Dota 2
Here’s what happened in South America and Southeast Asia after the end of Week 1 of the 2023 DPC Tour 2.
South America and Southeast Asia are among the most interesting regions in Dota 2, and The Lima Major 2023 proved it. The best teams from these two parts of the world exceeded expectations. Needless to say, this made the upcoming Tour 2 of the 2023 DPC even more interesting to watch.
As you’ve seen in our DPC 2023 Tour 2 overview, SA and SEA have several big teams that people will pay attention to. We assume most of you want to know more about what happened after the end of Week 1, so let’s go over some of the most exciting results.
Don’t forget that Tour 2 is played on the Dota 2 patch 7.32e, which has a lot of changes from the previous one, including a new hero called Muerta. That said, the latter isn’t available in CM yet, so we won’t be seeing her in action.
SEA
The first week of the 2023 DPC Tour 2 Division I allowed us to watch 9 series. We were intrigued by a couple of them, but there were a few additional matches were worth watching.
Execration vs Polaris
The first series that everyone wanted to see was the battle between Execration and Polaris Esports. These two powerhouses were among the main contenders during Tour 1 and this was also true for Tour 2. Some people expected Polaris to win, but in the end, Execration was better and secured an easy victory.
What’s interesting about this series is it wasn’t as back-and-forth as we expected. In fact, XctN had no problems in the first match after it picked the Storm and Visage setup. The squad needed just 31 minutes to win.
However, the second game wasn’t easy because Polaris tried surprising their enemies with a Pudge and TB draft. Although it had some success, in the end, Palos and co. won the second map and the series.
Polaris lost its second series of the week
After the unfortunate loss against Execration, Polaris Esports had another challenge in the face of SMG. MidOne’s squad defeated Blacklist International and was eager to take this series as well. We expected Polaris to put up a challenge, but it was clear SMG was on another level.
The SEA powerhouse outplayed their opponents in both matches, especially in the second one. Polaris tried an interesting draft with Spectre, Brew, and Gyro, but it was too greedy to work out. Realizing their advantage, Team SMG used the momentum and won in just 27 minutes.
This loss puts Polaris in a bad spot because the team has to win its upcoming series if it wants to keep its chances for a Top 3 finish.
Bleed Esports lost to Execration, but the latter failed to defeat SMG
Following the victory against Polaris, one of the favorites of the DPC 2023 Tour 2 Division I SEA won another match. This time, the team was against Bleed Esports, which explains why it had little to no problems.
Despite picking the greedy AM and Storm draft for the first game, XctN won after just 25 minutes. The team bet on AM for the second game as well, and although it was against a pretty solid draft, Bob and co. won in just 31 minutes.
After dealing with Bleed Esports, it was time for XctN to face SMG. Despite being the favorite in this match, MidOne and the rest proved that they’re in excellent shape right now and defeated their opponents following 2 fast games. This secured SMG the 3rd victory after Week 1 of the SEA DPC Tour 2, making them one of the big favorites for a Top 3 finish.
South America
The fact that South America only has 2 slots for the upcoming Major is really strange, considering the top teams’ performance. However, it makes Tour 2 of the SA 2023 DPC Division I even more interesting to watch.
BC started with 3 victories
Beastcoast was one of the two South American teams that made it to The Lima Major 2023. Even though the squad didn’t impress that much, it continues to be among the best in the region, so it shouldn’t be surprising it started with a victory.
Interestingly, the team had to face Keyd Stars, which is one of the main contenders for the top 2 finish. The bad news was that the Brazilian roster wasn’t able to live up to the expectations and lost the match after 2 easy wins for BC.
The first match was slightly more interesting because we saw heroes like Huskar, WK, and Magnus. Although the Huskar draft from KS looked good, BC’s Magnus and Ember won after 37 minutes.
Following the team’s success in game 1, the second one was even easier. Keys Stars picked a draft from the previous Dota 2 patch, but it didn’t work well for them because BC was on another level.
The match vs Qhali
After defeating KStars in their first match, beastcoast continues with its impressive performance in the series versus Qhali. Although we expected a quick 2-0 victory, BC actually lost the first map after making several major mistakes. This required them to step up their game and rip through Qhali in Map 2 in just 26 minutes.
DarkMago and co. picked a mixture of the “old and new” meta in Game 3 and needed just 32 minutes to defeat their opponents. This allowed them to secure a second victory.
Defeating Thunder Awaken
BC’s final series of the week was versus Thunder Awaken, which means it was time for El Classico in South America’s Division I. After 3 epic games, BC won the match and secured itself a 3rd victory following Week 1 of Tour 2.
BC started the series with an easy victory that took just 32 minutes. That said, Sacred and the rest failed to live up to the expectations in the second match, despite getting the Sven and DS combo. TA’s Alchemist lineup gave the team a considerable lead, and it used it to equalize the series.
Despite having momentum on their side, Thunder Awaken wasn’t able to win the match. Beastcoast got the chance to pick their favorite Tiny and Pangolier combo, which explains why the team won in just 35 minutes of play.
This loss may not seem that important for Thunder Awaken, but considering EG won both matches, the squad has to win its upcoming clashes if it wants a chance for a Top 2 finish.