TI6 open qualifiers: notable teams, schedule, format, streams

The TI6 Open Qualifiers teams are gearing up for the race towards the Main Regional Qualifiers. Over 2880 teams from across four regions have registered for the first round of the TI6 Open Qualifiers. There will be two separate opportunities for teams to advance in the Regional Qualifiers. Two teams from each of the four regions – Americas, Europe, China and Southeast Asia – will advance to the Regional Qualifiers.

The TI6 Open Qualifiers take place between June 21st-24th, followed by the Regional Qualifiers, scheduled for June 25th-28th.

UPDATE (August 13th):

TI6 final standings, updates and highlights – HERE

All teams hoping to receive invites to the Valve-sponsored events were required to finalize and register their rosters by March 27th. With this roster lock remaining in place until after The International 6 – the longest and most important one so far – many teams failed to keep their lineups unaltered and have thus forfeited their chances of receiving any type of invites.

Evil Geniuses, Team Secret, Polarity, Kaipi, Team Spirit, Shazam, ViCi Gaming are some of the teams that have violated the roster lock requirements and were no longer eligible for direct invites to The International 6 or The International 6 Regional Qualifiers.

In compliance with Valve’s roster lock stipulations, teams that made changes to their registered rosters outside the transfer window have become forced to take the long, quivering road to The International 6, through the brutal best-of-one TI6 Open Qualifiers.

Valve has once again partnered up with FaceIT to host the TI6 Open Qualifiers for SEA, NA and Europe. The Chinese TI6 Open Qualifiers will be hosted by Perfect World. All the information on notable contenders, schedule, format and streams is wrapped up below.

The teams that win each round of TI6 Open Qualifiers in their respective geographical regions will advance to the Regional Qualifiers, which will take place starting June 25th. The progression of the teams can be monitored in the SEA brackets, EU brackets and NA brackets during the course of the event.

The most anticipated tournament of the year for Dota 2 players and enthusiasts will return to the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington, this August. The International 6 main event is set to run for six days, from Monday, August 8th, through Saturday, August 13th.

TI6 Open Qualifiers streams

A couple of channels and casters will be covering selections of games from the European, American, Southeast Asian, and Chinese TI6 Open Qualifiers. The following Twitter account will be updated throughout the four days of the Open Qualifiers.

• Madking’s stream
• Beyond The Summit TI6 open qualifier hub’s multicast stream
• Beyond The Summit TI6 open qualifier hub’s fun stream
• Beyond The Summit TI6 open qualifier hub’s regional stream
• Beyond The Summit TI6 open qualifier hub’s regional stream
• Beyond The Summit TI6 open qualifier hub’s regional stream
• Beyond The Summit TI6 open qualifier hub’s regional stream
• EHOME’s (Chinese) stream
• ViCi Gaming’s (Chinese) stream
• SaphiraTV’s (German) stream
• llummini’s (German) stream
• indostream’s (Indonesian) stream
• YJ’s (SEA) stream
• Bkop’s stream
• ClouDx’s stream
• Rupture’s stream
• Zambrella’s stream
• motpax’s stream

TI6 Open Qualifiers teams – notable contenders

TI6 Open Qualifiers teams – Europe (1024 teams registered):

• Team Secret
• Polarity
• Kaipi
• Team Spirit
• Fantastic Five
• KBU (Wagamama, NS, Dread)
• Danish Bears
• Elements
• ProDota Gaming
• eLab
• 4 Vikings and a Dane
• ATN
• TBE
• Sharks
• The Retry (PGG)
• Team Toast
• BrooDMotherS
• YeS

TI6 Open Qualifiers teams – Americas (over 520 teams registered so far):

• Evil Geniuses
• Shazam
• Vegetables Esports Club (Merlini, Black^, Blitz, Capitalist, Fogged)
• Team Freedom
• Void Boys
• paiN
• EverNova
• Infamous
• Leviathan
• Dragon Slayers
• Not Today*

*Not Today player Diego “Jericho” Rivera has left the team to replace Jimmy “DeMoN” Ho on Infamous Gaming. Not Today have thus been revoked their Regional Qualifiers invite and are now forced to go through the Open Qualifiers.

