Two more qualifiers for The International 10 are done. That means two Dota 2 teams are joining the competition. In North America, Undying pretty much cruised through the qualifiers to get the coveted spot. On the other side of the world, Fnatic had to go through intense battles to grab the TI10 spot for Southeast Asia.
Sweeping Opponents
With Evil Geniuses and Quincy Crew getting direct invites for TI10, it was clear from the start that the qualifiers for the region would be between Undying and 4 Zoomers. While both teams weren’t able to qualify for any Majors, Undying held the third place and 4 Zoomers had the fourth place for Upper Division Seasons.
So for the qualifiers, Undying dominated it from the start. They managed to sweep teams: The Cut, Black N Yellow, and 4 Zoomers at 2–0. This gave them a place in the Grand Final. Also, 4 Zoomers managed to beat its opponents in the Upper Bracket and was only brought to the Lower Bracket after a defeat by Undying.
They managed to win their match in the Lower Bracket to get a rematch with Undying, however, Undying simply swept 4 Zoomers away.
Undying joins TI10 with two other NA teams.
Beware the Raven
The Southeast Asia regional qualifiers was as exciting as one would expect. TNC Predator had put everyone on notice just how badly they wanted to get that TI10 spot. Fnaticm on the other hand had some issues with the roster. Fnatic wasn’t even able to qualify for the WePlay Animajor though that could have been to their advantage. We say that because it probably allowed them to practice with the new roster.
Like in the NA region, the two teams were seen by many to battle it out for the chance to get to TI10 through the qualifiers. Both teams eventually faced each other in the Upper Bracket Final. Fnatic got the upper hand with a 2–0 win dropping TNC to the Lower Bracket. TNC would have none of it and won against BOOM Esports to force a rematch against Fnatic.
TNC appeared to be close to winning the match as it got a 2–0 lead. With their backs to the wall, Fnatic put their faith in Marc Polo Luis “Rave” Fausto on Terrorblade and paired this with Yang “Deth” Wu Heng on Pango. This proved to be a good decision as Fnatic eventually got the win. In the fourth game, Fnatic again went with Raven on Terrorblade and again it paid off. This led to a deciding fifth game.
Finally learning their lesson, TNC banned Terrorblade leaving Fnatic to have Axe for Raven. TNC started strong but as the game progressed, the momentum slowly shifted in favor of Fnatic. With Axe farming freely, there was pretty much nothing TNC could do.
Fnatic is joining TI10 after the excellent performance of Raven. During the last three games, Raven had a combined total of 35 kills and zero deaths.
The loss is especially bitter for TNC who had originally qualified for the tournament in 2020 but now have to watch it from the sidelines.
Remaining Qualifiers
With that, two more qualifiers are left and these are for China and Western Europe. Matches start July 7 with the winner to be declared on July 10. Here are the teams:
- China
- Elephant
- Team Magma
- LBZS
- Royal Never Give Up
- Phoenix Gaming
- Sparking Arrow
- Aster.Aries
- EHOME
- CDEC Gaming
- Western Europe
- Team Nigma
- Hellbear Smashers
- Vikin.gg
- OG
- Tundra Esports
- Brame
- Spider Pigz
- Team Liquid
- Ghost Frogs
- Chicken Fighters
- No Bounty Hunter
- Into the Breach
- Hippomaniacs
- Team Bald Reborn
So which teams will take the last two spots for TI10?
