After the Dota 2 Stockholm Major, we learned that The International 2022 was going to be held in Singapore this October. That’s all that was revealed at the time of the announcement.
Now, Valve gave us more details on what to expect for TI11 like how the tournament structure. However, the biggest news would have to be the number of teams joining the event. There have been 18 teams with 12 getting direct invites and the six that need to pass through the regional qualifiers.
More Teams
For TI11, Valve is upping the ante with a total of 30 teams participating. This would make it the largest Dota 2 event to date. While no additional details were revealed on how teams will be selected, the 12 direct invites may remain. This means the other 18 spots could come from the six regions. If that happens, it means three teams from each region joining TI instead of only one like in previous years.
It's also possible that Valve could increase the number of direct invites to be given, and if this is the case, should be good news to some of the top-tier teams struggling to get those DPC Points.
Tournament Format
In terms of the tournament format, Valve said that they want the event and broadcasts to be as exciting as possible, so welcome a new format. There are four weekends of action instead of the usual one-week schedule. That means we get matches spread out across October.
The details are:
- Last Chance Qualifiers (October 8 to October 12)
- Group Stage (October 15 to October 18)
- Playoffs (October 20 to October 23)
- To be held at Suntec Singapore
- Finals (October 29 to October 3)
- To be held at Singapore Indoor Stadium
New Update
Valve also announced that the Dota 2 team is working on the Dota Plus June update which not only has the usual seasonal refresh but also some exciting new features.
There’s also the 7.31d Gameplay Update coming out this June 18 and according to Valve, it’s going to be “larger than normal.”
Now, what’s interesting about this upcoming update is not being large, but its release on the day that Tour 3 also starts. This should allow for some interesting initial matches for the final tour of the 2021–2022 DPC Season.
What about you? Is it a good move from Valve to increase the teams for TI?
