The International 4 will have its first set of games today, with 28 games scheduled in the Americas qualifiers. The winner of this four-day qualifier will be one of the sixteen teams playing in the main event of The International 4 scheduled 8-21 July.
The Americas qualifiers will start today, and it will consume four consecutive days. Given the very short time allowance and the eleven-team round-robin format, the teams will have to cram the group stage within the first two playdates. At least 28 matches will be played within the first two qualifier dates, four scheduled per timeslot, with the possibility of additional tiebreaker matches.
The top four team after the groups will advance into a double-elimination best-of-three playoffs. The top two teams will have an advantage as they will be seeded into the upper bracket, while the bottom two playoff teams will be placed in the lower bracket. The grand finals will be best-of-five.
The qualifiers will be widely covered, and all games will be streamed and cast across various American and European broadcasters. Aside from GD Studio's primary stream for this event, other parties such as joinDOTA, BeyondTheSummit and HighGroundTV.
GosuGamers took a pick on the tournament favorites, and you can read about it here.
The top two teams of the qualifiers will travel to Seattle this coming July for The International 4. The Champion will get an outright slot into the main event, while the runner-up will have to go through a wildcard tournament against three other teams for the final slot. The three other teams participating will be the respective runner-ups of the other qualifiers - Europe, China and Southeast Asia.
