The ONE Esports Singapore Major could prove to be a pivoting point for the balance of power in Dota 2’s landscape. As the shadow of the International 10 slowly looms over, the Singapore Major is vital to feeling out each region’s strength as the 2021 DPC season progresses further. With all of the teams stuck battling it out in their respective regions for the past year, expect meta’s to clash and favorites to fall as DOTA 2 IS BACK!
With a number of teams missing their key players, we’ll try to rank each and every team attending the main event accordingly to help you out with the tough choices of making the right pick in your Dota 2 betting slips.
1. Team Secret
Who else could it be? The team that has broken numerous records has looked (and been) unbeatable in Europe once more after hitting a hard patch. Puppey’s boys are back in town, and after decimating the best EU has to offer are looking to do that again on the international stage.
Team Secret currently has it all, the carry potential, the map movement, the pocket strats, and are the trendsetters in EU right now. Heading into the Singapore Major, Team Secret is THE team to beat.
Player to watch: Michał “Nisha” Jankowski
2. Evil Geniuses
The addition of iceiceice has put EG into the stratosphere of Western Dota 2. The North American team (if we can call them that considering that only Arteezy is from North America) looked dominant in truth be told, an underwhelming scene.
But even then, just look at EG’s roster shows just how stacked they are. Apart from that, they’re playing like an absolute unit. Heading into the tournament, it would be downright criminal not to call EG one of the main favorites to win it all.
Player to watch: Abed “Abed” Azel L. Yusop
3. Invictus Gaming
Invictus Gaming has emerged as the absolute best team in a stacked Chinese region, dropping only one game in the entire Upper Division to Team Aster, which they avenged in the first-place tiebreaker.
Being the number one seed in China carries a lot of respect on its own, and although few expected IG to be in the position they’re in, their in-your-face style just might give them an edge to emerge as the next Chinese powerhouse.
Player to watch: Hu “kaka” Liangzhi
4. Fnatic
Fnatic emerged on top of a highly competitive SEA region, and they did it in style. Although ofter overlooked, this could just be Fnatic’s time to shine seeing as they have their complete roster intact heading into the Major.
Raven has emerged by far the best carry in SEA, and this could be his chance to emerge as a premier carry player on the World stage.
Player to watch: Marc Polo Luis “Raven” Fausto
5. Virtus Pro
Virtus Pro is a team that just keeps destroying everything you throw at them. Although their victory at EPIC League Season 2 seems like quite some time ago now, VP dominated the CIS Upper Division without breaking a sweat.
The young core is looking astonishingly strong and hungry, but their lack of experience on the international stage might be their undoing.
Player to watch: Danil “gpk” Skutin
6. Team Aster
Aster is the #2 Chinese seed for a reason. The team would have placed higher on this list if it weren’t for the absence of key player and veteran support Borax/BoBoKa. They are the only team that took a game off of IG in China’s Upper Division, and they 2-0’d them in a dominant fashion.
Although their choice of stand-in leaves a lot to be desired from a mechanical standpoint, if team coach Mad brings his A-game, Aster could be a good dark horse for the tournament.
Player to watch: Zhang “LaNm” Zhicheng
7. Alliance
Europe’s second seed had a slow start to the Upper Division but quickly got into the zone before ultimately exceeding everybody’s expectations. Alliance is fairly scrappy compared to the rest of the teams here, and have consistently improved through every tournament they’ve attended.
They play their own style of Dota, at times looking as cool as a cucumber, while also mastering the art of organized chaos. Quite possibly the biggest enigma in the tournament.
Player to watch: Nikolay “Nikobaby” Nikolov
8. PSG.LGD
Call us crazy for putting a Wild Card team over certain others, but PSG.LGD did honestly underachieve in the Chinese Upper Division. Sporting a roster with neigh-unrivaled mechanical talent, LGD has what it takes to compete against the big boys.
A strong showing in the Wild Card qualifiers saw the team top the group, and LGD just might turn some heads as they venture further into the tournament.
Player to watch: Wang “Ame” Chunyu
9. Team Liquid
Liquid are slight underachievers in our opinion, as they hit a slump just as they were entering the EU Upper Division. Although the team as a whole has fairly limited experience on such a high level, we can’t forger how good Liquid looked just a couple of months ago.
If they can get their bearings together, they can give anyone a run for their money, but that still remains a big if.
Player to watch: Tommy “Taiga” Le
10. Quincy Crew
Apart from EG, Quincy Crew is looking like the only NA team that can compete at this level currently. With the region on a backburner for the time being, Quincy Crew has emerged as the “best of the rest” team that’s not EG.
Although talented, they round out our list just barely, as the gap between them and the rest of the teams below is minimal, but they do have a veteran edge over the rest.
Player to watch: Quinn “Quinn” Callahan
