Road to WePlay AniMajor – An Analysis of T1’s Chances

T1 is famous in League of Legends, being the team with the highest number of world championship titles. Faker is still the most famous LoL player in the world because of this, even though his team has struggled to find success over the last 3 years. But what about T1’s Dota 2 team?

T1’s History in Dota 2

T1 entered Dota 2 at the end of The International 2019. Unfortunately for them, they got involved right before the global crisis began and were unable to find significant success for an entire year. Their first important result came in December 2020, when they finished 3^rd at BTS Pro Series Season 4: SEA.

At the start of 2021, T1 received a direct invite for the Upper Division of the first season of Dota Pro Circuit 2021. The team did not disappoint and proved that it was worthy of this invitation. They finished 3^rd and qualified for the Wild Card Stage of the Singapore Major. However, they failed to advance to the Group Stage of the tournament.

In the second season of DPC 2021, T1 did much better. This was largely the result of bringing in one of the most talented carry players of the last few years: 23savage. The 19-year-old is an absolute legend in pubs. On March 3^rd, 2021, he reached 12,000 MMR, which is a spectacular performance for someone so young. This got him a lot of recognition and made people see him as the new Miracle-.

Following 11 months spent playing for Fnatic and 4 more months playing for Vici Gaming, 23savage was signed by T1. And his exceptional talent radically changed the team for the better. T1 won the second season of DPC 2021 Upper Division in Southeast Asia, defeating a lot of strong teams in the process. Examples include TNC Predator, Fnatic, and Neon.

T1’s Chances at WePlay AniMajor

T1 has the big advantage of starting the tournament in the Playoffs. What this means is that they only need to win one match to secure a top 8 position and 200 qualification points. If they succeed, their place at The International 10 is guaranteed. Because the team is already among the top 12 with 670 points and the minimum number of points required for direct qualification is 801.

T1 also has the advantage of starting WePlay AniMajor in the Upper Bracket. This means they have 2 tournament lives and can afford to lose their first match. Realistically, they can defeat both NoPing e-sports as well as Alliance. Against Aster, Virtus.pro, and Quincy Crew they have fewer chances. It remains to be seen who their opponent will be. But I think they can do well enough even if they lose the Upper Bracket match. Because in the Lower Bracket, the competition will be a bit easier.

Overall, I don’t see T1 getting more than a top 6 result at WePlay AniMajor. They might have gotten stronger thanks to their carry, 23savage, but the competitive level is still extremely high.

 

Photo credit: Valve