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The International 2017
Tournament information
SportDota 2
LocationSeattle, Washington, United States
DatesAugust 7–12, 2017
AdministratorValve Corporation
Tournament
format(s)
Host(s)Valve Corporation
Venue(s)KeyArena
Participants18 teams
PurseUS$24,787,916
Final positions
ChampionsTeam Liquid
1st runner-upNewbee
2nd runner-upLGD.Forever Young

The International 2017 (TI7) was the seventh iteration of The International, an annual Dota 2 eSports championship tournament. Hosted by Valve Corporation, the game's developer, the tournament began with the online qualifier phase in June 2017, and ended after the main event at the KeyArena in Seattle in August. It awarded the biggest prize pool in eSports history at over US$24 million, breaking the record set by the previous year's tournament. The Grand Finals took place between the European-based Team Liquid and Chinese-based Newbee, with Liquid sweeping Newbee 3-0 in a best-of-five series, winning nearly $11 million in prize money.

Overview

Background

Dota 2 is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed by Valve Corporation. In it, two teams of five players compete by selecting pre-designed in-game hero characters, each with a variety of innate skills and deploy-able powers, and cooperating together to destroy the base of the other team before their own base is destroyed as to win the round. The game is played from a top-down perspective, and the player sees a segment of the game's map near their character as well as mini-map that shows their allies as well as any enemies revealed outside the fog of war. The game's map has three symmetric "lanes" between each base, with a number of automated defense turrets protecting each side. Periodically, the team's base will spawn an army of weak non-playable minions that will march down one lane towards the opponents' base, fighting any enemy hero, minion, or structure they encounter. If a hero character is killed, that character will respawn back at their base after a delay period, which gets progressively longer the farther into the match.[1][2]

The game is a free-to-play, but financially supported by Valve with a variety of microtransactions such as cosmetic items for its heroes. As with previous years of the tournament, a corresponding battle pass for Dota 2 was released in May 2017, allowing the prize pool to be crowdfunded by players of the game.[3][4][5] Known as the "Compendium", 25% of revenue made by it was sent directly towards the tournament's prize pool.[5] At the time of event, Dota 2 featured 113 playable characters, called "heroes". Prior to each game in the tournament, a pre-game draft was held between the opposing team captains to select which heroes their teams will use, going back and forth until each side has selected and banned five heroes. Once a hero is picked, it cannot be selected by any other player that match, so teams use the draft to strategically plan ahead and deny the opponent's heroes that may be good counters or would be able to take advantage of weaknesses to their current lineup. The first pick in a match is decided by an in-game coin toss, and switches between each game in that match; the team that does not get first pick does get the option of which side of the map to defend.[1]

Format

The tournament initially began with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), China, Europe, North America, South America, and Southeast Asia online regional qualifiers in June 2017.[6] Following that, two separate best-of-two round robin groups consisting of nine teams each were played from August 2–5, with lowest placed team from both being eliminated from the competition.[7][8][9] The remaining 16 teams moved on to the double elimination main event at the KeyArena in Seattle from August 7–12, with the top four finishing teams from both groups advancing to the upper bracket, and the bottom four advancing to the lower bracket.[8][7][6] The first round of the lower bracket was treated as single-elimination, with the loser of each match being immediately eliminated from the tournament.[7][9] Every other round of both brackets was played in a best-of-three series, with the exception being the Grand Finals, which was played between the winners of the upper and lower brackets in a best-of-five series.[7][9]

Six teams were invited directly to the event, with an additional twelve qualifying teams participating.[6][10] New to the event from previous years was the expansion from 16 to 18 total teams, as well as establishment of new qualifying regions; the Americas were split into separate North and South America regions, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region was split off from Europe.[10][11] The International 2016 champion Wings Gaming disbanded earlier in 2017 with its members taking a break from professional Dota, marking the first time in the International's history that a defending champion or any player of its former roster did not defend their title.[12] The rosters of two independent teams, Planet Dog and Team NP, were signed after the qualifier stage respectively by the eSports organizations HellRaisers and Cloud9.[13][14] Valve tournament rules allow for players to freely play for another organization without restrictions, as long as the rosters remain the same.[15]

As with previous years of the event, Seattle KCPQ reporter Kaci Aitchison reprised her role as co-host and interviewer.[7] However, Paul "ReDeYe" Chaloner, the desk host of the last two Internationals, was not invited.[7] Instead, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament host Alex "Machine" Richardson and StarCraft personality Sean "Day[9]" Plott replaced him.[7]

Results

Group stage

The group stage events were round robin matches played before the main event that, based on results, either placed teams into the upper or lower bracket. The lowest placed team from both groups were eliminated from the competition.

