Outsiders snubbed for Fnatic for Dota 2's The International 11

The 2022 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season is now closed, with Team Spirit winning the Arlington Major, and teams are getting ready for The International 11(TI11) in Singapore this coming October. Winning enough DPC points means qualified teams get invited to the most lucrative esport tournament in the world, while the other teams will have to battle it out in the closed qualifiers.

Surviving through the closed qualifiers is difficult, as multiple teams from each region had to go through numerous gruelling matches to attend TI11. On the other hand, qualified teams have the luxury of focusing their entire efforts and resources on the event itself. Such is not the case for Outsiders, who have been booted out of the top 12 qualified teams for TI11. Fnatic replaces them, a move that has divided the community.

Outsiders, the tag used by the Dota 2 team Virtus.pro, accumulated 1,020.05 DPC points per the website Liquipedia and were initially included in the top 12 teams. Fnatic’s loss to Beastcoast during the Lower Bracket Round 1 closed their TI invite dreams, with Fnatic ending up with 1,020 DPC points. Valve has something different to say, however.

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Credit: Valve

Valve’s points system isn’t what the community thought it was

Throughout the DPC, Valve has implemented a points system that considers roster changes and penalties. Teams must be able to lock rosters within a specified time frame to be able to avoid penalties and deductions. This means that roster transfers, stand-ins, and roster addition and removals incur different percentages of penalties based on the timing of the roster changes.

For Outsiders, Valve deducted a total of 109.945 points due to their player removals and stand-in. This meant their final DPC points were just 1,020.05. Each time they received a penalty, Valve did not count the partial points, and the resulting DPC points always ended up as a whole number, resulting in a final 1,019 DPC points per Dota 2’s website. Fnatic never received any penalties during the season, so their final DPC points at the time of the announcement are at 1,020.

This has resulted in mixed reactions throughout the community, with fans from either team expressing their concern about how Valve handled the ruling. However, Reddit users like u/Critical_Pea_4837 explained the maths behind it and how Valve exercised the same ruling in last year’s The International 10.

With the final 12 teams already announced, Outsiders must now face the challenges of the regional qualifiers. The top teams from each region during the qualifiers will get the chance to go to Singapore. Still, another qualifier called the Last Chance Qualifier tournament will pit the second and third placers for a slot in The International 11. While we may not see Outsiders attend as one of the top 12 teams, they still have the chance to compete in TI.

For now, Fnatic will have to get ready to prove themselves this October. For more competitive news, you can check out the latest story about Warzone’s controversial World Series. Be sure to stay updated on everything about Dota here.