Inquirer Eight: Manila Major Power Rankings

With the advent of the Manila Major, some teams are bound to rise and fall on the big stage.

Whereas some teams are considered favorites, others have no one confident in their potential success notwithstanding a miracle. Recent roster changes, alongside the small amount of premier events in the gap between Shanghai and Manila, means that opinions are divided.

On that note, we gathered our staff along with a few guests such as Ben “Noxville” Steenhuisen, Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner and Joey “Lefeator” Thimian to see who among the sixteen teams will be in the top 8, according to general consensus.

Here are our picks for the teams most likely to strike it big at the Major – the Inquirer Eight.

8. Evil Geniuses

North American Dota 2‘s best, Evil Geniuses (EG) have long ruled both their home scene and maintained a healthy level of competition globally. However, things have been shaky for the 17-year old organization recently, especially after losing their carry Artour “Arteezy” Babaev and offlaner Saahil “Universe” Arora to rivals Team Secret in the post-Dota Pit shuffle.

With a new roster sporting Digital Chaos (DC)  players and former teammates Kurtis “Aui_200” Ling and Sam “Bulba” Sosale, their results have been decent at best. That’s not to say they don’t have the potential to win. given midlaner Syed “Suma1l” Hassan’s snowball potential. Captain Peter “ppd” Dager and support Clinton “Fear” Loomis have proven from time to time again that they can lead new rosters to success. Regardless, losses to CompLexity Gaming (coL) and Vega Squadron (Vega) show that the team has a lot to prove going into the Major.

7. Vici Gaming Reborn

Xu “fy” Linsen’s decision to build a new roster around the former academy team Vici Gaming Potential was seen with skepticism from many sides when it was announced. Now, the “B-squad” seems to be “B” no longer. With a strong win at the Starladder i-League Invitational over Natus Vincere (Na’Vi), Vici Gaming Reborn (VGR) proved itself worthy of becoming the organization’s main squad; that was without their midlaner Wang “Nono” Xin, who ran into visa issues.

Now complete, VGR are going in strong at the Manila Major, but their lack of match-up experience over most western teams might prove a problem.

6. Wings Gaming

Coming in unexpectedly and securing the win at ESL One Manila, Wings Gaming (Wings) surprised western fans. Although they’ve only played in two international tournaments, WCA 2015 and the aforementioned ESL event, they’ve already beaten teams such as Team Liquid (Liquid), VGR and more. Unfortunately, they’re in a bit of a flux, with domestic results being a mixed bag thanks in part to Newbee’s near-domination of Chinese Dota 2.

One thing that Wings do have that others do not is their drafting and wide hero pool. Quirky, weird and unheard of strategies sometimes play into the mix for their drafter Zhang “Innocence” Liping. With the Manila Majors at hand, expect the unexpected, especially now that they’ve been knocked into the Lower Bracket.

5. MVP Phoenix

MVP Phoenix (MVP) are the Korean Dota 2 scene’s top dogs and near-last hope. If their 2 recent 1st place finishes at Dota Pit Season 5 and WePlay League Season 3 are an indicator of what’s to come, expect them to do well. Then again, they’ve also lost a string of online qualifiers to fellow Asian team Fnatic and bowed out of the Starladder i-League Invitational at a rock bottom placing. 

Provided MVP show up in their prime form and not their online qualifier form, they have a good shot at making the top 3 or even taking it all.

4. Team Secret

The instigators of the western scene’s post-Dota Pit shuffle, change has not done Secret well. Adding Arteezy and Universe to their roster in favor of Aliwi “w33” Omar and Rasmus “Misery” Flipsen showed a decline in their results, finishing near last at ESL One Manila and EPICENTER: Moscow. Secret’s raw talent is undeniable, with former Na’Vi captain Clement “Puppey” Ivanov at the helm and former Cloud 9 (C9) captain Jacky “EternalEnvy” Mao as second mate.

Their performance in the group stages left a lot to be desired and as a result, they’re starting the Main Event from the Lower Bracket. If anyone can make it happen though, it’s Secret’s star-studded roster.

3. OG

As the name implies, OG are the “OGs” of the Major system. Winning the Frankfurt Major last year all the way from the first round of the Lower Bracket solidified the team’s status as Tier 1. Come Shanghai however, it had seemed that Tal “Fly” Aizik’s drafting hadn’t adapted to the new patch and the team suffered, still finishing within the top 8.

They’ve recently been showing a return to form, with midlaner Amar “miracle-” Barqawi’s explosive playstyle being a key factor. A combination of good tournament results and wins over the likes of Newbee and Na’Vi make them a threat coming into the Manila Major, where they are now in the Upper Bracket of the Main Event.

2. Newbee 

Newbee went on an undefeated spree after the Shanghai Major, only losing to OG in the first round of the Upper Bracket during EPICENTER: Moscow. Even then, the Chinese powerhouse still managed to run it all the way back to the Lower Bracket finals, where they beat OG in the rematch and proceeded to finish 2nd place. They aren’t slouches domestically either, with them winning the last two iterations of H-Cup over other regional favorites like VGR.

Superb team-fight execution is the name of the game for this iteration of the The International 2014-winning team thanks to Chen “Hao” Zhihao and Zhang “Mu” Pan’s  long-term partnership coupled with solid supporting play from Damien “kpii” Chok, Wong Hock “Chuan” Chuan and Hu “Kaka” Liangzhi. They’re definitely up for championship contention but if their series with OG and Team Liquid (Liquid) have any meaning, it’s that they aren’t invincible.

1. Team Liquid

From not qualifying for Frankfurt, to finishing 2nd at Shanghai, to winning EPICENTER: Moscow, Liquid have done it. Kuro “Kuroky” Salehi’s former 5Jungz roster, through extremely solid play all throughout the season, have recent winning records over almost every team in the Major that they’ve faced bar Wings.

With support Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka, midlaner Adrian “FATA-” Trink and carry Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen being the best at their respective signature heroes, each of them bring a lot to the table. Offlaner Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Borislavov is no slouch either thanks to his diverse hero pool.

While they do have winning records over most teams as mentioned before, some of these were close series, with their last one against Newbee 3-2 after they came back from being down a game.

Despite this, Liquid, according to our panel, are by far the favorites going into the major.

For more coverage on the Manila Major and Dota 2, stay tuned on eSports by Inquirer.net.

All the photos used in this article belong to their respective owners. 

Special thanks to our staff and guests for panelists on this project:

• Ben “Noxville” Steenhuisen
• Pao “Sandata” Bago
• Joey “Leafeator” Thimian
• Jules “swarley” Tabios
• Earl “Dreamslayer28” Guevarra
• Jasper Arcalas
• Dale Gueco
• Aileen “chaos” Cerrudo
• Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner
• Justin “Popi” Banusing

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