Week 1 of the 2023 DPC Tour 3 in all regions is over, so the teams have started preparing for Week 2. Even though this was the first wave of matches, it was crucial for a lot of teams. After all, the slots for the Bali Major 2023 are limited, and this will be the last chance for some teams to qualify for The International. Without further ado, let’s start and go through all regions.
Western Europe
The strongest Dota 2 region in the world is also the most interesting one to watch during Tour 3 of the 2023 DPC. Although WEU is among the regions with four slots for the Major, all eight teams have equal chances of securing them. This is especially true after Team Liquid’s failure to defeat Entity.
Speaking of the devil, this match was one of the highlights in Western Europe. Everyone expected Team Liquid to win, but Entity understands the current meta well, as we’ve seen its matches. Liquid’s loss might not seem very important because it was the first game of the week, but in reality, it can have a big impact on the final standings.
The good news is Team Liquid found a way to bounce back. The team defeated Team Secret in its second match, followed by another victory versus D2 Hustlers.
Sadly, another team couldn’t shine at all, and its name is OG. Although they were one of the favorites in Division I of Western Europe’s Tour 3, Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov’s team made two big mistakes in Week 1 that could cost them their slot for the Bali Major.
OG wasn’t able to overcome Tundra Esports, which wasn’t surprising. The team lost almost all of its matches versus Leon “Nine” Kirilin and the rest. However, OG also lost a game versus Quest Esports, one of the underdogs in Division I.
As expected, Gaimin Gladiators, currently the best-ranked Dota 2 team, won two matches. They were able to deal with Quest Esports, as well as Team Secret, giving them a solid lead for the second week of the DPC.
Eastern Europe
The situation in Eastern Europe is also action-packed, thanks to some big teams in the region clearly performing better than the rest. Sadly, there are only 3 Major spots up for grabs from Tour 3 of the 2023 DPC in Eastern Europe, making the competition even more fierce.
Most people probably aren’t surprised by the impressive results from some of the Division I favorites. Although, some fans have been impressed by the victories from One Move, a team who usually isn’t that consistent. The squad started with a victory against UALEIKUMNIHAO, followed by winning against HYDRA.
The bad news is One Move couldn’t continue their undefeated streak, losing their match versus Nemiga. Although most EEU fans expected Vasilii “AfterLife” Shishkin and his squad to win this match, Nemiga stepped up their game after losing their first two series, defeating their powerful opponents.
BetBoom Team, which has one of the best rosters in the Eastern European DPC, also had no problems in Week 1. The team started Tour 3 with an easy victory against HYDRA and then had to play against Virtus.Pro. Many people expected more from one of the biggest names in CIS, but in the end, VP wasn’t able to stop BetBoom from sweeping the series.
9Pandas is another big name in Eastern Europe who many fans are following up close and another of the favorites in Division I. Their week was pretty good; it started with two victories. First, Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev and his team defeated Nemiga, and then they took their second victory against UALEIKUMNIHAO. But neither win was easy, so we saw three full maps in both series.
Speaking of a victory that wasn’t easy, everyone was interested in seeing the 9Pandas vs. One Move game. The latter have been doing pretty well, but One Move wasn’t able to overcome the power of 9Pandas. Ramzess666 and the squad proved too good to beat, finishing the first week of EEU’s Tour 3 Division I without losing a single match.
China
Although it’s often forgotten, China’s Division I in Tour 3 is the only division alongside Western Europe with four slots. Some fans think China doesn’t deserve that many slots because the region’s best teams haven’t been living up to their expectations. However, some of the best teams in China are counted among the world’s leading rosters, and these pros can explode and dominate a game at any minute.
But while we’re talking about the best in China, after Week 1 of Tour 3 we need to address PSG.LGD. The leading name in the region started with a pretty easy win against Aster.Aries. While it’s true the first game was around 50 minutes, Game 2 was completely one-sided.
After defeating Aster.Aries, LGD secured another victory in Tour 1. This time, the team was able to take down Invictus Gaming in another 2-0 sweep.
Xtreme Gaming, Zhang “Paparazi笔 Chengjun’s team, and one of the Chinese powerhouses who took part in the Berlin Major, also achieved fairly good results after Week 1. The team defeated PK and Team Bright, but wasn’t able to deal with Azure Ray. Still, Azure’s roster consists of the likes of Lu “Somnus” Yao and Xu “fy” Linsen, so it shouldn’t be surprising that many people expect a lot from them.
