NA Dota's Team Undying set up fundraiser for TI10 bootcamp
North American Dota 2 Team Undying have been forced to set up a fundraiser through GoFundMe in order to be able to cover costs for their bootcamp for The International 10 (TI10), this year's iteration of the Dota 2's annual world championship tournament in October.
Undying team captain David "MoonMeander" Tan explained the circumstances that led to his team's decision to set up a fundraiser for their bootcamp in a post on Twitlonger, saying that his team didn't have any organisations or sponsors to support them as they prepared for TI10.
"We have tried multiple times with sponsors/organizations, some even got poached, some want to wait till after TI10, some think [the North American Dota 2 scene] is too unstable. All I want is to give my boys, some first time TI attendees, the best chance they can get to prove themselves. I want them to be unshackled by ping, to be able to finally see each other in person, scrim together, eat together, have fun together," said MoonMeander.
These boys have stuck with me, through thick and thin, to get here, loyal to the end, and it would break my heart if they don't get the same chance as premium organizations do, to compete at TI10.MoonMeander
"We don't need a chef, we don't need a masseuse, we don't need first class tickets, we just need a bootcamp."
Undying have set their fundraising goal at exactly US$20,817, a figure that MoonMeander said was given to them by Waveform Entertainment, an esports and gaming service agency. As of the time of writing, the fundraiser has garnered over US$5,600 in donations.
Undying is comprised of three North American players, namely MoonMeander, Jonathan "Bryle" De Guia, and DooYoung "DuBu" Kim as well as Peruvian player Enzo "Timado" Gianoli and Czech player Jonáš "SabeRLight-" Volek.
Despite having to compete in the Dota Pro Circuit's (DPC) North American regional league with two players from other regions, Undying managed to finish third in both of the league's two seasons. However, the team were unable to qualify for either of the circuit's two Majors and thus had to earn a spot in TI10 through the regional qualifiers.
Undying then proceeded to win TI10's North American qualifier without dropping a single game to become the region's third representative in the tournament alongside Evil Geniuses and Quincy Crew.
TI10 will be held from 7 to 17 October in Bucharest, Romania and will feature 18 of the best teams in the DPC competing to claim the lion's share of a massive US$40 million prize pool and the coveted Aegis of Champions.
TI10 was originally scheduled to be held from 5 to 15 August in Stockholm, Sweden. However, Dota 2 developer Valve Software was forced to move TI10 to a new venue after the Swedish government refused to officially recognize the tournament as an 'elite sporting event.'
The 18 teams competing in TI10 include 12 directly-invited teams and one qualified team from each of the DPC's six regional leagues. The directly-invited teams to the tournament include Evil Geniuses, PSG.LGD, Invictus Gaming, Virtus.pro, Quincy Crew, T1, Vici Gaming, Team Secret, Team Aster, Alliance, Beastcoast, and Thunder Predator.
Meanwhile, TI10's qualifier teams are comprised of two-time TI champions OG from Europe, Elephant from China, Fnatic from Southeast Asia, Undying from North America, and SG Esports from South America.
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