As time winds down, The International 2 world championship gets closer and closer. The last two available invitational slots for the upcoming world championship in Seattle, The International 2, has been given to Russia's Team M5 (Moscow Five) and Malaysia's Team MUFC (MUFC eSports). Now the only remaining slots will be the Wild Card for the west and east, that will take place from the 6th to 10th of June. It will feature eight teams on each side facing each other off in a double-elimination style tournament to determine who will get the last two spots.
Team MUFC recently place 2nd place in The Evolution Malaysia Grand Final as they lost to their fellow countrymen Team Orange (Orange eSports) in the final round. Team MUFC played calm and composed, giving Team Orange all they could handle but in the end it was Orange that took home the prize. Just a few days later, MUFC defeated Team AL (Absolute Legends) from Australia in the Gigabyte Dota 2 Masters tournament. Absolute Legends has already gotten the invitation for The International 2, further proving that MUFC can quickly get over painful losses to move forward and take on what's ahead.
Team M5 (Moscow Five) is a familiar face in The International tournament scene, as they placed 5th place in last year's tournament when it took place in Cologne, Germany. They took home a prize of $35,000 as they lost to the eventual champions from Ukraine, Na'Vi (Natus Vincere) in the first round of the winners bracket and crashed into the 2nd place of the tournament, Team EHOME from China. Some may say that M5 were unlucky to have faced the top 2 in the tournament and they disbanded as a result of a poor finish in the tournament. This time around we will be seeing a different team in Moscow Five, as the original captain Vladimir "PGG" Anosov is back with a whole new crew that has been dominating several tournaments online and offline since earlier this year.
Moscow Five and MUFC met in last year's The International with M5 winning in the group stage. We may see another similar match up as the two teams both qualified, looking tougher than they did last year and will be around to make a statement. Both teams will be capable of even upsetting some of the higher seeded teams but they will be considered tough underdogs against most of the other already qualified teams.
With a little less than three months to go until the much anticipated Dota 2 tournament, The International 2, things are starting to shape up and give us an idea of what to expect. There will be many favorites to win it all this year but only one will be champion. Will the Ukranian defending champion, Na'Vi reclaim the crown? Will one of the four Chinese powerhouse teams take it or perhaps one of their other Asian rivals? Will it be possible for any of the American teams to get away with it? Only time will tell for now, but stay tuned as we'll soon find out which teams will be taking the last two wild card slots for The International 2!
