To absolutely no one’s surprise, Alliance and Vikin.gg are the first two teams to qualify for the 2021 Dota Pro Circuit Europe regional league upper division through closed qualifiers.
Alliance had a bit more trouble than Vikin.gg during their runs, but both of the top-seeded rosters qualified without dropping a series in the upper bracket.
Vikin.gg swept Hippomaniacs in the opening round before facing the revamped Chicken Fighters roster in the deciding match for the first qualifier spot. Charlie “CharlieDota” Arat and Ondřej “Supream^” Štarha dominated game one, combining for 32 kills and 33 assists, along with 70,000 damage as Chicken Fighters took game one.
That would be the only loss for Vikin.gg throughout the event. Miroslav “BOOM” Bičan, Indji “Shad” Lub, and the rest of the team crushed the opposition in two quick wins to close out the series.
Alliance arguably had a more difficult path to the upper division, having to face Rasmus “MISERY” Filipsen’s Hellbear Smashers and the revamped mudgolems roster that made noise in earlier events.
In both series, Alliance started strong before dropping off in the second games, letting their opponents force decider matches to remain in the upper bracket. But Gustav “s4” Magnusson and his teammates didn’t lose composure and stuck to playing their game, clutching out both series and joining the upper division.
Now both Alliance and Vikin.gg join Team Liquid, OG, Team Secret, and Nigma in the upper division. The final two slots will be decided on Jan. 10.
The remaining four teams will drop into lower division to compete during the upcoming DPC season.
