New Year, New Dota
After the quietest offseason in recent memory, it’s time for the Dota scene to get back to it in the journey to Kiev. ESL One Genting will be the first international tournament on a 7.0X patch. It has been interesting to see how the scene as a whole has reacted to the new gameplay versions in the past month. Perhaps it’s a major reason why so many teams have decided to not make roster moves during the shuffle period. Another reason may be how the 7.00 patch allows carries to reach level 25 (and thus lategame/endgame builds) earlier than any 6.XX patch through having more resouces on the map and less experience to reach that late game status. Consequently, teamfighting has been more prevalent and influential to the outcome of a match in pubs across all skill levels. However, we can’t be sure until the meta shakes itself out.
A friendly reminder to those both knowledged and new to competitive Dota 2: in the current patch (7.01) the following heroes are not in Captain’s Mode, and therefore will not see play at ESL One Genting: Treant Protector, Lycan, Techies and Monkey King.
Fnatic
Of all the regions, it was only South East Asia that saw any significant movement, with a number of promintent teams seeking to make changes. Foremost among them was Fnatic, a team fatally wounded by their incapacity to qualifiy to the Boston Major. Consequently, the team underwent a rebuilding phase during the ensuing months. At the end of the shuffle period, Fnatic have remerged with a near complete reorganization of the team, with only Chai “Mushi” Yee Fung and Chong “Ohaiyo” Xin Khoo remaining form the regional qualifier squad. This will be the first major tournament atteneded by the new stack.
Fnatic is:
- Chai “Mushi” Yee Fung [C]
- Muhammad “inYoudreaM” Rizky
- Chong “Ohaiyo” Xin Khoo
- Kim “Febby” Yong-min
- Ng “YamateH” Wei Poong [Stand in]
Digital Chaos
From the region with the most roster movement, we move over to the one with the least, starting with DC. The North American region saw no roster changes out of its “Big Four” (Digital Chaos, Evil Geniuses, compLexity, Team NP). While teams down the NA ladder made some small changes, these teams are the only ones on the continent that have proved capable of handling international competition, and therefore the NA scene will remain quiet for some time. Digital Chaos has remained as competitive as they were at The International 6, and seek to remain at the top of the Dota world.
Digital Chaos is:
- Roman “Resolout1on” Fominok
- Aliwi “W33” Omar
- David “MoonMeander” Tan
- Rasmus “MiSeRy” Filipsen [C]
- Martin “Saksa” Sazdov
Wings Gaming
Wings Gaming did not make any roster changes after a rather disappointing finish at the Boston Major. It seems that the burden of being International champions has finally caught up with them. It has happened to essentially every TI champ; a brief streak of post championship relevance followed by a plunge into irrelevance. Some, like 2011 Na’Vi and 2015 Evil Geniuses, have managed to escape the curse, but Wings have to prove at this tournament that they can still keep up with the rest of the scene.
Wings Gaming is:
- Chu “shadow” Zeyu
- Zhou “bLink” Yang
- Zhang “Faith_bian” Ruida
- Zhang “y`” Yiping [C]
- Li “iceice” Peng
Team NP
If Team NP’s story played out like a sports anime, then it’s time for season 2! Your favorite cast of Canadian Dota players is back, and they’re looking to prove that they can go further in tournaments than they did at Boston. Certainly a team that can punch a weight above its class, NP is looking to take their first LAN tournament. Interestingly enough, it will be their first tournament outside of North America, but not their first international tournament.
Team NP is:
- Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling
- Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao
- Arif “MSS” Anwar
- Avery “SVG” Silverman
- Theeban “Rose” Siva
Newbee
Newbee is a dark horse at this tournament. While one should never count out Chinese talent at an event, Newbee can be especially dangerous, being a team with the capability of taking out any team at this tournament.
Newbee is:
- Xu “uuu9” Han
- Song “Sccc” Chun
- Damien “kpii” Chok
- Zeng “Faith” Hongda
- Hu “Kaka” Liangzhi
Virtus.pro
Virtus.pro is a favorite to take this event, plain and simple. While being disappointed at the Boston Major by a surging Evil Geniuses, VP is hungry to win the first tournament of the year. They have proven that they are more than capable of handling the level of talent at Genting, the only need to maintain the level of intensity and agression they displayed at The Summit 6.
Virtus.pro is:
- Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev
- Vladimir “No[o]ne” Minenko
- Pavel “9pasha” Khvastunov
- Ilya “Lil” Ilyuk
- Alexei “Solo” Berezin [C]
Warriors Gaming.Unity
WG.U is the wild card of ESL One Genting. Of all teams at the event, they are most likely to upset a top tier team, going off of their performance in Boston in their upsets of Wings Gaming and compLextiy. WG is one of the few SEA teams that did not make any roster changes.
WG.U is:
- Lai “Ahjit” Jay Son
- Kam “NaNa” Boon Seng
- Chua “KaNG” Soon Khong
- Tue “Ahfu” Soon Chuan [C]
- Jian Wei “xNova-“ Yap
Execration
From one SEA team that made no changes to one that made a few, we go to the lowest ranked team at this tournament. With Abed “Abed” Azel L. Yusop and Adam “343″ Shah leaving the team during the drop period, Execration picked up Joshua “Owa” Dela Serna and Fernando “Nando” Mendoza.
Execreation is now:
- Khim “Gabbi” Villafuerte
- Fernando “Nando” Mendoza
- Djardel Jicko B. “DJ” Mampusti
- Joshua “Owa” Dela Serna
- Kimuel “Kim0” Rodis
What do you think 7.01 has in store for us in the tournament format? Let us know in the comments or tweet at us at @GAMURScom.
Questions, comments, or criticism for Carno? He’d love to hear it. Find him on Twitter at @Carno_.
Carno’s Twitter is where you know when new articles are posted as soon as they’re done, so be sure to follow him and the official GAMURS Dota 2 Twitter: @GAMURS_Dota2. The GAMURS Dota 2 Twitter is where you can keep up with the latest from ESL One Genting.
Sources:
Liquipedia Player Profiles and Tournaments Page
Art Credit: Valve Software
