The DotA 2 Winter Major has had unexpected victories, tough battles and loads of controversy - and the best part about it? It’s not over yet
Rise like an MVP.Phoenix
It would have been impossible to predict before the tournament began, but MVP.Phoenix have taken Shanghai by storm.
The decided underdogs of Group A shocked fans by annihilating EHOME – a team many had tipped to win the group and perhaps the entire tournament.
They went on to beat Team Secret – a formidable force despite being down-on-their-luck – and landed themselves a place in the upper bracket going forward.
But how far can MVP take this extraordinary momentum?
They were 126.00 to win Shanghai before the tournament started. Now 16.00 going into the latter stages, they’re looking like an increasingly decent bet to take the title.
The hosting hot potato
Possibly the juiciest aspect of the Shanghai Major so far has actually taken place backstage.
After expletive-laden commentary featuring extreme low-brow humour that fell totally flat, panel host James ‘2GD’ Harding ran afoul of Valve boss Gabe Newell.
Midway through the tournament, Newell took to Reddit to announce that Harding had been sacked, calling him an “ass” in the process.
This incident raises an interesting question about eSports coverage.
How mainstream should it be? How much should it emulate regular sports coverage? Is there room for divisive but popular figures like Harding in an official capacity?
We can only recommend you keep watching the tournament to find out how Valve plays this.
Production purgatory
Shanghai’s already ample controversy doesn’t end there though – Valve also fired their production team at the same time as 2GD.
Not only did viewers suffer from technical issues, the production value for the hosting panel was visibly low.
Problems with sound and a lack of professional presentation compounded the problem and was reflecting incredibly badly on Valve when compared to other major eSports tournaments.
On top of that, before Team Spirit’s showdown with compLexity, the tournament staff managed to lose Ramzes666’s keyboard, delaying the match.
Apparently the fans were made to leave at 10pm and the missing keyboard did not show up on time for them to see the players even come on.
This led to a bizarre state of affairs where the teams ended up playing in front of 31,000 empty seats. Oops.
Unsurprisingly, Valve’s reputation has taken a battering online. They will be desperate for the big teams to distract from the off-screen problems. However…
Ailing Alliance and underlooked Liquid
Leading up to Shanghai no one could have guessed that the two teams favourites to win would be battling it out in the lower bracket so early.
Yet Alliance have just knocked a struggling EHOME out of the tournament, the fifth team to see an end to their race. The host nation’s fans’ were bsorely disappointed.
That Alliance was knocked into the lower bracket so early is just as surprising, though.
The team had been staging a remarkable comeback prior to the Shanghai Major, and had generated a lot of buzz.
Their victory against EHOME demonstrates that they are still worth watching. Even if Team Liquid did beat them 2-1 in an intense round one play-off match, dashing their momentum.
It’s interesting that the hype surrounding Alliance meant that other teams, including Liquid, may have been overlooked.
They sailed through the EU qualifiers without losing a single match and have racked up impressive victories against compLexity, Virtus.Pro and Alliance in Shanghai, making them the solid choice to back for the trophy at 13.00.
Is the secret out?
So what’s going on with Team Secret? The once-formidable all-star team have had a seriously disappointing run, barely making it into the upper bracket of the Major.
They’ve been wobbly of late, still licking their wounds from their defeat at the grand finals of the Frankfurt Major.
But they still maintain one of the most talented drafters in DotA 2 today, Clement ‘Puppey’ Ivanov. And let’s not forget: a good draft is half the battle won.
Team Secret could well make an impressive comeback. We’ve already seen a hint of their resurgence, thrashing EHOME in Group A and then sending the formidable OG crashing down into the lower bracket.
They’re now in the final four. Next up is their match against Evil Geniuses – it should be interesting.
Team Secret are currently the underdogs at 2.95, so there’s a bundle to be made if they pull it off.
This Winter Major has already been entertaining to say the least.
READ: lurppis: North America prevails and other takeaways from the MLG Columbus qualifier
