ESL One Stockholm 2022 – 5 Teams to Look Out For

After six weeks of high-quality Dota 2 action, every region in Tour 2 of the 2021-2022 DPC “elected” its representatives for the upcoming Major. Eastern Europe was the last region where we saw tons of matches. As you probably know, Valve decided to postpone Tour 2 due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Fortunately, the organizers found a way to give us access to the action.

Now that the dust has settled, it is time to focus on the first Major for 2022. The tournament will occur between May 12 -22 in Stockholm, Sweden. There will be 14 teams in total that will compete for the $500,000 prize and 3,530 DPC points.

The teams will be divided into two groups of seven, where they play in a round-robin bo2 format. The top four teams advance to the Upper Bracket of the playoffs, whereas the 5th and 6th place teams will go to the Lower Bracket. The last two teams from each group will be eliminated.

Speaking of teams, we will see the best Dota 2 pros from across the globe. So we’re guaranteed a captivating competition all the way until the final outcome. Of course, there are a couple of names that stand out, so let’s highlight them in this review.

OG

We want to start with the winners of Western Europe’s Tour 2 – OG. The two-time TI winners made a massive roster change before the beginning of this DPC. Even though Tour 1 did not go well for them, Tour 2 was a massive success. The team defeat most of its opponents and finished first in Division 1

Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov and Artem “Yuragi” Golubiev will have to lead the team against some of the best players in the world. Although we don’t know the groups yet, we won’t be surprised if OG dominates because the team has been playing really well recently.

With that being said, OG’s squad is young, which means the players do not have a lot of LAN experience. They will probably face teams that have been together for many years, so it will be interesting to see whether they will live up to the expectations.

Team Spirit

Even though Team Spirit lost one match during Eastern Europe’s Tour 2, Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk and the rest remain one of the best in the world. Team Spirit are the current TI champions, so it shouldn’t be surprising many people consider them the favorite.

During Tour 2, TS only lost against BetBoom Team, they didn’t lose a single map after that. Yatoro and the rest are highly motivated to show their prowess yet again, so they’re one of the teams that everyone will look up to. Since this tournament grants 3530 DPC points in total, winning it will allow TS to be one step closer to defending their trophy.

Of course, accomplishing this task is easier said than done. OG remains the only team in Dota 2 who’ve successfully won TI two times in a row, but Spirit definitely has the firepower to accomplish the same goal.

BOOM Esports

The teams from SEA haven’t always been as successful as their western counterparts when it comes down to playing at Majors, but this may no longer be the case.

BOOM Esports is one of the three SEA teams who’ll try to win the first big event of the year. Even though people expected Erin Jasper “Yopaj” Ferrer and the rest to finish first in Division I, the team lost the tiebreaker against Fnatic. Consequently, they secured the second spot for the ESL One Stockholm Major.

We haven’t had the chance to watch BOOM’s new roster in a DPC LAN event yet. The only time they’ve appeared on the big stage was during the GAMERS GALAXY: Invitational Series Dubai 2022. This event took place a couple of months ago and BOOM Esports won it after defeating Tundra Esports.

Yopaj and the rest have never been in a better position to win a Major, so they will have to make the most of it. Don’t forget that TNC remains the only SEA team to have won a Major event from Valve, which means BOOM have extra motivation.

Evil Geniuses

Usually, North America is not the most interesting Dota 2 region to watch because Evil Geniuses have little to no competition. However, Tour 2 of the 2021-2022 DPC was different because TSM, EG, and QC were neck and neck until the last round. In fact, the three teams had to fight in the Tiebreakers to determine the Major slots.

Due to the region’s poor results last year, Valve only gave it two slots. One of the teams that will try to show that NA is still alive is Evil Geniuses, TI 5 winners. After the roster changes that took place following TI 10, Artour “Arteezy” Babaev and the rest look better than ever.

Needless to say, many people doubt that the NA powerhouse has what it takes to defeat the best European teams. We haven’t seen EG in action against clubs from other regions in a while. However, judging by the team’s performance, they will live up to the expectations.

Team Liquid

Normally, we’d put at least one Chinese team, such as PSG.LGD because they are definitely among the best in the world. However, due to the newly-discovered COVID cases in China, neither of the teams from the region will attend the Major. Instead, the teams there will take part in Regional Finals.

Since there won’t be any Chinese teams in Sweden, the last name on this list is Team Liquid. Lasse Aukusti “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen and his four Swedish teammates will try to impress their home crowd by winning the first big event of the year. The team had little to no problems during Tour 2 and almost won the Regional Finals during Tour 1.

Although the team’s latest performance is not that impressive, it has enough power to defeat the best in the world.