The Kuala Lumpur Major: groups and top contenders

The Kuala Lumpur Major is about to start and the set-up for the Group Stage has been announced.

Groups

Group A Team Secret

paiN Gaming

Ninjas in Pyjamas

J.Storm Group B Evil Geniuses

Vici Gaming

TNC Predator

Team Aster Group C PSG.LGD

Fnatic

Gambit Esports

Tigers Group D Virtus.pro

Forward Gaming

paiN X

Alliance

Top contenders

There have only been a couple of tournaments and qualifiers so far this season, so it’s still a bit too early to say who the strongest teams are in the new meta and competitive climate. However, we can certainly anticipate that some of the participants are likely to be much stronger than the others.

Going into The Kuala Lumpur Major, these are the teams who will most likely dominate the tournament and secure top placements.

Evil Geniuses

EG finished last season with a 3rd place at The International 2018, an absolutely spectacular result considering how the rest of its season turned out. However, after the addition of Fly and s4, EG has become once more the strongest competitor in the North American region and we’re likely to see it perform exceptionally well at The Kuala Lumpur Major.

Don’t get fooled by EG’s average performance at the recent Dota 2 tournament, ESL One Hamburg 2018. EG had to play with a stand-in during that event, because Suma1L could not attend. So the 5th place it got in the end is completely irrelevant.

Team Secret

Team Secret finished 5th – 6th at The International 2018 and 4th overall in the Dota Pro Circuit last season. More recently, at the start of this season, Team Secret qualified for this event by winning the European qualifier and won the title at ESL One Hamburg 2018, defeating teams like Virtus.pro and Vici Gaming in the process.

PSG.LGD

After taking 2nd place last season at The International 2018 and 3rd place overall within the Dota Pro Circuit, PSG.LGD started the new season with excellent results in qualifiers and seems to be as strong as before. Which can only mean one thing: expect this team to get a top 4 result at The Kuala Lumpur Major. Sure, there might be some teams capable of beating LGD, but they’re very few.

Virtus.pro

With its 5th – 6th place at The International 2018 and its 1st place overall at the end of the Dota Pro Circuit season (for 2017-2018), Virtus.pro is without a doubt a Dota 2 giant and should be regarded as a top contender at any event. The team’s roster is world-class in every respect and will most likely do well at The Kuala Lumpur Major.

We still have to see how VP stacks up against the other top competitors mentioned above, but a top 4 result is definitely to be expected. With a little bit of luck, perhaps Solo and his teammates can go all the way and play in the Grand Final. But even if that doesn’t happen, I fully expect this CIS team to impress everyone with its capabilities.