With five days to go until Dota 2’s The International 2023, Team SMG announced that TI-winner Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov would join the squad as a stand-in.
This decision followed Natthaphon “Masaros” Ouanphakdee’s unsuccessful attempts to secure a US visa for TI 2023.
While MinD_ContRoL takes the ropes in the offlane for Team SMG during TI12’s group stages, the organization assured fans that they were still working on resolving Masaros’ visa situation. This indicated that the Thai offlaner could join the event in its second or third week, provided SMG advanced to the second leg of the tournament.
Per TI 2023’s major format overhaul, the event will begin on Oct. 12 with a three-day long group stage period. The playoffs weekend will start on Oct. 20, meaning Masaros will have 13 more days to secure a visa.
MinD_ContRoL had a challenging season with Nigma Galaxy in 2023, but the player became the ultimate mercenary toward late spring, standing in for OG at the Berlin Major and then DreamLeague Season 21. Having failed to qualify for any big events with Nigma, MinD_ContRoL has been away from the public eye, and the former TI champion’s impressive performances served as a reminder of his skill to fans.
Visa applications even overshadowed DreamLeague Season 21, and more can surface before TI 2023 kicks off. Considering how difficult it is to qualify for Dota 2’s prime-time event, missing it due to visa problems would undoubtedly be a devastating blow to anyone affected.
However, even though TI holds a special place in Dota 2 players’ hearts, it’s unlikely to become the biggest Dota 2 event of 2023 with its flatlining prize pool. This year, Riyadh Masters 2023 stepped its prize pool to $15 million, a number that TI 2023 is unlikely to get near due to the Compendium with no real content.
