Team Zero qualifies for TI13 in the China Regional Qualifiers

Team Zero qualifies for The International 2024 (TI13) after defeating Azure Ray in the upper bracket finals of the TI13 China Regional Qualifiers.

They secure the first spot for the crown jewel Dota 2 event while Azure Ray gets another chance to qualify through the lower bracket finals.

Team Zero secures the #1 seed for TI13 in China Regional Qualifiers

Team Zero’s Road to The International began in the upper bracket of TI13 China Regional Qualifiers, as one of the invited teams in the CQ’s, against Spiky Gaming, a relatively unknown team.

Facing a team on a rampage, Spiky Gaming put up a tough fight against Team Zero, but lost the series with a score of 2:1. However, Team Zero would soon face the formidable G2.iG, a team looking in pristine form, in their next series.

Photo: Valve

Fresh off their dominating series against , G2.iG wanted to make quick work of Team Zero, but ultimately, the latter had a better grasp of the meta and won the series 2:1, thus proceeding to face Azure Ray in the upper bracket finals for a spot at The International 2024 (TI13).

After a convincing victory against LGD Gaming in the semi finals, Team Zero marched on to face the absolute favourites, Azure Ray for the first spot for TI 2024. Team Zero won the first game, giving their opponents no chance to mount a comeback. Tz’s Muerta pick was a pleasant surprise for AR to handle and was enough to get the job done.

However, AR wasn’t about to give in to Tz’s dominating performance and amped up their performance in the second game with classic Leshrac, Faceless Void, Centaur and Phoenix draft, opting for a AoE based gameplay.

Tz's surprise pick

As a result, Tz opted for another surprise pick, Pugna, trying to take AR by surprise, again. But this time, the beasts were ready to feast and ended the game in 35 minutes, tossing away Tz’s element of surprise like a candy, and tying the series 1:1.

The deciding game of the series was a one-sided affair with Team Zero surviving an early onslaught AR. Both teams opted for heavy-push-late-game-oriented heroes with Tz picking Terrorblade and Tz picking Drow Ranger as their carry.

AR also picked Pugna while Tz picked Treant Protector, both trying to surprise the other. Terrorblade’s pushing prowess, courtesy of Metamorphosis, gave AR an early edge as they secured towers and built momentum.

A decisive Roshan kill at 34 minutes gave AR the boost to knock Tz off-balance by securing a tier-3 tower in the bottom lane.

By 37 minutes, all of Tz’s outer towers were gone and AR headed for the win but a grave miscalculation resulted in Tz winning a crucial team fight, and picking off three heroes in process.

Misery had struck Azure Ray as Team Zero picked off multiple cores in the next 10 minutes and turned positive from a 11k gold deficit. Terrorblade’s pick offs were clinical that gave Team Zero the momentum to mount a comeback and win the deciding game, thus qualifying for their first LAN appearance at The International 2024 (TI13).

This underdog victory injects a surge of excitement into the Chinese Dota 2 community. Team Zero’s success is a testament to the depth of talent in the region and a beacon of hope for aspiring players.

A chance at redemption: TI13 China Regional Qualifiers continues

Azure Ray, G2.iG and Team Turtle get a second chance at redemption to secure the last spot for The International 2024 through the TI13 China qualifiers.

G2.iG has a battle to prepare for against the underdogs Team Turtle, and have an ardent task ahead, provided they win against Azure Ray — the second best Chinese Dota 2 team.

Nonetheless, Azure Ray waits for their next prey, hungry to avenge its defeat at the hands of Team Zero, and punch their tickets to TI13.

Keep watching BLAST.tv for the latest updates on The International 2024 as the regional qualifiers are in full swing.