Picture Credit score: Valve
Get your mouse fingers warmed up and your sleep schedules completely ruined. The regional qualifiers have formally wrapped up, the mud has settled, and we lastly have the whole listing of the 16 groups packing their luggage for Shanghai, China.
From August 13 to August 23, the Oriental Sports activities Middle goes to rework right into a gladiatorial area for the largest Dota 2 occasion of the yr. Valve is placing a cool $1.6 million on the road, and whereas the teams and actual brackets are nonetheless shrouded in thriller, the staff sheet alone is already promising pure, unadulterated chaos.
The VIP Lounge: The Seven Direct Invitations
Valve checked out seven particular squads this yr and determined they didn’t must sweat by the qualifier trenches. These groups bought the golden tickets handed proper to them primarily based on sheer dominance.
First up, we now have Group Liquid and Group Falcons, two heavyweights that completely no one needs to see on their aspect of the draft. Becoming a member of them from the invite listing are Aurora Gaming, BoomBoys, 1w Group, Xtreme Gaming, and Group Yandex.
Having Xtreme Gaming taking part in on residence turf in China goes to convey an electrical environment to the gang. These seven groups have had the posh of kicking again, watching the qualifiers, and analyzing everybody else’s methods, which is an enormous benefit when the match kicks off.
The European Massacre Qualifiers
If you wish to discuss stress, look no additional than the Western and Japanese European qualifiers. Europe was granted 4 slots, and watching these matches was a masterclass in high-stakes Dota.
Group Spirit cruised by to lock down their spot, which ought to shock precisely nobody given their legendary standing. They’re joined by Group Imaginative and prescient, a squad that has been turning loads of heads currently.
The actual drama got here right down to the ultimate weekend, the place Nigma Galaxy reminded everybody why you may by no means rely them out, securing a slot alongside the fierce opponents of Huligani. This European contingent appears to be like completely terrifying this yr.
Across the World in Eighty Chronospheres
The remainder of the world needed to combat tooth and nail for a really restricted variety of golden tickets, resulting in some sensible underdog tales and regional clashes.
In China, the house crowd may have two extra groups to cheer for alongside Xtreme. Group Resilience and Vici Gaming fought by the native brackets to make sure the hometown followers have loads of native banners to wave. Over in Southeast Asia, OG managed to navigate a treacherous path to say the only real consultant spot for the area.
In the meantime, the Americas had a wild experience. In North America, GamerLegion fully dominated the qualifier last to grab the lonely single ticket allotted to the area. Down in South America, LGD Gaming pulled off their very own magic trick to lock down the ultimate spot on the match listing.
The Warmup Earlier than the Storm
Whereas August seems like it’s proper across the nook, the professional groups even have an enormous pitstop to make first. Earlier than anybody steps foot in Shanghai, a bunch of those squads are heading over to Paris, France, for the Esports World Cup occurring between July 7 and July 19.
Consider it as the final word high-stakes rehearsal. Groups are going to indicate off their new methods, take a look at out the most recent meta modifications, and inevitably attempt to disguise their greatest draft secrets and techniques so that they don’t give away the sport earlier than The Worldwide even begins.
It’ll be a wild summer season of Dota 2, so fill up on vitality drinks and prepare for some world-class gaming.
