There was no lack of speed bumps and hazardous obstacles along the road to Nanyang Dota 2 Championships Season 2. All unforeseeable events aside, the time has finally come for some 'good old fashioned' Dota 2 combat.
The teams are converging on Shanghai, China eager to take home the $200,865 prize pool. The tournament is scheduled to kickoff July 6th, with the first series of the day starting at 11:00 CST. Nanyang affiliates were kind enough to provide images of their welcome party for those players and teams awaiting their destiny.
The final shake up of invited teams are as follows:
NewBee
LGD Gaming
Vici Gaming Reborn
Wings Gaming
CDEC Youth
Team Empire
Digital Chaos
WarriorsGaming.Unity
NewBee stick out in the group as the clear favorites to claim first place. Their combination of strategy and teamwork have propelled them to top three in world rankings. Of course, it helps when you have a stand out, veteran support player like Wong ‘ChuaN’ Hock Chuan styling all over his opponents with his signature Lion performances.
LGD Gaming is a team receiving high praise from a plethora of Dota 2 experts in recent history. An impressive fourth place finish at the Manila Major, behind ‘Agressif’ (pun intended) and persistent gameplay, was enough for them to join NewBee as one of just six teams receiving a direct invite to this year’s International. NewBee and LGD are certainly the two Chinese juggernauts of this event. It must be noted, Vici Gaming Reborn, Wings Gaming and CDEC Youth are no lightweights in their own right. Seeing an upset or two involving these teams is not outside the realm of possibilities.
There are just three teams within the event that come from outside the Chinese region - Team Empire, Digital Chaos and WarriorsGaming.Unity.
Team Empire has struggled since their roster changes back in late March. While they did succeed in qualifying here at Nanyang Season 2, they also failed to qualify for both The Summit 5 and The International 2016. Consistency seems to be a bit of an issue for the young team but their captain Vasily ‘Afterlife’ Shishkin has the squad moving in the right direction. It’s also worth mentioning they come from quite possibly the most competitive region in Dota 2. Pulling out a win in Shanghai will pay dividends for their future.
Digital Chaos is steamrolling NA Dota in terms of their progress since making significant changes to their roster. Obviously they have qualified for Nanyang Season 2, but they also qualified for the Manila Major where they finished 9-12th, The Summit 5, The International 2016 and took 1st place in Dota 2 Canada Cup Season 7. Team captain Rasmus ‘MiSeRy’ Filipsen has led them to a long list of accomplishments. Digital Chaos may be the dark horse of this tournament if they fly under the radar.
Calling WarriorsGaming.Unity a relatively unknown team is a bit of an understatement. One thing that is known about the team is that they qualified for Nanyang Season 2 over other extremely well known and accomplished teams like MVP Phoenix and Mineski. That has to count for something. With the skill gap closing within the game, we may be seeing more teams, like WarriorsGaming.Unity, make their mark in the public eye.
Sit back, load in and strap yourselves down. Nanyang Dota 2 Championships is back in the limelight for season 2.
