With the Regional Qualifiers for the Kiev Major on the horizon, it is time for Valve to announce the direct invites to Kiev. There has been a lot of discussion in the community about how many direct invite places there will be. The tournament has been announced as containing 16 teams. Valve could chose to invite 6, 8, 10 teams depending on how they make their decision. These direct invite predictions will be split into 2 sections. First the 6 teams invited to the Kiev Major, we think, are most likely to be invited. Second, the teams we think are in with an outside chance of securing an invite.
Kiev Major – Top 6 Direct Invite Predictions
OG
Recent Achievements:
1st Boston Major 2016
2nd Dota Pit Season 5 (Lost 2-3 to EG in the Grand Finals)
1st Elimination Mode 3.0
3rd – 4th StarLadder (Lost 1-2 to VG.J in the Semi Finals)
The Reason
OG will be the first name on most peoples direct invite predictions, seeing as they won the Boston Major. Combine this with strong performances for all the events they have attend since Boston, OG are locked in for an invite. Since winning Boston OG are currently 11-3 only losing to EG twice and VG.J once. Having also been invited to the pseudo-major DAC, OG should be 100% certain for a direct invite.
Evil Geniuses
Recent Achievements:
3rd – 4th at Boston Major (Lost 0-2 to OG in the Semi Finals)
1st at China Top 2016
1st at Dota Pit League Season 5
The Reason
If OG are the first team on the list, EG come in a close second. EG are currently 6-0 since Boston and have looked dominant when they have played. The issue however is that they do not play very many games, normally because they are directly invited to all the events. EG however are not going to be worried by this, they contain some of the best players in the world and will continue to be one of the best teams in the world.
Digital Chaos
Recent Achievements:
3rd – 4th at Boston Major (Lost 0-2 to Ad Finem in the Semi Finals)
1st at ESL One Genting 2017
7th – 8th at Dota Pit League Season 5 (Lost 0-1 to Faceless)
7th – 8th at StarLadder (Lost 0-2 to VG.J)
The Reason
DC should be nailed on for a direct invite to Kiev. Having finished 2nd at TI6 and 3rd – 4th at Boston, they should receive an invite. They have also managed to secure their first LAN win at ESL One Genting, which will boost their case for an invite. Some may argue that the last 2 events have been lackluster from DC, however they are a top team and will likely be invited to the Major.
Team Liquid
Recent Achievements:
1st at DreamLeague Season 6
1st at DAC Europe Qualifiers
1st at StarLadder
The Reason
Liquid have been the most dominant EU team since returning to the scene in late 2016. They are currently undefeated in in their last 14 series. The performance at StarLadder confirmed that they are one of the best teams in the world, as the dominated the competition. The main issue with this team was could they take their skill on paper and put it into practice. StarLadder proved they could. Winning the LAN immediately before the invites are announced will do Liquid the world of good.
Ad Finem
Recent Achievements:
2nd at Boston Major (Lost to OG 1-3 in the Grand Finals)
The Reason
They finished 2nd at Boston, this will be the main reason they get invited to Kiev. Since the new patch AF have been struggling and the direct invite to Kiev will do them a world of good. If they do not receive a direct invite, they will more than likely not qualify for the event. Based on history alone, AF should receive an invite.
Wings Gaming
Recent Achievements:
3rd – 4th at ESL One Genting (Lost to Newbee 1-2 in the Semi Finals)
5th – 6th at StarLadder (Lost to VG.J 0-2 in groups)
The Reason
Wings have looked shaky since winning TI6. They performed poorly at Boston which saw them be eliminated by EG early on in the tournament. The team have started to repair things and will likely receive an invite of the back of their TI winning performance.
The best of the rest of the Kiev Major Direct Invite Predictions
Newbee
Recent Achievements:
2nd at China Top 2016 (Lost to EG 0-2 in the Grand Finals)
1st at Dota2 Professional League Season 2
2nd at ESL One Genting (Lost to DC 2-3 in the Grand Finals)
The Reason
Newbee are one of the two most dominant teams in China, which means a lot for Valve. They were within fingertips of winning ESL One Genting and showed dominance throughout DPL. Newbee have been near the top of the international ladder for the past 3 / 4 months and whilst they have not won an international LAN, they have the ability too.
VG.J
Recent Achievements:
2nd at StarLadder (Lost to Liquid 1-3 in the Grand Finals)
Qualified for DAC
The Reason
VG.J is stacked full of talent. Any team with rOtK, fy and Fenrir will be considered a god squad. Throw in Agressif and Freeze in to the mix and you have a top tier team. VG.J showed they can compete by finishing second at StarLadder. This solid performance and the dominance they have shown in China may be enough to secure an invite to Kiev.
TNC
Recent Achievements:
1st at World Electronic Sports Games 2016
3rd – 4th at StarLadder (Lost to Liquid 0-2 in the Semi Finals)
The Reason
TNC are currently the second best team in a weak SEA region. The main reason they may get an invite is that they managed to win WESG. Whilst the tournament was missing top teams, Valve will surely consider this LAN win as a potential chance for an invite. TNC are an outside shout and may receive an invite based off of the region rather than the talent.
Faceless
Recent Achievements:
3rd at Dota Pit League Season 5 (Lost to OG 0-1 in the Losers Finals)
Qualified for DAC
The Reason
Faceless are the best team in SEA and that will count for something. The SEA region is currently weak with a lot of their star players emigrating to faraway lands. Faceless performed well at Dota Pit and were thwarted by the best of one losers bracket rather than by bad playing. The showed in the DAC qualifiers that they are the best team in the region.
Direct Invite Predictions Final Thoughts
Based on the current state of the international scene, SEA may not receive any direct invites to the Kiev Major. For this reason Valve may cast out a pity invite, which will be bad for the scene. Likely what will happen for the Kiev Major is that SEA will receive two qualifier spots instead of an invite.
The qualifier spots will likely be as follows
- SEA – 2 Spaces
- China – 2 Spaces
- EU – 1 Space
- CIS – 1 Space
- NA – 1 Space
- SA – 1 Space