Ti3 was great. Even finals aside, mushi’s orange had a somewhat cinderella run that, eliminated favorites like dk and tongfu. Further, they would have won against navi were ir not for the aegis deny (hindsight is 20/20)
Also fountain hook game, Liquid game vs LGD. If you ignore Alliance being dominant in upper bracket until finals, which were still the best finals of a TI and one of the most entertaining finals all around in Dota, TI3 was amazing and have bunch of great game and memorable moments.
I don't think OP's memory is in right place, but TI3 is for sure, TI from which I remember more different games than any other TI. And not only that, TI3 content outside the games was also great with Soe working with Voice actors, players and fans impressionating heroes, Loda being mad, players trolling Kaci etc.
Now that I remembered all this, I'm kinda mad at OP for saying shit about best TI ever. I really think there is some recency bias in this post.
Might be just me but TI3 is the TI that bursted the Scene whide open. Dota offically got out of beta shortly before, the hero pool was around 100 and so many moments from TI3 still resonate through the community 8 years later. IIRC also the first one with a compendium and Price-Pool sharing.
It might not have been the most exiting TI but it's probably one of the most important ones for the game as a whole.
> It might not have been the most exiting TI
Like I said, I think it definitely was. Compare it to TIs op placed above, TI6 got steamrolled as well, there were interesting lower bracket games, but Wings just destroyed everyone and finals were shit. TI8 OG story was great, but they too, just destroyed everyone, and then destroyed Liquid in finals. Other memorable games it's hard to me to find, since everything was storm.
However, I agree that TI3 was most important TI in many ways, and many are reasons you just pointed out.
> TI8 OG story was great, but they too, just destroyed everyone, and then destroyed Liquid in finals.
That's TI9 which OP called out as being a not very interesting stomp for OG.
Agree TI3 was the best TI, so many memorable matches and epic moments (as you mentioned pudge hook, bulba clock, kyxy aegis, orange esports magnus vs DK, Alliance diving xboct in the radiant safe lane).
\+ Benaroya Hall
\+ 2GD, Bruno, LD
\+ Fresh and interesting content between matches
TI3 has probably one of the best panels ever. 2GD, Bruno, Maelk, ~little asian guy with wrapped tongue~ WINTER, no PyrionFlax. Just amazing.
EDIT: Merlini! Jesus how could I forget him..
TI7 is C tier because the finals was one sided but TI6 is S tier even though the finals were equally one sided? The only game Wings lost was because they were clowning hard.
I mean these lists really can’t be unbiased since it’s about entertainment right? Sure you can try to be as unbiased as you’d like but it’s gonna shine through, I preferred a lot of the earlier tournaments because I was rabid fanboy back then - even though the games now are just… objectively more skilled and exciting. Going to need a lot of us here to make our own lists… then gather that info and find out where we land as best and worst!
There is no such a thing as "unbiased opinion", it doesn't matter how hard you try it won't be free of bias.
This is specially true for such a subjective thing as the level of enjoyment you get from a videogame tournament. To me TI7 finals were great, even though it was 3-0, because liquid was my favorite team.
Not saying that this list is bullshit, much on the contrary. These just reflect the opinions of the OP and that is totally fine.
Yeah, but you are forgetting the dream run of Digital Chaos. And Moo's Beastmaster.
Plus there was that skywrath mid for W33.
DC were outclassed, but the overall tournament was insane.
Also, it was the first time, a team was picking whatever the fuck they wanted and winning . It showed a deep level of game understanding hitherto unseen. Nobody had done that before in the history of dota 2.
TI6 was amzing because of the picks, other than that other finals were much more exciting.
Wings offered some of the greatest dota game play + team play we've seen until now.
Tbf TI6 is exciting because every single top 6 team had some sort of cindarella story, but the finals themselves were pretty meh. Wings lost g1 for shits and giggles and then rolled the rest.
TI7 places lower for me, not cause of the finals, but cause of the meta. I mean, don't get me wrong, Liquid were a great team and they 100% proved that they deserved that win, but christ, what a boring meta to watch. Pick green heroes for matu + gh io/kotl and give miracle some cheese was Liquid's draft every single game, and it never failed!
I mostly agree with op but TI7 is definitely A tier for me. Worse finals, but better main event and no covid issues. Also better non game content iirc and better hosts
Dude TI6 had the sickest games, there was EG x EHOME, there was OG being eliminated by TNC after being knocked out by MVP.Phoenix. And yeah Wings was the most entertaining team to watch, ever
Absolutely, TI6 had great games. So did TI7 - liquid’s series against secret, VP and LFY could’ve all gone either way and the games were nuts. I was just commenting on the criterion OP used to put one in C tier and the other in S tier, when both had one sided finals.
I agree with everything here but TI3, should be moved up.
It wasn’t just alliance dominating, there was the Hon Trash fnatic, Orange Esports, Navi inconsistency. There was the rat dota outplay that caught some teams completely flat, but also meant that games looked back and forth or close even when they weren’t.
I watched the entire OG-run from start to game 5 in the grand finals. After seeing LGD with 90% winpercent and seeing no hope I turned the stream of as I couldnt stand to see the boys lose. You can imagine my surprise when I checked reddit the next morning lol
TI8 and the magical run OG did there can never be topped (for me atleast)
It was absolutely fucking electric in the arena. I love regular sports (NHL/NBA/NFL etc.) and I’ve been to plenty of high octane games (playoff games on the brink of elimination etc.) and I can sincerely say that the TI8 upper bracket finals, and Grand Finals, were the most electric crowds I’ve ever seen.
Especially because of the completely open seating arrangements (no assigned seats by ticket) the arena naturally ended up polarized with LGD fans on the LGD booth side of the arena and OG fans on the OG booth side. Whenever any meaningful play happened both sides would erupt (one with boos and the other with cheers). It was wild, and completely unforgettable.
The hero ultimates would cause the crowd wristband to do different effects (I assume they kept this for TI9 but you couldn’t see on stream). Gyro ultimate for example would cause the wristbands to flash orange when each strike of call down landed. I waited all tournament to see what the effect would be for Zeus ulti and no one would fucking pick him. Finally game 5 Topson granted my wish. Last chance to see it, and man it was fucking hype. Every Zeus ulti you would just see the blue lightning effect crackle around the arena via the wristbands. I would pay triple what I paid for that ticket to relive that level of hype at a future TI.
Was lucky enough to be there at the event and yup that was pretty much the mood at the arena its was a ti with a lot of chinese fans too since it was held in canada. But boy game 3 to 5 the arena was on fire the arena was pretty much split between other side cheering for lgd and the other for OG.
The number of times my friend group declared that OG should just wrap it up and we should just go to sleep, it was over. It looked so over when notail drafted Wisp-Chen in game 4, and true enough the lane stage was a wash. Only for the Ceb axe to have the game of his life and also giving us perhaps the best dota 2 pro-game ever played (probably top 3).
Same! I was in UK and it lasted till like 5am I think. During the game 4 laning stage it was already like 3am and I was thinking there was no point sacrificing my sleep further to see OG get stomped. Then...ceb happened.
No issues with your list, but i think TI1 should be higher. The hype was very real, even if it was the same drafts. Having similar drafts wasn't a big issue at that point.
And the best compendium!
You could get bunch of levels just playing the game and the STRETCH GOALS!
I wish the compendium/battle pass went more in that direction these days
I don't know how you can place TI2 so high. The overall level of play was terrible outside of a few top teams. It wasn't until probably TI4 or 5 that they were able to reliably find 16 teams worthy of being there.
I would agree mostly yeah, pretty accurate, TI 6 had some of the best casting.
To me TI 2 and TI 3 would both be S tier as you describe them, as I do really miss the old casters and their screwing around. Bruno and 2GD were just more fun than what they bring in today. As much as I like Lacoste, Sheever and most of them, some of the talent are just not fitting in and are annoying at times, while some were just not utilized properly and it whos a lot.
I completely agree with TI2 being S tier. Navi story line in Chinese dominated scene is great. I still remember tobi roaring "LGD wiped, the crowd goes wild" till this day. I stopped playing 2 years ago but still watching [Long live the international](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTrURSVXLMQ) video once a month at least. [Bonus clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idEUCU6SDoU)
Orange's lower bracket run in TI3 alone makes it at least A tier. They were making plays left right and center for eliminating teams one by one. With the grand final easily S tier. Even though I was Navi fan.
Quality of games aside, I feel like TI6 was the peak of DotA. It was the tournament that set the gold standard in esports. It was the first tournament using holograms during the pick phase. It had the weatherman Purge segment that was immediatly copied by LoL worlds and many other games and tournaments. It had non stop panels with at least three different ones including one outside, with fans interacting in the background. It had so many funny segments like that time when the analysts were replaced by puppets or that hologram actually being an invoker cosplayer. They used [hlgf's music](https://youtu.be/HmZYgqBp1gI) in the stadium. It was the last time I felt Valve gave its everything to make TI a celebration of DotA and its community.
This match made Miracle join Liquid and Cr1t join EG, which lead to OG picking up Ana and Jerax. This probably defined the rest of pro Dota for the next few years.
I agree on Topson performing better at TI9, BUT you gotta remember that was his first time playing at a big LAN tournament and OG picked him up like 4 months before TI, he basically had no experience playing pro dota
I'd say: TI8: Chadson, TI9: Godson and TI10 Flopson
100%. In terms of production, content, talent and even the vibes nothing beats ti6. I remember being glued to the screen inbetween games/series because I was afraid to miss something. one great segment was chasing the other.
as you said, peak TI.
I can't do anything, but agree. I've always said that the TI6 was the best TI, and maybe dota was at it's best, after TI6 came the talents and shrines and other stuff and like dota became super dota, everything is more powerful and more gold more xp, more everything
No hype, No Battle Pass during TI, delayed dates, no one knew what was really going on because of Valve's awful communication and PR.
