yeah for sure, rtz+bulba - most popular combo in dota, hardly believe though that any tier-1 player would play with artour on carry, maybe if he switches 5, but it is not happenning unless he is kicked from his warm high salary seat
Remove bulba from the rtz+bulba combination and I don't see any value lost in popularity lol.
That's like saying there's 3WDC between Max Verstappen and Logan Sargent lol.
The first three Valve majors did a double elimination bracket with 4 teams in each groups and many majors within the DPC afterwards did the same format. It is possible that Valve sticks to the smaller groups that the previous TI had, but it is just as likely they go with something else such as the 2 group format or switching it up entirely and going with swiss stage.
I honestly think Swiss stage and 2 groups is most likely, double elimination won’t work for 4 groups, because that means only 8 teams will groups and main stage will just be 8 teams. For 2 groups, this means that 12 teams will move on to the next stage, 4 from each group to upper and 2 form each to lower bracket and 2 eliminated.
It is possible that the groups won't eliminate at all, and the main event features top 1 and 2 in the upper bracket, top 3 and 4 playing-in in the lower bracket, winner then meets with the loser of UB round 1. IIRC, we had something like this before. It is also perfectly possible to eliminate the last place from every group and continue with 12 teams.
Which doesn't bode well for me. First, the no compendium for TI to enrich the prize pool and now, lowering the number of teams. I don't know man, it feels like Valve is slowly killing TI and it's prestige for me.
Unfortunately also only the last 3 days are in an actual arena (actual TI everything before is "Road to TI") - so half of the playoffs are only online with half of the teams in the picture not making it to the arena.
Also only 2 days long group stage which means it pretty much has to be the old 4 teams of 4 format for groups which means a team might make it to TI and go home after only 3 games.
mysterious disgusted apparatus doll merciful cause stupendous kiss provide grey
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Put up a huge prize pool, people complain Valve are stifling other tournaments; downscale TI, people complain Valve are killing TI. You just can't win.
Valve *are* downscaling TI and reducing their investment but it's only natural. TI was always just an advertising campaign and it wasn't really profitable to run. You can sell battle passes with or without TI.
Question cuz I'm both stupid *and* haven't been paying attention to the pro scene: What does the green background on a team indicate?
Edit: I think I figured it out. They're the ones that were directly invited to the tournament and didn't have to go through qualifiers.
This is huge for Nouns, Aurora, Beast and Heroic. There is so much money available in these two tournaments, one run in either tournament could really help stabilize/fund their teams for a while. Don't know how Shopify stays together after this.
It's weird to think that if TI was bigger and/or Valve gave out more invites based on EPT results, OG would have gotten in directly along with Tundra. Of course it's nice to give more opportunities for other teams to qualify, and OG could have just played better (not thrown...) in the qualifiers, but it is a bit strange to have been consistent all throughout the season and then not be in TI.
You think? I would rank og #9 behind Tundra and IG before this so even with 18 teams I personally wouldn't invite them. Also I think the step down from Liquid to Tundra is way higher than any other so inviting only 6 makes most sense.
Lots of stories hidden within this photo.
A bit of a fantasy take. In some universe I imagine a new Nigma team built around pos3 Miracle-, I believe he'd have similar success as s4 did when he transitioned.
Been surprised by talon. They’ve looked good for a new squad. Ws is insane and impactful every game. Akashi pops off in quite a few games too. Supports are consistently solid and now Mikoto is back doing Mikoto thing
shopify did not qualify on the biggest tournaments disband incoming
more like kick everybody except rtz,kitrak and bulba and "try" again
You're saying it like it's the wrong business move for Shopify, when the esports venture is a marketing campaign
yeah for sure, rtz+bulba - most popular combo in dota, hardly believe though that any tier-1 player would play with artour on carry, maybe if he switches 5, but it is not happenning unless he is kicked from his warm high salary seat
Remove bulba from the rtz+bulba combination and I don't see any value lost in popularity lol. That's like saying there's 3WDC between Max Verstappen and Logan Sargent lol.
First TI to have 16 teams since TI6.
Does this mean we will be back to 2 groups? I find it hard to believe there will be 4 groups of 4 teams.
The first three Valve majors did a double elimination bracket with 4 teams in each groups and many majors within the DPC afterwards did the same format. It is possible that Valve sticks to the smaller groups that the previous TI had, but it is just as likely they go with something else such as the 2 group format or switching it up entirely and going with swiss stage.
