PARIVISION make the Playoffs of TI 2025 as many expected, though it hasn't been the smoothest of journeys for one of the tournament favourites.

Eastern European powerhouse PARIVISION have become the sixth Dota 2 team to advance to the Playoffs of The International (TI) 2025 after they swept North America's Wildcard in the tournament's Elimination Stage on Sunday (7 September). 

While PARIVISION will be among TI 2025's Top 8 teams with this victory as many expected, having to do so through the Elimination Stage may be a disappointing outcome for a squad considered to be among the biggest favourites in the tournament. 

PARIVISION started the Group Stage strong by sweeping HEROIC and Nigma Galaxy in the first two rounds, only to stumble in Round 3 against Team Tidebound. While they bounced back by taking down regional rivals Team Spirit, a surprising loss to BetBoom Team in Round 5 cost them a direct berth to the Playoffs. Instead, PARIVISION had to first survive the Elimination Stage in order to advance to the main event.

Facing PARIVISION were a scrappy Wildcard squad, who have already exceeded expectations by making it to the Elimination Stage. The North American team stumbled to start the tournament after suffering back-to-back losses to Spirit and Aurora Gaming, though they managed to stabilise with a win over Team Nemesis in Round 3. A loss to HEROIC in the next round then put Wildcard at risk of early elimination, which they avoided with a sweep over BOOM Esports to advance to the Elimination Stage.

Satanic leads PARIVISION past Wildcard and into the Playoffs

The series kicked off as many expected, with PARIVISION getting a dominant win in the opening game behind a masterful performance from Alan “Satanic” Gallyamov on Anti-Mage and Volodymyr “No[o]ne” Minenko on Invoker. While Wildcard had a promising start to the game, they could do little to stop PARIVISION's relentless onslaught in the mid game and were eventually forced to call GG after 39 minutes of action.

Satanic paced his team's 27-12 kill lead with a perfect 13-kill, nine-assist performance–to go with over 34,000 gold in net worth, over 10,000 more than the next richest hero in the game–while No[o]ne added a clean five kills and 18 assists of his own.

Game two was a much closer affair, as Wildcard were firmly in control for almost the entire game as Francis “RCY” Fundemera's Void Spirit and Victor “Fayde” Zuev's Dawnbreaker dominated the laning stage and gave Luke “YamSun” Wang's Alchemist free rein to farm. Despite strong teamfight ultimates in Chronosphere from Satanic's Faceless Void and Black Hole from Dmitry “DM” Dorokhin's Enigma, PARIVISION simply couldn't find the right opportunity to use their abilities in the chaotic clashes forced upon them by their opponents.

However, PARIVISION would get their chance to turn things around in an ill-advised push by Wildcard on their bottom lane of barracks at the 36-minute mark. Wildcard dived into PARIVISION's base in the hopes of taking down Satanic without buyback, but the Faceless Void managed to survive with a sliver of HP. Caught deep in enemy lines, Wildcard were promptly caught in Black Hole and Chronosphere and got teamwiped. PARIVISION then promptly bulldozed through their demoralised opponents in the ensuing teamfights to complete the 45-minute comeback and secure their spot in the Playoffs.

Satanic had another phenomenal performance to lead his team to the main event, finishing with eight kills and nine assists on just one death despite his team being on the backfoot for the majority of the game. No[o]ne on Ember Spirit also added some good impact with seven kills and 11 assists on five deaths.

With their victory, PARIVISION now join Xtreme Gaming, Team Tidebound, BetBoom Team, HEROIC, and Nigma Galaxy in the Playoffs. Meanwhile, Wildcard end their run in TI 2025 in 9th-13th place. The final two series of the Elimination Stage will determine the last two teams to make the Playoffs, featuring some very hype matchups:

  • Team Liquid vs Tundra Esports
  • Team Spirit vs Team Falcons

For more information on the biggest Dota 2 tournament of the year, check out GosuGamers' guide to this year's Dota 2 world championship tournament and TI 2025 tournament tracker.

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