We’re almost at the halfway point in the Dota Pro Circuit for the season. In these past few months we’ve seen some clear leaders rise to the top of the charts. Others, however, performed worse than most fans anticipated. Though we are still a few months away from the final tally, it’s as good a time as any to analyze the teams seeing the best results during the first third of this competitive season.
Image courtesy of teamliquid.net
Team Secret is on a tear that the brand has not seen since the TI5 season. 7.07 might just be their patch. Out of 107 tournament games they have played since 7.07, they have won 74 of them. This massive 70% win rate is more than a little unusual in a game as volatile as DotA 2.
It is also hard to pin down the particular thing bringing them this success. Team Captain Clement “Puppey” Ivanov has been known for being a master drafter able to adapt to his enemies over the course of a set. Marcus “Ace” Hoelgaard, while a newer member of the team, has shown his prowess in the carry position on aggressive heroes like Weaver, Huskar and Lifestealer. Adrian “Fata” Trink’s ability to engage as Tidehunter, Puck and Brewmaster often leaves enemies scrambling in team fights. There currently do not seem to be any obvious weaknesses in their line-up, or their gameplay.
However, though they are a thousand points ahead of the next team, it could only be a single major that costs them that spot. While this sounds tragic, in the end it doesn’t matter all that much. The only goal of the Qualifying Points system this year is to make the top 8. No one gets special treatment for finishing first vs finishing eighth. With that known, it is difficult to imagine enough teams passing Team Secret on the leaderboards to take away their direct invite to TI8 even this early in the Dota Pro Circuit. Safe to say, we’ll be seeing them this August in the Main Event.
Image courtesy of teamliquid.net
In many of my articles I have talked about Team Liquid as the TI winning team that hasn’t lost their touch. It is difficult to describe them any other way. Too often we see TI winning teams implode upon themselves shortly after claiming the Aegis. Either they have an immediate roster change, or they can’t seem to find their groove again after a much deserved break. Liquid did neither of these things. They continue to be a force to be reckoned with in any tournament they participate in. Though Liquid have played fewer games than Secret this season, their win rate is actually higher than Secret’s at 73%. More than that, they have placed in the top 3 of every single tournament they have participated in.
More than any individual player, this is a team that moves around the map in a way few others do. This team has been together for so long it feels like they know when someone needs help in lane before they even ask for it. Kuroky may be a solid drafter, and GH might always be where the enemy doesn’t want him to be, but it is how these individual pieces come together that makes this team shine. The next time we see Team Liquid will be at the Galaxy Battles Major in mid July. I’m willing to bet they place in the top 3 there as well. This year’s Dota Pro Circuit is looking bright for them as well.
Image courtesy of media.epicenter.gg
Though Virtus.Pro is not a member of the 70% win rate club, their results are still remarkable. Out of 90 competitive games they have won 60 of them, putting their win rate at a nice 67%. Though they were already doing well in the rankings, their recent victory at The Summit 8 provided additional padding to their points. Unfortunately, they did not win as many points for their lineup as they could have since their captain was on hiatus until the end of last year. Regardless they still have an incredible lead over Newbee in the spot below them.
I find it difficult to argue that Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev contributes the most to his team’s success. His hero pool recently has consisted of heavy farming late game heroes like Medusa, Morphling and Razer. Farming aside there is another thing that these heroes are really good at: not dying. A late game carry’s greatest weakness is getting picked off early. RAMZES, however, is especially smart about the way he moves around the map to avoid these ganks. Despite not being overly aggressive with his farm, he finds enough to pull in the game winning items right when he needs to. Of course his team helps to create space for him to do so, but I’ve seen more popular carries get carried away by the pressure to farm and feed kills.
Don’t even get me started on RAMZES Broodmother games. For those, I have no words.
Featured image courtesy of blog.dota2.com
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