The next Dota 2 major is kicking off very soon, and the schedule is so packed that it might be a bit intimidating if you are not that familiar with all of the participating teams. There are going to be 16 matches on each of the first 3 days of the event, with a total of 64 throughout the 5 days of the group stage, which is quite a lot.
17 teams from 6 different regions are competing for a share of the $500,000 prize pool, but most importantly, these teams are competing to earn the highest amount of DPC Points possible. These points are incredibly valuable because if a team earns enough of them, they can secure a spot in The International, which is the most important event of the year. But there’s plenty of time left before TI comes around, so without further ado, let’s jump into the most important Arlington Major matches of the opening day!
Fnatic VS Outsiders
The Southeast Asian representatives, Fnatic, have a rough opening day in the competition as they’ll be facing very strong teams. One of them is Outsiders (formerly Virtus.pro), the best team coming out from the Eastern Europe region.
Outsiders only lost 1 out of 7 series back in their regional league, which makes them a huge threat to Fnatic. The Arlington Major is Outsider’s first major debut of the DPC (2021-22) season, but they put up a prominent forefront by defeating the TI11 Champions, Team Spirit, without much effort.
Thunder Awaken vs Talon Esports
Thunder Awaken is one of the strongest teams coming into this tournament. They recently had a really good showing at the last major, the ESL One Stockholm Major 2022. The South American squad managed to make it all the way to the quarter-finals against all the expectations.
While this team might not be as flashy as OG or LGD, they offer a very exciting playstyle and while it might not be as rudimentary, it sure does wonders against the rest of the top teams.
Unfortunately for Thunder Awaken, Herrera “Darkmago” Gonzalo couldn’t make it to Arlington due to visa issues and Ricardo “Alone” Fernandez will be replacing Darkmago. That might give PSG Talon the upper hand, who come into the tournament as the 2nd strongest team from Southeast Asia.
Evil Geniuses vs Team Aster
Coming in as the strongest North American team, Evil Geniuses will try to make amends after a very disappointing performance at the ESL One Stockholm Major 2022. After their short and catastrophic run at the last major, the team decided to bring Tal “Fly” Aizik as their in-game leader, and they already proved that it was a good decision. EG only lost 1 series throughout the whole Tour 3, though it’s safe to say that it was a fluke.
They’ll be going up against Team Aster, the 2nd strongest Chinese team at the event. Under its wings, Team Aster boasts Du “Monet” Peng, one of the strongest carrys not only in China, but in the whole world. While the odds are heavily against EG, this match is definitely going to be a great opportunity for them to show that they will try to leave North America’s name in a high place.
