The International 2022: turneringens problem och egenheter

The International 2022 has not started yet but it has already caused excitement despite the tournament losing to its forerunners in some aspects. We have decided to tell you why the next biggest tournament by Valve is worth watching and how it differs from previous The International championships.

First of all, it is worth reminding that the championship by Valve will be held on October 15-30 and its general prize pool is already more than $10,000,000. The organizers of the event have provided $1,600,000 as start prizes, which will be up for grabs for the participants of the competition, and the rest of the money is collected with the help of Battle Pass, about which you read here.

TI overcomes any esports event and this championship is almost sacred for Dota. The upcoming tournament will be “record-breaking” in many ways. We will talk about them and the reasons to watch the biggest Dota holiday below.

The updated format and the number of participants

First of all, it is worth noting a new format, which is practiced by Valve this year. The International 2022 will last for 2 weeks, however, this is not the biggest innovation at the championship.

Previously, 18 teams participated in the tournament based on the outcome of all qualifiers. Now, the general number of teams to take part in The International 2022 will be extended to 30 rosters. The distinctive feature of the tournament is a standalone so-called Wild Card tournament.

The last Wild Card tournament, which Valve practiced at their championships, was launched at The International 2016. Now, they have decided to return to this format due to the canceled Major event at the start of the season 2021/2022.

There were regional qualifiers in the previous events, which allowed teams to make it to The International. This time, not just invites to the group stage of The International are up for grabs in the qualifying tournaments but two invitations to the Wild Card tournament, known as Last Chance Qualifier.

The prize pool

This year, the topic of the prize pool of The International 2022 created a special buzz. But there is nothing to have fun with, the attention to the monetary reward at The International 2022 is negative.

Previously, many representatives of the esports community discussed how The International breaks records of its forerunners and provides hype around esports, rising prize pools of many classic sports championships.

The situation has changed drastically this year. Now, the community discusses why the prize pool will not achieve the numbers of The International 2019 this year.

We have told many times how The Battle Pass dedicated to The International 2022 does not meet the users’ expectations. Really interesting things include new persona items for Crystal Maiden and Phantom Assassin, and also the promised arcana items for Faceless Void and Razor. The list of rewards may look decent but the devil is in the details.

• The Crystal Maiden persona will appear only in the second part of BP, which is set to release on November 3.
• The Phantom Lancer persona will be available for the owners of the Battle Pass level 296 “soon” and, knowing Valve, the term “soon” means that it might not be that soon.
• The Razor arcana item will also be released “soon” and only if you reach the 383rd BP level.
• The main cosmetic item for Faceless Void is available at the 495th level, which will hit the purse of the ones who want to try this equipment.

The situation with the Battle Pass is a milestone of the potential anti-record in terms of the prize pool of The International. For example, after 5 days and 15 hours, TI 2022 was losing a lot to The International 9 and The International 10 in terms of the collected sum.

There is every reason to assume that the prize pool will not reach the numbers of TI 2019 this year. The release date of the Battle Pass also makes an impact on the situation.

This year, the Battle Pass was released on September 1, a month and a half before the start of the tournament. For example, the previous BP for TI 10 was available on May 25 and was active till September 19, which allowed it to break a prize pool record, which amounted to $40,018,195 that year.

The venue

The organizers of the main Dota 2 tournament will host a championship in Southeast Asia for the very first time. The tournament of this series will visit the region for the first time too.

The first tournament was hosted in Cologne, Germany, the following 6 championships took place in Seattle, the USA. In turn, The International 2018 was hosted in Vancouver, Canada, The International 2019 was held in Shanghai, China, and the latest tournament took place in Bucharest, Romania. It means that the tournaments were hosted in Europe, North America, and China.

Now, the championship will take place in the city-state of Singapore, Southeast Asia will be added to the list of the regions to host The International. Only South America and Eastern Europe have not organized TI yet.

Another interesting feature of the annual Dota 2 championship is the format of the playoffs of the International to be divided. This year, Valve will have to pause the main stage and the reason for it is Justin Bieber.

The Dota 2 tournament starts on October 15 this year and will be paused on October 24, so the employees of the Singapore National Stadium had time to reassemble and prepare a stage for the Bieber concert. The International 2022 will be back on stage on October 29.

The coverage of the event is still questionable. We do not know for sure but guess that there will be potential issues with casters.

Valve will have to reveal a new character at The International 11. It might be someone from the DOTA: Dragon’s Blood anime series.

The Secret Shop and drops of exclusive treasures at the arena will probably appear at the tournament. A cosplay contest is also possible.

What do we get?

The International 2022 will become a big event we will not miss in any case. We will be following all the news related to the main event of the year and share the hottest news with you.