If there’s something other eSports can give to Dota is its ability to catch the media attention thanks to the International tournament that takes place every year. Now the time for the eSport tournament with the biggest prize pool is almost here. Once again this tournament will take place at the KeyArena Center in Seattle. The prize pool has already surpassed the $20,000,000 mark, which means that it has broken last year’s record with less than a week left for the big date. Additionally, this year’s competition promises to be even more interesting: for the first time, around 95% of the 111 heroes are viable in competitive matches thanks to the outstanding work Dota 2’s developers have done this last year. Still, more than about money, this year’s International will finally tell us if SEA truly is becoming one of the strongest regions. It will also allow Chinese teams to redeem themselves for their bad performance during the Shanghai Major. And finally, this TI6 will be interesting because it’s the first one to demand stable rosters. This is the event that Valve and Icefrog use to make decisions about the direction they want to give to Dota 2.
It certainly has it all to be considered not only the biggest Dota 2 championship, but also the most important eSport tournament. This is a wonderful end for the competitive season 2015/2016. The season 2016/2017 will feature just three Valve events: the Boston Major 2016, the Kiev Major 2017 and of course The International 2017.
Read more about the upcoming Dota 2 The International 2018 – TI8 Tournament
TI6 – Prize Pool
Place | Prize | Team |
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$9,139,002 | ![]() |
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$3,427,126 | ![]() |
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$2,180,898 | ![]() |
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$1,453,932 | ![]() |
5th-6th | $934,671 | ![]() |
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7th-8th | $519,262 | ![]() |
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9th-12th | $311,557 | ![]() |
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13th-16th | $103,852 | ![]() |
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The International 2016 – Facts:
- Dates and Schedule:
- Event: 08/02/2016 – 08/13/2016
- Wild Card LAN: 08/02/2016
- Group Stage: 08/03 – 08/05/2016
- Main Event : 08/08 – 08/13/2016
- Open Qualifiers: 06/21/2016
- Regional Qualifiers: 06/25/2016
- Location: Keyarena/Seattle Center, Seattle, Washington | USA
- Patch: 6.88b
- Prize Money: $20,770,460 ($19,170,460 added)
- Teams: 16
- 6 invited teams
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- 8 Qualified (two per region)
- 2 from the Wild Card LAN
- TI6 Outright Winner Betting Odds
- TI6 Bets and Odds
TI6 – Main Event
The Main Event will keep the same double-elimination format that has become tradition now. This means that there will be two brackets: Upper and Lower. The best 8 teams from the Group Stage will begin in the Upper Bracket, while the worst 8 will start from the Lower Bracket. Teams that lose in the Upper Bracket will simply drop to the Lower Bracket, whereas teams that lose in the Lower Bracket will be out of the tournament.
TI6 Main Event Predictions and betting tips:
Day 1 >Day 2 > Day 3 > Day 4 > Day 5 > ay 6 – Finals & Grand Finals
Grand Finals
Upper Bracket Grand-Finals:
Grand Final:
Wings Gaming vs.
Digital Chaos 3 : 1
Start Time: August 13th, 13:30 PM PDT / 16:30 PM EDT / 22:30 CEST
Lower Bracket Finals:
Final:
Evil Geniuses vs.
Digital Chaos 1 : 2
Start Time: August 13th, 10:30 AM PDT / 13:30 PM EDT / 19:30 CEST
Betting Odds / Options – TI6 Finals
BET365
check current odds at Bet365 >>
Upper Bracket Main Event | TI6 Playoffs
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Round 3 |
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You know who will win?

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Lower Bracket Main Event | TI6 Playoffs
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This year, the first round of the Lower Bracket will be a Best-of-One series. This means that we will see 4 teams drop out of the tournament on the 8th of August, which is the first day of the event. These Bo1 series are also hard to predict because a single mistake can drop the better team out of the competition.
