TI14 viewer’s guide — schedule, format, and more

Merry Christmas, Dota 2 fans — The International 2025 (TI14) is upon us! The greatest show on earth is just two days away now, with history just waiting to be made.

There’s a lot to talk about with regards to the TI14 viewer experience, so let’s get right into it. Here is everything you need to know about the 14th Dota 2 world championship event.

Where and when is TI14 taking place?

The beautiful city of Hamburg, Germany will play host to The International this year, starting on Thursday, September 4th. TI got its start at Gamescom in Cologne all the way back in 2011, so this is a nice homecoming for the most important event of the Dota 2 season.

The entire tournament will run from then until the 14th. This is not a continuous run, however, as there will be a four-day break in between the group stage and the playoffs. More on this later.

Which teams will be attending?

Determined through a mix of direct invites and regional qualifier tournaments, the 16 teams attending TI14 will play for the right to hold the Aegis of Champions at the end of the event. The full list of squads is as follows:

As you’re probably aware, Yakutou Brothers were not originally part of the field. They replaced Gaimin Gladiators, who withdrew from the tournament entirely a few weeks before the start date.

What’s the format of the event?

I mentioned before that there will be a gap in between the group stage and the playoffs. This is because Valve are doing the “Road to the International” thing again, where the group stage is technically not part of TI14 itself. The playoffs, meanwhile, will be branded as The International as normal. Incidentally, only the playoffs will be held inside the Barclays Arena, as the group stage and elimination stage will both be played in a different venue closed to spectators from the public.

TIME TO VOTE! Who is going to win The International 2025? https://t.co/m0HY94Z7Sh #TI14 #Dota2 pic.twitter.com/sETF3E54Dn

— Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) August 31, 2025

Anyway, onto the format. The group stage, set to take place between September 4th and the 7th, will be a modified Swiss stage. The top three teams in each group advance directly to the playoffs, while the fourth to 13th place clubs will be placed into a special elimination stage thereafter. In the elimination stage, teams with a 3-2 record will be matched with those with a 2-3 record. All series in the group stage and in the elimination stage will be best-of-three.

The playoffs themselves will be a simple double elimination bracket, with all matches being best-of-three as well. In contrast, the grand finals will be a best-of-five. There will be no third place decider match, unlike, say, the Dota 2 tournament at the Esports World Cup.

What’s on the line at TI14?

Well, aside from making Dota history and putting one’s name on the Aegis of Champions, the tournament will also offer around $2.3 million in prize money (as things currently stand). The prize pool itself is partially crowdfunded, with Valve providing the initial base pot of $1.6 million, and the rest coming from sales of the talent and team supporter bundles found in-game.

The exact distribution of the prize pool has yet to be announced by Valve as of the time of writing, but I’ll be updating this section with the distribution table when they do.

Alright, where can I watch the games?

Renowned tournament organizer PGL, responsible for PGL Wallachia, will be handling the event once more at Valve’s behest. You can catch all the games on Valve’s official Twitch and YouTube live streams. The first set of group stage games will start on Thursday, September 4th, at 4am ET/1am PT.

For those that speak languages other than English, you can find official broadcasts in Spanish, Russian, and Chinese through their respective Twitch and YouTube channels. Some languages might however be limited to one or two platforms, as some platforms may be blocked in their respective territories. Other languages like Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, and more will also be available on what Valve calls “licensed community streams”.