TI6 Open Qualifiers teams – SEA (775 teams registered so far):

• JokeR
• TnC
• iDeal
• Pang5
• Gse7en
• Mineski-x
• MVP.Hot6ix
• Beyond Infinity
• burster
• Arcanys

TI6 Open Qualifiers teams – China (565 teams registered so far):

• ViCi Gaming
• CDEC.Avengers
• BraveHeart
• EHOME.Keen
• EHOME.Luminous

TI6 Open Qualifiers schedule

First Round of TI6 Open Qualifiers, Day 1: June 21st, 2016

• SEA – Check-in: 16:00 SGT, Start time: 18:00 SGT – JOIN HERE
• Europe – Check-in: 16:00 CET, Start time: 18:00 CEST – JOIN HERE
• Americas – Check-in: 16:00 CDT, Start time: 18:00 CDT – JOIN HERE

Rounds played: Round of 1024 (Bo1), Round of 512 (Bo1), Round of 256 (Bo1), Round of 128 (Bo1), Round of 64 (Bo1), Round of 32 (Bo1)

Teams that didn’t sign up on time and solo players will be able to sign-up 30 minutes before the first round of TI6 Open Qualifiers starts if there are available slots left. All teams will be able to register five players and two stand-ins which they will be able to use in the Closed Qualifiers. Each team will only be able to use five selected players throughout TI6 Open Qualifiers. Players can join FACEIT’s official TI6 Open Qualifiers Discord Channel, where they can ask questions before the event starts or look for teams/players for TI6 Open Qualifiers.

First Round of TI6 Open Qualifiers, Day 2: June 22nd, 2016

• SEA – Start time: 18:00 SGT
• Europe – Start time: 18:00 CEST
• Americas – Start time: 18:00 CDT

Rounds played: Round of 16 (Bo1), Round of 8 (Bo1), Semi-Finals (Bo3), Finals (Bo3).

Check out the schedule and registration details for the second round of TI6 Open Qualifiers, HERE.

TI6 Open Qualifiers China

• Open Qualifier #1: June 21-22
• Open Qualifier #2: June 23-24
• TI6 Open Qualifiers Registration for China: JOIN HERE

Notable TI6 Open Qualifiers teams

Some of the TI6 Open Qualifiers teams were not directly invited to the Regional Qualifiers due to roster changes or simply did not make the cut for the already stacked regional list. Many notable and premier teams were left to qualify in the TI6 Open Qualifiers. Among them, there are some quite strong teams that are expected to create an atmosphere of fierce competition in the brutal best-of-one brackets.

Team Secret

An unexpected pre-TI shuffle was set off recently, when Secret’s Team Director, Kemal Sadikoglu, took to Twitter to announce Saahil “UNiVeRsE” Arora’s departure to EG, in the middle of the Manila Major.

Team Secret sought out a replacement: former EG player Kanishka ‘Sam’ “BuLba” Sosale. In an timeless loop of exchanges, Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling has registered as Team Secret’s sub, having been let go from EG after being replaced with Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg.

Team Secret had sub-par performances and disappointing results since they initiated a big roster shuffle after the Shanghai Major that tore apart Evil Geniuses and created Digital Chaos.

Team Secret roster:

Clement “Puppey” Ivanov
Jacky “Eternal Envy” Mao
Johan “pieliedie” Åström
Kanishka ‘Sam’ “BuLba” Sosale
Artour “Arteezy” Babaev
Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling – substitute

Evil Geniuses

After Team Secret announced Saahil “UNiVeRsE” Arora’s unexpected departure on June 9th, Evil Geniuses officially confirmed his return. At the same time, Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling was let go and replaced with Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg.

The fallen North American giants have had sub-par performances and disappointing results following the post-Shanghai Major roster shuffle.

The TI5 championship team forfeited their direct invite with the player changes – an unprecedented move for a TI title-holder to be taking the open qualifier road.

Evil Geniuses roster:

Clinton “Fear” Loomis
Syed Sumail “Suma1L” Hassan
Saahil “UNiVeRsE” Arora
Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg
Peter “ppd” Dager

Kaipi

At the end of August, after TI5, bOne7 put together a mix with Asuna, Bufni, Beesa, and kikoni. They went by the name of Kaipi.

Less than a month later, Alexandru “Comewithme” Crăciunescu and Antonio “canceL^^” Mihai were brought on, after Kiril “Kikoni” Minkov and Salvador “Asuna” Khamis parted ways with the team.

Several roster changes later, Kaipi have most recently lost one of their support players, Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg, to Evil Geniuses, on June 13th.

Amid speculation that they were about to sign former EG player Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling, Kaipi sought out ProDotA Gaming player Neta “thecoon” Shapira as zai’s replacement.

The Israeli player joined bOne7, SingSing, ComeWithMe and SexyBamboe on bootcamp, on June 16th.

Kaipi roster:

WehSing “SingSing” Yuen
Alaan “SexyBamboe” Faraj
Armand “bOne7” Pittner
Alexandru “Comewithme” Crăciunescu
Neta “thecoon” Shapira

ViCi Gaming

ViCi Gaming looked to Fan “rOtk” Bai and Chen “Cty” Tianyu to revitalize their squad, adding the two star players to the lineup for the Spring Season.

