Arlington Major’s likely dark horses

Every Dota 2 Major and every edition of The International teaches us that some teams, under stress, perform a lot better than they should. And in some cases, competitors who weren’t on anyone’s radar prove to be capable of beating the world’s best.

Because of the large number of stand-ins, PGL Arlington Major 2022 seems to be the perfect tournament for dark horses. There are lots of formidable players who are not competing for one of the favorites, and it’s enough for one of them to get a great run.

Potential dark horses

Among the teams that are likely to be dark horses at PGL Arlington Major, these are the ones that you should keep an eye on.

Talon Esports

Talon Esports are a relatively new team in Dota 2. They entered this esport with high ambitions and hired world-class players like Tal “Fly” Aizik, Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon, and Damien “kpii” Chok to reach their goals. Fly is no longer the team’s captain, but the other superstars continue to play for the organization.

Talon finished Tour 2 and Tour 3 of Dota Pro Circuit 2021-2022 in second place in Southeast Asia. This team has a very high ceiling, thanks to the fact that kpii is a former TI finalist and 23savage is one of the best carry players in the world.

At the Arlington Major, we shouldn’t be surprised if Talon finish in the top six.

Royal Never Give Up

Royal Never Give Up will play without their carry at this tournament. However, the place of Daniel “Ghost” Chan Kok will be taken by a man who won The International twice, Anathan “ana” Pham. This should give Chinese fans a lot of hope. RNG only needs a top eight result to finish in the top 12 and secure a direct invite to TI11.

RNG’s roster is full of former Major winners and TI finalists:

• Lu “Somnus” Yao
• Yang “Chalice” Shenyi
• Hu “kaka” Liangzhi
• Yap “xNova” Jian Wei

If you’ve been watching Dota 2 for at least four years, you’ve probably heard of all of them. RNG’s chances of getting a good result at the Arlington Major are quite high, even though the community doesn’t expect much from them.

Natus Vincere

Natus Vincere have Alexei “Solo” Berezin as their captain and Vladimir “No[o]ne” Minenko as their position 2 player. These two superstars finished multiple times in the top six at The International and won almost half a dozen Dota 2 Majors. This tournament marks their return to the big stage after a few years of absence.

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