While the recent controversy surrounding Valve’s decision to cancel the upcoming first Major of the season sent ripples through the community, the year as a whole is shaping up to be none the worse for wear. With no clear favorite for the year’s ultimate prize – The International – this year is promising fierce international competition. And where’s competition, there’s entertainment – so you better not miss out.
Importance of Pro Dota 2 In 2022
Expanding the season’s scope, Valve refused to let the fans down even with the unfortunate cancellation of the Winter Major still going through. As a replacement, the developers have proposed a solution in the form of six Regional Leagues: divided into South America, North America, Western European League, Eastern European League, China, and Southeastern Asia.
While in any other discipline this would’ve been an unfortunate compromise, it couldn’t be further from the truth when it comes to Dota 2. As every region seems hungry for victories and worthy of attention, these regional leagues just might be a perfect solution to guarantee a fantastic Dota 2 tournament viewing experience down the line. In a way, these changes mean six times the fun!
Just take a look at the brightest competitors from each region: as we enter the 2022 professional season, not even the champions of the previous year’s TI are the clear favorites. Not because they’ve lost their form, as Team Spirit remains as consistent as before, absolutely not. It’s because their competition is stellar!
As far as individual regions’ performances go, we’re entering the year with each region having a shot at the crown. So, let’s quickly go over the main competitors!
As the list would be too large, we’ll focus on the main teams of each region who are most likely to succeed in the upcoming Dota 2 tournaments.
Challenge Other Dota 2 Players
In the Eastern European DPC tourney, Team Spirit remains with the same names that are currently inscribed upon the Aegis of the Champion. After all, if it’s not broken, why fix it? And winning the biggest prize any Dota player can dream of is pretty much the definition of “not broken”. Which makes the fact that teams like PuckChamp and Virtus.pro manage to keep up with reigning champions almost blow-for-blow in DPC EEU 2021/22 Tour 1: Division I even more impressive.
In the Western European league, we see the long-standing organization Team Liquid take the reins as they reacquire their veteran, MATUMBAMANN, who helped the org claim victory back in 2017’s The International. While the team looks dominant placing first in the region’s tourney, Nigma Galaxy has already managed to humble them once!
We see the same pattern extending to other regions, as well. When it comes to the Chinese league, PSG.LGD remains the same powerhouse that almost snatched the Dota 2 ultimate championship prize, the Aegis, back in 2021. Finishing tour one with a flawless run just like their Easter European counterparts, they are trailed by Royal Never Give Up and Team Aster.
Fight and Win Exciting Prizes
For the North American region, it’s Wild West out there with Quincy Crew, Team Undying, and Evil Geniuses going toe-to-toe in the opening event. With the internationally known org TSM acquiring Undying, the North American region enters a new competitive era – and you better be witnessing this unfold live.
In South America, team Thunder Predator takes a decisive lead with their impressive performance in the league’s opening stage. Despite a lacking showing in The International 2021, the team is determined to get back out there and win – but they still have a lot to prove in the face of east coast and Infamous, the teams who achieved greater results in the last year’s TI.
Saving the spiciest for last, the Southeastern Asia region seems to be the most volatile of them all coming into the year. The top three teams of the region: Boom Esports, T1, Fnatic, and Team SMG are showing a true “everyone beats everyone” mentality in the earliest stages of the Dota 2 pro season.
This pretty much sums up the player talent for the upcoming year. With all that in mind, we have to remember that we’re still getting two Majors this year. The spring one is scheduled for around 11th May, and the Summer Major begins on – approximately – the 4th of August. While we wait for these international events to hit, the regional talents have plenty of time to grow. As no region has a clear, super dominant team, we’ll see all teams grow together at a steady pace.
Final Words
When talking about international events, it would be foolish to forget about The International. As the name implies, this is the crown jewel of competitive Dota 2 and the ultimate championship of all the pros’ careers. It only gets better in 2022, as Valve had previously announced their plans to broaden the event’s horizons by increasing the number of slots to a whopping 20. Combined with the ever-increasing prize pool for the event and the absolute banger of a talent pool we’re having this season, TI 2022 is shaping up to be the best one we’ve had yet.
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