The Aegis of Champions is ready to be claimed, and the final clash between the top Dota 2 players and teams in the world at The International 2025 is already etching itself into the history books.
With 16 teams to start, and only eight taking the stage at Barclays Arena in Hamburg, Germany for the playoffs, The International 2025 was a bloodbath from day one, and has lived up to the hype every step of the way. With $2.5 million and a place on the back of the Aegis of Champions on the line, from Sept. 11 to 14, you will only see top talent bringing their absolute best to the battlefield.
The modern version of The International is split into two distinct parts, The Road to The International and the main event playoffs, which Valve simply markets as The International. The main event is the only part of the event that has teams playing in front of a live audience in an arena, though every team competing gets a share of the event's prize pool.
Because the prize pool for TI is tied to sales for in-game Dota 2 content bundles, the final total for the event might end up being more than the $2.6 million listed as of Sept. 13. Some of the TI-exclusive content bundles will also remain available for a bit after TI ends on Sept. 14.
Related Article: Your The International 2025 Viewing Guide: Dota 2 Schedule, Teams and Items
For TI14, eight teams were eliminated during The Road to The International: Yakuto Brothers, Aurora Gaming, Wildcard, Team Liquid, Team Spirit, NA'VI, BOOM Esports and Team Nemesis. Spirit and Liquid being eliminated early was a surprise, as those organizations won the previous two TIs, and the majority of their rosters remained the same from those championship runs.
The event overall also had a big, first of its kind issue, as Gaimin Gladiators pulled out of TI just weeks before the tournament started due to internal conflicts between staff and players. An iteration of GG finished second at both TI12 and TI13, so their absence was felt, even if the level of Dota being played this year was still extremely high.
Unfortunately, with their loss to BetBoom Team in the lower bracket quarterfinals, HEROIC fell just short of making Dota 2 history. If they managed to make it to the next round, they would have recorded the highest finish of any South American team at a TI ever.