THE AMERICAS – THE TEAMS
It came as no surprise when Valve announced that fan favorite EG would be receiving a direct invite to the International. What may have come as a surprise, however, was the level of competition in the North American qualifier. For the two North American Qualifier slots Cloud9 and Digital Chaos prevailed over TI6 runner up Planet Odd, and each came close to losing their spot to Team Freedom. On the other hand, Team Infamous stomped all their matches in the South American Qualifier, even against SG Esports who eliminated top seed Team Secret at the Kiev Major. In total, there are three North American teams and one South American team attending and they’re all going to be a pleasure to watch. Let’s take a look at who will be heading to Seattle.
Evil Geniuses – Direct Invite
Image courtesy of teamliquid.net
Roster:
Position 1 (Carry) – Arteezy
Position 2 (Mid) – SumaiL
Position 3 (Offlane) – UNiVeRsE
Position 4 (Support) – Zai
Position 5 (Support) – Cr1t-
—
This is a team built to win TI7, and we already know more-or-less what to expect from them. Arteezy has successfully adapted to playing carry sans-trilane, Sumail is consistently putting out superstar performances, Zai is perfectly suited to this meta, Universe remains the best offlaner in the world, and Cr1t is proving to be a masterful drafter. The question is, what surprises lay in store for them and will they be able to adapt in time?
One thing that is on EG’s side is history. Irrelevant of the players, in the last seven Valve events, EG have finished top four at six of them. EG are a championship team that show up when they need to. Cr1t- and the boys will be hoping to add another trophy to the cabinet. They have the skill, all they need to do is apply it.
Cloud9 (Formerly Team NP) – North American Qualifier
Image courtesy of teamliquid.net
Roster:
Position 1 (Carry) – EternaLEnVy
Position 2 (Mid) – FATA-
Position 3 (Offlane) – MSS
Position 4 (Support) – Aui_2000
Position 5 (Support) – pieliedie
—
If you have been living under a rock in the last month, the above picture will confuse you. Cloud9 have picked up team NP for their trip to The International. In what some are calling the most elaborate kick of all time— Eternal Envy has essentially recreated their 2014 lineup with MSS instead of Bone7. Joining them as a coach will be the brains behind Team Freedom, Stan_King. Hopefully he is able to help them step up their game and keep them in the running as long as possible, because there are few things more entertaining than watching Eternal Envy play.
Since replacing 1437 and SVG the team has been showing decent results, taking 3rd at the Manila Masters, 2nd at ZOTAC, and 4th at The Summit 7. An improvement over the past roster for sure, but not enough to warrant a direct invite— now they have a chance to cement themselves as one of the top teams in North America, deserving of direct invites to future Majors.
Digital Chaos (Formerly Team Onyx) – North American Qualifier
Image courtesy of teamliquid.net
Roster:
Position 1 (Carry) – Mason
Position 2 (Mid) – Abed
Position 3 (Offlane) – Forev
Position 4 (Support) – Bulba
Position 5 (Support) – DuBu
—
Team Onyx have now been picked up by Digital Chaos after they beat out Complexity and NP (now Cloud9) in the North American qualifier for the Kiev Major. After a last place finish at Kiev, changes had to be made, Bulba moved to support, Forev joined as offlane, and Demon was let go.
Mason is known for his independent carry play style, well suited to making an impact after being left alone while his team plays around their star-player Abed. Now that the pressure is off of Bulba, with the addition of one of the best offlaners in the world, he is able to focus on finding opportunities and making calls for the team. If they manage not to out-draft themselves we might just see them place better than several established teams and direct invites.
Infamous – South American Qualifier
Image courtesy of teamliquid.net
Roster:
Position 1 (Carry) – Benjaz
Position 2 (Mid) – Timado
Position 3 (Offlane) – Kingteka
Position 4 (Support) – Matthew
Position 5 (Support) – Accel
—
After stumbling in the Kiev Major playoffs, Infamous kept their safelane duo of Benjaz and Accel and brought in Timado, Kingteka, and Matthew. Up until their elimination from the Kiev Major qualifier Timado had been playing with Team Freedom and showing a lot of promise as a young and up-and-coming player. Kingteka on the other hand has been around for a while and is known as one of the best offlaners in South America, and for intentionally feeding in pubs.
Infamous are going into TI with a distinct advantage, since they are not seen as a big threat they are a favored practice partner of many top teams and those who don’t scrim them will probably choose to focus their study on teams they deem more dangerous. They are the jewel of the South American scene and as a result of the Valve’s decision to hold a separate SA qualifier have been given a chance to come in as the underdogs and show what the region is capable of.
THE AMERICAS – SUMMARY
Of all the regions, the Americas have the most interesting story-lines heading into Kiev. Firstly, it will be C9 vs Secret. Sure Puppy and EE may have moved on from their past disagreements but in the heart of fans the drama is still alive.
Secondly, EG come into the event with questions about the current roster. Results show they can put up a fight against the best of the best, but even top 6 is not a foregone conclusion. Will Arteezy and Zai get that TI win they missed out on when they left EG? Will Sumail and Universe be the first repeat TI winners? Will Cr1t outperform his former team, OG?
Where do you think the American teams will place when it’s all said and done? Let me know in the comments below.
Featured image courtesy of Dotabuff.
You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from other great TGH writers along with Rob!
You can follow Rob here – https://twitter.com/WYAdota