All TI winners in Dota 2 history

Each esport has its pinnacle tournament; from League of Legends' World Championship to Counter-Strike's Majors, players want nothing more than to imprint their names into esports history. Dota 2 is no different thanks to The International — a massive tournament with teams coming from far and wide hoping to stamp their names onto the Aegis of Champions.

Fifty-five players to date have defeated all others to claim the pinnacle trophy, and we're remembering each one below in our list of all TI winners in Dota 2 history.

2011 was when it all began for TI, and it was NaVi who emerged triumphant over EHOME to take out the million-dollar prize. Players like Puppey, Dendi, and XBOCT became superstars overnight, and such was the height of the prize pool, some of the world's top squads didn't believe the event was real so they didn't even attend.

The beginning of the East vs. West Dota rivalry. Invictus Gaming came from the lower bracket to deny NaVi a back-to-back Aegis. This was China's first win at TI, and it cemented the likes of ChuaN and Zhou as all-time greats of the MOBA.

The infamous "rat Dota" era was dominated by Alliance, who put up one of the most one-sided runs at the big event. NaVi gave it their all, pushing the Swedes to five matches in a grand final for the ages. Seriously, this TI had it all; a buzzing Benaroya Hall, Dendi's infamous fountain hooks, and s4's million-dollar Dream Coil (via NoobFromUA).

The Aegis of Champions returned to China with Newbee's win over ViCi Gaming. Alongside DK (fourth), Chinese squads dominated 2014's edition of the event that saw the end of NaVi and the beginning of the rise of North America. This year's prize pool shot to a record $10.9 million thanks to crowdfunding — a record that wouldn't last long.

NA's rise in Dota was timed to perfection with Evil Geniuses trouncing surprise packets CDEC to take out TI 2015. The likes of SumaiL, UNiVeRsE, Aui, and ppd became legendary figures of the esport, cemented thanks to the "six-million dollar Dunk" (via NoobFromUA).

Wings' win in 2016 was arguably the most impressive from a Dota tactician's standpoint. The Chinese squad was highly adaptable, playing multiple different heroes and lineups through their near-undefeated run to the Aegis. Miracle-makers Digital Chaos met them in the final, but they were no match for Wings.

Liquid's TI7 run remains one of the greatest in Dota history. A loss in the upper bracket opener meant the KuroKy-led team had to make a full lower-bracket run to the grand final. They did just that; Miracle- became a household name in professional Dota, MATUMBAMAN wreaked havoc whilst wearing board shorts on stage, and Liquid carved through the best teams in the world to lift the Aegis after a 3-0 sweep of Newbee in the final.

Liquipedia infamously listed OG 18th in the TI power rankings ahead of the big show in 2018 after the all-star squad only just made it to the tournament thanks to the European regional qualifiers. What followed was a miraculous run powered by "friendship," as N0tail would say. Topson rose from the doldrums of the MMR leaderboard to the top step of Dota alongside Australian player ana, and OG completed the most unlikely run in TI history with a 3-2 grand final epic against PSG.LGD.

From one-off TI glory to the history books. OG became the first team to win multiple TI championships, and they did it back-to-back in the most unlikely of ways. After a lackluster 2019 season, the reigning champs reformed for TI9 and were all but unstoppable. This tournament saw the rise of ana and OG's carry Io, as well as the end of the East-West rivalry at TI — from here, the Aegis never left the hands of a European squad.

The COVID-19 pandemic saw 2020's TI canceled, meaning the community went nuts for the 2021 battle pass. The total prize pool cracked an absurd $40 million, and it was Team Spirit who claimed the lion's share in Romania over Chinese favorites PSG.LGD. Like Liquid at TI7, Spirit had to work for the Aegis; they were forced into the lower bracket early, but outstanding performances from Yatoro and Collapse's infamous Magnus plays saw the European squad triumph.

TI hit Southeast Asia for the first time in 2022, and it was Tundra Esports who took home the Aegis. The squad was truly international, featuring players from five different countries and two continents. They lost just four games of Dota on their way to a one-sided sweep of Puppey's Team Secret in the final. Without the hype of a canceled TI, the prize pool plummeted in 2022 to a paltry (but still ridiculous) $18.9 million.

Spirit followed in OG's footsteps in 2023, becoming the second org and team to win two TIs. This time, Spirit did it with Larl in the mid-lane, taking down LGD and 2023's best team Gaimin Gladiators to win the Aegis. Gaimin won three majors in 2023 and were the certain favorites for TI, but Yatoro and Spirit didn't care, eviscerating GG 3-0 in the final. This was also the first TI not to include a battle pass, which saw Spirit take home as much money as Alliance did a decade earlier.

The reigning champions of TI. Liquid joined OG and Spirit in the highest echelons of TI history, denying Gaimin Gladiators yet again with another grand final sweep. This was 33's second TI win, as well as the first win for American coach Blitz. Again, without a battle pass and just the Compendium, the prize pool fell to $2.6 million — the third-lowest ever.