n style=”font-weight: 400;”>Evil Geniuses is going to The International 2019!

The enduring Dota 2 organization locked up a direct invite at the DreamLeague Major by eliminating Ninjas in Pyjamas in the second round of the lower bracket. That victory guaranteed the team enough Dota Pro Circuit points to qualify for the year’s biggest tournament.

EG’s 2018-2019 Dota Pro Circuit season has been successful in spite of a lack of titles. EG’s efforts have been almost exclusively focused on Dota Pro Circuit events this season with the team rarely competing outside of the majors.

That approach may not be the most lucrative in the short term, but it does allow the squad to focus its efforts on earning qualifying points for The International 2019. Majors pay out a total of 15,000 qualifying points to participants, with first-place finishers earning 4,950. The 12 teams with the most DPC qualifying points at the end of the season earn direct invitations to TI9.

Teams that have earned a total of 4,591 have mathematically guaranteed themselves a spot in the top 12, per Liquipedia. Kuala Lumpur Major winner Virtus.pro and Chongqing Major winner Team Secret have both locked down spots through those efforts alone, but EG has taken a longer road.

Evil Geniuses took third place at both previous majors, which yielded 2,100 points each. By defeating NiP at the DreamLeague Major, the team reached the top eight of the event with its guaranteed minimum of 450 qualifying points. That brings EG’s total on the season to 4,650, which clears the requirement to ensure a top-12 finish.

EG, Virtus.pro, and Team Secret are the only teams that have a berth at TI9 locked up, but they will likely have more company before long. With a top prize of 4,950 points, the winner of the DreamLeague Major will qualify outright. Fellow elite team PSG.LGD performed well enough in Kuala Lumpur and Chongqing to potentially earn a spot simply by reaching the grand final.

Though every team is technically still in the hunt to make it to TI9, hopefuls are running out of opportunities to secure a spot in the event.

After this tournament in Stockholm, there are just two DPC majors remaining with the MDL Disneyland Paris Major in May and the Epicenter Major in June. Teams looking to take that trip to Shanghai need to start putting points on the board, or else they will be forced to compete in a treacherous qualifier field.