The International is the most prestigious tournament in Dota 2 where the winners are hailed as legends who have reached the peak of their esports careers.
At the start of each DPC season, the goal of all teams and players remains the same — to win TI.
On top of taking home the lion’s share of the massive tournament prize pool, the team that wins TI will also have their names and handles engraved on the Aegis of Champions.
This list also shows just how much the tournament has monetarily grown throughout the years, for Valve and the community have consistently pushed to increase the total prize money in each succeeding tournament.
The International is Valve’s annual Dota 2 world championship tournament where the best Dota 2 teams battle it out for the title and one of the biggest prize pools in all of esports.
TI10 currently holds the record for the highest TI prize pool with US$40,018,195. For winning TI10, Team Spirit took home US$18,208,300.
This is one of the main reasons why TI is the tournament every professional Dota 2 player hopes to win someday in their career.
(Last updated September 29, 2022)
TI1 took place at GamesCom in Cologne, Germany, where CIS squad Natus Vincere won the first-ever The International in 2011 by defeating EHOME 3-1.
The team included Dota 2 legend Clement “Puppey” Ivanov, who is the only player in history to participate in every TI.
Na’Vi took home the US$1 million grand prize from TI1’s US$1.6 million prize pool.
TI2 was held at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Washington, where China’s Invictus Gaming won The International 2012 by defeating last year’s TI1 champions, Natus Vincere, 3-1.
Invictus Gaming brought home the US$1 million grand prize from TI2’s US$1.6 million prize pool.
TI3 was the event where the tournament organizers introduced Dota 2’s Compendium, which increased the base prize pool by US$2.50 each time someone purchased it.
The following tournament featured one of the most thrilling grand final matches between European team Alliance and TI1 championship squad Natus Vincere.
In one of the most action-packed matches in TI history, Alliance eventually defeated Natus Vincere 3-1, and single-handedly booted Dota 2’s popularity around the world.
Alliance took home the US$1,437,190 grand prize from TI3’s US$$2,874,380 prize pool.
With Dota 2 and The International growing in popularity, the company moved the tournament to KeyArena in Seattle, Washington.
This was where China reasserted its dominance, after Newbee defeated Vici Gaming in the grand final with a 3-1 score.
Newbee earned US$5,025,029 in prize money from TI4’s US$$10,923,977 total prize pool.
The fifth annual edition of The International marked North America’s first win after Evil Geniuses defeated Chinese squad CDEC Gaming, 3-1.
TI5 was also the year Valve decided to change the event’s prize allocation by spreading it out so that all participating teams would walk away with a significant amount of money.
Evil Geniuses won US$6,634,661 which was the lion’s share of TI5’s Prize pool’s $18,429,613 prize pool.
The International 2016 was the third consecutive year that Valve hosted the tournament at KeyArena. This was also the year when the Dota 2 game developers decided to switch out the Compendium for the Battle Pass, which contributed 25% of its total proceeds to the event’s prize pool.
TI6 featured the tournament’s third Chinese TI winner, Wings Gaming, who emerged victorious over Digital Chaos 3-1 in the grand final.
Wings Gaming won the US$9,139,002 grand prize taken from TI6’s $20,770,460 prize pool.
In 2017, the company decided to increase the total number of teams from 16 to 18. TI7 was won by European squad Team Liquid after they swept Chinese squad Newbee, 3-0, in the grand final.
Team Liquid took home the US$10,862,683 grand prize from TI7’s US$$24,787,916 prize pool.
The International 2018 made its way to Vancouver, Canada, and showcased Valve’s new point-based system within the DPC Major and Minor tournaments. These points decided which teams qualified for TI8.
The grand final completed OG’s historic Cinderella run as they defeated Chinese squad PSG.LGD, 3-2. OG won the US$11,234,158 grand prize from TI8’s US$25,532,177 prize pool.
The International 2019 was a historic event, where Valve crowned its first-ever two-time back-to-back champion in OG.
Johan “N0tail” Sundstein and the rest of OG defeated fellow European squad Team Liquid in the grand final 3-1.
OG was awarded the US$15,620,181 grand prize from TI9’s massive $34,330,068 prize pool.
After The International took a hiatus in 2020 due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, Valve hosted the tournament in the following year and crowned Team Spirit as its TI10 champions.
Team Spirit became the first Russian team to win the Aegis of the Immortal by defeating Chinese powerhouse team PSG.LGD 3-2 in the grand final.
The CIS squad won the US$18,208,300 grand prize, which was the lion’s share of TI10’s US$40 million prize pool, the largest in esports history.
Like this article? See more epic Dota 2 action in the Heroes of the Game documentary, presented by foodpanda.
