NiP Is the Winner of StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Season 2
StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Season 2 is over and the two teams that have secured tickets for EPICENTER Major 2019 are NiP and Alliance. In this article, I will take you through the key aspects of this tournament and help you get a better understanding of what we’re dealing with ahead of the final Dota Pro Circuit Major of the season.
StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Season 2 Results
StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Season 2 took place in two stages and went pretty much according to expectations, at least in terms of results.
The Group Stage of the Minor saw Alliance and NiP dominate their groups. Both teams moved on with two consecutive wins, followed by Team Anvorgesa (in group A) and Team Sirius (in group B). These other two teams played much better than anyone had predicted and their results constituted upsets in the tournament. This of course only paved the way for NiP and Alliance to dominate the Playoffs and qualify for EPICENTER Major 2019.
Ahead of the event, NiP was expected to win while Alliance was expected to finish second or third. Ultimately, both teams proved themselves worthy of people’s expectations and were very close in terms of strength throughout the tournament. In the Upper Bracket Finals, Alliance won against NiP (2 – 1). But in the Grand Final, NiP took revenge and secured a tough victory (3 – 2).
Dota Pro Circuit Rankings
The DPC rankings table has only been slightly affected by the results of StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Season 2. And that’s because NiP had already been qualified for The International 2019 ahead of this tournament while Alliance only has 379 points for now, which is around 250 less than they would have needed to break into the top 12. Nevertheless, they will have one last chance at the Major, where a total of 15.000 points await.
Alliance’s Chances at EPICENTER Major 2019
For the time being, Alliance is sitting at number 14 in the DPC rankings. Their chances of having a successful enough run at the final DPC tournament of the season are pretty slim. And that’s because they will compete not only with the strongest teams in the world, but also with seven other teams that have not yet qualified for TI 9. And only four of the 12 available direct invites are still available.
Alliance’s main opponents at EPICENTER Major 2019 are the following:
- OG
- TNC Predator
- Gambit Esports
- Forward Gaming
- paiN Gaming
- Infamous
- Royal Never Give Up
Of these seven opponents, TNC Predator and OG will be hard to catch, simply because they’re ranked 10th and 11th with more than 300 and 550 points ahead of them. If they want to qualify, Alliance needs a 7th – 8th place finish at the very least. If they manage to do that, and the teams that are below them don’t get a higher placement, then they will finish in the top 12 at the end of the season and qualify for The International 2019 directly.
The opponents they need to keep an eye on are RNG, Infamous, paiN Gaming, Forward Gaming and Gambit Esports. If any of them gets a better result, they’re in trouble. And if they don’t finish at least in the 7th or 8th place, then nothing else matters.
Alliance will have a second chance at qualifying for TI 9 by winning the European qualifier. Considering the competition, it’s something they should be capable of rather easily, given that Team Secret, Team Liquid, NiP and more than likely OG will not be there to contest them, having qualified to the event directly.
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