New Format For The International 12 Announced

Valve has revealed that this year's TI will have a different and new format. Here's a quick summary of how it will work!

Schedule And Venue

The International 2023 will start on October 12 and end on the 29th. Here is the schedule of the event:

• Group Stage (October 12-15)
• Playoffs (October 20-22)
• The Finals (27-29)

The tournament will go on for three weeks, but the matches will only be played on the weekends. 

The Playoffs stage will occur at The Seattle Convention Center's Summit, while the Final Weekend will be held at Climate Pledge Arena.

Group Stage

In the old Group Stage format, twenty teams would be divided into two groups. This distribution means there will be two groups of ten teams, and the bottom two teams from each group are eliminated. The old format was chaotic; teams had to play multiple matches over four days. 

This time, instead of two groups of ten teams, there will be five groups of five teams. The bottom team from each group will be eliminated. The new format means that each team will only play four matches, compared to nine from the old format. Having to play only four matches makes every match very meaningful and vital.

Additionally, there's a second half to the Group Stage, where the 16 remaining teams will play head-to-head matches against opposing groups. These matches will determine which teams make it to the Playoffs' Upper Bracket and which will start in the Lower Bracket. No teams will be eliminated in these matches.

Playoffs

On Friday, October 20, the top eight teams from the previous stage will fight for four Upper Bracket slots on the Final weekend. Saturday and Sunday will consist of elimination matches between the bottom eight teams and those that lost their Upper Bracket matches. 

The four survivors will make it to the Final weekend and begin in the Lower Bracket. All matches will be played in a best-of-three format.

The Final Weekend

The Final Weekend of The International will feature the eight remaining teams of the event. Four teams begin in the Upper Bracket, while the remaining four start from the lower one.

October 27-28 will hold four best-of-three matches each day, and Sunday, the final day, will feature the final three teams with the Lower Bracket Final and a best-of-five Grand Finals.

For those of you who are still confused, here's an image that will help you digest the information.

More stages means more matches to watch! Are you guys excited for this years TI?