Link to previous one: Dota 2 Pro Circuit Power Rankings #1

The Dota 2 Pro Circuit has concluded for the rest of 2017. Some qualifiers for some majors and minors are still being played for the rest of the month but there are no more LANs to play. We have witnessed 6 minors and 2 majors so far, now we can analyze who is performing well and who isn’t.

The criteria imposed upon the power rankings are the following:

Qualifying Points

Previous Rank in the Power Rankings

Performance at Groupstages and Qualifiers

The teams that they are playing

Where they rank among their respective regions

Most importantly, their performances at the following tournaments:

credits to liquidpedia for the tournament logos

Honorables

Immortals & Kinguin

Both teams are kind of in a same boat type of situation with the same number of qualifying points and they have performed well when they have qualified. Immortals and Kinguin both have 3-4th place finishes at their respective minors. Immortals have beaten the likes of Team Secret although this was before 7.07 where the Puppey-led squad became a different type of beast.

Kinguin, on the other hand, has beaten NA teams, EG and Complexity in the Summit group stage. Both teams are good and can qualify for minors at their respective regions as long as the teams that are a tier above them (like NA – EG; EU – Secret) aren’t in these quals.

LGD

LGD seems to have been affected by the patch as they have been nothing but disappointments in the minors they’ve qualified in. Both minors they have last place results and they’re only here because they have a top 2 placing in the PGL Open minor which was before 7.07.

Complexity

So far in this season, complexity has established themselves as the second-best North American team which has proven to be the second-worst performing region so far in the season. They’ve had a good showing at Perfect World Masters placing 4th but only placed 5th at The Summit. As long as EG skips a few minors, they have a good shot at qualifying for a lot of LANs.

10. LFY

Qualifying Points: 135

Notable Accomplishments:

3rd at Perfect World Minor

6th at MDL Macau Minor

Being number 3 at stuff seems to be a pretty good thing for this Chinese team. They placed 3rd at The International, placed 3rd at their first minor of the season and is arguably the 3rd best team out of China. Although, Vici and Newbee are a bit more consistent with results than LFY.

They performed really well in the Perfect World Minor beating Vega, Complexity, and Team Secret (without midone). But were put down in 2 games with an average length of 23 mins by Vici. They’ve shown in DPL Season 4 that they are capable of beating the top 2 Chinese teams occasionally with series victories over Vici and Newbee twice, one in a best of 3 and another in a best of 5. MDL was sort of a so-so performance for all Chinese teams including LFY despite happening in Macau.

They are set to compete in the Galaxy Battles major next where they got directly invited.

9. Fnatic

Qualifying Points: 202.5

Notable Accomplishments:

2nd at The Summit Minor

Winning 2 of 4 LAN qualifiers, you could say Abed was a huge improvement since “joining” the team. Although, they are penalized for having a Standin in Abed thus not receiving full qualifying points. Qualifying in the Southeast Asian region is no joke with 3 really strong teams in Fnatic, TNC, and Mineski. Recently, Fnatic joined their fellow SEA teams, TNC and Mineski, to have appeared in a Minor Grand Final.

Their performance at The Summit was good, with their 2-1 series victory over OG standing out. They then advanced to the grand finals where they were ousted by VP in 4 games. We won’t be seeing them in a LAN till late January because they lost to Mineski in the Galaxy Battles Major.

8. TNC

Qualifying Points: 270

Notable Accomplishments:

2nd at MDL Macau Minor

TNC has not seen much minors and majors thanks to Mineski early in the season but since 7.07 has rolled around, Mineski has looked a little bit shaky and TNC finally overcame them in the MDL SEA qualifiers. Below is Kuku’s sigh of relief when they beat Mineski.

English Translation: Shit, we finally won one [qualifier]

TNC is a team known to perform really well versus international teams that they don’t often match up with. Beating EG 2-0 in Kiev Major groupstage and OG 2-0 in TI6 playoffs come to mind. They proved that this is still the case at MDL Macau. They went 5-0 vs CN/NA/SA but were 0-3 against EU/CIS Teams.

They are set to compete in the Galaxy BattlesMajor where they got Direct Invites. They should perform well with the Filipino crowd cheering them on.

T7. Navi

Qualifying Points: 315

Notable Accomplishments:

4th at Dreamleague Major

3rd-4th at MDL Macau Minor

The most well-known and perhaps beloved team in Dota 2 is finally back. The roster changes with the reliable carry Crystallize and the space creating Rodjer have proven to be really good decisions. Their rise started when they placed 2nd at the EU/CIS qualifiers for the Dreamleague Major which included top teams such as Liquid, Secret and Virtus Pro.

