The International 2017 is set to kick off on Aug. 2, with 18 teams competing to win a slice of the tournament's $20 million USD prize pool. One bad game can be the difference between hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the competition will be stiff even for the most experienced of teams.

Many teams will fall early in the bloodbath that is TI, as OG are riding high on two Major victories while the likes of Team Liquid and Virtus.pro look to overcome intense opposition.

So without further ado, here are theScore esports' power rankings for The International 2017.

18. Infamous

Player Name Position Benjamin 'Benjaz' Lanaos 1 Enzo 'Timado' Gianoli 2 Renato 'Kingteka' Garcia 3 Farith 'Matthew' Puente 4 Christian 'Accel' Cruz 5 Mariano 'Papita' Caneda Coach

Recent Performances: 7th-8th at Galaxy Battles, 1st at TI7 South America Qualifier

Infamous are South America's sole representative at TI7 and their past performances at both international tournaments and qualifiers signal that the team is not quite at the same level as their opponents. With the changes coming to the Major system after TI7, Infamous will have plenty of room to grow, but for now they will have to pull out all the stops if they don't want to be one of the first two teams eliminated. But judging from their roster, expect Infamous to go out guns blazing with near constant offense.

17. Execration

Player Name Position Fernando 'Nando' Mendoza 1 James Palatolon 'CartMaN' John 2 Ryan 'Bimbo' Jay Qui 3 Ralph Richard 'RR' Penano 4 Kimuel 'Kim0' Rodis 5 Mark 'BYB' Gavin Coach

Recent Performances: 3rd at TI7 Southeast Asia Qualfier

SEA's third qualified team managed to do what few others have done and qualified for TI7 after originally qualifying for the SEA qualifier through the first open qualifier. Similar to Infamous, Execration have little experience at tournaments beyond the qualifiers as a complete roster, with three of their players joining the team a few days prior to their qualification. Of the five players on the roster, Nando and Kim0 have the most experience, but they have not had a chance to shine at tournaments in the past. Barring a surprise performance, Execration will not make it far in Seattle.

16. Hellraisers

Player Name Position Uroš 'Swiftending' Galić 1 Greg 'Keyser' Kallianiotis 2 Neta '33' Shapira 3 Milan 'MiLAN' Kozomara 4 Alexei 'j4' Lipai 5 Martin 'Saksa' Sazdov Coach

Recent Performances: 2nd at TI7 Europe Qualifier

Formerly known as Planet Dog, Hellraisers head to Seattle as one of the weakest teams in terms of international experience, having played only one minor tournament apart from the TI7 Europe Qualifiers since forming in mid-June. While much of the roster played together as part of Prodota Gaming, it remains to be seen if Hellraisers can step up on the biggest stage in all of Dota. After all, playing weekly and monthly tournaments together is one thing, but playing in the largest esports tournament of the year is an entirely different subject matter.

15. Team Empire

Player Name Position Vladimir 'Chappie' Kuzmenko 1 Rostislav 'fn' Lozovoi 2 Andrey 'Ghostik' Kadyk 3 Vladimir 'RodjER' Nikogosyan 4 Yaroslav 'Miposhka' Naidenov 5 Egor 'JotM' Surkov Coach

Recent Performances: 1st at TI7 CIS Qualifier, 7th-8th at DOTA Summit 7

Team Empire are finally attending a Valve event again, though they've got a long way to go if they hope to break into the Top 8. The roster boasts experienced players, with fn proving to be a standout due to his dependable control of mid, yet their performances outside of the TI qualifiers, including a 7th-8th placement at DOTA Summit 7, leaves much to be desired.

14 - Fnatic

Player Name Position Lai 'Ahjit' Jay Son 1 Kim 'QO' Seon-yeop 2 Chong Xin 'Ohaiyo' Khoo 3 Kim 'Febby' Yong-min 4 Djardel Jicko B. 'DJ' Mampusti 5 Galvin 'Meracle' Kang Jian Wen Sub Ahmad 'ADTR' Syazwan bin Anuar Coach

Recent Performances: 3rd-4th at ZOTAC Cup Masters, 2nd at TI7 Southeast Asia Qualifier

Since completing their roster in April, Fnatic have tried to return to the top of the SEA, with their most noteworthy performance being a Top 4 finish at ZOTAC Cup Masters where they lost to Newbee. As much as I'd like for Fnatic to emerge from TI7 as the best team in SEA (and with their current roster that is a distinct possibility), their lack of strong results does not exude much confidence when it comes to their chances in Seattle. That said, the fact that we'll get to see QO, Ohaiyo, Febby and DJ return to TI means that we can expect Fnatic to bring a high level of strategic play to KeyArena.

