South America is taking yet another step into the big Dota 2 leagues, breaking a regional record with four total teams booking their tickets to The International 2023 in October.
Alongside Evil Geniuses and beastcoast, who both qualified on DPC points during the regular season, Keyd Stars and Thunder Awaken will be making their way to Seattle to compete at TI12. This is the first time SA has ever had four teams attending Dota’s biggest event.
South America was already considered the region showing the most growth for competitive Dota over the last several years, and EG moving in and picking up an entirely new roster to start the season was just the first sign that 2023 was going to be a big year for the region.
EG and beastcoast put themselves ahead of the pack early on, even if beastcoast went through some rough patches and swapped out yet another star player mid-season, but other teams like Thunder Awaken put up strong opposition throughout the year. Once both teams qualified for TI12 after the final major of the regular season, Valve announced that SA would be getting two regional qualifier spots for the event—further showing that the region is viewed in a good light on a global scale.
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Keyd Stars, a legacy organization that re-entered Dota 2 for the first time since 2016 this year, was the first to take their spot at TI12.
Keyd’s lineup consists of regional veterans who did not have strong performances throughout the regular season. Signing former Hokori standout João “4nalog” Giannini and newcomer Gustavo “fcr” Ribeiro proved to be enough to swing their Summer Tour as they finished first in Division II and went on to nearly sweep the SA qualifier bracket for a ticket to TI.
Keyd had to make it through regional favorite Thunder Awaken in the second round to get that first invite, but TA’s roster was able to bounce back in the lower bracket—even if they were just one game from being eliminated on two separate occasions.
This will be the third straight TI appearance for Thunder Awaken, even though the roster is completely different from the one that finished fifth last season, while Keyd will be making its first TI appearance this season. It will also technically be EG’s first TI appearance as a non-North American squad.
It is the first time four SA teams have competed together at a TI, breaking the previous record set at TI10 by beastcoast, Thunder Predator, and SG esports. TI11 also featured three SA teams—beastcoast, Thunder Awaken, and Hokori.
Matches for TI12’s group stage begin on Oct. 12 and the final two regions, Western Europe and Southeast Asia, are finishing their qualifiers by Aug. 31.
Published: Aug 27, 2023 02:12 am