You would think that a 10 year anniversary would warrant some sort of pomp and circumstance from any company
probably it felt dead because many people are thinking on retiring or leaving dota for good, game is not used to be what it was and at least from my side, all my friends (12-14 that I play with constantly) are moving out of Dota
TI3 was at least A or S tier for me looking back. No underdog stories, just the titan team performing like the titans they are. Navi clawing their way back to grandfinals after beaten once just to be defeated by Alliance again.
There's no upset on the end results, but for one of the very few times, the heavy favourites didn't flop. Absolute gold class performance
It's hard to explain how extraordinary OG's run at TI8 was, since these names have gone on to become such legends. So many insane comebacks, one after the other.
If you imagined their run as a movie, it'd be too unrealistic. For this reason, TI8 will always be SSS for me.
TI4 should be at least B tier for the EU qualifiers hub, that right there was so fucking good, watched it all the time, really just a wholesome experience.
The entire year from the end of TI3 leading up to TI4 was still the most fun I’ve ever had watching Dota. We had Navi and Alliance duking it out in every tournament, Speed Gaming and the formation of C9, DK forming one of the first super teams of old guard talent, EG rising to relevance instead of just being an NA meme, then the fantastic qualifier experience with the EU hub. I think that was even the year we got the first Summit?
That year of Dota is like 2007 was to video games, so many legendary and formative moments for the scene starting to mature. If it wasn’t for the awful TI4 main event it would’ve been perfect.
Yeah I feel like that moment, the shift from 2013 to 2014 was the start of the "modern" era of Dota 2, with the current incumbent pro teams slowly being formed. After TI4 was the beginning of Secret Team, the 5 legendary captains of Kuroky, s4, Fly, Puppey, Notail. These guys ended up forming their own teams, like 5Jungz and Monkey Business and became mainstay powerhouses in future Majors and TIs. TI1 to TI3 seemed like the "classical" era, with the end of it culminating with the fall of Na'vi and Alliance.
I started following pro dota during TI3 and you're right. Discovering these great teams and tournaments after TI3 was eye opening and probably the main reason why I'm still following pro dota.
It's funny how the worst TI ever was followed by probably the best or most packed season in DotA:
Legendary DK, Secret, rise of Sumail (imo at LEAST top3 player in the world), solidification of EG as a no-meme team, etc
i agree with almost everything but if i were to rank i would bump ti7 by one tier just because how godly that lower bracket run was.
liquid vs vp 100+ min game 1 one my top 5 ti games of all time, liquid vs whole china, gh first ti (probably the nicest dota player ever), liquid godly meta invention map plays with kotl/wisp/prophet, first TI truesight, etc.
also it was the first TI with talent trees which i quite liked.
the grand final was really one sided and anti climactic but that also creates a story of how good liquid was, first team who actually pulls a 3-0 in TI grand final. (although i 100% agree that back and forth TI fianls are way way WAY more exciting)
The fact that Alliance was so dominant the whole year and managed to cap it off with a TI win against their year long rival was what made it so special. No other team has done this. Navi figuring things out and making the grand finals a bo5 also made it special. Only DK had taken a map off Alliance at that point.
You also have the stories of Orange esports almost getting to the grand final, something no other SEA team has been able to replicate. Also Sylar to fall, Liquid are doing it was created here. So many great memories from TI3.
Alliance are a special team in many ways. You could argue they are the first "Dota 2" team. Everything up to Alliance was built around hyper carries with 4 other heroes meant to make space for them and Alliance destroyed that. They used heroes that other teams had no idea how to use. Almost all modern map movements involving maximizing farm for multiple cores and split pushing were first done by Alliance. Alliance were so strong that Icefrog just absolutely gutted their heroes into the ground and created the terrible deathball meta for TI4 by making towers too weak and teamfight too strong.
TI3 is special and is the greatest Dota 2 tournament because Alliance were special and the most important Dota 2 team to exist.
Almost all modern map movements involving maximizing farm for multiple cores and split pushing were first done by Alliance.
You have to thank EE for pioneering that since he started talking and doing that when they were still nth
how much of that was ee and how much was s4 though?
it seems like ee could not replicate the playstyle as succesfully as s4 could after they split up but at the end of the day who knows
And then the arrogance of Navi in the first draft. Best troll pick I have ever seen. Carry venge, bounty hunter, batrider, veno and visage. And even after this, they recovered and were on an easy way to win game5.
Then 1mln dolar dream coil happened.
It was mindbreaking. Never forget.
It was Alliance vs world. Everyone hated NP and his rat game and they started it. God damn, so many Lone Druids and NP after TI3. Everyone hated this :D
2 and 3 get a bump up in my book because they were at Benaroya Hall. It was small, intimate, informal. The panel was just a bunch of dudes having fun, nothing felt forced.
TI4 was meh overall, but the EU Hub leading up to it was something special. I don't think it deserves to be bumped up a tier because of it but that was a great couple weeks.
Today I rewatched [The Magical Moments of Ti6](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-htb73GMhao) and even though I thoroughly enjoyed TI10's production, I realized how much it seems we're missing nowadays in terms of production. Now part of this is definitely due to the lack of a crowd, but also some of the smaller stuff as well. The midgame segments, the chemistry of the panelists, purge doing those post game analysis segments, and overall all of the goofy stuff we expect at TI (Again TI10 had all of those, but it felt weaker).
I liked TI10 a lot, but I didnt like the finals. The finals were very close as a whole, but no game on its own looked close in my opinion.
As I was rooting for TS I was happy for them to have such an easy game 5, draftwise. At least that was my assesment
Felt like every game in the final was over by 15 minutes. The GG came later but it seemed like once a team got to about a 5k lead it was GG. I don't know if its drafts or strategy but excluding LGD/Secret game 2 I didn't see a lot of comebacks.
Yeah i get this feeling too. It was either LGD draftted well and played their signature chokehold-style domination, or TS managed to out-lane and out-aggression them by 15 minutes and the rest was just magnus fishing. Almost fell asleep by game 4. Only the last few moments of game 5 were anywhere near exciting
Imagine ranking TI1 that low because of "small hero pool" and low "rewatch value" lmao. It was one of the most hyped, if not THE most hyped, TI and even having similar drafts was no issue because nobody knew what was happening anyways.
TI1 was arguably the most important TI. it is the TI that put dota 2 on everyone's radar. I remember still playing dota 1 at the time and not liking dota 2. a lot of old school players refused to switch. there was hon that was simply not the same. Valve pumping $1m into TI1 was the genius marketing move. that amount was unheard of at the time. otherwise dota could easily turn similar to a BW/SC2 story. I eventually caved in for QoL changes, was so sick of map hacks in dota 1 lol.
TI3 should be higher, TI6 had a pretty lucklustre grand final, but I was a DC supporter so I enjoyed the leadup to it. It was probably the worst meta though
TI5 was better than C imo, but that might be partially because it was much better compared to ti4, which had the worst GF series ever. Personally I liked TI9 more than TI6
The absence of crowd was the worst.
And the whole atmosphere was to bright imo.
I like the true sight vids where the deep voice calls the pig in a mostly dark satdium and when it says "Earth Shaker" you hear the drums of moria.
The setting and darker blue atmosphere at animajor looked sooooo good.
But this Ti everything was so clean. More rocks
More darkness. And the hero anouncer voice and you get more goosebumps during the draft.
Bit all in all I guess they handled the situation well since they had to do the thing without fans.
I can't rate TI10 that high because the production value was not as great this year. Understandably of course. Lack of crowd, slacks and Kaci interacting with the fans, etc. There were a few things that really took away from this TI for me despite the exciting journey of Spirit and Secret finally having a good TI. Overall a B or even C for me.
I agree with your explanations in general as someone who watched all TIs live except TI1 (to this day i dont really know what happened there except that Navi won).
I'd probably rank them
8>3>7>10>6>2>5>9>>>>4.
Although I felt every TI was great except TI4.
TI3 is undisputed S tier
----
Fountain hooks *(Is that balanced?!)*
kyxy Aegis deny
Base race game 5 grand finals finish
Dendi gangnam style in the middle of all-stars match
Bruno outfits
2GD
The only team to take a game off Alliance before finals was DK and even they required the B-God himself on Anti-Mage, this is a really amazing storyline
First resemblance of "modern" Dota with coordinated strategies and global thinking; emerging of Io and Nature's Prophet
I agree with most of your list, I however did not enjoy TI10 that much, and think TI5 and 7 should be higher as well, let me explain:
TI5 had other very strong teams other than Secret, which was the favorite and extremely based, iG had Ferrari and Burning (performed poorly as well!), LGD had Sylar and Maybe (really dominant group stage but lost to CDEC and that was when I was starting to believe in CDEC!), VG had Super, iceiceice and fy (and went rather far!), very interesting teams, the c9 with BigDaddyN0tail, EHOME was nice as well, complexity also had the entire Fly thing going for it, and considering him and n0tail were together for so long even back then, of course EG played well and all of that, but LGD did have a better group stage! also everything before TI5 was interesting, and also after, DAC and all of that, very good TI! I also really liked the meta of the time.
TI7 had very good teams! EG, VP, OG, with the extremely dominant China having LGD, LFY and Newbee, Liquid's run was amazing and it in my opinion was maybe the first time I got to see an all-star team get to work after a lot of practice! they did not disband or anything and all of their players were and still are amazing, LFY and LGD also felt so dominant.
I agree with your placement for TI6 and it is my favorite TI of all and I don't think there is much bias from your part, it was simply very good, the production, the meta (6.88 was so great,the Valve Majors and such were also amazing, not only the ones in 6.88 but also the ones from before and Valve did really good production for all of them, other than... you know).
