Timur “Ahilles” Kulmukhamvetov, the coach for Dota 2 team 1win Team, has responded to the list of teams invited to The International 2025 closed qualifiers. The coach highlighted that Valve did not extend an invitation to his team and also discussed the distribution of slots across different regions. Kulmukhamvetov shared his views in posts on Telegram.
I don`t know if this is fake or not. But the presence of 2 slots for Asia is surprising. And why we are not in the closed qualifiers I also don`t know 🥴. This is the qualifier for TI, just so you know. I wouldn`t be surprised if next year teams from CIS go to Mongolia to play qualifiers. It will clearly be easier to grab slots for tournaments. P.S. Two slots for Europe is also a meme. If you follow the scene, you understand what I mean.
Ahilles also speculated on why Valve invited One Move to the closed stage instead of 1win Team.
Zero negativity or claims against One Move. Just trying to understand the logic of inviting them and not us. 1. Did they make fewer roster changes? No, currently diffusal and notime from the initial roster are playing for them at the tournament. Maybe older players are on the registration list, who knows. 2. Results in recent high-tier tournaments: at Fissure Universe we placed 9-12, One Move 15-16. DreamLeague qualifiers: we took 3rd place, they took 5-6th. 3. We have more EPT points. In short, there are more questions than answers. I have no doubt that we will get through the open qualifiers. But playing them is a waste of time and you show what you play (strategies). Better to rest and play scrims than that. 🌞
Finley Holt