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Who’s Playing at TI6?

By Phil Newman

With only six teams directly invited, expect the qualifiers to be a cutthroat battle to the end.
With only six teams directly invited, expect the qualifiers to be a cutthroat battle to the end. /
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With the direct invites finally released by Valve, you should start getting excited about who’s been invited to TI6

Ah yes, it’s time for us to talk about that white knuckle, no-holds-barred thrill ride that we all know and love: The International 2016. You can expect that TI6 will be even more impressive than last year, what with Valve stepping up its game where the production value of these major tournaments is concerned.

But let’s cut to the chase, shall we?

Who’s been invited to TI6?

Only six teams so far. These make up the cream of the crop, the top performing teams from around the globe. The remaining ten slots for competitors will only be doled out to the deserving teams that hack-n-slash their way to the top of the qualifiers.

A complete list of directly invited teams follows:

  • OG
  • Team Liquid
  • Newbee
  • LGD Gaming
  • MVP Phoenix
  • Natus Vincere

What about the other teams?

Well, they have a hard battle ahead of them I’m afraid. My boys OG are sitting pretty after their well-deserved victory at Frankfurt (that’s right Sammy! Looks like the folks in the office owe you and me some beers).

The Regional Qualifiers will take place from June  25th – 28th across the globe. The regions are divided into: the Americas, China, Europe, and Southeast Asia. There will also be two open qualifiers for amateur teams to take a stab at the glory taking place from the 21st – 24th.

Personally, I’ll be watching the open qualifiers with a bucket of popcorn. I don’t think they’ll fail to entertain.

Who are the favored teams for the Regionals?

This, of course, is anyone’s guess. But here at DireDota HQ, we’ve managed to put together a short list of favorites for you. It only cost us two black eyes and a few threats to our employment…

We love DOTA that much.

The American Regional: based on their recent performances at major competitions, we feel very strongly (and divisively) about Digital Chaos and comPlexity Gaming. It’s a tough call, as both these teams petered out in the lower bracket of Round 2 in the Manila Major.

The Chinese Regional: Vici Gaming.Reborn and Wings Gaming are our top picks here. Though VG.Reborn outperformed Wings at the Manila Major, we think Wings is going to bring a kind of heat that can only be born from the shame of defeat.

The European Regional: I’m going to level with you — we’re still fighting over this one here at HQ.  The general feeling is that Vega Squadron really showed their mettle at ESL One Frankfurt ’16. They also promised us, much like Obi-wan, they would return even stronger. But against teams like Alliance, Empire, and Virtus.Pro, you’ll want to keep a close eye on this one.

The Southeast Asia Regional: for once, DireDota HQ can agree on something! Fnatic has really impressed us this season, ranking in the top six for their last three tourneys. Even with their less than remarkable performance in Frankfurt (1 – 4, guys? C’mon!), they’re still a strong pick.

For more on the DOTA 2 pro circuit, visit our hub page and follow @diredota on Twitter.

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