Twelve teams head to Singapore for the Last Chance Qualifier in one week. But is it considered competing in The International 2022?
Twelve teams fell short of the highly coveted spot in The International 2022 group stage. But they were able to punch a ticket to head to Singapore for one final shot —the newly added Last Chance Qualifier. Only two teams will survive the battle and advance to the group stage.
While ten of the twelve teams won't see the 'main event', are they still considered competing at The International 2022?
Not part of The International 2022
The last word in the LCQ is literally "Qualifier" which would indicate that it is not indeed part of The International, no more than the regional qualifiers are.
But what makes it so confusing is that it is being held as a LAN at the same hotel as the group stage with Valve/PGL flying the teams and providing the accommodations for them during this phase. So how would that make it any different than Wild Card portions of TI3 (in which RaTtLeSnAkE defeated Quantic Gaming 3:1), TI5 when CDEC and MVP.Phoenix advanced and TI6 when EHOME and Escape Gaming landed the spots for the group stage?
The Wild Card is widely considered to be part of the event. However, the teams that didn't advance didn't receive any portion of the prize pool —which is the same as for ten teams in the LCQ.
Clement 'Puppey' Ivanov stands alone as the only player who has had the honor to compete at every International every year since its inception. His (potential) missing the event will be devastating for everyone and officially mark the end of an era. And that might in well happen if Team Secret isn't one of the two teams that clinch a spot.
So far we are pretty clear, right? Qualifier = qualifier and no portion of the prize pool is allocated to the ten teams that do not advance.
Part of The International 2022
Things start to get a slight bit cloudy when we look at it being a LAN at the same venue paid for by the hosting parties, and the Wild Card Series in the past was considered part of The International.
But um.... here's where waters start getting a bit muddier.
Here, it seems to indicate that The International consists of 30 teams, which would include the LCQ teams then.
But we know, that although Wyk is considered a mouthpiece for Valve to the community he isn't always correct.
And we all know how that turned out.
So let's take it straight from the horses' mouth.
According to Valve's sentry post on June 1, 2022, there will be 30 teams at The International.
At the Stockholm Major, we were pleased to unveil that The International will be hosted in Singapore, bringing the crowning event in esports to SEA for the first time. Featuring four consecutive weekends of Dota action, and a total of 30 teams from all over the world, this will be the largest Dota event to date.
So if The International will feature 30 teams, making it the largest Dota event to date, it would stand to reason that the LCQ is part of The International 2022, more than the regional qualifiers.
And if that's the case then Puppey continues to hold his record.
Somehow it isn't surprising that there are conflicting opinions and vague understanding about a Valve event.
In either case, we are pretty hyped to get the ball rolling and begin the LCQ, which looks like a mini TI all on its own.
- Read TI11 Last Chance Qualifiers: The Favorites
- Read TI11 Last Chance Qualifiers: TI11 Last Chance Qualifiers: The Hopefuls
Last Chance Qualifier Teams
nouns (North America)
Wildcard Gaming (North America)
Infamous (South America)
Tempest (South America)
Team Liquid (Western Europe)
Team Secret (Western Europe)
Outsiders (Eastern Europe)
Natus Vincere (Eastern Europe)
Xtreme Gaming (China)
Vici Gaming (China)
Polaris Esports (Southeast Asia)
T1 (Southeast Asia)
The International 2022
The International in Singapore will be the largest Dota tournament in history featuring 30 world-class teams battling out on the road to the Aegis of Champions across 4 consecutive weekends.
TI11 is expected to be held in Singapore from October 8th (starting with the offline/LAN Last Chance Qualifier) to October 30th with the grand finals.
- Read more about the schedule and format changes for The International 2022.
On 22nd January 2022, it was announced that the second and third-place teams from each region's qualifiers would compete in the Last Chance Qualifier LAN event prior to The International to decide the final two qualification spots - thus expanding The International 2022 from 18 to 20 teams.
