Dota 2 Asian Championship - Groupstage Preview January 29th, 2015 01:45 GMT Text by khy Graphics by Ninjan Dota 2 Asian Championship

Introduction



The teams



Liquipedia





After the first day of wildcard qualifiers,



The Teams



Cloud 9

In the most recent month, Cloud 9 has gotten a complete makeover removing the two players that gave Cloud 9 its signature greedy style. In the place of Aui_2000 and PieLieDie, EternalEnvy has added the services of Misery and BigDaddyN0tail. With this move, Cloud 9 is foreshadowing a shift towards a more active early game that can pressure the opponent instead of absorbing the pressure. Cloud 9 played in the DAC North American qualifiers and got pushed to 5 games by Fire, but the DAC LAN event is not being played at an extremely late hour and Cloud 9 had three extra weeks to come together. The group stages will be the first indication of how well the new team gels.



Hell Raisers

Among the vast constellation of CIS teams, change has been the only constant. Teams and players come and go like stars winking in and out of view. There are, however, some bright lights that refuse to disappear altogether, though they might dim for quite a while (cough cough Na`Vi). Farther away from the spotlight are other peripheral names that have never been able to steal center stage - teams like Power Rangers come to mind. Joining that group is HellRaisers, formerly Kompas Gaming. HR's most notable success to date was its first place victory in the European qualifiers for this very tournament, which they quickly followed up by sputtering out of the Starladder LAN finals in two sets against Na`Vi and FIRE. This cast some doubt on their ability to perform in a LAN setting, which of course creates even bigger questions as they head to the biggest LAN finals of their careers halfway across the world. Their success will determine whether or not they can truly break free of the periphery and settle among the world's brightest stars.



TongFu

The Tongfu organization hasn't been the same since TI3. After losing most of their notable players after the TI3 reshuffle, the organization opted for a new direction by creating Tongfu.Wanzhou as a development team. That team, which has since picked up the organization's banner as its primary team, has remained a mediocre team in the Chinese scene. Most recently, they failed to qualify for the D2L LAN finals. This makes their performance in the qualifiers all the more surprising: 26-4, first place, no lost sets. What this means, however, is hard to define. Thinking conservatively, this could just be a (very impressive) online hot streak that could cool down once the main event begins. For the more optimistic, this could mean that the team has found a championship-winning rhythm.



EHOME

The name EHOME hasn't been seen in a long, long time. The legendary DotA organization, later behind the TI1 runner-up team has returned, this time stacked with familiar talents and headlined by none other than the M-god himself, Mushi. The former LV Gaming team put in a strong record in the qualifiers of the D2L, and later took the entire tournament at the LAN finals.



Although the weakness of the D2L finals field raised some questions (EHOME only played two teams - old EG, which they impressively knocked into the losers' bracket, and VP.Polar, which does not intimidate as strongly as the former), EHOME has since followed that up with a third place finish in the qualifiers against the best teams that Asian Dota has to offer. They lost sets only to CDEC, which placed above them, and Hyper Glory Team, which placed into the wildcard spot qualifier. The new EHOME is a force to be reckoned with, and is a favorite to make a deep run once the main event begins.



Big God

Well, well, well, the Big God(s) have arrived. Proof that you can never really leave Dota, four of the game's living legends have shown that their temporary retirement hasn't done much to their skills. BG's participation in premier tournaments, however, has been troubled. Despite burning through the semi-pro qualifiers to get to the main event of i-League, they were forced to forfeit due to roster issues. Mikasa, who had been standing in for BG, was forced to leave in order to be with CDEC at the D2L finals. The reasons for their current player, iceice (no relation to either ice or iceiceice), being unable to play, were never revealed.



BG's performance in the Asia qualifiers was solid, earning them the fourth place qualification spot and avoiding the wildcard round. Despite their strong record, they recorded several losses to teams that do not inspire much confidence. This raises questions about their overall discipline and cohesion, which may be lacking now that they are living in a much less structured team environment. Given the incredible strength of the lineup for the main tournament, BG will probably not make a strong run.



CDEC

Since leaving the LGD organization, CDEC has cemented itself as a top-tier presence in the Chinese scene--always relevant, but never dominant. Now backed by Douyu TV, they have earned an impressive second place in G-league (ironically losing to LGD), and a much more disappointing fourth place at the D2L finals at the hands of EG. That disappointment resulted in their offlaner, 333, getting kicked, and temporarily being replaced by their coach, Mikasa (formerly sydm). Mikasa's presence is being limited to Chinese New Year, which is quickly approaching. It's unclear whether Mikasa will return as a player or remain as a coach while CDEC goes headhunting.



