We are mere days away from The International 2024 (TI13), Dota 2’s most anticipated professional tournament and its very own world championship event. 16 professional teams from the six main Dota regions across the world will soon descend upon Copenhagen, Denmark, to stake their claim at the Aegis of Champions.
via Valve/PGL
The week-and-a-half-long event will determine which team becomes world champion this year, and give them the right to etch their names in the annals of Dota 2 history. No Dota 2 fan worth their salt should miss TI13; we’ve got all the details on the format, schedule, and more in this TI13 viewer’s guide.
When and Where Does TI13 Take Place?
Denmark will play host to The International for the first time ever this year, with the Royal Arena at the Ørestad South area of Copenhagen being the venue for the main event. The Royal Arena has a maximum seating capacity of 17,000 when in its concert configuration, so it should be a real spectacle if the event is to be sold out.
The group stage starts on Wednesday, September 4th, and will run until September 7th. Although, technically speaking, the group stage is only from the 4th to the 5th — there will be seeding matches on the 6th and 7th that determine which teams start in the upper bracket and which ones will have to fight for their tournament lives in the lower bracket. For brevity’s sake, we’ll consider both of these to be part of the group stage.
From there, the playoffs begin. The matches for the top eight spots will be played from September 8th to the 10th, then there will be a short break over two days before the tournament moves into the Royal Arena for the finals. This last stretch will happen over the subsequent three days: September 13th to the 15th.
Which Teams Will Play at TI13?
16 teams, six of which were directly invited to the competition, will play for the ultimate Dota 2 glory at TI13. The ten remaining teams had to qualify for the tournament via their respective regional qualifiers.
The field consists of squads from the six major Dota 2 regions: North America (NA), South America (SA), Western Europe (WEU), Eastern Europe (EEU), China (CN), and Southeast Asia (SEA). The participating teams from each region are as follows:
North America
- nouns (NA regional Qualifier)
South America
- beastcoast (SA regional qualifier)
- HEROIC (SA regional qualifier)
Western Europe
- Team Liquid (direct invite)
- Gaimin Gladiators (direct invite)
- Team Falcons (direct invite)
- Tundra Esports (WEU regional qualifier)
- Cloud9 (formerly Entity, WEU regional qualifier)
Eastern Europe
- Team Spirit (defending champions, direct invite)
- BetBoom Team (direct invite)
- 1win Team (EEU regional qualifier)
China
- Team Zero (CN regional qualifier)
- G2 x iG (CN regional qualifier)
Southeast Asia
- Talon Esports (SEA regional qualifier)
- Aurora (SEA regional qualifier)
What is the TI13 Schedule?
The group stage games will start at 4:30AM CEST, running concurrently throughout all four groups. However, the schedules for the seeding deciders and the playoffs have still yet to be announced.
What is the Format of the Tournament?
TI13’s format is relatively simple, but slightly different compared to previous iterations of The International. The group stage splits the 16 squads into four groups of four teams each, in a best-of-two round robin format. After the first two days of the group stage, the seeding matches will take place. Unlike the initial matches, these ones will be best-of-three fixtures, as there will only be one match each between all possible team pairings here.
Interestingly, this year’s tournament will not feature any eliminations from the group stage. All 16 teams will get a chance to advance in the playoffs, meaning that no one is going home early this time around. And speaking of the playoffs, the bracket takes on the classic double elimination format, with each match except for the Grand Final being a best-of-three. The Grand Finals will be a best-of-five instead.
Where Do I Watch TI13?
As per usual, TI13 will be broadcast on multiple channels — primarily over Twitch and YouTube. Due to the sheer size and scope of the tournament, particularly in the group stage, there will be several channels from both platforms dedicated to broadcasting the event. Most of these channels will be available to navigate to while the tournament is ongoing.
Will Ringmaster be Available at TI13?
No. As the newest hero on the block, one that has been around for less than a month, Ringmaster will be disabled entirely at The International 2024. This is nothing new, as Dota 2 developer and publisher Valve Corporation prefers to keep new heroes locked out of Captains Mode (the official competitive play mode) out of balance concerns.
via Valve
As it should be, anyway. Ringmaster currently has a ridiculous 57 percent win rate at pro-level pubs, so he is clearly not balanced enough to let loose at TI13. So while it would be fun to see what pro teams can do with his kit, he is obviously way too strong to allow the teams in Copenhagen to get their hands on him.
