We are live at the biggest Dota 2 event of the year, with a relatively meager prize pool. All teams have made their way to Seattle, US, and are on their path to lifting the Aegis of Champions. With mere days until the Playoffs Stage commences, we are setting the stage for our Ti12 predictions and analysis.

The battle for approximately $3 million in TI12 prize pool commences soon, and our team of analysts is ready to analyze every single matchup in the three days of Playoffs Weekend and Finals Weekend. Our esports news section will feature daily updates and match predictions for all your Dota 2 betting slips.

Dota 2 The International Predictions

TI12 is set for October 12-29, whereby group stage lasted for four days, followed by rest days throughout the weekdays. Then, the remaining 16 teams shall head into the main event (playoffs) for another 6 days, three on the Playoffs Weekends and the remaining on Finals Weekends. Read the International wiki page for all the event information.

All the participants divided by their region are listed below:

China: LGD Gaming, Azure Ray
North America: Shopify Rebellion, TeamSoloMid, nouns
South America: Evil Geniuses beastcoast, Thunder Awaken, Keyd Stars
Western Europe: Team Liquid, Gaimin Gladiators, Tundra Esports, Entity, PSG Quest
Eastern Europe: Team Spirit, 9Pandas, BetBoom Team, Virtus.pro
Southeast Asia: Talon Esports, Team SMG

With the conclusion of group stage, the first four eliminated teams are Thunder Awaken, beastcoast, PSG Quest and Team SMG.

Besides the elimination of four teams during the group stage, we also got the confirmed match-ups for the Playoffs after Phase Two of the group stage. Also known as the Seeding Decider, the top seeds from each group pick their opponent from the third or fourth-placed teams of other group.

The winners of each Phase Two match get a seeding in the Upper Bracket of TI12 Playoffs, whereas the losers will fight for tournament life in the Lower Bracket. The only saving grace from the unfortunate losers in the lower bracket is that it’s no longer in best-of-one format, which could have been devastating for many teams.

Dota 2 The International 12 Favorites

Earlier, we hinted at the massive power gap that Western European teams had over the other regions. Dubbed the Big WEU Trio, many fans anticipated them to secure Upper Bracket placement easily, but that was ultimately not the case.

TI12 Group Stage recap

The two powerhouses, Gaimin and Tundra are in the lower bracket round 1, fighting for tournament life. Entity, one of the region’s promising regional qualified candidates, is also in the lower bracket, while PSG Quest has already been eliminated. With Team Liquid as the only WEU team in the upper bracket, expect fewer WEU teams to be in the later stages of Playoffs as the gruesome lower bracket eliminates each participant.

With the fall of fan favorites, the spotlight is shone on the winners that brought down these powerful opponents. Notably, Talon and nouns are responsible for defeating Gaimin and Tundra respectively. For Talon, it was a hard-fought battle as their hard carry player kept getting shut down in early matches, before Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon eventually played well on his Morphling in game 3.

Whereas nouns is the definition of, it’s okay to play dirty if it wins the game. Nouns’ second game was an overpowered showcase of risk-free drafting. Picking Chaos Knight and Brewmaster for their summons to take down buildings, the two heroes are buffed further with Ogre Magi’s Bloodlust, which improves the summons and illusions’ attack speeds.

It’s evident that if nouns ever decided not to leverage on this broken combo, Tundra would have made quick work of their team fights. Hence, nouns ultimately resorted to despicable rat Dota 2 tricks.

While the spotlight is seemingly on the underdogs that prevailed, many staple teams, such as Team Spirit, Liquid, LGD Gaming, 9Pandas, Virtus.pro and Azure Ray also advanced into the Upper Bracket with ease. Mostly because they have a skill advantage over their less seasoned counterparts.

The International 12 Main Event Predictions

Also known as TI12 Playoffs, only sixteen teams remain to play the main event. Matches are in best-of-three double-elimination format, except the best-of-five grand finals. Lower bracket teams are playing at the edge of elimination every round, so these are crucial matches for teams to showcase their cheese strategies and best performance. Meanwhile, upper bracket teams still have a lifeline if they don’t lose a series, but it’s still the same pressure once they fall into lower bracket rounds.

TI12 Playoffs Bracket

Team Spirit vs Virtus.pro

Starting off with the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals matches, it’s a battle of Eastern European brethren. Team Spirit is undeniably the strongest team at TI12, after they topped their group and also stomped the NA powerhouse, Shopify Rebellion in Phase Two Group Stage.