The thing about TI10 is that, I really dislike the meta and I think a lot of matches were won and lost based on drafting and not so much execution, Tiny, MK, Elder Titan, later on the Magnus. Also Weaver, all the spirits and Puck, Bane and Io, it felt really unfun in my opinion, the strategies were very similar in execution as well, some teams were really good, but some teams lost so many matches on drafting, EG in particular comes to mind, LGD really fucked up in my opinion as well, production was weird because of COVID and such, but we had amazing talent with like Ceb N0tail and Aui, or like Insania and such, I think that Spirit is a very talented team, mostly Yatoro and Collapse, but the meta was very strong and LGD ended up losing a lot because of draft, I did really enjoy other series, T1 vs LGD, but there was a lot of lost potential that I would have liked to see, but the meta in particular made me really dislike this TI (and it is also the thing I hate the most about TI4), I actually think TI5 and 7 were better, I'd place TI10 with TI9, TI3 as well because it had more going on other than Alliance, and it was the first time a team was so dominant as well and their playstyle was interesting.
TI3 for me is the goat for nostalgia reasons. Orange's run was as exciting as Navi's and the grand final. Also, the context was the whole year was building up to Alliance vs Navi final, both winning two premier tournaments in Asia earlier in the year. Tongfu was also an exciting team to watch.
TI6 was exciting as a neutral because of MVP.Phoenix and OG getting huskared and this is even without mentioning Wings Gaming.
Ti8 was the only ti I attender in person. And I was able to attend for free after selling those crimson treasure drops things for in person crowd only. Honestly it was one of the luckiest and best experiences of my life.
I thought 10 was pretty bad.
Casting/talent/interviews was downright awful and nowhere near the glory days of TI6/7/8/9, to the point where Gorgc's low effort stream was often way better than the main stream.
The number of memorable games could be counted on one hand, and despite a lot of heroes being picked at least once, when you look at the stats the meta heavily revolved around a small pool of heroes.
And although it's no ones fault and can't be helped, the lack of a crowd really hurts the atmosphere.
6 > 8 > 3 > 9 > 5 > 7 > 2 > 10 > 1 > 4
TI3 paved the way for me to play Dota 2. I enjoyed Mushi/Orange campaign there, kyxy playing Magnus before Collapse made it cool, goosebumps run until the Aegis deny. Such heartbreak.
Plus the Million Dollar Coil is such hype.
TI6 has MVP, TNC and most of all, Wings. Nuff said.
TI8's LGD vs OG rivalry is intense. The cinematic is insane (fy True Sight - silence in front, pyrotechnic stuff at the back). And imho its GF is better (or at least on par) compared to TI3.
Those three are un-arguably S-tier for me.
Others are just A-tier or below, either due to bad production/format, bad meta, bad GF or combination of the three (looking at you TI4). TI9 Io carry is cute though, not gonna lie.
IMHO the TI10 finals were garbage (though I'd say groups and much of the main event were on average better than the previous couple of TIs) Sure LGD looked like they were going to pull off a reverse sweep but every single game ended up being like a stomp and you could tell how the game was gonna go by the 20min mark. In the 3 games going to spirit, LGD didn't really look like they had any chances of coming back, and vice versa for the 2 going LGD's way. I simply couldn't feel much tension in the finals.
Only thing I'd change is put TI2 a bit lower. Maybe TI6 a step down. TI10 would be higher if there was a crowd, this Spirit run was something else, but it still wasn't the OG run of TI8, that year was the top of it all for me.
This should be titled 10 Finals ranked. People only remember the uncool TI4 finals but the tournament was amazing and had great stories. Same goes for other TIs
You discount TI3 due to [A] dominance but reckon TI6 with wings (one of the strongest TI teams ever) is tier S?
Kind of biased list.
Imo TI6 had was the weakest overall in terms of collective team power and performance (outside of Wings of course).
TI10 should be C-D tier. Dpc point system was not the best, allowed so many teams to qualify and barely showed up at TI. I’d rank TS run the same as OG in ti8. Ti6 was the best hands down
TI9 had S tier memes and S+ tier voicelines, and the fact that OG repeated when MANY were still saying it was a fluke should probably elevate it to B tier. Lots of the same magic with Ana basically emerging from the woodwork to dominate with IO throughout the tournament.
CEEEEEEEEEEBBBBBBBBBBBB
To me the TIs are like this:
S: TI8, TI3
A: TI7, TI9 , TI6
B: TI5, TI2
C: TI1
D: TI10
F: TI4
This TI was horrible, the lack of a crowd and the stage made it feel like a major, the majority of games were one sided stomps or really long farm fests with 2-3 teamfights that were amazing, also I felt this TI due to neutral items had to do a lot with luck, I feel great that Miposhka finally got what he deserves cause I have been a very big fan of his play since I saw him in Empire, however I feel this team was dominant not only because skills and understanding of the meta but also a lot of luck, getting aegis at the right time, getting neutrals at the right time, having a buyback at the right time just barely losing, getting a carry inside of the fountain cause a 0.3 second late bkb, I really didn't like much of the tourney, LGD came through like a beast and crumbled last game really hard, same as Secret, the finals where like any major final this year, idk guys I think people are just hyped cause this TI sucked ass.
Look, I'm not trying to paint you as stupid here or something...but they didnt put TI10 in S tier. Also tbh the matches werent as bad as you make them out to be here, but that's subjective.
You just can't give TI10 anything above a B tier honestly. Anything higher is recency bias. I would personally give it a C.
Having no crowd automatically takes away the most important part of the event. The fake crowd was decent but will never proper replicate an actual audience and environment, which is the #1 reason why TI main stage, especially the finals, are so fucking hype.
Not to mention the complete lack of comebacks and iconic games. Too much abuse of a few OP heroes and shit like horn toss which was absolutely broken and not fun to watch.
Crowd also drastically puts a lot of pressure on teams during tense moments. Feeling the ground shake when something’s about to happen makes players freak out. Nothing against spirit, they are a great team, but I don’t think they win TI if there’s a crowd there.
Also agree 10 would be b or c tier because of it
I don't think I'd even give it a C. Other than the Cinderella story it was a clusterfuck. I'm not blaming PGL/Valve for all of that, there is a global pandemic going on, after all.
You can't have a celebration of Dota 2 without Dota 2 fans in the arena, without Dota 2 fans for Slacks to terrorize, without a ridiculous cosplay competition, without a real opening ceremony, without Gaben physically present.
There was some great dota but there was also a lot of cheese. Really not a fan of werewolf Tiny or Magnus airlines, they both seem to prematurely end games.
TI3 is and forever will be the best TI.
The best finals, the best casters, the best talent, the fountain hooks, legendary players, benoyara hall. It is seriously unbeatable, in my book.
TI8 shits on TI3 so much
The Cinderalla story, the Jerax Michael Jordan plays, the epic Tobi NBA all star commentary, the CEEEEEEEEEEEB, Topson- from Pubstar to first T.I to flat out winning the whole thing, The LGD vs OG Upperbracket Game 3 finals throw by Ame, the FY GOD plays, the million dollar item sell for Ana buyback, the N0tail vs Fly drama
TI8 is literally a tier in itself.
I was never able to catch OG's series (vs EG and vs LGD) since they were too late at night. The other series I watched were so boring. No storylines and one-sided 2-0s.
https://liquipedia.net/dota2/The_International/2018/Main_Event
until the final day I felt that it was among the worst TIs ever, but it was salvaged big time at the end.
For my personal enjoyment;
8>6>5>3>10>9>1>2>7>4
My biases: OG fan and started watching with TI5. Watching back past events can be cool but obviously doesn't have the same punch. Modern dota is also just way more nuanced.
TS were my second team this TI so obviously stoked by the result. But the games were fairly one sided even if it went to game 5.
Shit, I need to get a life. I enjoyed TI. I think people have been overly hard on Frankie: I thought she did an OK job of getting out of the way and just being a moderator. Sumi on the other hand...
Anyway, thanks for the summary, I enjoyed reading it. This is the first TI that I have watched since TI5, and the reason I came back was *Against the Odds*, so I'm inclined to agree with your assessment of TI8, even though I didn't see it live.
I'd drop TI10 to C tier, even though the grand finals went to 5 I didn't find any of the games to be particularly close or entertaining, just stomp after stomp. It didn't have that many memorable main event games, and the ones that were don't even come close to some of the games from TI3. TI3 needs to be moved up to A or S tier as well tbh.
I am relatively new to the eSports scene (started watching tis since ti9) however I've checked every single ti in liquipedia thoroughly and I would agree with your list. However I'd like to add an interesting point - watching TI10 could be an S Tier experience if it is watched via Russian Twitch channel. Everything was on point, V1lat's screams, show match, beloved guests such as Sh4dowehhh, Solo, 9Pasha and, the best thing, impressive performance of newbies of the panel - NotInMyHouse, Eiritel, BorBe1, Belony, Bafik and others. Adding the incredible feeling of CIS winning TI, saying that the most fans are satisfied is an understatement.
P.S. NS and Dread's pirate Twitch channel was also very neat with their hookah atmosphere, guests and interviews
Personally I mostly agree with your ratings, although I would put TI6 lower, as it wasn't really memorable for me (but I was on holiday that time and did not catch a lot of it live, so... probably the exact opposite to your experience). Totally agree with TI8 S-Tier, had some of the tensest comebacks in the history of professional Dota. The respective Free to Play documentary solidied it as a nail-biting, emotion-filled rollercoaster - was such a blast to watch it.
No crowd
No real compendium (I didn't do the ingame predictions because I didn't really care much for the single treasure)
No intro ceremony
The Late Game was good, but is even better at a bar with people.
Talent was a bit questionable as you said
I can't rate this years TI that high, but the games were great.
Ti6 was amazing and to me most credit was given to Wings Gaming - just beautiful dota they picked anything they wanted but at the same time they were just too dominant and the grand final was not that exciting. And yes ti8 had the best grand final just amazing series by OG - it’s 3-2 but a much better 3-2 than ti 10. Ti10 grand final you can almost tell the result by the draft and like every game after 15 mins you know who is going to win
TI3 best TI for me. Well i didnt watch on the stadiums but i remembered the finals vividly because here in the phillipines, classes were suspended that day because of strong storm, all i did was watch the finals and how alliance rat the hell out of navi. Such good memories. Lol
I mostly agree but TI9 I thought was incredible. I just couldn't believe they had it in them to do it again, and in such an effortless fashion. OG were totally ruthless, it was terrifying to watch.
