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Here are the first eight teams attending The International 8

With all the contenders squared away through the Supermajor, we now know who the first direct invites for TI8 are.

By Victoria Rose
Team Liquid at The International 2017. This is the same roster that currently plays in the Dota Pro Circuit.
The International 2017 Official Flickr | Valve

The ongoing Supermajor marks the end of the first Dota Pro Circuit, The International 8 is fast approaching and some players get to sigh a breath of relief, knowing they’re set for Vancouver. While the China Dota 2 Supermajor still races on, the first eight teams qualified for TI8 are now mathematically locked in.

Teams are as follows:

  1. Virtus.Pro — Commonwealth of Independent States
  2. PSG.LGD — China
  3. Team Liquid — Europe
  4. Team Secret — Europe
  5. Mineski Pro Team — Southeast Asia
  6. Vici Gaming — China
  7. Newbee — China
  8. VGJ.Thunder — China OpTic Gaming — North America

While the Supermajor technically determines where the last of the points go, the then-top eight teams stepped up at this event, too, making the task that much harder for other contenders.

The very last of this season’s Qualifying Points and the last leg of the top eight race were determined by OpTic’s run in the lower bracket of the Supermajor. It was do or die in this run, as even a fourth-place finish into the lower bracket semifinal would eek them just into the top eight rankings. Failure meant they’d have to fight their way into a brutal North American qualifier — a thunderdome where the likes of VGJ.Storm and the newly-reformed Evil Geniuses await.

Since OpTic’s run unfortunately ended early at the hands of Virtus Pro, the first to qualify for TI8, VGJ.Thunder safely remains in their top eight spot. And with no more points available for any other teams in the running, VGJ.Thunder quietly earned themselves an invite for TI8.

The distribution is pretty skewed towards China, with five teams attending from the region; none will represent the Americas, whereas all other regions see representation. Plus, with OpTic dropping into the regional qualifiers, NA will certainly be a bloodbath, but with TI8 Open Qualifiers coming first, it’s anyone’s game.

The next step is yet to come for any teams still wishing to qualify for the mega-event, as TI8 qualifiers begin next week.

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