The Clavision Masters 2025: Snow-Ruyi was definitely more interesting than we expected. Aside from Xtreme Gaming’s surprising results and Nigma’s rebirth, we saw tons of epic games. In the end, however, we had the chance to watch the epic Grand Final between Team Tidebound and Tundra Esports. We have a lot to analyze, so let’s dive in.
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How Both Teams Reached This Stage of the Game
It’s safe to say that we did not expect to see these two Dota 2 teams at the Grand Final. With that said, both of them surprised everyone with their results and definitely deserved to be the two best squads.
Starting with Tundra Esports, the WEU powerhouse was in Group A, where it ended 3rd after 2 wins and 2 losses. This gave it a slot for the Upper Bracket quarterfinal, where the team met BetBoom Team. This match definitely was not easy, but in the end, Tundra prevailed and met Nigma Galaxy.
SumaiL and the rest were on fire before this match, but the team could not bring down Tundra. As a result, the WEU squad advanced to the UB final, where it met Team Tidebound. Prior to the Grand Final, bzm and the rest got a clean victory and a slot for the big game.
In terms of Team Tidebound, the team was first in Group B, after which it defeated Gaimin Gladiators in the UB Semifinals. This led to the game against Tundra, and after losing it, the team had to face Xtreme Gaming in the LB Final. The Chinese powerhouse got a clean 2-0 victory and a slot for the Grand Final.
Calvision Masters 2025 Grand Final
Considering how the UB Final, everyone expected Tundra to have little to no problems. This was true for Game 1 because the WEU team needed just 34 minutes to win. Sadly for them, the Chinese team rose from the ashes and secured two quick victories in games 2 and 3.
The second map started well for Tundra, but once Team Tidebound’s draft got the needed levels, things changed. Undying and Puck were too annoying to deal with, and eventually gave them the victory.
Game 3 also looked good for Tundra early on, but the team couldn’t use its advantage. Tudebound’s TB and Kunkka draft looked weird on paper, but the team eventually took full control of the game. Although Tundra tried everything, the squad could not find a way to stop their opponents and lost the game.
This leads us to Game 4, which, in our opinion, was the most interesting clash yet. Tundra was just one game away from losing, so the team decided to give BZM his favorite Invoker. Sadly, even this was not enough to stop Team Tidebound, at least early on.
After picking Kunkka for the mid lane and a QoP carry, the team dominated the early game. Everything looked great for the Chinese stars until it wasn’t. Tundra bounced back in the series and ended up winning the map, pushing the series into a game 5.
Speaking of game 5, we expected to see both teams give everything they got, and we were not surprised. The game was neck and neck for the first 30 minutes as neither team was able to get a clear lead in the match. This was when things suddenly changed because Tidebound’s Medusa draft suddenly became almost impossible to bring down.
Once the Chinese team got a few items, their cores were just incredibly hard to bring down. Tundra did everything possible to win, but the team did not have enough damage to fight against Ember, Queen of Pain, and Medusa. As a result, Team Tidebound won the match.
Conclusion
Team Tidebound’s victory at the Clavision Masters 2025 marks the first Chinese triumph at a Tier 1 Dota 2 event in some time. The victory is very important because it comes just a month prior to The International 2025.
Aside from TT, Xtreme Gaming also played better than before, so it’s safe to say there is some kind of a resurgence in the Chinese Dota 2 scene. Who knows, we may see a big surprise at TI 2025.
