From 3 December, the Wang Theater in Boston will open its doors for the Boston Major.
It will be the first Major of the season and the fourth overall since the introduction of the format last year.
Format and changes
A total of 16 teams – eight invited and eight qualified – will battle for a share of a $3,000,000 prize pool.
The tournament will open with a Group Stage over 3-4 December. The format has not been announced yet, but if it follows the structure of previous Majors, it will likely contain four groups with four teams each.
One of the most important changes that was introduced by Valve for this event is the removal of the lower bracket in the elimination phase. Consequently, all of the participants will advance to the Main Event, which begins on 7 December, and here they will only play single elimination matches. Team will be seeded according to their performances in the Group Stage. Each game in the Main Event will be played in a best-of-three format, while the 10 December Grand Finals will be a best-of-five affair.
It should also be noted that Valve allowed teams to pick a substitute after the transfer deadline had passed. This opened the window for last minute line-up changes and several teams have already taken advantage.
MVP have signed back their former player Lee “Forev” Sang-don from Team Secret and on the SEA scene, Adam Erwann Shah “343” bin Akhtar Hussein will bolster the ranks of Execration after temporarily stepping down following TI 6. Newbee also registered their former player Chen “Hao” Zhihao as a sub.
The teams
The following 16 teams will participate:
Invitees – Wings Gaming, DC, OG, Newbee, MVP, EHOME, Execration, EG
Qualified teams – Team NP, compLexity Gaming, LGD.Forever Young, iG Vitality, Ad Finem, Virtus.Pro, Team Faceless, WarriorsGaming.Unity
The favourites
Despite a number of favourites having failed to qualify, big names such as Wings Gaming, EG, Newbee and OG will all feature.
Unlike previous TI winners, Wings Gaming have not become complacent and are still showing they are one of the strongest teams around. The Chinese outfit won the Northern Arena BEAT Invitational without too much trouble, while they also finished 4th at The Summit 6. Despite not being dominant throughout The Summit, Wings were particularly impressive against DC, outclassing them in a game that lasted more than an hour, picking a draft that on paper should have been obliterated in the late game. When they are playing at their best, their team coordination is on another level when compared to other teams, while a unique feature of theirs is their unconventional drafts, which make them quite unpredictable.
Despite the doubts that were raised about EG’s new roster, the team have performed to their usual high standards so far this season. The North Americans will go into Boston with a record of one win, one 3rd and one 4th place from the three Premier tournaments in which they have participated so far. New captain and drafter Andreas “Cr1t-“ Nielsen has a hard task to fill the shoes of the currently inactive Peter “ppd” Dager, but has fared well thus far. The Dane has brought his own ideas, drafting heroes such as Venomancer and Omniknight to some success. The tactic of rotating cores into different lanes at different stages in the game has also been brought into EG’s play since his arrival.
Newbee made quite a few changes after their TI 6 failure (9-12th) and veterans Chen “Hao” Zhihao, Zhang “Mu” Pan and Wong Hock “ChuaN” Chuan gave way to the talented youngsters of Xu “uuu9” Han and Song “Sccc” Chun, as well as the veteran Zeng “Faith” Hongda. The team have participated in only one Premier tournament so far this season, finishing 2nd at the MarsTV Dota 2 League 2016 Autumn event. Newbee were quite dominant here, with only EG providing a real match. Apart from this, their record on the Chinese scene speaks for itself, with three 1st places and two 2nd finishes in domestic tournaments.
OG perhaps look a tad less impressive than the aforementioned teams, but they have also had to deal with a number of roster changes. The young talent Anathan “ana” Pham has been inconsistent with his performances for the team and while brilliant on occasions, he can also be a drag, as highlighted at The Summit 6, where the team finished 2nd despite him. While undoubtedly a world class player, former TI 3 winner, Gustav “s4” Magnusson has had to adapt to the new offlane role that he was assigned. It has been a tough journey so far, but he has been improving with every passing game. Meanwhile, the team greatly benefits from having one of the best roaming supports on the scene, Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka, who is exceptional at providing space for his team.
Will there be an upset?
A number of new post-Fall Shuffle outfits managed to secure their spots in Boston at the expense of some of the more established names. Five teams will be making their debut in the series – Execration, Team NP, Ad Finem, Team Faceless and WarriorsGaming.Unity. Another two subdivisions of iG and LGD will also be playing for the first time on such a stage – iG.Vitality and the newly formed LGD.Forever Young.
The notable absentees are two-time second finishers Team Liquid (Shanghai and Manila), as well as the Shanghai Major champions Team Secret, who failed to make it through the qualifiers. Previous TI winners Natus Vincere and Alliance also failed to progress through to the main event.
Virtus.Pro may be an established name in Dota, but it was deemed unacceptable of them to miss the last Major in Manila, as well as failing to qualify for The International 2016. This prompted radical changes with the structure of the team, with both the management and player roster undergoing revisions.
The move turned out to be a success and led to a series of strong results. Virtus.Pro eliminated the favourites Team Liquid to advance to Boston and qualified for Dota Pit League Season 5 too. On top of that, Virtus.Pro won The Summit 6 without too much effort, with this run including a dominant 2-0 victory over current TI 6 champions Wings Gaming.
The team is currently solid in all departments, having strong chemistry, great drafts which focus on their strengths, and some unique picks such as support Weaver and a deadly Disruptor. Should Virtus.Pro be able to keep their momentum going, they could easily finish inside the top 4.
There are other teams that could ruin the plans of the favourites too. Team NP finished 2nd in the Northern Arena BEAT Invitational this month, losing only to Wings Gaming and eliminating teams such as EG and EHOME during their run to the final.
The other European team that qualified, Ad Finem, beat Team Liquid and Team Secret on their way to Boston and pose a serious threat to any team out there.
The Boston Major will have an unprecedented number of debutants and quite a few of them are already showing great potential. The favourites and current TI 6 champions Wings Gaming demonstrated that they are still great, but certainly not invincible, and there are plenty of candidates that will try to take them down on the way to the final.
