Maelstorm on the possibility of Team Spirit failing to qualify for The International: “That would, of course, be a massive blow.”

North America is represented by four teams; there will be some sprint qualifiers here. But those will happen later, and they aren’t as interesting to us. Southeast Asia will also start later, and that’s more interesting. The rosters aren’t finalized yet, but overall, we all know full well that the battle will come down to the wire. Still, considering there’s only one spot, it could be GLYPH, Execration, OG, or REKONIX. That’s a pretty solid Tier 2 lineup.

China. Here’s the kicker: there are two spots up for grabs. We’ve got Yakutou, this team, Resilience, and then there’s Vici Gaming—that’s three teams vying for two slots. It’s going to be intense. Double-elimination bracket.

The region I got. South America. Actually, it’s a cool region because there’s one slot, and there are at least two super-cool teams. Ideally, I’d love to see both of these teams at the International [Referring to LGD Gaming and PlayTime. — Ed.]. But I’m glad there will be teams that deserve to qualify for the International but won’t make it. That means the qualifiers will be interesting. Ideally, every region would have one team that doesn’t make it, a team you’d feel bad for missing out. So there wouldn’t be enough spots. Otherwise, it ends up like in North America? It doesn’t matter who qualifies—who cares? And even if no one did, it wouldn’t be a huge loss.

LGD, PlayTime—this will undoubtedly be the most exciting matchup. But there are also teams like Red Hot Chili Pibble, Amaru Gaming, Nemesis with 4nalog, Lelis, and Jabz. In short, there are plenty of teams that could surprise us. Especially since, as we know, anything can happen in South America—things can always get chaotic. I’ll definitely be rooting for LGD. I think they should qualify for the International: it’ll be great in China because they have the Chinese tag, Chinese fans will be cheering them on, it’ll be interesting, and overall, even without the tag, they play really well—I really like them.

Any team can beat any other team. Let’s say TEAM VISION—only if they really slip up badly will they lose to these guys [from the open qualifiers]. They take one spot; let’s say Spirit takes the second. MOUZ and NAVI—3rd and 4th. But look, these teams [from the open qualifiers] can surprise us too. Imagine: Yellow Submarine or, say, MODUS make it into the zone, just wipe everyone out on a single day and knock out, say, NAVI. Obviously, this quartet will most likely make it through [We’re talking about TEAM VISION, Spirit, MOUZ, and NAVI. — Ed.], but there are all kinds of possibilities.

Nigma has been revamped, by the way. They’ve made some changes recently; they finally cut No!ob. In short, it’s going to be super intense, it’s going to be a super battle, and it’ll be really interesting to watch from start to finish. If you’re into Tier 2 Dota, every game will be interesting. If it’s Tier 1.5, then only toward the end. As for Tier 1, there might be one or two matches here. But an upset could happen.

If five years ago, in 2021, Spirit made it to The International triumphantly—even though few expected it from them—and still snagged the second slot, then here, few believe they won’t make it. But theoretically, this situation is possible; if they falter, they might not make it. That would, of course, be a massive blow. It would be a blow to everything: to Spirit, to The International, and to their fanbase. Int without Spirit would be a bit of a sad sight.