On TI, young talents face the old school stars and such fights are always exciting. Throughout Dota 2 history, there were many veterans and fresh youngsters, and these three teams combine them all - Vici Gaming, Team Secret, and Team Aster!
DPC #7 - Vici Gaming
VG is one of the oldest Dota 2 organizations. Since 2011, VG has won many tournaments and held many tier-1 Chinese players and Black^ himself! in 2017 VG faced severe roster issues and could not compete against other teams but now the progress can be seen and it is tremendous - top 4 on WePlay! Animajor, which secured them a TI10 invite.
All the players of Vici Gaming but poyoyo are experienced and tested by time. For poyoyo, this is the first season competing on a tier-1 level and the first The International - a rare freshman from the Chinese scene, where old players do not get worse. On the other hand, Old Eleven is one of the most experienced veterans of China and this TI is his chance to finally grab the Aegis of Champion since TI6, where he played alongside Old Chicken, Iceiceice, Lanm, and Fenrir themselves. Rooting for Vici Gaming means rooting for Chinese Dota and young talents brought by their management - Pyw and Dy still may be considered as rising stars.
DPC #8 - Team Secret
Supreme organization, where players turned into monsters of Dota, thanks to their captain Puppey, who won the very first The International with NaVi. Each year Puppey manages to find young talents and make them tier-1 players. However, Team Secret has never won a single TI. Just take a look at the players, who rose under Puppey’s wings - MidOne, Nisha, Ace, PieLieDie, YapzOr, and many more.
This year the power among the regions has shifted - both majors of the season have shown that Europe is no longer the strongest - OG did not participate at any LAN events, Alliance was destroyed by other teams, Nigma failed to attend TI10 while Team Secret was the only light in the dark with their top 4 on the Singapore Major. This time, it seems that Puppey decided to gather all the power for the most important tournament and not waste it on other events - a mistake he made many times in the past. Now they are on TI and there is a lot to root for.
First of all, Puppey remains the only player to attend each single The International, moreover, he is there to grab his second Aegis since TI1 - a goal he aimed for more than ten years. Secondly, Yapzor, Zai, and Nisha have got another chance to win their first TI - both of them excellent players in their positions and they deserve the win like no one else. Thirdly, Matumbaman is finally able to prove that he was not the problem of Team Liquid when they picked W33 right before the TI9.
DPC #9 - Team Aster
The organization was founded by the oldest Chinese veteran Burning and after more than three years of struggling, they managed to get to their first The International. The roster mostly consists of very young, yet surprisingly experienced players - Monet, Xxs, and Boboka are no older than 24, yet they have played as tier-1 players since TI7. White Album is a freshman and he is only learning from his older teammates. However, it does not make him any worse - he is still one of the best midlaners of China. Their position 5 is LaNm - one of the oldest players of Dota and the most respected captain of the whole Chinese region. Even though he is 31, he is still able to pull out fabulous moves.
They’re here, on the world’s biggest esports stage to win - Monet was already close enough picking the third place on TI7, while LaNm even placed second on TI1. Xxs and Boboka also must prove themselves as the scariest laners on the present Dota scene - playing as a position one against them is a true nightmare. Each one of them deserves to be rooted for!
