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Valve begins Ti 5 with their direct invites and qualifier invitations.

With the announcement of the direct invites, Valve has conveyed exactly what they are looking for regarding the new “Majors” system they are going to put in place to ensure year-round competition.

Team stability and visible, consistent results appear to be what Valve is looking for, especially with the controversy generated by Valve’s invite of Team Malaysia over RAVE. Team Malaysia, strictly speaking, is a reformed Orange under a new banner, with only 2 players replaced. Net and XtiNcT replaced by Kecik Imba and JoHnNy. This explains both Team Empire’s and Virtus Pro’s (previously Asus Polar) invites over Alliance and Navi, as they have consistently out-performed both later teams in tournaments, and had far more stable rosters.

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Which team/teams are your favourite?

the international 5 invites regional quals 2

Both the EU and Asian qualifier is going to be really intense and entertaining to watch.

It is time to think relatively, rather than about the legacy of each team as Dota 2’s pro scene accumulates history. We’ve come a long way since Ti 1, and we should keep in mind that recent performance is always the most important indicator for assessing a team’s worth instead of their accolades over the years and stop being surprised when a team that posts more results get the invite just because they “were formed a month ago.”

There is currently no information available regarding the major championships, except for the fact there will be four of them – one for each season. Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer (The International). Expect announcements at this year’s International about the details on the Majors.

I speculate that these tournaments are going to have similar open qualifiers for the local region they are set in, so we’ll have regional Majors (CIS, Europe, Asia) featuring at least one new professional team each season. Expect some new talent to arise from the opportunities provided by Valve!

The qualifiers will be covered by Beyond The Summit, GD studio and join Dota, so take your pick and side with your favorite studio to let them know who you love!

You can follow me on twitter @TheFreakofnatur and email me at [email protected]. Until next time!

Bonus: I got all the predictions!!