The initial stage of the regional qualifier for The International 2018 has ended, and the 6 teams that will compete for the sole spot in the Dota 2 world championship, which will begin on August 20th in Vancouver, Canada, have already been confirmed.
Today and tomorrow, June 19th, Infamous Gaming, Torus Gaming, Pain Gaming, SG Esports, Thunder Predator, and Midas Club will compete against each other in a round-robin format to determine the top 4 teams that will advance to the final stage of the South American qualifier for The International 2018.
This first round of the final stage will consist of single matches to determine the top 4 teams from the group of 6. The 2 teams with the lowest score will be eliminated. The qualifiers will then face each other in best-of-3 series with a lower and upper bracket system, giving them a chance to reach the grand final even if they lose their first matches. Only one team will have the honor of representing South America in The International.
The match times are as follows:
Day 1 (June 18th):
- 11:00 - SG vs Thunder
- 12:00 – Pain Gaming vs Torus
- 13:00 – Infamous vs Midas
- 14:00 – SG vs Pain Gaming
- 15:00 – Thunder vs Infamous
- 16:00 – Torus vs Midas
- 17:00 - Thunder vs Pain Gaming
- 18:00 – SG vs Torus
Day 2 (June 19th)
- 11:00 – Infamous vs Pain Gaming
- 12:00 – Midas vs SG
- 13:00 – Thunder vs Torus
- 14:00 – Midas vs Pain Gaming
- 15:00 – Infamous vs SG
- 16:00 – Thunder vs Midas
- 17:00 – Torus vs Infamous
It is worth noting that the direct spot for South America was introduced last year, and the Peruvian team Infamous Gaming was the first to benefit from it. In the current competition, there are 3 national teams that are seeking the same achievement: Infamous Gaming, Torus Gaming, and Thunder Predator.
The International is the premier Dota 2 tournament. It is organized by Valve every year during the months of August and September, and it has become the esports tournament with the largest prize pool in history. Each year, the prize pool increases thanks to the participation of players through the purchase of the compendium or Battle Pass. The 2017 edition reached the impressive sum of 25 million dollars. For this year, it is estimated that this amount will be surpassed, as 10 million dollars were raised in just the first 2 weeks, with 2 months left until the event.