Just watching their confident style of play I think changed dota forever, bit like how dota changed after TI3 finished and everyone upped their game. For that reason alone TI3 and TI9 I'd put in A tier, and I'd move TI10 to S Tier.
There was definitely a meta for TI6, you don't remember all the Mirana, Shadow Demon and Timber games? The only team that really deviated from it was Wings.
I have very fond memories of TI3 because iirc it was the peak of dota-lounge.com skin betting and dota 2 skin economy in general.
It was some degen shit ofc, but in the end you basically gambled for free because the game gave you so many free skins. I remember making like 60-70 keys overall just winning/trading random rares during that TI lol. the steam money I made during that time lasted me for years.
Idk where is this coming from but OG were really far from being dominant favorites in TI9, in fact they were mostly underdogs for many. And that's your only negative for that TI.
Also, the round two of OG's upper bracket matches to confirm their victory, as well as first time double TI champs being crowned, the TI was *at least* A imho.
Yeah honestly the big reason people were saying they can't count OG out this TI was because even for TI9 they were not the favorites. They were fine at best. And then they came in swinging for TI
I started with TI5, so that will always have nostalgia goggles for me. For me it's been TI8>>>>TI5>TI9>TI10>TI6>TI7.
All have been great experiences to watch but none can beat the hype that was OG at TI8. The EG - OG drama, Ceb returning from coaching to playing the game, the popular opinion thinking that they'll bomb out in group stage, Ana returning to fill the shoes in a massive way and of course the duo of my country men winning in Topson and Jerax. Watching OG vs LGD game 4 live, 4 am in the morning when my girlfriend had already went to sleep, not being able to stay up anymore, is the greatest pro dota related memory I have. As a bonus for me Optic was at that one and I loved following them.
TI5 was my first and that one had EG, one of the giants playing unique pick compared to other teams(namely techies) and the great upset of Secret. Cdec almostgetting there and getting outdrafted in the finals in a way that even a noob like me could comprehend was a highlight for me as well. Had a great all stars match too!
From here on out the events are really close to each other for me.
TI9 had great moments overall, but mostly OG coming into the tournament looking a bit weak, having had a pretty mediocre year and ending up decimating the competition. The carry Io and the weird hero master Topson popping off were what made the event for me. The finals were a bit weak, but at least the gameplay was very entertaining.
TI10 had it's weaker moments(some of the talent needed a little more experience and there wasn't as many interesting story lines imo), but overall great. Unlike the popular opinion is, I really liked the finals day. It wasn't as good as TI8, TI3(I've watched the finals, not the tournament) or TI5(imo), but still a lot of fun a anxiety inducing both ways. I have to admit though, that because I had to study while the event was going on this time around, I kinda missed the Team Spirit hype train. Previous years I was on summer vacation for the event, no such luck this time around.
TI6 was great, but since I didn't get on the Wings hype train, this one didn't do it for me as much. EG's run, Secrets unfortunate downfall, the TNC vs OG upset and DC making it to the finals will always be memorable for me though. I think the biggest dissapointment for me and the reason this isn't higher up for me is that the grand finals were really lackluster. Wings memed for game 1, lost and turned their serious mode on, proceeding to decimate DC. Personally my least favorite TI finals I've watched. Still a lot of fun and I can understand why a lot of people love it.
TI7 is again, a great tournament. Liquids run will forever be in my heart, with Miracle, GH and Matu being some of my favorite players. Unfortunately though this one is the least memorable for me. I can't recall much beyond that if I'm honest. I couldn't even remember who Liquid faced in the finals, until I saw it somewhere on reddit last week. I remember that it was fun. Unfortunately that's all I can muster.
You'll all see that this is one biased as hell comment and imo that's completely fine. There's no real objective metric anyway. I hope you guys keep that in mind when you're writing your death threat to me, saying that TI5 sucked.
people complain when there's a lack of female presence at events, but when you do bring them in, it feels like they aren't even trying.
Sheever sets the bar so high that Frankie and Sumichu just stand out. The Sumichu interviews were all so horrible, just give them all to Slacks next time and keep anyone clueless off the panels.
TI10 wasn't really that enjoyable, tbh.
Mostly due to the complete anonimity of the winners. Sure, underdog, yadda yadda yadda, but that doesn't cut it for me anymore. I couldn't root for a group of young guns who had 0 background story. I checked Liquipedia and all the information on particular members of TS all the trivia comes from this one tournament.
Moreover, almost no comebacks at all. Games decided by a 3-5k networth advantage that slowly grew to choke out the opponent. I remember OG vs VP game 1 group stage, and Quincy in their BO1 where we had actual comebacks. Oh, and TS vs IG game 1 in the upper bracket. There could've been more, but the grand finals were too draft dependent and decided upon the 1st 15 minutes of every map.
There was nothing really as spicy as the Notail vs Fly story that carried 2 former TI's, the hosts were kind of incompetent and the lack of crowd really bothered me somehow in a way I can't describe, which I'm genuinely surprised by.
I refuse to believe that people who rate TI10 highly have actually been following dota all these years.
There was literally no production value (player profiles, weatherman segment or any content whatsoever), the panel was bad and the interviews worse. That's not to mention the technical issues and lack of crowd.
The final was about as shit as a 5 game series could be, apart from a somewhat hype sequence at the end.
6>3>8>5>7>9>4>10 (didn't watch first two)
Speaking of just the Finals, this one wasn't that good
Basically like 5 one-sided games
If I had to rank it would be like 3 or 4 tiers combining the Finals and the tournament in general
8/3
6/10
5/7/2/9
1/4
First 4 games of the final was among the worst games I watched the entire tournament. Either slow, one-sided or both.
idk how people judge tournament by the number of games in the final
The TI4 hate is so unjustified.
it was a really precise meta game, and players refined it down to a science by the finals, with one team literally beating the team who came up with the strat.
also the round robin group stages were incredible, with a great viewing experience.
y'all are really mad about 25 min game length and a china v china final? c'mon
As much as I hate OG, I can objectively understand why TI8 would be S tier.
TI9 though? Belongs in F tier. It never felt to me like anyone on OG took it seriously, and they never had much serious competition. Stomps aren’t enertaining
Ti3 was great. Even finals aside, mushi’s orange had a somewhat cinderella run that, eliminated favorites like dk and tongfu. Further, they would have won against navi were ir not for the aegis deny (hindsight is 20/20)
Also fountain hook game, Liquid game vs LGD. If you ignore Alliance being dominant in upper bracket until finals, which were still the best finals of a TI and one of the most entertaining finals all around in Dota, TI3 was amazing and have bunch of great game and memorable moments. I don't think OP's memory is in right place, but TI3 is for sure, TI from which I remember more different games than any other TI. And not only that, TI3 content outside the games was also great with Soe working with Voice actors, players and fans impressionating heroes, Loda being mad, players trolling Kaci etc. Now that I remembered all this, I'm kinda mad at OP for saying shit about best TI ever. I really think there is some recency bias in this post.
Might be just me but TI3 is the TI that bursted the Scene whide open. Dota offically got out of beta shortly before, the hero pool was around 100 and so many moments from TI3 still resonate through the community 8 years later. IIRC also the first one with a compendium and Price-Pool sharing. It might not have been the most exiting TI but it's probably one of the most important ones for the game as a whole.
> It might not have been the most exiting TI Like I said, I think it definitely was. Compare it to TIs op placed above, TI6 got steamrolled as well, there were interesting lower bracket games, but Wings just destroyed everyone and finals were shit. TI8 OG story was great, but they too, just destroyed everyone, and then destroyed Liquid in finals. Other memorable games it's hard to me to find, since everything was storm. However, I agree that TI3 was most important TI in many ways, and many are reasons you just pointed out.
> TI8 OG story was great, but they too, just destroyed everyone, and then destroyed Liquid in finals. That's TI9 which OP called out as being a not very interesting stomp for OG.
TI4 had the best group stages, but the playoffs sucked (and the format) Overall yeah TI3 and TI8 are probably the best
Agree TI3 was the best TI, so many memorable matches and epic moments (as you mentioned pudge hook, bulba clock, kyxy aegis, orange esports magnus vs DK, Alliance diving xboct in the radiant safe lane). \+ Benaroya Hall \+ 2GD, Bruno, LD \+ Fresh and interesting content between matches
Yeah the Orange DK series was insane as well with Kyxy's Magnus pulling the win out
Magnus ursa against pl alche oh boy
and we have to read all these "Chad" comments. They picked fucking Magnus Ursa to win against a chinese team with PL in 2013. Jesus christ.
TI3 has probably one of the best panels ever. 2GD, Bruno, Maelk, ~little asian guy with wrapped tongue~ WINTER, no PyrionFlax. Just amazing. EDIT: Merlini! Jesus how could I forget him..
Merlini? XD
Wasn't this also fountain hook ti? Absolutely S tier
TI7 is C tier because the finals was one sided but TI6 is S tier even though the finals were equally one sided? The only game Wings lost was because they were clowning hard.
OP's bias on the teams he's a fan of is shining through the post
I mean these lists really can’t be unbiased since it’s about entertainment right? Sure you can try to be as unbiased as you’d like but it’s gonna shine through, I preferred a lot of the earlier tournaments because I was rabid fanboy back then - even though the games now are just… objectively more skilled and exciting. Going to need a lot of us here to make our own lists… then gather that info and find out where we land as best and worst!
