Australian and American squads giving their nations a first shot at Valve's championship for the online battle game; reigning champion Na'Vi to defend its title.

When the second annual The International tournament for Dota 2 kicks off August 31 at the Benaroya Hall in Seattle, last year's championship Ukrainian team will be on hand to defend its crown. Valve has confirmed six of 16 teams for the event, including the reigning champs Na'Vi.

The International host country will have its own team this year.

The remaining five announced teams include DK (China), Complexity (USA), Orange (Malaysia), and Absolute Legends (Australia). This will be the first time Australian or American teams have competed at The International. Last year, only three Americans competed in total, separated on two different European-favored teams. Complexity owner Jason Lake told GameSpot he was aware that the distinction comes with some burden.

"Being the first American team invited to an event on U.S. soil comes with special responsibilities and I'm confident our players will step up to the plate and put forward the effort needed to make the local fans proud," Lake said. "We'll be working extremely hard to prepare for the event and will boot camp in the area in the weeks leading up to what will surely be an event for the ages."

This will be the team's first-ever Dota 2 LAN event, with a lot of pressure on the squad to perform well. Complexity has won its last 10 official online matches in a row, including victories over Evil Geniuses and Fnatic.

"Complexity have been playing in a lot of competitions of late, and perform strongly every game," joinDOTA.com broadcaster Toby Dawson told GameSpot. "Their biggest problem is when they go up against the top tier-1 teams, they're hot and cold. Sometimes they can pull it off, sometimes they can't. It will be interesting to see."

Meanwhile, Absolute Legends is giving Australia its first shot at The International and hoping to bring a long-awaited major e-sports title to the region.

"Absolute Legends have a huge amount of experience, as well as the strong strats," said Dawson, an Australian native and longtime friend of the players. "They are not to be underestimated. They have a shot of winning it all. I think it would be awesome for Australia."

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