As teams compete to take home the most prestigious trophy in Dota 2, the Aegis, these four teams will pose quite a challenge and threat to their opponents.
Quincy Crew, T1, Vici Gaming, and Team Aster might not be on the top of the list as the favorites to take home the Aegis, but their performances over the last season have proven that they are more than capable and ready to give the top contenders and favorites of The International 10 a run for their money. They are in fact, perhaps the biggest challengers that will step foot on the stage and potentially bring home the Aegis of Champions.
Quincy Crew
Quincy Crew has been through the 'organization' ringer since its inception in 2018. Forming as a stack in the post TI8 shuffle, they were quickly picked up by Forward Gaming just a few weeks later. In July 2019 the organization went bust and released the squad BEFORE their TI9 appearance, but was quickly scooped up by Newbee before the big event.
Following their commendable 9-12th place finish at The International 9, Quincy Crew went back to their original moniker before being picked up Chaos Esports in November 2019.
Once again, the team was dropped as Chaos bowed out of Dota 2 amid financial concerns in March 2020 and has been Quincy Crew ever since.
It's near impossible for Dota 2 teams to be able to succeed and have any amount of stability when there is no organization to back them or lend support. But this team found a way.
Their final form (lineup) when Rodrigo "Lelis" Santos joined in June 2020 had established themselves as the new Kings of NA. They dominated offline events and took home nine titles and one second-place medal in the ten events they participated in leading up to the DPC 2021 Season 1 league.
They had no issues qualifying for the Majors and were able to clinch places in both Majors of 2021, thus securing their presence at The International 10,
At ONE Esports Singapore Major, the team ran into complications, not once, but twice and ended up using a stand-in for the stand-in. The result was that they placed just 9-12th by losing the first playoff lower bracket series.
Their disappointment just made Quincy Crew push even harder and achieve an undefeated run through the second season of the DPC league. They finished at the top of the league, with a clean 7-0 performance, arrived at WePlay AniMajor in full formula. In the end, they took an impressive 5-6th place finish and collected an additional 300 DPC points, bringing up their grand total to 1100 points and a 4th place DPC ranking.
With Avery "SVG" Silverman's vast experience as a coach and his overall view on the game, this squad has an incredible capability to bounce back after a hard loss. They won't be ruffled easily and are likely to make things difficult for even the more favorites of the event.
Quincy Crew roster:
Yawar “YawaR” Hassan
Quinn “Quinn” Callahan
Rodrigo “Lelis” Santos
Arif “MSS” Anwar
Avery “LoA” Silverman
- Read our full team profile: TI10 Quincy Crew - united through thick and thin HERE
T1
South Korea hadn't made a mark in Dota 2 since 2016 when MVP disbanded all their Dota 2 divisions.
It took another three years to see some activity in the region and in August 2019, T1, the South Korean giant organization announced their intention of re-entering the scene. Despite that, it wasn't until MVP Phoenix mastermind and former TNC Predator coach, Park "March" Tae-won was signed by T1 and given the green light to build a new team from scratch that the team began to see success.
T1 couldn’t attend the Singapore Major with the whole team and called Forev, the one who kick-started the team back in 2019, to stand in. Unfortunately, going to their first LAN without captain Carlo "Kuku" Palad had a strong negative impact and the team couldn’t pass through the wild card stage.
They finished the second DPC league season as SEA top seed team and then placed third in Ukraine. They rounded out the season in 6th place overall with 1070 DPC points.
T1, along with the March effect and Kuku’s leadership, is clearly the top team coming from Southeast Asia. They are the team that has the most chances to make the miracle happen and claim the first Aegis for the region and South Korea and certainly makes it hard for others to claim it instead.
T1 roster
Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon
Karl “Karl” Jayme
Carlo “KuKu” Palad
Kenny “Xepher” Deo
Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon
coach: 
Taewon “March” Park
- Read our full team profile: T1 Marching to TI10 HERE
ViCi Gaming
With the roster being finalized well before the Dota 2 LAN action resumed in 2021, Vici Gaming had a fair time to find the synergy between all new members and to prepare for the big battles in the DPC.
