Dota Pro Circuit Division 2 teams were often poorly regarded and considered amateurs in DPC. This might sound a bit strange considering that they are technically in the top 16 teams of their respective regions. For example Nigma Galaxy, a staple in the Division 2 bracket during this DPC (2021-22) season, but a powerhouse in their own right.
Nigma is arguably the most highly-anticipated team to make their re-entry into Division 1 next season. They are the former International 7 Champions after all and with the recent recruitment of Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan. Now this team is fully stacked with successful champions .
High-profile players aside, perhaps what makes Nigma such a controversial team is their performance. For one, it’s evident that Nigma doesn’t belong in Division 2 after they made it out twice. However, they still struggle to stay afloat in Division 1, which is a cause for concern since that’s seven teams they lost to. Alongside Nigma, is Into The Breach, which deserves bigger applause since it’s their first debut in Division 1. They have fallen short twice in two tours, but third time’s the charm. DPC aside, ITB’s next goal would be to qualify for the International 11 (TI11) via regional qualifiers, which are hoarded by many formidable powerhouses for sure.
Another team with similar aspirations is Invictus Gaming, whereby they are an old-school roster with an impressive performance last year. However, they fell off big time after TI10 and even struggled to make it back into Division 1 during the second Tour. While it’s a sight for sore eyes to see IG return to the bigger stage, the competition in Division 1 has been relentless. During the DPC China Tour 3, there was a potential four-way tiebreaker for the 2nd-4th place, which is a testament to how competitive Chinese teams are. At IG’s current state, they likely won’t stand a chance against the big players, such as PSG.LGD, Team Aster, Aster.Aries, and recently Xtreme Gaming.
In fact, IG should be very concerned as they didn’t secure first place, and was second to CDEC Gaming. CDEC made their debut this tour as an open qualifier team, which makes it even more impressive that they qualify for Division 1 this quickly. Now, we may have been harsh in the beginning, but it’s true to a certain extent. As DPC Tour 3 Division 2 comes to an end, let these unimpressive titles wash away. These teams deserve the recognition as Division 1 teams heading into DPC 2022-23.
It would be incredibly surprising if any of these 2 teams ends up going back to division 2 in the following tours, just by the caliber of their players. Nigma, in particular, has heavy expectations for them to stay afloat after picking up SumaiL. After the whole debacle regarding ESL One Malaysia 2022’s unreasonable choice of team invites, Nigma has a lot to prove that they are worth the invite. On the other hand, Invictus Gaming’s schedule is completely free for a couple of months as they have to wait until the next tour to compete in the first division.
