One of the best and biggest names in the Dota 2 will be missing this year’s iteration of Dota 2’s The International after crashing out of the regional last-chance qualifiers.
Team Aster, one of the biggest names in pro-Dota, will not be at October’s TI 12 after defeats to Xtreme Gaming and Team Bright; Aster won’t be attending TI 12 in October.
Aster’s chances of picking the sole Chinese spot in the last-chance qualifier ended in a back-to-back series of defeats on Aug. 19 and 20. The outcome meant that the likes of Xtreme or Azure Ray battled it out for a slim chance of picking up in the upper bracket on early Sunday morning.
It’s a disappointing end to the season for Aster, who, after closing out 2022 with a top-four finish at The International, couldn’t scrape past the quarter-finals at any international event in 2023.
The result could also impact the stay of superstar Syed “SumaiL” Hassan in China, whose plans for the DPC next season are unknown.
The Midlander joined Aster in May, to the dismay of many who were shocked at his decision to go to the East. Prior to that, he was a stand-in for them at the Berlin Major, and his first two tournaments in which he played regionally with Aster ended in top-eight finishes at the Berlin Major and at Riyadh Masters.
SumaiL’s last edition of The International was a disappointing 2022 stint with Nigma Galaxy, where they fell short of qualifying in a competitive European TI qualifier last year. Nigma continues to fall down the ranks after SumaiL’s departure, and they go into the upper bracket in this year’s Western Europe qualifier with a lot of doubters.
Meanwhile, the Dota 2 Chinese last-chance qualifier ends on Aug. 21.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