For the rest of the Main Event, all games will be Best-of-Three with the exception in the Grand Finals, which is going to feature a Best-of-Five series.
Here we can see the importance of finishing in a good place during the Group Stage. The second chance teams get from starting in the Upper Bracket, and the additional rest day that the Upper Bracket finalist gets for the Grand Finals are important factors that can determine who’s going to win the International 2016.
Main Event Schedule & Results
TI6 Upper Bracket – Main Event Schedule
Upper Bracket Day 1:
Match #1: OG vs.
MVP Phoenix 1 : 2
Start Time: August 8th, 10:30 AM PDT / 13:30 PM EDT / 19:30 CEST
Match #2: Digital Chaos vs.
Wings Gaming 1 : 2
Start Time: August 8th, 13:30 PM PDT / 16:30 PM EDT / 22:30 CEST
Upper Bracket Day 2:
Match #1: EHOME vs.
Alliance 2 : 0
Start Time: August 9th, 10:30 AM PDT / 13:30 PM EDT / 19:30 CEST
Match #2: EG vs.
Newbee 2 : 0
Start Time: August 9th, 13:30 PM PDT / 16:30 PM EDT / 22:30 CEST
Upper Bracket Day 3:
Match #1: MVP Phoenix vs.
Wings Gaming 0 : 2
Start Time: August 10th, 16:30 PM PDT / 19:30 PM EDT / 01:30 CEST (next day)
Match #2: EHOME vs.
EG 0 : 2
Start Time: August 10th, 19:30 PM PDT / 22:30 PM EDT / 04:30 CEST (next day)
Upper Bracket Finals:
Finals: Wings Gaming vs.
EG 2 : 0
Start Time: August 12th, 13:30 PM PDT / 16:30 PM EDT / 22:30 CEST
TI6 Lower Bracket – Main Event Schedule
Lower Bracket Day 1:
Match #1: TnC Gaming vs.
Vici Gaming Reborn 1 : 0
Start Time: August 8th, 16:30 PM PDT / 19:30 PM EDT / 01:30 CEST (next day)
Match #2: Team Secret vs.
LGD Gaming 0 : 1
Start Time: August 8th, 17:30 PM PDT / 20:30 PM EDT / 02:30 CEST (next day)
Match #3: Fnatic vs.
Escape Gaming 1 : 0
Start Time: August 8th, 18:30 PM PDT / 21:30 PM EDT / 03:30 CEST (next day)
Match #4: Natus Vincere vs.
Team Liquid 0 : 1
Start Time: August 8th, 19:30 PM PDT / 22:30 PM EDT / 04:30 CEST (next day)
Lower Bracket Day 2:
Match #1: OG vs.
TnC Gaming 0 : 2
Start Time: August 9th, 16:30 PM PDT / 19:30 PM EDT / 01:30 CEST (next day)
Match #2: Digital Chaos vs.
LGD Gaming 2 : 0
Start Time: August 9th, 19:30 PM PDT / 22:30 PM EDT / 04:30 CEST (next day)
Lower Bracket Day 3:
Match #1: Alliance vs.
Fnatic 0 : 2
Start Time: August 10th, 10:30 AM PDT / 13:30 PM EDT / 19:30 CEST
Match #2: Newbee vs.
Team Liquid 1 : 2
Start Time: August 10th, 13:30 PM PDT / 16:30 PM EDT / 22:30 CEST
Lower Bracket Day 4:
Match #1: TnC Gaming vs.
Digital Chaos 1 : 2
Start Time: August 11th, 10:30 AM PDT / 13:30 PM EDT / 19:30 CEST
Match #2: Fnatic vs.
Team Liquid 2 : 0
Start Time: August 11th, 13:30 PM PDT / 16:30 PM EDT / 22:30 CEST
Match #3: EHOME vs.
Digital Chaos 0 : 2
Start Time: August 11th, 16:30 PM PDT / 19:30 PM EDT / 01:30 CEST (next day)
Lower Bracket Day 5:
Match #1: MVP Phoenix vs.
