The Carlo “Kuku” Palad-led T1 and Djardel “DJ” Mampusti-bannered Fnatic will be in separate groups come the first phase of the much-awaited The International 10.
T1 was pooled in Group A with Abed “Abed” Yusop’s Evil Geniuses while Fnatic was placed in Group B.
Joining T1 and Evil Geniuses in Group A are reigning two-time The International champion OG, Singapore Major champion Invictus Gaming, top Chinese squad Team Aster, along with Alliance, Virtus.pro, Team Undying, and Thunder Predator.
Meanwhile, Fnatic will duke it out against WePlay AniMajor titlist PSG.LGD, European powerhouse Team Secret, Vici Gaming, Quincy Crew, Elephant, Team Spirit, beastcoast, and SG Esports.
Matches in the group stage will be a best-of-two in a round-robin format.
T1 is composed of Kuku, fellow Filipino Dota icon Karl “Karl” Jayme, Thai rising star Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon, and Indonesian rookies Kenny “Xepher” Deo and Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon.
Abed, meanwhile, will have a star-studded cast on his side in Atour “Arteezy” Babaev, Daryl “iceiceice” Koh Pei Xiang, Andreas “Cr1t-“ Nielsen, and Tal “Fly” Aizik.
On the other hand, Dj will have fellow Filipino veteran Raven “Raven” Fausto in Fnatic along with Malaysian Ng Kee “ChYuan” Chyuan, Singaporean Yang “Deth” Wu Heng, and Thai Anucha “Jabz” Jirawong.
This will be the fifth straight TI appearance for Kuku, DJ, and Abed while Raven will be making his fourth appearance after missing TI9. Karl – popularly known as Santino during his amateur years – will be making his debut in the biggest Dota 2 stage.
The top four teams from each group will proceed to the upper bracket while the teams ranked fifth to eight will go down the lower bracket. The bottom teams from each group will be eliminated from the tournament.
Evil Geniuses will open the festivities tomorrow, Thursday against Team Aster before taking on Kuku and T1.
The South Korean squad will first face off against Invictus Gaming before the match against EG while Fnatic will square off against Vici Gaming and Elephant.
