The bloodbath that is The International 2026 qualifiers is right around the corner, as teams duke it out to claim the limited slots to the biggest Dota 2 event of the year. Here’s everything you need to know about every regional qualifier.
Europe Qualifiers
Dates: 21 June – 28 June
Available Slots: 4
Participating Teams: 16
Like almost every other year, this year’s qualifier hell is highlighted by Europe, with 16 teams competing for four slots. This is primarily because Valve merged the Western and Eastern European qualifiers, creating a single European qualifier.
Four slots may seem like a large number, but it’s completely justified when you see which teams are thrown into the bracket:
Image via Liquipedia
The big dogs looking to bully the bracket are TEAM VISION (PARIVISION) and Team Spirit, who are both Tier 1 teams that surprisingly didn’t get the invitation from Valve. Still, they should breeze past these teams and claim two of the four slots. If either team fails, it’ll be a major surprise – they should probably disband.
The remaining two are up for grabs, with the likes of MOUZ, NAVI, Nigma Galaxy, and Virtus.pro acting as frontrunners. These teams have made appearances at top-tier events, and two of these four should theoretically claim the leftover slots.
We have a lot of good teams here, but it’s hard to ignore Team Bald Reborn, which is streamer Gorgc’s stack. He’s taking on the coaching role this time and has assembled a very solid lineup. They farmed the open qualifier to find themselves in this bracket, streaming all of the matches live. They’re most likely not going to qualify for TI, but watching them will still be some great content.
China Qualifiers
Dates: 15 June – 18 June
Available Slots: 2
Participating Teams: 8
With TI being held in Shanghai, China this year, Valve has allocated two slots to the Chinese region, with only eight teams competing in the closed qualifier:
Image via Liquipedia
The Chinese region hasn’t been too competitive all season, and with Xtreme Gaming getting a direct invite, this qualifier is pretty meh.
The favorite to claim the first spot would be Vici Gaming, a team consisting of some very familiar faces including XinQ, Bach, and y`. They’ve made appearances at several LANs this year, so on paper, they should get the job done here.
The other slot is up in the air, but if I had to pick which teams have a good shot, they’d be Team Refuser (Monet, Paparazi, and BoBoKa’s stack), Yakutou Brothers (Lou and kaka’s stack), or Team Resilience (Erika, niu, and planet’s stack).
Southeast Asia Qualifiers
Dates: 19 June – 23 June
Available Slots: 1
Participating Teams: 10
The Southeast Asian qualifiers are definitely worth checking out. None of these teams are poised to make a deep run at TI, but the race for the sole slot should be pretty tight:
Image via Liquipedia
Two teams that have made appearances at top-tier events are REKONIX and OG. OG had a good start to the year but faced roster issues that slowed their progress. Now, we don’t actually know how good they are. REKONIX would always finish last at S-tier events, but they’ve consistently dominated SEA, so their chances look pretty alright.
A third entity is GLYPH, consisting of notable names like JaCkky and Emo. This stack was only formed three months ago, but they have some pretty good players. There’s a small chance they can steal the slot.
Execration is also there – they haven’t really done anything all season, but they’re still a decent team.
South America Qualifiers
Dates: 15 June – 19 June
Available Slots: 1
Participating Teams: 10
Aside from the European qualifier, South America will be the region to watch. 10 teams are competing for a single slot at TI, which is a huge shame considering we have two very capable teams in the qualifier:
Image via Liquipedia
The two teams to watch are LGD Gaming and PlayTime – two squads that have made several playoff appearances at top-tier events. Just a few weeks back, LGD even placed second at BLAST Slam 7, where they lost to Team Yandex in the grand final. It’s truly a shame that only one of them will make it out.
We’ll most likely see those two teams battle it out in the grand final, but Team Nemesis is also worth checking out. This is former PARIVISION coach Astini’s new stack, featuring players like 4nalog, Lelis, and Jabz.
Parker is also in here, competing under Estar Backs. But this is probably one of the weakest lineups I’ve seen him play in recent years.
North America Qualifiers
Dates: 24 June – 26 June
Available Slots: 1
Participating Teams: 4
You can save time and skip the North American qualifiers entirely. There are literally only four teams in the bracket competing for one slot:
Image via Liquipedia
Long story short: you have GamerLegion – the only relevant North American team – taking on three random unsponsored stacks. They have a red carpet laid out for them en route to The International 2026.
In previous NA qualifiers for other events, teams would forfeit their matches against GamerLegion or call GG in 10 to 20 minutes, so this qualifier really isn’t worth watching. Just know GamerLegion will represent NA at TI.