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The International 2023 (TI12) is almost here. The biggest Dota 2 tournament of the year starts in just a few days and will be the end of an era. After Valve's announcement that the DPC wouldn't come back in 2024, this will be the last TI to use that system as a qualification. Here's everything you need to know about TI12.  

Teams at The International 2023

  Twenty teams made it to Seattle. Twelve of them got there through the last Dota Pro Circuit, while the final eight earned their spot through Regional Qualifiers. You can check out this article for more information on each team and how they got there, but here is a concise list:

1. Team Liquid (WEU)- DPC #1
2. Gaimin Gladiators (WEU)- DPC #2
3. Tundra Esports (WEU)- DPC #3
4. 9Pandas (EEU)- DPC #4
5. Evil Geniuses (SA)- DPC #5
6. PSG.LGD (CH)- DPC #6
7. Shopify Rebellion (NA)- DPC#7
8. Talon Esports (SEA)- DPC #8
9. beastcoast (SA)- DPC #9
10. Team Spirit (EEU)- DPC #10
11. TSM (NA)- DPC #11
12. BetBoom Team (EEA)- DPC #12
13. nouns- NA Qualifier
14. Keyd Stars- SA Qualifier
15. Thunder Awaken- SA Qualifier
16. Entity- WEU Qualifier
17. Quest Esports- WEU Qualifier
18. Virtus.pro- EEA Qualifier
19. Azure Ray- CH Qualifier
20. Team SMG- SEA Qualifier

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Read: Top 3 Carry Players to look out for at The International 2023

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Regional representation at TI12 is as follows:

• WEU- Five teams
• SA- Four teams
• EEU- Three teams
• NA- Three teams
• CH- Two teams
• SEA- Two teams

Who do you have as your favorite?  

Schedule

  The International 2023 kicks off on the 12th of October with the Grand Finals closing the tournament on the 29th. The first three days will feature the Group Stage before giving the teams a four day break.  

Image via Valve

The Main Event begins on the 20th. Between then and the 22nd the Upper-Bracket Quarterfinals and the first two Lower-Bracket Rounds will be played at the Seattle Convention Center's Summit. The third Lower-Bracket games and onward will take place on the "Finals Weekend, between the 27th and 29th of October at the Climate Pledge Arena.  

TI12 Prize Pool

  The International 2023's prize pool is already a matter of controversy. Valve changed their Battle-Pass approach and opted for a different crowd-sourcing approach which didn't seem to resonate with Dota 2 fans. Due to this reason, the initial prize pool of $1.6 million USD at the time of writing this sits at exactly $2,889,647 USD. In comparison, TI11's prize pool reached above the $18 million USD mark. Unless some kind of miracle intervention from Valve happens in the next few days, TI12's prize pool will have been completely eclipsed by the recently hosted Riyadh Masters 2023, which had a prize pool of $15 million USD.  

Format

  The International's format has changed this year, so let's go over it in detail. The twenty teams will be separated into four groups of five (A to D). These teams will play a single round-robin of BO2 series. The last team of each group will be eliminated, while the remaining teams are matched between groups, in the following way:  

Image via Liquipedia

All these matches will be BO3 and serve only to determine each team's placement in the Playoffs Bracket. No one here is eliminated.  

Image via Liquipedia

They Playoffs Bracket will be familiar if you've been watching Dota 2. All matches will be BO3 series for the exception of the Grand Finals, which will be a BO5 series, as usual.  

The International 2023 Talent

  No broadcast talent has been announced yet. We will update this article as soon as that announcement is out.  

Where to watch

  The livestreams of TI12 should be where they've always been, at Valve's official Dota 2 channels: Twitch and Youtube.

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Featured image courtesy of Valve. We will be covering The International 2023 (TI12) closely throughout the tournament. Keep an eye on our Dota 2 directory for more content like this.