The International

The International is an annual double-elimination LAN tournament hosted by Valve. 16 invited professional DotA teams fight for the title of best Dota 2 team. Winners of The International are awarded large sums of money raised by the community, as well as the Aegis of Champions.

As of 2015, The International now takes the place of the summer event in the Dota Major Championships.

2011
Valve announced The International in August 2011 as the first view on Dota 2. The tournament was held at Gamescom in Cologne. 16 invited teams were fighting for a total prize pool of $1.6 million. This gave the tournament the highest prize pool ever awarded to date.

2012
Unlike the previous tournament, Valve held The International 2012 by themselves in Benaroya Hall in Seattle with 14 teams invited and 2 chosen with qualifiers.

2013
Similar to the previous tournament in 2012, Valve held The International 2013 in Benaroya Hall in Seattle with 13 teams invited. 2 teams qualified and a wildcard match was held for the runner ups of the qualifiers.

2014
The International 2014 moves to KeyArena, taking place July 18th through the 21st in Seattle. There will be 11 teams invited directly as well as four Regional Qualifiers taking place May 12th through the 25th. The winner of each Qualifier will receive an invitation, with the four runner-ups competing in Seattle for the final spot.

2015
The International 2015 returns to KeyArena, taking place August 3rd through the 8th in Seattle.

2016
The International 2016 held in KeyArena again, taking place August 2nd through the 13th in Seattle.