Day 2 of the biggest non-DPC Dota 2 tournament of the year is over and with it, the Group Stages have came to a dramatic end. Let’s take a look at what happened and the reasons behind the four eliminations.
Group A: Team Aster & J.Storm
The first two teams to “bite the dust” were Team Aster and J.Storm
Despite not really achieving all that much in the last couple of months, Team Asters’ elimination was definitely not expected. The Chinese powerhouse came a long way from the last DPC season, especially after the roster changed. In fact, they probably have one of the most promising rosters right now.
However, it seems like Song “Sccc” Chun and his team-mates still have a long way to go before they can start winning when it matters. Their most notable series in this tournament was against Team Secret, where they got a draw. This was a sign that Aster has what it takes to win but they just need more time to utilize their full potential.
The second team that will be heading home here is J.Storm. Despite the strong start of the season, the NA squad is now “back to the roots” after a very mediocre performance at this tournament. When we saw their performance at the MDL Chengdu Major a few months ago, we thought that J.Storm is finally back. However, it looks like Clinton “Fear” Loomis and his team-mates still have a lot of work to do. They finished last in their group after winning only two games.
Group B – PSG.LGD & Team Liquid
The results in the second group of the tournament are a lot more surprising.
PSG.LGD really seem to be in a crisis after TI 9 came to an end. Despite having one of the strongest rosters in the world, they just can’t start to win games. After failing to qualify for any of the DPC tournaments, TI 8 runners-up also collapsed in Singapore. It seems like the extensive break they took was a little too much, even for a team of their calibre. To make matters worse, the meta in patch 7.23 is still new, which means that the entire pro scene is just a little bit random.
We truly hope that the Chinese powerhouse will be able to bounce back soon. After all, they have one of the most stable rosters that have proven itself countless times.
Last, but most definitely not least, we have Team Liquid. This is one of the most interesting teams in the last couple of months, especially after they switched the organizations from Alliance to Team Liquid. Despite the slow start, the European giants played nearly flawlessly in the last couple of months. They’ve qualified for both Majors with little to no effort. Just when everyone thought that they are one of the best teams right now, they’ve completely crumbled in Singapore. In fact, they only won one game in the entire Group Stage.
We truly hope that this was just a “one-time thing” from Liquid because it will be a shame if it isn’t. After all, they have a tremendous legacy that they need to continue.
Conclusion
Do not miss the playoffs of the ONE Esports Dota 2 World Pro Invitational. It will be very interesting to see which team will win the lion’s share of the $500,000 prize pool.
You can watch all the action live on Twitch from the ONE Esports channel.
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