Group A
Pos Team W L
1 Team Liquid 13 3 Advanced to the upper bracket
2 LGD Gaming 12 4
3 Evil Geniuses 11 5
4 TNC Pro Team 9 7
5 Team Secret 7 9 Advanced to the lower bracket
6 iG.Vitality 7 9
7 Team Empire 6 10
8 Infamous 5 11
9 Fnatic 2 14 Eliminated
Source: [16][17]
Group B
Pos Team W L
1 LGD.Forever Young 14 2 Advanced to the upper bracket
2 Newbee 11 5
3 Invictus Gaming 10 6
4 Virtus.pro 10 6
5 OG 9 7 Advanced to the lower bracket
6 Cloud9 6 10
7 Digital Chaos 6 10
8 Execration 5 11
9 HellRaisers 1 15 Eliminated
Source: [16][17]

Main event

KeyArena in Seattle, the venue where the main event took place

The main event featured two brackets in a double-elimination tournament format. In the upper brackets, played to best-of-three, the winning team moved on, while the losing team would then be placed in respective rounds of the lower bracket. The winner of the upper bracket moved to the Grand Finals. The first round in the lower bracket was played as a best-of-one, with the loser being immediately eliminated. All other matches were best-of-three, with the winner of the lower bracket advancing to the Grand Finals, which was a best-of-five series, to face the winner of the upper bracket.[18][19][20][21][22]

Upper bracket

Quarterfinals (Bo3) Semifinals (Bo3) Upper bracket finals (Bo3)
         
Team Liquid
1
Invictus Gaming
2
Invictus Gaming
1
Newbee
2
Evil Geniuses
0
Newbee
2
Newbee
2
LGD.Forever Young
1
LGD.Forever Young
2
TNC Pro Team
0
LGD.Forever Young
2
Virtus.pro
0
LGD Gaming
0
Virtus.pro
2

Lower bracket (LB)

Grand Finals

Grand Finals (Bo5)
Newbee
0
Team Liquid
3

The grand finals took place between Team Liquid, who advanced from the lower bracket, and Newbee, who advanced from the upper bracket, with Liquid defeating Newbee 3-0 in a best-of-five series.[22] After losing the first two games in similar fashion, Newbee then attempted to adjust their drafting strategy at the start of third and series-deciding match in a desperate attempt to save the series.[22] However, it was in vain as Liquid had early game success and swiftly advanced towards Newbee's base, overwhelming them and winning the series and therefore the tournament, making Team Liquid the first team to have shut out the opposing team in an International grand finals.[23]

Legacy

As with every consecutive International since 2014, the event broke the eSports tournament record for the largest prize pool, which finalized at US$24,787,916.[24] A four-part episodic documentary television series produced by TBS regarding the event aired throughout August 2017. Known as Eleague: Road To The International Dota 2 Championships, the documentary followed compLexity Gaming's attempt to qualify for the tournament.[25][26] Other events took place during the tournament, including an all-star match, featuring players voted in by battle pass owners,[27] a fan cosplay competition, and a Dota 2 themed short film contest, with all of them having their own independent prize pools.[28] Also during the event, Valve revealed a teaser trailer for Artifact, a Valve-developed digital collectible card game based on Dota 2,[29] as well as two new playable characters for the game itself.[30] A live 1v1 demonstration was also played during the event between professional Dota 2 player Dendi and an OpenAI-curated machine learned bot, to which Dendi lost.[31][32] The grand finals of the tournament between Team Liquid and Newbee were featured in an episode of Valve's Dota documentary series, True Sight.[33]

The matches were broadcast through the game's built-in spectating client, as well as through the live streaming platform Twitch.tv. Valve reported that concurrent viewership numbers exceeded five million during the event, surpassing numbers set at previous Internationals.[34] During the Grand Finals, more than 400,000 people were watching the series via Twitch, with the KeyArena also being filled to its 15,000+ capacity.[35]

