TI 2023 Playoff preview: Which eight Dota 2 teams will make it to the Main Event?

The International (TI) 2023, this year's Dota 2 world championship tournament, will soon be kicking off the Road to The International Playoff phase in the Seattle Convention Center's Summit this upcoming weekend of 21 to 22 October.

There, the 16 remaining teams will be fighting to be among the Top 8 squads making it to The International Main Event in the Climate Pledge Arena from 27 to 29 October.

The action will start in the upper bracket quarterfinals on 20 October, where the four winning teams will advance to the upper bracket semifinals of The International Main Event.

The competition will then shift to the lower bracket on 21 October, where four teams will advance to the second round of the lower bracket to face the losing teams from the upper bracket quarterfinals. Four teams will also be eliminated on this day.

On the final day of the Playoffs on 21 October, four more teams will fall while four others will advance to the third round of the lower bracket of The International Main Event.

So, which teams will be among the eight squads that will fight for the Aegis of Champions at Climate Pledge Arena? Read on for our picks.

Upper bracket quarterfinals

The upper bracket for the Playoffs features two of the biggest favourites to claim the Aegis of Champions this year, as well as some surprising contenders.

Foremost among them are TI 2021 champions Team Spirit and three-time Major finalist Team Liquid, both of whom we expect to also headline the Top 8 for the Main Event.

Spirit are looking poised to claim their second TI championship this year as they have won all ten games they have played in the tournament so far. The TI 2021 champions will be facing off against a fellow Eastern European team in Virtus.pro (VP). And while VP had a commendable run to the upper bracket so far, we don't expect them to put up much of a fight against Spirit.

Meanwhile, Liquid will be in for a dramatic match against Southeast Asia's Talon Esports, who are fresh off a massive upset over three-time Major champions Gaimin Gladiators.

The last time Liquid and Talon met on a big stage was at July's Riyadh Masters 2023, where Liquid denied Talon a last-second victory in the upper bracket semifinals before sweeping them out of the tournament in the lower bracket finals. While a Talon squad hell-bent on revenge will surely be a tough opponent, we still expect Liquid to emerge from this hard-fought series as the victors.

The third match of the day will then see another big contender in China's LGD Gaming take on Eastern European squad 9Pandas. After kicking off their TI 2023 campaign with a sweep over Gaimin Gladiators, the Chinese powerhouse have lost only one game en route to the Playoffs. We expect LGD to carry their momentum through to the Main Event at 9Pandas' expense.

The fourth and final match of the upper bracket quarterfinals between North America's Nouns Esports and China's Azure Ray is looking like the closest contest of the day.

While Azure Ray and its star-studded roster is the better team on paper, Nouns have blown all expectations out of the water after their massive 2-0 upset over defending champions Tundra Esports — arguably the biggest upset of the tournament so far.

With a home crowd surely behind them, we expect Nouns to score another upset over Azure Ray en route to the Main Event.

TL;DR: Team Spirit, Team Liquid, LGD Gaming, and Nouns Esports advance to Main Event upper bracket

Lower bracket round 1

The first round of the lower bracket features four teams that many expected to be in the upper bracket, namely North America's Shopify Rebellion, three-time Major champions Gaimin Gladiators, star-studded Eastern European squad BetBoom Team, and defending champions Tundra Esports.

While those four teams surely would have preferred not being in the lower bracket at this stage of the tournament, we nonetheless expect them to at least make the the second round.

The first match of the lower bracket will be a heartbreaker for North American Dota fans, as one of Shopify Rebellion or TSM will be going home. Despite Shopify Rebellion's struggles in TI so far, they are clearly the better team over TSM and should handily win this showdown.

Up next will be Gaimin Gladiators facing off against South America's Evil Geniuses (EG). Both teams have had their fair share of struggles, but even a Gaimin Gladiators squad not playing up to their Major-winning form are still a level above EG, especially one that has barely made that the Playoffs. If the three-time Major champions hope to complete the 'perfect season' by winning TI, their comeback will have to start here.

The third match of the day will see BetBoom take on South America's Vivo Keyd Stars. While Keyd Stars have thus far surpassed expectations by making it to the Playoffs, we expect their run to end against a more powerful opponent in BetBoom.

Finally, the first round of the lower bracket will close out with an all-Western Europe affair between Tundra and Entity.

Entity have been punching above their weight all tournament, but we don't think that will be enough against a Tundra squad looking to bounce back from their upset loss to Nouns. Even so, this may end up being the closest matchup of the day. If Tundra hopes to become the second team to win TI back-to-back, a victory here just might be the spark they need.

TL;DR: Shopify Rebellion, Gaimin Gladiators, BetBoom Team, and Tundra Esports advance to lower bracket round 2

Lower bracket round 2

With many of the weaker teams winnowed out in the first round of the lower bracket, wthe final day of the Playoffs will surely make for some must-watch Dota as eight strong teams will be struggling to be among the four making it to the lower bracket of the Main Event.

In this high-stakes stage, we expect Azure Ray, Gaimin Gladiators, Talon Esports, and Tundra Esports to emerge victorious.

Based on our prediction, the first match of the day should be Azure Ray taking on Shopify Rebellion. While both teams are relatively evenly-matched on paper, Azure Ray have looked up to the task while Shopify Rebellion have been struggling. Assuming this trend continues, we expect the Chinese team to win out in this series.

Up next should be Gaimin Gladiators and 9Pandas, a match that is in no shortage of drama, mostly between Quinn "Quinn" Callahan and Roman "RAMZES666" Kushnarev.

Of the seven times Gaimin Gladiators and 9Pandas have faced off this season, the three-time Major champions won five and drew in one. Even if Gaimin Gladiators have not looked like the world beaters they were during the Majors in TI so far, we still expect them to take the win over 9Pandas should they face off.

The predicted third matchup of the day will be between Talon and BetBoom, and it is likely to be the most closely-contested. Both teams have only faced off twice this season, with each squad winning one apiece. But going off their TI form so far, Talon has inspired more promise, so we expect them to take the victory.

Finally, the Playoffs will close with Tundra taking on VP. Just like in their upper bracket match versus Spirit, we expect VP to be outmatched against a past TI winner. If we are right in assuming that Tundra is able to bounce back from their upset loss to Nouns, then we expect the defending champions to make it to the Main Event to try for a second-straight title.

TL;DR: Azure Ray, Gaimin Gladiators, Talon Esports, and Tundra Esports advance to Main Event lower bracket

The Road to The International Playoffs will take place from 20 to 22 October in the Seattle Convention Center's Summit. It will feature the 16 teams that made it out of the Group Stage fighting to be among the eight teams making it to The International Main Event.

The International Main Event will be hosted in the Climate Pledge Arena from 27 to 29 October, where this year's Dota 2 world champion will be crowned in the Grand Finals on 29 October.

For everything you need to know about TI 2023, check here.

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