Looks like the most prestigious Dota 2 tournament in the world is adopting the new and popular tournament format that’s taken esports by storm.
The International 2025 is months away but Valve has already laid the roadmap leading to the famed million-dollar Dota 2 tournament. In a recent announcement, they revealed that they’ll be using the Swiss system with a slight variation at the end.
16 teams will be invited to fight for a spot at the mainstage in the Barclays Arena in Hamburg, Germany. Each match is a best-of-three and starts with the typical Swiss format. Teams will be initially paired up randomly to face each other then paired up again based on their match record. The first three teams to win four matches automatically move on to the mainstage, while the first three teams to accumulate four losses are out of the competition.
The remaining 10 teams will then play in a special elimination round where one best-of-three series determines their tournament lives. From this elimination round, five teams will head to the playoffs while the remainder go home.
From here it’s the usual double elimination bracket with a best-of-five grand finals. And after 10 intense days of Dota 2 action, we will crown The International 2025 champions.
Raising the Stakes
Valve’s reason for adopting the Swiss system is similar to other esports tournaments that use it. They want to eliminate matches that have low bearing or did not matter at all, that regularly appear in the typical group stage format. They’ve also acknowledged that the format brings its own set of logistical problems and that they already have things in place to address them.
All in all, the Swiss system has been a boon for the competitive scene despite its own issues. Its structure does ensure that every match is important at the cost of adding more stress to the competing teams.
A common complaint from pro players is that preparations become much more difficult because teams will not know who their next round opponents will be until all the day’s matches have been played. Considering just how diverse the meta of every team and region can be in Dota 2, it’ll be interesting to see how the team in The International 2025 will adapt.
The International 2025 starts on September 4, culminating with the grand finals on September 14. No news yet on the invited teams, but we can expect more details to come soon.
Banner photo from Dota 2 The International.