The International 2016s qualifiers are over. The 18 teams who will travel to Seattle are set. At this time of the year, the building anticipation has the power to stall all other discussions in the Dota 2 world. Unfortunately, that includes the discussion of how we got here: How Valve determined who was invited to its tournament and who would have to compete in qualifiers.All this has happened before and all this will happen again. Every time Valve announces invites to one of its majors, complaints arise about how its team determined who to invite. And, every time, the dust settles after a few weeks and we move on to other topics. Until the next major. Its time for a proper investigation into Valves operating procedures with respect to its Dota 2 events to determine whether there is room for improvement.Scrutinizing Valves process immediately presents itself as tricky because the process is opaque to us. How do we judge if Valve is making the best decisions possible if we dont have access to its decision-making process? It seems that Valve feels it is unnecessary for other stakeholders to be able to inspect its processes, provided it offers satisfactory outcomes. As a private company, this sort of thinking is not unusual. But as a regulatory body dictating the workings of a competitive industry, questions need to be asked and answered.The role of direct invitesThe place to start would be to ask what exactly direct invites are. Does Valve hand out direct invites to particular teams because of some measure of objective merit, or is the decision completely at Valves discretion? The latter option allows for arbitrary judgement, which is obviously unwanted in a competitive field. Thankfully, all evidence suggests that the truth is the former, that Valve does have reasons for who it invites to its events.Indeed, in the past year, some patterns in Valves invites have even become so consistent that weve come to treat them as norms, despite never being confirmed by the company itself. For example, the top four teams of the previous major have always been invited to the next one. Furthermore, there has always been at least one team invited primarily due to its achievements in non-Valve events.So, it is clear that Valve does have an internal qualification process for direct invites. If you are directly invited to a major, it isnt like getting a lucky invite to a cool party. Its recognition that youve done something that qualified you to be at the event. What have you done? We dont know. But Valve does. The question then becomes why the developer feels uncomfortable sharing its reasoning with us.This question was actually answered within the Manila Major invites announcement from Valve:Deciding on how to handle the direct invites to our four tournaments is a difficult process, and we dont take a specific formulaic approach to which teams are invited or how many we invite.In other words, even though the process of deciding who to invite is a thoroughly reasoned one, the reasoning used from event to event might actually change. This is because the problem being solved is a complex one and, thus, might requires a fresh and dynamic approach to solving it each time.A players perspective from LodaThis really gets to the bottom of the discussion at hand. Valve could create a set of criteria known to the public for how to qualify for its events. But then itd have to stick to them. And right now the Dota 2 team appears to be concerned that the esports scene presents too many exceptional considerations to justify risking a commitment to one way of doing things.While this is a clever strategy for sustaining decision-making power, thus potentially improving individual decisions, there are questions about how this affects the overall ecosystem. Jonathan Loda Berg, captain of Alliance, shared his thoughts on the matter.I kind of understand why they have a hidden system, but at this point I feel its a bit flawed. The majors were, and are, a great thing for Dota, but at the moment we dont even know in what way they matter until the next round of invites are sent out. I think it has to be more open for sure.I think it adds an immense kind of pressure on players and teams to not know. You can win a tournament right before a major and still not actually know if you will get invited or not. I believe LAN wins should matter a lot, but Im obviously biased. Perhaps placing top-four continuously is more impressive than actually getting first once. I think like I said before that something has to change. I can feel a different kind of stress from teams and players nowadays, and I believe its because they do not even know what they are aiming for. To be tier-one, -two? To win a major or actually practice to play a qualifier? I mean in some cases its better to take one month off to practice for an important qualifier such as the majors rather than partake in other tournaments, just due to the value of reaching majors and placing top 8 there. The teams and the fans need to know what we are