Who really owns The International? A regional analysis of TI history

The International has always sold Dota 2 as a global competition, yet the teams carrying each region’s banner have rarely been national squads. Instead, rosters have usually comprised a mix of players from different countries, making team-level labels a poor guide to where TI’s strength actually comes from.

To look beyond the organizations, I analyzed every Dota 2 pro who competed at The International between 2011 and 2026. Across the 15 editions held during that period, the analysis covers 1,282 player representations, each linked to the player’s listed country and region and their team’s final placement.

Here’s what the data reveals about how TI’s global balance of power has shifted over the past 15 years.

No country comes close to China’s historical footprint.

Chinese players account for 280 of the 1,282 representations at The International from 2011–2026. This represents more than double Russia’s 138 and well ahead of Malaysia’s 85 and the United States’ 79 representatives. Adding Macau to the regional grouping takes China’s total to 288, representing 22.5% of all players in TI history.

The more striking figure, though, is what those players actually did with their opportunities.

Chinese players reached the top eight 171 times, reflecting an impressive 61.1% conversion rate. Including Macau takes the regional top-eight total to 176. Additionally, China’s share of deep finishes was about 30% higher than its share of total representation, giving it the strongest index among large regions.

However, that dominance was mainly concentrated in The International’s early years.

Between 2011 and 2016, China supplied 140 of 482 player representations and 98 of the period’s 241 top-eight places. It also contributed 14 champion representatives through Invictus Gaming in 2012, Newbee in 2014, and Wings Gaming in 2016. Wong ‘ChuaN’ Hock Chuan’s Malaysian listing on Invictus Gaming‘s winning roster is why those three titles produce 14 Chinese champion representatives rather than 15.

Since Wings lifted the Aegis in 2016, China has not won a single TI. Chinese players accounted for as much as 35% of all TI representatives in 2015, but that share fell to 12% in 2022 and 9% in 2023. Even though China recovered to 16% in 2026, none of its 13 representatives finished inside the top eight.

Team Spirit‘s triumphs in 2021, 2023, and 2026 are perhaps the clearest symbol of Eastern Europe’s resurgence at TI. However, the roster data shows that the shift extends beyond a single organization.

Eastern Europe supplied 131 player representations across the five Internationals from 2022 to 2026, compared with 75 from Western Europe, 71 from Southeast Asia, and 57 from China. Its share of the field climbed in every edition during that period: 19% in 2022, 29% in 2023, 31% in 2024, 34% in 2025, and 39% in 2026.

Moreover, thirty-one of the 80 players at the latest International were grouped under Eastern Europe, which is more than three times the region’s nine appearances at TI 2019.

This increase has been driven heavily by Russia and Ukraine. More specifically, Russian players recorded 138 TI appearances, reaching the top eight 75 times and winning on 12 of those occasions. Ukraine players added another 70 appearances, including 32 top-eight finishes and eight title-winning runs. 

Together, the two countries make up  208 of Eastern Europe’s 234 appearances, or almost 89%.

Eastern Europe’s recent strength is not purely a volume effect, either. The region secured 68 of the 200 top-eight places available from 2022 to 2026 and 11 champion representations. Overall, Eastern Europe supplied 29.8% of all players from 2022 to 2026 but accounted for 34% of the period’s top-eight appearances

Western Europe comes in second place, behind China with 260 appearances, but leads all regions with 26 TI champion appearances. It has also placed 129 representatives inside the top eight, giving it a 49.6% conversion rate across the full period.

Its championship spread is also quite broad.

Alliance‘s all-Swedish lineup won in 2013, Team Liquid‘s multinational roster triumphed in 2017, and OG followed with back-to-back TI titles in 2018 and 2019. Later, Tundra Esports lifted the Aegis in 2022, Team Liquid returned to the summit in 2024, and the European members of Team Falcons added two more champion representations in 2025.

Sweden has provided more players than any Western European country, recording 65 TI appearances.

Of those, 33 ended in a top-eight finish, and eight claimed the TI title. Finland, Poland, and North Macedonia have fewer representatives, but performed well. Finnish Dota 2 players converted 14 of 19 appearances into top-eight finishes, while Poland and North Macedonia each went six-for-seven.

Those samples are too small to crown them the “strongest countries at TI,” but they show how a limited player base can repeatedly appear on elite multinational rosters.

Across the five most recent editions of TI, Western Europe placed 49 of 75 representatives in the top eight – a 65.3% conversion rate. That was higher than every region with at least 50 appearances during the period, even though Eastern Europe supplied 56 more players.

Southeast Asia produced the most interesting results.

The region accounts for a massive 241 appearances across the dataset, only 19 fewer than Western Europe, but recorded just 80 top-eight finishes and three champion representations. In the most recent five TIs, it recorded 71 appearances and only 11 top-eight results, reflecting a conversion rate of 15.5%.

The same pattern appears at the country level. Malaysia has the third-most player appearances in TI history with 85, while the Philippines ranks sixth with 68. However, Malaysian players have reached the top eight 33 times, compared with just seven for Filipino players.

Among the countries with at least 20 appearances, the Philippines has the lowest top-eight rate at 10.3%, below Brazil’s 11.5%.

South America has followed a different trajectory.

The region had no player representation at TI before 2017. Only five players competed that year, with the number peaking at 22 in 2023. Peru alone accounts for 55 appearances, the eighth-highest total among all countries. However, only 21 of South America’s 87 appearances ended in the top eight, and none claimed a title.

MENA has a very different record.

Its 51 appearances are fewer than a quarter of Southeast Asia’s, but 34 reached the top eight, while six became champions. The 66.7% top-eight rate is the highest of any region, although the relatively smaller number of appearances means it shouldn’t be taken as proof that MENA has TI’s strongest overall talent pool.

Based on this analysis, it’s clear that The International’s country map is far more diverse than it was during Dota 2’s early “China vs. Europe era.” South America is now a permanent part of the field, MENA players are appearing on more elite rosters, and multinational teams have made national boundaries increasingly more porous.

Even so, the very top of TI remains highly selective. China, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe supplied 61.0% of all player representations but 70.5% of all top-eight finishes. They also account for 60 of the 75 champion representations recorded across the 15 editions – exactly 80%.

Though China has recovered a bit in terms of player representation, its original center of gravity has weakened dramatically as it chases its first Aegis in a decade. By contrast, Eastern Europe has expanded into the largest modern talent bloc, while Western Europe remains the most reliable championship connector.

All data, including player rosters, nationality, and final placements, were collected from Liquipedia on Sep. 3, 2026.

The analysis covers all 15 editions of The International from 2011 to 2026, excluding TI10, which was postponed to 2021. A player is counted once for each TI in which they appeared, meaning repeat participants contribute multiple appearances across different years. Country labels follow those shown by Liquipedia for each tournament and do not account for dual nationals.

Players listed on the main roster or separately as substitutes were included, while coaches and other staff were excluded. Notably, TI 2011 produced 82 player appearances. This is because Liquipedia lists six players for Scythe Gaming and includes Roman ‘rmN-’ Paley as a substitute for GosuGamers that year.

For tied placements, players finishing 3rd–4th were included in the top-four totals, while those finishing 5th–6th or 7th–8th were included in the top-eight totals. Countries were subsequently grouped into broader regions to track how TI’s geographical balance has changed over time.