Undying clinch spot in The International 2021 in NA qualifiers

After a flawless run through the upper bracket, North American upper-division mainstay Undying has earned a spot at The International 2021.

Undying entered the qualifiers as the favorites after Kim "DuBu" Doo-young led the team to a bronze finish in both Dota Pro Circuit seasons. The squad entered with some momentum from their championship at BTS Pro Series Season 6, where they defeated 4 Zoomers 3-1 for the trophy. Undying has historically gotten the better of their rivalry and that didn't change in the TI10 qualifiers.

• Here is every qualified team for The International 2021

Game one started off great for Undying, but a 1,300 gold lead with a Spectre spiraled into a 7,000 deficit at 32 minutes. While that would normally prove to be the death knell for a team, a monstrous physical Viper build from Jonathan "Bryle" Santos De Guia eventually wrestled the advantage back to get the opening advantage for Undying. 

Enzo "Timado" Gianoli O'Connor broke out the carry Axe for game two. The build has seen a resurgence in the safe lane since the 7.29d nerfs. Timado showed why as soon as the horn sounded. A dominant laning phase gave way to a 25-minute Blink Dagger, Manta Style, Aghanim’s Shard, and Boots of Travel.

Undying opted for a very disciplined draft to close out the final round. Jonáš "SabeRLight-" Volek’s Doom polarized the early and mid game in Undying’s favor. 4 Zoomers got the better of some skirmishes to crack the door open for a comeback, but an ultra kill at the Roshan pit from Bryle flipped the momentum.

With a 24,000 gold lead and super creeps charging down mid lane, only one teamfight stood between Undying and The International 10. Their chance came with a pickoff on Nico "Gunnar" Lopez’s Ember Spirit which escalated into an immediate dieback. GG was called and Undying became North America’s third representative at TI10.

Is Undying a dark horse to win The International 2021?

Undying didn’t lose a single game in their upper bracket TI10 qualifier run. The squad triumphed over The Cut, Black N Yellow, and 4 Zoomers twice to earn their spot. Valve has formally canceled its original plan to host the  $40,000,000 event in Stockholm and is currently searching for a new TI10 host country.

Undying has been arguably the best team that came together ahead of the 2021 Dota Pro Circuit's start, out-performing teams like Team SMG, NoTechies, and Hellbear Smashers. The team has been a force in North America but hasn't been able to qualify for majors due to the limited number of major slots in North America. Undying may have the tools to make a deep run if it has a good read on the TI meta and gets hot at the right time.