Dota 2
A few days have passed since Team Spirit’s impressive victory over PSG.LGD during the PGL Arlington Major 2022. Despite being the underdog, the current TI champions proved why they are among the best and won their first Major.
Now that the dust has settled, most people will focus on the upcoming The International. There are a couple of smaller events before that, but the top teams give everything they got to secure a slot for the event.
Speaking of slots and The International, the end of the DPC in terms of Tours and Majors means that we already know the first twelve participants. As you know, the rules of the DPC state that the 12 teams with the most DPC points will receive an invitation to the event.
The International 2022 will be in Singapore 20 times. The event will last 15 days, starting from October 15, and will include one of the largest prize pools in Dota 2’s history. That said, we are yet to see that Battle Pass and all the goodies that come with it.
There's plenty of news about The International to come, but today, we want to focus on something else. We take a closer look at the top Dota 2 teams that didn't secure a direct invite. They might end up in Singapore, but first they'll have to compete in the regional qualifiers.
Outsiders
Those who’ve followed 2021/2022 DPC won’t be surprised that we’re starting this article with Outsiders, a.k.a Virtus.Pro. After changing its roster to a couple of teams, the CIS squad finally found the success formula. It did pretty well on each of the three Tours, as well as in the Major. Despite that, RAMZESS and the rest missed out on a direct invitation.
What’s really interesting is that Outsiders have a total of 1019 points, which means they have exactly 1 point less than Fnatic, who have 1020. This one point turned out to be crucial because the SEA squad received the last 12th spot in the event.
Some people expected Outsiders to perform better during the Major, but the team lost against bc in R2 of the Lower Bracket. Interestingly, Fnatic lost in R1 to the same team, but it seems like this was enough to secure themselves enough DPC points.
Team Liquid
The roster for Team Liquid meet ahead of their match with RNG at the PGL Arlington Major(Image: Team Liquid/Twitter)
After Virtus.Pro missed an invite for having 1 point less than Fnatic, it is time to address the second big team that will have to fight in the qualifiers. Surprisingly, Team Liquid was unable to secure enough points for the most important Dota 2 event of the year. Although the team had a reasonably consistent performance through the DPC, it seems like this was not enough.
If we look at the PGL Arlington Major 2022, Liquid failed to live up to the expectations. MATUMBAMAN and the rest had a shaky performance in the Group Stage, which landed them in the Lower Bracket. Sadly, they had to face none other than BOOM Esports. The series was interesting because it had three games, but in the end, the SEA powerhouse came on top.
Following the end of the Major, Team Liquid has 890 points, which is not enough to be in the top 12. The bad news for Matu and the rest is that there are a couple of other big names from WEU that will compete alongside them in the qualifiers. Hence, it will be hard for Team Liquid to secure a slot.
Royal Never Give Up
The next name we'll be keen to watch in the TI qualifiers is Royal Never Give Up. The Chinese powerhouse won Tour 3 in the country, but this was not enough to secure enough DPC points. Now that everything is over, RNGU only has 738 points, which is not enough to book a slot for TI.
Most fans of Maybe and the rest expected RNGU to be among the 12 directly invited teams. However, the Chinese squad failed to show prowess during the PGL Arlington Major 2022. After finishing 5th in Group A, Royal Never Give Up had to play against Outsiders, who lost their first match against Team Spirit.
Even though the odds were in favor of Maybe and co., Outsiders was the better team and won both maps. The loss meant eliminating Royal Never Give Up from the event and putting the last nail in the coffin to their hopes for a TI qualification.
BetBoom Team
The roster for BetBoom, including new addition Rodjer(Image: BetBoom Team/Twitter)
Aside from Outsiders (Virtus.Pro), the second team from Eastern Europe that failed to achieve its goal is BetBoom Team. SoNNeikO’s team had an explosive start and dominated in its region. Moreover, the team even qualified for the ESL One Stockholm 2022, the first Major of the DPC.
Sadly, they lost to bc in R2 of the LB, which ended their Major run. The bad news for BB Team is that it failed to qualify for the second Major. If they’ve had the chance to compete in the Major and survive in the first couple of rounds, the team would probably have enough points for TI. Now, SoNNeikO and the rest will have to play agast other top teams from Eastern Europe.
Entity
The last team that we want to include here is none other than Entity. This is probably the least popular team, but the Western Europeans have proven that they should not be underestimated.
Crystallis and the rest were not even in Division I during Tour 1, but the team made its way there after dominating everyone in Division II. Even though Entity finished sixth during Tour 2, this was a clear sign that the team was on the path to success.
Speaking of the devil, the success came in Tour 3 because Entity finished 4th. This allowed them to secure a slot for the PGL Arlington Major 2022. Even though everyone thought that the WEU team wouldn’t do well, Entity reached the Quarter-Finals of the Lower Bracket and almost eliminated Team Aster. Before this match, the team won against Evil Geniuses and BOOM Esports.
