Last year, two weeks before Christmas, path 7.00 was released to the public and changed Dota 2 forever. The introduction of the talent system, new mechanics and objectives took the community by surprise. Now, as 2017 ushered in a new age of Dota we will be taking a look at we consider to be the top 5 teams to watch out for this year.



Despite being only two weeks into 2017, the Dota 2 professional scene has been fairly active and news of victories and new teams have reached our ears.



So, without further ado let’s discuss who we think are the teams you should keep an eye out for in the upcoming weeks.



1. OG.

The European squad ended the season on a high note last year by winning the last Valve tournament of 2016, The Boston Major. OG maintained an excellent track record throughout 2016, conquering three Valve Majors.



The International 6 must’ve been their biggest let down of 2016, after finishing on the 7th-8th position, submitting TNC Pro Team in the Main Event Lower Bracket

OG changed their rosters after this fairly poor result, adding Anathan “ana” Pham, Gustav “s4” Magnusson and Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka into the mix, while keeping Johan “N0tail” Sundstein and Tal “Fly” Aizik.



The new roster shined at the Boston Major 2016 as ana rose to the expectations set by the European team that ultimately defeated Ad Finem in the Grand Finals, OG securing the first Major of this season.



OG will playing in the Main Event bracket of Dota Pit Season 5 as well DAC 2017. The tournaments are set to start on the 19th of January and the 28th of March, respectively.



2. Digital Chaos

DC recently took the scene by surprise after showing great resilience and stamina in the ESL One Genting 2017’s Grand Finals, that went down two days ago. Digital Chaos secured their first victory of 2017 after 5 matches against Newbee. While the team’s future seems to look brighter and brighter going into 2017, 2016 was also kind with the North American team.

Digital Chaos were meer inches away from being crowned TI champions last year but Wings Gaming proved stronger in the end and Digital Chaos finished second at The International 6.

Only a few days before 7.00 hit the world of Dota 2, Digital Chaos managed to secured the fourth place at The Boston Major 2016, ending the year with an all around good score.

The NA team will be competing this January in the Dota Pit Season 5 tournament.

3. Ad Finem

AWO! AWO! AWO! – chanted the crowd that was attending The Boston Major Grand Finals, as Ad Finem pulled the rug under the feet of OG, in Game 3. The Greek team took everybody by surprise after pulling an impossible series of teamfight victories that ultimately swinged the game back in their favor. Crowd, players, casters and staff were dumbfounded as Ad Finem was pulling a second spectacular comeback at this Major.

Throughout 2016, Ad Finem remained consistent and unchanged, proving that hard work and determination has a spot among the stars. Going into 2017, Ad Finem has reserved a place in our hearts and we can’t wait to see what shenanigans they will be pulling this year.

4. Newbee

Newbee came in ESL One Genting showing a superior understanding of the new meta that was set by patch 7.01, despite finishing second place. The Chinese scene has been mostly viewed through the light that Wings Gaming has been emanating since the TI6 victory back in August, while the other teams have been slowing recovering from the great Chinese disband that followed The International 6.

Newbee came out of with a rather new line-up that went on to challenge other teams within it’s scene, ending up with an overall great result. In 2016, Newbee finished second most of the time, a habit that seems to hint to a possible return of the Cloud 9 curse.

2017, has started in a similar manner but due to their greater, initial understanding of the meta the team has the means to catch many teams off guard and even secure first place in an upcoming Chinese tournament. Talking about Chinese tournaments, Newbee are among the four teams that have received a direct invitation to DAC 2017 so we will see how much can Newbee improve until then.



5. EG

The NA powerhouse that was EG throughout the years should continue to deliver fantastic plays in 2017. Evil Geniuses remains one of the strongest team in region as well as worldwide due to their consistency with excellent results and a tendency to hoard the best players NA has to offer. Despite the departure from the team roster of both de facto and de jure captains, Clinton “Fear” Loomis and Peter “ppd” Dager.



It’s been a great year for Evil Geniuses securing two first place spots in late 2016 while also placing third The Shanghai Major 2016 and The International 6.



Unfortunately, EG felt short at the Boston Major after being knocked out by OG in the SemiFinals.

With Clinton “Fear” Loomis training the new roster, EG should retain their status among the top Dota 2 scenes going into 2017. EG returns in 2017 as one the four invites at the DAC tournament, set to take place this March.

Check out all Dota matches and predictions here!