CollegiateStarleague Profile Joined May 2011 United States 7 Posts Last Edited: 2014-01-08 21:53:12 #1

Written by Christopher Reynolds [East/Mid regions]

and Austin Garrard [California/Hybrid regions]

Banners by Chantha Kul



It’s never too early to start predicting! With the first week of matches well behind us, it’s time to take a look at who we can expect to be our frontrunners in this year’s CSL Dota 2 tournament. We’ve created four large groups to instigate a bit of competition between divisions. Here are a few of our predictions for the strongest teams in the 2014 season.



WEEK ONE STANDINGS ON CSTARLEAGUE.COM







Northeast 1 Northeast 2 Northeast 3



George Mason Cornell University Virginia Tech

George Washington Stony Brook University Pennsylvania State

Boston University Marist Carnegie Mellon University

UMaryland, College Park Binghamton University University of Pennsylvania

U Massachusetts Lowell Rensselaer Polytechnic Milwaukee Engineering

Northeastern University New York University Elon University

Boston College Vassar College University of Pittsburgh

Harvard University Stevens Inst. of Tech Virginia Commonwealth U

Tufts University Rochester Inst. of Tech University of Virginia





The Northeast as a whole has plenty of teams representing the East Region. The Northeast 1 (NE 1) and 3 divisions consist mainly of larger universities and state schools. Expect to see a lot of strong teams fighting for the top spots and playoff position at the end of the season. Northeast 2 is composed primarily of private liberal arts and tech schools from New York. Though they may have a smaller student body from which to choose their teams, these schools are nothing to laugh at seeing as many of their leaders are veterans of the original Dota days.



Expect to see the Massachusetts teams making their presence known throughout the season. Boston University and University of Massachusetts , Lowell (Umass Lowell) in particular had very strong showings in Week 1. Both teams are talented and will be fighting for the top spot in NE 1.



In NE 2, expect Cornell , Binghamton and Stevens Institute of Technology to be the top dogs. Cornell may have had a Bye in Week 1, but look forward to seeing them make it far into the playoffs.



Pennsylvania will be ruling the NE 3 division throughout the season. UPenn , Pitt , and Penn State all made it out of Week 1 with wins. Pennsylvania State earned an impressive win over University of Virginia , who reached the round of 16 in last year's playoffs.



As a whole the Northeast has plenty of strong teams, but you always want to have a top 3 when it comes to predictions, so here are my predictions as to who will be the strongest teams out of the NE group:



3) Stevens Institute of Technology - These guys had a dominating performance in their Week 1 match against Marist. Their drafting is well executed and unexpected, shocking the world with a carry Slardar pick in the first game and a support Alchemist pick in the second. They are also versatile, with players switching position based on the draft. Expect them to make some noise in the playoffs.





- These guys had a dominating performance in their Week 1 match against Marist. Their drafting is well executed and unexpected, shocking the world with a carry Slardar pick in the first game and a support Alchemist pick in the second. They are also versatile, with players switching position based on the draft. Expect them to make some noise in the playoffs. 2) University of Pennsylvania - These guys made it to the elite eight in last year’s CDL East tournament and were given the opportunity to compete in last year’s invitational tournament, falling to Cornell in the first round. Their thirst for blood should be unquenchable. This team was composed of veterans last year, and the same performance should be expected of them this year. It’s going to be tough for any team to compete against these guys.





- These guys made it to the elite eight in last year’s CDL East tournament and were given the opportunity to compete in last year’s invitational tournament, falling to Cornell in the first round. Their thirst for blood should be unquenchable. This team was composed of veterans last year, and the same performance should be expected of them this year. It’s going to be tough for any team to compete against these guys. 1) Cornell - These guys outed UPenn in last year’s invitational tournament with a 2-1 victory in the first round and went on to make it into the final four. What else can be expected of an Ivy League school? Cornell will likely be one of the last teams standing come playoffs, and a Week 1 Bye will make them all the more eager to display their skills in the CSL Dota tournament.





Honorable Mention: Carnegie Mellon - These CSL Dota veterans were members of the Invitational Tournament last year. A win versus Virginia Commonwealth in Week 1 started them out on the right foot. They will be tough opponents throughout the year.



There are some newcomers however that should not be taken lightly. Vassar was able to pick a game from Rensselaer Polytechnic , and as mentioned before Umass Lowell had a very strong showing in Week 1. While Vassar may be a bit inexperienced, expect them to improve as the season goes on while Umass Lowell solidifies itself as the top newcomer in this year’s East region.









