The Eastern European Qualifier for the Dota 2 International 10 ended earlier today. The final series went on to a nail biting fifth game. However, Team Spirit was able to take the win against Team Empire and secure their ticket to the International 10.
TEAM SPIRIT QUALIFIES FOR THE INTERNATIONAL 10!
Thank you for the support. We are so grateful!
See you at the Main Event ✌🏻#SpiritDota #Dota2 #RoadToTI10 #SPIRITED pic.twitter.com/dEi1cNZuyQ— Team Spirit (@Team__Spirit) June 26, 2021
How did Team Spirit win the Dota 2 Eastern European Qualifiers?
Team Spirit came in as favorites to win the Eastern European Qualifiers. Other than Virtus Pro, Team Spirit were the only team to make a run at the WePlay AniMajor. They fought their way out of a tough group stage, even taking out the Western European first seed, Alliance. Despite them not participating in ESL One Summer, most analysts predicted that Team Spirit would make it out of the Eastern European Qualifier.
Team Spirit did not drop a single game until the upper bracket semi finals against Hell Raisers. They looked to be the favorites all the way through and were in top form throughout the tournament.
However, the story could not be more different for their Grand Final opponents, Team Empire. They have had a history of fielding some of the strongest teams that Eastern Europe had to offer and have a history of investing in the Eastern European Dota scene. While they have had past successes, their most recent run ended second in the lower division of the Eastern Europe Dota Pro Circuit. Not a great result considering their opponents were the second seed in the higher division. Starting in the lower bracket, Empire had to fight through Puck Champ, Hell Raisers, Natus Vincere and Team Unique. By the Grand Finals, Empire looked like they had a real chance of making it to the International 10. Their midlaner in particular, Gleb “depressed kid” Zyryanov had amazing performances on Invoker and Puck.
While Empire were able to push Team Spirit to the limit, the final game proved that Team Spirit deserved the spot, as they demolished Team Empire’s Late game Spectre line up and punch their ticket to the International 10.
