The International 2013 was the third edition of the annual Dota 2 e-sports tournament The International . It started on August 2, 2013 and ended on August 11, 2013. As in the previous year, it was played at the KeyArena in Seattle . Prize money this year was $ 2,874,380, of which $ 1,437,190 went to the winner. It broke the record for the highest prize money paid out at an esports tournament. This record was only broken a year later by the successor The International 2014. It was won by the Swedish team Alliance after beating 2011 winner Natus Vincere 3-2 in the final.
This year a so-called compendium was published for the first time. This was a virtual book that players could buy. 25% of the proceeds were added to the prize pool ($ 1,600,000 of which was contributed by Valve ).
Minor changes were made to the format. Only 13 teams were invited. As in the previous year, two teams qualified through two qualifying tournaments (West and East). The runners-up in the qualifications played out the 16th participant in a wildcard match in the best-of-5 format. In addition, the fourth round of the lower bracket in the best-of-3 was held.
The series between Alliance and Natus Vincere was decided in the 5th and final game. It is the only final series in the history of the international that went into the 5th game. It is now rated by many fans as "the best Dota2 Pro game of all time".