All year long, we’ve been keeping an eye on the Dota Pro Circuit rankings. Indeed, at every event these past two seasons, teams have fought for points besides prize. Accordingly, extending this season due to the global condition, we finally have our rankings. Let’s take a final look at the twelve seeds for The International!
Dota Pro Circuit Rankings – Evil Geniuses On Top
Credits: Valve
As I’ll reiterate, these teams have fought for these points to be able to compete at the biggest event of the year – The International. In this regard, the rankings also offer an outlook on how the competition stacks up. However, they should definitely be taken with a pinch of salt and I’ll explain why shortly. Anyways, here they are:
Evil Geniuses – 1700
PSG.LGD – 1300
Virtus.pro – 1200
Quincy Crew – 1100
Invictus Gaming – 1100
T1 – 1070
Vici Gaming – 950
Team Secret – 950
Team Aster – 800
Alliance – 800
beastcoast – 800
Thunder Predator – 800
Yes, here they are, your top 12 after two competitive seasons, concluding at the WePlay AniMajor 2021.
Credits: Valve
Our thoughts? To begin with, although Evil Geniuses seem to be a clear favourite, they did in fact place second at the most recent event to PSG.LGD. Another talking point is Invictus Gaming, who although look pretty at fifth, haven’t looked too hot in the past two months.
Heading closer to the event we’ll be giving more details with regards to The International.
One of the top esports events of the summer is none other than Dota’s The International. Accordingly, the entire community cannot way for The International 10 to compensate for last year. However, a new update from Valve does have us curious. Recently, there has been an update where Sweden is no longer the host for the event. Read on for a full scoop of this interesting development!
Qualifiers Still On – Hunting for a Venue for The International 10
An Important Update on TI10: The International – Dota 2 Championships in Swedenhttps://t.co/lTg7JfWreZ
Going public in a press release, the following facts have been revealed to the community:
The plan for this year was to host the event in Stockholm, Sweden
Two weeks ago, the Swedish Sports Federation denied the acceptance of esports into the sports federation
Accordingly, despite multiple requests to attempt to still host the event, Valve were shot down at every point
Due to this, they are hunting for different venues just in case Sweden cannot comply in time
T1 qualifiers will still kick off on June 23
Introducing DPC Team Profiles – The next piece in an evolving platform of features designed to help you track all the action in Dota competitive play.https://t.co/dKquJjQuWfpic.twitter.com/bftTNZS904
A surprising turn of events nobody saw coming. To most, it really doesn’t matter where exactly the event will be held. However, technical issues like this may delay the main event further than planned, which is definitely unsavory.
We’ll keep you updated on the topic – we’re certain the largest esports event in the world will find a home.
Indeed, this past weekend, ESL hosted the ESL One Summer 2021 for the competitive Dota 2 scene. Accordingly, with $400,000 on the line, it was an awesome opportunity to pit the best in Europe against one another. Following four days of competition, T1 managed to climb to the top and conquer the region – read on for a quick recap for the event!
ESL One Summer 2021 – T1’s Journey
That's a wrap! #ESLOne Summer 2021 has come to a close, with @T1 as the victors! 🏆
Like we always like to do for these recap events, let’s highlight the winner’s journey. Seeded via Dota Pro Circuit points, T1 kicked off their event at the Upper Bracket Round 2. For the most part, their main challenge would be in the Upper Bracket Final, where they would fall to Virtus.pro – a sign of things to come. Bouncing back from this loss, they’d immediately find themselves in the grand final against Virtus.pro for a rematch.
Going down 2-1 after 3 maps, T1 were definitely in a hole. Regardless, the Europeans pushed onwards and managed to play flawlessly, winning the next two maps to claim the entire event! Definitely an awesome win for T1 who now sit at 6th on the international Dota Pro Circuit Rankings.
Otherwise, the event raked in 282,677 viewers at its peak, which is awesome to see for competitive Dota 2 in general.
For more esports news, visit: esportsguide.com/news
European organisation OG Esports have announced that they are bringing on SumaiL as their newest 5th on their Dota 2 squad. Here is their announcement:
In pure OG fashion, our road to qualify to TI this year is not the smoothest.
A king’s help will be more than welcomed.@SumaaaaiL has accepted to once again hop on our train and give us a royal hand.
An earlier announcement by the team indicated that one of their main players, Anathan “ana” Pham is retiring from Dota 2. He has not mentioned a direct reason as to why he is retiring, but it’s very clear that he’s tired from competing. He started his career in 2013, with the Mobility Gaming team, and since then he’s achieved many things in the world of Dota 2.
.@anadota99 has decided to no longer compete in Dota 2.
It was truly a great honor to play with you, and have you by our side my friend.