Midwest Mid USA Canada



DePaul University New Mexico Tech University of Western Ontario

Urbana-Champaign UT Austin University of Toronto

Purdue University University of Arkansas University of Ontario Tech

Notre Dame University Of Arizona Wilfrid Laurier University

Truman State Texas A&M University University of Waterloo

Worcester Polytechnic Northern Arizona U University of Guelph

Iowa state University Rice University Ryerson University

Miami UTexas at San Antonio Seneca College

Ohio State Arizona State University York University





The Mid group consists of the Midwest, Middle USA, and Canadian Divisions. A lot of these schools have massive student populations and as such should have a lot of skill to choose from. These guys are CSL Dota veterans, and are excited to show what they’re made of throughout the tournament.



The Midwest saw several teams make it to the playoffs last year. Ohio State , Urbana-Champaign and Purdue are all veterans from last year, with Purdue actually sending two teams to the playoffs. Worcester Polytechnic also had a convincing win in Week 1 versus Truman State .



Middle USA is stacked this year. Something good can be said about all of these teams, especially University of Texas at Austin and University of Arizona with their established e-sports club bases. This division will likely be a powerhouse throughout the regular season and well into playoffs.



Canada also has a group of strong performers, with teams like University of Toronto solidifying their dominance in the past. Seneca College and Waterloo also had strong performances in Week 1.



Look forward to many of this year’s top teams to be coming out of the Mid region. These divisions are filled with veteran teams that have gone far into the playoffs before. The same should be expected of them this year.



3) University of Arizona - These guys swept Rice University in the first week of matches. They made it to the West playoffs last year, and expect that experience to take them even further this year. They’ll have to watch their backs though, since other teams will be looking to steal their former glory for themselves.





- These guys swept Rice University in the first week of matches. They made it to the West playoffs last year, and expect that experience to take them even further this year. They’ll have to watch their backs though, since other teams will be looking to steal their former glory for themselves. 2) UT Austin - Austin made it to the final four of the West playoffs last year and made some noise in our Invitational division. Their entire team is experienced and versatile, and together they would perform excellently even outside of the CSL. It’s possible they’ll be hungry enough to make a name for themselves as one of the dynasties within the Dota 2 tournament, as they are in other games. No one graduated yet from the UT Austin team, maintaining a steady roster. Their past performances show that this school will be a force to be reckoned with.





- Austin made it to the final four of the West playoffs last year and made some noise in our Invitational division. Their entire team is experienced and versatile, and together they would perform excellently even outside of the CSL. It’s possible they’ll be hungry enough to make a name for themselves as one of the dynasties within the Dota 2 tournament, as they are in other games. No one graduated yet from the UT Austin team, maintaining a steady roster. Their past performances show that this school will be a force to be reckoned with. 1) University of Toronto - Last year’s East division runner-up is back with a vengeance this year. There is nothing more to say about this team other than that a fall to University of North Carolina last season certainly left a bitter taste in their mouth. This team will likely be one of the top contenders this year. Look forward to some dominating performances from them throughout the season.





This division has several newcomers that showed what they’re made of during Week 1. Notre Dame ’s win over Iowa State will likely be the first of many victories for this new team. From Canada, Waterloo and Seneca both should be strong contenders during the season and into the playoffs.









Socal Norcal



UC Irvine Cal State Monterey Bay

U Southern California San Jose State

UC Santa Barbara Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

UCLA University of Colorado, Boulder

California Institute of Tech San Jose City College

Cal Poly Pomona Mt. San Antonio College

UC Riverside University of Nevada, Reno

UC San Diego UC Davis

San Diego State U UC Berkeley

UC Santa Cruz





Regional Top 3

California State University, Monterey Bay

UC Berkeley

Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo





Regional Newcomers

CPSLO



CSUMB





California’s Dota 2 scene, home to CDL Western Champion UC Berkeley , is looking better than ever going into the second week of competition in the CSL Two teams new to the CSL are joining Berkeley in the competitive ranks: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (SLO) and Cal State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB).



The Dota 2 team for Cal Poly SLO is off to a strong start after Week 1, taking a 2-0 victory over UC Santa Cruz . Captain Dave McIntyre had some fighting words to offer: “We have played a couple of the Division 1 teams without any challenge, so we are looking at last year's champs UC Berkeley to give us a run for our money.” The Cal Poly squad is also competing in CEVO Season 3 under the name Victorious Secret, and has members who competed in the LANHAMMER 2013 event. New to CSL but not new to competitive Dota 2, this team looks to be one of the top competitors in California.



Moving on, Monterey Bay’s coordinator and carry player, Jun Takemoto, spoke confidently about his own team: “We learn and adapt quickly and we have high hopes for our first season together. Our roster seems solid and stable and looks like we'll be playing in future CSL's as long as the passion for the game remains strong.” However, the Monterey Bay squad ended up losing in the opening week 2-0 to UC Berkeley but undoubtedly hopes to ride on the experience and skill of their 1 and 2 position players in the coming weeks.



