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The competition is heating up in The International 2024 Seeding Decider, who will be the eight teams that will earn all-important upper bracket berths?

The International 2024 (TI 2024) Group Stage has concluded and now the competition shifts to the Seeding Decider, where the 16 teams will be fighting in a series of best-of-three matches. 

While no teams will be eliminated in the Seeding Decider, its results are still important in the fight for this year's Aegis of Champions. The winners of the Seeding Decider will advance to the Playoffs with a one-loss cushion in the upper bracket while the losers will have to start under threat of elimination in the treacherous lower bracket.

The Seeding Decider matchups were determined by the results of the Group Stage, with the top seeds of each group earned the right to pick their opponents from the third and fourth-placed teams in the opposing group. 

Here are the matchups for the Seeding Decider:

  • Xtreme Gaming (A1) vs Talon Esports (B4)
  • Gaimin Gladiators (A2) vs G2 x iG (B3)
  • Cloud9 (B1) vs 1win (A3)
  • Tundra Esports (B2) vs Heroic(A4)
  • Team Falcons (C1) vs beastcoast (D4)
  • Team Zero (C2) vs Aurora (D3)
  • Team Spirit (D1) vs nouns (C4)
  • Team Liquid (D2) vs BetBoom Team (C3)

With the competition at TI 2024 heating up, here are GosuGamers' predictions for how the Seeding Decider will play out:

Day 1

Xtreme Gaming 2-0 Talon Esports

Chinese powerhouse Xtreme Gaming were considered one of the biggest contenders for this year's Aegis of Champions heading into TI 2024. And they have lived up to the hype so far, finishing the Group Stage tied for the second-best record at 5-1 and atop the standings of Group A. 

Meanwhile, Southeast Asia's Talon Esports seems to be out of their depth, only managing a 1-5 record in Group B. With all due respect to Talon, we expect Xtreme Gaming to easily sweep this match and become the first team to secure an upper bracket berth in the Playoffs.

Team Liquid 2-1 BetBoom Team

Western Europe's Team Liquid have put on a very good showing so far, finishing as the second seed of Group D with a 4-2 record – with their two losses notably coming against defending champions Team Spirit. Meanwhile, BetBoom Team from Eastern Europe have been floundering and only managed the third seed of Group C with a 2-4 record after getting swept by another tournament favourite in Team Falcons and Chinese upstarts Team Zero.

BetBoom are a better team than their record so far has shown, that is if they manage to show up. While we expect them to right the ship at some point, we don't think they can beat Liquid here. At most, we can expect BetBoom to force Liquid to three games before ultimately settling for a lower bracket start.

Cloud9 2-0 1win

Not many would have picked Western Europe's Cloud9 to be one of the top seeds, and yet there they are, tied for the second-best record of the Group Stage with a 5-1 record atop Group B. While Tundra Esports being forced to play with a stand-in likely helped their chances, it's disingenuous to say Cloud9 didn't get to this position without merit. Meanwhile, Eastern Europe's 1win is a young team that has performed just as well as one could expect from them, finishing as the third seed of Group A with a 2-4 record.

With Cloud9's veteran roster now having momentum, we don't expect a team like 1win filled with players competing in their first-ever TI to put up much of a fight. While we do expect 1win to make some noise this year, it won't be at this point of the tournament. Unfortunately for them, they will have to serve as Cloud9's stepping stone to the upper bracket.

Team Zero 2-1 Aurora

China's Team Zero have been the biggest standouts of TI 2024 so far, opening their campaign with a surprising 1-1 draw with top contender Team Falcons before scoring an even more impressive 2-0 sweep over BetBoom. They could've earned the top seed of Group C, but a 1-1 draw with nouns forced them to a best-of-three tiebreaking rematch with Falcons that the latter easily won. 

Meanwhile, Southeast Asia's Aurora were rather unfortunate to be drawn into Group D alongside the likes of Spirit and Liquid, only managing a 2-4 record as a result. They are one of those teams that should be better than their records suggest, but making a deep run from here is easier said than done.

