Will there be a surprise at The International 2023?

This year’s iteration of The International has the lowest prize pool due to the compendium lacking various features. However, despite the 2023 Compendium receiving massive backlash, The International 2023 attracts viewers back to Dota 2 as Valve successfully triggered fans’ nostalgia by bringing back the compendium and moving the tournament back to its home soil, Seattle.

The International 2022 Stage.
Credits: Valve

Moreover, Valve took several crucial notes from last year. They brought back sound-proofed booths. Additionally, there were only minor production issues during the group stages, which delighted the fans. The good news does not end there.

The International 2018.
Credits: Valve

Every TI, Valve has a tradition of surprising the community. As the playoffs will start soon, let’s figure out what surprise Valve has in store for us in the coming days, shall we?

A New Hero

Dota 2 Monkey King.
Credits: Valve

One of the most highly anticipated surprises of The International is the announcement of a new hero, a tradition that Valve has kept since The International 2014. The announcement of Monkey King at The International 2016 marked a turning point for Dota 2 and came with several updates.

Since then, fans awaited the new hero announcement each year, and Valve never fails to deliver.

Muerta Dota 2.
Credits: Valve

At The International 2022, Valve announced Muerta, the latest hero to join the game. While multiple rumours surrounded her arrival, she was the only one who made it to the game. We will have to wait and see if Valve will continue this tradition and introduce a new hero to the game on the main stage of The International 2023.

A New Project

New heroes are not the only thing that got revealed at The International.  In recent years, Valve has revealed two new games, Artifact and Underlords, on The International stage. Although Underlords had some success, Artifact became the biggest flop produced by Valve.

In the previous years, there had been whispers about Valve picking up a new title, Neon Prime. Although the project is a mystery, it is led by Dota 2’s leading developer, Icefrog.

Fans are convinced that the project will get announced at the TI12 because it entered closed beta earlier this year. With the rumour mill already in full swing, we can’t wait to see if this project will be a flop like Artifact or a massive success like Dota 2.

A New In-game Event

In the most recent Valve-published blog post, they promised various new stuff coming to the game once the champions have lifted The Aegis. It even includes arcanas. Moreover, a new game mode could also be what Valve had in store for the coming days.

Turbo Mode Dota 2.
Credits: Valve

The latest game mode, Turbo mode, was introduced five years ago. With the recent changes to the Turbo mode, The International 2023 could see the introduction of a new in-game event.

All the series played on the main stage will be Bo3 series(best of three). The grand finals will be a best of Bo5 series (best of five).

Featured Image Source: Valve

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