Who won the Dota Major. Kyiv Major who will win? Dark horses of the Kyiv Major

This week all participants have been decided The Kiev Major.

Every truly grandiose tournament begins with selections, because the tone of the competition is already set at this stage. This happened at the regional qualification of The Kiev Major. From March 6th to 14th we could witness a beautiful fight in the face of fierce competition in the modern Dota scene.

In the qualifying competitions of South Asia, China, Europe, the CIS, South and North America, the last participants in the first “major” in the post-Soviet space were determined. Thanks to the new distribution of quotas from the tournament organizer - the corporation Valve- we will have the opportunity to see the strongest teams from the farthest corners of the planet in the capital of Ukraine. Each of them had to go through a difficult journey and win from thousands of teams the right to represent their region at the main tournament of the season. It is in such a “meat grinder” that sometimes new champions are born.

“I would like to inform you that the CIS has a team that is worth cheering for, because we have proven that we are head and shoulders above everyone else in this region twice already, and we are ready to fight not for “exit from the qualifiers”, but for winning the tournaments,” said on his page on the social network, the holder of a quota from the CIS as part of the Russian Virtus.pro Vladimir " No[o]ne"Minenko. After watching the final match against the Ukrainian Natus Vincere It’s hard to argue with mid laner VP’s statement.

Danil "Dendi" Ishutin. Photo: Natus Vincere Press Service

A series of 12 victories in qualifying speaks for itself. It seems that the Bears' unfortunate elimination in the first round of the DAC qualifiers due to internet problems gave the team additional motivation rather than ruining it. And it pleases. After all, Virtus.pro will have to fight for themselves and for “that guy.” Unfortunately, Valve has allocated only one slot for our region, and the Ukrainian Danil " Dendi“Ishutin, together with Na`Vi, will miss the home major, stopping one step away from his dream.

In Kyiv, VP will be obliged to prove to the game developer and the entire community that our region deserves more than one team at the world championship.

EUROPE

But the Estonian Clement " Puppey"Ivanov can already pack his bags for a trip to Kyiv, where the stellar stage of his e-sports career as part of Natus Vincere began. Together with his Team Secret Clement easily beat the Swedish The Alliance in the final of the European qualification and won the only ticket to the “major” from the region.

Clement "Puppey" Ivanov. Photo wp-b.com

The founder of the team and its captain "Puppey" made the right decision - to try his hand at Europe, and not in South Asia. Let us remind you that the first and second roles in the five “Secret” ones are alternately played by the Korean Pio " MP"Noah and the Malaysian Zheng" MidOne" Nai. The latter stayed so long at home without major tournaments that he managed to raise the world's highest singles matchmaking rating (MMR). The young Dota 2 star has already managed to splash out his joy on social networks and openly challenge the giants of the scene. There is no time to motivate other members There is no doubt about the strongest team in the world. Soon we will be able to get an answer to the question: what can the combination of the experience of Europeans and the game mechanics of young players from South Asia do?

SOUTH ASIA

One of the main intrigues of the Kyiv tournament: is the South Asian region worthy of two quotas for the “major”, while Europe and the CIS have only one? Valve's decision raises questions. Over the past year, the level of Dota 2 in this part of the world

has grown significantly, but the best result of South Asian teams at Grand Slam tournaments remains getting into the top six of the Korean MVP and the Malaysian Fnatic at home The Manila Major.

Questions about why CIS spectators will not be able to cheer for Na`Vi in Kyiv will be answered by the Singaporean Faceless And TnC from Malaysia. Of course, both teams are capable of achieving high results and justifying advances from Valve. But crushing everyone online and winning titles at LAN tournaments are completely different things. At least there will be someone to root against if VP lets you down again. After all, if the CIS is given a second quota, it will be taken away from South Asia.

CHINA

Following the Chinese qualifications is problematic not only because of the difference in time zones. Valve issued three out of eight direct invitations to The Kiev Major to teams from the Middle Kingdom, which means that all competitive teams from this region did not take part in the qualifiers. Two teams of the organization will be able to challenge this statement Invictus Gaming: I.G. and IG.Vitality. They were the ones who won both of China's quotas.

By allocating five slots for the “major” to this region, Valve is pursuing commercial interests. Otherwise, it is difficult to explain such a representation of Chinese teams, given their results at the previous similar championship. At The Boston Major, only one team from this country made it into the top eight.

