EG, IG and VP secure TI10 invite, Team Secret needs a good run in last week

Valve teased the International 10 (TI10) earlier last week, and the event is set for Sweden on August 5. While it’s still three months until TI10, we can already lock in or predict which teams will likely make the cut based on the Dota Pro Circuit 2021 (DPC 2021) Rankings.

The top twelve teams on the DPC 2021 Rankings are guaranteed direct invites to TI10.

Artour “Arteezy” Babaev

Evil Geniuses, Invictus Gaming, Virtus.pro secure TI invites

As it stands, EG, IG, and VP are the top three teams on the DPC 2021 Rankings. With over 1000 points in their books, these powerhouses already have their eyes set on the Aegis.

Virtus.Pro (1200 points) and Evil Geniuses (1150 points) are already locked for TI10, and looking forward to accumulating even more points at the second major. VP already locked in first domestically, while EG has to play one more match and potentially tiebreakers at the end of this week, but they are guaranteed a top 3 finish regardless.

Additionally, Invictus Gaming (1000 points) are already qualified for TI10, but the same can’t be said about their participation in the second major. IG is currently tied for 4th place at DPC S2 China and their Major attendance is decided this week.

Is Team Secret qualified for TI10?

Following closely behind is Team Secret (850 points), who only needs an additional 150 points to make the thousand-point cut. That’s equivalent to securing a third-place finish at the DreamLeague S15, which is unlikely at this point.

Team Secret’s sloppy performance at the DreamLeague S15 landed them in a sticky situation right now. Sharing fifth-place with Brame, Team Secret must win their last match versus Brame for a shot in tiebreakers. Then, a tiebreaker for fourth-place or even third-place can be up for negotiation.

Say if Team Secret did lose their match versus Brame, then they are skipping the second major altogether. That’s when things look slightly worrying for Team Secret. The worst-case scenario would be for nine teams to surpass Team Secret’s current points. We have our list of potential candidates:

• Thunder Predator (700 points)
• OB Esports x Neon (600 points)
• beastcoast (500 points)
• Alliance (500 points)
• Team Aster (500 points)
• PSG.LGD (500 points)
• Quincy Crew (500 points)
• Fnatic (500 points)
• Undying (400 points)
• NoPing e-sports (385 points)

Essentially, these are teams likely to qualify for the second major and go on to collect more points, potentially surpassing Team Secret’s. Of course, obvious disclaimer here; these are optimistic predictions, and realistically speaking, the mentioned teams aren’t your typical A-tier teams in Dota 2 betting that one would predict to win majors.

Instead, the more likely victor of the second major is EG or VP.

The Underdogs

Let’s not forget about the other teams that have only recently gotten a power surge, like OG (42.5 points). With the prodigy, Anathan “ana” Pham, they hope to make it into the direct invite list. However, it will be a difficult task even for the renowned OG.

Team OG can technically still make second-place at the DreamLeague S15, assuming Alliance, Nigma, and Team Liquid all lost their respective matches on the last week. That aside, a second or third-place finish would still be an excellent start for OG to make it into the top twelve on DPC 2021 Rankings. They will need to secure a minimal third-place at the second major to have decent standing on the DPC 2021 Rankings.

Similar storylines stand for Team Nigma, Team Spirit, and Vici Gaming as well. Frankly, we could go on all day about which teams could get a direct invite. Even so, it’s not the end of the road for any of these teams since there’s always a second chance at the TI10 regional qualifiers, likely scheduled for after the second major concludes.