Qualifier favourites Talon Esports fell in back-to-back upsets to Team Nemesis and BOOM Esports, to get denied a spot in TI 2025.
BOOM Esports will be Southeast Asia's second representative in The International (TI) 2025 after they defeated 
Talon Esports, 2-1, in the lower bracket finals of the tournament's Southeast Asian regional qualifier on Tuesday (17 June). BOOM will join 
Team Nemesis, who pulled off their own upset over Talon in the upper bracket finals, in representing Southeast Asia in this year's Dota 2 world championship tournament.
After an unsuccessful stint in South America from November 2023 to August 2024, the BOOM organisation returned to its home region last September to try and dominate the Southeast Asian scene once more. However, BOOM found themselves sitting squarely behind Talon in the region's pecking order all year long.
BOOM entered TI 2025's Southeast Asian qualifier with a roster featuring some of the most experienced and decorated players in the region, including 
Souliya “JaCkky” Khoomphetsavong, 
Armel Paul “Armel” Tabios, 
Anucha “Jabz” Jirawong, Timothy “TIMS” Randrup, and Jaunuel “Jaunuel” Arcilla. Notably leading the squad as coach is Southeast Asian Dota legend 
Yee Fung “Mushi” Chai.
Despite their stacked roster, BOOM still faced an uphill battle on their road to TI 2025, even if the Southeast Asian qualifier granted two spots in the tournament. With many expecting Talon to secure the first of those two spots, BOOM had the rest of the region to contend with.
BOOM had a rough start to the Southeast Asian qualifier, falling to Nemesis in three games in the upper bracket quarterfinals to quickly get dropped to the lower bracket. Under threat of elimination, BOOM locked in and went on a fiery run through the lower bracket through Castawake,
Ivory, and 
Execration to get into position for a spot in TI 2025 in the lower bracket finals.
BOOM found themselves once again facing Talon, who had just been knocked off their perch by Nemesis in the upper bracket finals. With Talon looking vulnerable, BOOM struck first in the series with a 46-minute stomp in game one. However, Talon responded with their own one-sided win in a 38-minute game two to force the match to a deciding third game for a spot in TI 2025.
Game three started off with both teams on relatively even footing, but BOOM outplayed Talon in the crucial mid game teamfights to take control of the game, and eventually secured their spot in TI 2025 after 47 minutes of action.
As the two winners of the Southeast Asian regional qualifier, BOOM and Nemesis will join Eastern European qualifier winner 
Aurora Gaming, South American qualifier winner 
HEROIC, Chinese regional qualifier winner 
Xtreme Gaming, North American regional qualifier winner 
Wildcard, and the first winner of the Western European regional qualifier in 
Natus Vincere Junior among the teams to have successfully fought for their way to a spot in TI 2025.
The final spot in TI 2025 through the Western European regional qualifier will be up for grabs between 
OG, 
Nigma Galaxy, and 
Yellow Submarine.
This year's TI regional qualifiers will take place across two weeks of competition from 4 to 17 June, with three batches of two qualifiers each being played at a time. The final set of regional qualifiers will be for Southeast Asia and Western Europe, which will be hosted from 13 to 17 June, and with two teams from each qualifier advancing to this year's Dota 2 world championship tournament.
The winners of the TI 2025 regional qualifiers will join eight directly-invited teams in this year's Dota 2 world championship tournament. The direct invite teams include defending TI champions 
Team Liquid, 
Tundra Esports, 
Team Falcons, and 
Gaimin Gladiators from Western Europe; 
PARIVISION, 
BetBoom Team, and 
Team Spirit from Eastern Europe; as well as 
All Gamers Global (formerly 
Team Tidebound) from China.
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