The final part of our predictions. The tournament predictions are probably the easiest, since, for the most part, they are less dependent on the meta and choosing from <10 categories is easier than picking one of 117 heroes, one of 90 players or one of 18 teams. Do not hesitate to change your own predictions if our reasoning seems flawed.

Third part of our predictions is going to be all about players. Luckily, there is a lot of statistics available on the teams attending the biggest esports event of the year, so the predictions are relatively easy. Once again, we would like to remind you that our explanations are generally more valuable than the actual prediction we are giving.

The second part of our predictions will concentrate on the “teams” tab. Just like the last time, we would like to remind everyone that this isn’t exact science and the thought process and reasoning behind our choices is perhaps more important than the choices themselves.

The compendium predictions are always tough. Even if you analyze past data, cross-reference it with the current meta, add to it common Dota sense and adjust for TI having slightly different stakes and different priorities than most other tournaments, you are still left with <30% chance of being correct at best. So take these and all predictions with a grain of salt and read the text provided, to understand our thought process.

Second part of our qualifiers meta recap will be focused on the remaining three regions: North America, South America and Europe. These three regions had drastically different results throughout the DPC season, but their representatives all deserve the attention—with how quickly the game has been developing the last couple of years some surprises are inevitable.

The qualifiers are over and we know our top eighteen teams. Qualifiers gave us some of the most intense matches, but also some of the most predictable outcomes and today we would like to discuss how some of the qualified teams got to glory.

Europe was really stacked this year. Five directly invited teams through the DPC rankings is a big achievement for the region that was already quite impressive. Over the last season we’ve witnessed not only dominant performance from the usual suspects, but also incredible levels of growth from the teams relatively new to the scene.

Southeast Asia is probably the fastest developing region in Dota. Several years ago most victories by the teams from the region were considered an upset and any placement higher than top12—a success. Coming into TI9, SEA finally looks like a major contender and perhaps this is going to be the year the region claims its first Aegis of Champions.

Three teams from China have received a direct invite to the home tournament and are preparing for the biggest esports event of the year. After somewhat disappointing results last year, with a single team in top8, the teams from the region have picked up their slack and looked a lot more active throughout the year during the DPC season.

With the International 2019 rapidly approaching, it is time to have a quick look over the participating teams. Today we are going to concentrate on the sole representatives of the North American and CIS regions.