Sadly, competitive DOTA2is still recovering from the cancellation of The International. Indeed, Valve has shifted the entire DotaProCircuit to try and reignite the scene. However, certain organizations are leaving and that’s inclusive of Ninjas in Pyjamas Leaving Dota 2. Here’s the full scoop!
As a pillar of the community, the European organization has released its current roster. This comes after a total of five whole years within the scene. For members of the community, this doesn’t come as much of a surprise as the roster hasn’t found much success, with multiple changes this year alone.
It's just a chapter. We’re not giving up, we’re not uninstalling and we’re not going to low prio. Thank you all ❤️
Despite multiple changes, nothing was working for the team. That, compiled with their uncertainty over the scene, has meant Ninjas in Pyjamas leaving Dota 2. Accordingly, the following 5 players are free agents:
Charlie “CharlieDota” Arat
Ondrej “Supream” Starha
Jonas “SabeRLight-” Volek
Adrian “Era” Kryeziu
Akbar “SoNNeikO” Butaev
Since the release, “SoNNeikO” has already found a home at Live to Win.
Credits: Ninjas in Pyjamas
Notably, Ninjas in Pyjamas joins the following list of teams that have departed the scene:
CR4ZY (NA)
Reality Rift, Geek Fam and Adorit Esports (SEA)
The next DPC kicks off on January 18th, 2021.
Let’s hope Valve can kickstart the scene back into full throttle come January.
Fnatic announce Masaros as Dota2 offlaner – Who is Masaros?
Natthaphon “Masaros” Ouanphakdee has been playing Dota2 professionally since late 2017 when he joined team ALPHA Blue. Since then he has been developing as a player, and early 2020 transferred to play for Motivate. Trust Gaming. With MTG he has shown his potential as an offlaner and this is exactly why Fnatic have chosen to pick him up. Masaros has won many events in Southeast Asia, some being:
It’s fair to say that Fnatic have had a confusing year this year. At the beginning of the year they were on a huge winning streak, however lately, they haven’t been getting their expected results, and this meant that changes were inevitable. Hopefully with Masaros’ offlaning skill and capabilities, the Fnatic roster will return to its strong performances like they had early on in 2020.
He then moved on to compete in Dota 2 under numerous teams and rosters. Most notably: Vici Gaming, EHOME, Mineski and most recently, Fnatic. He has an approximate total of $1,574,015 in earnings and is looking to grab more wins with his new team, Evil Geniuses.
This is certainly an interesting move from Evil Geniuses, which will benefit the entire team, as well as IceIceIce himself. Hopefully the results come for both parties, and aid them in getting a better result at The International 2020/21.
Virtus.pro have just revealed that they will be parting way with 3 of their inactive Dota 2 players. The players are Alexey “Solo” Berezin, Vladimir “No[o]ne“ Minenko and Bakyt “Zayac” Emilzhanov. Here is their departure announcement:
Virtus.pro parts ways with 3 inactive Dota 2 players – Why?
With VP’s most recent announcement that they will be promoting their prodigy team as their main team. There is no particular reason why they should keep hold of their inactive roster. So it made sense that after the prodigy team was promoted, the old players left.
Here is what Virtus.Pro CEO, Sergey Glamazda had to say about their departure:
“We know that the players want to participate in tournaments right now, so we came to a mutual agreement and yesterday was their last day in Virtus.pro. The guys have been bringing us unforgettable emotions and sense of pride for CIS Dota scene for several years. They went down in esports history for sure. We are thankful to the players for their enormous contribution to Virtus.pro and wish them to reach the desired goal at The International.”
The now-inactive VP roster was quite successful in their time with the team. With Solo and No[o]ne, the team won 16 tournaments, which include 5 Majors, and placed 5th-6th twice at The International. Zayac was also impactful as he was the ESL One Los Angeles 2020 Online champion.
Credits: Virtus.Pro
Virtus.pro parting ways with these 3 inactive Dota 2 players may be sad to hear, but with VP focusing on their younger team, and Solo, No[o]ne, Zayac, still interested in competing, one can only hope that both parties find success in the near future.
Team Liquid win ESL One Germany 2020 – How did they do it?
Team Liquid kicked off ESL One Germany 2020 by getting great early results in the group stage. This resulted in them placing 3rd (tying with mudgolems and OG) hence qualifying them through the playoff stage.
Credits: Team Liquid
Playoffs
Their first match in the 1st round of the upper bracket was versus mudgolems. They gave Team Liquid a hard time and won the series 2-1 to send TL down to the Lower bracket. Here Team Liquid matched up versus Team Nigma, which were a tough opponent, but not strong enough to eliminate Liquid. Here they made their first step in a long run through the losers bracket.