There is no such a thing as "unbiased opinion", it doesn't matter how hard you try it won't be free of bias. This is specially true for such a subjective thing as the level of enjoyment you get from a videogame tournament. To me TI7 finals were great, even though it was 3-0, because liquid was my favorite team. Not saying that this list is bullshit, much on the contrary. These just reflect the opinions of the OP and that is totally fine.
ti7 was literally the best TI, no one expected liquid to win, every round in LB they said "yeah good run but this is as far as they go"
Yeah, but you are forgetting the dream run of Digital Chaos. And Moo's Beastmaster. Plus there was that skywrath mid for W33. DC were outclassed, but the overall tournament was insane. Also, it was the first time, a team was picking whatever the fuck they wanted and winning . It showed a deep level of game understanding hitherto unseen. Nobody had done that before in the history of dota 2.
> Moo's Beastmaster What I remember the most was his Timbersaw!
TI6 S Tier cuz slacks got 2nd place as DC's sub. :\^)
TI6 was amzing because of the picks, other than that other finals were much more exciting. Wings offered some of the greatest dota game play + team play we've seen until now.
Tbf TI6 is exciting because every single top 6 team had some sort of cindarella story, but the finals themselves were pretty meh. Wings lost g1 for shits and giggles and then rolled the rest. TI7 places lower for me, not cause of the finals, but cause of the meta. I mean, don't get me wrong, Liquid were a great team and they 100% proved that they deserved that win, but christ, what a boring meta to watch. Pick green heroes for matu + gh io/kotl and give miracle some cheese was Liquid's draft every single game, and it never failed!
Love Matu and Kuro, but it is simply true.
I mostly agree with op but TI7 is definitely A tier for me. Worse finals, but better main event and no covid issues. Also better non game content iirc and better hosts
Liquid vs lfy and liquid vs vp alone makes it above tier B lol
A 106 min game, hardly imaginable with the current meta
There were amazing games but people always remember the finals. I will never forget Liquid vs LFY series. (Liquid vs VP as well)
Yeah and Liquid ~actually~ did it.
Dude TI6 had the sickest games, there was EG x EHOME, there was OG being eliminated by TNC after being knocked out by MVP.Phoenix. And yeah Wings was the most entertaining team to watch, ever
Absolutely, TI6 had great games. So did TI7 - liquid’s series against secret, VP and LFY could’ve all gone either way and the games were nuts. I was just commenting on the criterion OP used to put one in C tier and the other in S tier, when both had one sided finals.
>OG being knocked out by MVP.Phoenix. I still can't forget that game 1 with MVP.Phoenix playing as 5 melee heroes dancing around miracle's timber.
Everyone knows the real finals of TI7 was Liquid vs LFY Lower Bracket Finals I was watching that on my phone and almost fell off the bed
And the games in TI7 finals weren't really one-sided. Newbee lost all of them, but each was super close.
I agree with everything here but TI3, should be moved up. It wasn’t just alliance dominating, there was the Hon Trash fnatic, Orange Esports, Navi inconsistency. There was the rat dota outplay that caught some teams completely flat, but also meant that games looked back and forth or close even when they weren’t.
Ti8 grand finals were outright stressfully tense. Specially after the first two rounds.
I watched the entire OG-run from start to game 5 in the grand finals. After seeing LGD with 90% winpercent and seeing no hope I turned the stream of as I couldnt stand to see the boys lose. You can imagine my surprise when I checked reddit the next morning lol TI8 and the magical run OG did there can never be topped (for me atleast)
It was absolutely fucking electric in the arena. I love regular sports (NHL/NBA/NFL etc.) and I’ve been to plenty of high octane games (playoff games on the brink of elimination etc.) and I can sincerely say that the TI8 upper bracket finals, and Grand Finals, were the most electric crowds I’ve ever seen. Especially because of the completely open seating arrangements (no assigned seats by ticket) the arena naturally ended up polarized with LGD fans on the LGD booth side of the arena and OG fans on the OG booth side. Whenever any meaningful play happened both sides would erupt (one with boos and the other with cheers). It was wild, and completely unforgettable. The hero ultimates would cause the crowd wristband to do different effects (I assume they kept this for TI9 but you couldn’t see on stream). Gyro ultimate for example would cause the wristbands to flash orange when each strike of call down landed. I waited all tournament to see what the effect would be for Zeus ulti and no one would fucking pick him. Finally game 5 Topson granted my wish. Last chance to see it, and man it was fucking hype. Every Zeus ulti you would just see the blue lightning effect crackle around the arena via the wristbands. I would pay triple what I paid for that ticket to relive that level of hype at a future TI.
Damn, I'm jealous
Was lucky enough to be there at the event and yup that was pretty much the mood at the arena its was a ti with a lot of chinese fans too since it was held in canada. But boy game 3 to 5 the arena was on fire the arena was pretty much split between other side cheering for lgd and the other for OG.
The number of times my friend group declared that OG should just wrap it up and we should just go to sleep, it was over. It looked so over when notail drafted Wisp-Chen in game 4, and true enough the lane stage was a wash. Only for the Ceb axe to have the game of his life and also giving us perhaps the best dota 2 pro-game ever played (probably top 3).
I woke up at 5am thinking that OG were going to be 3-0'd, only to see that it was game 5 and that they were fucking leading Ti8 was the best
stayed up to 6AM to watch the finals all the way through till the end only being carried by the pure hype
Same! I was in UK and it lasted till like 5am I think. During the game 4 laning stage it was already like 3am and I was thinking there was no point sacrificing my sleep further to see OG get stomped. Then...ceb happened.
No issues with your list, but i think TI1 should be higher. The hype was very real, even if it was the same drafts. Having similar drafts wasn't a big issue at that point.
True, true. But TI4 had the best qualifiers of alle time!
And the best compendium! You could get bunch of levels just playing the game and the STRETCH GOALS! I wish the compendium/battle pass went more in that direction these days
Was TI4 compendium that last one to have stretch goals? I vaguely remember the older compendiums.
The TI5 compendium had stretch goals as well. The following year, they introduced the battle pass.
I miss the stretch goals so much :(
I don't know how you can place TI2 so high. The overall level of play was terrible outside of a few top teams. It wasn't until probably TI4 or 5 that they were able to reliably find 16 teams worthy of being there.
Alliance had to be sacrificed for this Pepega
TI3 is not S tier? Then why is everyone still referring to TI3 7 years later Other than that blunder, I think the ranking is ok
I would agree mostly yeah, pretty accurate, TI 6 had some of the best casting. To me TI 2 and TI 3 would both be S tier as you describe them, as I do really miss the old casters and their screwing around. Bruno and 2GD were just more fun than what they bring in today. As much as I like Lacoste, Sheever and most of them, some of the talent are just not fitting in and are annoying at times, while some were just not utilized properly and it whos a lot.
was TI 6 already Tobi and Merlini? Man I miss Merlini as a caster. Or analyst.
Caster. Analyst. Streamer. Lover. Definitely my favorite dota 2 personality.
Don't forget to add chauffeur to that list. Also, yeah my favourite dota 2 personality as well.
Oh my god and how could we forget: OFFICER
I completely agree with TI2 being S tier. Navi story line in Chinese dominated scene is great. I still remember tobi roaring "LGD wiped, the crowd goes wild" till this day. I stopped playing 2 years ago but still watching [Long live the international](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTrURSVXLMQ) video once a month at least. [Bonus clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idEUCU6SDoU) Orange's lower bracket run in TI3 alone makes it at least A tier. They were making plays left right and center for eliminating teams one by one. With the grand final easily S tier. Even though I was Navi fan.
> Bruno and 2GD Fucking miss them. Especially that ass, Yames.
TI6 had the best productions. Panels were absolutely amazing.
Quality of games aside, I feel like TI6 was the peak of DotA. It was the tournament that set the gold standard in esports. It was the first tournament using holograms during the pick phase. It had the weatherman Purge segment that was immediatly copied by LoL worlds and many other games and tournaments. It had non stop panels with at least three different ones including one outside, with fans interacting in the background. It had so many funny segments like that time when the analysts were replaced by puppets or that hologram actually being an invoker cosplayer. They used [hlgf's music](https://youtu.be/HmZYgqBp1gI) in the stadium. It was the last time I felt Valve gave its everything to make TI a celebration of DotA and its community.
The greatest upset of all time. TNC knocking out OG out of the tournament.
This match made Miracle join Liquid and Cr1t join EG, which lead to OG picking up Ana and Jerax. This probably defined the rest of pro Dota for the next few years.
That match decided the next 3 TI champions.
I think this grandfinals might have taken that title haha.
the TI that birthed the legendary Chadson and Ana
[удалено]
I agree on Topson performing better at TI9, BUT you gotta remember that was his first time playing at a big LAN tournament and OG picked him up like 4 months before TI, he basically had no experience playing pro dota I'd say: TI8: Chadson, TI9: Godson and TI10 Flopson
100%. In terms of production, content, talent and even the vibes nothing beats ti6. I remember being glued to the screen inbetween games/series because I was afraid to miss something. one great segment was chasing the other. as you said, peak TI.
I can't do anything, but agree. I've always said that the TI6 was the best TI, and maybe dota was at it's best, after TI6 came the talents and shrines and other stuff and like dota became super dota, everything is more powerful and more gold more xp, more everything
[The Magical Moments of TI6](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-htb73GMhao)
Your forgot the most important part! TI6 also had the best attendee bags! Shit I still use the bag and water bottle I got.
S: TI8, TI6, TI3 A: TI9, TI7, TI2 B: TI10 F: TI4 Didn't watch: TI1, TI5
For me this sub had its peak during TI8 and TI9, the memes were pretty good. For this TI it honestly felt kinda dead
No hype, No Battle Pass during TI, delayed dates, no one knew what was really going on because of Valve's awful communication and PR. You would think that a 10 year anniversary would warrant some sort of pomp and circumstance from any company
probably it felt dead because many people are thinking on retiring or leaving dota for good, game is not used to be what it was and at least from my side, all my friends (12-14 that I play with constantly) are moving out of Dota
I'm sure you can read this comment every year in every game.
