All teams representing the CIS left ESL One Stockholm Dota Major 2022, but they did it in different ways. Mind Games didn't get their visas in time, so they didn't reach the tournament. Team Spirit played poorly in the group and somehow made it to the top of the playoffs before two crushing defeats and leaving the major. Only BetBoom Team was the bright spot - they put up a good fight in the group stage and the playoffs. Judging solely by the results, BetBoom Team is now the strongest team in the CIS. Read the article from Cybersport.Metaratings.ru to see how the CIS teams performed at ESL One Stockholm Dota Major 2022 and why the appearance of a new strong team will have a positive impact on the eSports scene in Eastern Europe.
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Team Spirit has lost the primacy
Team Spirit approached the majors in bad shape, and there were some objective reasons for that. Dota Pro Circuit 2021/2022: Season 2 for the CIS was postponed indefinitely. No one knew when the league would begin. The Team Spirit players thought the season would be delayed by a few weeks, so they were staying in a bootcamp, gaining optimal form and preparing for the upcoming matches. However, the league just wouldn't start. Team Spirit couldn't train for two months non-stop, so the team relaxed and began to rest, waiting for an announcement from Valve.
The CIS Spring DPC season was announced three days before it started, so the Dragons had little time to get back in shape. However, it should be understood that all teams from Eastern Europe were in the same position: no one was ready. Therefore, even in bad shape Team Spirit was considered the favorite of the qualifiers. However, the BetBoom Team made their appearance on the scene and beat the champion of The International 10 in the very first round, taking the first quota to participate in ESL One Stockholm Dota Major 2022. Later, Team Spirit earned the second quota, but they were still denied the first place in the season. Because of this, Team Spirit received fewer DPC points and wasn't very happy about it.
The DPC format was, of course, a little strange. Every aspect of it is weird because it's surreal when you lose one game and have exactly zero chance of taking first place. Considering the difference in points, it's certainly pretty ridiculous. We often lose our first games because we have a careless attitude in the beginning. We don't get our act together until the first game. And then, just after the first game, where we get slapped, we get it together. Perhaps each of us hasn't fully felt that point, that if you stumble once, you'll have to settle for second place. So the DPC season, as I see it, was clearly a bad season for us. Second place is obviously not what we wanted, considering what state the CIS scene is in now. It is completely disintegrated now. We had to take the first place in these realities.
Team Spirit made it to the major and was even considered one of the main favorites of the tournament, clearly going for the win. The team started strongly with a win over Fnatic but lost to Gladiators in the next match. Then they drew with TSM FTX, defeated Thunder Awaken, and later lost to Team Liquid. Team Spirit's play was extremely unstable - it was their main problem. The Dragons looked quite decent in some matches, and in others, they were simply terrible.
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Because of that, Team Spirit had to re-match four teams to advance to the top bracket of the playoffs. That's where the Dragons' poor form became abundantly clear. The team lost two of three games and only barely made it. Team Spirit was simply lucky that Team Liquid lost all three games.
Despite this, the main goal was achieved - Team Spirit made it to the top of the playoffs. The team met with another favorite of the majors, Tundra Esports, which took first place in Group A. The match ended 2-1 in favor of the European team, but Tundra Esports dominated the whole series until the team made a mistake on the second map and allowed the "dragons" to come back. However, Team Spirit played very poorly and clearly didn't deserve to win.
The other teams, like Tundra Esports, are just stronger than us right now. We knew it would be tough when we lost in the tie-breaks and realized we were going to play Tundra. Also, it was hard for us to play at 10 am because we usually woke up around noon. However, I don't think we would have won with a more comfortable match schedule.
Team Spirit got in trouble, but it didn't drop out of the tournament. They just dropped to the bottom bracket, so there was still a chance to get together and get a chance to get back on track, at least it seemed that way. The "dragons" faced a Peruvian team, beastcoast, which had previously proven to be a very competitive squad at the tournament. The match should have been interesting, but beastcoast simply ran over Team Spirit, closing the series with a dry score. TS was already in despair on the last map, as the team took a totally unusual draft with weird heroes and lost in 20 minutes. Team Spirit's performance in the majors ended: the team earned no prize money and no DPC points.
Now, people expect us to win every match. We feel awful, like we always do after defeats like this. I could say that we didn't expect to play in this tournament at all or that the team was poorly prepared, and the team's mindset leaves a lot to be desired. But there is one main reason for our defeats: we just play very badly. We are not in the best individual shape. The team just plays badly and knows it. We didn't try to hide it from ourselves and just decided that we'd try to give our best. That wasn't enough, so now the team will try to get better at figuring out the meta and get stronger.
Despite the disappointing defeat in the major, Team Spirit has 790 DPC points at the moment, which almost guarantees the Dragons a place to The International 11. All they have to do is place first or second next season. That will be enough to qualify for the main tournament of the year. It should be recognized that right now, Team Spirit has yielded the palm and is no longer considered to be the strongest team in the world.
