The International 2022: Pros Criticize Venue Change and Break in Dota 2 Tournament
The main event of The International 2022 showcased some of the best Dota 2 gameplay this year. However, the competition was momentarily paused for five days due to a venue change, which received criticism from professional players like Puppey, Monet, n0tail, and Ceb.
In the usual format of TI, teams would play on stage every day, which helps them perform at their best. The five-day break may have been refreshing for the event staff, but it left players feeling empty as their practice partners left Singapore.
While teams usually practice through scrimmages before a tournament, they stop when official matches begin, as over 100 matches are played in the group stages alone. Tundra’s Nine and Saksa appeared on the Late Game show after advancing to the Grand Finals and briefly discussed the challenges of practicing during the break in Singapore.
The Tundra players had to rely on playing ranked matches to stay in shape since there were no regional scrim partners available. OG’s Monkey Business also discussed this topic, with Ceb expressing concerns for the remaining teams since the eliminated squads wouldn’t be available for practice. The OG founders even joked about charging teams for scrims because they had no other options.
With the remaining four teams in the competition avoiding practice with each other to preserve their strategies, players faced the problem of losing momentum.
Puppey pointed out that a long break could take players out of the “zone” as they start worrying about maintaining their form and thinking about things other than Dota. Despite the less-than-ideal five-day break, Aster, Secret, Liquid, and Tundra came back strong, with both series extending to a final third game.
If Valve considers feedback from professional players, the five-day break may not happen again in future tournaments. Since players also organize Bootcamps in the same cities and hotels before the event, any additions that prolong their stays would be unwelcome.
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