The organization then took on Xu “Hym” Zhi and Jiang “jdh” Donghao – fresh blood who joined the team.

Riddled by roster changes and instability, the team has had disappointing results all throughout the Spring Season.

ViCi Gaming roster:

Liu “Sylar” Jiajun
Chen “Cty” Tianyu
Bai “rOtk” Fan
Xu “BurNIng” Zhilei
Xu “Hym” Zhi

Polarity

In a string of various announcements regarding Virtus.Pro in March, it was revealed that the organization was forming a second squad. The lineup contained both recently departed Virtus.Pro members Alexander “DkPhobos” Kucheria and Ilya “Lil” Ilyuk. The Ukrainian players were released from VP’s main squad.

DkPhobos and Lil were joined by carry player Paul “9pashaebashu” Khvastunov who had been replaced by Rostislav “fn” Lozovoi on Vega Squadron.

Since then, the team denied any connection to Virtus.Pro but continued to be managed by Olga Dunaeva, Virtus.Pro employee and PR manager.

After sub-par performances, the CIS team has undergone a significant overhaul in the last few weeks.

Jenya/Женя quietly left the team in mid-May and was replaced by Andrey “ALWAYSWANNAFLY” Bondarenko, who had parted ways with Team Spirit.

Shortly thereafter – in early June, Bogdan “Iceberg” Vasilenko and Airat “Silent” Gaziev replaced Pavel “9pashaebashu” Khvastunov and Andrey “Afoninje” Afonin on Polarity.

Polarity roster:

Andrey “ALWAYSWANNAFLY” Bondarenko
Alexander “DkPhobos” Kucheria
Ilya “Lil” Ilyuk
Bogdan “Iceberg” Vasilenko
Airat “Silent” Gaziev

Team Spirit

When the team qualified for the Shanghai Major and appeared in premier tournaments, they started to gain traction in the Dota 2 scene. Their results were, however, less than expected and internal issues ended up leading to roster changes.

Gleb “Funn1k” Lipatnikov joined Ilya “Illidan” Pivcaev in Team Spirit, rounding out their new roster. Illidan was originally announced to be trying out for the team, on March 9th.

With little to no results to show, the team underwent roster changes in May.

Alexander “XBOCT” Dashkevich and Andrey “Ghostik” Kadyk joined Team Spirit to replace Andrey “ALWAYSWANNAFLY” Bondarenko and Ilya “Illidan” Pivcaev. As part of this restructure, Gleb “Funn1k” Lipatnikov moved to the support role.

Team Spirit roster:

Andrey “Ghostik” Kadyk
Alexander “XBOCT” Dashkevich
Dmitry “UnderShock” Bolshakov
Artur “Goblak” Kostenko
Gleb “Funn1k” Lipatnikov

Fantastic 5

Fantastic Five was originally spotted in early September, in the registration list for the Frankfurt Major. At the time, it consisted of Stanislav “BzzIsPerfect” Glushan, Andrey “Ghostik” Kadyk, and Vladimir “yol” Basov, plus two other players.

The team had some roster instability in October and again in December but that didn’t stop Tornado RoX from picking up the squad. However, the team continued in the next two months with less than desirable results and roster instability, losing Sedoy, Ghostik and ArsZeeqq within one month.

Ghostik returned to the team when the squad parted ways with RoxKis at the end of March and signed on Alexander “XBOCT” Dashkevich and Roman “rmN-“ Paley.

Then, in May, the team would suffer a devastating blow. Fantastic Five parted ways with Alexander “XBOCT” Dashkevich and Andrey “Ghostik” Kadyk and was left with only three members.

The separation came following disappointing results in the Manila Major open qualifiers and minimal commendable placements during the Spring Season.

The team has registered for the TI6 open qualifiers with both Ilya “Illidan” Pivcaev and Pavel “9pashaebashu” Khvastunov.

Fantastic Five roster:

Stanislav “BzzIsPerfect” Glushan
Roman “rmN-“ Paley
Vladimir “yol” Basov
Ilya “Illidan” Pivcaev
Pavel “9pashaebashu” Khvastunov

Shazam

Shazam~ was originally formed in time for the Shanghai Major, consisting of the most recent Cloud 9 roster, minus captain Theeban “1437” Siva. The entire roster was reformed with Mason “mason” Venne replacing 1437.

In the winter months prior to the roster lock, Mason “mason” Venne and Ravi “Ritsu” Kodippili parted ways with the team and Tyler “TC” Cook and Jason “Fun” Teodosio joined the ranks.

