The China Dota2 Pro Cup Season 2 is the final stop for the best Chinese teams this season. After the great roster shuffle completely overhauled the competitive landscape in Asia, we are now left wondering about the next big team coming to challenge Europe in the upcoming season.
Two large events played back to back will give us a clear picture of how China likes to play Dota 2 and what we can expect from the region in 2021.
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CDPC 2 features the usual single round-robin format recognizable in Dota 2. All invited teams will play a best-of-three series, with the top six teams advancing to the playoffs, while the bottom two are eliminated. Playoffs are in double-elimination bracket with the grand finals being a decisive best-of-five.
There’s plenty of eye candy offered in this event. Powerhouses such as PSG.LGD, Vici Gaming, EHOME and Invictus Gaming, are definitely interested in the generous prize pool. Yet, for teams like Elephant.4AM, Team Royal Never Give Up, Team Aster and Sparking Arrow Gaming its more then just prize funds this time around. The fully overhauled rosters are really itching to prove themselves ahead of a potential early 2021 TI.
Additionally, the tournament is played at the same time as the CDA-FDC Professional Championship Season 2, putting additional pressure on teams as they have to play an intense schedule daily in the upcoming weeks.
Earlier last month, Elephant.4AM was all over the news, as the organization entered Dota 2 with one of the most “hype” teams in almost two years. Former LGD players, fy and Somnus and Vici Gaming’s carry duos, Yang and Eurus joined forces to create the next big contender.
In their highly-anticipated debut at the CDA-DDC Professional Championship 1, the team flopped its first match against team RNG and then promptly went ham in all subsequent matches. They almost won their debut event after barely losing to PSG.LGD (3:2) in the finals.
Coming into China Dota2 Pro Cup Season 2, fans and bookmakers alike treat them as both a dark horse and a favorite at the same time. You can find overwhelmingly different odds at different bettings sites making them the ideal candidate for tipsters.
On the other hand, the roster responsible for delivering the most adrenaline-fueled final at the International and China’s “greatest team” is no more. There’s not much left of the old PSG.LGD after four players left the team. The new roster however, already made waves regardless. With the return of Wang “Ame” Chunyu’s return to the main roster, LGD is suddenly looking fierce once again. Their recent victory at CDA-DDC S1 has skyrocketed them back into the spotlight.
Invictus Gaming is one of China’s oldest Dota 2 esports teams. Unlike their League of Legends counterpart, the former TI Champions haven’t been on the top-tier list of teams for a long time now. It seems likely this will be the case at China Pro Cup S2 as well. Unfortunately, the organization has been plagued by roster troubles and constant stand-in’s for each event.
It’s never a good sign when three of your players are missing in action constantly. With no official announcements about what actually happens behind the scenes, iG suddenly becomes a challenger team at best.
Finally, Vici Gaming is the last squad in our overview and the final team worth looking at. Back in September, the organization made the radical move in signing old eLeVeN, Erica and 23Savage to the roster. While, the new additions haven’t really impacted the games they played in, something has shifted within VG as a whole. The roster can now play both early and late game matches with great consistency and do not give up regardless of the scoreboard. As a result they are suddenly joining the conversation next to LGD and 4AM about the best team in China this winter.
In the end, China Dota2 Pro Cup Season 2 is yet another stepping stone for the Chinese scene on their path to reclaiming the throne. Among the competitors are definitely some interesting matches to watch out for and several cherry-picks for keen bettors.
Over the next 10 days, there will be at least six matches daily at China Pro Cup S2 and CDA-DDC Season 2 combined. With the participant list largely identical you can be sure there is plenty of Dota2 action to follow.
Read next: Team Zero winning Summit 13 perfectly captures a troubled NA Dota 2 scene
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