EG, OG or BOOM favored? – ESL One Stockholm Major 2022 Group A

It’s finally happening, every region’s most distinguished teams qualified for ESL One Stockholm 2022 to enjoy great rivalries. While we are rather bummed that the DPC China candidates are unable to attend the major, the Stockholm Major 2022 must go on!

Here’s a breakdown of Group A’s finest, and who will take the crown jewel at top seeds.

The OG x EG rivalry

Calling Group A, a packed bracket of powerhouses seems like an understatement for good reasons. For one, we have OG and Evil Geniuses, the first-place winners of their respective DPC regions.

The newcomer team of prodigies, OG has shown exponential growth since their debut, overthrowing familiar faces, such as Team Secret, Nigma, and Team Liquid. While the uprising of younger players seems to be a recent trend in every region, OG particularly has been under pressure to live up to its predecessors. First place in DPC WEU Tour 2 is certainly an amazing feat, but with such a massive bandwagon, they must prove themselves once more by winning the Stockholm Major altogether.

Meanwhile, EG is certainly not a newcomer in competitive Dota 2 but is still a fan favorite. While EG did kick off the DPC season with sloppy performance, they have quickly regained their momentum. Considering how diverse the North American Dota 2 scene has become with the arrival of powerhouses, such as TeamSoloMid and Nouns Esports. EG managed to keep up with the times, unlike many older powerhouses.

OG and EG have had a long-standing rivalry since OG came into the scene. While the founding members’ fiasco is now just a classic Dota 2 meme, perhaps we can expect friendly banter from EG and former OG players on Twitter. Well, depending on which party wins.

BOOM Esports third wheel

BOOM Esports is arguably the most prominent team to come out of DPC SEA this season. They tested the waters at the GAMERS GALAXY Invitational, beating OG, Tundra Esports, Team Spirit, and TSM. While many argue that it’s not official, we say BOOM Esports is still SEA’s best candidate at Stockholm Major.

Now, BOOM only won second place in DPC SEA Tour 2 but was due to their forfeit vs Nigma SEA. Under veteran player Chai “Mushi” Yee Fung’s coaching, BOOM looks refined in their drafts and in-game execution.

Is SEA going to dominate Group A or is the west just better?

Honorable Mentions in Group A

While OG, EG, and BOOM are your go-to teams for Dota 2 fantasy, T1 and Tundra Esports deserve honorable mentions. After all, there’s no room for run-in-the-mill teams at the Stockholm Major.

Tundra Esports’ proper management of their team managed to put them in better shape than old-school teams, such as Team Secret or Nigma Galaxy. They excel in developing solid drafts, which is the foundation for them to pull off sustainable strategies in every match. Versatility is one of Tundra’s defining fortes, so their drafts can still be very lucrative to opponents.

T1, on the other hand, may have fallen off compared to its peers, Fnatic, and BOOM. However, they are still a phenomenal team because of their roster of high-profile players. Most notably, they picked up Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte Santos, who’s known for his independent carry role. This becomes handy in a team, where they have an offlane player as greedy as Carlo “Kuku” Palad.

Certainly, an unorthodox distribution of resources can be detrimental to a hard carry player’s late-game capability. However, considering it’s Kuku who’s leading as captain and drafter, he often has his way around greedier objectives.

Finally, we have BetBoom Team who won first at DPC EEU Tour 2, defeating even the International 10 Champion (TI10), Team Spirit. There’s still uncertainty about how BetBoom fairs up against regional favorites. They are a former Division 2 team and are playing with two stand-ins, which are reasonable considerations to not expect too much here. Beastcoast, on the other hand, felt like the next best thing in DPC SA after Thunder Awaken because there just aren’t that many great SA teams. They are the most accomplished SA roster, winning seventh at TI6. However, with inconsistent achievements in DPC, they are considered relics of the past.

Group A has its fair share of prominent teams, but we have not discussed the other side. Group B is just as exciting when it comes to its team selections, especially Team Spirit, the defending champions which everybody is aching to watch.