Some of the most interesting things that happened in Western Europe’s DPC last week.
After several days of excting series, week 1 of the 2023-2023 DPC in Western Europe has ended. As you know, this year’s format is a little bit different, which means teams don’t play every day. Yet, several interesting matches took place over the week in Division I and Division II, so let’s check them out.
Division I Results
There were a couple of interesting matches during week 1 of Division one. First, we got to see Alliance vs Tundra Esports – a series that we expected to be one-sided.
Alliance vs Tundra Sports
We were right about the one-sided game, but instead of Alliance, Tundra Esports dominated the series.
Perhaps the most exciting thing was the fact TE picked the same lineup two games in a row. The Swedish powerhouse also picked up similar heroes, but they couldn’t deal with TE’s aggression and ended up losing the series.
Secret vs OG
This was undoubtedly the most anticipated series of the week. Secret did a few roster changes after TI, but OG was definitely the team everyone was eager to see. Following the disappointing results, the two time TI winners decided to disband and create a new roster from the ground up. Instead of inviting experienced players, Johan “N0tail” Sundstein decided to bet on young and talented Dota 2 talents. This explains why OG’s mid-laner Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov is just 16 years old.
Even though most people expected Team Secret to dominate the series, OG managed to win after securing both games in their favor. The first one was more interesting to watch because Secret had an exciting draft in game one. Unfortunately, the unorthodox Winter Wyvern offlane didn’t work because OG didn’t allow it to shine.
Following the victory in Game One, Artem “Yuragi” Golubiev’s Templar Assassin managed to rip through Team Secret like a knife through butter. The talented player decided to play as a carry instead of going mid, which allowed him to maintain the top networth throughout the game. He was able to get the items he needed and didn’t allow Team Secret the chance to utilize their roster’s potential.
Team Liquid vs Cool Guys
Following the addition of Lasse Aukusti “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen, Team Liquid’s roster looks really deadly, especially compared to other EU teams. Judging by their performance against cool guys, TL will be one of the main teams to watch this season.
As expected, the EU powerhouse had little to no trouble against Dimitris “ThuG” Plivouris and his teammates. Both games lasted around 25-minutes because MATU and the others from his team won the laning stage. Although CG had a few chances in game two, Team Liquid was able to seize the victory.
Nigma Galaxy vs Team Tickles
Another series that many Dota 2 fans were eager to watch was the fight between Nigma and Team Tickles. TT managed to earn a sport in Division I following their good performance last season. People expected them to play well, but no one thought they had what it takes to win against the TI 7 champions.
Judging by the results, Nigma Galaxy hasn’t resolved the issues that kept them from competing at TI 10. Despite having good picks, the EU team was unable to show its prowess and lost both games fairly easily. It will be interesting to see if Nigma will overcome these problems because it is yet to meet the best teams in this division. Needless to say, it won’t be easy to go up against the likes of TL, OG, and Secret.
Alliance vs Secret
After losing their first series, both teams had to win this one if they wanted to keep up with the rest. Even though Alliance did their best, they were unable to defeat the mighty Team Secret, who won both games.
The first one is interesting because Nikolay “Nikobaby” Nikolov had the chance to play his legendary Medusa. He did pretty well, but Secret knew how to counter it and didn’t allow him to show what he was capable of.
After losing Game One, the second map in the series was completely one-sided. It looked like Alliance were demoralized; Secret demolished them in under 23-minutes. Their late-game cores managed to win the laning stage and didn’t allow Alliance to do anything to buy enough time for Luna to get the items she needed.
Division II
Following the action in Division I, we also had the chance to watch a few intriguing matches in Division II.
Brame vs Entity
Brame and Entity are two of the potential favorites in Division II, so the clash between them was important to watch. As expected, Brame was able to win the series, but we watched three full games as Entity claimed the lead at one point.
Despite losing Game One, Brame’s Earth Spirit gave Entity a hard time in Game Two and Three. Thanks to him, the favorites won the first series of the week.
Team Bald Reborn vs No Bounty Hunter
The second series of the week was between Bo BH and Team Bald Reborn. Most Dota 2 fans expected no BH to be victorious, but Team Bald Reborn surprised everyone with their dominant performance.
After utilizing IO in game one, the team decided to use the Tidehunter and Luna combination that proved to be quite successful. Although Janne “Gorgc” Stefanovski and co. had some problems, they quickly bounced back and won the series.
Chicken Fighters vs Ghost Frog
This was another anticipated series. Most people expected a close game where everything and anything was possible. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. Chicken Fighters did not give Ghost Frog any chances. Although the Bulgarian midlaner Ivaylo “Mastermind” Petkov tried to carry his team to victory, his efforts were futile. After the defeat, GF has to win the next game if they want to have a chance in Division II.
CHILLAX vs Into The Breach
Despite coming from the qualifiers, CHILLAX showed everyone they’re a team that demands respect. Their Game One against Into The Brach was one of the most interesting ones yet; lasting for over an hour. In the end, Naga Siren was able to take action into her own hands and gave CHILLAX the victory.
After losing a game that was over 60 minutes long, Nikola “LeBronDota” Popović and his teammates decided to get Medusa, assuming the second game would also be a long one. Sadly, this wasn’t the case because CHILLAX needed just 30 minutes to win.
Brame vs Team Bald
The last and also one of the most enjoyable series was between Brame and Team Bald. Some people consider these two teams to be among the favorites, so the outcome of the series was important.
Despite their efforts, TB was unable to survive against Brame. Nikolay “CTOMAHEH1” Kalchev and the other people from his team did not allow Team Bald to use their potential and needed around 40 minutes to win each game.
That wraps up all the highlights from the first week of Tour 1 of WEU’s DPC. Stick around as ESTNN continues to bring you all the action from each region!