Fnatic 0 : 2
Start Time: August 12th, 10:30 AM PDT / 13:30 PM EDT / 19:30 CEST
Match #2: Digital Chaos vs.
Fnatic 2 : 0
Start Time: August 12th, 16:30 PM PDT / 19:30 PM EDT / 01:30 CEST (next day)
Lower Bracket Finals:
Finals: Digital Chaos vs.
EG 2 : 1
Start Time: August 13th, 10:30 AM PDT / 13:30 PM EDT / 19:30 CEST
Groups & Standings:
TI6 Group Stage Predictions and betting tips:
Day 1 > Day 2 > Day 3
GROUP A | Standings |
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11-3 |
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9-5 |
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8-6 |
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8-6 |
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7-7 |
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6-8 |
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5-9 |
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2-12 |
Match Schedule / Results |
GROUP B | Standings |
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12-2 |
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11-3 |
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8-6 |
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6-8 |
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5-9 |
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5-9 |
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5-9 |
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4-10 |
Match Schedule / Results |
Something that will change a little bet this year is the Group Stage round-robin format. Instead of Ti5’s 4 groups of 4, Valve has decided to turn it into 2 groups of 8, where the top 4 are going to the Upper Bracket, while the bottom 4 will go to the Lower Bracket. This make results much harder to predict, as the competition will be a lot fiercer since each team will have to beat 7 counterparts in Best-of-Two matches.
As for scores:
- A win (2-0) gives 3 points
- A Draw (1-1) gives 1 point to both teams
- A loss (0-2) gives 0 points
Tiebreakers will be played for teams finishing with the same amount of points for the 4th place
All details about the TI6 Group Stage with standings, match schedule and results.
TI6 – Wild Card Tournament
The Wild Card tournament serves the purpose of giving another chance to teams that were really close to qualify during the Regional Qualifiers. This tournament will be played in Seattle on the 3rd of August, and it gives the head start to The International 2016.
This LAN tournament will be played with a double-elimination format, which is the same style that the Main Event will hold. Only that for Wild Cards, the top two teams will qualify to the Group Stage of the International 2016.
Let’s not forget that there’s a lot of potential in Wild Card teams; Ti5’s first Wild Card team –CDEC– managed to finish in 2nd place in the Main Event. Additionally, the second Wild Card team –MVP Phoenix– is now considered one of the best teams going to Ti6 with good chances of winning.
For this year, these are the teams that will be fighting for glory in this mini tournament in Seattle:
compLexity
EHOME
Escape Gaming
Execration
Upper Bracket
Semifinals
Match #1: EHOME vs.
Execration 2 : 1
Start Time: August 2nd, 09:30 AM PDT / 12:30 PM EDT / 18:30 CEST
Match #2: Escape Gaming vs.
compLexity 2 : 1
Start Time: August 2nd, 09:30 AM PDT / 12:30 PM EDT / 18:30 CEST
Finals
Final: EHOME vs.
Escape Gaming 2 : 0
Start Time: August 2nd, 12:30 PM PDT / 03:30 PM EDT / 21:30 CEST
Lower Bracket
Round 1
Match: compLexity vs.
Execration 0 : 2
Start Time: August 2nd, 12:30 PM PDT / 03:30 PM EDT / 21:30 CEST
Finals
Final: Escape Gaming vs.
Execration 2 : 0
Start Time: August 2nd, 03:30 PM PDT / 06:30 PM EDT / 00:30 CEST (next day)
TI6 – Invited Teams
The 6 lucky teams that were invited to The International 2016 were chosen because of their recent performance. Now that Valve is only giving 6 invites, the invited teams had to show great performance in the last couple of months. For Valve, these are the best teams in the world right now:
OG
Team Liquid
Newbee
LGD Gaming
MVP Phoenix
Natus Vincere
Why are each of these teams considered the best?
