The pair will instead play through Dota’s TI open qualifiers in Western Europe.
Virtus.pro and NAVI Junior have this week chosen to decline invitations to the Eastern European closed qualifiers for Dota 2's TI 2025 in Germany.
Originally thought to be due to a clash with the Esports World Cup qualifiers, it's now understood both teams would rather climb through Western Europe via the open qualifiers if it means a better chance at TI 2025 qualification, as WEU has two slots to the pinnacle event this year.
Related articles
Top Dota EEU teams flip to WEU to improve TI qualifiers chances
In the space of several days, two of the EEU closed qualifier invites in VP and NAVI Junior have withdrawn from the qualifier according to organizer PGL. Their replacements are yet to be determined, but it is likely PGL will hand their spots to the next highest-ranked EEU teams.
Natus Vincere even acknowledged their invitation in a blog post when the original invites were announced on May 14. Yet, both they and VP will skip the closed qualifier.
Neither will be giving up their attempts to make TI 2025, however. NAVI Junior has been marked as "notable registered participants" in the Western Europe open qualifiers that kick off May 31 according to the event page on Liquipedia and the Esportal platform used to run the qualifier. VP is expected to join the list in the coming days.
There is a small clash with the EWC qualifiers taking place at a similar time, but the true reason is simple; the WEU closed qualifier has a second spot up for grabs for TI, and given that NAVI Junior and VP are both eligible to compete in both qualifiers, there's a higher chance for both to make it to TI even if it means battling through the open bracket.
Much discussion has been had over whether EEU deserved a second slot or whether it is correct that a team consisting largely of EEU players is even permitted to play in WEU. The official rulebook for the Dota 2 Road to TI 2025 qualifiers lists countries that belong in each region.
Both NAVI Junior and VP fail to satisfy the requirements for the WEU open qualifier, yet both are expected to suit up and play in the hopes they'll make it to the closed qualifier where they'll take on the likes of Nigma Galaxy, MOUZ, OG, and AVULUS.
Esports.gg has reached out to organizer PGL for clarification of the rulebook but no response was received at the time this article was published.
For more Dota 2 news stay tuned to esports.gg.