On May 16th, Avery “SVG” Silverman left the team to pursue coaching for Evil Geniuses. In his stead, Jared “Pandaego” Fletcher – formerly a player for EHUG and coach for Team Archon – joined the squad.

Shazam~ roster:

Tyler “TC” Cook
Arif “MSS” Anwar
Braxton “Brax” Paulson
Jason “Fun” Teodosio
Jared “Pandaego” Fletcher

Danish Bears

The Danish Bears members have been playing together since the inception of the team in August 2015, with the exception of Jure “Pingvincek” Plešej, who joined the squad in February.

The mostly Danish squad has had a very strong presence in the regional scene, participating in almost every minor tournament and qualifier. They have typically been able to place in the first three positions.

Then, earlier in June, the team parted ways with their only non-Danish player, Pingvincek, and rounded out the roster with Jon “13abyKnight” Andersen.

Danish Bears have since taken 2nd place at the WellPlay Invitational #2.

Danish Bears roster:

Marcus “Ace” Hoelgaard
Jon “13abyKnight” Andersen
Mikki “HesteJoe-Rotten” Junget
Danny “Noia” Junget
Christopher “Ryze” Winther

TnC Gaming

TnC Gaming, a Dota 2 team from the Philippines, was founded in 2013. The team began to advance in qualifiers and regional events, making a name for themselves and trying to establish a foothold on the international scene.

On April 13th, TnC brought Carlo “Kuku” Palad on board to fill in the shoes of Gio “WinterGSmallSon” de Ocampo who is now inactive due to health reasons.

Then, in a surprising move, with only five days left before the TI6 open qualifiers, Jimmy “DeMoN” Ho changed his plans and TI6 route midway through. The North American veteran player joined TnC in SouthEast Asia, to compete in the TI6 SEA Open Qualifiers. Difference in goals between John Linuel “Teehee” Abanto and the team has been cited as the primary reason for the roster change.

TnC roster:

Nico “eyyou” Barcelon
Jimmy “DeMoN” Ho
Sam “sam_H” Hidalgo
Marc Polo Luis “Raven” Fausto
Carlo “Kuku” Palad
Gio “WinterGSmallSon” De Ocampo – substitute
Claurice “Klo” Mendoza Sta.Ana – substitute

Infamous Gaming

Infamous is a Peruvian Dota 2 team that was formed by the former members of Unknown.xiu. The Peruvian team was the first South-American to ever qualify for an event organized by Valve when they managed to move forward into the Americas qualifiers from the Open Qualifiers and grab one of the two available spots for the Frankfurt Major. The team finished with a 9th-12th place at the main event.

Since then, Jesus “Ztok” Carhuaricra parted ways with the Peruvian team to head North and play for Team Archon. However, due to his involvement in match-fixing, Ztok was deemed ineligible to register for any Dota 2 Major and International event and has been banned from participating in any Valve tournaments. He has since taken on the role of coach for the team.

In mid-May, Jimmy “DeMoN” Ho joined forces with the South American team Infamous Gaming as a replacement for retired player Juan “AtuuuuuN” Ochoa. DeMoN’s tenure with the team lasted only a few weeks. He then shifted gears before arriving in Peru and traveled to SEA instead, to play for TnC Gaming.

Not Today player Diego “Jericho” Rivera has left Not Today to replace DeMoN on Infamous Gaming.

Infamous roster:

Alonso “Kotarō Hayama” Lion
Alexis “Greedy” Ventura
Steven “StingeR” Vargas
Christian “Accel” Cruz
Diego “Jericho” Rivera

Not Today

Not Today is a Peruvian team that has had a strong presence in the Americas region. After numerous roster changes and a few organization and sponsor changes, Freddy “SmAsH Sina and his squad were picked up by the organization in June 2014.

Under the Not Today tag, the team won several minor tournaments and participated in the TI5 Americas qualifiers, placing third in their group.

At the end of August 2015, Juan “VaNn” Tito, Freddy “SmAsH” Sina, Steven “StingeR” Vargas left the team and several more roster chances occurred.

Most recently, Not Today player Diego “Jericho” Rivera has left the team to replace DeMoN on Infamous Gaming. Not Today have thus been revoked their Regional Qualifiers invite and are now forced to go through the Open Qualifiers. The Peruvian team has registered a complete lineup on the FACEIT platform. However, their players use aliases instead of their real nicknames, so their fifth player remains unknown for the time being.

Not Today roster:

Benjamin “Benjaz” Lanao Barrios
Leonardo “LeoStyle-“ Sifuentes
Abraham “Kingteka” Canez
Steve “Nightmare” Amaro