Here is our second weekly recap of Dota 2! At Game Life, we do our best to keep you up-to-date. So make sure you know what’s happening in the world of Dota!

Esports News

Liquid Roster Changes

Team Liquid shocked the scene with a controversial roster change. The TI winning team were struggling with lackluster results and seemed unable to return to form. That is where they decided to kick Matumbaman, a veteran not only for the scene but for the team itself. Matumba joined liquid in late 2015 and stuck with the team during its initial struggle to the top. He was able to win multiple majors, as well as a TI win during his run in 2017. Rumors are, that the kick was unjustified since the timing of the roster change is incredibly unfortunate for Matumbaman. We are less than 2 months away from the annual TI tournament, and Liquid have secured their spot in the competition. Matumba, however, will not be able to make use of his progress this season with Liquid, since DPC points are locked to teams, not players. Whether the star will attend TI, is very difficult to tell. But a player like him is sure to be in high demand from teams to acquire him.

It is not confirmed yet who will be Matumbamans replacement, but rumors are that W33haa will be taking over. He has a history with multiple players in the Liquid roster and has been seen playing a number of party games with GH. W33haa and Miracle were both considered to be the best Invoker players between the 2016 and 2018 seasons, so both players have some similarities in playstyle. Recently, however, W33haa has shown his ability to play unorthodox heroes such as Visage, Necrophos, and Razor picks that fit nicely with Liquids playstyle. Only time will tell if this is true, but W33haa has been struggling as well since his TI6 run with DC.

StarLadder Minor

The StarLadder Minor concluded and the folks running the event have set an extremely high standard for all other minors to come. Viewers at home were able to use a clever overlay on Twitch, which showed interesting stats such as Net Worth, Item/Talent choices, and much more. Not many TO’s (Tournament Organizers) go through the trouble of adding these, but they’re an excellent addition, since both newer players wanting to improve, as well as high-level players, will make good use of it.

Although viewers at home seemed to have a great time viewing the tournament, players and spectators in the venue seemed to have less than a good time. PPD reported very hot temperatures on stage, making his playing experience less than ideal. He added that he was “sweating constantly during the games” and had to swap out his long sleeve shirt for a jersey. He also mentioned that teams were forced to use noise canceling in-ear phones, a less comfortable alternative to their over-ear counterparts. It’s clear, however, that these discomforts were short-lived, as he went on to win the tournament with NiP; securing a spot at the upcoming Epicenter Major. Take a look at the full article here.

Epicenter Major

With the final major of the season just days away, the hype is high and growing in the scene. With the arrival of every Epicenter tournament, an extremely high-quality SFM follows. They recently posted this teaser. On a more serious note, the 2 last teams to qualify to Epicenter are Team NiP, and Team Alliance, since they both achieved a top 2 finish at the StarLadder Minor, effectively solidifying their slot to the next major. If you’d like to get more information on how the qualifiers went for the rest of the teams, take a look at our previous weekly recap.

Group A

One topic of discussion is the recently revealed groups. Group A looks incredibly top heavy, with Secret, Fnatic, PaiN Gaming, and RNG. The latter 3 have very lackluster results compared to Secret, making it very likely that Secret will top their group.

Group B

Group B is slightly more evenly matched, with EG, Team Liquid, Infamous, and Gambit. A couple of points to keep in mind is that EG is very much a team to keep your eyes on since they have 0 major wins despite placing consistently high in every Lan they attended. Liquid has a new player they will be looking to showcase, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Liquids coach will fill in for this one. Gambit is very much a Dark Horse, since they’ve shown that they’re able to take games off of Liquid and Vici Gaming. And Infamous representing the South American Scene, makes this for a very interesting group.

Group C

Group C consisting of, VP, Forward, Vici, and Alliance, is very much a question mark to who are securing that 2nd spot in the group. Its more than likely that VP will secure 1st place, and Vici 2nd, but the remaining 2 teams very much have the ability to cheese their way into the top 2 positions. A very interesting group, and one to look out for.

Group D

By far the most even of the four, Teams LGD, OG, NiP, and TNC will battle it out to secure a spot at the main event. NiP are coming from a Lan win, which is sure to boost their confidence going into the group stages. Fans are eagerly anticipating the Classico between LGD and OG, to see how each team progressed since their legendary series at the TI8 Grand Finals. Last but not least, TNC has improved massively since they brought in Heen as a coach from Liquid. They have been able to take away games from EG, Secret, and Liquid, making them a serious contender for the tournament.

Epicenter is set to begin on the 22nd of June 18:00 EST, here is a link to the main stream.

Vietnam Cosplay Competition

Twitter and the /r/dota2 subreddit are flooded with hilarious makeshift cosplays of Dota 2 heroes. The folks setting up the competition have offered a pair of Beats Studio Headphones, a mousepad, and a limited edition keyboard to the winner. The rules are extremely simple; the cosplays must be hand-made, and no photo editing is permitted. Take a look at some of them here.

Valve News

Valve has released Dota Underlords, a spin-off of the Dota 2 arcade game, Auto Chess. The game is currently in closed beta, where the only players who have access to it, are those who’ve purchased a TI8 Battlepass. The game is extremely polished, and Valve seems to have hit the nail on the head with this one. Valve, however, is looking to have competition on all sides, since Riot, as well as the original Auto Chess creators (Drodo), are working on their own Auto Chess game. Dota Underlords will go to open beta very soon, so everyone will be able to give it a try since the game will more than likely follow a free to play model. Valve is also addressing the various balance issues, as they have released the first official balance patch to the game here.

Dota News

Players are beginning to become impatient waiting on the late Immortal Treasure II, and Morokai game mode. It’s very likely that the Immortal Treasure II will release somewhere between June 20th and July 1st, since that marks the halfway point between the start of the Battle Pass and the start of the TI9 tournament. Morokai, however, is completely unknown.

Drama

Solo and Ceb were allegedly in talks with Valve regarding the racism incident that happened weeks ago. Solo has threatened to boycott the upcoming epicenter major if Valve did not step in, but it seems that the 3 parties have come to a compromise. OG stated that Ceb will be fined for a months salary, and the proceeds will go to a charity of his choice. They also mentioned that if another incident like this were to happen again, then much more serious punishments will be made. Heres a link to Solos comment, and here’s OGs statement.

PPD continues to be a very vocal member of the scene. He gave a statement regarding Team Liquids roster swaps, implying that the way things are handled are very unprofessional. He also voices his opinions on how the DPC season was done this year, as well as other overarching issues with the scene. It’s a very interesting read, so make sure to take a look here if you’re interested.

That’s a wrap!

And that about sums up what happened last week on Dota 2. Make sure you mark your calendars for the upcoming Epicenter Major and pay close attention to VP, OG, Secret, and Liquid. These 4 teams have some interesting dynamics to look out for. Other than that, the Cosplay competition is sure to hold you over until then, as well as all the information on the brand new Dota Underlords IP. It has definitely been quite the busy week for Dota 2!