Azure Ray also defeated Aster. Aries, before they secured their victory against Xtreme. Sadly, the squad had to overcome Team Aster in their last match. In spite of a really close Game 2, in the end, Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan’s Storm Spirit allowed him to carry Aster to victory.
In terms of Du “Monet” Peng’s team, they took another 2-0 sweep against Piggy Killer. Aster only had two series this week and won both, so we can’t wait to see if the squad will continue their dominant streak in Week 2.
Southeast Asia
Everyone knows Southeast Asia is the region in Dota 2 where anything and everything is possible. We’ve seen it repeatedly; most people remember when BOOM Esports and Fnatic were relegated to Division II, something no one expected to happen.
The current state of SEA is just as intriguing, but a couple of teams are performing far better than the rest. Talon Esports is one of them, and as expected, the squad started Week 1 with 2 impressive victories.
The first one was against Team SMG, one of SEA’s representatives at the Berlin Major 2023. Dota 2 fans worldwide expected this to be a close series, but Talon proved why they’re the best in SEA right now. The squad secured a fast 2-0 victory and decided to focus on their second match versus Blacklist International.
This was another crucial series for Talon; Blacklist International are one of the main favorites in SEA. After taking the lead in the first series, Game 2 was a lot more intriguing. BI had a good lead, but Marc “Raven” Fausto and co. weren’t able to hold on to it, allowing Talon to come back and win the match.
While talking about Blacklist International, Raven and the rest started their week with a victory against BOOM Esports. We didn’t know what to expect in this clash; BOOM was one of the best in SEA and is finally back in Division I. However, it seems like Erin “Yopaj” Ferrer and the rest need to step up their game if they want to have a chance at the Major. BOOM lost to BI in a game where the latter had no problems.
Fortunately, Yopaj and his squad still have a chance of succeeding, they won their second series of the week against XERXIA, and as expected, BOOM won with little to no problems. After those two quick games, it does look like BOOM are bouncing back in SEA’s Division I.
Speaking of bouncing back, Team SMG and Blacklist International did the same after their losses. SMG had no issues in their series against Army Geniuses, whereas BI easily defeated Execration. This was a very interesting clash because these two squads are direct contenders for one of the 3 Major slots.
North America
Most North American Dota 2 teams in Division I of Tour 3 could be more interesting to watch. However, three big names stood out, and we had the chance to watch an epic clash between 2 of the best.
Of course, we’re addressing the Shopify Rebellion vs. TSM series that took place earlier this week. In one of the most interesting games in Week 1, Artour “Arteezy” Babaev’s team successfully defeated their most prominent opponents, meaning they’re on the right path to securing their place in Bali. Don’t forget North America only received 2 Major slots, so TSM, Shopify Rebellion, and nouns have to do everything possible to win.
Speaking of nouns, they also started Week 1 with a victory. David “Moo” Hull’s squad had no problems defeating B8, putting them one step ahead of TSM, who couldn’t defeat SR. And in more good news for nouns, they also dealt with Team DogChamp in their second big matchup. Next week will be incredibly important for them; nouns will have to play against TSM in a direct clash for one of the first two spots.
Following the painful loss against SR, TSM bounced back, winning their series against B8 and Alpha. As expected, these matches weren’t even close, TSM’s squad is just on another level compared to Alpha and B8.
South America
Finally, we come to one of the hottest Dota 2 regions in Tour 3 ‘ South America. Week 1 here was full of action, and most matches were pretty exciting. That said, most of us paid attention to the big names, such as EG.
Evil Geniuses’s arrival in the South American Dota 2 scene disrupted the balance of power in the region; the new team quickly became one of the leading squads. Following the Week 1 results, it’s clear EG will continue to dominate, as they secured two important victories.
Most people probably aren’t surprised by the victory against Balrogs, but EG also had no problems against Thunder Awaken. This was a vital clash for TA because, like the NA region, South America only had 2 slots for the Bali Major. Considering beastcoast and EG are the top contenders currently, Thunder Awaken doesn’t have a lot of room for mistakes. Sadly, they’ve already made a wrong move by losing the clash against EG.
The good news for Aliaksei “Knight~” Svirydau and his teammates is they defeated Balrogs in the last game of Week 1. This victory means the team still has a chance to snatch one of the two slots, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens against beastcoast. These two powerhouses face off against each other in Week 2.
That other big name in South America, beastcoast, defeated Infamous and Hokori. But these results aren’t shocking, bc have always been one step above most of the other teams in South America. Still, the game vs Hokori was a lot closer than most people expected. Meaning, bc still have to be careful; they’re not undefeatable.
