The Dota Pro Circuit 2021/2022: Season 3 for Southeast Asia will start on June 8. As usual, three teams contend to win: BOOM Esports, Fnatic, and T1. They dominated in Southeast Asia during the first two DPC seasons. We doubt that something will change and another team will rival them. At the same time, the struggle between BOOM Esports, Fnatic, and T1 will be fierce, as all of them desperately need DPC points. Now no team in Southeast Asia would get a direct invite to The International 11. The summer league is the last opportunity to earn it. Read how the Dota Pro Circuit 2021/2022: Season 3 in Southeast Asia will look like in the material of Telecomasia.net.
The league format
The Dota Pro Circuit 2021/2022: Season 3 for Southeast Asia will last for six weeks, from June 8 to July 14. Each team will play seven matches in the best-of-3 format. The first match will be on June 8. Polaris and Talon will open it.
Three teams that will get the maximum number of points will go to the summer major. The best team will get to the major playoff, the second team will make it to the group stage, and the third one will get to the Wild Card. The teams that will take fifth and sixth place will retain the right to play in the first division, but those in seventh and eighth places will lose it and fall to the second division.
The prize fund
The prize fund of the Dota Pro Circuit 2021/22: Season 3 is $205,000. The money is equally distributed among all the eight teams. The main fight will be not for money but for DPC points that let one get a direct invite to The International 11. The money and points will be distributed as follows:
- 1st place — $30,000 + 500 DPC points
- 2nd place — $28,000 + 300 DPC points
- 3rd place — $27,000 + 200 DPC points
- 4th place — $26,000 + 100 DPC points
- 5th place — $25,000 + 50 DPC points
- 6th place — $24,000
- 7th place — $23,000
- 8th place — $22,000
The league participants
Eight teams will participate in the Dota Pro Circuit 2021/2022: Season 3 for Southeast Asia: BOOM Esports, Fnatic, T1, Nigma Galaxy SEA, Polaris Esports, RSG, Talon Esports, and Team SMG. The first three teams are the obvious favorites. We'll describe these teams in detail to assess their chances to win.
Fnatic
Fnatic is currently the strongest team in Southeast Asia, although it wasn't so until recently. The team was the second during the DPC winter league with a score of 5-2. Its play was far from perfect but had great potential. However, the team completely failed during the regional finals, having taken the last place, and lost extra DPC points.
Fnatic braced up and reclaimed what it deserved during the spring league. The team won six matches out of seven and lost only to BOOM Esports (1-2). Both teams fought once again at the end of the season, during the replay for first place. That time, Fnatic was stronger and became a DPC spring league champion.
I think we grew as a team compared to the DPC 2021/2022: Season 1. We started playing more confidently and trusting each other fully.
Due to its first place in the summer league, Fnatic earned a slot in the ESL One Stockholm Dota Major 2022. Of course, the team did not aspire to become the tournament champion, but it could take a high place, especially since Chinese teams didn't come to Stockholm. However, Fnatic showed a terrible game. It took the last place in the group (except for disqualified Mind Games) with 2/2/2 stats. In the playoff lower bracket, Fnatic defeated only T1 (2-1) and then lost to OG (1-2). As a result, Fnatic took 7th-8th place at the ESL One Stockholm Dota Major 2022. It is not a complete failure, but the team demonstrated an extremely poor game, which won't be enough for TI. Fnatic should keep improving to achieve decent results at the main tournament of the year. But first, it needs to qualify for it.
Fnatic currently has 820 DPC points. This is the best result in Southeast Asia and the seventh-best in the world. However, it won't be enough to get a direct invite to The International 11. Fortunately, the team doesn't need to do much: only to take first, second, or third place during the DPC summer league. It will allow Fnatic to go to TI this year. If the team takes fourth place in Southeast Asia, it will only go to The International 11 under certain circumstances.
BOOM Esports
BOOM Esports was the strongest team in Southeast Asia in the first half of the year. In the winter season, it took first place during the regular championship and then won the regional finals. During the offseason, it won a major international tournament called GAMERS GALAXY: Invitational Series Dubai 2022 beating Tundra Esports 3-2 in the grand finals. It was a cool statement, after which everyone in the world noticed and began to discuss BOOM Esports. The most curious thing was that the team had assembled quite recently but showed a decent game.
For BOOM Esports, the spring league started with a loss. It happened because of a hurricane that caused a power outage. The guys didn't take part in the match against Nigma Galaxy SEA and got a forfeit loss. After that, the team manager promised that BOOM Esports would lose no more matches. And that's what happened. The Indonesian team ended the second DPC season 6-1. As the team lost to Fnatic during the replays, it became only the second in the season but still gained an invite to the ESL One Stockholm Dota Major 2022.
In Sweden, BOOM Esports was one of the weakest teams. It took fifth place in the group stage, with 0/5/1 stats. It means the team won no match and moved only to the playoff lower bracket. There BOOM Esports was unlucky with the opponent: OG beat the Asian team 2-0. As a result, BOOM Esports took only 9th-12th place at the tournament, which can be considered a failure. BOOM Esports played pretty well in its region and had victories in the international arena, but it didn't demonstrate it at the major. That's why the team is so far from the invite to The International 11.
BOOM Esports currently has 622.5 DPC points (it lost some points because of the replacement). This is second place in Southeast Asia and 12th in the world. To get an invite to the main tournament of the year, BOOM Esports should become a summer league champion. Second place in the season won't provide that, but it will greatly increase the chances of a direct invite. Third place will give the team nothing. In this case, BOOM Esports will have to make it at least to the top 8 in the major. And then it will have enough points to go to TI11.
T1
T1 took 7th-8th place at The International 10, which was a good result but didn't manage to keep its roster after that. 23savage was a carry during the winter season but was kicked out before the regional finals. There are rumors that 23savage caught star fever and started treating training carelessly, that's why the team decided to fire him. 23savage was replaced with Gabbi, with whom the team was the second in the regional finals. T1's progress was obvious. Unfortunately, it soon turned into regress.
T1 performed badly during the DPC spring season. It was beaten by the league favorites, BOOM Esports and Fnatic, and lost a series to an unknown team called Polaris Esports. Its final stats was 4-3. Polaris Esports had the same score. Therefore the teams fought for third place in Southeast Asia and the right to go to the major. This time, T1 won and became the third in the region, which is not perfect. Nevertheless, it earned a slot in the ESL One Stockholm Dota Major 2022.
T1 started its performance in the major with several victories, but soon its game worsened. During the group stage, the team took fourth place with 2/2/2 stars and didn't make it to the upper bracket. There T1 lost to Fnatic in the first match (1-2) and left the ESL One Stockholm Dota Major 2022, taking 9th-12th place.
Among all the top teams in Southeast Asia, T1 has the least DPC points — only 328.3. Even if the team becomes the summer season champion, it will still not have enough points to get a direct invite to The International 11. T1 needs to get to the top 8 at the summer major to do it. But these two outcomes are not so likely to happen. At the same time, T1 may qualify for the main tournament of the year through the regional qualifiers, as its main rivals will probably get direct invites. However, T1 should improve its game quality, as it cannot be called competitive now.
