Dota 2 - The International Begins Today in Shanghai, China

It's every Dota 2 player's favourite time of year, The International. TI is the culmination of a year of competition where teams collect DPC points in Minors and Majors. The best teams are directly invited while the rest fight it out for a spot in the main tournament. In total, there are 18 teams competing in this year's TI competing for a current prize pool of over $33 million.

The groups stages of the tournament start today and go until this Sunday, August 18th. The top 8 teams from each group on Sunday move onto the winners bracket of the main event. The bottom team from each group is eliminated from the tournament while the remaining 8 teams move into a best-of-1 elimination match in the lower bracket

Next Tuesday, August 20th, the main event begins where the teams that made it out of the group stage will be playing in the Mercedes-Benz arena in Shanghai, China.

For the full schedule of games, check out the official TI9 page.