Both teams did not officially state their reasons for declining a chance to compete in this year’s iteration of Dota 2’s annual world championship tournament.
Prominent Eastern European Dota 2 teams Natus Vincere Junior (NAVI Jr) and Virtus.pro (VP) have surprisingly declined their invitations to The International 2025’s Eastern European regional qualifier, as announced by tournament organiser PGL.
NAVI Jr’s withdrawal was confirmed on 18 May, which was then followed by VP’s on 21 May. This marks the first time VP will miss a TI qualifier or main event since they entered the Dota 2 competitive scene all the way back in 2012.
Neither NAVI Jr nor VP have shared an official reason for their surprising decision to walk away from a chance to compete in TI 2025, this year’s iteration of Dota 2’s annual world championship tournament.
Some within the Dota 2 community have speculated a possible scheduling conflict to be the cause of VP’s absence. The TI 2025 Eastern European qualifier runs from 4 to 8 June, overlapping with the MESWA (Middle East and Southwest Asia) qualifier for the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2025’s Dota 2 tournament, scheduled for 8 to 10 June.
Despite being based in Eastern Europe, VP recently began competing in the MESWA region for the DreamLeague Season 26 qualifiers. It is likely they will continue in this region for the EWC, aligning with their decision to skip the TI 2025 qualifiers.
As for NAVI Jr, their decision to withdraw could be due to a conflict of interest. Both the academy and main NAVI rosters were initially expected to compete in the Eastern European qualifier together. But the former likely forfeited due to Dota 2 developer Valve Software’s prohibition on teams of the same organisation competing at TI.
Given that NAVI had finalized its main roster earlier this year, the organisation may have chosen to prioritise its primary team over the academy squad. Though some fans have questioned the decision, as NAVI Junior has been more active and arguably more successful during the season.
TI 2025 qualifiers begin soon
With two teams forfeiting, TI 2025’s Eastern European qualifier now has two empty slots, which will be filled by additional Open Qualifier teams. A total of six teams from the Open Qualifier will be ing the four remaining directly-invited teams in Aurora Gaming, Natus Vincere, One Move, and L1GA TEAM to compete for the one coveted slot to TI.
The TI qualifier phase is just around the corner, with open qualifiers set to take place from 31 May to 1 June, followed by a second open qualifier from 2 to 3 June. The closed regional qualifiers will then round up the champions of each region, with the schedule and slot allocation per region as follows:
- Eastern Europe (1 slot): 4 – 8 June
- South America (1 slot): 4 – 8 June
- North America (1 slot): 9 – 12 June
- China (1 slot): 9 – 12 June
- Western Europe (2 slots): 13 – 17 June
- Southeast Asia (2 slots): 13 – 17 June