There’s not much to explain about OG; they won the first Fall and Spring Majors. This is the only team in Dota 2 that has won two premium Valve tournaments. They deserved the first invitation even though they didn’t have a good performance during the Winter Major, which happened between these two victories. They are now in great shape, and even won the ESL One Frankfurt 3-0 against Na’Vi, just after the Major. They are right now the scariest team. If they win Ti6, they will become the best team to have ever existed in Dota 2.
Team Liquid has become the most consistent team in the last four months. The last tournament they won was EPICENTER in May. They also finished second in the Shanghai Major, ESL One Manila, and Manila Major. This team has become the last boss of the toughest tournaments, and the main reason why they haven’t won more prizes lately probably has something to do with bad luck.
After the big Chinese roster crisis after the Shanghai Major, two teams have become incredibly scary: Newbee and LGD Gaming. The first one has gotten better results in the last months with a second place finish in EPICENTER against Liquid and third place in the Manila Major, also against Liquid. This team is formed by veterans that have won Tis, and it was carefully engineered to win The International 2016; they’re the favorites from China. The second team, LGD, had a tougher start than Newbee, but they’re now playing a lot better and are becoming as scary as they look on paper. It’s also a team made by TI winners and they have the talent to take the International 2016 Aegis to China.
MVP Phoenix were the underdogs just 4 months ago when they almost took the Winter Major. After that impressive showdown, they won both Dota Pit 4 and WePlay Dota 2. They were ought to have a better run in the Manila Major, and they entered as one of the favorites. Even though they finished 5-6th place, they only lost to teams that were also invited to this Ti6. This makes them clearly one of the best teams at the moment.
Finally, the big surprise was Natus Vincere. It’s incredible how these guys have gotten really close to regain the glory from their past years. They finished last in Ti5 and had a tough year until the last couple of months when they finished second place in the ESL One Frankfurt. They finished first in their group in the Manila Major, and lost only to the winner and the runner-up of the tournament. They deserve this invite because of their impressive improvement during the last weeks.
Betting Information
As the TI6 is the biggest Dota 2 tournament in 2016 all of the major Dota 2 betting sites will have betting markets for the tournament. Besides the normal match bets on the winner of each single game a variety of special bets will be available at Bet365 and Betway (more bookmakers with special bets will be confirmed in the near future). As the groups are not confirmed yet, currently only bets on the outright winner of the TI6 available. We will keep you updated on all news regarding betting on the International 2016.
BET365
check current odds at Bet366 >>
BET365 INFO: Find the Dota 2 – TI6 betting market in the menu on the left: E-Sports > TI6
TI6 – Qualifiers
This International had two kinds of qualifiers:
The Open Qualifiers started from the 21st of June. There were two qualifiers per region (Asia, America and Europe). These teams played in a single-elimination bracket where all matches were Best-of-One up to and including the Quarter-Finals. Semi-Finals and Finals were Best-of-Three.
Winners:
America
Evil Geniuses
Void Boys
Europa
Team Secret
Fantastic Five
China
Vici Gaming
Newbee Young
SEA
White Fries
TnC Gaming
The Regional Qualifiers ran from the 25th to the 29th of June. These qualifiers featured a new format never seen before in other International tournament:
Each region joined one round-robin group where the first place qualified to the tournament. The remaining second to fifth place played in a double-elimination playoff. The first place of these playoffs qualified to the International and the runner-up will go to the Wild Card LAN, which is expected to happen in Seattle before the event.
Additionally, two important teams weren’t given any invite because they broke Valve’s rules about roster lock. The current Aegis holders, Evil Geniuses had to play their way through the Open Qualifier to win one of the two open spots in the American Regional. The same applied for Shanghai Major winner, Team Secret, which had to play in the European Open Qualifier. This happened because both teams decided to swap offlane players between them just after the Manila Major, and they weren’t allowed do this until Ti6 was over if they wanted an invitation of any kind. Fortunately, these teams managed to qualify to The International, which proves that they’re still tough opponents.
