06.45 CEST / 12.45 SGT -- Evil Geniuses vs Fnatic
Group Stage and Elimination Bracket
Prizepool Distribution
The Summit has a current prizepool of $85,000, of which $50,000 is the base and $35,000 has been crowdfunded through ticket sales. Another $30,000 has is also part of the money being distributed to the teams, but this is part of travel expenses. The prize distribution is as follows:
1st: $38,459 (45%)
2nd: $21,366 (25%)
3rd: $12,820 (15%)
4th: $8,547 (10%)
5th/6th: $2,137 (2.5%)
Casting and Streaming Information
Needless to say, the casting will be done by Beyond the Summit and their repertoire of casters. The professional players will also be directly involved in the casts and other interactions. You can follow the action on their English stream on Twitch.tv.
Spectator Support
You can follow Beyond the Summit on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and also purchase the in-game Ticket at the Steam store. You can also keep up with the various casting personalities on their respective Facebook and Twitter pages.
David 'GoDz' Parker's Facebook & Twitter
David 'LD' Gorman's Facebook & Twitter
Ben 'Merlini' Wu's Website, Facebook & Twitter
Andrew 'Zyori' Campbell's Website, Facebook & Twitter
Bryan 'Kpoptosis' Herren's Facebook & Twitter
GoDz also had a special mention for fans of BTS and Dota 2 alike who wish to support The Summit and the BTS studio.
The best thing is just tuning in and being supportive. This is our first LAN event, it's been a big challenge (which has kept us motivated!), but mostly tons of fun to prepare and plan this event, so we hope everyone enjoys what we put together and is patient with us through any difficulties that come up. It's all been a big learning process, but we feel confident it'll be a great success!
Some questions with Vici Gaming's Sylar
To cap off the infopack, GosuGamers reached out to to Sylar to ask him some questions about Vici Gaming and their trip to America for The Summit.
Hi Sylar, thanks for giving us this interview. How are you today?
Not bad :) Recently we have been preparing for The Summit.
How excited are you to be invited to TI4?
Very happy, because we were not sure at the time if we would receive a direct invite.
With the current prizepool nearing $6million USD, do you have any expectations on how large it could get?
Ha, I'm very satisfied with the current prizepool, the Compendium is doing great work.
With such a large prizepool, do you feel that there is even more pressure on the players compared to previous internationals?
I think it is fine, but the players will be a lot more motivated.
Vici Gaming have qualified for The Summit through the Asian qualifiers. What are VG's plans moving forward in this international tournament, the first since winning ESL?
Try our best to get the championship!
Does VG aim to win the Summit, or treat it as a testing ground for new strategies and training for the International?
We will do our best to try and win The Summit. We will also try to gain as much experience as possible, and find our weaknesses.
If you had to describe your teammates in four words, how would you describe them?
Rotk – noob
FY – ??: Rich and handsome
Fenrir - ???: Good to talk with
Super! – ???: Likes to boast
If you can create a dream team, who would be in your team, and why?
I have never thought about it, but I think it definitely will have BurNing because he is my idol.
Do you think you will ever move away from the carry position?
I don't think so, the position and playstyle is too ingrained in me.
What is your favourite carry hero to play in competitions?
Morphling!
Do you have any advice for aspiring professional players out there?
If you want to play professionally, you have to persevere. That is the way to achieve what you desire.
Rotator photo and Headline from Beyond The Summit, Picture of DK from DK's Weibo, Picture of Na`Vi and Na`Vi.US from Na`vi's Facebook, Picture of Vici Gaming and Sylar from Vici Gaming's Weibo, Picture of Fnatic from Fnatic's website, Picture of EG from Starladder's Facebook
Visit our wiki page for more information on The Summit!