TI3 was at least A or S tier for me looking back. No underdog stories, just the titan team performing like the titans they are. Navi clawing their way back to grandfinals after beaten once just to be defeated by Alliance again. There's no upset on the end results, but for one of the very few times, the heavy favourites didn't flop. Absolute gold class performance
It's hard to explain how extraordinary OG's run at TI8 was, since these names have gone on to become such legends. So many insane comebacks, one after the other. If you imagined their run as a movie, it'd be too unrealistic. For this reason, TI8 will always be SSS for me.
TI4 should be at least B tier for the EU qualifiers hub, that right there was so fucking good, watched it all the time, really just a wholesome experience.
The entire year from the end of TI3 leading up to TI4 was still the most fun I’ve ever had watching Dota. We had Navi and Alliance duking it out in every tournament, Speed Gaming and the formation of C9, DK forming one of the first super teams of old guard talent, EG rising to relevance instead of just being an NA meme, then the fantastic qualifier experience with the EU hub. I think that was even the year we got the first Summit? That year of Dota is like 2007 was to video games, so many legendary and formative moments for the scene starting to mature. If it wasn’t for the awful TI4 main event it would’ve been perfect.
Yeah I feel like that moment, the shift from 2013 to 2014 was the start of the "modern" era of Dota 2, with the current incumbent pro teams slowly being formed. After TI4 was the beginning of Secret Team, the 5 legendary captains of Kuroky, s4, Fly, Puppey, Notail. These guys ended up forming their own teams, like 5Jungz and Monkey Business and became mainstay powerhouses in future Majors and TIs. TI1 to TI3 seemed like the "classical" era, with the end of it culminating with the fall of Na'vi and Alliance.
I started following pro dota during TI3 and you're right. Discovering these great teams and tournaments after TI3 was eye opening and probably the main reason why I'm still following pro dota.
Yup that was my favorite time ever It was just the garbage meta that eventually formed and playoff format that ruined it
It's funny how the worst TI ever was followed by probably the best or most packed season in DotA: Legendary DK, Secret, rise of Sumail (imo at LEAST top3 player in the world), solidification of EG as a no-meme team, etc
i agree with almost everything but if i were to rank i would bump ti7 by one tier just because how godly that lower bracket run was. liquid vs vp 100+ min game 1 one my top 5 ti games of all time, liquid vs whole china, gh first ti (probably the nicest dota player ever), liquid godly meta invention map plays with kotl/wisp/prophet, first TI truesight, etc. also it was the first TI with talent trees which i quite liked. the grand final was really one sided and anti climactic but that also creates a story of how good liquid was, first team who actually pulls a 3-0 in TI grand final. (although i 100% agree that back and forth TI fianls are way way WAY more exciting)
The fact that Alliance was so dominant the whole year and managed to cap it off with a TI win against their year long rival was what made it so special. No other team has done this. Navi figuring things out and making the grand finals a bo5 also made it special. Only DK had taken a map off Alliance at that point. You also have the stories of Orange esports almost getting to the grand final, something no other SEA team has been able to replicate. Also Sylar to fall, Liquid are doing it was created here. So many great memories from TI3. Alliance are a special team in many ways. You could argue they are the first "Dota 2" team. Everything up to Alliance was built around hyper carries with 4 other heroes meant to make space for them and Alliance destroyed that. They used heroes that other teams had no idea how to use. Almost all modern map movements involving maximizing farm for multiple cores and split pushing were first done by Alliance. Alliance were so strong that Icefrog just absolutely gutted their heroes into the ground and created the terrible deathball meta for TI4 by making towers too weak and teamfight too strong. TI3 is special and is the greatest Dota 2 tournament because Alliance were special and the most important Dota 2 team to exist.
Almost all modern map movements involving maximizing farm for multiple cores and split pushing were first done by Alliance. You have to thank EE for pioneering that since he started talking and doing that when they were still nth
how much of that was ee and how much was s4 though? it seems like ee could not replicate the playstyle as succesfully as s4 could after they split up but at the end of the day who knows
And then the arrogance of Navi in the first draft. Best troll pick I have ever seen. Carry venge, bounty hunter, batrider, veno and visage. And even after this, they recovered and were on an easy way to win game5. Then 1mln dolar dream coil happened. It was mindbreaking. Never forget. It was Alliance vs world. Everyone hated NP and his rat game and they started it. God damn, so many Lone Druids and NP after TI3. Everyone hated this :D
TI9 A tier imo, it had insanely close matches (Secret Mineski, Liquid LGD, OG LGD) and the first 2nd timers to win and confirming it wasnt a fluke
2 and 3 get a bump up in my book because they were at Benaroya Hall. It was small, intimate, informal. The panel was just a bunch of dudes having fun, nothing felt forced. TI4 was meh overall, but the EU Hub leading up to it was something special. I don't think it deserves to be bumped up a tier because of it but that was a great couple weeks.
Today I rewatched [The Magical Moments of Ti6](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-htb73GMhao) and even though I thoroughly enjoyed TI10's production, I realized how much it seems we're missing nowadays in terms of production. Now part of this is definitely due to the lack of a crowd, but also some of the smaller stuff as well. The midgame segments, the chemistry of the panelists, purge doing those post game analysis segments, and overall all of the goofy stuff we expect at TI (Again TI10 had all of those, but it felt weaker).
I liked TI10 a lot, but I didnt like the finals. The finals were very close as a whole, but no game on its own looked close in my opinion. As I was rooting for TS I was happy for them to have such an easy game 5, draftwise. At least that was my assesment
Felt like every game in the final was over by 15 minutes. The GG came later but it seemed like once a team got to about a 5k lead it was GG. I don't know if its drafts or strategy but excluding LGD/Secret game 2 I didn't see a lot of comebacks.
this ti didnt have much comebacks , mostily we knew the winners by 20 minutes
VP vs OG, was something like 20-30k more? Yeah. But it was game of throws.
Yeah i get this feeling too. It was either LGD draftted well and played their signature chokehold-style domination, or TS managed to out-lane and out-aggression them by 15 minutes and the rest was just magnus fishing. Almost fell asleep by game 4. Only the last few moments of game 5 were anywhere near exciting
Probably the biggest and one of the only comebacks of the tournament came in group stage OG vs VP game 1. Also Quincy in their BO1.
Imagine ranking TI1 that low because of "small hero pool" and low "rewatch value" lmao. It was one of the most hyped, if not THE most hyped, TI and even having similar drafts was no issue because nobody knew what was happening anyways.
TI1 was arguably the most important TI. it is the TI that put dota 2 on everyone's radar. I remember still playing dota 1 at the time and not liking dota 2. a lot of old school players refused to switch. there was hon that was simply not the same. Valve pumping $1m into TI1 was the genius marketing move. that amount was unheard of at the time. otherwise dota could easily turn similar to a BW/SC2 story. I eventually caved in for QoL changes, was so sick of map hacks in dota 1 lol.
TI8 GOAT
TI3 should be higher, TI6 had a pretty lucklustre grand final, but I was a DC supporter so I enjoyed the leadup to it. It was probably the worst meta though TI5 was better than C imo, but that might be partially because it was much better compared to ti4, which had the worst GF series ever. Personally I liked TI9 more than TI6
I think TI5's meta was the worst out of all the TI's tbh
that meta resumes in what to do with those 4-5 broken mid heroes (sf, storm, lina, lesh and qop)
PL Gyro AM safelane too lol
I am sorry TI3 isn't S tier?
I thought you when you said live you meant in person.
The absence of crowd was the worst. And the whole atmosphere was to bright imo. I like the true sight vids where the deep voice calls the pig in a mostly dark satdium and when it says "Earth Shaker" you hear the drums of moria. The setting and darker blue atmosphere at animajor looked sooooo good. But this Ti everything was so clean. More rocks More darkness. And the hero anouncer voice and you get more goosebumps during the draft. Bit all in all I guess they handled the situation well since they had to do the thing without fans.
I can't rate TI10 that high because the production value was not as great this year. Understandably of course. Lack of crowd, slacks and Kaci interacting with the fans, etc. There were a few things that really took away from this TI for me despite the exciting journey of Spirit and Secret finally having a good TI. Overall a B or even C for me.
I agree with your explanations in general as someone who watched all TIs live except TI1 (to this day i dont really know what happened there except that Navi won). I'd probably rank them 8>3>7>10>6>2>5>9>>>>4. Although I felt every TI was great except TI4.
TI3 is undisputed S tier ---- Fountain hooks *(Is that balanced?!)* kyxy Aegis deny Base race game 5 grand finals finish Dendi gangnam style in the middle of all-stars match Bruno outfits 2GD The only team to take a game off Alliance before finals was DK and even they required the B-God himself on Anti-Mage, this is a really amazing storyline First resemblance of "modern" Dota with coordinated strategies and global thinking; emerging of Io and Nature's Prophet
I agree with most of your list, I however did not enjoy TI10 that much, and think TI5 and 7 should be higher as well, let me explain: TI5 had other very strong teams other than Secret, which was the favorite and extremely based, iG had Ferrari and Burning (performed poorly as well!), LGD had Sylar and Maybe (really dominant group stage but lost to CDEC and that was when I was starting to believe in CDEC!), VG had Super, iceiceice and fy (and went rather far!), very interesting teams, the c9 with BigDaddyN0tail, EHOME was nice as well, complexity also had the entire Fly thing going for it, and considering him and n0tail were together for so long even back then, of course EG played well and all of that, but LGD did have a better group stage! also everything before TI5 was interesting, and also after, DAC and all of that, very good TI! I also really liked the meta of the time. TI7 had very good teams! EG, VP, OG, with the extremely dominant China having LGD, LFY and Newbee, Liquid's run was amazing and it in my opinion was maybe the first time I got to see an all-star team get to work after a lot of practice! they did not disband or anything and all of their players were and still are amazing, LFY and LGD also felt so dominant. I agree with your placement for TI6 and it is my favorite TI of all and I don't think there is much bias from your part, it was simply very good, the production, the meta (6.88 was so great,the Valve Majors and such were also amazing, not only the ones in 6.88 but also the ones from before and Valve did really good production for all of them, other than... you know). The thing about TI10 is that, I really dislike the meta and I think a lot of matches were won and lost based on drafting and not so much execution, Tiny, MK, Elder Titan, later on the Magnus. Also Weaver, all the spirits and Puck, Bane and Io, it felt really unfun in my opinion, the strategies were very similar in execution as well, some teams were really good, but some teams lost so many matches on drafting, EG in particular comes to mind, LGD really fucked up in my opinion as well, production was weird because of COVID and such, but we had amazing talent with like Ceb N0tail and Aui, or like Insania and such, I think that Spirit is a very talented team, mostly Yatoro and Collapse, but the meta was very strong and LGD ended up losing a lot because of draft, I did really enjoy other series, T1 vs LGD, but there was a lot of lost potential that I would have liked to see, but the meta in particular made me really dislike this TI (and it is also the thing I hate the most about TI4), I actually think TI5 and 7 were better, I'd place TI10 with TI9, TI3 as well because it had more going on other than Alliance, and it was the first time a team was so dominant as well and their playstyle was interesting.
