Eastern European Dota is stronger than we thought

Eastern Europe sent four teams to The International 12.

Three of them, Team Spirit, 9Pandas, and BetBoom Team, finished Dota Pro Circuit in the top 12 and received direct invitations. One, Virtus.pro, managed to win the regional qualifier.

Based on how these teams performed ahead of The International 12, everyone expected Team Spirit to do well and potentially win the Aegis of Champions. But the other three teams looked relatively weak when compared to Western European and Chinese opponents.

Despite this initial assessment, which was perfectly reasonable in light of what we were able to observe, EEU teams performed well at The International. None of them got eliminated in the group stage or the first round of the lower bracket. This means that a third of the top 12 teams at TI are from Eastern Europe. Not bad at all!

Yatoro breaks the record with 23 Muerta kills in a pro Dota 2!#SpiritDota #Dota2 #TI12 pic.twitter.com/pSNxY5DaYi

— Team Spirit (@Team__Spirit) October 21, 2023

The current situation at TI12

For 9Pandas, the race ended in the second round of the lower bracket and it’s no wonder why. They were unlucky enough to run into Gaimin Gladiators, who have been one of the strongest teams in the world all year.

BetBoom and Virtus.pro are in the top eight. Spirit are in the top six. This means that Eastern Europe now has three competitors in the top eight. In terms of percentages, the region has 37.5% of the world’s best teams. Western Europe has 25%. China has 25%. And the remaining 12.5% is occupied by North America.

Strangely enough, it’s not NA’s best team but rather the 3^rd best team of the year that managed to secure a top eight result. For the other regions, the best representatives are still in the race. At the moment, China is guaranteed a place in the top three again, which proves that the region is still very strong despite all the setbacks.

Who will win the tournament?

It’s very difficult to predict who will win the tournament but it’s clear that Team Spirit, Team Liquid, LGD, and Gaimin Gladiators are the big favorites. Azure Ray are also a strong team in this race, simply because their roster contains some of the best players in China’s Dota 2 history.

Both Somnus and fy are accustomed to winning and they will not stop until they get a good result.

The joke that Gaimin Gladiators might become the first Dota 2 team to win The International from the lower bracket is getting more and more serious.

Header: Valve