Analyzing each team and their chances of success

Valve

With EPICENTER Major complete, the last DPC major of the season, fans knew almost all of the teams that had snagged a direct invite to The International 9 (TI9). Now, following the end of that epic tournament, Valve has not only released a new patch for Dota 2 but also updated the Battle Pass Compendium, giving us the names of the teams directly invited to the Regional Qualifiers for TI9. With the event quickly approaching, Dota 2 teams are making their final roster moves before Valve announces the roster lock. Remember that there is one slot for TI9 available in each region via the open qualifiers. Here is the full list of direct invite teams starting from the first team in the DPC ranking.

Team Secret

The number one team for this DPC season is the European powerhouse, Team Secret. They had an amazing run throughout the entire year. Team Secret won two majors and numerous non-DPC events and definitely deserve their #1 spot.

Virtus.pro

Virtus.pro proved long ago that they are miles ahead of everyone else in the CIS region. In fact, many people consider them to be the best team in the world. To be honest, one of VP’s biggest drawbacks is that they are prone to throw a game in fantastic fashion. If they are on top of their game, however, winning is only a matter of time. They’ve proven that countless times. They won one major this time around.

Vici Gaming

Vici Gaming is definitely the best Chinese powerhouse team right now. In fact, they are pretty much the only Chinese team who can actually win against the western teams (apart from PSG.LGD). Vici has led this trend for some time now. Not to forget they won the EPICENTER Moscow Major that just finished a few days back, which makes them one of the hottest teams coming into TI9. If they continue with a similar run as in Moscow, the TI9 trophy might belong to the Chinese this time.

Evil Geniuses

Evil Geniuses is a team that we could talk on forever due to various reasons. They had a very good DPC season this year due to their consistency, but they failed to win even a single event. That said, they always managed to finish in the top four. The only frightening thing is that their performance at EPICENTER was very questionable.

Team Liquid

Team Liquid, the European champions, are probably one of the most beloved teams out here. They have constantly been in the driving seat of professional Dota ever since they won TI7. Having said that, their performance during this DPC season was slightly weaker when compared to previous seasons. This led to the first roster change in the team since 2017 when the team switched out Lasse Aukusti “Matumbaman” Urpalainen for Aliwi “w33” Omar.

PSG.LGD

TI8 runner-up PSG.LGD also had a fairly decent DPC season. Similar to other teams, they also had a roster change. The Chinese team is currently living in the shadow of Vici Gaming, but it won’t take much for PSG.LGD to shake it up. After all, Xu “fy” Linsen and his teammates are some of the best players in the world.

Team Fnatic

The SEA powerhouse had a very solid start of the DPC season. Unfortunately, their recent results have been plain bad. Things aren’t hopeful for TI9.

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Ninjas in Pyjamas is probably the second most improved team this season. NIP has earned their spot after some amazing minors victories. Even though they might not be considered as the favorites for TI9, other teams should underestimate them at their own peril.

TNC Predator

TNC is the exact opposite of Team Fnatic right now. In fact, they started the season with a string of poor performances and slowly rose from the ashes like a phoenix. This past week, their performance at EPICENTER was a joy to watch.

OG

Reigning TI champions made it! OG had to go through hell and back this season after having an absolutely awful start. However, as soon as Anathan “ana” Pham rejoined the roster, things started to change for OG. At this point, not many think that OG stands a chance to win TI. Then again, no one thought that during the previous TI either.

Team Alliance

Swedish powerhouse Alliance is, by far, the most improved team over the course of this DPC season. Alliance secured literally the last ticket available for a direct invite to TI9 after winning against Gambit at EPICENTER.

Keen Gaming

Keen Gaming is the third Chinese squad and the final team to secure a direct invite for TI. They were mediocre for most of the DPC season.

Bottom line

Chaos Esports Club, Mineski, and the other teams that are still sitting without a ticket to TI9 have just shuffled their rosters in preparation for one last run at the big stage. With so many teams competing in each region via Open Qualifiers, a lot can change between now and the Regional Qualifiers. The beauty of Open Qualifiers is that anyone can compete. So if you fancy yourself and are a budding professional, gather your stack and hurry over to the FACEIT website to learn all about signing up. Open Qualifiers will run July 3-6, with Regional Qualifiers coming July 7-14.

Images via: Valve, Liquidpedia, joindota.com