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The WEU TI11 qualifier just got complicated

PGL Arlington 2022 was a great opportunity for some of the European Dota 2 teams to book a ticket... Radu M. | 10. August 2022

PGL Arlington 2022 was a great opportunity for some of the European Dota 2 teams to book a ticket to The International 11. Team Liquid was one of them and their mission seemed completely achievable — finish in the top eight and secure a top 12 Dota Pro Circuit spot.

The top eight teams at this Major receive DPC points and Liquid were already ranked 13th globally. So the goal was not that hard to reach. But unfortunately for Western Europe, Liquid didn’t succeed. The team got eliminated in the first round of the lower bracket. However, they still have a chance to get a spot at The International 2022, they just have to succeed in WEU qualifiers for the event, which is scheduled to run from September 3-18.

The importance of TI11 for teams

We’ve seen this before and the result is likely to be quite sad for a lot of Dota 2 fans. We usually see legendary players like Clement “Puppey” Ivanov, Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi, and Ludwig “zai” Wahlberg at the greatest tournament of the year. And they’re all there simultaneously.

This time, at least one of them will miss the event. And it’s likely that two of them will. There’s only one available TI spot for WEU and that spot will trigger a huge rivalry. There’s a lot on the line and without a positive result, there’s a chance that at least one of the three teams might lose some sponsors.

Generally, Dota 2 teams have come to rely on The International for their funding. Apart from this tournament and the money they get from sponsors, there’s not much supporting them.

Of course, in the case of organizations like Team Secret, Nigma Galaxy, and Team Liquid, their players have had enough success in the past to withstand the pressure of a few bad years. Players on these teams don’t exactly have money scarcity, while the expenses that esports athletes have can be relatively small.

TI11 WEU qualifier favorites 

When it comes to picking favorites, it’s really hard to say who the best team is. On paper, Nigma seem to have the strongest roster. But Team Secret have recently made some changes and their latest result, at Riyadh Masters 2022, was great — 3rd-4th place.

Team Liquid already proved to be a strong team in WEU, so it’s hard to assume they won’t stand a chance against Nigma and Secret. After all, they did defeat them a few times this year in the three tours of DPC.

Based on everything we know, all three teams have a roughly equal chance of winning the qualifier and getting a chance to compete at The International 11. And whoever loses the Grand Final will get a second chance to qualify. But one of the three will certainly miss the event.

Header: Team Liquid