Can Team Spirit handle the excitement? And will Virtus.pro jump high in an essentially meaningless tournament?
Today, the decisive stage of the WePlay AniMajor major Dota 2 tournament with a prize fund of $500,000 has started in Kiev.
The six best clubs of the group stage play with the champions of the regional divisions to determine the strongest team in Dota 2 . “Championship” tells who is the most interesting to follow.
What Form Are Evil Geniuses Players In?
The strongest American team in this tournament looks very pale. In some matches, Tal Fly Aizik and his partners show a high level, but they make stupid mistakes in others.
This cannot even be attributed to the preparation for the World Championship The International, where the “evil geniuses” are going.
Now EG is one step away from relegation and is in danger of failing the tournament. This is not very scary for such experienced players in terms of morality, but it will raise questions from experts and fans.
Are Evil Geniuses one of the best teams in the world, and will it be able to impose a fight on the current giants?
Can Team Spirit Handle The Excitement?
The second team from Eastern Europe will make its debut at a tournament of this level. Of the five players, only captain Yaroslav Miposhka Naydenov has experience playing at world-class events, which immediately caused concern.
The Russian team plays very carefully and takes almost no risks. Sometimes it works, but it just gets in the way more often.
The team played some good games in the group stage and won an incredible match against Team Liquid for the right to stay in the tournament.
But in the playoffs, stability alone will not be enough to win. I would like to believe that the low expectations of the fans from the young team will relieve the burden of responsibility and allow the players to act more freely and brighter.
What Will The Team From Peru Show?
At the last major, the world’s weakest region on paper was represented by just one team. Then in Singapore, Thunder Predator surprised everyone, went through the group stage like a skating rink, and managed to take 5-6th place, but they didn’t even qualify in South America this season.
Now the division is represented by NoPing e-sports. The team has an exciting style based on the aggression of four players for the sake of a comfortable game of the fifth.
Such games are at least interesting to watch, but viewers have the right to expect new miracles from the rabid Peruvians in terms of results.
Will Nigma Make It To The International?
Russian carry Igor iLTW Filatov strengthened the KuroKy team. The European team was able to get out of the wild card meat grinder and confidently passed the group stage.
Now Nigma looks like one of the favorites and can earn money and a title and ranking points. Being in a tournament with a prize pool of more than $40 million is even more important than getting into the money now.
To get into the top 12 and immediately get a slot for The International World Championship would be very cool. Otherwise, you will have to play in the most difficult regional qualification.
Nigma, just like Vici, TNC Predator, and a number of other clubs, is still in the role of catching up. But a good performance can change everything.
At the time of publication of the material, the Indonesian team T1 beat Team Aster in the first round of the playoffs of the upper bracket, securing participation in the main stage of The International 10.
How much better has Virtus.pro become?
At the first major, VP unexpectedly failed, scoring only one victory in three matches. Now history is in danger of repeating itself: the Bears have dominated the CIS all season, but there is no certainty that Vitaliy Save Melnyk’s team will be able to fight for the victory.
In Singapore, only one thing has changed; the team gained invaluable experience. Perhaps the team was able to work on the bugs and now become even stronger.
In addition, the young Russian team is no longer burdened with responsibility: Virtus.pro has already entered TI10, and this time fans’ expectations have been slightly lowered.
Has The Alliance found Any Bugs?
They failed at the Singapore Major 2021 and the team from Sweden. The five of Gustav s4 Magnusson did not win a single match, but after such a fiasco, they managed to regroup and became the best in Europe.
Maybe that event was just an unfortunate accident? On paper, the team has an excellent chance to prove it at the Major.
The Alliance looks bright and interesting; it is a well-coordinated and stable team that knows how to beat the best teams in the Old World. It remains to find the key to the style of representatives of other regions.
Who Will Be The Champion?
It’s a rather banal question, but it is incredibly difficult to determine the main contender for the title right now.
No one will be surprised, for example, by the victory of any Chinese team, be it Team Aster, PSG.LGD or wild card winners Vici Gaming. Extremely strong European giants, including Nigma and The Alliance, may surprise EG.
Besides, surprises should not be ruled out: Virtus.pro, TNC Predator, and a number of other teams have chances for success (and quite good ones!)
Weplay Animajor 2021 Playoff
Upper Bracket Semi-final
- 12:00. Winner VP/Nigma – Winner Alliance/LGD
- 15:00. Aster/T1 Winner – QC/NoPing Winner
Second Round Of The Lower Bracket
- 18:00. Match Winner 1 – Match Winner 2
- 21:00. Match 3 Winner – Match 4 Winner
June 12, Saturday
- 12:00. Third round of the lower bracket
- 15:00. Third round of the lower bracket
- 18:00. Upper Bracket Final
- 21:00. Fourth round of the lower bracket
June 13, Sunday
- 16:00. Lower Bracket Final
- 20:00. Grand final (up to three wins)
* start time of matches – Moscow (UTC +3).
