The Dota 2 WePlay AniMajor is set to start this week. For Season 2, we’ve been mainly focused on matches of teams that were trying to enter the Major. However, there is a question: what happened to the other teams, particularly those promoted to the Upper Division?
To get an idea of what we’re talking about, the DPC 2021 season introduced a new format and the regions were divided into two Divisions. Under this new format, the top two teams of the Lower Division are promoted to the Upper Division.
Western Europe
In Season 1 for Western Europe, it was Hellbear Smashers and Brame that were promoted to the Upper Division. Hellbear pretty much got wrecked and lost all their matches while Brame almost had a chance but eventually got defeated by Tundra Esports and OG, ending Season 2 at seventh place.
Eastern Europe
In Eastern Europe, PuckChamp and Winstrike Team were promoted to the Upper Division. Winstrike didn't do much and ended in seventh place while PuckChamp had a shot to get a spot but the wins were just too late. The team ended up tied with the same standing as Team Unique and Natus Vincere.
North America
In North America, simply TOOBASED and The Cut got promoted to the Upper Division. However, it was pretty much like what happened in Europe. TOOBASED managed to get fifth place while The Cut ended in the last place.
South America
Going down to South America, Infinity Esports and Hokori had a good showing making it to the Upper Division for Season 2. So how did the two fare? Same as with the other regions. Infinity Esports was in last place with Hokori just able to make it to fifth place.
Southeast Asia
Moving to Southeast Asia, it was Lilgun and Omega Esports that qualified for the Upper Division by the time Season 2 started. Lilgun ended Season 2 at the bottom of the Upper Division and Omega had to enter a tie-breaker, which ended up in sixth place.
China
In China, Spark Arrow Gaming and Royal Never Give Up dominated the Lower Division in Season 1 to earn a spot in the Upper Division. Despite a good showing in Season 1, the same cannot be said for Season 2 as both teams were at the bottom of the Upper Division.
Overall Impression
The idea behind the new format was to give some new and upcoming teams a chance to compete with the pros. Looking over at results though, it appears that the teams who made it to the Upper Division for Season 2 had a hard time going against the top-tier teams. It’s safe to say that these teams may be having difficulties due to the experience advantage of top-tier teams.
To be fair, there were some good performances. Brame, for example, was the only team that managed to beat Alliance. In Southeast Asia, Omega beat T1 as well as Boom Esports. Lilgun, meanwhile, defeated TNC Predator and shook up the results for the region. Had TNC won against Lilgun, they would have gotten the top spot instead of T1.
What about you? What are your thoughts on the new format of Dota 2 DPC?
