After the departure of Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao and Jingjun "Sneyking" Wu from Fighting PandaS, and the substitution of Oliver "Skiter" Lepko and Maurice "KheZu" Gutmann, much of the community brought into question the health of the North American scene. This roster change left the only 100% NA team to now be 40% European.

This was followed up with the announcement of the new DPC Regional League format, including the requirement for 60% of the team to live within the region, and around a month of regional league competition in studio, not online. With 8 teams in each division per region, this bring into question where the North American scene will come up with 80 players to fill all those spots, 40 of which in the top division.

As indicators of this “health check” we will be looking at various key factors including expectation of new blood emerging from the scene, and the overall NA competitive landscape compared to the rest of the regions, from an organizational standpoint.

PLAYERS

One of the most important things to ensure a scene remains strong is new players joining DPC competitive teams from various regions. Europe has been the strongest region when it comes to new talent. Players like Topias Miikka "Topson" Taavitsainen joining the strongest team in the world bodes well for Europe. Except for breakout performances like that of Topson though, most players tend to sit in the B-Tier scene for a 2-4 years before making their way into the DPC. Thus, this new blood won’t feel very new.

CCnC last successful NA New Blood?

Though in his own words, Quinn "CCnC" Callahan wouldn’t consider himself new blood in the scene, he did start competing heavily after the 2016 player peak in Dota 2. After about a year in the B-Tier scene, he was picked up by Peter "ppd" Dager to star in the post-Evil Genius team Dire and eventual Optic Gaming roster. During this time CCnC was able to secure his first DPC win at the StarLadder ImbaTV Invitational Season 5 and appeared at several premier grand finals, resulting in his solidification as a Tier 1 player. This has led to CCnC becoming a key member of the NA scene, having competed in the last two Tis, placing 7th and 9th respectively.

Another NA “new blood” ppd took under his wing, Nico "Gunnar" Lopez is arguably one of the best examples of new blood to come out of the region. Having only been competing in the scene for two years, his breakout performance was during the SEA region qualifier for Ti9. After that, ppd recruited Gunnar to join Ninjas in Pyjamas to compete in this season’s DPC. Unfortunately for Gunnar, the need to switch roles proved unbeneficial for him, as a poor performance at the WePlay! Bukovel Minor 2020 saw his departure from the team. Though currently teamless, Gunnar has confirmed he has all intentions of joining a team to continue competing in this season of the DPC.

ORGANIZATIONS

From an organizational standpoint, North America suffers from having inconsistency throughout. Outside of Evil Geniuses, there has been no other organization that has maintained a position within the NA scene. With Ninjas in Pyjama and Chaos Esports continually flipping between NA and EU, and Cloud9 now committing to stay in SEA, the better-known organizations seemingly refused to establish a multiyear foothold in the region. Finally, with the disbanding of the J.Storm organization, this results in North American having 2 of their top 4 rosters without an organization.

Abed, EG's SEA Region Position 2

When comparing to the SEA region, which has also seen it’s share of volatility, that instability usually falls to which organization has the best roster at that time, with a sprinkle of unethical treatment of players as to the recent Lowkey scandal. Organizations like Fnatic, TNC Predator, and Geek Fam have continually maintaining their presence within the region. Only the recent departure of Mineski from the scene has been felt by the region. It has paved the way for not only top SEA players to achieve international popularity like Abed Azel L. Yusop, but has led many players to compete in the region, like previously Gunnar, Nikolay "Nikobaby" Nikolov, and Johan "pieliedie" Åström.

RAMZES666, EG's CIS Region Position 3

Similarly, the CIS region has always had 2 strong organization in Virtus.pro and Navi, which have maintained consistency within the scene. Other organizations have seen varied success internationally, but continued their presence like Team Spirit, Gambit Esports, Team Empire, and Winstrike Team. This stability has fostered strong player development, with many regions reaching into the CIS region to acquire some top talent like that of Roman "RAMZES666" Kushnarev.

CONCLUSION

The new regional format will most likely see North American organization aiming to pick up rosters to be able to establish a presence in the consistent broadcasting that the 2020/2021 DPC season will bring. Organizations like 100 Thieves, Counter Logic Gaming, Team SoloMid, and the possible return of Immortals and Dignitas could help drive success for the North American scene. Though filling these rosters may prove very difficult, as even players who have almost qualified for DPC event have told me they have no intention of “going pro”. Hopefully the financial backing that the lower division will receive may change their minds.