Dota 2’s The International 2019 is approaching. Although the tournament starts on Aug. 15, we know part of what’s happening in it, and a key element is the teams that have already qualified for the event.
To directly qualify for The International 2019, teams must have gained enough points during the 2018-19 Dota Pro Circuit Minors and Majors to be among the top 12 teams of the DPC ranking. The higher a team places in an official tournament, the more points they get. Six more spots are available for teams who win their regional qualifiers, which will take place after this season of the DPC is over.
Teams that have been taking title after title, like Team Secret and Virtus Pro, are at the top of the rankings, and they’ve secured the top spots in the rankings.
Other teams who had good performances have also secured a spot, even though they haven’t won any tournaments in the DPC 2018-19 season.
Here’s the full list of teams that secured a spot to play at The International 2019 in August.
Qualified teams
Team | DPC ranking |
Team Secret (EU) | First |
Virtus.pro (CIS) | Second |
Evil Geniuses (NA) | Third |
ViCi Gaming (CN) | Fourth |
PSG.LGD (CN) | Fifth |
Fnatic (SEA) | Sixth |
Team Liquid (EU) | Seventh |
Ninjas in Pyjamas (EU) | Eighth |
TNC Predator (SEA) | Ninth |
OG (EU) | 10th |
Alliance (EU) | 11th |
Keen Gaming (CN) | 12th |
All of the teams in the table above got enough points to be among the top 12 spots in the rankings of the DPC 2018-19, which has ended with the EPICENTER Major on June 30. Six more teams, one from each DPC region, will qualify for The International 2019 and join these 12.
These teams will compete for the lion’s share of a crowdfunded prize pool, which has surpassed $25 million. Valve started crowdfunding for TI9 almost two months ago through the Dota 2 Battlepass, and players have raised the total prize pool to this value in record time.
The open qualifiers for Dota 2’s The International 2019 will take place from July 3 to 6 in all regions. Teams that survive that stage will advance to the closed qualifiers, which are set to start on July 7 and end on July 14. When these are over, fans will know all 18 teams that will play at The International 2019 starting Aug. 15.