Next up was Vikin.gg which were no match for Liquid as they lost the series 2-0. They then faced off their rivals Team Secret in the 3rd round of the losers bracket. Their 1st match was quite lengthy, as after 42 minutes of gameplay Team Liquid took the 1st game. They then closely followed up with a very quick win of 25 minutes to eliminate Team Secret.
Credits: ESL
Their win here meant that they were only 1 stage away from the Grand Finals. Up next was the team that sent Team Liquid down into the losers bracket, mudgolems. This time round, Team Liquid had the edge and won the series with a clean 2-0 scoreline to advance to the Grand Finals versus Natus Vincere.
Na’Vi had defeated a solid amount of great teams to reach the Grand Finals without dropping to the losers bracket. This showed that they were the favourites to win it all and take down Team Liquid with ease, but this was not to be. TL immediately took over by winning the first 2 games in the series, both ending after 30 minutes. Natus Vincere then replied with a 45 minute long game ending in their favour to deny Liquid their 3-0 sweep. However, their defeat only made them hungrier for the win, as they took down Natus Vincere, and with it won ESL One Germany 2020. Here below is the game winning moment:
THAT'S GG! @TeamLiquid are your #ESLOne Germany 2020 Online CHAMPIONS! 🏆
This was Liquid’s first win in a very long time, so this meant a lot, not only for the players, but for the management and the organization as well. After placing 2nd in the OGA Dota PIT 2020, falling short over Team Secret. Hopefully the boys keep their performance up and their spirits high, to win more championships before the year ends.
22-year old Filipino Karl Jayme has been playing Dota 2 competitively since 2015, and since then he has been under multiple rosters especially Filipino teams. Here are some of the teams Karl has been on: TaskUs Titans, Execration, Team Amplify, and most recently Geek Fam.
Karl was originally planned to play for team Zerothreetwo (commonly 032), but it seems like he jumped ship after receiving the offer from T1. Here is 032’s departure post:
This is how T1’s roster is current looking with their recent addition:
T1 has built the ideal superstar roster, with up and coming mid-laner Karl ready to dominate the Southeast Asia region. Make sure you don’t miss out on any important esports news by keeping yourself updated on www.esportsguide.com for more esports news!
Following our last episode of Tips and Tricks for League of Legends, we’re continuing to other games. Indeed, it only makes sense to move on to the other first-tier MOBA –Dota 2. While some attributes are similar, there’s definitely a difference. Here are our Dota 2 Tips and Tricks!
Mechanical Skills
Like League of Legends,mechanical skills for our Dota 2 Tips and Tricks will focus on similar aspects. Players will need to mechanically learn how to coordinate an immense number of precise clicks together with abilities bound to keys.
Again, at the highest level, continuous movement is a necessity to maximize damage at safe ranges. While we highlighted the idea of kiting for League of Legends, for Dota 2, the concept of orb walking comes into play. What is it?
Credits: Valve
Orb walking is where players cancel may cancel their auto-attack move animation roughly midway through it by activating another attack. In the entire scope of Dota 2, this changes everything. Melee characters can cancel moves right after making contact to keep up the pressure instead of reeling through the entire animation.
Likewise, this applies to ranged attacks too, allowing you to close in the distance or run away when needed better. Orb walking is an essential mechanical skill for Dota 2.
Here are some other mechanical skills you might want to work on too:
Shift-queuing actions – the correct sequence for any event
Utilizing spell combos at the right timing – for yourself or teammates
In-Game Knowledge and Awareness
Moving on to in-game knowledge and awareness, like any other MOBA, there’s a tonne to understand and master here. Indeed, this section dwarfs the mechanical skills, and we’ll be diving right into it. Here are our tips for managing all the knowledge inDota 2:
Knowing the information of champions – teammates, lane and general opponents at all times especially when the meta changes
Building your own pool of champions – in order to climb ranks, it’s pivotal to be able to adapt to every situation with a calculated choice of champion and powerspike knowledge too
Knowing when to farm, gank, save teammates or to simply retreat
Understanding the ideas of jungle stacking/camp blocking – sometimes the slow game pays off
Making the most of runes – runes are exceptionally painful and can change the game incredibly
If you’re in the lead, push your opponent. Late-game comebacks are very possible in Dota 2 and will leave you awake at night
While investing in cheap items is great in the beginning, move on to better ones before its too late
Understand when to farm or to attack – you can get much more gold for kills compared to farming, with the associated risk in mind
Utilize the infamous Town Portal Scroll – every hero spawns in with 3 at the start of the game so don’t be shy to utilize it when necessary.
Use your gold carefully – know when to invest in items and which items are worth paying Buyback for too.
