Format: BO3
North America's first DPC league of the 2021/22 season continues on Wednesday, January 12. Evil Geniuses and Team Undying will meet in the first match of the day for the elite division.
DPC NA 2021/22 Tour 1: Division I is an online Dota 2 tournament from November 30, 2021, to January 22, 2022. The eight strongest teams in the North American region will compete for $205,000. In addition to the cash prizes, the teams compete for two tickets to the majors and the important DPC points needed to qualify for T11.
Evil Geniuses: The hope is alive
Replacing Nightfall with MSS did not worsen EG's already far from the perfect play. Evil Geniuses managed to have a good game against 4 Zoomers, beating their opponent 2-0 without any chances. This is a wake-up call for the once main favourite in the region that all is not yet lost, and they are still grasping at straws to make it to the majors. They need to win all their remaining meetings... And then there are the games with Undying and QC... Any mistake will leave the team without the first major.
But improving the game doesn't change the fact that Evil Geniuses are the main disappointment of the first DPC season of the new cycle to T11. Nobody understands how these star players could lose to teams like Black N Yellow (1-2) and Wildcard Gaming (0-2). HOW?!!! The former are standing on elimination. The latter are breathing down their backs and have a tournament situation like EG themselves.
It should be understood that this is a renewed lineup of Evil Geniuses, the organization, after two finals of the majors 2021 in Singapore and Kyiv, was simply unhappy with the failed performance of the previous squad at TI10. The replacements were spotty: the Russian Nightfall took the position of three, and the legendary Finn JerAx, who has not played on the pro scene for almost two years, took the position of five. Substitutions have not done any good so far. However, the problem is not even Nightfall, who, in my subjective opinion, is the best player of the new team, but the old guys, such as Arteezy, who is not completing his career. But the Russian couldn't make it to the US, so he was sent to reserve until he arrived in America.
Victories over Arkosh Gaming (2-0) and TOOBASED (2-0) and 4 Zoomers (2-0) give no reason to rejoice. There's still a theoretical chance of making it to the majors, the more so as the head-to-head games with the table leaders will decide everything.
Team Undying: The main thing is to avoid replay
And yet Team Undying stumbled in the game with their main opponent QC, and now their ticket to the first major in their history is again up in the air. If they beat EG today, there will be no problem, but if EG catches up with them... There will be a replay...
Team Undying is a regular mix of five guys who decided to get together in January 2021 before starting the new DPC season. Since there is minimal competition in North America - conquer the region. In the DPC leagues themselves, last season, the guys were third all the time, which did not allow them to try their hand in the international arena.
In addition to DPC leagues, the boys had silver in BTS Pro Series Season 5: Americas (March 2021) and gold in BTS Pro Series Season 6: Americas (June 2021), but most importantly, winning qualification for TI10, which will give the boys the opportunity to earn a lot of money.
Just about the earnings, the squad was not all that smooth. The team did not have a title sponsor. After securing a trip to the Int, the boys decided, via their social media, to announce that they were looking for investors and even threw out a fundraising call for this very European bootcamp. Thanks to their victory at the BTS Pro Series Season 7: Americas in August, the team arrived in Europe and received several donations from team fans.
In terms of personalities, the Czech SabeRLight, who most recently played for the now-defunct Ninjas in Pyjamas, is a standout. He is no stranger to North America, having been on loan from the Quincy Crew in 2019, so he knows the region well.
Most of the pack is from the disbanded CR4ZY team: mid Bryle, MoonMeander and DuBu, noting that the latter still has experience as a coach. The Korean played at The International 2015 as MVP and finished 7th-8th at the tournament.
An interesting carry player in the Undying squad is Peruvian Timado, who has left EgoBoys and his former team's play has deteriorated sharply. Let's see how the southerner performs in Europe and a major tournament.
At TI10, there was not much faith in the boys, and they managed to surprise, taking away points from any team. Virtus.pro and T1 beat the Americans, but OG and Invictus Gaming could not overpower the feisty Immortal guys. The Immortals even managed to beat their principled opponents from EG but lost to the losers in the first round of the playoffs. After TI10, the team didn't change their lineup, rested and already started the new DPC cycle with victories over Wildcard Gaming (2-0) and simply TOOBASED (2-0). Next, Black N Yellow (2-0) and 4 Zoomers (2-0) were defeated, and so far, the Immortals have not lost a map. This team is one step away from their first major in history, as they were third in NA all-time in 2021 with two trips to the majors, and now there is a very real chance of going to the majors. The main thing is to win crucial games, which the guys have problems with…
Expert Betting Tips
I dislike the Evil Geniuses game in this DPC league so much that I'm willing to take a chance on Team Undying winning with a handicap (-1.5) on the maps for 2.90.
On the second map, Team Undying will win with a handicap (-6.5) on kills; the odds are 2.01.
Other predictions