BetBoom Team - the new CIS star
BetBoom Team appeared on the eSports scene in Eastern Europe completely unexpectedly. Last season this team played in Division II under a different tag, and it didn't perform in the best way. Then SoNNeikO and Co barely made it to the four-team replay, but they performed brilliantly in the replay itself and made it to Division I of the CIS. This was the first victory for the BetBoom Team players, who had no sponsors at the time.
All teams were in a state of limbo during the postponement of the spring DPC season, but BetBoom Team didn't just sit idly by. They played in the Dota 2 Champions League, practiced hard, and progressed all the time. Thanks to this, the team's results got better each season. In the end, BetBoom Team won the Winline Dota 2 Champions League Season 9. This was the second victory for the young players who have shown great promise.
The third victory also happened very soon, when BetBoom Team took the first quota at ESL One Stockholm Dota Major 2022 for the CIS, beating Team Spirit. At the same time, the guys didn't take it as the greatest victory in their lives. They were just happy that they would go to an international tournament.
I wouldn't say we're the top one in the region. We just played that qualifier well because the other teams weren't quite as prepared because of the circumstances. This DPC is not a testament to our strength. It's just an indication that we've been working hard all along, and it's paid off. I think Spirit is still the best. They've given up a little bit for obvious reasons. I'm sure they'll beat most teams if they want to. Their picks are weird right now. Maybe they're not giving their all. Maybe the game just isn't going well.
Before the start of the major, BetBoom Team was considered one of the main outsiders because of the small character pool and the limited number of strategies, but everything turned out quite differently. BetBoom Team showed a great performance in the group stage.
The team beat T1 and Evil Geniuses and drew with all the other teams. Only OG beat BetBoom Team in the last match of the group, but that game didn't change anything for the guys, as by that time, they had already secured their place in the upper bracket of the major playoffs.
BetBoom Team really surprised us, in contrast to Team Spirit. We expected them to play well and show interesting strategies. Daxak wins every game on Visage, so this character has to be banned - otherwise, he just takes the first pick and wins. We expected BetBoom Team to be at the top of Group A with us.
At this point, many teams turned their attention to BetBoom Team. It was no longer considered a weak or mediocre team. BetBoom Team became feared because it was able to surprise everyone.
In the upper bracket of the playoffs, BetBoom Team met Thunder Awaken - a team from South America, which also showed a great performance in the group stage. It was impossible to predict the result of this meeting, as it was the fight of two underdogs who had never crossed each other before. As a result, BetBoom Team lost with a score of 1:2. And the only map they could win was smartly distracting and quickly pushing the throne. It was probably one of the main highlights of the major.
BetBoom Team had to play Team Liquid in the lower bracket, which is now far from its best form. Despite this, the "liquids" were a dangerous opponent. They were the ones who opened the score in the series but then lost two maps in a row and dropped out of the tournament. And BetBoom Team moved on.
It's like we weren't fully awake on the first map yet. I still can't catch my breath, the game was really hard, but I'm glad we won and stayed in the tournament. I'm trying to support my teammates and tell them that there is no pressure - they should just enjoy the game. If they enjoy the process without feeling any pressure, I'm happy. Even if we end up losing, I don't care. If the team played and enjoyed it, then everything is fine. For example, in the first game, it seemed that something was pressuring us - or we were really still asleep. By the second and third maps, we analyzed what we did wrong, changed our drafts, and, as you may have noticed, we won. I'm happy with that.
However, it was too early to relax because another opponent was ahead - beastcoast. If BetBoom Team defeated this team, they would have secured at least 5-6th place in the major. The opponent was pretty mediocre (but not weak), so it was possible to fight it. BetBoom Team showed a great game, but in the end, on the third map, the team made a grave mistake and allowed beastcoast to make a comeback. After that, the Peruvians were unstoppable. BetBoom Team also made a comeback and closed the gap of 20K, but couldn't finish the map in their favor. BetBoom Team left the major, taking 7th-8th place. A great result, but they could have gone further. The players lacked experience in playing in difficult situations.
We could have won. I think we were winning at some moments. Each of us thought that the game would be easy. But we made some mistakes, and somehow we yielded - I don't even know how exactly. Maybe we shouldn't have thought that we had already won. We should have stayed focused on the game. At some point, we lost our concentration and lost. This performance was a valuable experience for us. It was the first LAN tournament for the three young players on my team, and they did a very good job. They played like real fighters and did not give in to the pressure I expected. I hope we come back stronger.
BetBoom Team showed a good result in the major. And if we take into account that it's quite a young team that still has a lot of room to grow, the result can be even called excellent. And considering the failure of Team Spirit, BetBoom Team can safely be called the strongest team in the CIS soon. It makes sense, as they won the face-to-face confrontation and took a higher place in the major. So, until the next meeting of BetBoom Team and Team Spirit, the balance of power will remain the same.
BetBoom Team not only made a loud statement but also made a huge contribution to the development of the eSports scene in the CIS. The point is that BetBoom Team earned 640 DPC points during this season, which is a good claim for a direct invite to The International 11. If the team manages to achieve this, then the CIS region will be represented by at least three teams at the year's main tournament, instead of two, like last year. So now all the other teams from the CIS should cheer for BetBoom Team.
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