Professional Dota 2 player Rinat "KingR" Abdullin shared his thoughts on the format of The International 2024 (TI 13) and the performance of BetBoom Team in a special interview for Telecomasia.net.
Rinat feels that Valve seems to be making fun of players and fans with the group stage format:
The International is always interesting on its own, but the group stage… Valve was laughing at the audience and the players by introducing a group where no one gets eliminated to the losers, and there were even replays. I burst out laughing when I saw the seeding tiebreakers. Speaking of groups, Team Spirit went 6-0 but ended up in the losers bracket!
Rinat "KingR" Abdullin
Abdullin pointed out that players from BB Team are sticking to their usual gameplay, pushing their lanes, and seeing how things unfold:
BB Team is, as usual, dominating their lanes, and then it’s just a matter of how it goes. They might have hit a wall, and now they’ve fallen into the losers bracket. If they don’t face any strong opponents, they might last a couple of rounds.
Rinat "KingR" Abdullin
KingR also praised Team Zero, noting that if they avoid playing against CIS teams, he might even root for them:
Team Zero performed well in their group and won the seeding! Later, they fell to the average Aurora in the losers bracket, but they’re still a fun team. If they don’t compete against CIS teams, I might cheer for them.
Rinat "KingR" Abdullin
As of the writing of this article, the teams are preparing for the playoff stage. All matches of this phase will follow a best-of-3 format, with the exception of the finals, scheduled for September 15, starting at 14:00 GMT+3, which will be played in a best-of-5 format.
The International 2024 (TI 13) is taking place from September 4 to 15 in a LAN format in Copenhagen, Denmark. The final stage of the event will be held at the Royal Arena. At the time of this writing, the playoff stage had commenced.