DPC Regional Final in China: favourites and outsiders.

The first Dota Pro Circuit 2021/22 season in China has come to an end. As expected, among all regions, China has become the most interesting and unpredictable. It was here that the fiercest struggle between the teams for the right to go to the Major, and subsequently for the right to take part in the regional finals, took place. As a result, the top four teams included PSG.LGD, Team Aster, Royal Never Give Up and EHOME. Each team in the top 4, at first glance, can claim the title of the strongest one in China. As always, the competition in this region is insane. Who is the main favourite in the regional finals of China, and who claims only the fourth place - in the following article by Cybersport.Metaratings.ru.

The 2021-22 Pro Season Regional Final in China will take place from February 18 to 20. Four teams will take part in it, which during the season got into the top 4. There will be no group stage. The final will start immediately with the playoffs. The competition will be held according to the Double Elimination system, that is, each team will have the right to make a mistake. In the first round, the team from the first place in the league will play against the fourth place, and the second against the third. Thanks to this, the teams that excelled during the season will have a slight advantage.

Over three days of competition, four teams will compete for $100,000 and 380 DPC points. With these prizes, Valve decided to compensate for the lack of a major for the teams that took the lead in the first season of the league. At the same time, all four participants in the final will receive a cash prize, and only the two strongest teams will receive DPC points. The distribution of prizes by places is as follows:

• 1st place — $50,000 + 250 DPC points;
• 2nd place — $25,000 + 130 DPC points;
• 3rd place - $15,000;
• 4th place - $10,000.

At the end of the regional season, the four strongest teams in China included PSG.LGD (7:0), Team Aster (5:2), Royal Never Give Up (5:2) and EHOME (4:3). The presence of PSG.LGD in this top does not surprise anyone, but other teams in the wave could be lower in the grid. Their places could have been taken by Vici Gaming or LBZS, if the circumstances were a little different. To determine which of these teams is the favourite for the China Regional Final and which is the underdog, let's take a closer look at them.

PSG.LGD played the last Dota Pro Circuit very well. The team gradually accelerated in the first season, and in the second it already took the lead, both in China and in the international arena. PSG.LGD won WePlay AniMajor 2021, beating Evil Geniuses 3-0 in the grand final. So before the start of The International 10, it was this team that was considered the main contender for victory. At first, it really seemed that PSG.LGD would become the champion, but the Chinese players lost their nerve and our guys from Team Spirit managed to beat them during the grand final with a score of 3:2.

Despite the enormous pressure, this defeat did not break the team, and before the start of the new season, DPC PSG.LGD announced that there would be no changes in the roster, all players would remain in their places. So at the moment the line-up looks like this:

• Wang Ame Chunyu (1 – carry);
• Cheng NothingToSay Jin Xiang (2 – midlaner);
• Zhang Faith_bian Ruida (3 – offlaner);
• Zhao XinQ Zixing (4 – roamer);
• Zhang y` Liping (5 – support).

Before the start of the season, it looked like PSG.LGD could relax a bit as the team finished second at TI10. There are no more teams as strong as her in China. This is a true fact. However, PSG.LGD players did not make any concessions to themselves. During the off-season, they all constantly played public games, and two weeks before the start of the season, they gathered at the bootcamp for joint games. Considering the length of the DPC league, they spent over two months together in order to achieve the best possible result.

This approach paid off. PSG.LGD finished the season with a score of 7:0, losing only three maps in the entire league. This is an excellent result, which once again confirms that right now PSG.LGD is the strongest team in China and one of the strongest teams in the world.

Can PSG.LGD win the Regional Finals? Yes, most likely, this team will become the champion. At the same time, one should not forget that there is very serious competition in China, and other teams can impose a fight on it. However, even taking into account this fact, PSG.LGD should win with a probability of about 80%. So the team is too strong now.

Last year, Team Aster was considered a very strong team, but they were constantly plagued by setbacks. The team played both seasons cool in their region, but they failed to show themselves on the international arena. The team couldn't go to the first tournament, because Borax was detained by the police, and Team Aster simply failed at the second tournament. At The International 10, the entire team became infected with the coronavirus, due to which they were able to take 12-16th place. Of course, it was a failure, so there were changes in Team Aster before the start of the new season.

