The Dota 2 WeSave! Charity Play begins today, and while this tournament is indeed for chairty, there's sure to be a lot of interesting matches. Based on the current lineup, we are more than excited to see three of them.
The Dendi Show: B8 vs Natus Vincere
Background:
Natus Vincere, as a team, has a strong history with Dota 2, especially during the early days. They were the inaugural champion for The International. They had two other chances to win two TIs, but failed both times. It was also during this period that the team became known for one of its players, Danil "Dendi" Ishutin.
The team's performance started to wane and the group eventually failed to qualify for TI8. By this time, Dendi had been a member of the roster since its inception. Dendi later was removed from active status and eventually left the team. Recently he formed his own named, you guessed it, B8.
Why we're excited:
It may not be the team that it was, but it's still going to be exciting to watch Dendi go against the team where he spent most of his career. Making this a bit unique is that B8 was founded by Dendi himself. We get to see if Dendi is good enough to carry and captain a team of his own.
Scheduled Match: March 20 @ 12:00 PM EDT
Europe's Best: Team Secret vs Team Nigma
Background:
If you've been following the tournament scence, then you've watched the WePlay! Tug of War: Mad Moon. Just to refresh those who may have forgotten, this tournament was held back in February of this year. These two teams went at it head-to-head in a Grand Finals match that went the distance. Making the match even more exciting was Lasse Aukusti "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen being a member of Secret and fighting against his former teammates.
Secret had the advantage, getting a 2-0 lead. However, Nigma managed to get the win in the third game and eventually went on to win the next two games to end the tournament and grab the championship at 3-2.
Why we're excited:
We're looking forward to this match for two things. First, it's a rematch of Europe's top teams. Second is that they're playing against each just as an update has been released. During Mad Moon, Update 7.24 was released just weeks before. This time, not one, but two updates have been released this week. We get to see who is able to adjust to the new meta faster.
Scheduled Match: March 23 @ 1:00 PM EDT
The Deadly Sin: Cloud9 vs CR4ZY
Background:
Cloud9 entered the Dota 2 scene in 2014, but by 2017 made the decision to disband. Suddenly the organization announced in January of this year that a new roster was being formed for its Dota 2 division. Earlier this month Cloud9 announced a roster change and brought in Jacky "EternaLEnVy" Mao along with Marcus "Ace" Hoelgaard and Jingjun "Sneyking" Wu.
CR4ZY, meanwhile, is composed of members from the Fighting PandaS roster. The PandaS were founded in August 2019 by none other than EternaLEnVy. The team had some good performances and evetually landed a spot in the StarLadded ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor. However, just two weeks before the Minor, EternaLEnVy and Sneyking left, resulting in the PandaS eventually being signed on by CR4ZY.
Why we're excited:
You probably know we're going with this. In a different sport this would be a sort of grudge match. We get to see if CR4ZY can pull a fast one and make EternaLEnVy see that it was a mistake to leave the team.
Scheduled Match: March 20 @ 4:00 PM EDT
What about you? What match are you excited to watch? Let us know in the comments section below.
