Patryk Stachowiak
Fifteen years, five host countries, and a $40 million prize pool record that’s never been topped since — the full story behind Dota 2’s world championship.
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Every August, the Dota 2 world stops to watch The International, but the tournament didn’t start as the global spectacle it is today. What began in 2011 as a promotional event for a game that hadn’t even launched yet has grown into the longest-running fixture on the competitive Dota 2 calendar — and the only event still organized directly by Valve, following the collapse of the Dota Pro Circuit in 2023. With The International 2026 returning to Shanghai this August, it’s worth looking back at how the tournament got here: the venues, the crowdfunding boom and bust, the records that still stand, and the champions who defined each era.
How The International Started: Cologne 2011 and the First Aegis
The very first International wasn’t held in Dota 2’s now-familiar Seattle home — it took place at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, from August 17–21, 2011, serving as the public debut of the game itself. Valve funded the entire event, including a $1 million grand prize, with Nvidia supplying the hardware. Sixteen teams were invited outright, since qualifiers didn’t exist yet. In the final, Ukrainian-based Natus Vincere defeated Chinese side EHOME 3-1 to become Dota 2’s first-ever World Champion, with EHOME collecting $250,000 as runners-up.
From Seattle to the World: TI’s Host City History
The International became an annual fixture in 2012, and for six straight years it called Seattle home — first at the 2,500-seat Benaroya Hall, then at KeyArena starting in 2014. That changed in 2018 when redevelopment forced the tournament to Rogers Arena in Vancouver, kicking off a run of international host cities:
| Year | Host City | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Cologne, Germany | Koelnmesse |
| 2012–2013 | Seattle, USA | Benaroya Hall |
| 2014–2017 | Seattle, USA | KeyArena |
| 2018 | Vancouver, Canada | Rogers Arena |
| 2019 | Shanghai, China | Mercedes-Benz Arena |
| 2021 | Bucharest, Romania | Arena Națională |
| 2022 | Singapore | Suntec / Indoor Stadium |
| 2023 | Seattle, USA | Climate Pledge Arena |
| 2024 | Copenhagen, Denmark | Royal Arena |
| 2025 | Hamburg, Germany | Barclays Arena |
| 2026 | Shanghai, China | Oriental Sports Center |
TI 2019 marked the tournament’s first trip to Asia, and TI 2026 now brings it back to Shanghai for the first time in seven years. TI 2025 in Hamburg was notable for another reason: it marked Germany’s first time hosting since that original 2011 event in Cologne.
The Crowdfunding Era: How the Prize Pool Reached $40 Million
Nothing shaped The International’s identity more than the introduction of crowdfunding in 2013. Valve launched the Compendium, an in-game battle pass that funneled 25% of its revenue straight into the prize pool. The effect was immediate — TI 2013’s pool jumped to $2.87 million, already the largest in esports history at the time, and it kept climbing every single year after that:
| Year | Prize Pool | Notable Milestone |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | $2,874,380 | First crowdfunded pool via Compendium |
| 2014 | $10,923,977 | First tournament to top $10 million |
| 2016 | $20,770,460 | First to top $20 million |
| 2019 | $34,330,068 | First to top $30 million |
| 2021 | $40,018,195 | All-time record — still unbeaten |
| 2022 | $18,930,775 | First pool to shrink year-over-year |
| 2023 | $3,380,455 | Lowest since the Compendium era began |
That $40 million figure from TI 2021 in Bucharest remains the largest single prize pool in esports history, and no subsequent International has come close to it. TI 2022 broke an eight-year streak of year-on-year growth, and pools have stayed in the low single-digit millions ever since — which is exactly why Valve retired the Battle Pass model altogether ahead of TI 2026 in favor of the newer Supporter Bundle system.
Dota Pro Circuit: The System That Changed How Teams Qualified
For years, direct invitations to The International were largely at Valve’s discretion. That changed for the 2017–2018 season with the introduction of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC), a season-long points system where the top eight teams earned automatic invites to TI 2018 and the rest fought through regional qualifiers. Valve built the DPC to bring more transparency to a process that had drawn criticism in earlier years. The system ran for six seasons before Valve cancelled the Dota Pro Circuit entirely in 2023, leaving The International as the sole Valve-organized Dota 2 event — which is exactly the format still in place heading into TI 2026, where teams qualify through a mix of direct invites and regional qualifiers.