The three best players remained in the team. They were joined by Vici Gaming star mid player Zeng Ori Jiaoyan and support Yu Fantasy Yayun. This is a young player with no merit, who previously played for Aster.Aries. At the same time, the former support Zhang LaNm Zhicheng, who was also the team's coach, moved to the position of a classical coach. At the moment, the composition of Team Aster is as follows:

• Du Monet Peng (1 – carry);
• Zeng Ori Jiaoyan (2 – midlaner);
• Lin Xxs Jin (3 – offlaner);
• Ye BoBoKa Zhibiao (4 – roamer);
• Yu Fantasy Yayun (5 – support).

During the last league, Team Aster lost twice: against Royal Never Give Up (1:2) and PSG.LGD (1:2). Moreover, in the replays for the second place, the team was able to take revenge on Royal Never Give Up, beating it with a score of 2:1. In the new roster, Team Aster looks very strong, after a series of substitutions, there are no holes left in the team that need to be covered. The team works as a single mechanism. However, with the proper level of play, it can be broken. If Team Aster started to crumble, then it will be very difficult for her to get together.

During the China Regional Finals, Team Aster can take first place if they give 100% and get lucky. Otherwise, the team will claim second or third place, but definitely not fourth. For such a result, Team Aster is played by too strong and experienced players.

Royal Never Give Up failed completely last year and should have been relegated to the second division. They were able to stay in the first one only thanks to the fact that they agreed to transfer the slot to Elephant, which completely disbanded the roster. The terms of such a deal, of course, are not disclosed.

Before the start of the new season, DPC Royal Never Give Up disbanded the previous roster and left only Zhon God-King Lushai in the roster. This is an extremely talented carry who has been trying to break into the tier-1 level for a long time, but he just can’t do it. The main stars of the Chinese scene, who have proven themselves on the good side at the international level, got to him. At the moment, the composition of Royal Never Give Up is as follows:

• Zhong God-King Lushai (1 – carry);
• Yao Somnus丶M Lu (2 – midlaner);
• Yang Chalice Shenyi (3 – offlaner);
• Chong FelixCiaoBa Wei Lun (4 – roamer);
• Jian xNova Wei Yap (5 – support).

 During the DPC season, Royal Never Give Up lost to PSG.LGD (0:2) and LBZS (1:2). And during the replays for the second place, the team was still defeated by Team Aster (1:2). It can be seen that Royal Never Give Up has not yet played out completely and on paper it looks weaker than the same Team Aster. However, if over the past few weeks the players have been able to establish better contact with each other, then everything can change.

Royal Never Give Up has a lot of potential. The only question is when this potential will be revealed. It is highly likely that it is not within the framework of the regional finals of China. Therefore, most likely, the team will not be able to cope with PSG.LGD. But she will fight with other teams, that's for sure. So inthe regional finals, Royal Never Give Up can take any place from second to fourth.

EHOME made a knight's move during the off-season. Before that, the team played well and almost managed to qualify for The International 10 through the regional qualifiers, but eventually lost to Elephant with a score of 2:3. Apparently, this result did not suit the organization at all, and it completely disbanded the previous roster.

Before the new season, DPC EHOME signed four players from Phoenix Gaming and recruited a player from the pub who had never played on the professional scene before. Last season, the Phoenix Gaming roster played in the second division of Dota Pro Circuit 2021 and, thanks to good results, managed to get into the top division. Apparently, the club's management decided that hot-blooded newcomers would play better than the old ones (all according to the Team Spirit patterns). As a result, EHOME has the following line-up:

• Shiro (1 – carry);
• 7e (2 – midlaner);
• Nicholas Lim zeal Eng Khan (off-line) pLAnet (4 – roamer);
• Zhang Zzq Ziqiang (5 – support).

As practice has shown, the EHOME management made the right choice. According to the results of the league, the team took fourth place, ahead of several more famous teams. Frankly, before the start of the season, no one could have imagined that EHOME would get this far. During the DPC League, EHOME lost three times: against PSG.LGD (1:2), Team Aster (0:2) and Royal Never Give Up (1:2), that is, against all opponents in the China Regional Finals.

There is reason to suspect that EHOME will lose to its older comrades at this tournament as well. Still, this is still a very young team with inexperienced players, it still has to learn and learn. Although there is a belief that EHOME will be able to make it to the top 3 if they try hard enough. This will already be a worthy result for her.

PSG.LGD is the main contender for victory during the DPC Regional Finals in China. With a huge degree of probability, this team will become the winner of the tournament. Team Aster will try to take the king off the throne, and Royal Never Give Up will try to take second place, although the team has ambitions for the championship as well. EHOME can only fight for third place and try not to lose face. The final is going to be very interesting.