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Dota 2: 5 Teams to Watch Ahead of the Boston Major

Featured Columnist October 18, 2016 Comments Comment Bubble Icon

Dota 2: 5 Teams to Watch Ahead of the Boston Major

Dota 2‘s next big event, the Boston Major, is quickly approaching, and the first stop along the way comes in just a few days with the announcement of which teams will receive a direct invite to the main event. Of course, there’s still a road ahead, and there are still plenty of teams at all levels jockeying for position and looking to gain momentum heading into 2016’s last big show.

With the Dota 2 talent pool deeper than ever, the list of high-level teams being lengthy as can be and the days too short to keep track of every pro game, it might be tough to figure out who to watch out for. But fear not, fans! Bleacher Report is here to help you navigate this endless sea and focus in on a few interesting squads in the coming weeks.

So which teams are worth keeping a close eye on? And what makes them worth watching in particular? Read on and find out.

The Dark Horse: iG Vitality

The second tier of Chinese Dota is incredibly competitive right now. Multiple organizations are fielding multiple competitive teams, and the result has been something that resembles a 10-way game of rock, paper, scissors.

There are loads of potential dark-horse squads in China right now capable of making a strong run at the Boston Major if they get hot. The most intriguing candidate for that role is iG Vitality.

Vitality hasn’t been a model of consistency or dominance by any stretch of the imagination. The team, which largely functions as a feeder organization for the primary Invictus Gaming group, has regularly bounced back and forth between strong performances against high-level teams and, well, not-so-strong performances.

The difference between iG Vitality and the other Chinese teams is its oddly consistent success against top-tier foes. In two separate qualifying tournaments, Vitality has defeated Newbee. As of this writing, it has a 5-1 record in Dota 2 Professional League Season 2, shutting out FTD Club C and LGD. Forever Young while splitting a series with its sister team. In other events, it has managed to defeat notable opponents like EHOME, Vici Gaming and CDEC.

This is admittedly a long shot. iG Vitality isn’t going to get a direct invite, and there’s no guarantee it’ll be able to make its way through the qualifiers. What’s more, there are a number of Chinese teams that could slide into this “dark horse that can make some noise” spot.

Still, it feels like this team’s time is coming soon. And it may come at the Boston Major.

Hot Upstarts: Team NP

Most of the talk of Team NP to this point has been about its players’ roles in the fall’s hottest esports drama (warning: NSFW language), but don’t be fooled. The Canadian squad led by Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao has produced in-game and could easily be one of the best western squads in the business.

Made up of EE, TI5 champion Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling and three members of the 2015-era Cloud9, Team NP has looked strong to this point against the some of the better teams from the North American circuit. It cemented itself as the hottest upstart in the game with a first-place win Monday at The Summit 6 American Qualifiers, defeating compLexity Gaming twice along the way, and has a great deal of momentum heading into the buildup to the Boston Major.

Barring a surprise omission in the direct invites, NP will likely enter as one of the favorites to earn a spot in the tournament. If it can get in without incident, it will be interesting to see what kind of noise it can make against the established elites.

Looking for Redemption: Newbee

Newbee brought a talented team into TI6 but fell well short of the top. When rumors started trickling in that the bulk of its roster would be leaving, whether by retirement, hiatus or defection, it was easy to wonder if the TI4 champions were set to either fall into the middle of a crowded Chinese Dota 2 scene or dissolve entirely.

Needless to say, that hasn’t been the case.

The new squad has looked strong to this point, picking up a first-place finish at last week’s Shanghai Dota 2 Open and second-place finishes at the MarsTV Dota 2 Autumn League and the World Cyber Arena Chinese Qualifiers. During that stretch, it has won series over the likes of OG, Evil Geniuses and a who’s who of high-level Chinese teams.

While it hasn’t been nonstop dominance for Newbee, the early outlook for the new lineup is good. If this team peaks at the right time, it could be very hard to beat.

Building a Dynasty: Evil Geniuses

For a brief time, it looked as though the established Evil Geniuses Dota 2 brand was at its end. Its captain, Peter “ppd” Dager, was leaving the competitive end of the team. The team’s veteran leader, Clinton “Fear” Loomis, was retiring. Its other three members, Saahil “UNiVeRsE” Arora, Ludwig “zai” Wahlberg and Syed Sumail Hassan, had all separated themselves from the team, according to the Dota 2 registration page.

Fan speculation ran wild, and even the most stoic fans had to wonder if the EG dynasty had officially dissolved.

Then came the announcement of the new lineup. UNiVeRsE, zai and SumaiL all returned to the team alongside on-again, off-again EG member Artour “Arteezy” Babaev and former OG support Andreas “Cr1t-” Nielsen. Just like that, the team went from life support to powerhouse.

Questions of chemistry were answered quickly at the MarsTV Dota 2 Autumn League, as EG took first place with an excellent performance, taking series over Vici Gaming, Newbee, OG and Team Secret along the way. Now one of esports’ biggest brands turns its attention to the Boston Major.

Once again, EG is fielding one of the most talent-rich teams in the world. If it’s as good as it looks on paper, it’s worth asking if it should be the favorite heading into the Boston Major.

The Champs: Wings Gaming

This is something of a no-brainer, but it would be unconscionable to leave the reigning TI champions off this list.

China’s Wings Gaming had an all-time great performance at The International 2016. While most TIs are defined by one dominant meta, like TI4’s blitzkrieg or TI2’s “four protect one,” Wings broke the mold. Not just by consistently giving teams different looks, either, but by basically doing anything they wanted, be it macro or micro, and making it work far more often than not.

With the game still on version 6.88 (albeit a few iterations apart from TI6’s 6.88b), odds are the Boston Major will play host to another unpredictable, dynamic Wings performance. And boy, there aren’t many things scarier in competitive Dota 2 today than an unpredictable, dynamic Wings.