With twelve teams already qualified, there is only one spot left for every region. One of these is the passionate region of Eastern Europe.
A region full of skill and competition, but only one of their teams will be able to walk the stage in Stockholm.
The Wildcard team
Twice now AS Monaco Gambit has ended third in the EEU DPC League, to subsequently lose in the wildcard stage of the major. The famous turn of phrase of “Third time’s the charm” might be something they will have to keep in mind, as this third opportunity is their final in the quest of achieving TI glory. However, their road will be anything but stable as their recent roster shake up could cause major instability in the team. Will Artem “Lorenof” Melnick and Albert “eine” Garaev bring new ideas and new ways to win? Or will AS Monaco Gambit be a disorganized mess of a team? Only time can tell.
The Runner-up
With names like Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Khertek and Illya “yatoro” Mulyarchuk a team can quickly garner a lot of popularity, but popularity alone won’t get you wins. This young squad of players is not only a blast to watch, but also play some top quality dota. After crashing onto the scene as Yellow Submarine during the lockdown season this squad has shown amazing promise.
Our #WePlayAniMajor journey has come to an end.
A HUGE thanks to our wonderful fans for your support!
See you at TI qualifiers🐉#SpiritDota #Dota2 pic.twitter.com/Xvbsxwl65n— Team Spirit (@Team__Spirit) June 11, 2021
They are a bit wild and inexperienced, but their amazing skill makes up for it on many occasions. The result is a team that can potentially take games from anyone, but could also lose to anyone if one of their more experimental ideas falls through. They might not be the most consistent team out there, but with Virtus Pro off the field. It might just be this runner up squad from the last DPC season that grabs themselves that spot for The International and its 40.000.000 dollar prize pool.
Legendary names
One can not talk about the EEU region without mentioning the legendary team of Na’Vi that has dominated its scene for eons. Being the first winners of the International ever, is not something one forgets quickly. Furthermore, not only does Na’Vi as an organisation have a legendary name, so do its current players. Vladimir “No(o)ne” Minenko, Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev and Vladimir “RodjER” Nikogosian all played for the former iteration of Virtus Pro. A team that for many years was the dominating force from Eastern Europe, not allowing any team to challenge them.
They were considered so good that they were favourites in many Internationals. TI7, TI8 and TI9 came though, and everytime they couldn’t perform when it really mattered. Having lost their position of privilege on Virtus Pro they are now once again trying to reclaim this glory, but the road has been bumpy so far. While they seem to be missing their forming synergy, arrogance has looked seeped in instead. But if they can once again ignite that flame of their former skill, they just might find themselves back on top.
Eastern surprises
If there is one thing we learned from the Eastern European Region over time though, it’s that you can never be sure. Due to the incredible passion and skill of this region’s players, good idea’s can suddenly be adopted by amazing players, allowing surprising squads to find themselves a way to the top. So while many expect either AS Monaco Gambit, Team Spirit or Na’Vi to conquer the road to TI, it could still suddenly be Dendi and his team B8 who are dancing in Stockholm later this year.
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