Insania: "Team Spirit are probably the favourites to win The International 2025"

I’m feeling pretty confident going into TI14, as we're all putting in a lot of work to achieve the best possible result. I think whenever we put all our efforts into the game, good things come, and hopefully, this time it’ll be the same. We just have to show up and play the game.

It mainly comes down to the amount of work we’ve been able to put in. The last two years were particularly draining seasons, with numerous tournaments. This year has been similar, so you kind of have to pick and choose when to put in maximum effort. I’m not too concerned about our inconsistent form because it’s more about how much time and energy we dedicate to each tournament.

In hindsight, that probably would have been the better decision. But at the start of the year, we were still riding the high from TI and excited to play every event we could. Going forward, if things start to feel too draining, we’ll definitely consider skipping a tournament so we can bring the best Dota to the people supporting us.

For me personally, I could have been in better form and pushed myself harder on different occasions. That’s probably my biggest takeaway. Looking back, it’s usually clear where you could have done better, and for me, that’s the main point. But that’s a good way to learn and improve.

As for the team, probably just taking some tournaments off to make sure that we have the energy to compete at the highest level when we are competing.

Yes, there is pressure, but that doesn’t come from Team Liquid. There's always the pressure of missing out on a big event, and if you get invited and decide to skip it, then maybe they don't want to invite you next time. So it's always something that you have to keep in mind.

It’s more like not really knowing what's up with the organisers, and also about losing touch with the meta if you take a break.

Falcons are a really strong opponent, and they improved a lot from the group stage to the playoffs. As for us, the break days in between have always been a bit of a struggle as we tend to have a harder time performing at our best, especially after long pauses in the schedule. In the end, I think Falcons really stepped up their game, while we played much worse compared to how we did in the groups.

That’s something we haven't had in very many years. So obviously, like a lot of teams are competitive, and it's going to come down to which team shows up and has the best form. And I think as a spectator, that is the best possible situation you could be in as we head into TI14.

This TI is going to be really exciting, and I think for players as well, it's going to be about making sure that you play the best that you can, and at the end of the day, I think that's what we all want.

Our biggest strength is that when we are on, we're like everything is clicking very well, and we play good Dota, then there’s no stopping us. As for our weakness, it’s the gap between our peak and our bottom, which is quite large.

It’s always a tough question because anything is possible at The International (TI). Team Spirit are probably the favourites to win TI14, considering the result at the Esports World Cup.

I’m not too sure, but I have some exciting news for the viewers, which is that, like Pudge is being played quite a bit in pubs right now, so maybe you'll see him make an appearance at TI. He seems pretty strong when you're playing against it. Pudge seems to have an impact, and there are a lot of people out there who are like geniuses on Pudge, so they just don't miss any hooks ever. And when you play it like that, it seems pretty good.

It would be great to divide the year into four main parts, where each organiser, BLAST, ESL, FISSURE, or PGL, gets to run one major event. In between those, you could have smaller online tournaments or studio events to keep things going. Then, to close out the year, you could run The International as the big finale.

This would bring structure and make both playing tournaments and watching them much more exciting. Right now, a lot of fans who love Dota simply don’t have the time to follow 12 or 13 tournaments in a single year, but they would definitely tune in for four big, prestigious events with higher stakes and bigger prize pools.

It’s not entirely new, but something similar to the old major system would bode well.

It’s mostly a strength because that gives us a lot of room to experiment and play. Yes, it also gives us versatility, but it can sometimes make things more complicated. Ultimately, it’s about balancing flexibility with consistency and fire on all verticals.