Master your dedicated lane while also experimenting when you can
Personal and Interpersonal – Dota 2 Tips and Tricks
Probably the most overlooked section of our Dota 2Tips and Tricks would be here. However, at esportsguide we understand that esports is heavily influenced by external factors – such as player mentality between teammates and the opposition too. Here are a few:
Being able to relay information and to agree on a strategy with your team – whether they’re randoms or teammates
Calling out and reading an opponent’s play
Constantly scanning for unaccounted enemy players with your team – flanks can be deadly
Esports organization CR4ZY has announced that it will be parting ways with all its signed rosters. Here is their announcement:
⚠️ IMPORTANT UPDATE ⚠️ This year has been really challenging and eventful but now it's time to focus on the next chapter. Huge thanks to our Dota 2 and CS:GO teams on everything they did under the CR4ZY banner.
CR4ZY will be parting ways with their rosters because of the effect that the pandemic left on the esports community. Due to the current health situation, the organization was not willing to risk the health of their players, and allowed them to go back home in case of a lockdown. This complicated a lot of stuff for the team as it led to players participating in events with severe disadvantages like very high ping and time zone difference.
Here are some words from CR4ZY’s CEO, Antonio Meić:
“We would like to thank all of our players and staff who did an amazing job in really difficult times. Our Dota 2 team secured Top 2 finishes in BTS Pro Series Season 3: Americas and ESL One Birmingham 2020 – Online: North & South America, as well as a multitude of other Top 4 finishes. Our CS:GO team was able to break into the Top 50 teams in the world, while in Rainbow Six: Siege we were just a few steps away from qualifying for the R6 Pro League. In League of Legends, our only regional project, we managed to secure 2nd place in the Esports Balkan League and had our chance in the Play-In stage of EU Masters Summer 2020. Thank you for everything you achieved under the CR4ZY banner.”
According to their statement, the organization will now be focusing on smaller esports projects and products. This will probably mean that they will be working more on esports content on their youtube channel and maybe involving themselves with smaller esports games.
It’s a very sad thing to see whenever an organization is forced to let go of any of their rosters. Especially when it’s because of the unfortunate situation we are currently in with the pandemic. Hopefully the organization manages to cope in the coming months and regain its strength heading into 2021.
As we’ve discussed before, poor results tend to drive esports roster changes. This is certainly the case for the Na’Vi Dota 2Roster, who have been performing poorly for the majority of 2020. Accordingly, some massive changes are underway – here’s the break down.
Here’s what the roster looked like prior to the change:
Alexander “Immersion” Hmelevskoy
Illias “illias” Ganeev
Vladyslac “Crystallize” Krystanek
Nikita “young G” Bochko
Pavel “9pasha” Khvastunov
Apart from a first place at the ESL One Lose Angeles 2020 CIS Closed Qualifier, 2020 has been incredibly poor for the roster.
Indeed, the final nail in the coffin is relegation from the OMEGA League: Europe Immortal Division to then fall in the lower Divine Division.
Huge changes in our Dota 2 roster and a new approach to player selection!
Determined to improve, the players of “Crystallize”, “9pasha” and “young G” have all been dropped to the inactive roster. Note that “Crystallize” is their longest signed player, being active on the roster since 2017.
Also, the coach of Andrey “Mag” Chipenko is also a part of the inactive roster.
By moving players of the Na’Vi Dota 2 Roster to the inactive roster makes them available to the organization still.
That leaves the two youngsters on the roster. Hopefully, a new team is building around them. This is a difficult decision for the organization, but one that looks to be successful.
Following the completion of the OMEGA League Season 1, the competitive Dota 2 community is eager for more. Answering this call is ESL, as they’ve just announced ESL One Germany for October! Read on for all the details!
Indeed, a massive prize pool of $400,000 is up for grabs and specifically for the Europe and CIS regions. Accordingly, from October 5th – November 1st, 16 of the best teams from these regions will battle it out for glory.
So far, 11 teams have been directly invited for the online event:
Team Secret
OG
Team Nigma
Team Liquid
Alliance
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Virtus.pro
Natus Vincere
Vikin.gg
HellRaisers
FlyToMoon
We're excited to announce #ESLOne Germany 2020 Online!
16 fantastic teams from EU and CIS will compete over four weeks for a prize pool of US$400,000 🤩
Join us from October 5th to find out who our champion will be!👑
Evidently, some of the best teams in the world will be competing at ESL One Germany! An accompanying closed qualifier will determine the final 4 spots, with one more invite available.
In terms of format, it’s all rather familiar. An initial group stage, following the single pool Swiss format, will figure out a top 8. These 8 teams will then pursue glory through the Playoffs – a double-elimination bracket of BO3 matches. Everything will conclude through a BO5 grand final.
In terms of broadcast, the online event will offer Twitch and Youtube streams.
