Dota 2 – Why SEA has a Real Shot at The International 10 

Written by Pedro Romero, esports.com Community Writer

774 days after OG lifted the Aegis of Champions for a record second consecutive time, The International, Dota 2’s cornerstone event, is finally returning. 16 teams from six regions will convene in Bucharest, Romania to compete in the eleven-day-long event for the Aegis and the largest share of the 40 million prize pool.

In celebrating the tenth installment of TI, preparations have been shrouded in disarray and extensive delay due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and switching of location from Stockholm, Sweden to Bucharest.

 

Like the rest of the world, the Southeast Asian Dota scene was severely affected by the challenges of COVID and playing amidst an uncertain future, forcing teams to adapt for their own survival. Nevertheless, after two years of anticipation, the region will send two squads for TI10. With the eyes of the Dota world gravitating towards Romania in less than three weeks, here is how each SEA team stands heading into TI10.

 

T1 Peaking at Just the Right Time

Qualifying by way of accumulated points from the 2021 Dota Pro Circuit season, T1 heads into TI10 as undoubtedly SEA’s best chance of lifting the prestigious Aegis. Relative to their current flourishing state, it’s a far cry from what was perceived of the team when they first started out in Dota a year ago. Not only that, the team had to grow out of their organization’s reputation as a major force in other games and avoid folding like previous Korean teams did such as MVP Phoenix.

Although the team was introduced in mid-2019 and waited until March 2020 to participate in tournaments, they failed to string together significant positive results. They didn’t even leave a significant mark in the domestic online majors either, such as their 7-8th finish in BTS Pro Series: SEA Season 2.

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Unsurprisingly, T1 felt an urgency to right the ship to prevent further disappointment in the revamped 2021 DPC, so in October 2020, they signed March, an ex-player of MVP and ex-coach of TNC Predator, as their next head coach. Not long afterwards, T1 focused their attention on refilling their lineup with a mixture of esteemed veterans and bright youngsters.

The team started by signing the trio of Karl “Karl” Baldovino, Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon, and Kenny “Xepher” Deo after they were all dropped by Geek Fam (Karl was briefly a part of 032 before ultimately joining T1). Additionally, they picked up Kuku, another Geek Fam outcast who notably played for TNC and appeared in four consecutive TIs.

Struggling at Singapore

Nevertheless, just because T1 introduced new faces, that didn’t mean they underwent the 2021 DPC season unscathed. As a result of changes made to the DPC format,T1 played for two seasons in the upper division of the SEA regional league. In Season 1, they finished third out of eight teams to advance to the wild card round of the Singapore Major. Shortly afterwards, T1 signed Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon to replace Souliya “JaCkky” Khoomphetsavong for the major. Although the acquisition was mired in controversy as the move happened immediately after league play, it presented an opportunity for the young player to qualify for TI.

In Singapore, T1 bowed out from the tournament with a 2-8 overall record. Because of T1’s underwhelming showing in Singapore, fans didn’t emit much anger to the team. Since they played teams such as PSG.LGD, Vici Gaming, and Team Liquid, their chances of progression were exceedingly low, and as they headed to Season 2, their supporters believed they would continue to reside in the mid-table. Unbeknownst to them, T1 was on the verge of reaching their peak at the perfect time.

Breakthrough at the AniMajor

T1 made an emphatic turnaround to their form in Season 2 as they finished first in the regional league, landing a spot in the playoffs of the AniMajor. Sure enough, T1 converted some of those doubters into believers when they qualified for the major, but it wasn’t until they competed in Kiev where they proved how good they became.

By defeating China’s Team Aster and NA’s Quincy Crew, T1 finished third in the AniMajor, which meant they secured enough DPC points to qualify for TI10. Next, to quell concerns of their impressive AniMajor showing being a one-off, the team accomplished consecutive Top 4 finishes in ESL One, BTS Season 7, and the OGA Dota PIT Invitational.

 

 

T1’s qualification accomplished an array of firsts for the team. Not only did the org reach the event for the first time ever, four of its players (Karl, 23savage, Xepher, and Whitemon) achieved their maiden appearance as well. They can finally experience what their captain went through during his years with TNC.

What makes T1 so strong?

All this came at the doing of T1’s young carry. According to Spectral.gg, 23savage was among the best players in all the DPC for Season 2, sitting within the Top 5 of average gold per minute, last hits, and last hits per minute. Within the SEA, he was the absolute best, sitting at the top in various categories (kills, least deaths, KDA, GPM, experience per minute, hero damage per minute, and more). Complementing 23savage’s dominance is their support safelane in Whitemon. The 21-year-old Indonesian was among the Top 5 on average in observer wards placed and map pings.