Notes

  1. ^ Played through the qualifiers as Planet Dog
  2. ^ Played through the qualifiers as Team NP

References

  1. ^ a b Gies, Arthur (August 2, 2017). "The Normal Person's Guide to Watching Competitive Dota 2 (2017 Edition)". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Kim, Ben. "A comprehensive comparison of Dota 2 and League of Legends". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on August 1, 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Good, Owen. "Dota 2 co-op campaign included in The International 2017's Battle Pass". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Valve Launches The Battle Pass Weekend Sale; Includes Battle Levels And Treasure Bundle". MalaysianDigest.com. Archived from the original on June 30, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b Rose, Victoria. "The International's prize pool is, once again, the biggest in esports history". The Flying Courier. Polygon. Archived from the original on August 4, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b c Robichaud, Andrew. "First six invitees announced for International 7". TSN.ca. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ a b c d e f g "The International Approaches". blog.dota2.com. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ a b "Dota 2 - The International 2017". dota2.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ a b c Rose, Victoria. "The International 7 format and prize pool, explained". The Flying Courier. Polygon. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ a b Rose, Victoria. "The International 7's final lineup of teams has come together". The Flying Courier. Polygon. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Rose, Victoria. "The teams of the International 2017, part one". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on July 15, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ Van Allen, Eric. "This Year's Dota 2 International Will Be The First Without A Defending Champion". Kotaku. Archived from the original on July 3, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Rose, Victoria. "Hellraisers acquire TI7-qualifying Planet Dog". The Flying Courier. Polygon. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Rose, Victoria. "EternaLEnVy squad NP acquired by Cloud9, bringing former players back under roster". The Flying Courier. Polygon. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "DOTA 2 MAJORS REGISTRATION". dota2.com. Archived from the original on June 14, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ a b "Group Stage". dota2.com. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ a b Rose, Victoria. "TI7 Group Stage results — LGD.Fy, Liquid take top; Fnatic, Hellraisers first eliminated". The Flying Courier. Polygon. Archived from the original on August 7, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ Gies, Arthur (August 8, 2017). "On day one of The International 2017, Chinese teams dominate, and western teams go home". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ Gies, Arthur (August 9, 2017). "Day two of the International Dota 2 Championships brings hope and heartbreak". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ Gies, Arthur (August 10, 2017). "Western teams continue to struggle at day three of the International Dota 2 championships". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ Gies, Arthur (August 11, 2017). "Day Four of The 2017 International Dota 2 Championships leaves five teams standing". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ a b c Gies, Arthur (August 12, 2017). "Here are the winners of Valve's $24 million 2017 International Dota 2 Championships". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 14, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ Rose, Victoria (August 12, 2017). "How Team Liquid swept The International 2017 Grand Finals for the $10.8M prize". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ Prescott, Shaun. "The Dota 2 International prize pool has comfortably broken its record". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ "Over 21 Million on the Line in New DOTA 2 Esports Docu-series". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 18, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ Rose, Victoria. "TBS's TI7 documentary is worthwhile for fans and casual viewers alike". The Flying Courier. Polygon. Archived from the original on August 5, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  27. ^ "All-Star Voting and Player Card Packs". blog.dota2.com. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ Rose, Victoria. "Short Film and Cosplay Competitions bring creative heat to The International 7". The Flying Courier. Polygon. Archived from the original on August 4, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  29. ^ Gies, Arthur. "Valve announces Artifact, a Dota 2 card game". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 9, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  30. ^ Horti, Samuel. "Valve reveals two new Dota 2 heroes". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  31. ^ "Dota 2". blog.openai.com. Archived from the original on August 11, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  32. ^ Frank, Blair Hanley. "OpenAI's bot beats top Dota 2 player so badly that he quits". Venture Beat. Archived from the original on August 12, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  33. ^ Rose, Victoria. "True Sight mini-documentary, this time featuring TI7's Grand Finals, is now available to watch". The Flying Courier. Polygon. Archived from the original on October 13, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  34. ^ Handrahan, Matthew (August 14, 2017). "The International 2017 reached 5m peak concurrent viewers". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on August 15, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  35. ^ Payne, Marissa. "These five gamers just won $11 million playing 'Dota 2'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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