Notable teams and players missing from TI11

The annual The International pits the best Dota 2 players across the world for the world champion title. For TI11, a total of 20 contenders are playing in Singapore and at one point of the event, some of you might wonder where a lot of the familiar faces are. Well, we are here to tell you that some of your favorite players might have just missed TI this year.

In no particular order, here are the most notable teams and players missing from TI11.

You can check out the full list of teams that qualified for TI11 here.

Nigma Galaxy

Amer “Miracle-” Al-BarkawiSyed “SumaiL” HassanIvan “MinD_ContRoL” IvanovMaroun “GH” MerhejKuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi

TI11 marks another year without the TI7 champions at Dota 2’s biggest tournament. Kuroky and the boys failed to make it to TI10 after losing to OG in the Regional Qualifier. They faced the same fate for TI11, this time around, with SumaiL on board. SumaiL joined the team ahead of the season to replace Igor “iLTW” Filatov and the team climbed out of the Lower Division. However, NGX couldn’t make it out of the Regional Qualifier once again, losing to Team Secret.

T1

Anathan “ana” PhamTopias “Topson” TaavitsainenCarlo “Kuku” PaladKenny “Xepher” DeoMatthew “Whitemon” Filemon

Southeast Asian (SEA) powerhouse, T1 has been on a gradual decline since the end of TI10. The team replaced their carry player 23savage with Gabbi, but they didn’t quite find the spark – placing near bottom at ESL One Stockholm Major and missing the PGL Arlington Major.

They then pulled a last-minute decision to bring in the two-time TI champion duo, ana and Topson but the fresh roster could not make it out of the LCQ, losing to Vici Gaming. TI11 will also be the first TI without Kuku’s presence since TI6.

Karl and Gabbi

Obviously the arrival of new players in T1 also meant the sacrifice of others. Karl “Karl” Baldovino and Kim “Gabbi” Santos were removed from the team just two months before TI11 as T1 welcomed the ana and Topson duo. Currently, both players remain free agents.

Yapzor

In July 2022, Team Secret revealed that its pos 4 player, Yazied’” YapzOr” Jaradat is taking a long break from the competitive scene due to health issues. YapzOr’s break is indefinite and the Dota 2 community still awaits the return of the beloved Jordanian legend.

Team SMG

Yeik “MidOne” Nai ZhengKam “Moon” Boon SengDaryl “iceiceice” KohTue “ah fu” Soon ChuanWilson “poloson” Koh

The absence of Team SMG during the entire qualifier season was due to an unfortunate circumstance. Prior to the Regional Qualifiers, Team SMG hadn’t registered its lineup in time, which included new players iceiceice and poloson. This made Team SMG ineligible to compete in the qualifiers and miss their chance to make it to TI11.

Team SMG out of TI11 marks MidOne’s 2nd consecutive absence since his time with Team Secret. It’s also unfortunate for iceiceice to miss the event that is taking place in his home country, Singapore.

Invictus Gaming

Jin “flyfly” ZhiyiZhou “Emo” Yi Jun Wen “JT-” ThiayXu “fy” LinsenChan “Oli” Chon Kien

Invictus Gaming was one of the strongest teams at the previous TI, with a 4th place achievement. But the team has been on a rough decline since the event, when its captain, Hu “kaka” Liangzhi departed for a break. IG dropped to the Lower Division in Tour 2 and picked up legendary player, fy ahead of Tour 3 – witnessing great results after. But they fell short during the Regional Qualifier, losing to Vici Gaming.

Noone and Solo

CIS veterans, Volodymyr “Noone” Minenko and Alexey “Solo” Berezin both hold a massive legacy in the Dota 2 scene, with tremendous championships under their belts. But they had a pretty rough year with the rest of NAVI, placing near bottom at the PGL Arlington Major and failing to qualify for TI11 at the LCQ. It also appears that the team had an internal conflict with Solo, which resulted in him parting ways with NAVI after LCQ.

Xtreme Gaming

Lou “lou” Zhen Zhang “Paparazi灬” ChengjunRen “old eLeVeN” YangweiXiong “Pyw” Jiahan Ding “Dy” Cong 

The Chinese stars on Xtreme Gaming have always been a brute force to be reckoned with. They were the heavy favorites during the LCQ and most top players even had their predictions on the team. However, Xtreme fell short in the LCQ, dropping to Team Liquid 2-0.

Fade and Yang

The long-time players of Vici Gaming, Pan “Fade” Yi (also known as Frisk) and Zhou “Yang” Haiyang have been on top of the Dota 2 scene for a while, particularly dominating the entire 2019. They even placed top 6 at TI10, however, they are more unfortunate this time around. Vici Gaming missed the opportunity to qualify for TI11 after losing the LCQ to Team Liquid 1-2.

Nikobaby

The Bulgarian carry player has had a rough couple of seasons with Alliance ever since it crashed and burnt at TI10. From then on, Nikolay “Nikobaby” Nikolov stood through multiple roster shuffles and guided many new players. But the team’s performance remained stagnant and Alliance opted to disband. He then announced his retirement to begin a new chapter in life.

Limmp, s4, and Handsken

Linus “Limmp” BlomdinGustav “s4” MagnussonSimon “Handsken” Haag

The three prominent players on Goonsquad were once a part of the successful Alliance lineup. And among the three, s4 holds the biggest achievement under his belt, lifting the Aegis in 2014. In 2021, they dominated the WEU Regional Leagues to secure themselves a direct invite to TI10 – in which they saw disappointing results.

Now as Goonsquad, the team climbed through the Lower Division and managed to keep their slot in the Upper Division. However, they were eliminated early in the TI11 Regional Qualifier, dropping to Into the Breach.

Stay tuned to Esports.gg for more TI11 news and updates!

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