Is PARIVISION cursed? Let's find out how often the leader of the group stage wins at The International

PARIVISION became the sole leader of the group stage of The International 2026 in Dota 2. Perhaps for her this result is a harbinger of the future championship of the Satanic roster, but for others it is a black mark that closes the path to Aegis, because the winners of the group stage do not take the trophy in the end. Let's look at what places at TI are usually occupied by the teams that dominate the group stage, and in general how often do they then become champions.

The International 2025

Last year, the format of the group stage was identical, and its results turned out to be quite unpredictable - just look at the elimination of Team Spirit and the then-current champions from Team Liquid.

• The leader of the group stage was Xtreme Gaming - it eventually reached the finals, but lost, finishing in second place.
• The winners of the tournament, Team Falcons, finished the group with a stats of 3:2, that is, they did not even enter the top 3.

The International 2024

At TI 2024 the format was different - four quartets of four teams. But even with this configuration, none of the group stage leaders made it to Aegis. However, it is worth mentioning that the format was strange back then: no one was eliminated from the quartets, and even if you took first place, you did not immediately get into the upper playoff bracket, but went to the play-offs.

• The leaders of the groups were Xtreme Gaming, Cloud9, Team Falcons, Team Spirit - none of them even reached the top 3.
• The tournament winners from Team Liquid were second in their group.

The International 2023

And again we have four groups, the only difference is that each had five teams, one of which was eliminated.

• The group leaders were Team Spirit, Team Liquid, LGD Gaming, Tundra Esports. Actually, it was Spirit, who did not give up a single card to opponents in the group, who eventually became the champion.

The International 2022

TI 2022 plays for both camps - both those for whom winning the group is an indicator of their playing form, and those for whom it is a black mark. Because that year there were two groups, and their winners had diametrically opposed stories.

• The leaders of the groups were Evil Geniuses and Tundra Esports. EG failed in the playoffs, losing both matches and dropping out of the top 12. But Tundra eventually became the champion, who gave away only one map during the entire playoffs.

The International 2021

The anniversary TI took place without spectators in an empty stadium, so logically the results of the playoffs should not differ much from the group stage. But things didn't go quite according to plan. And the group stage itself then consisted of two groups of nine teams.

• The leaders of the group were LGD Gaming and Invictus Gaming. The former eventually reached the final, but lost, finishing in second place. And IG reached the top 4.
• And Team Spirit, which won the tournament, was only fourth in its group.

The International 2019

The last TI of the golden era. And here the results of the group almost completely predicted the eventual finalists of the tournament.

• The leaders of the groups were LGD Gaming and OG. The first one reached the top 3 at the home tournament, and OG became the champion.

The International 2018

One of the most unpredictable TIs in history. And again two groups of nine teams.

• The group leaders were Team Liquid and Team VGJ. The first then reached the top 4, and the second completely flew out at the top 8 level.
• But the future champions from OG took only fourth place in the group.

The International 2017

And in 2017, where there was a similar format, the group stage became a good spoiler for the playoffs.

• The leaders of the groups were Team Liquid and LGD.Forever Young. The Chinese reached the top 3, and Liquid became the champion.

The International 2016

In 2016, before the start of TI, the Wings roster was not among the main favorites. And the group stage did not improve the team’s chances. But in the playoffs everything turned upside down.

• The leaders of the groups were OG and EHOME. OG then sensationally failed in the playoffs and finished only in the top 12. EHOME has a slightly better result, but is still weak for the leader of the group - only top 6.
• But the future champions from Wings Gaming finished the group stage in third place.

The International 2015

The case where the group stage literally predicted the final three. Then, in fact, the main sensation was the early departure of Secret from VP, but the Puppey team was only second in the group, so it has nothing to do with our story.

• Even though there were only two groups, three teams can be called leaders. If in group A the sole leader was LGD Gaming (eventually took third place), then in group B the leadership was shared by two teams - Evil Geniuses and CDEC Gaming. They were the ones who ended up in the finals. Well, as you remember, EG and young SumaiL emerged victorious from that confrontation.

The International 2014

The International 2014 had the strangest format in the history of the tournament. There was only one group, but everyone had to play with everyone, so that later they could go into additional matches (not one-match ones).

• Vici Gaming then became the leader of this crazy group. In the playoffs, she reached the final, but lost, finishing second.
• But the future winners from Newbee took only NINTH place in the group. The team was forced to play three play-off matches to reach the playoffs. There were such times.

The International 2013

This is where the balance of power in the playoffs became a complete copy of the events of the group stage.

• The leaders of the group stage were Natus Vincere and Alliance. It was they who met in the final.

The International 2012

Yes, at the first The International the group stage was indeed a harbinger for the future owner of Aegis. After all, in 2012 the story is very similar.

• The leaders of the group stage were LGD Gaming and Invictus Gaming. The former eventually finished in third place, while the latter became tournament champions.

The International 2011

The history of The International began with a group stage of four quartets. Everyone advanced from the groups, but the two best teams went to the upper bracket, and the two worst teams went to the lower bracket.

• Natus Vincere then became the leader of the group, and later conquered Aegis. In the final, by the way, NAVI met with the leader of another quartet - EHOME.

So is there a curse of first place for a group?

• In eight out of 14 cases, The International champion was the team that took first place in the group stage.
• Six times the winner of The International was a team that did not lead in the group stage. However, this happened three times in the last five TIs.
• Only at three The Internationals did the leader (or leaders) of the group stage not reach the top 3 - in 2016, 2018 and 2024. Well, we can celebrate 2022 separately. where one leader became a champion, and the second finished in the top 12.

It turns out that winning in the group stage of The International is much safer than being considered a favorite before the start of the championship, and even more so - winning in the group statistically more often leads to Aegis. So in this regard, PARIVISION fans can exhale and boldly slap the Satanic lineup for the championship in their forecasts, as most editors did. But with the curse of “favorite before the start of the tournament” everything is more complicated. Few people have been able to cope with him in recent years. And it was PARIVISION that was considered the main contender for Aegis before the start of the championship. So perhaps the intrigue is still alive.

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