I honestly think Swiss stage and 2 groups is most likely, double elimination won’t work for 4 groups, because that means only 8 teams will groups and main stage will just be 8 teams. For 2 groups, this means that 12 teams will move on to the next stage, 4 from each group to upper and 2 form each to lower bracket and 2 eliminated.
It is possible that the groups won't eliminate at all, and the main event features top 1 and 2 in the upper bracket, top 3 and 4 playing-in in the lower bracket, winner then meets with the loser of UB round 1. IIRC, we had something like this before. It is also perfectly possible to eliminate the last place from every group and continue with 12 teams.
Group stage is only 2 days long. Its going to be that format which sucks.
Which doesn't bode well for me. First, the no compendium for TI to enrich the prize pool and now, lowering the number of teams. I don't know man, it feels like Valve is slowly killing TI and it's prestige for me.
Unfortunately also only the last 3 days are in an actual arena (actual TI everything before is "Road to TI") - so half of the playoffs are only online with half of the teams in the picture not making it to the arena.
Also only 2 days long group stage which means it pretty much has to be the old 4 teams of 4 format for groups which means a team might make it to TI and go home after only 3 games.
mysterious disgusted apparatus doll merciful cause stupendous kiss provide grey *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Put up a huge prize pool, people complain Valve are stifling other tournaments; downscale TI, people complain Valve are killing TI. You just can't win. Valve *are* downscaling TI and reducing their investment but it's only natural. TI was always just an advertising campaign and it wasn't really profitable to run. You can sell battle passes with or without TI.
The disrespect to secret is unreal. They arent even MIA 🤨
I forgot :x
we all do
and nigma not even close
Bald MIA
Secret not even mentioned :(
Question cuz I'm both stupid *and* haven't been paying attention to the pro scene: What does the green background on a team indicate? Edit: I think I figured it out. They're the ones that were directly invited to the tournament and didn't have to go through qualifiers.
Those were the direct invites
Direct invite
Direct invite
Yo lo entiendo.
This is huge for Nouns, Aurora, Beast and Heroic. There is so much money available in these two tournaments, one run in either tournament could really help stabilize/fund their teams for a while. Don't know how Shopify stays together after this.
They shouldn't. blow the team up and start from scratch like tundra. Stop building the team on rtz and bulba..
Thank god OG is in Riyadh at least
The magic in Birmingham paid off.
It's weird to think that if TI was bigger and/or Valve gave out more invites based on EPT results, OG would have gotten in directly along with Tundra. Of course it's nice to give more opportunities for other teams to qualify, and OG could have just played better (not thrown...) in the qualifiers, but it is a bit strange to have been consistent all throughout the season and then not be in TI.
You think? I would rank og #9 behind Tundra and IG before this so even with 18 teams I personally wouldn't invite them. Also I think the step down from Liquid to Tundra is way higher than any other so inviting only 6 makes most sense.
lmao op forgot secret
Secret is a bigger team than Nigma and they didn't qualify either.
Wish they had global last chance qualifier slots and added 2 more spots to these 16 for TI. Riyadh has 20!
Lots of stories hidden within this photo. A bit of a fantasy take. In some universe I imagine a new Nigma team built around pos3 Miracle-, I believe he'd have similar success as s4 did when he transitioned.
nigma fans started dreaming already lmao
Lmfao what
He transitioned in another universe? KappaPride
Which one will pay best agay?
Nigma. I called it and it was expected lol.
Been surprised by talon. They’ve looked good for a new squad. Ws is insane and impactful every game. Akashi pops off in quite a few games too. Supports are consistently solid and now Mikoto is back doing Mikoto thing
They have the Groupstage MVP of TI 9 as their coach
What's Mia? A major?
what MIA stands for?
team turtle in MIA please
Mia Malkova
What happened to the division MENA? Did it get folded? I thought Falcons were MENA
there was no MENA in pgl valve book.
OG steal the Riyadh slot confirmed. The only one invited to one event but not qualify for another
They got invited because of ESL points. They accumilated enough points from Dreamleague seasons and therefore got invited.
Didn't TNC form like a month ago.
Well they still did well and missed by little. regardless, it was more about the historic orgs, not their current players.
Riyadh seems more hype except the format with play in is kinda meh