Bai "rOtk" Fan. Photo: Wikimedia.org

SOUTH AMERICA

A team from Brazil will perform at the Valve tournament for the first time. The SG e-sports five beat Peruvian Not Today in the final qualifying round in South America and confirmed their status as the strongest team in the weakest region. 62 thousand dollars for getting into the LAN finals and the opportunity to compete at a major is in itself a holiday for this team.

However, an example of a team from another e-sports discipline - Counter-Strike - comes to mind. A year ago Brazilian Luminosity came to my first LAN tournament in snowy Kyiv. First, the crowd fell in love with her, after which she won both major CS:GO tournaments in 2016. Maybe Brazilian esports is no worse than Brazilian football?

NORTH AMERICA

Attracting foreign players is clearly paying off in the North American region. Confirmation of this is the arrival of a new team from the USA Team Onyx to the Kyiv tournament. The team's game is built around 16-year-old Filipino Abed" Abed" Yusop, who simply has no worthy competitors in the mid lane in North America.

Abed "Abed" Yusop. Photo Gosugamers.net

American Digital Chaos Ukrainian" Resolut1on"has already proven that it is possible to assemble a strong international cast. Team Onyx may well become another successful commercial project.

Qualifying for The Kiev Major only increased expectations from the tournament. 16 strong teams from all over the world will take part in it. Each region has its own unique style and vision of the game. Who will be the strongest? We will receive the answer at the end of April on the stage of the National Palace of Arts "Ukraine". At the first “major” in the CIS, the world of Dota 2 will definitely expand its boundaries.

There are a few weeks left until the Kyiv Major, so who will win the Kiev Major? The list of participants in the Kyiv tournament has already been determined; these are the 16 best teams, 8 of which are directly invited, and another 8 winners of qualifications in their regions. The date of the tournament has already been announced on April 27 - 30, 2017, and this is the time for the main part of the tournament - Play Off, and the group stage will begin even earlier, approximately on April 24. Dota 2 Expert tried to determine the winner of the Kyiv Major based on statistics, the pool of heroes and the results of the participating teams.

To begin with, let’s take a general look at the regions of the teams in this tournament: representatives of Europe, America, Asia. With the release of update 7.00, it was obvious that Asia did not accept this patch; in a number of recent LAN tournaments, Chinese teams were eliminated in the first rounds, for example StarSeries 3 Season, the final of which was held in Shanghai, or Dota Pit LAN Final.

The only tournament where China was able to impose a fight on the world giants was the last tournament before the major - Dota 2 Asia Championship 2017, in the final of which Invictus Gaming confidently beat , and the favorite of many viewers, Team Liquid, was eliminated by losing to IG Vitality in the first round. However, in my opinion this does not mean that Asia won, but rather that Europe lost. It is obvious that Liquid, for example, did not want to reveal their trump cards by playing the entire tournament through Alchemist, although from the first games it was clear that this did not work in the current meta. Although they were head and shoulders above all other DAC 2017 teams, in the finals they completely failed the draft stage and were unable to do anything against the opponent’s heroes.

Speaking of America, these are EG who can win, a couple of qualifying winning teams who will fight only for the penultimate line of the standings and Digital Chaos, a dark horse, which we will talk about a little later.

Kiev Major Dota 2 results forecast

I divided the participants into blocks of 4 teams, the first block is the teams that have every chance of winning the Kiev Major; which team will lift the cup over its head will be decided by the tournament bracket after the draw, which will take place on the eve of the event. The last block is the subjectively weakest teams of the Major, and most likely they will be the first to leave the tournament. But most of the remaining teams can be classified as “dark horses” of the tournament, teams with very strong squads that have not played in official matches for a long time and can “kill” any team with a well-honed strategy.

Invictus Gaming
Newbee
Thunderbirds (Resolution & co)
Team Random (formerly Wings Gaming)
Team Faceless
mousesports (formerly Ad Finem, top2 Boston Major)
IG Vitality
Digital Chaos (formerly Team Onyx)
SG Esports

Dark horses of the Kyiv Major

The disastrous performance at DAC 2017 does not allow this team to be listed among the favorites, but does not write it off. We're talking about Team Liquid. team with the highest MMR in the world, and therefore the strongest individual performers. If the guys reconsider their views on strategy and abandon the Alchemist, they may well move any team off the pedestal.

