Ahead of the the International 2023 (TI12) Playoffs weekend, Eastern Europe has the most team representatives compared to all other regions. They put other regions with the luxury of more regional slots to shame.

Three out of four EEU teams are in the top-eight at TI12. Sadly, two of them will have to face each other to advance in the bracket.

Image source: The International 12

Team Spirit, BetBoom and Virtus.pro in the Top Eight

Aside from 9Pandas, who lost against Gaimin Gladiators’ after a superb performance. The other surviving EEU teams defeated their respective opponents to make it into the top eight at TI12. BetBoom Team and Virtus.pro played their hearts out to still advance into the Finals Weekend this week.

BetBoom started from the lower bracket round 1, defeating Keyd Stars, before clutching the series against Talon Esports. Talon gave BetBoom a rough series, considering each game spanned over an hour. 23savage and his Dark Willow hard carry proved to be an overpowered pick and it took BetBoom a long time to figure out how to beat it.

Despite the impeccable build, Talon slipped and made game-losing decisions, such as buying back for no urgent fights. This ultimately led to Talon’s downfall when BetBoom attempted to siege their base.

Virtus.pro also deserves credit for giving Team Spirit a run for their money during their earlier Upper Bracket encounter. They fell into the lower bracket, and Artsiom “Fng” Barshak’s drafting expertise helped make quick work of Entity. The series’ highlight came down to Entity letting VP have Spirit Breaker, which Fng played as a wealthy pos-5 support.

Artsiom “Fng” Barshak

Fng on why EEU is the strongest region at TI12

Fng associated the success of EEU teams with Team Spirit’s presence. They indirectly raised the bar for how strong an EEU team must perform to be at TI12. And it shows, with the maturity and discipline from even the younger generation of EEU teams at TI12.

Of course, VP themselves, being one of the only three regional-qualified teams in the top-eight, is a testament to that. Even BetBoom and 9Pandas nurtured strong rosters that had a phenomenal season to boot.

What to expect from EEU during the TI12 Finals Weekend?

Unfortunately, the lower bracket match-up comes down to BetBoom vs VP, leading to one of the EEU team’s elimination. Between BetBoom’s explosive performance and Fng’s drafts, the former has an experienced stack of all-stars to sweep the series. It’s definitely not over for VP, even though they have a relatively young roster, backed only by a veteran player, Fng.

As for Team Spirit, which will be facing off against Team Liquid, it’s an El Classico. Both teams have faced each other previously at Riyadh Masters 2023, which went in favor of Team Spirit as champions. Both teams are at the pinnacle of their respective regions and plausibly TI12, so that’s an entertaining series to catch.

Read next: TI12 Playoffs Predictions: Round 3 [October 23rd]