It's in these next few weeks that we’ll find out whether they can truly rival the e-sports powerhouse UC Berkeley. The Berkeley squad won the CDL Western Finals in a dramatic BO5, which featured an hour-long game with a Divine Rapier comeback against mega-creeps. Monterey Bay will have to up their game if they end up facing Berkeley in the playoffs.



California will be an exciting region to watch. Between the historically successful SC2 teams and the up-and-coming Dota 2 teams, there will be lots of competition there in the coming weeks. Look out for big matchups such as Cal Poly SLO vs Cal State Monterey Bay in Week 2, and further down the road Cal Poly SLO vs UC Berkeley in Week 9.









South East Mix



University of Central Florida McGill University U Wisconsin-Madison

University of South Carolina Carleton University Louisiana State University

Georgia Institute of Technology North Carolina State Dalhousie University

Florida International University Michigan Technological U University of Alberta

Georgia State University University of Ottawa Portland State University

Clemson University UNC Chapel Hill U British Columbia

Florida Institute of Technology École de Tech. Supérieure Simon Fraser

Emory University University of Connecticut University of Washington

Florida Gulf Coast University Eastern Nazarene College U Wisconsin, Stout

University of Florida





Regional Top 3

UNC Chapel Hill

Dalhousie University

North Carolina State University





Regional Newcomers

Florida Institute of Technology





The Hybrid Region, consisting of the East, South, and Mix conferences, is home to some familiar faces in the collegiate Dota 2 scene. With the help of now-professional player UNC Chapel Hill won the CDL Eastern Final last year. They return this year without their star player, but are looking to to uphold their title. Dalhousie University, CDL East Semi-Finalists, also return with most of their roster.



Both teams took their Week 1 matches 2-0. Though they won’t meet in the regular season, this is certainly a playoff match to look out for. Dalhousie will be eager to prove that their 0-3 loss to Chapel Hill in the semi-finals of CDL East can be attributed to BuLba’s expertise.



But Dalhousie won’t be the only team gunning for UNC Chapel Hill. North Carolina State University, represented by Justin Harden, claims Chapel Hill as their rival. According to Harden, “... this team is very high skilled. We actually have been playing together for about three months and have had fairly good results in the SECS weekly tournaments.” The new roster is eager to make a name for their school, which went winless in CDL East last year. Dalhousie also won 2-0 over the University of Washington in Week 1.



As some teams are heating up for competition, others may only be mildly warming up. Brendan Ooi of the Florida Institute of Technology says that his Dota 2 squad is “...a peace loving team, or so far, at least. We'll see by the end of the season!” The new squad, comprised of both new and experienced players, is looking to establish a foothold in the league “so that the team will continue to play together and more students will join in the coming seasons.”



