We head over to LatAm for the subsequent batch of groups for our DPC tour evaluation
As soon as upon a time, North and South America had been bundled collectively as one area by Valve for consideration for The Worldwide because the latter was thought-about to be too weak a zone to offer any actual competitors for the type of groups current at TI. Simply over half a decade after they had been “promoted” to have their very own mounted slot on the flagship match, South People haven’t solely secured a high six spot at TI, however recurrently give the perfect groups on the earth an actual run for his or her cash and are presently forward of their northern neighbors by each metric.
Which means that whether or not you’re a fan of South American Dota or not, you’re going to need to get to know the groups from that area as they’ll actually be part of the most important Dota 2 tournaments on the market.
South America Division 1
From being bundled in with a stronger area to truly drawing organizations from Europe and America, South People have come a really, very good distance. They won’t have many groups which might be capable of compete on the highest stage, however their finest groups are nearly as good as these from actually some other area — to the purpose the place two of them held high 6 spots on the Dota Professional Circuit desk final season. With the post-TI shuffle primarily mixing up their 10 finest gamers into two new groups, the time is ripe for a brand new energy to rise whereas these two kind out their bearings.
With none additional ado, let’s check out what the area’s received to supply for the primary tour of the 2021 DPC. Listed here are the eight groups within the division.
- Thunder Awaken
- beastcoast
- Notorious
- Alliance.LATAM
- Evil Geniuses
- Keyd Stars
- Infinity
- Ravens
Thunder Awaken
- Aliaksei “Smiling Knight” Svirydau
- Ricardo “Alone” Fernandez
- Mario “Ilich” Valdivia
- Miguel “Michael” Gomez
- Cristian “Accel” Quispe
It’s not on a regular basis {that a} workforce has to amass a completely new squad shortly after exceeding all expectations to position Fifth-Sixth at TI, however such has been the destiny of Thunder Awaken. 2022 was a implausible yr for the Peruvian giants, who aced each single DPC tour, positioned Fifth-Sixth on the ESL One Stockholm Main, and lastly, had an incredible TI the place they got here inside a hair’s breadth of breaking into the highest 4. The one blemish on their report from the yr was getting knocked out within the Group Stage of the Arlington Main.
Sadly for Thunder Awaken, although, their members cut up up and distributed themselves alongside former beastcoast members between the latter group and Evil Geniuses, which prompted them to amass a completely new squad with different gamers from the area. With 5 comparatively inexperienced gamers on board, it’ll virtually actually take some time for the workforce to settle in and kind the type of chemistry required at this stage. It could be some time earlier than we see Thunder Awaken roar once more, particularly on the most important stage.
beastcoast
- Héctor “K1” Rodríguez
- Gonzalo “DarkMago” Herrera
- Rafael “Sacred” Yonatan
- Elvis “Scofield” Peña
- Steven “Stinger” Mamani
What a yr it’s been for beastcoast. The little Peruvian clan that would didn’t win any of their three regional DPC excursions, however they did win a Regional Remaining, and extra importantly positioned Fifth-Sixth at two completely different Majors earlier than a Seventh-Eighth placement at TI11 — which is their finest up to now. They had been some of the constant groups throughout all of the notable occasions, marking the primary time a South American aspect had proven such grit and consistency. Most significantly, their video games had been fascinating to observe with dynamic drafts and implausible teamwork.
After sticking collectively for over 3 years, the Peruvian quintet that previously made up beastcoast lastly broke up final yr solely to reform groups with gamers from their rival group Thunder Awaken. Three gamers from beastcoast — Stinger, Scofield and K1 — remained on board, and we’ll discover out in a number of days how they fare teaming up with former enemies, simply as we’ll learn the way those they omitted, Jean “Chris Luck” Salazar and Adrián “Wisper” Dobles, do on EG with the opposite three ex-Thunder Awaken members.
Notorious
- Romel “Mjz” Quinteros
- Alexis “sl4d1n-” Sitl
- Oscar “Oscar” Jimenez
- Jordan “SLATEM$” Vega
- Alonso “Mnz” León
After taking part in third fiddle to each beastcoast and Thunder Awaken(and its iterations) for 3 years, Notorious may lastly have a shot at getting again to their glory days following the splitting of the aforementioned squads. These new to the Dota professional scene won’t know this, however Notorious had been the primary South American workforce to crack the Prime 8 at TI, coming Seventh-Eighth after beating the likes of Eager Gaming and Newbee on the way in which. Since then, nonetheless, they haven’t met wherever close to that type of success — they haven’t even reached one other TI.
Since dropping out to Hokori within the Grand Remaining of the South American Qualifier, and crashing out early within the Final Likelihood Qualifier, Notorious have gone on to interchange their whole squad. The brand new one has loads of expertise, with 4 of the gamers having been on the professional scene for a number of years, with one hotshot newcomer from Balrogs finishing the squad. There’s large potential within the workforce, however whether or not that can translate into outcomes is one other story. Up to now, their outcomes at two completely different lower-tier occasions have been removed from promising.
Alliance.LATAM
- Anthony “Gardick” López
- Thiago “Thiolicor” Cordeiro
- Pablo “Vitaly” Angulo
- João “4nalog” Giannini
- Edward “Lumière” Guillen
Little question impressed after watching Hokori’s efficiency at TI11, TI3 profitable group Alliance determined to arrange a department in South America to make the perfect of the immense scope and skill the area has. This squad was the darkish horse of TI11, with virtually all specialists and predictors assuming they wouldn’t make it to the principle stage. Not solely did they make it, however they virtually made it to the Higher Bracket, taking video games off of the likes of BetBoom Staff, BOOM Esports, Gaimin Gladiators, PSG.LGD, and OG whereas beating Royal By no means Give Up and Soniqs.
