TI14 Finals Day Preview — What’s at stake for the surviving teams?

And then, there were three. The International 2025 (TI14) is nearly done, with the final three teams now decided and ready to make Dota 2 history. PARIVISION, Team Falcons, and Xtreme Gaming are the last surviving teams in the double elimination playoff bracket, and the stakes couldn’t be higher for these clubs.

Not only do they now have the chance to etch their names in the Aegis of Champions, but there is a compelling storyline for each of these teams and each of the players in their respective rosters. For some, winning will be the culmination of years upon years of blood, sweat, and tears. For others, it will mean a meteoric rise to the top of the Dota 2 world.

Trailblazers extraordinaire

PARIVISION’s unprecedented rise this season has been something to behold. Seemingly cobbled together in the aftermath of last year’s edition of The International, they took the professional scene by storm before the new year by winning ESL One Bangkok. And when you consider the fact that they had Remco “Crystallis” Arets in the carry position then instead of Alan “Satanic” Gallyamov like they do now, this accomplishment so soon into their tenure as a squad becomes all the more impressive.

They would go on to improve at a breakneck pace throughout 2025, winning a few more LANs and almost always managing to finish on the podium when they weren’t winning outright. With such a complete understanding of modern Dota and the execution to back up the theory and knowledge, it was only a matter of time until they got invited to TI14.

To no one’s surprise (pun not intended), they did quite well in the Swiss group stage, then blitzed through the upper bracket to secure top 3. They were only stopped short of the grand finals by Team Falcons in what was one of the most intense matches of the tournament thus far. Even then, they still stand on the precipice of completing the zeroes-to-heroes journey that they set out on at the beginning of this season.

Satanic and Volodymyr “No[o]ne” Minenko stand out in terms of what’s at stake for PARIVISION. For No[o]ne, winning The International would allow him to breathe a huge sigh of relief, as he has been at this for more than 10 years now. He has seen it all, and honestly he should have won TI8 as a member of that legendary Virtus.pro lineup that won so many major tournaments in 2018.

So ironically, this is very familiar territory for him. Like VP back in the day, PARIVISION dominated the scene this year. But there’s still a job to be done, and nobody will know that more than No[o]ne himself. Falling short now after toiling for so long would be heartbreaking.

As for Satanic, I don’t think I need to remind anyone that this kid is 17 years old. While Syed “SumaiL” Hassan will still be the youngest International champion in history even if PARIVISION win tomorrow, Satanic winning before he’s even allowed to drink in his home country of Russia would be another amazing story of a Dota 2 child prodigy.

And we all know how self-assured he is. So while I personally don’t think he needs to prove himself much more, winning here would certainly shut any remaining doubters up.

Revenge tour

It was a bittersweet ending at last year’s International for Team Falcons, who crushed any and all opposition at pretty much every LAN tournament that season. They were the heavy, heavy favorites heading into TI13, but faltered before they even reached the final day of the competition. Now, it’s a different story, and there’s a very strong possibility that they might finally get it done this time.

This roster is way too goddamn good to not win it all. The mix of sheer skill and experience here is just crazy to even think about. You’ve got transcendent talent at the solo mid and offlane positions, and veteran leadership everywhere else. Even the coach is one of the greatest ever in the history of this game.

So now that they have a chance to redeem themselves from last year, they must strike while the iron is blazing hot. They had to go through the elimination phase here at TI14 after a slow-ish start to the tournament, but now they are definitely on fire and have even seemingly figured out how to fix their tendency to get overconfident when they’re ahead.

I mentioned the mid and offlane positions earlier, and I can assure you that they will have the biggest impact if Falcons are to win the tournament. Both Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak and Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf are insanely good at Dota 2, and not just as pubstars — which is how they got scouted by professional teams in the first place. It would only be fitting for these two to lift the Aegis of Champions, as a testament to how supremely talented they are.

Wu “Sneyking” Jingjun and Oliver “skiter” Lepko would become two-time International champions, joining the likes of OG, Team Spirit, and Neta “33” Shapira in that regard. Sneyking in particular would instantly become one of the greatest support players of all time with another title, an honor I’m sure he wouldn’t mind having.

But of all the players in this lineup, none are hungrier for a world title than Andreas Franck “Cr1t-” Nielsen. After spending years playing for Evil Geniuses and Shopify Rebellion, Cr1t- eventually decided to return to Western Europe in order to join Falcons. It paid off pretty much immediately as I mentioned before, but again, Falcons fell short last year. If he wins this time around, the payoff of a long, storied career will be immense and cathartic.

Xtreme Xpectations

There’s not much left to be said about what winning The International would mean to Xtreme Gaming. These players are all grizzled veterans, familiar to all that have been watching competitive Dota for the past half decade and more. Zhao “XinQ” Zixing and Wang “Ame” Chunyu are easily the most famous members of this squad, having played for the old LGD Gaming rosters that got so, so close to bagging the Aegis of Champions before the turn of the decade.

Ame is called the “Uncrowned King” for a reason. He finished second at TI8 thanks to OG’s Cinderella run that year, then finished third the year after Team Liquid decided that was the best time to get back to the grand finals. He finished second yet again at TI10, only to lose once more to a huge underdog in Team Spirit.

Winning here would put all of the criticism to rest. Ame is known as a massive choke artist at The International, hence the title of Uncrowned King. His skill at the carry position is undoubtedly enough to bring his team to the ultimate victory — but it’s going to be up to him to make sure he doesn’t get caught out when the chips are down. He tends to be in no man’s land in deep late game situations, which causes his team to be left without their strongest hero in clutch moments.

Personally, I’m still expecting that to happen. Ame has never proven to me nor to anyone else that he has the composure to seal the deal. But if he manages to exorcise his demons in this regard, it will be none too soon. Get it done already, lad.