Through Whitemon and his teammates augmenting 23savage’s offensive prowess in games, T1 eventually became the region’s best team and looks set to compete against the rest of the world. Should they maintain their form, we might be in for a show from SEA’s newly anointed heroes.

 

For Fnatic, It’s Better to Arrive Late Than Never

Offsetting T1’s qualification through the DPC, Fnatic’s appearance in TI was earned literally by the skin of their teeth. Like T1, Fnatic encountered their own share of difficulties and rebuilding process through the 2021 season, but unlike T1, they resolved them far later than they hoped.

Although the team enjoyed the first half of 2020 with five consecutive online tourney wins, their form dwindled as they finished Top 3 in subsequent events for the remainder of the year. Acknowledging that the team’s performance “haven’t been good enough”, they decided to change their roster.

Rebuilding a team

Following 23savage’s exit and Marc Polo “Raven” Luis Fausto’s simultaneous arrival, Daryl Koh “iceiceice” Pei Xiang, one of SEA’s iconic figures, departed for NA to join EG. Team captain Jabz also left but he returned in October again as their Position 4.

Fortunate as Fnatic were in finding players to fill the Position 1, 4, and 5 roles, they couldn’t score the same luck in solidifying their Position 2 and 3 ahead of the DPC. As a result, their prolonged dissonance prohibited them from excelling in 2021.

Although the team finished first in Season 1 of the regional league, they couldn’t repeat the same success on the international stage as losses to EG (plus iceiceice and Abed “Abed” Yusop, a former Fnatic member) and OB.Neon plunged them to 9-12th place. Fnatic reworked their lineup again, this time replacing Natthaphon “Masaros” Ouanphakdee with Ng Kee “ChYuan” Chyuan as their next offlaner before Season 2, but even then, their performance continued to falter.

The fight for a ticket to TI10

Fourth place in the league saw them miss out on the AniMajor entirely, meaning their next competitive appearance would come in the TI10 SEA qualifier, in which 15 teams from both divisions fought for just one spot. With the list of prominent teams participating at the qualifier, which included themselves, TNC, OB.Neon, and Motivate.Trust Gaming (where Masaros now resided), SEA sported one of the toughest roads to make the tournament compared to other regions.

Leading up to the qualifiers, Fnatic reworked their lineup again, replacing Moon with Deth as their new offlane and moving ChYuan to mid. But with three weeks of preparation before the event, not to mention their meager performance in the DPC, not a lot of confidence was pinned on Fnatic to emerge as the region’s second representative.

But with a crucial jolt during the four days of competition, Fnatic ran over all that stood before them, defeating Omega Esports, OB, and TNC twice in that order. The second series against TNC was particularly difficult since it happened in reverse sweep fashion.

Of course, Fnatic’s turnaround against TNC wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for the contribution of Raven. Their carry recorded a perfect KDA of 35/0/35 in their three victories to stamp their ticket to Romania, completing an extraordinary run which he played as the best in the world during the qualifiers.

Another thing to consider from the team is their cohesiveness when navigating through the map. According to Spectral.gg, in stark contrast to their 339.6 map pings per game during league play, Fnatic recorded 520.6 map pings in the qualifiers, becoming first by a significant margin with their peers.

On the back of a momentous comeback, Fnatic, with a refurbished roster, reached TI in spite of countless expectations that originally projected them to miss out. Now they arrive as a team with nothing to lose and everything to gain, so it’s best to be cautious with their potential as the tournament draws on.

 

Looking Forward to TI10

Two teams with somewhat similar but altogether contrasting storylines meet side-by-side to represent the vast region known as SEA. They will look to surpass the standard set by Fnatic of TI6 and Orange Esports of TI3, both of whom finished within Top 4. The region hasn’t fared well in TI in recent years, as their teams only so far as managed to crack 9-12th, but such historical connotation shouldn’t discourage its current delegation.

Thanks to the famous volatility that coincides with the event, SEA, much like any other region in the world, has a fighting chance of hoisting the elusive Aegis. Don’t forget this is the same region whose teams have historically competed as dark horses throughout the tournament’s decade-long history. Remember MVP Phoenix dropping OG to the lower bracket and TNC eliminating the European favorites soon thereafter? No team is truly unbeatable when TI comes around, and with T1 and Fnatic’s current trend, SEA could make it all the way to the top.

Written by Pedro Romero

Freelance writer with approximately three years of experience. Worked for numerous outlets including esports.com, while covering League of Legends, Valorant, and Dota 2. Currently at Bronze I in NA LoL solo-queue.

More Dota 2:

• Dota 2 – The free TI10 Compendium is here
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• How strong is DPC Europe? – Looking ahead to The International 10

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Image Credits: Valve, T1, Fnatic