TI’s Most Successful Teams and Defining Records
Across fifteen editions, a small handful of teams have separated themselves from the pack:
- OG is the only team to ever win back-to-back Internationals (2018 and 2019)
- Team Spirit is the second two-time champion, winning in 2021 and again in 2023
- Natus Vincere won the very first TI in 2011, then came agonizingly close to a second title, finishing runner-up in both 2012 and 2013
- LGD Gaming (PSG.LGD) has placed in the top four more times than any other organization — seven appearances
- Alliance, Newbee, Wings Gaming, Team Spirit, and Tundra Esports all won the very first International they attended
- Puppey and Fly share the record for most TI appearances by a player, with 11 each
- iceiceice has represented more different organizations at TI than anyone else — eight
- Aui_2000 remains the only person to win The International both as a player and later as a coach
Regionally, Western Europe has produced the most tournament champions (seven), while China has the most top-four finishes of any region (23) — a reminder of just how deep that region’s talent pool has run across the tournament’s history.
Every International Champion, Year by Year
| Year | Champion | Runner-up | Prize Pool | Host City |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natus Vincere | EHOME | $1,600,000 | Cologne |
| 2012 | Invictus Gaming | Natus Vincere | $1,600,000 | Seattle |
| 2013 | Alliance | Natus Vincere | $2,874,380 | Seattle |
| 2014 | Newbee | Vici Gaming | $10,923,977 | Seattle |
| 2015 | Evil Geniuses | CDEC Gaming | $18,429,613 | Seattle |
| 2016 | Wings Gaming | Digital Chaos | $20,770,460 | Seattle |
| 2017 | Team Liquid | Newbee | $24,787,916 | Seattle |
| 2018 | OG | PSG.LGD | $25,532,177 | Vancouver |
| 2019 | OG | Team Liquid | $34,330,068 | Shanghai |
| 2020 | — Cancelled (COVID-19) — | |||
| 2021 | Team Spirit | PSG.LGD | $40,018,195 | Bucharest |
| 2022 | Tundra Esports | Team Secret | $18,930,775 | Singapore |
| 2023 | Team Spirit | Gaimin Gladiators | $3,380,455 | Seattle |
| 2024 | Team Liquid | Gaimin Gladiators | $2,776,566 | Copenhagen |
| 2025 | Team Falcons | Xtreme Gaming | $2,881,791 | Hamburg |
| 2026 | TBD | TBD | $2,526,821 (current) | Shanghai |
Worth noting: Gaimin Gladiators are the only other team besides Natus Vincere to finish runner-up twice without ever winning, having lost the final in both 2023 and 2024.
The Trophy, the Broadcast, and the Documentaries That Told TI’s Story
The prize everyone is chasing is the Aegis of Champions, a bronze-and-silver shield crafted by prop studio Weta Workshop and permanently engraved with the names of each winning player. Coverage has always centered on Twitch, with commentary historically split across English, Russian, and Chinese broadcasts — a tradition that’s only grown, as this year’s four-language talent lineup for TI 2026 demonstrates. Valve also documented the tournament’s early years through Free to Play in 2014 and the acclaimed True Sight documentary series, which ran from 2016 through the 2022 tournament before being discontinued.
Why TI 2026 Matters in the Bigger Picture
TI 2026 arrives at an interesting point in the tournament’s history — prize pools have stabilized well below their Battle Pass-era peaks, the qualification system has settled back into a direct-invite-plus-regional-qualifier structure, and Shanghai gets its second turn hosting the event that once made its Asian debut there in 2019. Whichever of this year’s sixteen teams lifts the Aegis, they’ll be writing the next chapter of a story that’s run for a decade and a half. TI’s history is really a history of shifting favorites, and CloudBet’s outright market for 2026 reflects that same push and pull — Shanghai’s second turn as host gives this year’s field another data point to be measured against the champions who came before them. For anyone who’s followed esports betting since the Battle Pass era, tracking those odds against fifteen years of Aegis winners is its own kind of history lesson.
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FAQ: The International History
When was the first International held?
The International 2011 took place at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, from August 17–21, 2011.
Which team has won The International the most times?
No team has won more than twice. OG (2018, 2019) is the only back-to-back champion, while Team Spirit (2021, 2023), Team Liquid, and Natus Vincere each have two titles overall.
What was the largest prize pool in TI history?
The International 2021 in Bucharest holds the record at $40,018,195 — still the largest single prize pool in esports history.
Why did the prize pool shrink after 2021?
Valve retired the Compendium/Battle Pass crowdfunding model that had driven pools into the tens of millions, moving toward smaller, more direct funding mechanisms like Supporter Bundles.
Where is The International 2026 being held?
Shanghai, China, at the Oriental Sports Center, from August 13–23, 2026.
Fifteen editions in, The International has outlived the Battle Pass, the Dota Pro Circuit, and even its own record prize pool — but it’s still standing as Dota 2’s defining event. As the sixteen teams take the stage in Shanghai this August, they’re not just chasing a trophy; they’re adding to a history that started with sixteen invited teams in a Cologne convention hall almost exactly fifteen years ago.