All you need to know about ESL One in Frankfurt
The Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt will once more be the home of this year’s ESL Summer edition. The event will be held over three days, with the Group Stage taking place on the 17th and 18th of June, and the playoffs following on the 19th.
The total prize pool of $250,000 will be distributed as follows:
1st Place – $125,000 (+ 50% of prize pool contribution)
2nd Place – $50,000 (+ 20% of prize pool contribution)
3rd/4th Place – $22,500 (+ 9% of prize pool contribution)
5th/6th Place – $10,000 (+ 4% of prize pool contribution)
7th/8th Place – $5,000 (+ 2% of prize pool contribution)
The tournament will feature eight teams from all of the major Dota 2 regions. There will be three direct invitees to the tournament along with five teams who made it through a qualifying stage.
The invitees are Alliance, Team Liquid and OG, who all hail from Europe. Each major Dota 2 region had at least one qualifying spot. The non-European teams that qualified are compLexity Gaming from NA, Fnatic as the SEA team and LGD from China. Europe had two qualifying spots, which were secured by Vega Squadron and Na’Vi.
The eight teams have already been drawn into two groups of four and will face each other in a direct elimination group format on June 17th and 18th.
The first games will be:
- Team 1 vs Team 2 – Match 1
- Team 3 vs Team 4 – Match 2
The winners of each match will face each other and the winner from this match will advance to the semifinals. The loser will face the winner from the losers’ match for the second semifinal spot.
The bottom two teams in each group will then be eliminated from the tournament. The Group A winner will face the second best in Group B, while the winner in Group B will face the second best in Group A in the semis.
Let’s take a look at the groups:
Group A
Team Liquid – one of the strongest teams in Dota 2 as well as favourites to win the tournament, Team Liquid come into ESL One Frankfurt hoping to overcome the disappointment of losing a second Major final in a row, this time to OG. Although they fell at the final hurdle, Liquid performed well in Manila and apart from losing against OG, their only other loss was against MVP in the first round of the Winners’ Bracket. Their key player was JerAx, whose Disruptor and Earth Spirit plays were always strong and became a decisive factor in team fights and early ganks.
Alliance – like Team Liquid, Alliance were directly invited to compete at ESL One Frankfurt. However, the Swedes have recently struggled to reach a high level, despite putting in some strong performances at the beginning of the year. Alliance performed worse in the Manila Major (9-12th) than at the previous one in Shanghai (7-8th). The team also recorded one of their worst defeats in Dota 2 (1-27, Game 3 vs Fnatic), but they did manage to secure wins with some very unorthodox picks such as Leshrac and Centaur. Loda as a captain and a Carry is the key man in this roster.
Fnatic – the team come into ESL One Frankfurt through the SEA qualifiers after a dominant 3-1 win over MVP Phoenix. After their disappointment at Epicenter in Moscow, Fnatic managed to land a 5-6th spot at the Manila Major, complementing their 5-6th performance in Shanghai. They were eliminated by the finalists Team Liquid. The Support player, DJ, proved key for the team and his Enigma play against LGD will be remembered by many Dota 2 fans.
Vega Squadron – the Russians have established themselves as one of the strongest teams in the CIS region. Vega Squadron didn’t manage to qualify for the Manila Major, but did finish 2nd in WePlay Dota 2 League Season 3 last month. Ever since the launch of the latest patch, however, the team have struggled to qualify for a Premier tournament and will be extra motivated to make the most of their chance and perform well in Frankfurt. A key name in their team is No[o]ne, who is one of the most talented in the new generation of Ukrainian players.
Schedule:
- Match 1: Team Liquid vs Vega Squadron (17th June – 10:30 CEST)
- Match 2: Alliance vs Fnatic (17th June – 10:30 CEST)
Group B
OG – after a disappointing Shanghai performance, OG worked their way back into the top tier of Dota 2 teams by securing the Manila Major. By winning their second Major (their first success having come in Frankfurt in 2015), OG became the first team in Dota 2 history to win two Valve Dota 2 events. What makes the victory more impressive is that they secured it by beating Team Liquid, a team who have had the upper hand on them in recent encounters. After coming second in the Group Stage, OG won the event from the Upper Bracket and left no doubt as to who deserved to be champions. Currently every player in the roster is on fire, but the one whose performance was consistent in almost every game was Cr1t-.
compLexity Gaming – the Swedish-American roster have been building on their play over the last couple of months. They managed to qualify for the Manila Major, but their 9-12th spot will leave a bitter taste in their mouths, particularly after their 5-6th place finish in Shanghai. CompLexity came into Manila as the best new American Dota 2 team, but they only managed to win one match in a best-of-one series and finished the tournament with a 1-6 overall game record. That game was won thanks to swindlemelonzz’s good draft and the captain will need to identify and resolve the team’s problems in order for them to do well at ESL One in Frankfurt.
LGD – one of the big names in Chinese Dota, LGD are currently making a comeback. The first couple of months of 2016 were not the best for LGD. Prior to the start of Manila, LGD’s form was somewhat erratic and they surprised fans and players alike with their 4th place finish in the tournament. Maybe was the one whose contribution was always evident and this made him stand out. The Mid player was involved in almost every move that the team made, as well as compensating for Agressif’s generally underwhelming performance throughout the competition.
Na’Vi – one of the household Dota 2 names, Na’Vi have recently spent a rather long period in obscurity and nearly disbanded. However, after a streak of painful failures with various rosters, they are becoming rejuvenated in 2016. Manila was the team’s first Major participation after they got a direct invite. Their start was very promising as Na’Vi topped their group with a perfect score – two wins without conceding defeat (4-0). They fared less well in the knockout stages though, eventually having to settle for 7-8th place. The fan favourite on this team is a player who has always been around, Dendi. He is the playmaker of the team and the one to watch out for.
Schedule:
- Match 1: OG vs Na’Vi (17th June – 13:45 CEST)
- Match 2: compLexity vs LGD (17th June – 13:45 CEST)
Dafabet will be providing competitive odds on ESL One Frankfurt.
