TI2025 Eastern Europe qualifiers: Teams to look out for

Dota 2 has officially entered the TI season! The closed regional qualifiers for The International 2025 (TI2025) begin on June 4 with 10 Eastern European teams fighting for just one slot.

EEU is bound to be represented by four teams at The International 2025. PARIVISION, BetBoom Team and the double TI champions, Team Spirit, have dominated the season and earned a direct invite from Valve. One more will join them from the EEU closed qualifiers, and if we are to look at the recent results, Aurora Gaming are the favourites.

But things have never been that easy in Dota 2. No frontrunner can feel safe when the stakes are this high and there are a few other competitors in the EEU qualifiers who can deliver the upsets.

Aurora, despite not achieving the top results that would have granted them a direct invite to TI, managed to stay in the middle of the pack, which was enough to get them directly invited to most of the Tier 1 tournaments this season. That was a blessing throughout the season, of course, but it might cost them in regional battles, as they have little to no official matches against the teams they will now have to face in the qualifiers.

Who can steal Aurora’s ticket to TI?

Aurora’s biggest rival in the EEU qualifiers for TI2025 is Natus Vincere (NAVI). The latter went to a few LANs this season but with no notable results. They also went through a few roster changes this year alone, but they seemed to have found a fitting formula in March when they welcomed back Artem "Yuragi" Golubiev and also took Matthew "Ari" Walker on loan from OG. Last month, they also changed their mid laner and welcomed Philipp "Copy" Bühler to their ranks. All current NAVI players have been competing at TI previously, and they are all acquainted with what type of pressure the regional qualifiers for Dota 2’s pinnacle tournament can bring.

NAVI roster for TI2025 EEU qualifiers

• Artem "Yuragi" Golubiev
• Philipp "Copy" Bühler
• Miroslav "BOOM" Bičan
• Matthew "Ari" Walker
• Oleh "kaori" Medvedok
• coach: Milan "MiLAN" Kozomara

Aurora and NAVI played against each other in only two series this year, in the DreamLeague Season 26 EEU qualifier, in April. However, they never had an official match since NAVI added Copy to their team, and that can be a bonus for NAVI.

NAVI, who once had the most TI grand finals appearances and has the honour of having in their trophy case the very first Aegis of Champions, won at TI1 in 20211, hasn’t been to The International since 2019.

A lot has changed in Dota 2 since the NAVI golden years, but if there is a year when this legendary Ukrainian organisation should make a comeback, then this is it. TI2025 is hosted in Germany, where it all began, with a young Danil "Dendi" Ishutin defining how mid lane is played and with NAVI winning the hearts of every Dota 2 fan.

But besides NAVI, Aurora need to be wary of other teams too. L1ga Team and Alexey "Solo" Berezin’s team, Cyber Goose, are the dark horses who can take everyone by surprise.

There is only one ticket up for grabs in the Eastern Europe closed qualifiers, which begin today, June 4 and will end on the 7th, so stay tuned to catch all the updates and see who will join PARIVISION, BetBoomTeam and Team Spirit at The International 2025.