After over a year of online play, Dota 2 is back in a LAN setting with the ONE Esports Singapore Major 2021. And what better way could it return that with a Major? Featuring a prize pool of $500,000 and 2,700 DPC points up for grabs, the ONE Singapore Major will provide the Dota 2 scene with the cross-regional competition teams have yearned for since the start of the pandemic. Only eight of the top teams will claim their share of the prize pool, while the others will go home empty-handed.
Teams from all the Dota 2 regions have battled it out through the Dota 2 Dreamleague just for a chance to attend the event, so you can bet all of the participating teams are the finest their respective regions have to offer.
The ONE Esports Singapore Major will run from March 27th till April 4th and will provide a stepping stone in a scene that has stagnated lately. With no possible ways of finding out which region is on top currently, the Major will set the tone and regional power rankings for the rest of the 2021 DPC season.
Although meticulously planned, certain hiccups have risen just before the tournament. With Natus Vincere and beastcoast completely pulling out of the tournament, other teams missing key players, and even the on-site talent will have some absentees in their midst.
Be as it may, the return of international Dota 2 is a step in the right direction for both the game and its competitive scene. Stick with us for some of the best ONE Esports Singapore Dota 2 Predictions!
The tournament
The tournament is divided into three separate stages. Teams have been seeded into those three stages based on their performance in the DPC tournaments earlier this year.
Firstly, six teams (Team Nigma, Team Liquid, Vici Gaming, PSG.LGD, T1, and AS Monaco Gambit) will battle it out in the Wild Card stage, out of which the top three teams will advance to the Group Stage.
In the Group Stage, five teams (Alliance, Team Aster, OB Esports x Neon, Quincy Crew, and Thunder Predator) await the Wild Card winners. The eight teams will battle it out in a round-robin to determine the rankings. Out of the eight teams, the top three will advance to the Upper Bracket of the Playoffs, teams placed 4th-7th will advance to the Lower Bracket of the Playoffs, and the bottom team will be eliminated from the tournament. Natus Vincere was seeded here but withdrew from the tournament.
The Playoffs are where the actual fun begins. The winners of the DPC Tournament are directly seeded here, as Team Secret, Evil Geniuses, Invictus Gaming, Fnatic, and Virtus Pro await for their would-be opponents. Stylized in a double-elimination bracket, all of the matches, except for the Grand Finals, will be best-of-three series. Beastcoast was seeded here but withdrew from the tournament.
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Impacted Teams
Natus Vincere
Natus Vincere at first reported that two players wouldn’t be able to attend the event after testing positive for COVID-19. Although suitable replacements were found in the form of veteran Andrey “Mag” Chipenko and CIS superstar Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev, the team later pulled out of the event entirely.
Did we also mention that RAMZES666 was already on a flight to Singapore and wasn’t aware of the decision? Poor guy just can’t catch a break.
Beastcoast
The winners of the South American DPC Upper Division were forced to pull out of the tournament after team captain Steven “StingeR” Vargas was exposed to COVID. Although none of the players tested negative, beastcoast decided to pull out of the tournament.
A historical chance missed for the team seeing as they were seeded directly into the Playoffs.
T1
After going through numerous roster changes, T1 will be forced to replace their captain and arguably best player Carlo “Kuku” Palad. South Korean veteran and former T1 captain Sang-Don “FoREv” Lee will stand-in for Kuku at the event.
Although FoREv is experienced, his time with T1 and form lately have shown that his best Dota 2 days are behind him.
Team Nigma
After qualifying for the tournament by the skin of their teeth in the EU Upper Division, Nigma will be forced to attend the event without their stalwart offlaner Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Borislavov who tested positive for COVID. Team coach Roman “rmN-” Paley will stand-in for the Bulgarian, although not in a role we’re used to seeing him in, seeing as the German spent the bulk of his career playing as a support.
Quincy Crew
The North American squad will be forced to play without their veteran support Arif “MSS” Anwar. Although Bosnian soft support Milan “MiLAN” Kozomoara was supposed to stand-in for MSS, he wasn’t able to make it to the event. Former T1 support Wilson “Poloson” Koh Chin Wei has been brought in as a backup.
Although Poloson is well experienced in the regional scene, his international experience, especially against top teams is severely limited. This could prove to be a huge handicap for Quincy Crew, but it’s too soon to count ’em out just yet.
OB Esport x Neon
Neon Esports was the biggest surprise of the Major Qualifiers. The Filipino team finished second in SEA’s Upper Division, sending T1 to the Wild Cards and denying TNC Predator entry to the Major.
Up-and-comer John Anthony “Natsumi-” Vargas will be unable to attend the event as Rafael “Rapy” Sicat Palo will stand in for him. Seeing as Rapy has played over a thousand games for Neon over the course of the last three years, a better replacement could not have been found.
All good.
Team Aster
China’s #2 Seed will be missing their soft support Ye “Borax” Zhibiao, better known as BoBoKa, due to personal reasons. Borax was a key player in Aster’s rise to the top, and with two of the team’s players making their international debut, this could prove to be a big issue to the Chinese squad.
Team coach Cheng “Mad” Han and former Chinese commentator will stand in for Borax, but in terms of overall quality, it’s a step down for Aster heading into the tournament.
ONE Esports Singapore Major Betting
With so many different variables in play, expect a big number of upsets in the tournament. Regions are still feeling each other out as different meta’s will converge. Many teams will be missing key players, most of whom have spent the bulk of last year playing and gelling with the rest of the squad, so be sure to take that into account.
This is as good a tournament as any to go for value bets, as quite frankly, teams don’t know what they’re up against. Dota 2 betting for the Singapore Major is expected to be at a long-time high, so don’t miss out on our predictions and best Dota 2 odds!
