The first weekend of The International 2023 (aka The International 12, or TI12) is in the books, as the field of playoff teams in Dota 2’s most coveted tournament has been whittled down from 20 participants to the Top 16. What should we expect in the final two weeks of elimination matches to decide who’ll be crowned the next TI champion?

Nitrobetting is here to upload chunks of data on the latest news and developments from the realm of Esports. This time, let’s look at how The International 12’s Main Event field has shaped up, as well as some insights on the top contenders for the Aegis of Champions.

Dota 2 The International 2023 Main Event Preview

Matches on the final day (day 4) of The Road to The International's Group Stage weekend start at 10am PST today.

Streaming at https://t.co/6Ov8VdIyLo#dota2 #TI12 pic.twitter.com/EdCbHPPlzK

— The International (@dota2ti) October 15, 2023

The International 12 Playoffs Format

The International 2023 introduced a new postseason format, with the action being split up into two weekends and with the first weekend’s group stages having just concluded. Here’s how The International 12’s knockout stage in the main event will go down:

• 16 teams; double-elimination bracket.
• The top eight teams from the Group Stage are placed in the upper bracket, and the remaining eight qualified teams are placed in the lower bracket.
• All matches before the Grand Final are in a Best of 3 format. The Grand Final will be in the Best of 5 format.

Favorites to Win TI12

Although several fan favorites such as back-to-back TI winner OG and LCQ darlings PSG Quest are out of the tournament, there are still several heavy-hitters worth placing some stakes on once the action resumes on Friday, October 20th.

First off, there’s Russian powerhouse Team Spirit, who’s looking to win The International for the second time in three years. Team Spirit was the only team in the group stage to sweep its respective group without dropping a single match, as coach Silent and his boys from Belgrade aim to dominate the Main Event with fantastic momentum.

Not to be outdone, reigning TI champion Tundra Esports from the UK is also in the mix. Tundra played a role in eliminating Cinderella qualifiers PSG Quest and came out on top of the stacked Group D of death over the likes of TSM and Talon Esports, with the latter also making it to the upper bracket of the tournament.

The other two group winners are also perennial contenders for the Aegis. China’s LGD Gaming (formerly PSG/LGD), a two-time runner-up from 2018 and 2021, is aching to break its curse as one of the constant bridesmaids of the event. Meanwhile, Europe’s Team Liquid was a real force in TI before the turn of the decade but is back in the hunt for another title. Liquid won TI7 and was the runner-up in TI9, with the likes of iNSaNiA and Nisha playing out of their minds in last week’s group-stage battles.

The International 12 Main Event Schedule

October 20: Upper Bracket Round 1

• Team Spirit vs. Virtus.pro
• Team Liquid vs. Talon Esports
• LGD Gaming vs. 9Pandas
• nouns vs. Azure Ray

October 21: Lower Bracket Round 1

• Shopify Rebellion vs. Team SOLOMID
• Evil Geniuses vs. Gaimin Gladiators

October 21: Lower Bracket Round 2

• nouns/Azure Ray vs. Shopify Rebellion/Team SOLOMID
• LGD Gaming/9Pandas vs. Evil Geniuses/Gaimin Gladiators

October 22: Lower Bracket Round 1

• KeyD Stars vs. BetBoom Team
• Tundra Esports vs. Entity

October 22: Lower Bracket Round 2

• Team Liquid/Talon Esports vs. KeyD Stars/BetBoom Team
• Team Spirit/Virtus.pro vs. Tundra Esports/Entity

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