All the highlights from Western Europe’s Tour 2, Division 1 in the DPC.
Just a couple of days after the end of The Lima Major, the best Dota 2 teams in the world are back again. The event was very interesting to watch, but if we have to sum up, we have to say that the teams in Western Europe were way better than the rest. This doesn’t come as a surprise because these teams have been on another level for a couple of years now.
Speaking of Western Europe, we’re about to see an overview of everything that happened during the first week of the 2023 DPC Tour 2 in the region. Even though it is too early to tell which team will prevail, there is no arguing that some of the favorites have already shown their prowess.
Before we check what happened, read our special article where we have covered all the teams that will participate in this competition.
OG failed to defeat Tundra and Liquid
Although we saw some of the best teams in Lima a couple of days ago, not all of the top-tier Dota 2 teams managed to secure a slot. Unfortunately, OG was among them, which is why the team had to give everything it had in Tour 2 to attend the second major.
The bad news for BZM and the rest is that OG didn’t have the best start after losing its first series against Tundra Esports. Although the current TI champions didn’t impress us with their performance at The Lima Major 2023, the team rarely has any problems against OG. Consequently, we weren’t surprised that the series went in their favor.
The first game was easy for Tundra because they dominated the laning stage and used the momentum to win. However, the second match was way more intense because OG had all chances of winning. The bad news is that even bzm’s legendary Ember Spirit wasn’t able to carry the team to success.
In the end, Tundra’s Visage and CK combo prevailed and carried the team to their first victory.
The loss versus Team Liquid
After losing against Tundra, OG had to make something happen versus Team Liquid. Sadly, the team had a mountain to climb because Nisha and the rest were eager to win after losing against GG.
Even though we expected a back-and-forth match that would last for at least 2 hours, this wasn’t the case. Liquid was clearly the better and more motivated team, which is why it had no problems in bot matches. OG tried using Enigma, Tiny, and Ogre and switched between 4 cores, but the team didn’t have enough power to win.
OG defeated Ooredoo Thunders
.@Ceb 🫡 pic.twitter.com/HI1G4pPf9T
— OG (@OGesports) March 17, 2023
Following the first 2 losses, OG finally stepped up its game in its third series of the week and defeated Oorendoo Thunders. However, this was definitely not a walk in the park for Bzm and the rest, especially in game one. In fact, lasted almost 80 minutes, making it the longest game in the Tour 2 Division I WEU, at least for now.
This victory was incredibly important because it means OG still has chances of securing a Top 4 finish. As you can imagine, getting 3 consecutive losses would put them in a really tough spot for Week 2.
Team Liquid wasn’t able to take revenge against Gaimin Gladiators
The second really interesting Dota 2 DPC 2023 WEU Tour 2 Division I series was between Liquid and Gaimin Gladiators. Besides being among the best teams in the world, these two met in The Lima Major 2023 Grand Final. Although Liquid was the favorite, GG prevailed and won the event.
We expected the match between them and Liquid in Division I to be close and full of action. However, it became clear that GG is in a much better sport right now because the team ripped through its opponents in both games.
The first one lasted just 27 minutes after a flawless laning stage from The Lima Major champions. Liquid couldn’t do much but prepare themselves for the second game of the series.
Speaking of game 2, the team tried changing its tactic and picked QoP and Spectre versus GG’s Sniper and NP draft. Despite having better heroes on paper, Liquid wasn’t able to outplay their opponents. On the contrary, GG’s performance was admirable enough to win the match.
Entity defeated Nigma Galaxy
Aside from OG, Nigma Galaxy was the second big name in the dota 2 DPC 2023 WEU Tour 1 that didn’t make it to the Major. That’s why SumaiL and the rest had to step up their game in Tour 2 if they wanted to be among the best.
The bad news is that NGX failed to win its first match of the week against Entity. The series between them was the most interesting to watch yet because it features 3 full games of non-stop action.
Speaking of the devil, the first one started well for NGX, and we thought it’d end fast, but this was when Entity’s Enigma and Invoker stepped in. The two heroes were a constant threat due to their massive team fights potential, and in the end, they won the map.
Fortunately, Mind_ContRoL and the rest changed their draft for the second game and got many of the hot meta heroes. Even though they had to play against the Magnus and Void combo, the team prevailed and pushed the series into Game 3.
In the final clash of the Dota 2 DPC WEU Div 1 match, Entity was simply the better team and secured a comfortable lead after the laning stage. Nigma tried securing their Terrorblade the needed farm, but ATF couldn’t carry his team as it lost the match.
NGX also lost against Tundra
After failing to defeat Entity, Nigma Galaxy also didn’t win its second series. Tundra was also a part of the Dota 2 DPC WEU 2023 standings, but the bad news for NGX is that its match against TI 11’s champ had to take place during the first week.
As expected, Nine and co. won the match after 2 impressive games. Nigma didn’t go down without a fight, but even Ammar’s Timbersaw wasn’t able to save them from defeat. In the end, TI 7’s champions had no other option but to use the GG call and hope they’ll perform better in Week 2.
