Will this be Arteezy’s TI?

Artour “Arteezy” Babaev is one of the most famous Dota 2 players in the world. He’s also one of the few formidable carry players who never won The International.

He came close to winning it a few times, finishing 3^rd in 2014 and 2018. He was in the top eight in 2015, and then in the top six in 2019. But he has yet to play in a Grand Final and win the Aegis of Champions.

This year, there are a lot of strong teams in the race. But Shopify Rebellion have already demonstrated that they have what it takes to beat almost anyone.

Recent results

At DreamLeague S21, an online event that featured teams like Tundra Esports, Team Liquid, Gaimin Gladiators, BetBoom Team, and Team Spirit, Shopify Rebellion finished 2^nd. In the process, they defeated opponents like BetBoom, Tundra, and Talon Esports.

Of course, online events aren’t that relevant because the atmosphere of a LAN event changes things considerably. But it’s still impressive to see Tal “Fly” Aizik winning so many tough games with his squad.

If he’s managed to adapt fast enough to 7.34d, which was launched just one week ago, Fly should get a good result in group B of TI12. This is the toughest group of the four, but the presence of Thunder Awaken guarantees that the important teams won’t get eliminated early.

The main rivals for Rebellion in this tournament are probably Spirit, Gladiators, Tundra, Liquid, and the two Chinese teams, LGD Gaming and Azure Ray. So, in total, there are six teams to beat to reach the objective. Of course, Rebellion might avoid half of them and have an easier path to the Grand Final. But they need to be prepared for anything.

At DreamLeague, the results and the confidence displayed by Fly’s team indicated that the squad has been training hard lately. Now it’s just a matter of performing well when the pressure is on.

Our weekly schedule has been updated with the first matches for #TI12 and #HCSWC 👇

Don’t miss out on all the action this coming weekend 💚

*Match times are subject to change pic.twitter.com/Jlb1pW0PAR

— Shopify Rebellion (@ShopifyRebels) October 12, 2023

Arteezy’s curse

Arteezy is said to be cursed. He can never win a TI and he cannot reach the Grand Final. At 27, his esports career probably still has 3-5 more years to go. He’s been competing for 10 years, which is a long time in Dota 2. The total amount of money he has won from tournaments is $2.68 million, which is more than decent.

He probably doesn’t need to money and TI12 only offers $3 million in total anyway. But he certainly needs the prestige that goes along with winning the Aegis of Champions.

Header: Shopify Rebellion