Regardless of their internal issues, CDEC's qualifier record is impressive. Of their sets, CDEC only lost outright (two losses) to Tongfu, the first place team. Their other splits can be written off as fluke losses. CDEC is looking for its first significant win, and DAC will do nicely. Expect them to play hungry for each win.



Invictus Gaming

iG is in a period of limbo. The departure of Chisbug from the team leaves Invictus with only 4 official members. Their trip to Kiev and Starladder was supposed to showcase the team with BurNIng, but that didn't happen. All this is compounded by the never ending flame machine that is Chuan, which leaves us all wondering what the future of the team might be. The boss of iG has his eyes set on a top three finish. With Chisbug kicked and returning to play, with Chuan openly quarrelling with June, with Ferrarri_430 already looking forward into the future, the team is set up for failure.



LGD Gaming

LGD didn't practice or play seriously at all during the second half of 2014, especially at the end of the year when InJuly was nursing a carpal tunnel injury. Yao seems to play Ember Spirit every single game. Despite all that, somehow the team won i-League 2. LGD is a solid if not spectacular team. They’ll play formulaic Chinese tier one Dota. They’ll most likely be around in the upper bracket and will exit the group stages in the top 12. After that, whether they advance or drop out will depend on their opponent’s brilliance or mistakes.



Newbee

Some professional gamers wouldn't touch a game with a 10 foot pole after having to play video games non-stop for 14 hours every day, but NewBee love to play an RPG as a stack. Rumor even has it that the RPG stack was the reason why KingJ got kicked from the TI squad last May. NewBee hasn't kicked it into high gear since Seattle, but still has some LAN victories under their belt, WCA, IESF, NESO, and ECL. Expect the TI4 champions to finally get serious for DAC. With a roster that packs even more individual talent than the TI4 championship team, NewBee will be around in the last few days.



Vici Gaming

Despite being the best-performing team of the second half of 2014, rumours of internal strife have rocked VG recently. Against Western opponents, Vici Gaming has taken a few tournaments, but against their fellow Chinese competition, they have only taken i-League 1 and fallen in WCA and i-League 2. Perhaps communication is still an issue with Black's limited vocabulary in a LAN environment. As the most motivated team and hardworking top Chinese team of the second half of 2014, expect their impressive record against their peers to decline in DAC. However, Vici Gaming is still one of the best teams in China and will be in the conversation in the last few days.



Team Secret

Team Secret comes into the new year as a star studded lineup having acquired the services of Zai and Arteezy and parting with N0Tail and Fly. The team enters DAC with only a small amount of time and practice together. However, the old wily dog Puppey should have no problem with new the team and adapting individual strengths to the patch. Instead, it may be young Arteezy that has trouble learning the new tricks in picking up the carry position.



Evil Genuises

Evil Geniuses very recently lost Zai and Arteezy to the previously described Team Secret. In their place, EG is fielding Aui_2000 and a 15 year-old Suma1l. With the new members, some of the tried and true formulas for success are changing, but those changes may be exactly the kick in the butt that EG needs. Now EG has been forcibly dragged out of their comfort zone and will need to grow in order to thrive. Yet with how large the adjustments are that EG needs to make, finding a successful formula before DAC after such a disappointing D2L finals performance seems more and more unlikely.



MVP Phoenix

MVP Phoenix are the best Korea has to offer and duly received a direct invitation to the Dota 2 Asia Championship tournament. MVP Phoenix have some strategies that work and some strategies that are dubious. Their biggest challenge in playing against International competition will be getting out of the draft with their limited repertoire intact and then surviving the laning phase. If I-League is any indication, they are going to get crushed more often than not by the top Chinese teams. Still, DAC will be a wonderful learning experience and proving ground.



Rave

Rave is the second Korean team to receive a direct invitation to the Dota2 Asia Championship tournament. Rave is a more farm oriented team, drawing inspiration from the popular strategies of the SEA scene while displaying more solid play. Again, DAC will be a wonderful learning experience and proving ground.