As you know, the latest Dota 2 updates are aimed at strengthening push strategies. Such innovations, in my opinion, strengthen the American Thunderbirds team, which build their strategies in such a way as to pin the enemy at the base, showing world's best split-push. Naga, Invoker and other heroes from DC do not allow the enemy to destroy buildings, having a colossal advantage, they will detect constant pressure along all lines. However, from recent performances it is clear that many teams know how to play against such strategies, but time will tell how it works after the push is strengthened.

Qualification for The Chongqing Major in Dota 2 starts on November 25. Over the course of a week, 15 participants in the second major of the season will be determined in six regional zones; The last slot, we remind you, will go to the winner of the minor in January.

Initially, participants in each division will be divided into two groups; this time, only two teams from each will make it to the playoffs. In the playoffs using the double-elimination system, the four best teams will compete for two (in the CIS, Asia and South America) or three (North America, China and Europe) tickets to the finals.

List of participants:

— Asia (November 25-27): Fnatic, TNC, Lotac, Tigers, WG, Unity, Mineski, BOOM ID, 496 Gaming;
— CIS (November 25-27): Virtus.pro, NaVi, Gambit, NoPangolier, Spirit, Empire.Hope, Se7en, Winstrike;
— South America (November 25-27): Playmakers, Infamous, paiN, ex-paiN, 16 anos, Thunder Predator, Inf.Young, Gorillaz;
— China (November 28-30): PSG.LGD, Vici, Aster, EHOME, RNG, winners of H-CUP and qualifiers;
— Europe (November 28-30): NiP, OG, Alliance, Liquid, Vega, Secret, Hippomaniacs, Final Tribe;
— North America (November 28-30): coL, EG, Forward, J.Storm, Borster, TeamTeam, Plus Ultra, Zugzwang.

The tournament will be covered in Russian by the StarLadder studio. SLTV commentators will also be helped by their colleagues from the RuHub studio, as well as presenter Stepan “DonStepan” Shulga and ex-Virtus.pro coach Ivan “ArtStyle” Antonov.

Broadcast:

First channel

Qualification schedule for The Chongqing Major:

— 8:00. First channel. Asia, Group A. TNC Predator - 496 Gaming;
— 8:00. Second channel. Asia, group A. Lotac - Mineski;
— 11:30. First channel. Asia, Group A. Match between the winners;
— 11:30. Second channel. Asia, group A. Match between the losers.

— 16:00. First channel. CIS, group A. Virtus.pro - Se7en Esports;
— 16:00. Second channel. CIS, group A. Team Spirit - NoPangolier;
— 16:00. Third channel. CIS, group B. NaVi - Winstrike;
— 16:00. Channel Four. CIS, group B. Gambit - Empire.Hope;
— 19:30. First channel. CIS, group A. Match between the winners.
— 19:30. Second channel. CIS, group A. Match between losers;
— 19:30. Third channel. CIS, group B. Match between the winners;
— 19:30. Channel Four. CIS, group B. Match between losers.

— 0:00. First channel. South America, group A. Pain Gaming vs 16 anos;
— 0:00. Second channel. South America, Group A. Playmakers Esports vs Infamous Young;
— 0:00. Third channel. South America, group B. ex-pain X vs Gorillaz-Pride;
— 0:00. Channel Four. South America, group B. Infamous vs Thunder Predator;
— 3:30. First channel. South America, Group A. Match between the winners;
— 3:30. Second channel. South America, Group A. Match between losers;
— 3:30. Third channel. South America, Group B. Match between the winners;
— 3:30. Channel Four, South America, Group B. Match between the losers.

— 8:00. First channel. Asia, Group B. Fnatic vs Boom ID;
— 8:00. Second channel. Asia, group B. Tigers vs WG.Unity;
— 11:30. First channel. Asia, Group B. Match between the winners;
— 11:30. Second channel. Asia, Group B. Match between losers;
— 15:00. First channel. Asia, Group A. Play-off match;
— 15:00. Second channel. Asia, Group B. Play-off match.

— 16:00. First channel. CIS, group A. Play-off match;
— 16:00. Second channel. CIS, Group B. Play-off match;
— 19:30. First channel. CIS, Upper Bracket Semifinal;
— 19:30. Second channel. CIS, lower bracket match.

— 0:00, Channel One. South America, Group A. Play-off;
— 0:00, Channel Two. South America, Group B. Play-off;
— 3:30. Channel One, South America, upper bracket semi-final;
— 3:30. Channel 2, South America, lower bracket match.

