One of the most important moments of the current Dota 2 season is about to begin. After the cancellation of the first major tournament of the year, even due to problems related to Covid-19, Dota 2 fans were left wanting to watch the matches between the best teams in the world. However, the next appointment is just around the corner, since the ESL One Stockholm 2022 will be held on May 12, 2022, and will distribute $500,000 in prizes, with the participation of Latin American representatives.
Preview
Dota 2 is a free strategy video game for PC property of the renowned company Valve. Its maximum annual event is The International, which it organizes every year and holds the record for the largest prize pool distributed to the participating teams (its last edition distributed more than $40 million).
However, as we mentioned before, the first Major of the season was canceled at the beginning of the year, due to the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19 worldwide. Instead, Valve organized some regional tournaments that could not replace the Major.
ESL One Stockholm 2022 will bring together the best 14 teams in the world from regional tournaments. There were originally 18 teams, but teams from China will not be able to participate in the competition, due to the problems of the spread of Covid-19 in their country in recent weeks. Which directly impacted the format of the tournament, arranging the 14 teams into two groups of seven each. Here, the TOP 4 of each group will go to the winner’s bracket in the heats, while the 5th and 6th places will start from the loser’s bracket.
The qualifiers will be in the best of three (BO3) format except for the grand final which is the best of five (BO5). The dates of these phases are from May 16 to 22, filling the seats of the Hovet Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.
Major Teams
Western Europe: OG, Gaimin Gladiators, Team Liquid, and Tundra Esports
OG was the first team from all regions of the world to secure their place in this Major, where they have an excellent record reflecting only 1 loss, and it was against Team Secret. OG is an amazing and extremely young team, full of rookies, who have had a stellar role in all the tournaments they have participated in and will be looking to prove that they are at the best level possible in a LAN event.
Gaimin Gladiators continue to prove that their respective victories in recent tournaments have not been by chance, continuing their incredible rise in the extremely competitive region of the UEO. Team Liquid managed to bounce back after a terrible 0-2 start, winning their last 4 games to confirm their presence at this Major.
Tundra Esports started the season off in impressive stride getting 3 wins from their first 3 matches but then slipped and had 3 straight losses in the series. Then, they managed to wake up to beat Brame, securing last place for this ESL One Stockholm.
Southeast Asia: Fnatic, BOOM Esports, and T1
Without a doubt, this is the most competitive Dota 2 region in the world after China, and right now it continues to heat up. Mainly thanks to Fnatic, T1, and BOOM Esports who have shown an exceptional level of play. These 3 teams were three of the top four teams on the last Tour and will be looking to reignite their exciting rivalries.
Fnatic and BOOM were the first two teams to qualify for this Major with an identical 6-1 record. T1, on the other hand, had it tougher and qualified with a 4-3 record, after beating Polaris Esports in their playoff match.
Eastern Europe: BetBoom Team, Team Spirit, and Mind Games
BetBoom managed to deliver a very pleasant surprise to all Dota 2 fans, when they pulled off an excellent and tense win against reigning The International 10 champions, Team Spirit in the first round, giving them the push to reach the finals of this qualifier and get their ticket to this Major.
Team Spirit, who start as clear favorites in this ESL One Stockholm 2022, continue to show that they are at their best competitive level. They quickly bounced back from the loss suffered in the first round, with 3 crushing wins with a score of 2-0, to take the second spot for this Major.
Mind Games got their pass to this Major after a very good victory against CIS Rejects in the deciding match. This will be the first time that the Ukrainians attend a Major.
North America: Evil Geniuses and TSM FTX
As in all North American seasons or qualifiers, we can enjoy a high competitive level from all the organizations that participate in it. This time was no exception, since, after a three-way tie between EG, TSM, and Quincy Crew, they had to play matches to find out which two teams would be part of this Major.
Evil Geniuses made it out of this tiebreaker unscathed and took first place. TSM then pulled off a very nice win against Quincy Crew to secure their ticket to Sweden.
South America: Thunder Awaken and beastcoast
Although everyone around the world has always considered beastcoast the best team in South America, some believe that they have lowered their level of play considerably in recent years, because they keep using the same players as 3 years ago.
This was noticeable in these qualifiers as Thunder Awaken achieved a perfect record of 7 wins and comfortably qualified for this Major. While beastcoast suffered and had to reach the tiebreaker match against Hokori, where they managed to win and get the second ticket to this ESL One Stockholm.
Prize Pool
ESL One Stockholm 2022 has a prize pool of $500,000 and 3,530 Dota Pro Circuit points. The champion, in addition to being considered the best team in the world at the moment, will receive a cash prize of $200,000 and 680 DPC points.
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