The competitive Dota 2 season for 2021 kicked off today with the first series in the Lower Division. Who are the favorites in each region?
The pandemic of 2020 made the Dota Pro Circuit come to an abrupt end. We still saw plenty of online events over the remainder of the year, but none of them were part of the DPC and The International never came to be. The start of 2021 looks promising, as the circuit already resumed with the first season of regional leagues. In the Lower Division of the leagues, we are already seeing some action.
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China
- CDEC Gaming
- Phoenix Gaming
- Dragon
- Dynasty
- Royal Never Give Up
- Sparking Arrow Gaming
- Xtreme Gaming
- Dalanjing Gaming
China’s Lower Division is quite a tough place to be in. The first series of the DPC 2021 was played here and Phoenix took the victory against Dalanjing Gaming. At the time of writing, RNG are facing off against Sparking Arrow Gaming. The two teams are definitely the favorites for the region and it’ll be no surprise to see them at the top in a couple of weeks.
SEA
- Army Geniuses
- Cignal Ultra
- Galaxy Racer
- Lilgun
- HOYO
- Omega Esports
- Yangon Galacticos
- ZeroTwo
Army Geniuses replaced Team Assault, which got disqualified for account sharing. In terms of favorites, it’s hard to say, as all the teams here made it through qualifiers. It’ll be anyone’s guess here.
CIS
- Gambit Esports
- HellRaisers
- B8
- VP.Prodigy
- Winstrike Team
- PuckChamp
- Imperial Pro Gaming
- Xactjlepbi
If you’re surprised to see VP.Prodigy here, so are we. The original Prodigy became the main squad not too long ago and Team Generation was signed over by the Russian bears on January 12. Gambit and HellRaisers have some very experienced players and we expect them to rise to the top. Winstrike are also not to be underestimated and we’d love to finally see B8 live up to expectations (aka not losing every single time).
Europe
- Spider Pigzs
- Brame
- burjui
- Creepwave
- Hellbear Smashers
- Hippomaniacs
- Meta4Pro
- No Bounty Hunter
The only team standing out here is Spider Pigzs. The latter made it to 3-4th place during the BTS Pro Series Season 4. Another top contender might be Brame – a team featuring some former Ad Finem players.
North America
- Team DogChamp
- Felt
- Electronic Boys
- Byzantine Raiders
- Arkosh Gaming
- simply TOOBASED
- Jiang Hu
- The Cut
The most notorious team in the NA Lower Division is without a doubt Arkosh Gaming. According to SirActionSlacks the squad consists of famous pro players from the region. Whether they’ll live up to expectations remains to be seen. So far the team’s performance has been lacking.
South America
- Incubus Club
- Infinity Esports
- Hokori
- Crewmates
- Inverse
- 0-900
- Gorillaz-Pride
- Mad Kings
Another region where anyone can make it to the top. The only notable org here is Gorillaz-Pride – they made it through an open qualifier, so that says a lot.
You can catch all the action on the official Twitch esports streams. Who are you rooting for? Tell us on Facebook or Twitter!
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