— 8:00. First channel. Asia, upper bracket semi-final;
— 8:00. Second channel. Asia, lower bracket match;
— 11:30. First channel. Asia, upper bracket final;
— 11:30. Second channel. Asia, lower bracket semi-final;
— 15:00, Channel One. Asia, lower bracket final.

— 16:00. First channel. CIS, upper bracket final;
— 16:00. Second channel. CIS, lower bracket semi-final;
— 19:30, Channel One. CIS, lower bracket final.

— 0:00. First channel. South America, upper bracket final;
— 0:00. Second channel. South America, lower bracket semi-final;
— 3:30, Channel One. South America, lower bracket final.

— 9:00. First channel. China, group A. PSG.LGD - EHOME;
— 9:00. Second channel. China, Group A. H-CUP Winner - Qualification Winner;
— 9:00. Third channel. China, group B. Vici Gaming - Aster;
— 9:00. Channel Four. China, group B. RNG - Qualification winner;

— 11:00. Second channel. China, group A. EHOME - Qualification winner;

— 11:00. Channel Four, China, group B. Aster - RNG;
— 13:00. First channel. China, Group A. Qualification Winner - Qualification Winner;
— 13:00. Second channel. China, Group B. Qualification Winner - Qualification Winner.

— 17:00. First channel. Europe, Group A. Team Liquid - Vega Squadron;
— 17:00. Second channel. Europe, group A. NiP - The Final Tribe;
— 17:00. Third channel. Europe, group B. Team Secret - Hippomaniacs;
— 17:00. Channel Four. Europe, group B. OG - The Alliance;
— 20:30. First channel. Europe, Group A. Match between the winners.
— 20:30. Second channel. Europe, Group A. Match between losers;
— 20:30. Third channel. Europe, Group B. Match between the winners;
— 20:30. Channel Four. Europe, group B. Match between the losers.

— 1:00. First channel. North America, Group A. Evil Geniuses vs Team Borster;
— 1:00. Second channel. North America, group A. compLexity vs Doggies;
— 1:00. Third channel. North America, Group B. Forward Gaming vs Zugzwang;
— 1:00. Channel Four. North America, Group B. J.Storm vs Team Team;
— 4:30. First channel. North America, Group A. Match between the winners;
— 4:30. Second channel. North America, Group A. Match between losers;
— 4:30. Third channel. North America, Group B. Match between the winners;
— 4:30. Channel Four, North America, Group B. Match between the losers.

— 9:00. First channel. China, Group A. PSG.LGD - Winner of H-CUP;
— 9:00. Second channel. China, group A. EHOME - Qualification winner;
— 9:00. Third channel. China, Group B. Vici Gaming - RNG;
— 9:00. Channel Four. China, group B. Aster - Qualification winner;
— 11:00. First channel. China, group A. PSG.LGD - Qualification winner;
— 11:00. Second channel. China, Group A. H-CUP Winner - Qualification Winner;
— 11:00. Third channel. China, Group B. Vici Gaming - Qualification Winner;
— 11:00. Channel Four, China, Group B. RNG - Qualification Winner;
— 13:00. First channel. China, group A. EHOME - Qualification winner;
— 13:00. Second channel. China, group B. Aster - Qualification winner.

— 17:00. First channel. Europe, Group A. Play-off;
— 17:00. Second channel. Europe, Group B. Play-off;
— 20:30. First channel. Europe, Upper Bracket Semifinals;
— 20:30. Second channel. Europe, Lower Bracket Match.

— 1:00, Channel One. North America, Group A. Play-off;
— 1:00, Channel Two. North America, Group B. Play-off;
— 4:30. Channel One, North America, upper bracket semi-final;
— 4:30. Channel 2, North America, lower bracket match.

— 9:00. First channel. China, upper bracket semi-final;
— 9:00. Second channel. China, lower bracket match;
— 12:30. First channel. China, upper bracket final;
— 12:30. Second channel. China, lower bracket semi-final;
— 16:00, Channel One. China, lower bracket final.

— 17:00. First channel. Europe, upper bracket final;
— 17:00. Second channel. Europe, lower bracket semi-final;
— 19:30, Channel One. Europe, lower bracket final—1:00. First channel. North America, upper bracket final;
— 1:00. Second channel. North America, lower bracket semi-finals;
— 4:30, Channel One. North America, lower bracket final.

The start times of matches are indicated in the Moscow time zone (CET+2).