TI11 Invited Teams, DPC Winners and Verdict on Regional Distribution

The International 2022 will be raking millions in revenue from battle passes, and the champions will become multimillionaires with another record breaking prize pool expected. Earning an invite already secures you a good piece of the pie, and twelve teams can breathe a sign of relief for not having to go through regional qualifiers.

Let’s break down the twelve invited teams for Ti 2022, and pass our verdict on what we see.

DPC Top 12 Teams qualified for TI2022

The International 11 Invited Teams

The International 2022 gathers eighteen teams to Singapore this year, of which twelve teams confirmed their presence. They are direct invites, teams which collected the most DPC points to be top twelve. Out of the lot, Europe has the most teams (3), followed by almost every other region with two participants each and CIS represented by former TI10 champions Team Spirit.

Outsiders out, Fnatic in

We already covered Outsiders and Fnatic situation at length. In short, the final DPC points calculation turned out to be only 1019 for Outsiders, while Fnatic had 1020, surpassing the former. For Southeast Asian fans, it’s another representative at TI11 to support, while Outsiders must struggle in TI11 regional qualifiers for their tickets.

DPC 2021-22 Winner & Core Favorites

At the very top, we have PSG.LGD, the Chinese powerhouse and two-time grand finalists in the Internationals. LGD debuted in their first LAN major at Arlington this DPC season, which had many eager fans aching to see them in action. Needless to say, they did not disappoint, as they made their way to the grand finals. Team Spirit proved to be a formidable rival by defeating LGD, giving the latter TI10 flashbacks.

With Arlington concluded, you can best bet that LGD will be back to face Team Spirit when they meet at TI11.

Second-place winner and massive fan favorite is Team OG, became the Stockholm Major Champions and placed fourth at the recent major. While OG is certainly no pushover, their recent upset vs Aster revealed a flaw in their line-up, particularly Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf. This came after the offlane player suffered a poor game, which fans pointed out that the org needs to fix before they head into TI11.

In third place is Team Spirit, the undisputed Arlington Major and TI10 Champions. Despite their occasional blunders in other tournaments, Team Spirit still managed to snatch the grand finals off their long-time rival, PSG.LGD. Particularly, Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov is at the top of his game when he pulled off sick Mars plays that left even Team Aster impressed. As defending champions, Team Spirit is certainly coming in strong and might be in the running for a consecutive TI win.

Beastcoast is the fourth-placed team in DPC leaderboards, and also the strongest South American representative. Beastcoast was heavily slept on, as fans are in awe of the newcomer, Thunder Awaken instead. Regardless, beastcoast proves that they are the veterans after all, and will be the players’ third TI run.

Team Aster deserves the title as favorites for halting OG from advancing further at Arlington Major. They pack a solid team with good fundamentals and consistency, which is second only to Team Spirit. In fact, they also gave Spirit a good run for their money after narrowly beating Spirit in game 3. Being among the two Chinese teams to secure direct invites, is a testament to the region’s strength.

Thunder Awaken at Arlington Major

Other Invited Teams

Moving down the bottom half, Thunder Awaken is the other SA team to make their debut at TI11. It’s their first TI and certainly deserved the invite, not because they are the only formidable SA team besides beastcoast. TA is capable of going neck-to-neck against other heavy hitters, so any contender at TI11 will regret underestimating the former.

BOOM Esports is the seventh team and hails from SEA region. SEA has had a lacklustre impact in majors with BOOM being the only team to be of tier-1 status. They are untouchable in SEA region but scored eight at Arlington Major to get enough DPC points. Despite being seventh on the list, BOOM’s debut in TI11 will be short-lived because as it stands, they are barely keeping up.

TeamSoloMid didn’t make an appearance at Arlington Major after playing poorly in DPC NA Tour 3. However, they are runner-up at Stockholm Major, which means they already secured enough points to make the cut. That said, falling from first place on DPC rankings before the major, to eighth is not a good impression.

Tundra Esports and Gaimin Gladiators are the other two Western European representatives to secure their spots. However, they are nothing to write home about if we are looking at their recent appearance at Arlington Major.

Evil Geniuses surprisingly make the cut as well, as the North American representative at a dangerous eleventh place. EG has had a rough season but still manages to put up a decent showcase in their local region. Fans are not impressed with the proclaimed strongest powerhouse in NA, as such, aren’t looking forward to EG’s journey. They have made changes to the roster, particularly welcoming Tal “Fly” Aizik back to their roster. However, EG still looked sloppy against the likes of stronger opponents from EU and China.

Last but certainly not least, is Fnatic, all thanks to the fortunate circumstances that unfolded yesterday.

Verdict on TI11 Participants

All in all, the distribution of teams from various regions is a telltale sign of which regions are superior. Of course, this is surely not predictions on the likely champions at TI11, but we can expect China consistently at the forefront, with Europe (both East & West) trailing behind. Team Spirit is still strong, albeit we can’t say the same for its other local EEN brethren.

South American candidates have made a decent showing throughout the season, which is a healthy sign of a thriving esports scene. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for NA after how poorly EG was, even after the roster change.

On a side note, TI11 Regional Qualifiers will determine the remaining six slots at TI11, which will unfold in mid-September.