Yaroslav “NS” Kuznetsov explained that Valve gave an invite to The International 2025 to Gaimin Gladiators because there were no other worthy candidates.

The streamer and former cybersportsman told about it during a broadcast on twitch :

“Who to call? Instead of Gaimin Gladiators they could have called a second team from China to respect the region. But that would have been too much. Xtreme don't deserve that slot. Gaimin Gladiators , despite the roster change, is a tag team with a history. They won a lot last season. After all, they are the vice-champions. Aurora , which has roughly the same results, is too young. If she won a couple tournaments, she would certainly be called up. Valve felt that Aurora doesn't deserve an invite yet. If Aurora had been invited, they would have asked why not Gaimin Gladiators . They had to pick one. So they chose”

NS emphasized that it was possible to give the invite to Xtreme Gaming or Aurora , but, according to him, those squads don't have enough merit. Nevertheless, the streamer noted that if Aurora had received the invite, the Dota 2 community would have a question - why GG was not invited, so the organizers of the World Championship had to make a choice.

In addition, the former cybersportsman reminded that Gaimin Gladiators is a famous club, and although the current season was unsuccessful for them, they are still the vice-champions of the world Dota 2.

Earlier Team Spirit manager expressed his dissatisfaction with the invites to The International 2025.