Photo courtesy of PGL
In general, The Bucharest Major was a colossal step forward for the NA region. Evil Geniuses walk away from the event disappointed. OpTic Gaming eliminates compLexity for the second consecutive tournament.
We are back for the second edition of our journey through the NA region. Despite the lackluster predictions from last week, Gosugamers hasn’t quite reached the conclusion to terminate this segment! That’s what we call a joke, but an accomplishment all the same. Speaking of predictions, let’s see where we went wrong and what we got right.
As the teaser of this article suggests, The Bucharest Major posted positive results for the NA region. A total of sixteen teams participated in the event. Only eight teams were able to advance to the playoff stage. NA represented two of the eight. Those numbers would have been three of eight, if compLexity Gaming was able to steal one more win. The NA region nearly took almost half of the available playoff slots. NA math aside, that’s significant. The predictions made last week could have been considered bold, but as the results of the event illustrate, they were warranted. It’s time to compare the team’s results to the predictions.
OpTic Gaming
Photo courtesy of PGL
Remember when I predicted that we will see more from OpTic Gaming, just not at this Major? The doubters, myself included, owe this team an apology. The progress OpTic made from ESL One Katowice to The Bucharest Major was astronomical.
The team advanced to the playoff stage before being knocked out by Virtus.pro, now in back-to-back tournaments. Virtus.pro also advanced to win the entire competition, again back-to-back. OpTic took a victory off VP in the group stages, before falling to the Dota juggernauts in the playoffs. OpTic nearly routed VP in game one, but a couple of ill-advised map movements and duels from Legion Commander caused their advantage from the lane phase to vanish. If you give a team like VP an inch, they will take a mile.
This is unparalleled experience OpTic is acquiring. If this team continues to make similar strides from appearance to appearance, this team will be an enormous threat to those inside and outside of NA. OpTic placed fifth through eighth.
compLexity Gaming
Photo courtesy of PGL
Last week’s predictions foretold of a compLexity playoff birth, or falling just short. Unfortunately for compLexity, they couldn’t quite lock out their final victory prior to the knockout punch from their NA rivals, OpTic Gaming.
CompLexity’s group stage opponents included four teams that advanced to the playoffs. The squad is not likely to hold this as an excuse, but for the spectator, it’s worth mentioning. They notched two impressive victories over Mineski and Team Liquid, and two competitive performances against Newbee and Team Secret.
As competitive players, the end results don’t match coL’s expectations. However, the showing was respectable and should not provide any reason to hang their heads.
The band of brothers continue to make progress against teams that the DOTA community would consider the ‘gold standard’. Watch their improvements against top tier teams from StarLadder i-League Invitational Season 4, to ESL One Katowice, and The Bucharest Major for verification (Honestly, most of you won’t. So, take my word for it?). CompLexity placed ninth through eleventh.
Evil Geniuses
Photo courtesy of PGL
Of the three NA teams participating at The Bucharest Major, Evil Geniuses is hands down the most disappointed.
EG swept the group stage matches like they were in a league of their own. Then, fate decided to rear its ugly head. From the spectator’s perspective again, it’s disheartening to be paired against Liquid in the first playoff round. They lost. Like life, sports aren’t always fair. The ball won’t always bounce your way, or in the case of Dota 2, the Roshan spawns won’t always occur when preferred. The reality of the situation is that at some point, you will need to beat the best to be the best (Now removing philosophy hat).
The worst course of action a team like EG can make after this is to get hung up on chance. In total, EG split their games with Liquid evenly. Last week’s predictions had EG finishing in the top four, and into the DPC points. The predictions were wrong, but EG is still on the up and up.
EG’s next appearance will be at the GESC: Indonesia Minor, where I have them as favorites to finish first. This tournament will begin in the next few days. EG placed fifth through eighth at The Bucharest Major.
The Bucharest Major could stand out as the event which marked an end to the perception that the NA region lacks competition. A couple teams are emerging as contenders to Evil Geniuses as well as those outside the region. Does NA Dota deserve more respect after this Major? My biased opinion is yes. What is yours?
