The International 2021

The International 10 (originally named The International 2020) was the tenth iteration of Dota 2's flagship annual championship. Hosted by Valve Corporation, it took place at the Arena Națională in Bucharest, Romania. The tournament began on 7 October 2021 with the Group Stage and closed on 17 October 2021 with the Grand Finals, where became champions after defeating  in the Grand Finals.

With a prize pool of over US$40 million, The International 10 is the largest tournament to ever take place in eSports, breaking the record held by its predecessor, which awarded $34 million. The majority of the money awarded during the event is collected through several in-game items released by Valve, including the The International 10 Battle Pass, a digital tournament pass and features bundle tied to the event that included many activities and cosmetic items. 2021 marks the sixth consecutive year that The International's prize pool outgrows its previous record.

The International 10 became the fourth consecutive event won by a European team. became the second Eastern European team to win the championship after, which won the championship in 2011. became the fifth team to reach the Grand Finals more than once, after Natus Vincere,, and , and the second team to lose more than one Grand Finals after Natus Vincere.

The International 10 was originally scheduled to be held in August 2020 at the Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns that followed made it impossible to hold the tournament. As a result, Valve delayed the event to August 2021 at the same venue. However, after Swedish authorities refused to cooperate with Valve, the company was forced to move the event to Romania. Although a live audience was planned and tickets for the event were sold, such plans were hastily cancelled after a spike in COVID-19 cases in Romania. The event ultimately took place without a live audience, with Valve implementing a controversial system of fake cheers and applauses.

Format

 * Participants
 * 12 teams qualify through Dota Pro Circuit
 * 6 teams qualify through Regional Qualifiers; one team each from North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, China and Southeast Asia
 * Group Stage - October 7th - October 10th, 2021


 * Eighteen teams divided in two groups of nine teams each where they play in a round-robin format.
 * All matches are played in a.
 * Top four teams in each group advance to the Upper Bracket of the Main Event.


 * Bottom team in each group is eliminated.
 * Remaining teams advance to the Lower Bracket of the Main Event.


 * Main Event - October 12th - October 17th, 2021
 * Sixteen teams play in a double-elimination bracket.
 * Eight teams begin in the Upper Bracket, eight in the Lower Bracket.
 * First Lower Bracket match is, Grand Final is , all others matches are.

Coverage

 * The International 10 can be viewed live for free on DotaTV in-game.

Format

 * Participants
 * All teams that participated in season 2 of the regional league that aren’t qualified to The International 10 by finishing top 12 in DPC rankings are invited provided that they did not replace more than two players from their last season's team.
 * The teams are seeded based on their DPC point total followed by their standing in the final season of the regional league.
 * Playoffs
 * Double-elimination bracket
 * Grand final is played in a
 * All other matches are played in a
 * One team qualifies to The International 10

Group Stage
In the Group Stage, teams are divided into two groups of nine and compete in a best-of-two round robin tournament. The top four teams (in green) advance to the upper bracket of the main event, the lower four teams (in yellow) advance to the lower brackets, and the team in last place (in red) is eliminated.

Main Event
The Main Event is a double-elimination tournament with the top four teams from each group starting in the upper bracket, whilst the bottom four teams start in the lower bracket. Matches in the first round of the lower bracket are best-of-one, while the grand finals are best-of-five. All other matches are best-of-three. Click here to update.