All eight teams competing in the StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor have been decided after Mineksi and Team Anvorgesa closed out the regional qualifiers.
Both teams have prior experience in Dota Pro Circuit events and are trying to make a final push into The International 2019.
Mineski performed poorly in the closed qualifiers for the EPICENTER Major. They didn’t even make it to the playoffs. After a ninth-place finish at the MDL Disneyland Paris Major, they’re one of several teams ranked in the top 20 of the DPC who needed to make it into the Minor.
They joined BOOM ID, Team Adroit, and the recently-formed Power of MYSG+AU in the closed qualifiers for the StarLadder Minor. With only four teams competing, there was no need for a group stage. And from the first game, Mineski looked dominant.
Starting against BOOM, a team who beat them in the Major qualifiers, Mineski began their run with a 2-0 sweep. Both matches took around 25 minutes as Mineski breezed into a matchup with MYSG+AU.
They had a slightly harder time with the player-run team but still managed to clean things up in their second 2-0 sweep. After their second under 50-minute series, they awaited the winner of Adroit and MYSG+AU in the grand finals.
MYSG+AU pulled off the win in the lower bracket, forcing a rematch that was much closer than their first meeting with Mineski. Both games lasted about 40 minutes and Mineski struggled to put their opponents away late, even after expertly executing some interesting draft strategies.
With that win, Mineski secured their spot at the Minor, going a perfect 6-0 through the qualifiers to keep their hopes for TI9 alive.
In South America, the two top organizations remaining in the region, paiN Gaming and Infamous, already made it into the Major, leaving the regional event wide open.
Early on, it looked like Thunder Predator might be back on their game and ready to rejoin the DPC competition. But that run was stopped dead by Gorillaz-Pride in round two as they stomped the supposed favorites.
After being knocked into the lower bracket, TP were handed their second loss of the day as Anvorgesa won the final two games in the series, taking the 2-1 win.
Anvorgesa, formerly known as Majestic Esports, placed well at the OGA Dota PIT Minor, taking fourth and showing there might be another team rising in SA. But after cutting ties with two players following the Minor, the team decided to rebrand before taking on their next challenge.
They went on to avenge their first-round loss against Gorillaz, winning in the grand finals to claim the final spot at the Minor.
With all eight teams locked in, matches will begin on June 12 for the StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor. The two top finishers from that event will move on to the EPICENTER Major on June 22.
Published: May 25, 2019 02:13 pm