The International 2019 prize pool continues to grow at a rapid pace. In fact, it is the fastest growing TI prize pool in the history of Dota 2. The International 2019 takes place from August 15-25th at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai.

The International 2019 Battlepass was released by Valve on the 8th of May 2019. Its release date was identical to the previous year’s Battlepass release date. However, the Battle pass has received widespread acceptance this year and the prize pool growth is just evidence of the same. Within 24 hours of its release, the TI9 battle pass crossed $5,000,000 in the prize pool.

This year’s Battle pass has many amazing features and new cosmetic items. The Axe and Invoker cosmetic items have definitely raised the interest in the TI9 battle pass with their unique design for the Battle pass. Last year’s prize pool reached $25,532,177 in total.

How high can we expect the TI9 prize pool to reach?

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Last year’s prize pool was the biggest prize pool in esports history. However, it was not an obstacle-free path for the prize pool. In fact, the TI8 Battlpass was lagging behind the TI7 battle pass till Day 75.

Seeing the massive popularity for the TI9 battle pass, we expect this year’s prize pool to reach the $30 million milestones. In fact, seeing how it only took 3 days for the Battle pass to reach $10 million, there is a chance for a much higher prize pool.

Key Features of the TI9 Battle pass

Avoid Player

Coach Team

Party Finder

Avoid Player

The Avoid player feature is one that has been a longstanding demand of the Dota 2 community. With competitive gaming often turning out to be stressful, the environment in these online games is not always fun. Toxicity in online games is a reality and allowing players the right to avoid teammates due to their behaviour is enabling Dota 2 players to take control of their teammates. Similar to how, they can add players in a Party finder ( explained later), the ability to avoid players is a welcome tool.

The Avoid player feature does have a drawback since it limits the player pool significantly. It is a feature that Valve hopes the players will not use incessantly. Repeated usage of the feature could actually result in extremely queue times. This is an experimental feature, so we do expect Valve to make changes to the feature post the expiry of the Battle pass. The TI9 Battlepass expires on the 1st of September 2019.

Coach Team

Dota 2 can be a very complex game to understand for newcomers. In order to help new players joining the game and also help players from lower ranks, there is a new feature in this year’s Battle pass. The Coach Team feature allows you to coach a random group fo players in-game. These players’ MMR is usually at least 500 MMR below your MMR. The higher ranks can be extremely influential when it comes to teaching lower MMR players some basics/strategies within the game. It has the potential to blossom into a regular feature, something that could be rewarding for many players within the game. The feature allows for the development of a community within the game, one that is ready to help each other improve.

The Coach team feature does provide several benefits to those willing to coach lower ranked players. In addition to becoming a better coach to the team, it also helps your understanding of the game and has a macro view of the situation.

Party Finder

The Party Finder feature allows players to choose and add other players into a pool of Party Finder players. There is no way to currently edit this pool and that can be a problem for the near future. However, we do hope that Valve comes out with an update allowing Dota 2 players to edit their Party Finder list.

The Party finder feature puts amenable players into a pool and you can keep your party open to these players before searching for a match.

Inability to recycle Immortals: Does this have an impact on TI9’s prize pool?

This year’s Battle pass does not allow Battle pass owners to recycle Immortals for two levels. With the number of Battlepass levels being a key factor for the Battle pass rewards. Key cosmetic items such as the ones for Axe, Earthshaker, Invoker and Tiny are available at higher levels. The only way for now to reach these higher levels is only via playing constantly or buying more levels.

The pricing for new Battle pass levels is as follows:

Additional 5 levels – $2.49

An additional 11 levels – $4.99

Additional 25 Levels – $9.99

You can purchase the TI9 Battlepass on the Steam Store here. If you wish to purchase additional levels, you can do so here. How far do you see The International 2019’s prize pool going this year? Will it reach $30 million or will it go further and closer to $35 million? Let us know in comments below.