Having only formed a few weeks before the Dota 2 Asia Championships and without an official organisation, Team B)ears were a bit of an unknown quantity. The squad consists of:
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FATA- has managed to pull together a team full of very talented players who have the potential to dominate in the EU scene ahead of the Kiev Major. Lets see how they fared in the DAC EU Regional Qualifiers.
B)ears Group Stage
Group looked to be a difficult tests for B)ears as their group included a former TI winning team, a major winning team and the runners up at Boston. Whilst these teams may not still be at that level they were by no means favourites to make it out of groups.
| Group A | ||||||
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| 1. | 2-0 | 4-0 | ||||
| 2. | 2-1 | 5-2 | ||||
| 3. | 1-2 | 2-5 | ||||
| 4. | 0-2 | 0-4 | ||||
| Group A Matches | |||
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| AF |
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| Na`Vi |
2 |
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| B) |
2 |
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| Na`Vi |
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In actual fact, Bears were able to sweep aside the competition without dropping a single map. Bears showed great teamwork and communication to dominate both Ad Finem and Na’Vi. Another factor was Feras “Feero” Hroob displayed immense skill in the mid lane, dominate the majority of his matchups over his opposition.
Having finished top of Group A without dropping a match, B)ears went in to bracket play as the only team to have not lost a map so far.
B)ears Bracket Play
Having a dominant display in group stages meant that moving in to bracket play all eyes were on B)ears. The question was how would they react to being favourites. The answer was well.
They faced up against Cloud 9 in the first semifinal. Heading in to game one it seemed as if B)ears were unstoppable, C9 nearly proved that wrong. Game 1 of the series lasted for 51 minutes and was a back and forth battle. Feero displayed amazing skill with his Invoker dominating the cores of C9 until they were eventually forced to tap out.
The team readjusted for game 2 and following a more fight focused draft, B)ears were able to easily manage the game and close it out in 36 minutes with a dominating display.
We meet again old friend
With a win over C9 B)ears set up a grudge match in the Winners Finals with Team Liquid. This was a battle between the two most dominating teams in the tournament and held a lot of promise. Oh boy it did not disappoint. If you are unable to watch any other series from DAC, check out B)ears v Team Liquid.
Game 1 was a surprise victory for B)ears who were able to over power Liquid after about 25 minutes and choke Liquid of resources until they eventually tapped out at the 47 minute mark.
Heading in to Game 2, Liquid pulled out the Miracle- Meepo which caught B)ears by surprise. Whilst the game was back and forth it did seem like Liquid were destined to set up a deciding game 3, which they did after 60 minutes.
Game 3 was back to a more normal draft for both teams. Liquid pulled out the Miracle- Invoker, to which B)ears responded with a Feero Alchemist. The game was an amazing back and forth between the two top teams in the qualifiers. The game eventually would get out of hand and Miracle- was able to have some flashy plays that eventually lead to a Liquid win for Game 3 and they would knock B)ears down to the losers bracket.
Can you bounce back from a loss?
The loss against Liquid was not only the first loss for B)ears but also the first time they had lost a map. Some fans were concerned about whether they could bounce back and continue their earlier dominance. Moving in to the final day they first matched up against Cloud9 a team they had previously beaten 2-0.
Game 1 was arguably the best game of the qualifiers. It looked as if B)ears were still on the ropes from the loss to Liquid the day before. C9 dominated the early game and controlled the map starving B)ears of resources. The game looked completely out of B)ears control. However the squad showed excellent mental toughness to stay in the game and after repelling attacks from C9 eventually turn the game around and win after 81 minutes.
Game 2 was the opposite of game 1, with C9 looking broken following the B)ears comeback. B)ears did not look in trouble at any point during the game, they dominated from the first minute to the last. This was made possible as both Fata- and Feero did not die once during the game ending with 10 kills each.
In the series against C9 B)ears showed that they had the mental toughness to become a mainstay in the EU scene.
If at first you don’t succeed try and try again
The victory over C9 set up a rematch of the Winners’ Finals with Team Liquid. Fans will have been excited for the series considering how close the first series was.
This unfortunately was not the case. B)ears seemed to have a mental block on how to deal with Liquid and this showed during the games. Game 1 was a dominant display from Liquid as they took control of the game early and snowballed from there. The game lasted a mere 31 minutes and showed that Liquid are currently the best team in EU.
Heading in to game 2 B)ears will have been hopeful that they could replicate Liquid’s comeback in the Winners’ Final. This again did not happen, Liquid continued to dominate in game 2 and it was a very similar contest to game 1. Eventually the game would come to an end after 28 minutes.
With the Grand Final series against Liquid ending faster than game 2 of the Winners’ Finals, B)ears will likely be disappointed. This should not however be the case, considering that this is their first showing in the pro scene.
The future is bright for B)ears
The teams display throughout the tournament highlighted that they have the ability to challenge on a world stage. It is disappointing that the DAC qualifiers only had one available spot as B)ears did deserve a place at the main event. The team have very solid building blocks in place and with the qualifiers for Kiev only a month away, the future is looking good for a strong team. If they can build on the successes and failures of DAC they should be expected to reach Kiev and even challenge for the title. The squad has an exciting future ahead of them and it will be interesting to see how they develop over the next couple of months.