CREDITS

Writer: TanGeng, khy

Editors: Sn0_Man, TheEmulator

Graphics: Ninjan

After the first day of wildcard qualifiers, Na`Vi and HGT emerged victorious and will join the other 14 teams just in time for the main event to start. Over the next five days these 16 teams will play each other in a bo1 format. This means that we will have 120 high quality Dota 2 games to look forward to over the upcoming five days. This is excluding any possible tiebreakers. After the group stages a total of 12 teams will have qualified for the final hurdle with the top 8 going into the main bracket, and the bottom 4 going into the lower bracket.. The Double Elimination bracket with a prize pool of close to $2,387,895 is waiting. Who will emerge victorious?In the most recent month, Cloud 9 has gotten a complete makeover removing the two players that gave Cloud 9 its signature greedy style. In the place of Aui_2000 and PieLieDie, EternalEnvy has added the services of Misery and BigDaddyN0tail. With this move, Cloud 9 is foreshadowing a shift towards a more active early game that can pressure the opponent instead of absorbing the pressure. Cloud 9 played in the DAC North American qualifiers and got pushed to 5 games by Fire, but the DAC LAN event is not being played at an extremely late hour and Cloud 9 had three extra weeks to come together. The group stages will be the first indication of how well the new team gels.Among the vast constellation of CIS teams, change has been the only constant. Teams and players come and go like stars winking in and out of view. There are, however, some bright lights that refuse to disappear altogether, though they might dim for quite a while (cough cough Na`Vi). Farther away from the spotlight are other peripheral names that have never been able to steal center stage - teams like Power Rangers come to mind. Joining that group is HellRaisers, formerly Kompas Gaming. HR's most notable success to date was its first place victory in the European qualifiers for this very tournament, which they quickly followed up by sputtering out of the Starladder LAN finals in two sets against Na`Vi and FIRE. This cast some doubt on their ability to perform in a LAN setting, which of course creates even bigger questions as they head to the biggest LAN finals of their careers halfway across the world. Their success will determine whether or not they can truly break free of the periphery and settle among the world's brightest stars.The Tongfu organization hasn't been the same since TI3. After losing most of their notable players after the TI3 reshuffle, the organization opted for a new direction by creating Tongfu.Wanzhou as a development team. That team, which has since picked up the organization's banner as its primary team, has remained a mediocre team in the Chinese scene. Most recently, they failed to qualify for the D2L LAN finals. This makes their performance in the qualifiers all the more surprising: 26-4, first place, no lost sets. What this means, however, is hard to define. Thinking conservatively, this could just be a (very impressive) online hot streak that could cool down once the main event begins. For the more optimistic, this could mean that the team has found a championship-winning rhythm.The name EHOME hasn't been seen in a long, long time. The legendary DotA organization, later behind the TI1 runner-up team has returned, this time stacked with familiar talents and headlined by none other than the M-god himself, Mushi. The former LV Gaming team put in a strong record in the qualifiers of the D2L, and later took the entire tournament at the LAN finals.Although the weakness of the D2L finals field raised some questions (EHOME only played two teams - old EG, which they impressively knocked into the losers' bracket, and VP.Polar, which does not intimidate as strongly as the former), EHOME has since followed that up with a third place finish in the qualifiers against the best teams that Asian Dota has to offer. They lost sets only to CDEC, which placed above them, and Hyper Glory Team, which placed into the wildcard spot qualifier. The new EHOME is a force to be reckoned with, and is a favorite to make a deep run once the main event begins.Well, well, well, the Big God(s) have arrived. Proof that you can never really leave Dota, four of the game's living legends have shown that their temporary retirement hasn't done much to their skills. BG's participation in premier tournaments, however, has been troubled. Despite burning through the semi-pro qualifiers to get to the main event of i-League, they were forced to forfeit due to roster issues. Mikasa, who had been standing in for BG, was forced to leave in order to be with CDEC at the D2L finals. The reasons for their current player, iceice (no relation to either ice or iceiceice), being unable to play, were never revealed.BG's performance in the Asia qualifiers was solid, earning them the fourth place qualification spot and avoiding the wildcard round. Despite their strong record, they recorded several losses to teams that do not inspire much confidence. This raises questions about their overall discipline and cohesion, which may be lacking now that they are living in a much less structured team environment. Given the incredible strength of the lineup for the main tournament, BG