Dota 2
The Pinnacle 25 Year Anniversary Show was a pretty big Dota 2 tournament which included a few big names. Let’s learn more about it.
There’s no arguing the Dota 2 community is more focused on ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 than any other tournament. However, while some of the best teams in the world were preparing for this competition, another big event gathered several big names.
Pinnacle: 25 Year Anniversary Show started on November 20 and ended on December 6. During that time, we watched 20 teams from Europe and CIS compete against each other. Even though this was a Tier 2 tournament, the $100K prize pool was quite impressive, so it attracted several big squads.
Now the tournament is over, we know the name of the winner. With that said, let’s learn more about what went down at the event.
The Teams Who Surprised Us
As previously mentioned, this Dota 2 tournament had a total of 20 teams. Some of them are Tier 2 squads most people don’t know much about, but there were a few names there who definitely surprised us.
Virtus.Pro
Considering the names at the Pinnacle: 25 Year Anniversary Show, Virtus.Pro was one of the big favorites. That’s why it doesn’t come as a surprise the squad finished first in Group C.
Once the Group Stage was over, VP played against Alliance and defeated the European squad. However, the team was unable to do the same in the Upper Bracket Semifinals, where VP will play against Team Tickles. The Russian squad was the big favorite, but a lot of mistakes resulted in a loss, and VP had to fight for its survival in the Lower Bracket.
Speaking of the LB, VP defeated Level Up, after which it secured a match against Team Falcons. Despite having more experience than its counterpart, VP was unable to win this match. The team bounced back in the second game, but it wasn’t enough to win the series.
Team Falcons
Interestingly, Team Falcons was the only Dota 2 squad at Pinnacle: 25 Year Anniversary Show that qualified for the ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023. Although the team is new, it has a lot of experienced players, and it is really motivated to show what it is capable of. That’s why it is no surprise Team Falcons was among the big favorites to win the Pinnacle: 25 Year Anniversary Show.
Team Falcons was placed in Group B, and, unsurprisingly, the squad finished without dropping a single map. After the success, TF played against Level Up and defeated them as well. However, the second match was against The dudley boys. The latter is a big stack who have a lot of big names, but we will talk more about them later.
Once Stanislav "Malr1ne" Potorak reached the Lower Bracket, the squad defeated Yellow Submarine. This gave the team the chance to play against Virtus.Pro. After defeating the Russian squad, Team Falcons also dealt with Team Tickles. This gave them the opportunity to play in the Grand Final against the dudley boys
Surprisingly, Team Falcons absolutely crushed the likes of Ivan "MinD_ContRoL" Ivanov and the rest of his team and won without dropping a game. This allowed the squad to win their first tournament under the Saudi org.
The Dudley Boys
Some people might not consider the dudley boys a team, instead thinking of them more as a stack of Dota 2 players. But, with that said, the stack consists of a lot of big names, including a previous International winner. That’s one of the reasons why many people aren’t surprised the dudley boys dominated at Pinnacle: 25 Year Anniversary Show.
Speaking of his squad, it has the following players:
- Yuma "Yuma" Langlet
- Elliott "Adzantick" Hammond
- Ivan "MinD_ContRoL" Ivanov
- Edgar "9Class" Naltakyan
- Egor "Xakoda" Lipartiya
The dudley boys were in Group D, where they finished first. After that, the squad continued its dominance and defeated several big names in a role. First, it dealt with Team Klee, followed by Team Falcons. This was an extremely important and fun match to watch because TF was also one of the favorites.
After defeating the powerful team, TDB also won versus Team Tickles, which gave them a ticket for the final. There, MinD_ContRoL and his crew were placed against Team Falcons. Despite being the favorites, the team was unable to defeat their powerful opponents and lost the final match.
Team Tickles
Last but not least, we have a Tier 2 team who no one expected to perform as well as it did. Team Tickles consists of a few interesting names, such as Artem "Lorenof" Melnick, but the squad hasn’t impressed anyone with its recent results. With that said, it seems like TT was really motivated to win Pinnacle: 25 Year Anniversary Show because it performed really well.
Team Tickles finished first in Group A, which allowed it to play in the Upper Bracket against Yellow Submarine. After defeating this squad, TT went against Virtus.Pro, and it also defeated the Russian powerhouse. Sadly, Team Tickles was unable to deal with The dudley boys and lost the Upper Bracket final.
Unfortunately, Team Tickles was unable to defeat The Falcons in the LB final as well. Game 1 between the two was fairly balanced, but TF was way better on the second map. The loss put an end to Team Tickles’ journey at the Pinnacle: 25 Year Anniversary Show.
After analyzing some of the top Dota 2 teams at Pinnacle: 25 Year Anniversary Show, we can see Team Falcons was the best. This was a very important tournament for the young squad because it will give it the motivation for ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023.