Going to both majors of the 2021 DPC as China's third seed team, thus starting from the wild card stage, VG wasn't phased by the pressure to take a top finish in order to advance each time.
In fact, they sailed through the wild card and then even the group stage each time. At Singapore, Major Invictus Gaming forced them to a lower bracket run, which ended in the second round to the unpredictable OB.Neon Esports. At the WePlay AniMajor, VG got bested by Evil Geniuses in the lower bracket semifinals and was sent home with a top-four placement.
Their final results put them on par withTeam Secret with 950 DPC points, but slightly ahead in rankings at 7th place.
The new patch features plenty of VG signature heroes that just got buffed, and right after the 7.30 announcement, the organization welcomed aboard coach Yao "QQQ/357" Yi to work hand in hand with Lu "Fenrir" Chao — reuniting an old dynamic duo that worked wonders for VG way back at TI4.
Vici Gaming roster
Shaohan “Erika” Yang
Jiaoyang “Ori” Zeng
Yangwei “old eLeVeN” Ren
Jiahan “Pyw” Xiong
Cong “Dy” Ding
coach: Lu “Fenrir” Chao
- Read our full team profile: TI10 - Vici Gaming, China’s silent assassins HERE
Team Aster
Zhang "LaNm" Zhicheng, Team Aster captain and coach and Clement "Puppey" Ivanov are the only players from the entire player lineup of The International 2011 who will also be playing at TI10.
Through the online period of 2020, Team Aster underwent numerous roster changes, looking to find the right formula and the balance for success. LaNm didn’t switch back to active play until November when he completed the roster.
Once he took the support role, LaNm reunited with Du "Monet" Peng and this safe lane duo itself provided a much-needed boost to the entire team.
At the first Major they were China’s second seed but couldn’t perform at their full capacity since Ye "Borax/ BoBoKa" Zhibiao couldn’t make it to Singapore. They got knocked out in their first lower bracket series by Thunder Predator.
Aster then placed first in the DPC China Regional League Season 2, which not only ensured their spot at TI10, but also seeded them into the playoff upper bracket for the WePlay AniMajor.
Team Aster's season awarded them 800 DPC points and the 9th place rank to give them one of 12 invites to TI10.
The team's strength stays in their super-strong side lanes. Borax and Lin "Xxs" Jing have shared the offlane for nearly six years now. Monet and LaNm have been a safe lane duo for three years now.
Team Aster roster
Du “Monet” Peng
Liu “White丶Album_白学家” Yuhao
Jing “Xxs” Lin
Zhibiao “BoBoKa” Ye
Zhi Cheng “LaNm” Zhang
- Read our full team profile: TI10 Team Aster - LaNm's quest for The International glory HERE
The International 10
The TI10 invited teams
Evil Geniuses
PSG.LGD
Virtus.pro
Quincy Crew
Invictus Gaming
T1
Vici Gaming
Team Secret
Team Aster
Alliance
beastcoast
Thunder Awaken
The TI10 qualified teams
Team Spirit
Fnatic
SG esports
Team Undying
Elephant
OG
The International 10 prize pool
The final total for the TI10 prize pool has clocked in at $40,018,195 when the crowdfunding and Battle Pass purchases ended this past weekend. That is a 2401.14% increase from the original base amount of $1.6 million.
Only 25% of the sales contribute to the prize pool meaning that $153,672,780 has been spent on purchases by fans across the globe.
The previous year, The International 9 prize pool reached $34,330,068 ($32,730,068 added).
The International 10
The International 10 is now expected to take place in October with the group stage matches unfolding October 7 - 10, the playoffs set to kick off on the 12th of the month, and the grand finals scheduled for October 17.
It will be held at the National Arena from Bucharest, Romania —the largest stadium in the capital city, with a capacity of 55,000 seats. Valve’s official announcement gives a small hint for the possibility of having TI10 held with a live audience as well, however, no details were revealed just yet on the specifics or the ticket sales.