playing for to give it any worth.Lodas comments make two very important points. First, Valves lack of transparency puts enormous strain on players. This strain seems comparable to a person constantly having to worry if theyll get the job or get the promotion. The traditional sporting world lacks examples of this. You know well in advance how you might qualify for the World Cup or the Champions League. Even if esports are different from traditional sports, other competitive games also only utilize transparent qualification processes. Magic: The Gathering, a competitive game, which functions much like an esport but also predates the field, follows the same route as sports: premier events offer various routes for qualification but all are known openly and in advance. Indeed, even Counter-Strike, an esport also administered by Valve, uses an entirely transparent qualification process.That other competitions do things that way perhaps suggests that Dota 2 could too, but it is not an argument for why it should. Lodas second key point, however, does present such an argument. Knowledge of qualification criteria can play a role in the decisions teams make during the year, so Valves choice to protect its own authority actually deprives teams of the ability to make informed decisions.Transparency is necessary for a legitimate competitive environmentTeams should be able to navigate the major system by making decisions about how to prioritize their time, which events to go to, and which is the best route to try to qualify. With an unknown rule set, this isnt possible; the only winning strategy is attend everything, win everything. But this is not a reasonable principle. There are real trade-offs, in terms of time and other resources, when it comes to deciding when and how to train and which events to attend during the year.Valve has done a reasonably good job producing desirable outcomes with its invites. But the process also matters, and not just as a means to an end. In order to be a fair and competitive system, those participating in it need to know how it works.Imagine if a patch were launched without any patch notes. Imagine if a tournament were hosted without any information about its format. Both examples are clearly not conducive to a fair and competitive environment. Thankfully, these things dont happen. Valve supplies full information to teams about how its game works, how their tournaments work, and updates when changes are made. Yet somehow the process that underpins the esports ecosystem -- tournament qualification for Valve events -- has thus far escaped the same standard. This is the case despite the fact that Dota 2 is still a game, and the rules for games need to be clear if participants are expected to reasonably compete in it.It might be that the competitive scene in Dota 2 is sufficiently complex such that it is not comparable to other games and sports that use transparent qualification systems. However, Valves comments imply a false dichotomy. It is not the case that the system needs to be either entirely formulaic or entirely hidden. It is possible to provide some key information about the process through guidelines that express roughly which achievements are relevant, leaving room for Valves discretion. Mane Jersey Liverpool . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Roberto Firmino t Shirt .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. http://www.liverpoolshoponlineuk.com/henderson-liverpool-shirt.html . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. Trent Alexander-Arnold Jersey . Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury. Sadio Mane t Shirt . Just not the game. Kyle Palmieri scored two straight goals in the third period to rally the Anaheim Ducks past the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Tuesday night. CHICAGO -- Jimmy Butler scored 26 points, Dwyane Wade had 24 and the Chicago Bulls beat LeBron James and the slumping Cleveland Cavaliers 111-105 on Friday night.Taj Gibson added a season-high 23 points and 11 rebounds for Chicago. Rajon Rondo had 15 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds as the balanced Bulls handed the Cavaliers their third straight loss.James showed up in a Cubs uniform to honor a World Series bet with his buddy Wade, then scored 27 points. Kyrie Irving added 20 points and eight assists, but the Cavaliers matched their longest losing streak in a year.Chicago dominated Cleveland 78-60 in the paint and came out on top despite hitting shooting 3 of 18 on 3-pointers.The Bulls used a strong third quarter to turn a one-point halftime deficit into an 88-80 lead. And they withstood several pushes in the fourth to knock off the defending NBA champions.KNICKS 118, TIMBERWOLVES 114NEW YORK -- Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points, Derrick Rose had 24 and Kyle OQuinn added 20 points and 13 rebounds as the Knicks defeated the Timberwolves.Zach LaVine scored 24 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 20 for the Timberwolves.Despite