Team Falcons defeated PARIVISION in the upper bracket finals to get one step closer towards claiming the Aegis of Champions.

Western European Dota 2 juggernauts Team Falcons are the first team to reach the grand finals of The International (TI) 2025 after they defeated Eastern Europe's PARIVISION, 2-1, in the tournament's upper bracket finals on Sunday (14 September).

Falcons and PARIVISION were among the biggest favourites to claim this year's Aegis of Champions heading into TI 2025. However, both squads only managed a 3-2 record apiece and were overshadowed by the tournament's Chinese squads during the Group Stage.

Falcons defeated Team Nemesis, Tundra Esports, and defending champions Team Liquid but lost to Chinese squads Xtreme Gaming and Team Tidebound. Meanwhile, PARIVISION scored wins over HEROIC, Nigma Galaxy, and Team Spirit but suffered losses to Tidebound and BetBoom Team. 

Both Falcons and PARIVISION then had to go through the Elimination Stage to secure their spots in the Playoffs. Falcons ousted Spirit while PARIVISION knocked out Wildcard.

The Playoffs saw Falcons and PARIVISION reassert themselves as favourites while the previously dominant Chinese teams faltered. 

In the upper bracket quarterfinals, Falcons got their revenge over Tidebound while PARIVISION routed HEROIC in their second encounter of the tournament. And in the upper bracket semifinals, Falcons reverse-swept BetBoom while PARIVISION demolished Xtreme, setting up a highly-anticipated showdown between the two tournament favourites for the first spot in the grand finals.

Falcons overcome PARIVISION to be the first team to reach TI 2025's grand finals

The upper bracket finals kicked off with both teams taking turns stomping one another, with PARIVISION striking first with a 39-minute win in game one before Falcons forced the series to a decider with a 31-minute rout in game two. Fittingly, game three made up for the first two games being lackluster with 65 minutes of pure cinema.

Falcons led from the get-go, but had to fight tooth and nail for every inch of ground against a resilient PARIVISION defense anchored by Alan “Satanic” Gallyamov's Juggernaut and Volodymyr “No[o]ne” Minenko's Storm Spirit. However, Falcons' strong scaling lineup–featuring Oliver “Skiter” Lepko's Gyrocopter, Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak's Sand King, and Ammar “ATF” Assaf's Pangolier–proved to be too much in the chaotic ultra late game clashes. 

With their victory, Falcons have guaranteed themselves at least a second place finish as well as over US$340,000 in winnings. Of course, they have their sights set on claiming the Aegis of Champions and the grand prize of US$1.1 million.

Skiter and Jing “Sneyking” Wu now have the chance to join the vaunted group of two-time TI champions, having won their first Aegis of Champions with Tundra Esports in 2022. Malr1ne, ATF, and Andreas “Cr1t-” Nielsen also have the opportunity to claim their first TI championship. Cr1t has notably reached his first TI grand finals after starting his career all the way back in 2012 and competing in TI for eight consecutive times starting in 2016.

Meanwhile, Falcons coach Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling also has the chance to become the first-ever person to claim the Aegis of Champions three times. Aui_2000 won his first TI championship in 2015 with Evil Geniuses and claimed his second title as the coach of Tundra in TI 2022.

PARIVISION still have the opportunity to force a rematch with Falcons in the championship round. First, they will have to win the lower bracket finals to kick off the final day of TI 2025 against the winner of the lower bracket semifinals between Xtreme and BetBoom.

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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