This is what the management of OG said about his retirement:
“Ana has decided to no longer compete in Dota 2. After we talked 2 months ago, we mutually agreed to have him join the squad in Lisbon to come compete for OG in the DPC, despite his long break from the scene the team felt good to be back together. But at the end of the day, he should do what feels right.”
This isn’t the first time that SumaiL has represented OG in his Dota 2 career. In fact, he was one of their main players during some months of the 2020 season. Then after 9 months of free agency he stood-in for Team Liquid as Boxi took leave from competition. Now with Boxi returning to the main lineup, SumaiL was left teamless. Now he is joining OG with hopes to bring back championship titles to the prestigious organisation.
Last weekend we saw the PSG LGD team win the WePlay AniMajor. They had brilliant performances all tournament long and were truly deserving of the win. This is how it all went down:
— WePlay Esports @ AniMajor (@WePlay_Esports) June 13, 2021
Final Standings + Winnings
1st – $200,000 – PSG.LGD
2nd – $100,000 – Evil Geniuses
3rd – $75,000 – T1
4th – $50,000 – Vici Gaming
5th-6th – $25,000 – Quincy Crew
5th-6th – $25,000 – Team Nigma
7th-8th – $12,500 – Team Spirit
7th-8th – $12,500 – TNC Predator
PSG LGD win WePlay AniMajor – How did they do it?
PSG LGD kicked off the event with a dominant result in the Group Stage Round Robin. They were the only team to not lose a series and they finished 1st in the group. This result put them directly into an upper bracket position in the playoffs.
They first took on Alliance, in which PSG LGD won 2-0 to advance to the next stage. They then took on Team Nigma, which proved to be a formidable opponent for the Chinese team. Nevertheless, PSG LGD took the series win, 2-1. Their next opponent was T1 in the Upper Bracket Final. PSG took the first map, and T1 replied with one of their own. Then, PSG came back stronger and sealed the deal in the third map.
Grand Finals
Meanwhile, Evil Geniuses were making a name for themselves in the lower bracket. To reach the Grand Finals, EG took down NoPing Esports, TNC Predator, Nigma, Vici Gaming, as well as T1. Evil Geniuses had performed extremely well all tournament long, but unfortunately they weren’t able to replicate their performance in the finals. Here PSG were extremely dominant, winning all 3 games back-to-back to be crowned champions of the WePlay AniMajor:
Due to their result in the Chinese Dota Pro Circuit, PSG.LGD were already seeded into the group stage. Here they pulled off some of their best performances, going through the next stage without losing a single series. They finished the group stage round-robin in first with a score of 4 wins and 3 ties.
Yesterday they took down Team Alliance from the first round of the upper bracket, and tomorrow they’ll be facing off Team Nigma in the second round. PSG.LGD’s performance so far has been incredible to say the least, and we hope they can progress further through the event!
Have any more teams sealed their spot in TI10?
With how the WePlay AniMajor has progressed, we already have 9 teams confirmed for The International. These teams are the following:
Evil Geniuses
Virtus.pro
PSG.LGD
Quincy Crew
Invictus Gaming
T1
Team Secret
Vici Gaming
Team Aster
There are 3 spots left to be filled from the DPC, and another 6 slots to be filled from regional qualifiers.
North American org Team Liquid have announced that they are bringing back Boxi for TI (The International) qualifiers. Here is their announcement:
Boxi took some much needed personal time off and is now ready to play once again. I hope people are understanding and try not to speculate about his break too much. Thank you to the fans for being patient with us during this time and for your continued support
Team Liquid bringing back Boxi for TI qualifiers – Why?
As you might have seen, Team Liquid were one of the few teams to get eliminated early from the WePlay AniMajor. They did not perform up to expectations and only managed to place 13th. During the group stage, the team was on a 1-3-3 score line, losing matches against Vici Gaming, PSG.LGD as well as Nigma. They’ve gotten draws against Beastcoast, TNC Predator and Evil Geniuses, but ultimately it was all for nothing. They were later eliminated by Team Spirit in the Tiebreaker match.
Back in April, Team Liquid revealed that Boxi would be taking a break from all Dota 2 competitions. This was because he had to take a temporary break away from his career and reunite with his family. As a replacement they had brought SumaiL, and it didn’t seem too bad for the squad. They placed 2nd in the DreamLeague Season 15 DPC Western Europe Upper Division, a pretty good result with all things considered.
Hopefully this roster change will help Team Liquid regain the strength they once had as a squad. With the 10th iteration of The International approaching, we hope to see a better and more comfortable Team Liquid lineup.
26-year-old Yang “Deth” Wu Heng is a professional Dota 2 player from Singapore. He started his career in 2014 with team Assail, and then went on to play for teams like Entity Gaming, Complexity Gaming, Resurgence and most recently, Galaxy Racer. Deth has been a free agent for around 9 months and he’s finally been signed to this Fnatic squad. In his 7 years of competition, he’s earned an approximate total of $10,708 in esports earnings, and he’s looking to increase that with Fnatic.