Alliance.LATAM favors fast-paced, teamfight-based drafts and are particularly robust within the mid-game, however lack the type of finesse and maturity that comes with years of competitors on the highest stage. With their group’s steering and sources, the workforce will get rather more help to construct on their present ability, and with the SA scene comparatively open in the meanwhile, they’ve an actual shot at turning into the dominant power within the area. With their European counterpart caught within the doldrums of Division II, they are going to primarily be the face of their group for now.
Evil Geniuses
- Jose “Pandaboo” Padilla
- Farith “Matthew” Puente
- Adrián Céspedes “Wisper” Dobles
- Jean “Chris Luck” Salazar
- Crhistian “Pakazs” Savina
It’s by no means straightforward to half with long-term teammates regardless of how inexperienced the grass on the opposite aspect seems to be, however such is the place that the present members of EG discover themselves in. We’ve already talked about how the formation of the workforce took place, however the actual query is whether or not they’ll be capable to put apart their variations and unite towards a standard enemy — their outdated associates. It’s the hard-hitting anime-esque story arc that few anticipated, however everybody following Dota is totally hyped about.
It’s essential to offer context relating to the massive blue workforce’s transfer down south. The TI-winning group, regardless of having gained two out of three native DPC excursions in NA final season, was dreadful at each single main Valve occasion. They bowed out within the Group Stage in Stockholm and completed Ninth-Twelfth in Arlington earlier than an an identical consequence at TI regardless of a dominant Group Stage and Higher Bracket begin. This got here on the again of one other Ninth-Twelfth place end ultimately TI, which made the EG high brass take into account a transfer to a area with a greater participant pool.
Keyd Stars
- Guilherme “Costabile” Costábile
- Adriano “4dr” Machado
- Otávio “tavo” Silva
- Danylo “Kingrd” Nascimento
- Matheus “KJ” Diniz
Keyd Stars began out lengthy earlier than South America’s rise to prominence, however an absence of alternatives and progress noticed them shut their doorways over 6 years in the past. Now they’re again with a bevy of top-tier Brazilian expertise — all of whom have been to TI, however by no means previous the Group Stage. Anybody with curiosity in South American Dota will acknowledge their names, but additionally bear in mind how they’ve traditionally lacked the self-discipline and teamwork to be really aggressive on the highest stage.
Uma nova temporada e o mesmo Legado. ⚔️
Seis anos depois, a Vivo Keyd Stars voltará a batalhar no Dota 2. A espera foi longa e o objetivo é o mesmo: dominar o Brasil. Em janeiro temos um encontro marcado com cinco novos guerreiros.
Aguardem.#GoVKS pic.twitter.com/PI1obMlSR0
— Vivo Keyd Stars (@VivoKeyd) December 23, 2022
The group has a giant presence in Brazil with involvement in different video games, however they’ve come again to Dota 2 in gentle of the rise of the area. Keyd Stars have picked up just about the whole lot of the previous Wolf Staff squad, with the one exception being recruiting ex-nouns Carry Costabile as a substitute of William “hFn” Medeiros. The squad nonetheless has loads of work to do to be able to compete with the may of the Peruvian groups, however not less than they’re not missing in expertise.
Infinity
- Sergio “Prada” Orihuela
- Moises “Genek” Santillan
- Frank “Frank” Arias
- Leonardo “Leostyle” Sifuentes
- David “Parker” Chote
Since their founding again in early 2021, Peruvian and Costa Rican three way partnership Infinity have discovered themselves in a wierd place. They ace the Decrease Division/Division 2 with ease each time they participate in it, however both can’t deal with the pressure of the highest tier or barely handle to carry on. They had been relegated on the finish of final yr’s remaining DPC tour, however had been thrown a lifeline within the type of Tier 1 workforce Tempest disbanding. Now they need to discover a approach to maintain their very own towards the extra established sides.
Virtually totally scrapping their Peruvian-Argentine squad from yesteryear, Infinity have saved solely Prada, recruited Genek as soon as once more, and introduced over Frank Leostyle and Parker following their launch from Notorious. This makes 4 extremely skilled gamers on the workforce, with Genek being the relative greenhorn with simply over a yr of professional video games beneath his belt. This mix of expertise and youth isn’t novel, nevertheless it’s rather more traditional to see the younger participant in a task requiring quicker reflexes reminiscent of Mid or Carry.
Ravens
- David “DaaD-” Perez
- Jeanpierre “PiPi” Arroyo
- Benjamín “Benjaz” Lanao
- Jose “D1smar” Levano
- Alejandro “Cara” Mendoza
One other workforce to have been based final yr, Ravens made it previous Division 2 on their second try, and are about to have their first style of top-tier Dota 2 this DPC. They’ve solely ever performed Tier 3 and even Tier 4 tournaments, so though they’re undoubtedly proficient, it’s extremely possible that its gamers would require a while to get with the Division 1 program. As soon as once more, we have now a workforce that should simply concentrate on staying up in the intervening time.
Largely content material with their squad for the second, the Peruvian aspect has made only one change to their roster since final yr, bringing in Midlaner PiPi of their earlier Mid’s stead. This retains the stability of stalwarts and youth within the workforce the identical as earlier than, and with the immense expertise provided by Offlaner Benjaz, who has been taking part in for nearly a decade, Ravens have all of the makings of a high tier aspect. All they should do now’s make the squad click on and maintain their nerves in examine.
That’s it for our analyses of the various groups — new and outdated — of the present DPC season, however be sure to meet up with us for weekly recaps of each DPC tour from world wide.