The International 2019 qualifiers to feature soft roster locks

More information about the TI9 qualifiers have teams making their final changes early.
Photo via [Valve](https://www.flickr.com/photos/dota2ti/20231665809/)

With The International 9 quickly approaching, Dota 2 teams are making their final roster moves before Valve announces the closed qualifier invitations for TI9.

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Chaos Esports Club, Mineski, and the other teams that are still sitting without a ticket to TI9 have just shuffled their rosters in preparation for one last run at the big stage. The reason these changes are happening now has to do with both the quick turnaround from EPICENTER to the qualifiers, and Valve implementing a soft roster lock on those events.

All six regions will have two sets of open qualifiers to fill out a closed regional qualifier that will take place closer to the middle of July. Any team ranked in the top 20 of the Dota Pro Circuit and missed out on a TI9 ticket, like Chaos and Mineski, will likely receive direct invites to the closed qualifiers.

The first set of open qualifiers will take place on July 3 and 4, and the second set of dates start right after that on July 5. Those dates are for CIS, Europe, North America, South America, and Southeast Asia.

China is running on its own schedule, having one long event from July 3 to 6 for the open qualifiers.

Once EPICENTER ends, Valve will announce the teams that will receive closed regional invites, as well the format and schedule for the closed qualifiers. This will include exactly how many teams will be competing in each event.

Along with the tournament information, once EPICENTER ends, rosters for teams competing in the qualifiers will be locked until after TI9 concludes. This also includes teams already locked in for TI9, with the only exception being substitutions.

Any substitutions from this point on would need to be approved by Valve themselves, however. Only one team from each of the regions will make it into TI9 through the qualifiers.

The International 2019 will run from Aug. 15 to 25 in Shanghai, China.


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Lead Staff Writer for Dota 2, the FGC, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and more who has been writing for Dot Esports since 2018. Graduated with a degree in Journalism from Oklahoma Christian University and also previously covered the NBA. You can usually find him writing, reading, or watching an FGC tournament.