The International is the most awaited enormous esports event of the year, with tremendous prize pools that keep setting the record for esports events every year.

Months before the main event, there will be open qualifiers that seed into closed qualifiers that will seed teams into the main event group stage. Once all three Tours in a DPC Season are complete, the final road to The International begins.

The International will host 18 teams, 12 of which will be invited based on Circuit Points and 6 teams that have made it through the Closed qualifiers. Teams that have accumulated some circuit points but not enough to be directly invited to the main event will be invited directly to the closed qualifiers of their region, where they will square off with the teams from the open qualifiers.

The team that triumphs at The International becomes Dota 2 World Champions, takes home the enormous cash prize pool, and claims their rightful place in Dota history by raising the Aegis of Champions.