Opening fixtures for The International 2025 revealed ahead of Dota 2’s season-ending event

Kieran Lynch, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 02/09/2025

Valve has released the opening set of fixtures for Dota 2’s season-ending event, The International 2025.

The tournament is set to begin on Thursday, September 4th, with 16 teams heading to Hamburg, Germany, to take part.

On Tuesday morning, Valve confirmed the Round 1 matches, which will take place on the opening day.

The International 2025 opening fixtures

One of the most notable fixtures on the opening day of The International 2025 features Team Liquid.

Team Liquid go into the tournament as defending champions after beating Gaimin Gladitors 3-0 in last year’s final.

This time around, Team Liquid will start its defence against Boom Esports, who secured a place at the tournament through the Southeast Asian regional qualifiers.

Team Liquid are one of seven invited teams taking part in the tournament. Dota 2 betting enthusiasts typically favour the invited teams as likely winners.

The likes of PARIVISION, BetBoom, Team Spirit and Team Falcons join Team Liquid among the favourites for success this time around.

Other notable matches include Team Falcons vs Team Nemesis, PARIVISION vs HEROIC and Tundra Esports vs Yakutou Brothers.

Below is the full list of opening fixtures on September 4th, with all times BST.

• Aurora Gaming vs Xtreme Gaming (Stream A, 11am)
• Team Spirit vs Wildcard (Stream B, 11am)
• Team Falcons vs Team Nemesis (Stream C, 11am)
• Tundra Esports vs Yakutou Brothers (Stream D, 11am)
• PARIVISION vs HEROIC (Stream A, 2pm)
• Team Liquid vs Boom Esports (Stream B, 2pm)
• BetBoom vs Nigma Galaxy (Stream C, 2pm)
• Team Tidebound vs NAVI Jr (Stream D, 2pm)

Late changes ahead of The International

There has been some late drama ahead of The International 2025, which is the 14th edition of Valve’s season-ending annual tournament for Dota 2.

On Monday, it was revealed that Tundra Esports had been forced to make a roster change ahead of the event.

Matthew ‘Whitemon’ Filemon was unable to represent the British esports organisation after unforeseen visa issues in the lead-up to the tournament.

Whitemon, in a video on X, said: “As you probably already know, I won’t be going to The International this year. We did everything we could with the visa, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out this time.

“I’m sad that I’ll be missing the biggest event of the year.”

Tundra Esports’ opening opponents, Yakutou Brothers, were a late addition to the tournament.

This came after last year’s defeated finalists, Gaimin Gladiators, withdrew from the competition due to contractual disputes within the team.

Nick Cuccovillo, co-founder and president of Gaimin Gladiators, said: “I want to share that Gaimin Gladiators won’t be competing at TI this year. Some internal matters between the players and the organisation made it impossible for us to move forward with a roster.

“For now, I can’t go into more detail as there are legal considerations involved, but I’ll share more when I’m able to.”

Kieran Lynch, Senior Editor

Kieran Lynch is an esports journalist who writes about several games including EA Sports FC 25, Call of Duty, Rainbox Six Siege, and more. He previously worked as a sports journalist for MailOnline.

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