The International 2015: Main Event Preview

With the wildcard and group stages concluding within Dota 2’s The International 2015 championship tournament, there are less than four days from the main, bracket stage event. From Aug. 3-8, 16 of the world’s best Dota 2 eSports teams will be competing for a shared prize pool of almost $18 million and the world championship title.

Attending Teams

There will be a total of 16 teams competing at the main event, 14 of which were invited to play through group stage, while the other two qualified through the four-team wildcard event on July 26-27, 2015.

The teams attending include:

• Vici Gaming – Hao, Super, iceiceice, Fenrir, fy
• Evil Geniuses – Fear, Suma1L, UNiVeRsE, Aui_2000, ppd
• Team Secret – Arteezy, s4, zai, KuroKy, Puppey
• Invictus Gaming – BurNing, Ferrari_430, Luo, ChuaN, Faith
• LGD Gaming – Sylar, Maybe, Yao, xiao8, MMY!
• Cloud9 – EternalEnvy, FATA, bOne7, BigDaddy, MiSeRy
• Team Empire – Silent, Resolut1on, yoky, ALOHADANCE, ALWAYSWANNAFLY
• Virtus Pro – Illidan, God, DKPhobos, fng, Lil
• compLexity Gaming (America’s Winner) – Zyzzy, swindlemelonzz, MoonMeander, Simbaaa, Zfreek
• Newbee – Rabbit, Mu, June, Banana, SanSheng
• Fnatic – kYxY, Kecik Imba, Ohaiyo, JoHnNy, Mushi
• EHOME (China Winner) – Yang, Cty, rOtK, LaNm, DDC
• Natus Vincere (Europe Winner) – XBOCT, Dendi, Funn1k, ArtStyle, SoNNeikO
• CDEC Gaming (Wildcard Winner) – Agressif, Shiki, Xz, Garder, Q
• MVP Phoenix (Wildcard Runner-Up) – kphoenii, QO, March, Febby, NutZ,
• MVP.Hot6ix (Southeast Asia Winner) – Forev, MP, SunBhie, Heen, JerAx

Bracket Play Format

The format for the main event will include all 16 teams in a double elimination bracket over a six day period. At the commencement, eight teams will start off in the upper bracket, while eight are placed within the lower bracket.

All regular matchups will be best-of-three series with the exception of the first rounds within the lower bracket, which will be best-of-one series. Grand Finals will be played in a best-of-five series.

Group Standings

Tentative Schedule

All matches commence at 10:00 AM PDT on Monday, Aug. 3, 2015. Each match will begin after the previous one finishes, allowing every game to be broadcasted live over at https://www.dota2.com/watch/.

Main Event Day 1 Schedule:

• LGD Gaming vs. Team Empire – Upper Bracket 1A
• CDEC Gaming vs. Cloud9 – Upper Bracket 1B
• MVP Phoenix vs. Newbee – Lower Bracket 1A
• Vici Gaming vs. Natus Vincere – Lower Bracket 1B
• Virtus Pro vs. Fnatic – Lower Bracket 1C
• Invictus Gaming vs. MVP.Hot6ix – Lower Bracket 1D

Main Event Day 2 Schedule:

• Evil Geniuses vs. compLexity Gaming – Upper Bracket 1C
• Team Secret vs. EHOME – Upper Bracket 1D
• Loser of UB 1A vs. Winner of LB 1A
• Loser of UB 1B vs. Winner of LB 1B

The rest of the schedule will fill as the tournament goes on. You can find the rest of the matchups over at Main Event Replays’ page on The International’s website.

Prize Pool

The current prize pool for The International 2015 sums out to be the biggest in eSports history, currently at $17,836,960 (updated as of 7/31) achieved through Valve Corporation and crowdfunding, which was obtained by 25-percent of purchases through the compendium.

• 1st Place: $6,421,306
• 2nd Place: $2,764,729
• 3rd Place: $2,140,435
• 4th Place: $1,516,142
• 5th-6th Place: $1,159,402
• 7th-8th Place: $802,663
• 9th-12th Place: $214,004
• 13th-16th Place: $53,511

Who do you believe will win The International 2015 Dota 2 Championship? Let us know in the comments. Stay up-to-date with Ti5 coverage and content over at our Twitter – @eSportsNation.