Team Falcons dominate Team Spirit in final tournament before TI: Event rankings ahead of The International

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The curtain has fallen on FISSURE Universe: Episode 6, the final stop before The International 2025 and a true dress rehearsal for the year’s biggest event. In the grand final, Team Falcons avenged their Esports World Cup defeat to Team Spirit just a month ago, setting the stage for an even more dramatic showdown at TI. Here’s a look back at the tournament and the season’s standout events through the lens of viewership

FISSURE Universe: Episode 6 marked the penultimate stop in the Episodes series from the tournament organizer. In the grand final, Team Falcons swept Team Spirit 3:0 to finally break their title drought. The team hadn’t lifted a trophy since November 2024, falling short in three major finals along the way, including the Esports World Cup.

The grand final stood well above the rest in terms of audience, drawing nearly 70,000 more Peak Viewers than the next most-watched match, Team Liquid vs. Team Spirit on day one of the playoffs. Interestingly, FISSURE Universe: Episode 6 also became the organizer’s most popular event since Dota’s Playground #1, surpassing not only all previous Episodes but even FISSURE Playground #1 in Counter-Strike.

Despite strong numbers, FISSURE Universe: Episode 6 was still well short of the year’s biggest tournaments. The Esports World Cup (formerly Riyadh Masters) dominated peak viewership, with its grand final drawing 429,000 live viewers. DreamLeague Season 25 was the only other event to break 400,000 live viewers this season, while PGL Wallachia Season 4 came close but fell just short.

When it comes to the most-watched events, nothing rivalled the DreamLeague tournaments, with Season 25 standing out as the only Dota 2 event this year to surpass 20 million hours of watch time. That said, their dominance was partly a product of format: DreamLeague featured far more matches than competing tournaments, giving them a clear advantage in total airtime.

With the long season finally behind us, all eyes now turn to The International 2025. The drama isn’t over yet: just a week and a half before the event, Gaimin Gladiators, one of the season’s strongest teams, withdrew for reasons that remain unclear. For now, the community waits to see who will take their spot, while also speculating on the viewership numbers that TI is likely to generate. 

Also read: The International viewership retrospective: Is the Dota 2 series fading away?

The International 2025 will run from September 4 to 14 in Hamburg, Germany. Playoff matches take place at the Barclays Arena, with a prize pool exceeding $2 million: the final total, determined by the volume of in-game Supporter Bundle sales, will be confirmed after the event concludes.

Keep track of TI’s action and viewership numbers on Esports Charts!