trailing 98-88 after three quarters, the Timberwolves went on a 12-2 run to start the fourth, aided by five Knick turnovers in the first four minutes, and took their first lead of the game, 102-101, on LaVines dunk with 6:33 remaining.OQuinn got the Knicks lead back with consecutive baskets, and after Minnesota got within one, Rose scored the next five points to give New York a 110-104 lead.Andrew Wiggins converted a layup with 2:11 left, but Anthony answered with a dunk off of a full court pass from OQuinn to make the score 112-106.Rose made two free throws with 31 seconds left for a 114-106 lead and the Timberwolves got no closer than four the rest of the way.CELTICS 97, KINGS 92BOSTON -- Al Horford scored 26 points and blocked six shots, Isaiah Thomas scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half and the Celtics held off the Kings.Jae Crowder added 24 points and Avery Bradley had 15 points and nine assists for Boston, which needed a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter to pull away and finish off the Kings.Sacramento outrebounded Boston 51-44, but hurt itself in the final period with turnovers, missed shots and a technical foul called on Matt Barnes as Boston surged ahead.DeMarcus Cousins led Sacramento with 28 points and nine rebounds.The Kings were playing for the first time since Monday. Sacramentos six-game road trip was interrupted when Wednesdays game at Philadelphia was postponed because of condensation on the floor.MAGIC 104, 76ERS 88,PHILADELPHIA -- Aaron Gordon scored a season-high 20 points, Nikola Vuvevic had 12 points, 11 rebounds and five assists and the Magic cruised by the 76ers in a matchup of slumping Eastern Conference teams.Serge Ibaka, Evan Fournier and Jeff Green all added 16 points for the Magic (8-12), who had lost five of six coming in. Bismack Biyombo had 13 rebounds.The Sixers (4-15) lost their fifth straight despite 25 points and 10 rebounds from rookie Joel Embiid. It was his fifth double-douuble of the season.dddddddddddd.Jahlil Okafor, who saw extended action with Embiid for the first time this season, also had a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds.RAPTORS 113, LAKERS 80TORONTO -- Kyle Lowry had 24 points and seven assists and the Raptors rolled past the Los Angeles Lakers for their fifth straight victory.The Toronto point guard tied his season high for 3-pointers, going 6 of 9 from beyond the arc as the Raptors beat the Lakers for the fourth straight time with their biggest win of the season. The 33-point victory surpassed the 27-point win over Philadelphia on Oct. 28.DeMar DeRozan and Norman Powell both added 16 points for Toronto.Brandon Ingram had 17 points for the Lakers, while their bench, the top scoring unit in the NBA, chipped in with Jordan Clarksons 14 and former Raptor Lou Williams 13.PISTONS 121, HAWKS 85ATLANTA -- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 23 points, Tobias Harris added 18 and the Pistons beat the reeling Hawks.The Pistons, who tied a team record with 17 3-pointers, have won five of six and are 3-1 on a trip that included stops at playoff contenders Oklahoma City, Charlotte and Boston.Andre Drummond finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds and Ish Smith had 13 assists as seven players scored in double figures for Detroit.The Hawks, losers in eight of their last nine games, were 9-2 and tied for the Eastern Conference lead after beating Milwaukee on Nov. 16. Now they are one-half game behind eighth-place Detroit and headed to play Toronto, the Easts second-best team, on Saturday.Dennis Schroder had 17 points and 13 assists for Atlanta. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Mike Muscala scored 11 each.CLIPPERS 114, PELICANS 96NEW ORLEANS -- Blake Griffin had 27 points and 10 rebounds, Chris Paul had 17 points and 13 assists, and the Clippers beat the Pelicans.Jamal Crawford scored 21 points and Luc Mbah a Moute had 15 for Los Angeles, which capped a 10-day, six-game trip with victories on back-to-back nights on the shores of lakes Erie and Pontchartrain, having defeated Cleveland on Thursday night.Anthony Davis hurt his right shoulder but played through it, scoring 21 points for New Orleans.SPURS 107, WIZARDS 105SAN ANTONIO -- Kawhi Leonard scored 23 points, including the winning jumper with 6 seconds left, and the Spurs overcame another sluggish start at home to beat the Wizards.LaMarcus Aldridge added 19 points for San Antonio, which won its 17th straight home game against Washington.Bradley Beal was 5 for 5 on 3-pointers in scoring 23 points for the Wizards.Beals final 3 gave Washington a 103-102 lead with 53 seconds remaining. Danny Greens 3-pointer, his first points of the night, put San Antonio ahead 105-103 with 19 seconds to go.John Wall tied it at 105 with 11.2 seconds left on a driving layup against Manu Ginobili before Leonard rose for a 20-foot jumper at the top of the key. Otto Porter Jr. missed a 9-foot runner off a Washington inbounds play that would have tied the game. ' ' '