It’s time to get serious, as Dota 2’s grand finale of an event for the season is at hand. The field of 16 teams at The International 2022 is ready to grind out tons of wins at the Group Stage of the tournament before finalizing the tournament’s bracket for the knockout phase. As such, now’s a good time for a quick update about a handful of teams that are competing in the tourney and their chances of winning the Aegis of Champions.

Nitrobetting is here to upload chunks of data on the latest news and developments from the realm of Esports. This time, let’s take a closer look at the notable teams to look out for at the Group Stage portion of The International 2022, as well as those teams’ respective odds to win the entire tournament.

A Look into Dota 2 The International 2022 Group Stage

Announcing the groups for #TI11

Group A: BetBoom, Boom, Evil Geniuses, Gaimin Gladiators, Hokori, PSG.LGD, OG, Royal Never Give Up, Soniqs, Team Liquid.

Group B: Team Aster, Beastcoast, Entity, Fnatic, Team Secret, Team Spirit, Talon, TSM FTX, Tundra, Thunder Awaken. pic.twitter.com/gY52IARrtL

— The International (@dota2ti) October 13, 2022

Favorites

PSG.LGD

• Dota 2 The International 2022 Odds: +250

For the past three seasons, PSG.LGD has been on the cusp of finally winning their first-ever TI title. The best team from the Chinese Region has had a podium finish at The International during this stretch, including being the runner-up in last year’s run of the tournament and in 2018.

Furthermore, almost nobody’s been able to stop Paris Saint-Germain’s Esports juggernaut this season. Out of the nine tournaments PSG played in 2022, it won five of them and only finished outside of the top four in one of those nine outings. Simply put, no team from the DPC this season has been as impressive as PSG.LGD and the team earned its odds-on-favorite status not only to emerge as the team to beat in Group A of the Group Stage but the entire tournament.

Team Spirit

• Dota 2 The International 2022 Odds: +300

Over in Group B, meanwhile, the field of competitors here will be looking to avoid Russian powerhouse Team Spirit, who’s back to defend their crown at The International after winning it all last year. The entire five-man gang from last season’s championship-winning run is still intact and ready to take on all challengers, with team captain and support extraordinaire Miposhka leading the charge.

However, Team Spirit did have to endure a mid-season lull before closing out their pre-TI campaign on a high note. They book-ended 2022 with a couple of wins to start the year and ended with a victory at the PGL Arlington Major this past August along with a pair of runner-up showings in two of their last five outings. Group B will have to go through the reigning champs and Team Spirit’s initials could very well mean “Total Slaughter” for their opponents in the round-robin phase.

Dark Horses

Evil Geniuses

• Dota 2 The International 2022 Odds: +1500

It’s been seven years since Evil Geniuses last reached the Summit of TI and no North American team has been able to repeat that same feat from the region. This time around, though, EG enters The International as sleeper picks to become just the second team in TI history to hoist the Aegis of the Champions on two separate occasions.

Evil Geniuses barely qualified for The International 2022 as the team with the 11th-most points for the current season. Although they failed to crack the top 8 in two of their last four outings, the other two tournaments they participated in during this stretch saw them pick up wins in higher-stake events in the DPC NA Tour 2 and Tour 3 tournaments. There’s a ton of TI experience under EG’s belt, and we wouldn’t be surprised if they make a solid run toward the championship.

Talon Esports

• Dota 2 The International 2022 Odds: +2000

Elsewhere, Southeast Asia’s Talon Esports secured their spot in The International 2022 by way of coming out on top of the SEA Regional Qualifier. The Philippine-based squad may not have any local Filipino heroes on its roster, but a pair of Thailand and Indonesia’s finest players (notably Thailand’s polarizing carry 23savage and Indonesia’s Mikoto) along with stud offlaner kpii make for a formidable lineup.

Talon makes its TI debut this year and may seem outmatched by its fellow rivals in the tournament. Then again, They’ve shown flashes of brilliance in lower-tier competitions this year, picking up a win at a Tier 4 event in March before bagging runner-up finishes in the ESL One: Malaysia SEA Qualifier and the two DPC SEA tournaments in April and July. Considering the return on investment from the odds stated above, Talon Esports has some massive upside as another sleeper candidate to stun the brackets and become the first team from the region to win The International.

Huge Reach

Hokori

• Dota 2 The International 2022 Odds: +5000

Another team that made it to TI11 through the regional qualifiers is Hokori, with the Peruvian outfit led by veteran captain Gardick beating out the likes of Infamous and Tempest for the one qualifying spot in the South American scene.

However, Hokori is still being overshadowed by the accomplishments of another SA faction in beastcoast (+2,500 to win TI11), with the latter having the best result at The International for any South American team in history following their eighth-place showing at TI9. But as we’ve seen with the odds for both Hokori and beastcoast stated here, this region isn’t known to produce Dota 2 heavyweights at all. Hokori’s field-worst odds to date speak volumes of their status as mere long shots to stun the gaming world with an unlikely championship victory.

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*All stated odds are subject to change without prior notice.