Valve has revealed the group schedule for this year's edition of the biggest Dota 2 esports spectacle, TI 2023.
Twenty of the best Dota 2 teams in the world met in Seattle to battle for the famous Aegis, a trophy dedicated to The International champions. The title will be defended by Tundra Esports, who finished the current DPC (Dota Pro Circuit) season in a high third place, just behind Team Liquid and Gaimin Gladiators.
Among the famous names and challengers there are also LGD Gaming, Shopify Rebellion who took over the popular Evil Geniuses line-up, 9Pandas which features Russian veterans Roman "RAMZES666" Kushnarev and Alexey "Solo" Berezin. Talon Esports who split from French football club Paris Saint-Germain, 2021 champion Team Spirit who are also possibly the main favorites this year, as well as the pesky BetBoom Team.
The teams are divided into four groups of five teams each. The last team from each group is eliminated, while the rest play a playoff for allocation to the winner and loser bracket of the playoffs. The first and second teams of groups A and B will play against the third and fourth teams from groups C and D and vice versa, and here is how the group compositions look like.
Group A: 9 Pandas, Entity, Evil Geniuses, Team SMG, Team Spirit
Group B: Azure Ray, BetBoom Team, Shopify Rebellion, Team Liquid, Thunder Awaken
Group C: Gaimin Gladiators, beastcoast, LGD Gaming, nouns, Virtus.pro
Group D: Keyd Stars, PSG Quest, Talon Esports, TSM, Tundra Esports
The matches of the first stage will be played from 19:00 our time.
