The International 2023 viewer’s guide
The biggest annual Dota 2 esports event, The International 2023, begins this week! It is no secret at all that we are super excited despite the Compendium being a bit underwhelming this year. Here’s everything Dota 2 esports fans need to know about the crowning event.
The International 2023 details
The International 2023 runs from 12 to 29 October 2023. It takes place in the US, with the playoffs held at the Seattle Convention Center’s Summit and the finals weekend at the Climate Pledge Arena.
The best 20 Dota 2 esports teams in the world who qualified via the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) or regional qualifiers will compete for their share of the ever-growing prize pool thanks to Compendium and related purchases, with Valve funding the initial base prize pool of $1,600,000.
Teams competing:
- Team Liquid
- Gaimin Gladiators
- Tundra Esports
- 9Pandas
- Evil Geniuses
- PSG.LGD
- Shopify Rebellion
- Talon Esports
- beastcoast
- Team Spirit
- TSM
- BetBoom Team
- Team SMG
- Azure Ray
- Virtus.pro
- Entity
- Quest Esports
- Keyd Stars
- Thunder Awaken
- nouns
It starts with the Group Stage this week, which runs from 12 to 15 October 2023. The Group Stage of The International 2023 has two phases.
Phase One will see four groups of five teams each compete in a single round-robin format, where all matches are best of two. The top two teams from each group will then face opponents from either the third or fourth place in the opposite group (A/B or C/D) in Phase Two, and the bottom team in each group is eliminated. The sixteen teams remaining will then play in best-of-three matches to determine the main event playoffs bracket placement.
The Main Event of the International 2023 will also run in two parts. We will see the Playoffs Weekend run from 20 to 22 October, while the Finals Weekend runs from 27 to 29 October. The 16 teams who made it past the Group Stage will compete in a double-elimination bracket, with eight teams in the Upper Bracket and eight in the Lower Bracket based on their placement from the Group Stage. The Grand Final is best-of-five, while all other matches in the playoffs are best-of-three.
You can watch all the Dota 2 esports action from The International 2023 on the official Dota2Ti Twitch channel. Alternatively, tune in to the main Dota 2 YouTube channel.
Header image via Valve.
