We break down what you need to know about the WEU teams making their way to Stockholm soon.
Some people think that Dota 2 is not as popular as it once was due to the COVID pandemic. Even though Valve and Dota 2 had problems in 2020, 2021, and 2022 have been amazing for every fan in the world. We had the chance to watch numerous amazing tournaments, including the DPC.
Speaking of the devil, the 2021-2022 DPC started a couple of months ago and we already had two tours. The first one finished with the Regional Finals, but now, we have the chance to watch the first Major.
ESL One Stockholm 2022 will start on May 12 and it features teams from every region except China. The new covid cases there prevented the teams from flying to Stockholm. Fortunately, there are several other top-rated names that we can watch, some of which are from Western Europe.
Despite the fact that the current TI champion is from Eastern Europe, many Dota fans think that WEU continues to be the strongest region. We agree, which is why this article will go over each of the participants from WEU at the upcoming event.
Tundra Esports
The first team we’d like to start with is Tundra Esports because Martin “Saksa” Sazdov and the rest barely made it. Despite the team’s fantastic start after securing three consecutive wins, it also lost a couple of important games. We expected to see TT in the Tiebreaker, but the team’s victory against Brame allowed it to finish fourth.
Team Tundra is one of the opponents that some teams will definitely underestimate. This is good for Saksa and the rest because they’ve proven that they have the needed power to win.
Speaking of winning, TT is in Group A, where it has to play against some of the best in the world. The first match for the European powerhouse is against Evil Geniuses, one of the big favorites in the group. As we’ve seen from their Division I matches, Team Tundra usually has an explosive start at every event. Therefore, we will be eager to see whether the team could bring down the NA champions.
Team Liquid
Despite the fact that TL was the most dominant team in Western Europe during Tour 2, the team lost three games during Tou 2. Nevertheless, they remain one of the main favorites to win the ESL One Stockholm 2022.
Unlike Tundra Esports, who won their first couple of matches, Team Liquid had a very rough start. The team lost its opening game versus Team Secret, despite the fact it was the favorite. A few days after that, Liquid had another mountain to climb in the face of OG. Although the young team didn’t impress in Tour 2, it was almost flawless this time around and defeated Michael “miCKe” Vu and co.
Fortunately, Team Liquid bounced back because they’ve scored three consecutive victories. It all started with Brame, followed by Entity and Nigma Galaxy. Sadly, the team lost its final series against GG, which gave them third place in Division I.
Besides having some of the best individual players in the world, people think TL will be among the winners because of the home advantage. Even though Lasse Aukusti “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen is from Finland, everyone else is from Sweden. This means the crowd should definitely cheer for their favorite team.
Gamin Gladiators
While we are on the topic of favorite teams, we have to mention Gaimin Gladiators. This team came out of nowhere in Tour 1 and defeated almost every top-rated team in Division I After its dominant performance, the squad continued to dominate and eventually won the Regional Finals.
Although it was called Team Tickles, the club’s success allowed them to join a big gaming organization. Consequently, the current team’s name is Gaimin Gladiators, but it has the same roster as in Tour 1.
Following the team’s dominant performance, people expected Anton “dyrachyo” Shkredov and the rest to show their prowess once more. Fortunately, the team didn’t let its fans down because GG finished second in Division I. In fact, they’ve only lost one match and it was against OG.
After the team secured a slot for ESL One Stockholm 2022, it was placed in Group B. There, GG will have to fight against Team Spirit, Fnatic, Thunder Awaken, and several other top-ratead teams. Dyrachyo and the rest are one of the favorites, so we can’t wait to see them in action on May 12. The first match for the team will be against TSM.
OG
The last name on our list is definitely the most impressive one, considering the team’s most recent performance. OG lost only one match throughout Tour 2, which was a massive improvement from their results in Tour 1. Needless to say, the team just got to play together back then, so everyone expected it to lose most of its matches.
Even though OG’s new squad has been together less than one year, it has already shown its prowess. The team was unable to win the first LAN event of the year in Dubai, but it ripped through the competition in Europe. Hence, it deserved first place in Division I.
The main problem for OG’s new team will be the fact that it does not have a lot of LAN experience. Most of the team’s players are young (16 and 17 years old), so they haven’t had the chance to shine in a LAN event yet. Of course, the fact that a given player is young doesn’t mean he can’t play on the big stage. We’ve seen a couple of notable exceptions, but the most prominent one is Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan.
Since Western Europe is one of the best regions in Dota some of the top-tier teams could not finish in the top four. For example, a team that everyone will miss is Team Secret. Despite the good start, Clement “Puppey” Ivanov and the rest could not secure a top-four finish. Following the six weeks of action, the team finished fifth.
Another team that disappointed many of its fans is Nigma Galaxy. TI 7 champions seem to have a lot of problems lately, despite their dominant performance in Dubai. Ivan Borislavov “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov and the rest won only one match and it was versus Team Secret.
