The big day has arrived, as Valve just announced the competitors for this year's International. The teams that will be battling in the regional qualifiers have also been announced, and the qualifier brackets will span from May 12th through May 27th.
Through the official DotA2 website, Valve made the official announcement for the most prestigious tournament of the year, The International IV. Eleven teams have been directly invited to the main event, and they will be joined by the four winners of the regional qualifiers. The final spot will be covered by one of the four runner-ups, after the Play-in Series in Seattle.
The International IV's location will be the KeyArena, a multi-purpose stadium of the Seattle Center facilities, in Seattle, WA, USA. The 17.000 venue will be able to accommodate a vast crowd of Dota 2 enthusiasts, an amount way higher than Benaroya Hall, the host of the latest two versions of The International which had room for roughly 3,000 visitors. The location change was required due to the increasing popularity of the massive event held each year by Valve.
Without further ado, here are the invited teams for this year's International :
Alliance
Titan eSports
Evil Geniuses
Fnatic
NewBee
ViCi Gaming
Invictus Gaming
Team DK
Team Empire
Cloud9
Natus Vincere
The regional qualifiers for the tournament will take place from May 12th through May 27th. As mentioned above, the four winners will advance to the main event, while the four runner-ups will fly to Seattle and fight for the remaining spot.
| The International IV Regional Qualifiers | |
|---|---|
| America - May 12-15 (12:00 PM EST) | SEA - May 16-19 (12:00 PM SGT) |
 Union Gaming Sneaky Nyx Assassins No Earthspirit Osiris Gaming eHug CNB eSports Team Liquid Revenge eSports North American Rejects TOP5 |  Mineski MiTH.Trust MVP.Phoenix Scythe Gaming First Departure Arrow Gaming Rex Regum Qeon Zephyr Execration Orange eSports |
| China - May 20-23 (12:00 PM CCT) | Europe - May 24-27 (12:00 PM CEST) |
| TongFu LGD CNB.cn Orenda Gaming DT.NGC CIS-Game Speed Gaming.cn New Element LGD.CDEC HyperGloryTeam |  NEXT.Kz MeetYourMakers Virtus.Pro Team DOG RoX.KIS Aware Gaming Relax ESFX.Power Rangers Monomaniac Gaming hehe united |
The qualifiers will consist of two phases. During the first phase, each team will fight every other team in a best-of-one match, with the top four teams advancing to the second phase. The second phase is a double elimination bracket with best-of-three matches. The first and second teams of the first phase will enter the Upper Bracket, and the third and fourth will start in the Lower Bracket. The regional Grand Final will be a best-of-five match.
Source : dota2.com
