After playing 8 games in one day, European Dota continues to reign supreme. Team Spirit are the winners of the first ever PGL Wallachia with one of the best game 5s we’ve seen in some time.
It’s always good to see a grand finals that’s actually competitive and goes the full distance. Honestly, I’m glad to not be writing about yet another “clean 3-0” victory.
A million dollars is a big enough prize pool that we were definitely expecting Team Spirit to show up. Yes, they did have to make an uncommon lower bracket run but once again, they proved they can defeat the best of the best.
They might have missed out on the Yatoro bald buff but that didn’t stop him picking up an Anti-Mage and hitting level 30 before 60 minutes. No matter what he said in the post game discussion with Banks, there was way more skill than luck on display.
Game 5 started out particularly well for Spirit but XG weren’t about to give up easy. It took some 10,000 IQ plays, including glimmering a ranged creep to break back door on the final push to take out the Chinese giants.
Image credit: PGL
It’s really not often we see a team with a perfect run at any Dota tournament. Not dropping a single map until the grand finals after 10 days of competition is something Xtreme Gaming should be Xtremely proud of.
They 2-0’d the best of the best in Dota to make it to the end, including their grand finals opponents, Team Spirit, G2.IG and ESL One Birmingham Major champions, Team Falcons.
XinQ’s Marci has been one of the most formidable heroes of this whole tournament and when early game 5 was rough, all it took was one over extension from Spirit and hitting 6 for them to come back into the game. While they did fall at the final hurdle, it’s one of the best showings fans have seen in over a year for this region. All eyes will be on them going into DreamLeague!
Image credit: PGL
Regardless of who took home the trophy, the PGL Wallachia has proved that tournaments organized by third parties have great potential in Dota. With the DPC well and truly dead in the ground, others have stepped up to fill the gap, just as Gaben foretold.
The good news for fans, but perhaps the slightly less good news for players is that we only have to wait until tomorrow for more Dota 2. DreamLeague season 23 is about to kick off with a very familiar roster of teams. Perhaps the lack of break will start affecting the likes of XG and Team Falcons, perhaps not. We’ll have to wait and see.
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