13. iG Vitality

Player Name Position Zhang 'Paparazi' Chengjun 1 Zu 'Sakata' Zichen 2 Yang 'InJuly' XIaodong 3 Su 'super' Peng 4/5 Gao 'dogf1ghts' Tianpeng 4/5 Zhang 'XuaN' Weixuan Sub

Recent Performances: 9th-16th at Kiev Major, 5th-6th at Galaxy Battles, 1st at TI7 China Qualifier

iG Vitality's great winter season — where they qualified for The Kiev Major and placed fourth at Dota 2 Asia Championships 2017 — has been replaced by a cool spring that saw them fall out in the first round of the aforementioned Major and struggle to qualify for any of the major tournaments following it. They may have been the first Chinese team to qualify for TI7, but iG.V have a long way to go to prove that their qualification was a sign of their return to form.

12. Digital Chaos

Player Name Position Mason 'mason' Venne 1 Abed 'Abed' Azel Yusop 2 Lee 'Forev' Sang-don 3 Kanishka 'BuLba' Sosale 4 Kim 'DuBu' Doo-young 5 Braxton 'Brax' Paulson Coach

Recent Performances: 9th-16th at Kiev Major, 5th-6th at ZOTAC Cup Masters, 5th-6th at DOTA Summit 7, 2nd at TI7 North America Qualifier

Since Digital Chaos signed a new roster, their results have left much to be desired. While they managed to sneak their way through the TI qualifiers to earn NA's second spot, they disappointed with two 5th-6th finishes at ZOTAC Cup Masters and DOTA Summit 7. The current squad is talented, with Forev's offlane and BuLba's support being their two biggest strengths, but with the level of competition they'll be facing at Seattle, their chances of making it far are slim.

11. TNC Pro Team

Player Name Position Marc Polo 'Raven' Luis Fausto 1 Carlo 'Kuku' Palad 2 Sam 'Sam_H' Enojosa Hidalgo 3 Timothy 'Tims' Randrup 4 Theeban '1437' Siva 5 Muriel 'Kipspul' Huisman Coach

Recent Performances: 9th-16th at Kiev Major, 3rd at Galaxy Battles, 1st at TI7 Southeast Asia Qualifier

Following 1437's addition in May, the SEA team has slowly begun to improve as they have taken games off the likes of Newbee and Team Liquid. What they haven't been able to do is close out series, and unless TNC can pull off an upset like they did against OG at TI6, they will be shut down by a more consistent team at KeyArena.

10. Cloud9

Player Name Position Jacky 'EternalEnvy' Mao 1 Adrian 'FATA-' Trinks 2 Arif 'MSS' Anwar 3 Kurtis 'Aui_2000' Ling 4 Johan 'pieliedie' Åström 5 Stanley 'Stan King' Yang Coach

Recent Performances: 3rd at The Manila Masters, 2nd at ZOTAC Cup Masters, 4th at DOTA Summit 7, 1st at TI7 North America Qualifier

With the likes of EternalEnvy, Aui_2000 and FATA- on the team, the latter of whom remains one of the best mid laners in Dota 2, Cloud9 has all the ingredients to put together a strong run at TI7. If they can consistently play at their very best, this squad has a good chance at being one of the biggest surprises during the main event. Otherwise, they'll fall short of their goal, just as they have at tournament after tournament throughout this season.

9. Invictus Gaming

Player Name Position Xu "BurNIng' Zhilei 1 Ou 'Op' Peng 2 Lin 'Xxs' Jing 3 Ye 'BoBoKa' Zhibiao 4/5 Fu 'Q' Bin 4/5 Bai 'rOtk' Fan Coach

Recent Performances: 3rd-4th at Kiev Major, 1st at Dota 2 Asia Championships 2017, 5th-6th at EPICENTER 2017, 3rd-4th at StarLadder i-League Invitational #2

Invictus Gaming earned their invite to TI7 after a strong Top 4 finish at the Kiev Major, but their performances since have been less inspiring. While iG placed fourth at the StarLadder i-League Invitational #2, their losses to both other Chinese teams and international teams at the various events they've attended in the time since speaks of a team that can just as easily fall out early as they can outperform expectations.

