All Participants of The International 10 Determined

This weekend concluded the final two regional qualifiers for The International 10 – for China and Western Europe – which means that now we know all participants of the event. They are Elephant and OG.

TI10 Participants:

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The winner of the Chinese qualifier is a superstar team Elephant, which was found in late 2020. Despite a powerful roster that includes such experienced players as Sumnus M, fy and Super, the team has been struggling to live up to expectations. This year they competed in the upper division of the DPC league, placing 5th in both seasons. In the qualifier they outplayed Team MagMa (2-0) and RNG (2-1), however later lost to EHOME (1-2) and dropped to the lower bracket. There they once again defeated Team MagMa (2-0) and then managed to win the grand finals with a 3-1 score.

The European qualifier was especially intriguing. The most obvious favourite of the region were Nigma, who earlier placed 3rd in both DPC seasons and finished 5th – 6th at the recent WePlay AniMajor. Their captain Kuro "KuroKy" Salehi Takhasomi was one of two players who participated in all previous The International events, along with his former teammate and Team Secret’s leader Clement "Puppey" Ivanov. However, Nigma lost two times to OG ¬– first in the upper second round, and then in the lower finals.

As is customary by now, OG seem to get in their form just in time for The International. The champions of the previous two TIs have been showing disappointing results throughout the year, placing 5th in the first season and 6th in the second season, as well as missing both majors. The team struggled with its roster, parting ways with Yeik "MidOne" Nai Zheng in March to make space for Anathan "ana" Pham, only to find themselves without a core player a month later when ana decided to retire.

OG competed in the qualifier with Syed Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan, who has not been able to find a stable team since leaving Evil Geniuses in 2019 and who earlier played for OG in early 2020. After defeating Vikin.gg (2-1) and Nigma (2-1) in the first two rounds, the team led by Johan "N0tail" Sundstein suddenly lost to Tundra Esports with a 0-2 score. They faced them again in the grand finals, managing to finish a tough series in their favour with a 3-2 score.

The International 10 was recently rescheduled to October 7th – 17th and moved from Stockholm, Sweden to Bucharest, Romania. The event will feature 18 teams competing for a $40M prize pool.