will probably not make a strong run.Since leaving the LGD organization, CDEC has cemented itself as a top-tier presence in the Chinese scene--always relevant, but never dominant. Now backed by Douyu TV, they have earned an impressive second place in G-league (ironically losing to LGD), and a much more disappointing fourth place at the D2L finals at the hands of EG. That disappointment resulted in their offlaner, 333, getting kicked, and temporarily being replaced by their coach, Mikasa (formerly sydm). Mikasa's presence is being limited to Chinese New Year, which is quickly approaching. It's unclear whether Mikasa will return as a player or remain as a coach while CDEC goes headhunting.Regardless of their internal issues, CDEC's qualifier record is impressive. Of their sets, CDEC only lost outright (two losses) to Tongfu, the first place team. Their other splits can be written off as fluke losses. CDEC is looking for its first significant win, and DAC will do nicely. Expect them to play hungry for each win.iG is in a period of limbo. The departure of Chisbug from the team leaves Invictus with only 4 official members. Their trip to Kiev and Starladder was supposed to showcase the team with BurNIng, but that didn't happen. All this is compounded by the never ending flame machine that is Chuan, which leaves us all wondering what the future of the team might be. The boss of iG has his eyes set on a top three finish. With Chisbug kicked and returning to play, with Chuan openly quarrelling with June, with Ferrarri_430 already looking forward into the future, the team is set up for failure.LGD didn't practice or play seriously at all during the second half of 2014, especially at the end of the year when InJuly was nursing a carpal tunnel injury. Yao seems to play Ember Spirit every single game. Despite all that, somehow the team won i-League 2. LGD is a solid if not spectacular team. They’ll play formulaic Chinese tier one Dota. They’ll most likely be around in the upper bracket and will exit the group stages in the top 12. After that, whether they advance or drop out will depend on their opponent’s brilliance or mistakes.Some professional gamers wouldn't touch a game with a 10 foot pole after having to play video games non-stop for 14 hours every day, but NewBee love to play an RPG as a stack. Rumor even has it that the RPG stack was the reason why KingJ got kicked from the TI squad last May. NewBee hasn't kicked it into high gear since Seattle, but still has some LAN victories under their belt, WCA, IESF, NESO, and ECL. Expect the TI4 champions to finally get serious for DAC. With a roster that packs even more individual talent than the TI4 championship team, NewBee will be around in the last few days.Despite being the best-performing team of the second half of 2014, rumours of internal strife have rocked VG recently. Against Western opponents, Vici Gaming has taken a few tournaments, but against their fellow Chinese competition, they have only taken i-League 1 and fallen in WCA and i-League 2. Perhaps communication is still an issue with Black's limited vocabulary in a LAN environment. As the most motivated team and hardworking top Chinese team of the second half of 2014, expect their impressive record against their peers to decline in DAC. However, Vici Gaming is still one of the best teams in China and will be in the conversation in the last few days.Team Secret comes into the new year as a star studded lineup having acquired the services of Zai and Arteezy and parting with N0Tail and Fly. The team enters DAC with only a small amount of time and practice together. However, the old wily dog Puppey should have no problem with new the team and adapting individual strengths to the patch. Instead, it may be young Arteezy that has trouble learning the new tricks in picking up the carry position.Evil Geniuses very recently lost Zai and Arteezy to the previously described Team Secret. In their place, EG is fielding Aui_2000 and a 15 year-old Suma1l. With the new members, some of the tried and true formulas for success are changing, but those changes may be exactly the kick in the butt that EG needs. Now EG has been forcibly dragged out of their comfort zone and will need to grow in order to thrive. Yet with how large the adjustments are that EG needs to make, finding a successful formula before DAC after such a disappointing D2L finals performance seems more and more unlikely.MVP Phoenix are the best Korea has to offer and duly received a direct invitation to the Dota 2 Asia Championship tournament. MVP Phoenix have some strategies that work and some strategies that are dubious. Their biggest challenge in playing against International competition will be getting out of the draft with their limited repertoire intact and then surviving the laning phase. If I-League is any indication, they are going to get crushed more often than not by the top Chinese teams. Still, DAC will be a wonderful learning experience and proving ground.Rave is the second Korean team to receive a direct invitation to the Dota2 Asia Championship tournament. Rave is a more farm oriented team, drawing inspiration from the popular strategies of the SEA scene while displaying more solid play. Again, DAC will be a wonderful learning experience and proving ground.