Many of the top teams in Europe are fighting for one of the final spots at The International 10, but two different legendary streaks are also on the line in the regional qualifier.
Both Nigma and OG failed to qualify for TI10 during the regular season. OG failed to make a Major despite shuffling its roster between portions of the Dota Pro Circuit. Nigma came close, being eliminated from the WePlay AniMajor just shy of claiming a direct invite, which now has them fighting for their lives in one of the most stacked regions in all of Dota 2.
Every team has a lot of pressure on their shoulders, but Nigma and OG both have legendary ongoing streaks that revolve around TI.
For OG, the organization’s TI9 roster became the first team in Dota’s history to win back-to-back International titles, having won TI8 the year before. And, even though the current team is missing both JerAx and ana, both players having retired from competitive Dota 2, TI10 is a chance for OG to threepeat.
Despite flashes of greatness from the various players on OG’s roster, the team has never looked dominant and missed out on both Majors during the regular season. Now, with the help of SumaiL, the team has a shot to make a straight shot to the game’s biggest stage once more. But it will take lot of flower power to get them there for another shot at the Aegis of Champions.
Nigma, also has a history with TI, though the current iteration of the team hasn’t had a chance to play under their current banner at the event yet. While playing for Team Liquid, KuroKy and co. have placed very well in the past, including a second-place run at TI9 that ended in a 3-1 loss to N0tail and OG. The team itself is not the focus of the streak, however.
Kuro is one of just two players, the other being his former teammate and Team Secret’s captain Puppey, who have attended every TI since the first International in 2011, where he qualified with GosuGamers. He attended each subsequent TI with Natus Vincere, Secret, and Liquid, winning the entire thing at TI7.
Related: KuroKy and Puppey are the only All-Time International players remaining
Because only one team will make it out of the EU qualifiers, one of these two streaks will be broken.
OG’s chance at a threepeat will be a large part of the narrative surrounding the competition. Should Kuro miss the cut, Puppey will be the sole player that has reached the pinnacle of Dota each year.
To make TI10, one of Nigma or OG out the rest of the competition, with strong rosters from Liquid, Vikin.gg, Brame, and a field of other DPC teams, which runs from today until July 10.
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