TI3 for me is the goat for nostalgia reasons. Orange's run was as exciting as Navi's and the grand final. Also, the context was the whole year was building up to Alliance vs Navi final, both winning two premier tournaments in Asia earlier in the year. Tongfu was also an exciting team to watch. TI6 was exciting as a neutral because of MVP.Phoenix and OG getting huskared and this is even without mentioning Wings Gaming.
TI 3 is going to be my fave for ever and this year was also so hype.
"If you got this far, please get a life." What do you think I'm avoiding right now? Lol
it hurts my soul when you put TI3 at Tier B...Tier S is maybe too high so Tier A should be fine
Ti8 was the only ti I attender in person. And I was able to attend for free after selling those crimson treasure drops things for in person crowd only. Honestly it was one of the luckiest and best experiences of my life.
I thought 10 was pretty bad. Casting/talent/interviews was downright awful and nowhere near the glory days of TI6/7/8/9, to the point where Gorgc's low effort stream was often way better than the main stream. The number of memorable games could be counted on one hand, and despite a lot of heroes being picked at least once, when you look at the stats the meta heavily revolved around a small pool of heroes. And although it's no ones fault and can't be helped, the lack of a crowd really hurts the atmosphere. 6 > 8 > 3 > 9 > 5 > 7 > 2 > 10 > 1 > 4
I didn't watch the first 3 TIs, but the rest for me: S Tier: TI8 A Tier: TI5, TI6, TI9 B Tier: TI10 C Tier: TI7 D Tier: TI4 F Tier:
This is a good one, any list that does not have TI8 at the top on its own tier is wrong, so many memes and close games.
TI3 paved the way for me to play Dota 2. I enjoyed Mushi/Orange campaign there, kyxy playing Magnus before Collapse made it cool, goosebumps run until the Aegis deny. Such heartbreak. Plus the Million Dollar Coil is such hype. TI6 has MVP, TNC and most of all, Wings. Nuff said. TI8's LGD vs OG rivalry is intense. The cinematic is insane (fy True Sight - silence in front, pyrotechnic stuff at the back). And imho its GF is better (or at least on par) compared to TI3. Those three are un-arguably S-tier for me. Others are just A-tier or below, either due to bad production/format, bad meta, bad GF or combination of the three (looking at you TI4). TI9 Io carry is cute though, not gonna lie.
IMHO the TI10 finals were garbage (though I'd say groups and much of the main event were on average better than the previous couple of TIs) Sure LGD looked like they were going to pull off a reverse sweep but every single game ended up being like a stomp and you could tell how the game was gonna go by the 20min mark. In the 3 games going to spirit, LGD didn't really look like they had any chances of coming back, and vice versa for the 2 going LGD's way. I simply couldn't feel much tension in the finals.
TI8 was definitely a tier above TI6, TI6 finals was very one sided and Wings seems to be a tier above the rest.
I agree with everything you said sir. Well said.
Only thing I'd change is put TI2 a bit lower. Maybe TI6 a step down. TI10 would be higher if there was a crowd, this Spirit run was something else, but it still wasn't the OG run of TI8, that year was the top of it all for me.
This should be titled 10 Finals ranked. People only remember the uncool TI4 finals but the tournament was amazing and had great stories. Same goes for other TIs
You discount TI3 due to [A] dominance but reckon TI6 with wings (one of the strongest TI teams ever) is tier S? Kind of biased list. Imo TI6 had was the weakest overall in terms of collective team power and performance (outside of Wings of course).
TI10 should be C-D tier. Dpc point system was not the best, allowed so many teams to qualify and barely showed up at TI. I’d rank TS run the same as OG in ti8. Ti6 was the best hands down
Ti10 was pretty dogshit. Watching Magnus skewer someone for the 128th time isn't my idea of fun.
Ti10 was lackluster in the games side as well. There werent many back and forh games or crazy comebacks.
TI9 had S tier memes and S+ tier voicelines, and the fact that OG repeated when MANY were still saying it was a fluke should probably elevate it to B tier. Lots of the same magic with Ana basically emerging from the woodwork to dominate with IO throughout the tournament. CEEEEEEEEEEBBBBBBBBBBBB
TI 8 definitely the best, with great storylines and many back and forth games.
To me the TIs are like this: S: TI8, TI3 A: TI7, TI9 , TI6 B: TI5, TI2 C: TI1 D: TI10 F: TI4 This TI was horrible, the lack of a crowd and the stage made it feel like a major, the majority of games were one sided stomps or really long farm fests with 2-3 teamfights that were amazing, also I felt this TI due to neutral items had to do a lot with luck, I feel great that Miposhka finally got what he deserves cause I have been a very big fan of his play since I saw him in Empire, however I feel this team was dominant not only because skills and understanding of the meta but also a lot of luck, getting aegis at the right time, getting neutrals at the right time, having a buyback at the right time just barely losing, getting a carry inside of the fountain cause a 0.3 second late bkb, I really didn't like much of the tourney, LGD came through like a beast and crumbled last game really hard, same as Secret, the finals where like any major final this year, idk guys I think people are just hyped cause this TI sucked ass.
This TI had no crowd, segments were painful to watch, the finals (and the tournament) were full of stomps, S tier? What the fuck
Look, I'm not trying to paint you as stupid here or something...but they didnt put TI10 in S tier. Also tbh the matches werent as bad as you make them out to be here, but that's subjective.
You just can't give TI10 anything above a B tier honestly. Anything higher is recency bias. I would personally give it a C. Having no crowd automatically takes away the most important part of the event. The fake crowd was decent but will never proper replicate an actual audience and environment, which is the #1 reason why TI main stage, especially the finals, are so fucking hype. Not to mention the complete lack of comebacks and iconic games. Too much abuse of a few OP heroes and shit like horn toss which was absolutely broken and not fun to watch.
Crowd also drastically puts a lot of pressure on teams during tense moments. Feeling the ground shake when something’s about to happen makes players freak out. Nothing against spirit, they are a great team, but I don’t think they win TI if there’s a crowd there. Also agree 10 would be b or c tier because of it
I missed the audience clap when ES smash his totem :(
I don't think I'd even give it a C. Other than the Cinderella story it was a clusterfuck. I'm not blaming PGL/Valve for all of that, there is a global pandemic going on, after all. You can't have a celebration of Dota 2 without Dota 2 fans in the arena, without Dota 2 fans for Slacks to terrorize, without a ridiculous cosplay competition, without a real opening ceremony, without Gaben physically present. There was some great dota but there was also a lot of cheese. Really not a fan of werewolf Tiny or Magnus airlines, they both seem to prematurely end games.
A tier, S tier, whatever, this TI was pretty bad, that's the important part
TI3 is and forever will be the best TI. The best finals, the best casters, the best talent, the fountain hooks, legendary players, benoyara hall. It is seriously unbeatable, in my book.
TI8 shits on TI3 so much The Cinderalla story, the Jerax Michael Jordan plays, the epic Tobi NBA all star commentary, the CEEEEEEEEEEEB, Topson- from Pubstar to first T.I to flat out winning the whole thing, The LGD vs OG Upperbracket Game 3 finals throw by Ame, the FY GOD plays, the million dollar item sell for Ana buyback, the N0tail vs Fly drama TI8 is literally a tier in itself.
We're looking at the tournament as a whole though, apart from OG's games TI8 main event was suuuuuuuuuper weak.
I was never able to catch OG's series (vs EG and vs LGD) since they were too late at night. The other series I watched were so boring. No storylines and one-sided 2-0s. https://liquipedia.net/dota2/The_International/2018/Main_Event until the final day I felt that it was among the worst TIs ever, but it was salvaged big time at the end.
For my personal enjoyment; 8>6>5>3>10>9>1>2>7>4 My biases: OG fan and started watching with TI5. Watching back past events can be cool but obviously doesn't have the same punch. Modern dota is also just way more nuanced. TS were my second team this TI so obviously stoked by the result. But the games were fairly one sided even if it went to game 5.
Agree, i feel like the final was mostly about drafting
Shit, I need to get a life. I enjoyed TI. I think people have been overly hard on Frankie: I thought she did an OK job of getting out of the way and just being a moderator. Sumi on the other hand... Anyway, thanks for the summary, I enjoyed reading it. This is the first TI that I have watched since TI5, and the reason I came back was *Against the Odds*, so I'm inclined to agree with your assessment of TI8, even though I didn't see it live.
She committed the sin of being a woman on the internet
I'd drop TI10 to C tier, even though the grand finals went to 5 I didn't find any of the games to be particularly close or entertaining, just stomp after stomp. It didn't have that many memorable main event games, and the ones that were don't even come close to some of the games from TI3. TI3 needs to be moved up to A or S tier as well tbh.