That said, iG's teamwork has been a distinct highlight throughout the year, and BurNIng's highly aggressive play on carry may just be the team's saving grace when the playoffs begin.

8. Team Secret

Player Name Position Pyo 'MP' No-a 1 Yeik 'MidOne' Nai Zheng 2 Maurie 'KheZu' Gutmann 3 Yazied 'YapzOr' Jaradat 4 Clement 'Puppey' Ivanov 5 Lee 'SunBhie' Jeong-jae Coach

Recent Performances: 9th-16th at Kiev Major, 3rd-4th at EPICENTER 2017, 2nd at Dota Summit 7, 3rd at DreamLeague Season 7, 1st at TI7 Europe Qualifier

Team Secret has gone from being just another struggling European team that has boasted some impressive star power, to one of the most improved and dangerous teams in Europe. Puppey finally seems to be playing great Dota again, and the addition of YapzOr to Position 4 support seems to have had a great effect on the team's overall performance. While they have yet to win a tournament this year, Secret have shown that they can and will crush opponents who are favored against them.

7. Newbee

Player Name Position Xu 'Moogy' Han 1 Song 'Sccc' Chun 2 Damien 'kpii' Chok 3 Hu 'Kaka' Liangzhi 4/5 Zeng 'Faith' Hongda 4/5

Recent Performances: 9th-16th at Boston Major, 9th-16th at Kiev Major, 1st at ZOTAC Cup Masters, 1st at Galaxy Battles, 3rd at Mars Dota 2 League 2017

Were it not for their recent performance at MDL, Newbee would be the best Chinese team heading into TI7. First place in the Dota2 Professional league Season 3 - Top, first place at ZOTAC Cup Masters, and first place at Galaxy Battles are the biggest wins for this Chinese team, and they've remained the most consistent Chinese team throughout the 2016-2017 season.

The single elimination format has not favored Newbee at either Major this season, as the team placed last in both events, but their performance outside of Valve events has been much better. With a double elimination bracket on their side, Newbee has the potential to make a deep run at Seattle.

6. LGD Forever Young

Player Name Position Du 'Monet' Peng 1 Xie 'Super' Junhao 2 He 'Inflame' Yongzheng 3 Tue 'Ahfu' Soon Chuan 4 Leong 'ddc' Fat-meng 5 Lei 'White' Yipei Sub Wang 'Banana' Jiao Coach

Recent Performances: 3rd-4th at EPICENTER 2017,2nd at Mars Dota 2 League 2017, 2nd at TI7 China Qualifier

LGD Forever Young may have placed 5th-10th at the Kiev Major China Qualifier earlier this year, but after replacing three of their players, LGD.FY has come to be one of the strongest teams in China alongside their sister team. Their team is a mixture of veterans and rookies — ddc is one of the few players to compete at every TI while Monet made his international debut at EPICENTER in June — but it's that mixture that makes LGD.FY one of the more interesting teams competing at TI7.

And though they were not able to overcome LGD Gaming at Mars Dota 2 League 2017 in July, their previous win over LGD in the same event and the fact that they went to Game 5 in the Grand Finals speaks well to LGD.FY's strength.

5. LGD Gaming

Player Name Position Wang 'Ame' Chunyu 1 Lu 'Maybe' Yao 2 Ren 'old eLeVeN' Yangwei 3 Yao 'Yao' Zhengzheng 4 Chen 'Victoria' Guanhong 5 Yao '357' Yi Coach

Recent Performances: 3rd at DOTA Summit 7, 1st at Mars Dota 2 League 2017, 3rd at TI7 China Qualifier

In the span of a three month period, LGD Gaming went from a Chinese team that struggled to compete in regional tournaments and qualifiers to arguably the best team in China with their win at Mars Dota 2 League 2017 and their third place finish at Dota Summit 7.

Anchored by Maybe, who has served as the team's mid since 2015, and with the addition of old eLeVeN in March, LGD are the qualifier team to beat at TI7 this year. They have plenty of experience backing them up, and considering the level of teamwork they displayed at MDL, LGD are shaping up to be one of the better teams at TI7.

