With the conclusion of The International 5 qualifiers, we now know the eighteen teams headed to Seattle. But the qualifiers revealed much more than that, and after half a month of intense Dota, here are five things we’ve learned from watching them:

#5: A repeat of The International 4 finals is still a very real possibility

First, let’s remember why The International 4 finals were so lackluster. Vici Gaming found a momentum-based deathball strategy that revolved around getting an early lead, grouping up, pushing, and never letting go until they’ve won or lost. They executed this strategy flawlessly until the finals, where Newbee figured out a way to stop that strategy with a “bend but don’t break” style that decided games in the first 15 to 20 minutes, when VG attempted to make their high ground push. Either VG would succeed and the advantage would be too much for Newbee to come back from, or they would fail, and with an all-in lineup they had no other choice but to try again and fail again. Even if the game wasn’t actually finished by 20 minutes, it was clear who was going to win.

Flash forward to this year’s qualifiers. Yes, there were some amazing comebacks (most memorably from Na’Vi and Vega Squadron). But if you watched those games, it was mostly due to the mistakes from the pushing team that allowed those comebacks to happen. A well-honed team that specialized in that strategy may not make the same mistake.

Looking at two deathball heroes especially, Chen went 14-12 across all the regional qualifiers, and Drow went 18-13. Though the Chen numbers seem unimpressive, Drow went 8-1 in the China Qualifiers and 3-0 in the EU Qualifiers, which are arguably the two strongest regions. Remember, all it takes is for one team to execute a deathball perfectly for us to get another disappointing finals.

However, all is not lost, as perhaps teams will find a way to deal with it earlier on in the tournament in order to deter it. Chen is perhaps the ultimate deathball hero, and as shown in the stats, he did not dominate any region nor the regional qualifiers in general. Teams must have figured out how to play against a Chen-based lineup by now. Maybe  soon they can figure out how to play against Drow and other deathballs that come up.  So there is still hope.

#4: The Qualifiers need to be played on LAN

There is no excuse for Internet connectivity issues to disturb what is the second most important event in the Dota calendar. The most important thing is that all teams get a fair shot at going to the big dance, and that did not happen this time around. Aside from the notorious Perfect World server problems in China, Valve also decided to release an update in the middle of the American qualifiers which caused a huge delay. Rave even had a series of unfortunate events. The only thing that should affect the outcome of these qualifiers are how the players play the game.

However, there is a bright side for next season. Since presumably the qualifiers will be the majors next season, those should all be played on LAN. However, the qualifiers for those majors will probably still see at least one or two technical issues, but such is the nature of eSports.

#3: The Open Qualifiers are very, very important

One of the best stories to come out of this year’s qualifiers are the performances of the teams that came out of the Open Qualifiers, which allowed any team to take their shot at entering the regional qualifiers and playing their way to Seattle. These teams were expected place last in their groups, but let’s examine where they actually finished.

America’s Open winners, Unknown.xiu, placed third in their group, behind eventual champions Complexity and the tournament favourite Mousesports. Placing 5th-6th instead of 9th-10th is an incredible showing for a team most viewers didn’t even know existed.

China’s Cinderella aspirant was Wings Gaming, and they did even better than Unknown.xiu by placing second in their group and advancing to the playoffs. The team beat all expectations by slugging their way through an incredibly tough Chinese Open Qualifiers then managing to finish fourth over such well established teams as HyperGloryTeam and TongFu.

Europe’s Open champions were a Russian squad known as Yellow Submarine. They played with an early and aggressive strategy that embodied what CIS Dota is all about and also managed to play their way to a surprising third place in their group, over a HellRaisers team that was very much feared during a stretch this season.

Invasion won the SEA Open Qualifiers, but the team name is not new to the Dota 2 scene. However, they were the only Open Qualifier champion that finished in the expected 9th-10th place.

Three teams overachieved out of four, and that’s pretty good. Whatever Valve plans on doing with the structure of the Majors next season, I certainly hope that they will have a lot more Opens or chances for grassroots teams to play their way into them, because evidently they are more competitive than anyone thought. Not only do stories like this one attract new talent and encourage kids to try to make it to the big leagues, it also attracts sponsors who are looking for a new and exciting team to pick up.

#2: The qualifiers should be global

Let’s face it: Not all regions are equal. And though I dread that we may see a single nation dominate the scene the way Korea does with StarCraft, the qualifiers to the biggest event and prize pool of the year should only be decided by how good the teams are. The Open Qualifiers should be regional to show off the grassroot talents, but when we’re talking about the most important event of the year, no one should have doubts that the best teams are there (also see point #4).

#1: You can’t have The International without Na’Vi

There just isn’t a better story in Dota this year than Na’Vi. Champions and two time finalists, the perennial contenders have charmed viewers once again, just when it seemed that this year would not be their year.

After a team-low fifth place finish at The International 4, Na’Vi lost their long time captain and renowned drafter Puppey to Team Secret. To make matters worse, one of the most successful players in the history of Dota, Kuroky, went with him. After many months of rotating doors of tryouts that included Phobos, Goblak, Vanskor, and fng, they returned to the captain that led the storied team to their title at the first ever International: Artstyle. Another prodigal son, Funn1k, returned simultaneously in April - just in time for the qualifier invites. But can a team with such a new roster perform?

They answered any doubts in the qualifiers by winning the whole thing. Things looked grim for the veteran squad despite a great performance by their beloved mid player, Dendi, as they opened the tournament with a 0-2 drubbing at the hands of an obscure London Conspiracy team. But they rebounded in incredible fashion and took first into their group to advance to the playoffs and never looked back, dominating the finals with 3 wins in 4 games over Vega Squadron and stamping their ticket to The International 5.

Their newest support player, Sonneiko, won the hearts of viewers with displays of epic skill on Winter Wyvern. Dendi was his usual flashy self and landed some memorable Reverse Polarities throughout the tournament. Xboct farmed and fought with wiser judgment than his reputation would dictate. Funn1k showed that even offlane Bloodseeker could win a game. And Artstyle… well, Artstyle had some incredible feeds, but his command of his team, their strategy, and their draft was solid, and it was clear that the team believes in their captain. And if past Internationals have proven anything, it’s that anything can happen when Na’Vi works as a team.

Welcome back to The International, Na’Vi. It wouldn’t be The International without you.

Some of these lessons are new and some of them we have learned before. The Qualifiers this year have been the best they have ever been, and no one knows what to expect with the entire format changing next year. All we know is that it will provide an exciting taste of the main event that Dota fans anticipate every year, and that there will be new lessons in store.