It’s never too early to start predicting! With the first week of matches well behind us, it’s time to take a look at who we can expect to be our frontrunners in this year’s CSL Dota 2 tournament. We’ve created four large groups to instigate a bit of competition between divisions. Here are a few of our predictions for the strongest teams in the 2014 season.The Northeast as a whole has plenty of teams representing the East Region. The Northeast 1 (NE 1) and 3 divisions consist mainly of larger universities and state schools. Expect to see a lot of strong teams fighting for the top spots and playoff position at the end of the season. Northeast 2 is composed primarily of private liberal arts and tech schools from New York. Though they may have a smaller student body from which to choose their teams, these schools are nothing to laugh at seeing as many of their leaders are veterans of the original Dota days.Expect to see the Massachusetts teams making their presence known throughout the season.andin particular had very strong showings in Week 1. Both teams are talented and will be fighting for the top spot in NE 1.In NE 2, expectandto be the top dogs. Cornell may have had a Bye in Week 1, but look forward to seeing them make it far into the playoffs.Pennsylvania will be ruling the NE 3 division throughout the season., andall made it out of Week 1 with wins. Pennsylvania State earned an impressive win over, who reached the round of 16 in last year's playoffs.As a whole the Northeast has plenty of strong teams, but you always want to have a top 3 when it comes to predictions, so here are my predictions as to who will be the strongest teams out of the NE group:- These CSL Dota veterans were members of the Invitational Tournament last year. A win versus Virginia Commonwealth in Week 1 started them out on the right foot. They will be tough opponents throughout the year.There are some newcomers however that should not be taken lightly.was able to pick a game from, and as mentioned before Umass Lowell had a very strong showing in Week 1. While Vassar may be a bit inexperienced, expect them to improve as the season goes on while Umass Lowell solidifies itself as the top newcomer in this year’s East region.The Mid group consists of the Midwest, Middle USA, and Canadian Divisions. A lot of these schools have massive student populations and as such should have a lot of skill to choose from. These guys are CSL Dota veterans, and are excited to show what they’re made of throughout the tournament.The Midwest saw several teams make it to the playoffs last year.andare all veterans from last year, with Purdue actually sending two teams to the playoffs.also had a convincing win in Week 1 versusMiddle USA is stacked this year. Something good can be said about all of these teams, especiallyandwith their established e-sports club bases. This division will likely be a powerhouse throughout the regular season and well into playoffs.Canada also has a group of strong performers, with teams likesolidifying their dominance in the past.andalso had strong performances in Week 1.Look forward to many of this year’s top teams to be coming out of the Mid region. These divisions are filled with veteran teams that have gone far into the playoffs before. The same should be expected of them this year.This division has several newcomers that showed what they’re made of during Week 1.’s win overwill likely be the first of many victories for this new team. From Canada, Waterloo and Seneca both should be strong contenders during the season and into the playoffs.California’s Dota 2 scene, home to CDL Western Champion, is looking better than ever going into the second week of competition in the CSL Two teams new to the CSL are joining Berkeley in the competitive ranks:andThe Dota 2 team for Cal Poly SLO is off to a strong start after Week 1, taking a 2-0 victory over. Captain Dave McIntyre had some fighting words to offer: “We have played a couple of the Division 1 teams without any challenge, so we are looking at last year's champs UC Berkeley to give us a run for our money.” The Cal Poly squad is also competing in CEVO Season 3 under the name, and has members who competed in the LANHAMMER 2013 event. New to CSL but not new to competitive Dota 2, this team looks to be one of the top competitors in California.Moving on,’s coordinator and carry player, Jun Takemoto, spoke confidently about his own team: “We learn and adapt quickly and we have high hopes for our first season together. Our roster seems solid and stable and looks like we'll be playing in future CSL's as long as the passion for the game remains strong.” However, the Monterey Bay squad ended up losing in the opening week 2-0 to UC Berkeley but undoubtedly hopes to ride on the experience and skill of their 1 and 2 position players in the coming weeks.It's in these next few weeks that we’ll find out whether they can truly rival the e-sports powerhouse UC Berkeley. The Berkeley squad won the CDL Western Finals in a dramatic BO5, which featured an hour-long game with a Divine Rapier comeback against mega-creeps. Monterey Bay will have to up their game if they end up facing Berkeley in the playoffs.California will be an exciting region to watch. Between the historically successful SC2 teams and the up-and-coming Dota 2 teams, there will be lots of competition there in the coming weeks. Look out for big matchups such as Cal Poly SLO vs Cal State Monterey Bay in Week 2, and further down the road Cal Poly SLO vs UC Berkeley in Week 9.The Hybrid Region, consisting of the East, South, and Mix conferences, is home to some familiar faces in the collegiate Dota 2 scene. With the help of now-professional player http://wiki.teamliquid.net/dota2/BuLba, won the CDL Eastern Final last year. They return this year without their star player, but are looking to to uphold their title., CDL East Semi-Finalists, also return with most of their roster.Both teams took their Week 1 matches 2-0. Though they won’t meet in the regular season, this is certainly a playoff match to look out for. Dalhousie will be eager to prove that their 0-3 loss to Chapel Hill in the semi-finals of CDL East can be attributed to BuLba’s expertise.But Dalhousie won’t be the only team gunning for UNC Chapel Hill., represented by Justin Harden, claims Chapel Hill as their rival. According to Harden, “... this team is very high skilled. We actually have been playing together for about three months and have had fairly good results in the SECS weekly tournaments.” The new roster is eager to make a name for their school, which went winless in CDL East last year. Dalhousie also won 2-0 over the University of Washington in Week 1.As some teams are heating up for competition, others may only be mildly warming up. Brendan Ooi of thesays that his Dota 2 squad is “...a peace loving team, or so far, at least. We'll see by the end of the season!” The new squad, comprised of both new and experienced players, is looking to establish a foothold in the league “so that the team will continue to play together and more students will join in the coming seasons.” * * *



Whether through high-level competition or camaraderie and team-building, the CSL continues to provide a platform for e-sports communities. Week 2 play starts January 11th, so tune into Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7pm EST/4pm PST to see the action unfold as the regular season continues!



Whether through high-level competition or camaraderie and team-building, the CSL continues to provide a platform for e-sports communities. Week 2 play starts January 11th, so tune into twitch.tv/collegiatedota onto see the action unfold as the regular season continues! * * *

Edited by Theresa Gaffney

and Nick Dawes

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