Virtus.pro is the regional-qualified team from EEU, which may not have high-profile players but has a veteran, Artsiom “Fng” Barshak. Sure, they did pick TSM, which is an easier team to win against during Phase Two. But they aren’t too shabby for a half-year-old squad. VP has been known for nurturing some of the best young squads, so they are definitely in good hands.

However, in a brawl against the Riyadh Masters 2023 and TI10 Champions, it will be preposterous to bet against Team Spirit.

Team Liquid vs Talon Esports

Team Liquid is surely going into this match as a top candidate, considering their accomplishments throughout the season. They also played really in group B.

However, we won’t consider Talon as a challenger going up against Liquid, for good reasons. Talon has proven themselves to not just be another Southeast Asian squad that got a placement in TI12 because they were the best in their region. They took down Gaimin, which has given trouble to Liquid in many majors.

Sure, Talon was by no means, flawless in their match against Gaimin. In fact, they were sloppy and there were instances where Gaimin could have won. Thus, Talon will surely give Liquid a run for their money.

LGD Gaming vs 9Pandas

LGD, and the Chinese competitive scene is in a crippling state, so when LGD made it out of the groups successfully, we were in awe.

They have seemingly picked up their pace and got into TI-vibe despite a relatively underwhelming Dota Pro Circuit 2023 (DPC 2023) season. While their Phase Two match versus Keyd Stars was nothing to boast about, their group stage results still stands as a testament of how explosive Chinese teams are when they can reach that momentum.

9Pandas, is also no stranger to facing LGD, given their numerous encounters throughout DPC 2023. They struggle in a group where Team Spirit is in, but managed to beat BetBoom when their EEU rival picked them for Phase Two match.

Frankly, this is very evenly matched between the two giants of their own respective regions. However, we will root for LGD just because they placed first in their group.

nouns vs Azure Ray

Nouns garnered quite the attention after pulling off the biggest upset on the TI11 Champions. Not only was nouns’ Chaos Knight and Brewmaster summons’ a disgusting cheese strat, but they even topped it off with Ogre Magi’s Bloodlust.

Tundra is surely unimpressed after such an embarrassing loss. That said, it will be interesting to see if nouns is just a one-trick pony going up against Azure Ray. Azure Ray is a Chinese team that’s comprised of ex-TI8 PSG.LGD players, and they surely won’t fall victim to such cheese strategies.

Shopify Rebellion vs TeamSoloMid

It’s a battle between NA teams, and we have seen many instances of Shopify’s dominance over its rival. It will be difficult to foresee any potential change that TSM can pull off to beat Shopify, but if they do have one, they should pull it off here.

After all, this is an elimination round, so they can’t afford to be saving strategies.

Evil Geniuses vs Gaimin Gladiators

Watching underdogs prevail earlier in the Phase Two matches made us want more of that adrenaline rush. EG, the SA-diverged squad is quoted to be the strongest SA region has to offer, consisting of beastcoast and Thunder Awaken star players that performed phenomenally at TI11.

While we would love to quote Gaimin’s fall at EG’s hands as a depiction of the David and Goliath tale, it would be unreasonable judgement, considering how EG hasn’t been at the top of their game at TI12.

Keyd Stars vs BetBoom Team

Similarly, Keyd Stars is an SA squad that barely has any professional record in their books. They have surely performed well to make it further, better than PSG Quest in the groups. However, BetBoom is such a formidable and seasoned team to ever consider losing against Keyd Stars.

Tundra Esports vs Entity

In the arms race between two more WEU teams, Tundra the Defending TI Champions has a lot more at stake to win here.

While Entity is by no means a bad team, there’s a clear lack of synergy between Kim “Gabbi” Santos and the rest of Entity. We see so many game-losing movements by Gabbi, that ultimately lead to Entity’s demise in many matches. Such that it’s putting Entity at an awkward position after Gabbi’s premature movement results to a disadvantage.

And, given who they are up against, this might be Entity’s last hurrah as their TI12 journey concludes. Not too shabby for a team that made it via the regional qualifiers.

Regardless of the results during this Playoffs Weekend, the International 12 Playoffs will get more intriguing when the Opening Ceremony kicks off the Main Event at TI12. Expect Gabe Newell, the CEO of Valve to be physically present at the venue to kick off the annual event.

Where to watch Dota 2 The International 12?

The most convenient platforms will certainly be on Twitch or Youtube, where you may select your preferred language broadcasts. The official streams aren’t just showcasing live matches but also fun content and commentators, who share their take on the International predictions per match.

To enjoy a livelier experience, TI12 takes place in Seattle. TI12 tickets are open for purchase, and we covered a handy Seattle travel guide as well. It covers transport, nearby accommodations and even tourist spots for your enjoyment.

Read also: Dota 2 The International Fantasy