The qualifier contesters were:
Americas:
Digital Chaos (Playoffs Qualified)
Friendship, Dedication, Love
Complexity Gaming (Wild Card)
Not Today
Vultur Gaming
- Drinking Boys
Evil Geniuses (First Place Qualified)
Void Boys
Europe:
Alliance (Playoffs Qualified)
Power Rangers
Team Empire
Ad Finem
Vega Squadron
Flipsid3 Tactics
Virtus.Pro
Escape Gaming (Wild Card)
Team Secret (First Place Qualified)
Fantastic Five
China:
Vici Gaming.Reborn (Playoffs Qualified)
TongFu
CDEC
Wings Gaming (First Place Qualified)
Invictus Gaming
CDEC Youth
EHOME (Wild Card)
iG Vitality
Vici Gaming
Newbee Young
Southeast Asia:
Fnatic (Playoffs Qualified)
Rave
Mineski
Signature Trust
Warriors Gaming.Unity
Execration (Wild Card)
Taring
The Mongolz
TnC Gaming (First Place Qualified)
Two important teams weren’t given any invite because they broke Valve’s rules about roster lock. The current Aegis holders, Evil Geniuses will have to play their way through the Open Qualifier to win one of the two open spots in the American Regional. The same applies for Shanghai Major winners, Team Secret, which will have to play in the European Open Qualifier. This happened because both teams decided to swap offlaners between them just after the Manila Major, and they weren’t allowed do this until Ti6 was over if they wanted an invitation of any kind.
These qualifiers will feature a new format never seen before in other International tournament:
Each region will be put into one round-robin group where the first place will qualify to the tournament. The remaining second to fifth place will play in a double-elimination playoff. The first place will also qualify to the International and the runner-up will go to the Wild Card LAN, which is expected to happen in Seattle before the event.
Ticketing Information:
If you want to buy tickets to attend to the International 2016, here’s what you need to know:
Tickets will go on sale on April 7 from 10AM to 10PM Seattle Time. There are two kinds of tickets you can buy:
- Midweek Tickets ($75): These will give you entrance to the KeyArena for the first four days of the event (August 8 – 11).
- Finals Tickets ($100): These will give you access to the last two days of the event. (August 12 – 13).
Other ticketing facts:
- There are no VIP tickets for this year.
- You can only buy up to 5 tickets of each kind per household.
- Tickets refundable within 48 hours of purchase.
- There are no assigned seats.
Additionally, you will receive a badge that you can link to your Steam account. With it, you will be able to receive in-game items while watching the games live. These items will be given randomly after each First Blood if you are inside the arena when they occur.
For more detailed information about tickets sales in your timezone, visit Valve’s Ticketing FAQ
Dota 2 – The International 2016 – Compendium:
This year’s International compendium is a little bit different than last year’s. Since now we have the Majors, Valve decided to combine the Spring Pass of the Manila Major with the International 2016 compendium. The Spring Pass was released the 16th of May for a price of $9,99 from which 25% will go to the International 2016 prize pool.
The compendium for the International 2016 is not accessible yet, but Valve will release it in an upcoming patch. It will become available for every Spring Pass owner.
Here you will find a complete article about this year’s Spring Pass/Compendium
TI6 – Prize Pool:
One of the main topics around every International is how large its prize pool is going to be. The International 2015 managed to reunite $18,429,613 after starting from $1,600,000. That’s a total of $16,829,613 added from Compendium and treasures sales. The objective this year is to surpass that amount.
To achieve this, 25% of the sales from the International Battle Pass, and also from all the treasures related to this event and levels bought by players will go to the final prize pool.
This year’s prize started with $1,600,000 but is already above $18,600,000. There’s less than a week left for The International, and now only Valve’s marketing skills will determine if we can make it to 20 millions.