With all due respect to Aurora, Zero have definitely looked like the more impressive team so far. If the Chinese upstarts can conjure the same magic they did that allowed them to draw with Falcons and sweep BetBoom, then we can definitely see them defeating Aurora and be a surprising entrant in the upper bracket. 

Day 2

Team Falcons 2-0 beastcoast

Team Falcons were arguably the biggest favourites to claim this year's Aegis of Champions heading into TI 2024. And while they stumbled to start the Group Stage against Team Zero, they still finished atop the standings of Group C as many expected. They may not be the invincible juggernauts many thought they were, but Falcons still remain one of the tournament's biggest contenders.

Meanwhile, South America's beastcoast have been floundering and finished the Group Stage without a single win to their name. With that in mind, it's very easy to pick who will be the likely winner of this matchup. Commiserations to beastcoast, but it's looking like Falcons will have a cakewalk to the upper bracket.

Tundra Esports 2-1 Heroic

With Edgar “9class” Natalkian missing out on TI 2024 due to visa issues, Western Europe's Tundra Esports tapped TI 2022 champion Martin “Saksa” Sazdov as a last-minute stand-in. While having a TI champion as a stand-in is always good, Tundra still had to go through an adjustment period and thus only managed the second seed of Group B with a 3-3 record.

South America's Heroic finished as the bottom seed of Group A with a 2-4 record, though they do have a surprising 1-1 draw with Gaimin Gladiators to their name. Still, they are set to face an uphill battle against Tundra in the Seeding Decider, even if the latter is playing with a stand-in. While Heroic do have a fighting chance here, we still expect Tundra to come out on top and advance to the upper bracket.

Team Spirit 2-0 nouns

Defending TI champions Team Spirit are off to a stellar start in their campaign for a historic third Aegis of Champions, finishing the Group Stage as the only team with a perfect 6-0 record as the top seed of Group D. Despite mixed results all throughout the year, Spirit continue to prove they step up when it matters the most. And so far, we don't see a lot of teams who can step up to them.

With all due respect to North America's nouns, they are one of those teams that we think don't have what it takes to step up against Spirit. They finished as the bottom seed of Group C with a 2-4 record, failing to make an impression in a group where a team like Zero has made a lot of noise. To sum things up, we expect Spirit to advance to the upper bracket of the Playoffs with a clean 8-0 record.

Gaimin Gladiators 2-1 G2 x iG

As last year's runners-up, Western European powerhouse Gaimin Gladiators entered TI 2024 with a chip on their shoulders. Last year, they won all the Majors and got so close to claiming the Aegis of Champions with it – only to be denied by Spirit. Their bid to capture the title this year isn't off to a promising start though, as they only managed a 3-3 record en route to the second seed of Group A.

Meanwhile, China's G2 x iG also finished the Group Stage with a 3-3 record. However, they were swept by Tundra in the ensuing tiebreaker and had to settle for the third seed of Group B.

This may end up being the most interesting match of the Seeding Decider. Both teams are better than their 3-3 records suggest, though Gaimin Gladiators are clearly the stronger team on paper. But they have been vulnerable, and G2 x iG can very well pounce on that opportunity if they play things right. With that said, our pick will still have to go to Gaimin Gladiators.

TL;DR:

Upper bracket: Xtreme Gaming, Team Liquid, Cloud9, Team Zero, Team Falcons, Tundra Esports, Team Spirit, Gaimin Gladiators

Lower bracket: Talon Esports, BetBoom Team, 1w Team, Aurora, beastcoast, Heroic, nouns, G2 x IG

TI 2024 is this year's iteration of Dota 2's annual world championship tournament and features 16 of the best teams in the world fighting for their cut of the growing $2.36 million prize pool and the Aegis of Champions. 

The event is being hosted from September 4 to 15 in Copenhagen, Denmark and is split into two distinct phases: the Group stage (September 4 to 5) and the Seeding Deciders (September 6 to 7). The first two rounds of the Playoffs (September 8 to 10) are branded as part of The Road to The International, while the remaining portion of the Playoffs for the remaining eight teams (September 13 to 15) are branded as The International itself. 

For more of everything you need to know about TI 2024, check here.

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