The Regional Qualifiers for The International 2023 are approaching

The International 2023 is the last big event of the 2023 season and every Dota 2 team that hasn’t received a direct invite is preparing for its regional qualifiers. The rules have changed again and Valve’s decision with regards to how many qualification slots will be offered to each region is a bit controversial.

Usually, the winner was given an invitation to The International while the runner-up was given a chance to compete in a Last Chance Qualifier along with five other teams. The top two competitors of that qualifier received the last two tickets to the tournament.

Now we have different rules. Each region will send one or two more teams to The International. Western Europe and South America will send two teams. The other four regions will send just one. That includes China, which has a lot of strong teams in the race.

This means that Either Azure Ray, Team Aster, Invictus Gaming, or Xtreme Gaming will not compete at TI this year, which is a shame. Almost for certain, the battle will take place between Aster and Azure.

Getting to finals feels like an impossible task at this point, time for ti quals 🙈🙈

— Sumail (@SumaaaaiL) July 28, 2023

The strongest competitors in each region

In China, it’s clear who the favorites are. But what about the rest of the regions?

Southeast Asia’s qualifier will feature 15 teams, four of which have a real chance of winning the tournament:

• Execration
• Bleed Esports
• Blacklist International
• Team SMG

In Eastern Europe, thanks to the fact that BetBoom Esports, 9Pandas, and Team Spirit finished this Dota Pro Circuit in the top 12, one more team will get the opportunity to go to The International. The battle will take place between Virtus.pro and HYDRA, but Na’Vi could also pose a threat.

Western Europe will be the most exciting region to watch. The number of great teams that are trying to qualify is huge:

• Quest Esports
• OG
• Entity
• Nigma Galaxy
• Team Secret
• Ex-Monaspa
• Alliance

The biggest favorites are the top five and they will compete for two tickets, not one. This means that Western Europe will be well represented at the tournament.

South America will send two more teams, even though both beastcoast and Evil Geniuses have already qualified. The favorites are Thunder Awaken, Infinity, Keyd Stars, and Mad Kings.

And finally, we have North America, where the battle should be won by nouns. Their strength is far greater than that of all the other competitors.

Header: Valve Corporation