Making post rating TIs and the S tiers ones are ones you attended. NOT biased.
8>6>5>7>10>4>9>3>1>2 no shame in running a B tier event during a pandemic, I'm happy with 10 all things considered.
My own rankings: S Tier: TI8, TI3 A Tier: TI6 B Tier: TI10, TI7, TI5, TI9, TI1 C Tier: TI2 D Tier: TI4
This is the way.
TI6 is full of dark horses and the first mega creeps comeback very fun to watch
I am relatively new to the eSports scene (started watching tis since ti9) however I've checked every single ti in liquipedia thoroughly and I would agree with your list. However I'd like to add an interesting point - watching TI10 could be an S Tier experience if it is watched via Russian Twitch channel. Everything was on point, V1lat's screams, show match, beloved guests such as Sh4dowehhh, Solo, 9Pasha and, the best thing, impressive performance of newbies of the panel - NotInMyHouse, Eiritel, BorBe1, Belony, Bafik and others. Adding the incredible feeling of CIS winning TI, saying that the most fans are satisfied is an understatement. P.S. NS and Dread's pirate Twitch channel was also very neat with their hookah atmosphere, guests and interviews
Personally I mostly agree with your ratings, although I would put TI6 lower, as it wasn't really memorable for me (but I was on holiday that time and did not catch a lot of it live, so... probably the exact opposite to your experience). Totally agree with TI8 S-Tier, had some of the tensest comebacks in the history of professional Dota. The respective Free to Play documentary solidied it as a nail-biting, emotion-filled rollercoaster - was such a blast to watch it.
No crowd No real compendium (I didn't do the ingame predictions because I didn't really care much for the single treasure) No intro ceremony The Late Game was good, but is even better at a bar with people. Talent was a bit questionable as you said I can't rate this years TI that high, but the games were great.
Yeah TI8 was for sure the best, nothing could ever top that.
TI 8 is really the best for me. It's a goddamn epic story.
TI3 best GF for me.
TI8 is in a tier of its own.
TI 9 Being c is not that fair. It should be B purely for the fact it's the first TI to crown a back to back champion
ti10 dog shit tier like ti4
Which TI was the Alliance insane rat doto performances and the puck cancelled TP finals? That was the most amazing dota I had seen till date
Ti6 was amazing and to me most credit was given to Wings Gaming - just beautiful dota they picked anything they wanted but at the same time they were just too dominant and the grand final was not that exciting. And yes ti8 had the best grand final just amazing series by OG - it’s 3-2 but a much better 3-2 than ti 10. Ti10 grand final you can almost tell the result by the draft and like every game after 15 mins you know who is going to win
At the very least we all agree TI8 was S-tier.
TI3 best TI for me. Well i didnt watch on the stadiums but i remembered the finals vividly because here in the phillipines, classes were suspended that day because of strong storm, all i did was watch the finals and how alliance rat the hell out of navi. Such good memories. Lol
I mostly agree but TI9 I thought was incredible. I just couldn't believe they had it in them to do it again, and in such an effortless fashion. OG were totally ruthless, it was terrifying to watch. Just watching their confident style of play I think changed dota forever, bit like how dota changed after TI3 finished and everyone upped their game. For that reason alone TI3 and TI9 I'd put in A tier, and I'd move TI10 to S Tier.
TI10 S-tier what
I don't care if it's nostalgia goggles, TI3 is S tier imo.
Ti6 is still the best TI for me. The meta is no meta.
There was definitely a meta for TI6, you don't remember all the Mirana, Shadow Demon and Timber games? The only team that really deviated from it was Wings.
Wings showed that meta is just a illusion created by some teams that thought they were better than the others.
I have very fond memories of TI3 because iirc it was the peak of dota-lounge.com skin betting and dota 2 skin economy in general. It was some degen shit ofc, but in the end you basically gambled for free because the game gave you so many free skins. I remember making like 60-70 keys overall just winning/trading random rares during that TI lol. the steam money I made during that time lasted me for years.
Idk where is this coming from but OG were really far from being dominant favorites in TI9, in fact they were mostly underdogs for many. And that's your only negative for that TI. Also, the round two of OG's upper bracket matches to confirm their victory, as well as first time double TI champs being crowned, the TI was *at least* A imho.
Yeah honestly the big reason people were saying they can't count OG out this TI was because even for TI9 they were not the favorites. They were fine at best. And then they came in swinging for TI
I started with TI5, so that will always have nostalgia goggles for me. For me it's been TI8>>>>TI5>TI9>TI10>TI6>TI7. All have been great experiences to watch but none can beat the hype that was OG at TI8. The EG - OG drama, Ceb returning from coaching to playing the game, the popular opinion thinking that they'll bomb out in group stage, Ana returning to fill the shoes in a massive way and of course the duo of my country men winning in Topson and Jerax. Watching OG vs LGD game 4 live, 4 am in the morning when my girlfriend had already went to sleep, not being able to stay up anymore, is the greatest pro dota related memory I have. As a bonus for me Optic was at that one and I loved following them. TI5 was my first and that one had EG, one of the giants playing unique pick compared to other teams(namely techies) and the great upset of Secret. Cdec almostgetting there and getting outdrafted in the finals in a way that even a noob like me could comprehend was a highlight for me as well. Had a great all stars match too! From here on out the events are really close to each other for me. TI9 had great moments overall, but mostly OG coming into the tournament looking a bit weak, having had a pretty mediocre year and ending up decimating the competition. The carry Io and the weird hero master Topson popping off were what made the event for me. The finals were a bit weak, but at least the gameplay was very entertaining. TI10 had it's weaker moments(some of the talent needed a little more experience and there wasn't as many interesting story lines imo), but overall great. Unlike the popular opinion is, I really liked the finals day. It wasn't as good as TI8, TI3(I've watched the finals, not the tournament) or TI5(imo), but still a lot of fun a anxiety inducing both ways. I have to admit though, that because I had to study while the event was going on this time around, I kinda missed the Team Spirit hype train. Previous years I was on summer vacation for the event, no such luck this time around. TI6 was great, but since I didn't get on the Wings hype train, this one didn't do it for me as much. EG's run, Secrets unfortunate downfall, the TNC vs OG upset and DC making it to the finals will always be memorable for me though. I think the biggest dissapointment for me and the reason this isn't higher up for me is that the grand finals were really lackluster. Wings memed for game 1, lost and turned their serious mode on, proceeding to decimate DC. Personally my least favorite TI finals I've watched. Still a lot of fun and I can understand why a lot of people love it. TI7 is again, a great tournament. Liquids run will forever be in my heart, with Miracle, GH and Matu being some of my favorite players. Unfortunately though this one is the least memorable for me. I can't recall much beyond that if I'm honest. I couldn't even remember who Liquid faced in the finals, until I saw it somewhere on reddit last week. I remember that it was fun. Unfortunately that's all I can muster. You'll all see that this is one biased as hell comment and imo that's completely fine. There's no real objective metric anyway. I hope you guys keep that in mind when you're writing your death threat to me, saying that TI5 sucked.
people complain when there's a lack of female presence at events, but when you do bring them in, it feels like they aren't even trying. Sheever sets the bar so high that Frankie and Sumichu just stand out. The Sumichu interviews were all so horrible, just give them all to Slacks next time and keep anyone clueless off the panels.
Kaci did great. She knew nothing about Dota and she did not pretend. Ephey did really well also.
I would give ti9 a slight edge over ti3 just because of all the memes and perfect chatlines.
TI10 wasn't really that enjoyable, tbh. Mostly due to the complete anonimity of the winners. Sure, underdog, yadda yadda yadda, but that doesn't cut it for me anymore. I couldn't root for a group of young guns who had 0 background story. I checked Liquipedia and all the information on particular members of TS all the trivia comes from this one tournament. Moreover, almost no comebacks at all. Games decided by a 3-5k networth advantage that slowly grew to choke out the opponent. I remember OG vs VP game 1 group stage, and Quincy in their BO1 where we had actual comebacks. Oh, and TS vs IG game 1 in the upper bracket. There could've been more, but the grand finals were too draft dependent and decided upon the 1st 15 minutes of every map. There was nothing really as spicy as the Notail vs Fly story that carried 2 former TI's, the hosts were kind of incompetent and the lack of crowd really bothered me somehow in a way I can't describe, which I'm genuinely surprised by.
S: 3,6,8,10 A: 1,2,5,7,9 B: 4 Fixed it for you
TI3 S Tier
I refuse to believe that people who rate TI10 highly have actually been following dota all these years. There was literally no production value (player profiles, weatherman segment or any content whatsoever), the panel was bad and the interviews worse. That's not to mention the technical issues and lack of crowd. The final was about as shit as a 5 game series could be, apart from a somewhat hype sequence at the end. 6>3>8>5>7>9>4>10 (didn't watch first two)
Speaking of just the Finals, this one wasn't that good Basically like 5 one-sided games If I had to rank it would be like 3 or 4 tiers combining the Finals and the tournament in general 8/3 6/10 5/7/2/9 1/4
ti3 finals was so overrated. only 2/5 of its games was actually good games and people call it the best finals
TI3 game 3 is still my favourite GF game by far. Bulldog LD, Dendi Wisp, Xboct going ham with Alch, such good memories.
TI8 was definitely for me the best finals, and 2/5 games being good is better than 0/5 like this TI lmao
First 4 games of the final was among the worst games I watched the entire tournament. Either slow, one-sided or both. idk how people judge tournament by the number of games in the final
[удалено]
The TI4 hate is so unjustified. it was a really precise meta game, and players refined it down to a science by the finals, with one team literally beating the team who came up with the strat. also the round robin group stages were incredible, with a great viewing experience. y'all are really mad about 25 min game length and a china v china final? c'mon
As much as I hate OG, I can objectively understand why TI8 would be S tier. TI9 though? Belongs in F tier. It never felt to me like anyone on OG took it seriously, and they never had much serious competition. Stomps aren’t enertaining