Come playoff time, Navi had an unfortunate time matching up with VP and losing 1-2. Then they fell to the lower bracket where they defeated Fnatic 2-1 to face Newbee in the next round. Navi then proceeded to upset the best Chinese team, 2-1. Game 2 felt like such a TI7 draft for Newbee with their combo of Bloodseeker and Earth Spirit and the commonly picked Venomancer but this isn’t 7.06 anymore. With this win over Newbee, they secured themselves Top 4 and those precious qualifying points. They went on to lose to EG 0-2 in the next round.

They performed okay-ish at MDL with wins over the bottom 5 teams except for LFY but losses against the top teams in the group stage. They lost to OG 0-2 in the first round of the playoffs placing them 3rd-4th.

We won’t be seeing them in a while as they lost in the CIS qualifiers of the Galaxy Battles Major to Team Spirit. Although they will be playing the ESL One Genting Minor CIS Qualifiers.

T7. Mineski

Qualifying Points: 720

Notable Accomplishments:

1st at PGL Open Minor

2nd at SLi Minor

One of the hottest teams early on in the season ended the season opposite to how they started. They last appeared in the Perfect World minor where they placed 7-8th and got eliminated early on. They started struggling a bit when 7.07 came out and they started losing these minor and major qualifiers to TNC and Fnatic who got better in their own right. That’s pretty much it so far for Mineski.

They are set to compete at the Captain’s Draft Minor and the Galaxy Battles Major.

6. Vici Gaming

Qualifying Points: 540

Notable Accomplishments:

2nd at Dota Pit Minor

2nd at Perfect World Minor

The Chinese teams have not as strong as they were in TI7 with 4 of the top 6 coming from the Chinese region. Since the last power ranking, they have had one strong performance with a 2nd place finish at the Perfect World Masters in Shanghai. They beat the likes of Mineski, Team Secret, and LFY in the playoffs to get to the grand finals where they got swept by Newbee 0-3.

They are perhaps the 2nd best Chinese team behind Newbee although they do have occasional qualifier losses to LGD and LFY. Internationally, this team performs well against teams like Liquid, VP, and OG.

They are set to next compete in the Captains Draft Minor.

T5. OG

Qualifying Points: 540

Notable Accomplishments:

1st at MDL Macau Minor

3rd-4th at The Summit Minor

The four-time major winners have made their mark in the Dota Pro Circuit season. They were really struggling to qualify for some minors and majors early on in the season with losses to Secret, mousesports, and SFTe-sports. But with Secret getting really good which results to skipping minors, OG is finally showing up on these important minors to get some of them precious Qualifying Points.

Their first minor appearance was Dota Pit and it was a forgettable one. They placed 5th-6th and lost to Chinese teams Newbee and Vici Gaming to exit the tourney. Next was MDL and they decided to show up bigtime. They were top of the groups, going 6-2 with their only losses against Virtus Pro and Infamous.

“It feels amazing, I feel like we’re back. We had a rough start but we’re back to winning. I think it’s a great start and all our hard work is paying off” Fly gushed after winning MDL Macau. They continued on to play the next minor at The Summit wherein they placed 3rd-4th. They did beat the likes of Complexity and Evil Geniuses in the wildcard.

They are set to next compete in Captains Draft Minor and Galaxy Battles Major. These next 2 LANs will make or break OG as they are competing with teams such as Secret, Mineski, Vici Gaming, the new-look EG, TNC, Liquid, and VP.

T5. Evil Geniuses

Qualifying Points: 765

Notable Accomplishments:

3rd-4th at PGL Open Minor

5th-6th at ESL Hamburg Major

3rd at Dreamleague Major

Disclaimer: This ranking of EG pertains to the performance of the team with Universe (who has recently parted ways with the team). The team stated here might not be synonymous with the future iterations of EG.

EG right now is not where the team expected them to be. They’ve had highs since our last power ranking with a 3rd place finish at the Dreamleague Major with their most significant series win in a while against Virtus Pro. Sumail himself said so that he felt that their performance at Dreamleague was “random”.

The iteration of EG presently adds Misery, a player who placed 2nd at TI6, while removing the TI5 Champ, Universe from the mix. With various role changes coming together with Misery’s arrival to EG, this is the third variation of EG since their TI7 flop. Could Misery lead them to be a top tier team again?

