For many years, the Dota 2 competitive scene in North America has always been about Evil Geniuses. But in this new DPC season, there's a new contender to the throne, and possibly a new king. That's because TSM managed to beat EG in a match that went the distance. With that, TSM gets to $50,000 and 250 DPC points.
Now before we look into what happened in the regional finals, some of you are probably wondering when TSM joined Dota 2. It was in January when the organization signed the roster of Team Undying.
TSM ended the regular season in second place, a position higher than EG. During the playoffs, TSM managed to defeat EG at 2-0 and then Quincy Crew at 2-1 in the next round. On the Lower Bracket, EG worked their way up to the Grand Final and the rematch became official.
The first game of the series had set the tone of the whole Grand Final. It was back and forth for the most part with advantages switching sides every and then. TSM would eventually tilt the scales in their favor. However, after defeating Roshan, TSM decided to give the Aegis to Enzo "Timado" Gianoli O'Connor on Luna, rather to Jonathan Bryle "Bryle" Santos De Guia on Ember Spirit. This would prove to be a bad decision considering at the time, Ember had no buyback. Indeed, in the team fight that followed, Ember died along with two other team members. With all their members still alive, it was what EG needed to push and get the win.
The second game was also initially a back and forth between the two teams. However, when TSM grabbed the lead again they didn't look back and got the victory. The third game was a bit of a surprise. TSM was in charge and even had an 11K gold lead. EG though was able to turn the tide by winning two important team fights.
Fortunately, TSM recovered in the fourth game, and it was like the second game. By that, we mean TSM took the lead and closed the game early. This led to the decisive fifth game where TSM played it a bit slower and smarter. They didn't engage in team fights and stayed in their lanes. Once their cores had BKBs, they knew it was time and brought the fight to EG. With all of EG dead and having no buyback, TSM went for GG and with it the regional championship.
What do you think? Is it time to declare TSM as the new king of NA or is EG going to return to the top before the season ends?
Dota 2 is available on PC.
