Natus Vincere, commonly referred as abbreviated name NAVI, is a Ukrainian esports organization based in Kyiv. Founded in 2009, the organization has teams and players competing in various games, such as Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, FIFA, Brawl Stars, World of Tanks, Paladins, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Clash of Clans, Apex Legends, Rainbow Six Siege, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Fortnite, and VALORANT.
The International (TI) is an annual esports world championship for the five-on-five video game Dota 2. Produced by the game's developer Valve, the International is the final event of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) and consists of 20 teams: 12 based on final results from the DPC; six from North America, South America, Southeast Asia, China, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe regional leagues; and two from last-chance qualifiers. The International was first held in Germany at the 2011 Gamescom to promote the game's release. It was then held in Seattle, where Valve is headquartered, until it began to be hosted internationally again starting with The International 2018 in Vancouver.
Newbee is a Chinese esports organization, which has a Dota 2 division and formerly ones in League of Legends and Hearthstone. Newbee won The International 2014, taking $5 million in prize money, setting a Guinness World Record for the greatest prize money in an esports competition at the time. In February 2021, Newbee received a permanent ban from participating in official Dota 2 championships. As of 2023 there have been no active divisions.
Wang Jiao, known by his tag Banana, is a Chinese Dota 2 player who is currently the coach for Newbee. He was part of the Newbee team that won what was then the single largest money prize in video game history, a US$5,028,308 payout at The International 4 (TI4) at the KeyArena, in Seattle, Washington. Newbee defeated ViCi Gaming three game to one. e-Sports Earnings estimates that Banana has won a total of US$1,192,049.89 individually from tournaments. As of April 14, 2015, after TI4 Wang "Banana" Jiao was the highest ranking player in terms of prize money won across all competitive video games. Banana joined Newbee in March 2014.
Clement Ivanov, better known as Puppey, is an Estonian professional Dota 2 player for Team Secret. He is the founding member of Team Secret. Together with Natus Vincere, Puppey won The International 2011 in August 2011 for a one million dollar first place prize. They also took runner-up for the next two Internationals.
The Dota 2 Asia Championships 2015, also known as DAC 2015, was a professional Dota 2 tournament that occurred in Shanghai, China from January 5-February 9, 2015 at the Shanghai Grand Stage. It was organized and hosted by Perfect World. The tournament resembled The International, in that there were a number of teams directly invited and that there was a compendium released which contributed to the tournament's prize purse.
The Manila Major, also known as the Spring Major, was a professional Dota 2 esport tournament that took place in Manila, Philippines. The main event was held at the Mall of Asia Arena from June 7–12, 2016.
The International 2016 (TI6) was the sixth iteration of The International, an annual Dota 2 esports championship tournament. Hosted by Valve Corporation, the game's developer, the tournament began in June 2016 with the qualifier phase and ended after the main event at the KeyArena in Seattle in August. The tournament awarded the biggest prize pool in esports history at over $20 million, surpassing the record set at the previous International, with the champion team, Wings Gaming, winning over $9 million.
ELeague, shortened as EL, and stylized as ΞLEAGUE is an esports league and American television show that airs on TBS. It was announced in September 2015 as a partnership between Turner Broadcasting and talent agency WME/IMG. The name "ELeague" was officially unveiled later that year.
The International 2017 (TI7) was the seventh iteration of The International, an annual Dota 2 esports world championship tournament. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, the tournament began with the online qualifier phase in June 2017, and ended after the main event at the KeyArena in Seattle in August. The Grand Finals took place between the European-based Team Liquid and Chinese-based Newbee, with Liquid defeating Newbee 3–0 in a best-of-five series, winning nearly $11 million in prize money.
ESL One Hamburg 2017 was a Dota 2 esports championship tournament hosted by ESL. It took place in Hamburg, Germany in October 2017. This is the first ESL One event held in Hamburg, after three previous ESL One events in Germany were held in Frankfurt. In accordance with the new Dota 2 competitive season format set by Valve, the game's developer, the tournament will be the first Dota 2 Major tournament of the 2017 Dota Pro Circuit season.
ESL One Genting 2017 was a Dota 2 esports championship tournament hosted by ESL that took place in Genting Highlands, Malaysia, in January 2017. The tournament involved eight teams, which included three directly invited teams and five teams each represented qualifying regions of Americas, China, Europe, Malaysia and Southeast Asia. In the finals, Digital Chaos defeated Newbee 3–2 to win the tournament and their first major trophy. The 3rd place of the tournament went to The International 2016 champions Wings Gaming and Virtus.pro.
The International 2018 (TI8) was the eighth iteration of The International, an annual Dota 2 world championship esports tournament. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, TI8 followed a year-long series of tournaments awarding qualifying points, known as the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC), with the top eight ranking teams being directly invited to the tournament. In addition, ten more teams earned invites through qualifiers that were held in June 2018, with the group stage and main event played at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver in August. The best-of-five grand finals took place between OG and PSG.LGD, with OG winning the series 3–2. Their victory was considered a Cinderella and underdog success story, as they had come from the open qualifiers and were not favored to win throughout the competition.
LGD Gaming is a Chinese professional esports organization based in Hangzhou. It is one of the oldest esports organizations in China and currently has players competing in Dota 2, Honor of Kings, League of Legends, Overwatch, and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.
ESL One Cologne 2018 was a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament run by ESL. In July 2018, sixteen teams from around the globe competed in an offline (LAN) tournament that featured a group stage and playoffs with a US$300,000 prize pool. It would be the second consecutive year since Cologne 2016 in which Valve decided to pass up on the historic tournament series as a Major host in favor of the FACEIT Major: London 2018.
Kuro Salehi Takhasomi, better known as KuroKy, is a German and Iranian professional Dota 2 player for Nigma Galaxy. He was a member of Team Liquid that won The International 2017.
The International 2019 (TI9) was the ninth iteration of The International, an annual Dota 2 world championship esports tournament. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, the tournament followed a year-long series of awarding qualifying points, known as the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC), with the top 12 ranking teams being directly invited to the tournament, which took place in August 2019 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai. In addition, six more teams earned invites through regional qualifiers played in July 2019. The grand finals took place between Team Liquid and OG, who had respectively won the International's 2017 and 2018 events. There, OG defeated Team Liquid 3–1 in the best-of-five series to become the first-ever repeat champion of an International.
ESL One Cologne 2019 is a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament run by ESL. In July 2019, sixteen teams from around the globe competed in an offline (LAN) tournament that featured a group stage and playoffs with a US$300,000 prize pool. This event and Intel Extreme Masters Season XIV - Chicago were the last events before teams playing at StarLadder Major: Berlin 2019 took a month break before heading to the Major.
The International 2021, also known as The International 10 (TI10), was the tenth iteration of The International, an annual Dota 2 world championship esports tournament. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, the tournament followed a year-long series of tournaments awarding qualifying points, known as the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC), with the top 12 ranking teams being directly invited to the tournament. In addition, six more teams earned invites through regional qualifiers held earlier in 2021. The tournament took place in Bucharest, Romania, with the main event held behind closed doors at the Arena Națională due to restrictions on gatherings in the city.
Team Spirit is an international esports organization based in Belgrade. Founded in 2015, the organization currently has teams competing in Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, Hearthstone and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. Their Dota 2 squad won two iterations of The International, the former event in which the organisation received the largest single prize money payout in esports history at $18 million. In 2022, as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the organization relocated from Moscow to Belgrade, Serbia.
Newbee (1st title)
Evil Geniuses 
