The DOTA Summit 12 might be one of the very last international LAN esports events we’ll see in a while until the international situation clears up. Concluding yesterday on the 13th of March after beginning on the 11th behind closed doors, the event hosted a mere 6 teams under a $150,000 prize pool. After three days, we have our winner and we have our Dota Summit 12 recap.
Competing at the BTS Studios in Los Angeles with no support from the crowd, Fnatic, Evil Geniuses, OG Seed, Team Liquid, Thunder Predator and Cloud9 all gathered for the exciting bit of competition. Back in our preview article, we placed Evil Geniuses as our favourite followed by Fnatic and Team Liquid, with a question mark hanging over Cloud9. Looking back now, we were rather incorrect, as a matter of fact.
With $150,000 on the line, the tournament quickly made way for the first stage – a round-robin with BO2 games determining the four of the six teams that would earn their way into the Playoffs. Teams would earn a point per map win, so a 1-1 draw would provide each team with a single point. Without further delay, the following are the results:
Day 1
- Fnatic vs Liquid (2-0)
- Fnatic vs C9 (2-0)
- EG vs OG. Seed (1-1)
- Liquid vs C9 (2-0)
- OG. Seed vs TP (1-1)
- Liquid vs OG. Seed (0-2)
- EG vs TP (2-0)
- C9 vs TP (0-2)
Day 2
- Liquid vs EG (2-0)
- Fnatic vs OG.Seed (1-1)
- C9 vs EG (0-2)
- Fnatic vs TP (1-1)
- C9 vs OG.Seed (0-2)
- Liquid vs TP (1-1)
- Fnatic vs EG (1-1)
- Liquid vs TP (1-0) Tiebreaker
Just like that, Cloud9 bombed out of the competition without earning a SINGLE map win. The roster which formed at the end of January clearly isn’t ready for the ring quite yet if they ever will be. On day 2, a tiebreaker did take place (BO1) to determine whether Thunder Predator or Team Liquid would advance through to the Playoffs.
Meanwhile, OG. Seed (OG’s academy roster) surprised the competition by placing second, beating out Evil Geniuses who are a top 5 team in the Dota 2 Pro Circuit Rankings! Otherwise, the teams which did pass through, did so, with Fnatic placing first, tied with OG. Seed at 7 points.
The overall placings and points are listed below:
- Fnatic (7)
- OG. Seed (7)
- Evil Geniuses (6)
- Team Liquid (5)
- Thunder Predator (5)
- Cloud9 (0)
Playoffs
Fnatic, OG.Seed, Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid all advanced to the double-elimination bracket with all matches being BO3, finishing off with a BO5 grand final for the majority of the $150,000 prize pool. The following match-ups played out in the first round:
- OG. Seed vs Evil Geniuses (0-2)
- Fnatic vs Team Liquid (2-0)
Finally, something went according to statistics. Evil Geniuses and Fnatic took care of business respectively, showing why they’re the higher-ranked squads within the Dota 2 Pro Circuit. In the Losers’ Bracket, OG.Seed would show signs of life against Team Liquid with a sweep of their own, sending them packing early. OG.Seed wasn’t out of it yet.
In the semi-finals, meanwhile, Evil Geniuses and Fnatic would match up for the most anticipated match-ups of the event. Although Evil Geniuses came into the event as favourites, their shaky performance on Day 1 made it the perfect opportunity for Fnatic to pull off an upset. They did so with a 2-1 scoreline in their favour, ending it on map 3; meaning that OG.Seed would match up with Evil Geniuses
- Evil Geniuses vs OG.Seed (1-2)
OG.Seed took advantage of a demoralised Evil Geniuses side and came out blazing with a surprising amount of fight. Evil Geniuses may have taken the first map, but OG. Seed responded with two of their own, ending the map 2-1 and shocking everyone. Ranked 83rd on the Dota Pro Circuit, nobody expected them to take this.
Grand Final
- Fnatic vs OG.Seed (3-0)
The BO5 grand series hosted the shortest and the longest maps in terms of duration, out of the entire event, ranging from a quick 17 minutes to a dragging 51 minutes. Fnatic, as the favourites, closed out the series flawlessly and handled business, winning the majority of the $150,000 prize!
Conclusion
A few takeaways here: first off, Cloud9 clearly has a lot to work on, OG.Seed is as competitive as its father team and Evil Geniuses can look vulnerable. Apart from that, I’m sure the Dota 2 community cherished one of the last events they’ll be watching in a while, sadly. D
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