4. Virtus.pro

Player Name Position Roman 'RAMZES666' Kushnarev 1 Vladimir 'No[o]ne' Minenko 2 Pavel '9pasha' Khvastunov 3 Ilya 'Lil' Ilyuk 4 Alexei 'Solo' Berezin 5

Recent Performances: 5th-8th at Boston Major, 2nd at Kiev Major, 1st at The Summit 6, 1st at DOTA Summit 7

Virtus.pro were not content for their second place finish at the Kiev Major to be the highlight of their year, as the insane decision to play five unique heroes in all but the last of their 17 games at DOTA Summit 7 can attest to their desire to win.

That decision cemented VP as one of the most skilled rosters in the world, as few teams, let alone players, can play that many heroes as well as VP did and still emerge victorious. Beyond DOTA Summit 7, VP placed 5th-6th at EPICENTER 2017, where they fell out in the playoffs after a three game series to Team Liquid.

If nothing else, opponents will have to carefully decide who they pick and ban against VP, though how they will perform against non-Western teams remains to be seen.

3. Evil Geniuses

Player Name Position Artour 'Arteezy' Babaev 1 Sumail 'Suma1L' Hassan 2 Saahil 'Universe' Arora 3 Ludwig 'zai' Wahlberg 4/5 Andreas 'Crit-' Nielsen 4/5 Clinton 'Fear' Loomis Coach Avery 'SVG' Silverman Coach

Recent Performances: 3rd-4th at Boston Major, 3rd-4th at Kiev Major, 1st at China Top 2016, 1st at The Manila Masters, 2nd at EPICENTER 2017

Despite an increase in challengers in NA's Dota scene throughout the 2016-2017 season, Evil Geniuses are still the kings of North American Dota and have the results to prove it. They've continually placed in the Top 4 at Majors this year, and their wins at China Top 16, The Manila Masters and Dota Pit League Season 5 show that they can hold their own against other teams from around the world. Their levelheaded play, coupled with the skill each player has on their signature heroes, has not diminished as well, and Crit- has done an admirable job taking over ppd's rold as EG's captain.

If anything, it's because of EG's consistency that I am hesitant to rank them higher. They certainly have the potential to become the first team to win TI twice, and depending on how the bracket falls they may do just that. But with their recent losses to OG and Team Liquid at Mars Dota 2 League 2017 and EPICENTER 2017, respectively, I'm not ready to bet it all on NA's best.

2. Team Liquid

Player Name Position Lasse 'MATUMBAMAN' Urpalainen 1 Amer 'Miracle-' Al-Barkawi 2 Ivan 'MinD_ContRoL' Borislavov 3 Maroun 'GH' Merhej 4/5 Kuro 'KuroKy' Salehi Takhasomi 4/5 Lee 'Heen' Seung Gon Coach

Recent Performances: 5th-8th at Kiev Major, 1st at StarLadder i-League Invitational #2, 1st at EPICENTER 2017, 1st at DreamLeague Season 7

Since their failure to qualify for the Boston Major in October, Team Liquid have steadily improved to become one of the most dominant teams in Europe. Led by Kuroky and featuring Miracle- and Matumbaman on mid and carry respectively, this roster has shown that they have the talent to carve a path to victory at several tournaments this year.

Following a 5th-8th place finish at the single elimination Kiev Major, Liquid have won every tournament they've competed in, including StarLadder i-League Invitational #2, EPICENTER 2017, and DreamLeague Season 7. If that's anything to go by, then Liquid are a force to be reckoned with at TI7.

1. OG

Player Name Position Johan 'N0tail' Sundstein 1 Anathan 'ana' Pham 2 Gustav 's4' Magnusson 3 Jesse 'JerAx' Vainikka 4 Tal 'Fly' Aizik 5 Sébastien '7ckngMad' Debs Coach

Recent Performances: 1st at Boston Major, 1st at Kiev Major, 2nd at Dota Asia Championships 2017, 4th at Mars Dota 2 League 2017

OG are a team that has historically performed far better at Valve events than at other tournaments. This was true in the lead up to the Boston Major, but it was their decisive performance at Kiev Major after a weak spring season that truly exemplifies how strong OG are when they are working at their full potential.

The team as a whole is exceptional, but Fly and JerAx have proven to be particularly great, with Fly's strong leadership and JerAx's astounding skills on support paving the way for OG's domination. And despite the occasional inconsistency in the mid lane, ana has proven to be the deciding factor in many of OG's closer matches. Expectations are high for OG, but if they can play at the level they did at the Kiev Major, they're on the path to earning the Aegis of Champions.

Preston Dozsa is a news editor for theScore esports. You can follow him on Twitter.