In the wake of all the changes still rippling through the Wandering Waters update, pro teams around the world have been hard at work, exploring fresh ways to outplay the competition. They've been battling in tournaments around the globe to put those theories to the test, all in pursuit of a single goal: to prove themselves worthy of facing off against the finest competitors in the world at The International.
Direct Invites
Amid all that action, some have already risen above the rest — and we’re excited to extend these eight teams direct invitations to Hamburg, Germany, to compete in The International 2025:
- Team Liquid
- Michael “miCKe” Vu
- Michał “Nisha” Jankowski
- Jonáš “SabeRLight” Volek
- Samuel “Boxi” Svahn
- Aydin “Insania” Sarkohi
- PARIVISION
- Alan “Satanic” Galliamov
- Volodymyr “No[o]ne-” Minenko
- Dmitrii “DM” Dorokhin
- Edgar “9Class” Naltakian
- Andrey “Dukalis” Kuropatkin
- BB Team
- Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko
- Danil “gpk~” Skutin
- Matvei “MieRo`” Vasiunin
- Vitalie “Save-” Melnic
- Vladislav “Kataomi`” Semenov
- Team Tidebound
- Guo “shiro” Xuanang
- Cheng “NothingToSay” Jin Xiang
- Zhang “Bach” Ruida
- Lin “planet” Hao
- Zhang “y`” Yiping
- Gaimin Gladiators
- Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov
- Quinn “Quinn” Callahan
- Marcus “Ace” Christensen
- Erik “tOfu” Engel
- Arman “Malady” Orazbayev
- Team Spirit
- Illya “Yatoro” Muliarchuk
- Denis “Larl” Sigitov
- Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov
- Alexsander “rue” Filin
- Iaroslav “Miposhka” Naidenov
- Team Falcons
- Oliver “skiter” Lepko
- Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak
- Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf
- Andreas “Cr1t-” Nielsen
- Wu “Sneyking” Jingjun
- Tundra Esports
- Remco “Crystallis” Arets
- Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov
- Neta “33” Shapira
- Martin “Saksa” Sazdov
- Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon
The Road to TI
The remainder of the tournament field will be filled by the eight teams able to run the gauntlet of the Regional Qualifiers, with specific slot breakdowns as follows:
- Eastern Europe + South America - June 4th - June 8th
- Eastern Europe (1 slot)
- Aurora Gaming
- Natus Vincere
- NAVI Junior
- One Move
- L1GA TEAM
- Virtus.pro
- (+4 teams from Open Qualifiers)
- South America (1 slot)
- HEROIC
- OG.LATAM
- Edge
- Team Den
- (+6 teams from Open Qualifiers)
- China + North America - June 9th - 12th
- North America (1 slot)
- Shopify Rebellion
- Wildcard
- (+6 teams from Open Qualifiers)
- China (1 slot)
- Xtreme Gaming
- Yakult Brothers
- (+6 teams from Open Qualifiers)
- Southeast Asia + Western Europe - June 13th - June 17th
- Western Europe (2 slots)
- Nigma Galaxy
- MOUZ
- OG
- AVULUS
- (+6 teams from Open Qualifiers)
- Southeast Asia (2 slots)
- TALON
- BOOM Esports
- Trailer Park Boys
- The MongolZ
- Ivory
- Execration
- (+4 teams from Open Qualifiers)
A tidal wave of teams will battle for the final eight spots, meaning there’s a flood of Dota still to come. The Road to The International begins with Open Qualifiers running from May 31st–June 3rd worldwide (June 2nd–5th for China), with Regional Qualifiers to follow as detailed above. Only players in good standing with the Dota competitive community are eligible to participate. From there, the Road continues when the sixteen invited and qualified teams face off in Hamburg, Germany. A three-day, five-round Swiss bracket followed by an elimination round will kick off on Thursday, September 4th and wrap up on Sunday, September 7th, with the eight remaining teams bound for Barclays Arena and a showdown for the Aegis of Champions set to begin on September 11th, culminating in the Grand Finals on Sunday, September 14th. All this action gets underway in just over two weeks, so clear your calendars. Fans looking to join the fun live at Barclays Arena can
grab tickets here.