Here are some of Deth’s best achievements:
5th/6th in ONE Esports Singapore Major 2021 – 3rd April 2021 – $25,000
7th/8th at ESL One Mumbai 2019 – 19th April 2019 – $7,500
3rd in Malaysia Esports League – 25th February 2018 – $5,118
Why bring him on?
As we’ve covered recently, Fnatic have benched Thai player Masaros from their Dota 2 lineup. This created an empty space on the squad, and a perfect opportunity for a young, talented, and experienced player to replace. Hopefully with this roster move the team will find more success in both regional and international competitions.
The WePlay AniMajor is upon us. The event will feature some of the best teams around the world and will play out between the 2nd and 13th of June. Here’s everything you need to know!
— WeebPlay Esports | 1 Day to the AniMajor ⏳ (@WePlay_Esports) June 1, 2021
Tournament’s background
The AniMajor event is going to be hosted by Tournament organisers WePlay Esports. They’ve hosted quite a lot of events in the past, and specialize in Dota 2 Esports. This event will consist of one of the biggest prize pools they’ve ever had for an event!
How to qualify for the main event
For the majority of the teams participating in this event, they’ve qualified through their respective leagues in the Dota Pro Circuit. Whether it be Western Europe, Eastern Europe, China, Southeast Asia, or North & South America.
Prize distribution
There will be a total of $500,000 to be split between the top 8 teams. Here is a list of how the prize pool will be spread:
1st – $200,000
2nd – $100,000
3rd – $75,000
4th – $50,000
5th-6th – $25,000
7th-8th – $12,500
Tournament Format for the WePlay AniMajor
The event kicks off with the Wild Card Stage. Here, 6 teams battle it out in a single round-robin format where each match is a best of 2. Out of these 6 teams, only 2 will make it out and advance to the group stage. The other teams are eliminated.
The Group Stage features 8 teams in a single-round robin and each match is also best of 2. Top 2 teams advance to the upper bracket of playoffs, and the 3rd-6th placing teams advance to the lower bracket of the playoffs.
The Final stage is the playoffs stage. The format here is the double-elimination bracket and all matches are best of 3, except the Grand Final. The final is then in a best of 5.
Teams Participating
A total of 18 teams are participating in the WePlay AniMajor and they have been slotted into 3 different stages of the event. Here’s a short list of all teams taking part, sorted by their tournament stage:
Wild Card Seeds:
Team Nigma
Team Secret
Vici Gaming
Invictus Gaming
Execration
AS Monaco Gambit
Group Stage Seeds:
Team Liquid
PSG.LGD
TNC Predator
Team Spirit
Evil Geniuses
Beastcoast
Playoffs Seeds:
Alliance
Team Aster
T1
Virtus.Pro
Quincy Crew
NoPing e-sports
Credits: Liqupedia
Schedule list for the WePlay AniMajor
The event kicks off on the 2nd of June and will continue to play out till the 13th of June. Here are the initial matches of the event:
Watch the WePlay AniMajor stream on esportsguide.com
You can also watch the WePlay AniMajor live stream via our very own website. Providing an extensive list of the biggest esports together with streams for each esports match live today or upcoming matches.
With the event kicking off real soon, it seems completely fair to place some predictions. With Evil Geniuses being the first to qualify to The International 10 due to their large number of DPC points, we think that they have the highest chances of winning. That being said, this is Dota 2 and anything can happen, but we’re placing our money on them to win the entire thing! May the best team win!
Be sure to keep yourself updated with www.esportsguide.com for all your esports news!
With regards to the Dota 2 competitive scene, the second season of the Dota Pro Circuit is almost over. Indeed, for those unaware, the Dota Pro Circuit is a means by which Valve ranks teams on an international basis. Based on placements at events, it’s constantly changing. Here’s an updated ranking for the Dota Pro Circuit 2021!
Dota Pro Circuit 2021 – One Event Left for Season 2
Accordingly, there are a total of 7 events for Season 2. So far, we’ve covered a total of 6 of them, with one event left for his second season of the Dota Pro Circuit 2021. Below, find a list of the relevant events:
Credits: ONE Esports Singapore Major
Pro Circuit 2021: S2 – Southeast Asia Upper Division
Pro Circuit 2021: S2 – China Upper Division
ESL One DPC Eastern Europe S2 – Upper Division
DreamLeague Season 15 DPC Western Europe Upper Division
OGA DPC SA Regional League Season 2
DPC 2021: Season 2 – NA Upper Division
WePlay AniMajor – June 2-13th
Indeed, we have one more event to enjoy. Bearing this in mind, let’s finally dive into who the top 12 teams are right now before the final event:
