It’s that time of the year again; free up your calendar as The International returns this October. The tournament will be the longest Dota event to date, extending over an entire month. The International boasts the most gigantic prize pool in e-sports, and this time, the tournament comes to South East Asia, where Singapore will welcome the thirty best competitive teams in Dota.

Dota 2 The International 2022

Everyone is aware of the passion the region exudes, and so TI11 will take place at the Suntec Arena and the Indoor Stadium, where SEA’s most passionate fans will see their favorite teams in action. Previously, Singapore hosted the DPC Major in 2020-21; however, there was no crowd due to Covid restrictions. This time around, the show would be packed as fans from around the world would travel here to experience the iconic event.

The event will stretch over 23 days, starting October 8th. Before this, the tournament ran for only a maximum of ten days before it was wrapped up. However, this time, there would be longer breaks between each stage. As the year’s pass, TI has only grown with time. From The 1st International TI1, back in 2011 in Germany to the 11th in Singapore, we have seen an increase in the number of teams, from 16 to 30 now participating in the event.

The event is scheduled to commence on October 8th, where, for the next five days, ten runner-ups from the main regional qualifiers will battle at the Last Chance Qualifiers for two spots in the Group Stage. The Group Stage, from 15th to 18th, will feature a list of twenty teams, twelve of which are from the Dota Pro Circuit, six from the Regional Qualifiers, and two from the Last Chance Qualifiers. Following this, the event will move towards the Playoff Stage, which will be held between the 20th and 23rd of October at Suntec City. The Playoffs would narrow down the top two teams that will advance onto the Grand Finals. Finally, the Grand Finals will be held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. These would occur on the 29th and 30th of October to determine the ultimate champion.

The TI11 Battle Pass

With The International coming closer, players are excited for TI11 Battle Pass too. Traditionally, the Battle Pass was released earlier in the Summer, around the month of May, and then TI would take place in August. However, this time around, with the event dates pushed back; the Battle Pass also sees a delay. Previously, the Battle Pass would conclude with TI; however, some significant changes were made this year.

In a blog post last month, Valve stated that: “To capture this excitement from current and returning players, we’re structuring the battle pass a little differently this year. We want to make the time right after The International concludes the best time to play Dota. To do this, we’re going to adjust the timing of the battle pass release to be later in the year than in previous years; that way, the battle pass will run both throughout the event and for a significant amount of time afterward,”

Hence, it is speculated that the Battle Pass will come out around August. Recently, there have been leaked pictures of the new Battle Pass; however, those turned out to be simply rumors, and we will have to wait until the next few weeks to find out what’s in store for us. Nevertheless, as the Battle Pass runs for almost three to four months, and the event will go on for nearly a month, it is safe to say that it will release sometime soon.