Through the first day of competition at ESL One Birmingham, some top teams have struggled as players try to adapt to the new landscape of the Dota 2 meta.
With teams like Team Secret and Vici Gaming running new formations and trying out the recently added Mars, things were messier than most top-level group stages.
Evil Geniuses stuck to their working strategies through Group B, going an undefeated 4-0 on the first day by besting Gambit Esports and taking a rare series victory over Secret. They were the only squad to remain undefeated following both matches and are playing some of their best Dota of the year in recent events.
Most of the matches saw teams like Secret playing Mars or trying to work in new heroes into their rotations. Following the recent 7.22b update, a lot of popular characters received slight reworks that players are still adjusting to.
EG relied heavily on Chen and Pangolier in their matches, which is nothing new considering those two heroes are staples in the current meta. Handling business against two strong rosters and confirming their normal drafts are still valid is a huge confidence booster for the North American kings.
On the other hand, in Group A was a lot more open, with every team splitting matches at least once and only OG actually pulling out a 2-0 victory.
Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team Liquid, TNC Predator, and Vici Gaming all split every series they played on the day, leaving them at 2-2 in the rankings. Out of those teams, Vici was dedicated to making Mars work, picking him in three of their four matches despite mixed results.
OG split their initial series against NiP 1-1 but followed that up with a sweep of Forward Gaming to set themselves at the top of the standings 3-1. In the second game, OG literally blew through Forward, taking the game in 14 minutes behind a Chen and Earth Spirit combo.
Alliance and Forward are sitting at the bottom of their respective groups and have a lot of work to do if they want to survive until playoffs. The patch has made this tournament the testing grounds for the upcoming StarLadder Ukraine Minor and other events in June.
The group stage will conclude on May 29 with the bottom two teams getting eliminated while the remaining eight teams move on to play in the main event from May 30 to June 2.
Published: May 29, 2019 04:16 pm