The curtain is about to fall for the fourth season of DotA2 Champions League. The LAN playoffs of the tournament will take place this week, starting on Friday, October 31st. The conclusion of D2CL will be one of the main attractions of DreamHack Masters, the upcoming gaming festival in Bucharest, Romania. One American and three European squads will be fighting for two days, hoping to get their hands on the $75,000 prizepool.
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The D2CL #4 finalists
The members of Natus Vincere have only had a few days of rest after their participation in the LAN finals of SLTV Star Series X. The team's premature elimination against Cloud9 was harsh for the players, as the team's continuous mediocre placements have stripped them of their reputation as "kings of LAN". Speculations also want the club to be considering a roster change, and D2CL may be the final test for the post-TI4 lineup of the team.
However, despite their bad mood, the Ukrainians are still considered amongst the favorites of the competition. After all, they were the first to earn a spot in Bucharest after their victory against Power Rangers. While none of their opponents can be considered "easy" at their current state, only one thing is sure : We can expect some raw entertainment from Natus Vincere this weekend.
This is only the second LAN event for the American squad Sneaky Nyx Assassins, after ESL One New York. However, this will be the first time they travel overseas as a team. While the single-elimination format of ESL One did not give us a chance to enjoy ixmike88 and his buddies as much as we wanted to, we will certainly see them in action in DreamHack Bucharest.
SNA will be going against Team Tinker, a very strong European opponent in their first match. While our GosuBet odds are not in their favor, one certainly cannot rule them out. They are one of the best teams in the United States, and they will offer a demonstration of their strength on European soil.
Russia will have its own representative in Dreamhack Bucharest, as Team Empire is one of the four challengers for the D2CL title. The squad had to go through a rough period after TI4, full of internal conflict and upsets. However, it seems they have found their stability once again with Maxim 'yoky' Kim in their roster.
Empire are the defending champions of D2CL, and they will be facing Natus Vincere in their first battle of the playoffs. The recent history favors the Russians, as they managed to defeat Na'Vi in their best-of-five battle for Excellent Moscow Cup. Nevertheless, it is difficult to predict the outcome of the encounter, as both teams are experienced and dedicated.
Along with Na'Vi and Empire, one more European squad will lay claim on the D2CL throne this weekend - Team Tinker. This is the second LAN event for BuLba's boys after StarLadder X. However, this time, they are here to win. They are currently ranked higher than all their three opponents in the tournament in our GosuRankings, and they certainly have the psychological advantage.
Team Tinker will take on Sneaky Nyx Assassins on Friday, the only challenger from North America. Both teams know each other quite well, as Sam 'BuLba' Sosale has been a former teammate of three out of five members of SNA. While it seems that most spectators have trusted their rares on Team Tinker for this encounter, the Americans will surely put up a good fight for the spot in the Upper Bracket final.
The Bracket
Date and Location
The LAN playoffs of Dota2 Champions League will take place from Friday, October 31st through Sunday, November 2nd in Sala Polivalent? din Bucure?ti, or Polyvalent Hall of Bucharest. This multi-purpose venue is mostly used for sports events, and it has a 5,300 seat capacity. This means that the several competitions of Dreamhack Masters will be watched by a rather large crowd.
Live broadcasting and hosts
The English casters of D2CL #4 were announced about a week ago by the tournament's administration. Jorien 'Sheever' van der Heijden will be the main host of the event, while both Toby 'Tobiwan' Dawson and Sébastien '7ckingMad' Debs will be in the casting team for the matches.
The Russian portion of the D2CL casting will be handled by Aren 'Versuta' Zurabyan and Dimitri 'LighTofHeaveN' Kupriyanov.
After the matches, you will be able to find the VODs in our respective page here, as well as in the official page of D2CL. Members of GosuGamers have also travelled to Romania and Dreamhack Masters, and they will be providing several interviews and pictures from the event. You can find them all in our coverage hub here.
Images of Sheever, EGM, Silent, VANSKOR by SLTV
Image of FLUFF by ESL One