They are set to next compete in Captains Draft Minor and Galaxy Battles Major.

4. Newbee

Qualifying Points: 1035

Notable Accomplishments:

3rd-4th at ESL Hamburg Major

3rd at Dota Pit Minor

1st at Perfect World Minor

5-6th at Dreamleague Major

Newbee started the season shaky but have bounced back since in a major way. Since Hamburg, they have had relatively good results except maybe for their run at Dreamleague where they got upset by fan favorites Navi. At Perfect World, they solidified themselves as the best Chinese team in Dota as if they were not already. Vici was the team that people thought could hang with Newbee in the Perfect World Minor but the TI runners-up convincingly smacked Vici by going 5-1 against them game by game.

Although Newbee didn’t look good versus international teams such as Secret. Looking back at their TI7 Upper Bracket run, they faced teams that were Chinese except for EG. Perhaps one could say that their path to the finals really helped them overachieve and exceed everyone’s expectations at TI. Nevertheless, Newbee needs to play better vs the likes of Liquid, VP, and Secret. If they can somehow join the tier that those teams are on, they could see another high placing come TI8.

They are set to next compete in the Galaxy Battles Major.

3. Virtus Pro

Qualifying Points: 2700

Notable Accomplishments:

1st at ESL Hamburg Major

4th at Dotapit Minor

5th-6th at Dreamleague Major

4th at MDL Macau Minor

1st at Summit Minor

This CIS powerhouse continues to run rampant among the Dota Pro Circuit season. Even Solo taking a break from the team did not hider this team’s performance with a top 4 and 1st place finish at the minors since Solo’s sabbatical. Their qualifying points have taken a bit of a hit although its just a small sacrifice for them.

What people have noticed about their performance is that they are a momentum based team. In the case that, once they spank teams like 2-0 victories over 3-4 teams in a LAN, they go on to win the whole thing. ESL Hamburg was a good example, in the group stage they beat Liquid becoming the first team to beat the TI7 Champs in a Bo3/Bo5 series.

VP is on the outside looking in, in terms of the tier that Secret and Liquid are currently on. They just need a little bit more of consistency and that will probably be enough for them to cement themselves among the top pro teams.

They are set to compete in the Galaxy Battles Major.

2. Team Liquid

Qualifying Points: 2700

Notable Accomplishments:

1st at SLi Minor

3-4th at ESL Hamburg Major

1st at Dota PIT Minor

2nd at Dreamleague Major

While most don’t really expect Liquid to stay on top forever, we did not expect a roadblock that can play as high a level as the International Champions in Team Secret. Liquid is not exactly in a slump that most refer to as the TI curse but they’re actually beating everyone except Secret. The patch did not really slow them down as they are 16-8 on 7.07 (does not include Midas Mode).

Its probably safe to say that the Puppey-led squad has sort of figured out how Liquid plays and drafts. Fans are in for a treat at the Galaxy Battles Major where Liquid and Secret might clash once again and provide us with the highest level of Dota a la Dreamleague Grand Finals Game 1.

The defending TI Champs are set to compete in the Galaxy Battles Major.

1. Team Secret

Qualifying Points: 3690

Notable Accomplishments:

3rd-4th at SLi Minor

2nd at ESL Hamburg Major

1st at Dreamleague Major

With strong performances at both of the majors of the season so far, Secret rises to the top of the Dota mountain. Each of the player’s performances has been amazing so far reminiscent of Liquid at TI7 where Mind_Control started to shine along with his teammates. Many were skeptical of the role change of Fata from mid to offlane but so far this season, he’s been the best to come from the offlane. In one of his Tidehunter games, he set a season-high of 45 assists. On top of that, he has been on-point with his Ravage utilizations especially when he has a Refresher Shard.

Yapzor on the otherhand, has been superb on his Elder Titan and Rubick. In game 1 of the Dremleague Finals he went 15-3-36 on the Elder Titan which helped his team to secure the victory. Midone and Puppey are still playing at a relatively high level nothing too noteworthy other than Midone’s game 1 performance on Kunnka where he delt 64.7k hero damage!

Ace has been a star as well. He is dubbed by many as “Budget Miracle” due to some facial similarities but he is no player to scoff at. His Lone Druid play at the 2nd game of the Dreamleague Finals must have gotten Liquid a little sense of Deja Vu due to the constant ratting caused by the Spirit Bear racking up 13.5k building damage as well as taking high ground on his own.

What do these certain ingredients bring? The best team in the world right now.

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