Team Nemesis takes the first SEA qualifier spot for The International 2025

Southeast Asia’s first qualified squad for The International 2025 is set, as Team Nemesis stun Talon Esports.

Qualifiers for The International 2025 continue today, with both Southeast Asia and Western Europe searching for their challengers to the Aegis of Champions. While both regions have two available slots to claim, the first for SEA has now been secured. Surprisingly, it came from an open qualifier team featuring a full-Philippine’s roster and some very well-known names in the Dota 2 world.

Team Nemesis dominates the SEA qualifier

In March 2025, Team Nemesis came to life. It was only around 6 weeks later, after replacing two players, that the team began what would be an epic journey. Entering the Open Qualifiers for SEA for TI 2025, Nemesis quickly fell, but they had one more chance. The second open qualifier would see the team go completely unbeaten as they cruised into the closed qualifier.

With a long road ahead of them, Nemesis got to work, taking down every challenger in their path. Starting with revenge from the first open qualifier, they sent Tech Free Gaming into the lower bracket. After this came two huge wins over BOOM Esports and Execration, before they settled into the upper bracket final against Talon Esports.

On June 16th, the unthinkable happened, as Nemesis took down the probable favourites, Talon. The team’s celebrations were immense, as they had battled through two open qualifiers and some of the toughest opponents in the SEA region to claim their spot at The International 2025.

The full Team Nemesis roster is:

• Eljohn Canonigo “Akashi” Andales
• Mc Nicholson “Mac” Villanueva
• Marc Polo “Raven” Luis Fausto
• John Rey “Jing” Yee Duyan
• Erice “Erice” Guerra

A few TIs over the years have seen fully Philippines-based teams compete. Mineski were there when it all began in 2011 at TI1, before Execration secured the SEA regional qualifier spot in 2017. However, in that very same year, Raven made it to TI with almost a full stack of PH players – before returning a year later with TNC Predator to fight alongside his countrymen. Now, in 2025, another contingent of PH players will look to challenge for the Aegis of Champions, as Team Nemesis will step out onto the stage in Hamburg, Germany, later this year.

The final spot remaining for SEA at TI 2025 will be decided between BOOM Esports, Talon Esports, and Execration. While Talon has already been locked in for the upcoming Esports World Cup, Execration joined them via the qualifiers, leaving BOOM as the only team without a spot at the two biggest Dota 2 events of the year.