Slowly but surely the new Dota 2 season rolls in. The first LAN tournament took place in Rotterdam, on October 18th. Six teams came to compete in the first tournament of the season and prove their best in the fight for $250,000.
First LAN since The International 2019
It’s been few months since OG’s triumph at the TI9 in Shanghai. Although the qualifying matches for the MDL Chengdu Major were played in October right before the start of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) 2019/2020, the season begins with the Dreamleague in Rotterdam. Each team is aiming for victory in the new season.
Groups and Members
Group A
Demon Slayers: Costabile, ChedDoto, oldWhite, FrancisLee, xuan
Ninjas in Pajamas: Skiter, Gunnar, Universe, Biver, PPD
Team Liquid: miCKe, qojqva, Boxi, Taiga, iNSaNiA
Group B
Alliance: Nikobaby, Limmp, 33, Handsken, FATA
FlyToMoon: Ark, Iceberg, Flow, CeMaTheSlayeR, ALWAYSWANNAFLY
J. Storm: brax, Nine, Moo, MoOz, Fear
Alliance Road to Finals
One of the most exciting transfers in the European pro-scene is a transition of ex-Alliance players to Team Liquid. Whatever the conditions, the Swedish organization did not grieve for a long time and quickly signed a very ambitious mix: Nikobaby (ex-Mineski), Limp (ex-Complexity), 33 (ex-NiP), Handsken (ex- The Final Tribe) and Fata ( ex-NiP).
As the tournament proved, this team swap was a good decision by the Alliance management. Not only did the team qualify for the Major tournament on the first try, they also went on to win the very first LAN tournament.
The updated Alliance roster was close to perfection. Limp and Co went through the group stage without a single defeat, confidently beating J.Storm and FlyToMoon teams with a score of 2: 0.
In the first playoff match, the Swedish team defeated Ninjas in Pajamas with a score of 2-0. Demon Slayers is the first team that was able to take at least one card from Alliance. Moreover, they were close to the championship title. However, at a crucial moment, Alliance players mustered up their strength and managed to turn the final result in their favor 3-2.
Alliance received $100,000 from the prize pool for winning this tournament.
Views and Statistics
The Dota 2 DreamLeague Season 12 Final between the Alliance and Demon Slayers was the most popular match of the tournament with over 85 thousand viewers.
The three most popular matches also included the final of the lower bracket between Ninjas in Pajamas vs. Demon Slayers, and Team Liquid vs FlyToMoon — at the peak of these matches 56 and 55 thousand viewers watched the broadcast, respectively. The peak of the Russian broadcast was 37 thousand viewers, and the English broadcast — 39 thousand.
Teams Performance
Alliance
The Alliance roster features both seasoned and talented “matchmaking” players. With FATA and 33, Alliance is a force to be reckoned with. Despite this, popular belief was that Alliance was not a contender this tournament. Only a few expected the guys to win the entire event. They managed to win the qualifiers for the first major of the season and showed good preparation for the tournament. During the tournament, Alliance looked clearly stronger than the opponents. They lost only 2 maps in the tournament and managed to come back with a 2:0 score in the finals.
Demon Slayers
Another breakthrough of the tournament is the Demon Slayers team, who managed to reach the grand final. That’s what makes competitive Dota 2 great — outsiders with great strategies and teamplay. The team got to DreamLeague through the qualifiers in North America, and Dota 2 fans and analysts did not believe in the team at all.
It was the status of the outsiders that helped the North American team to take advantage of the weaknesses of the newly formed teams and get to the grand finals. It is worth noting that Demon Slayers were on the verge of winning the tournament and managed to win 2 maps in the grand finals against Alliance. They got the last place in the Group stage and managed to climb to the grand finals through the loser bracket beating J.Storm, Team Liquid, and NiP.
Team Liquid
After long years of dominance, there is nothing left from the old Team Liquid tag. During the tournament the team managed to reach only fourth place, and given that there were only six participants, it is obviously a discouraging result.
Perhaps the players lacked support from the coach and team management, or they are just on their way to establish a foothold and prepare for the upcoming Major, because Dreamleague is not a DPC tournament.
FlyToMoon, NiP, J. Storm
Although these teams were considered to be favorites of the tournament, they did not show anything extraordinary. NiP and CIS mix did not manage to gain a single victory in the playoffs and ranked 5-6 places. Despite PPD’s experience, NiP reached third place, losing only to the strong Alliance and Demon Slayers in the loser bracket.
Wrapping Up
Although DreamLeague 12 was a Minor tournament, it was the first tournament back after a long break. We have witnessed rollercoaster games with ups and downs, interesting strategies, and prospects of the newly-minted teams. For these fresh teams and players it was a chance to find chemistry with each other and for seasoned veterans to test their strategies before the ESL and Major. More Dota is coming ahead with ESL and Summit 11, and we wish for the best!