We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

Dota 2 at Dreamhack Day One: Fresh blood take on the champions

Dreamhackhook

Dreamhack Winter 2012 feels different to its summer counterpart. Major teams have vanished from the scene. Some weren’t able to stand being defeated at Valves International, while others just needed a break. Well known teams such as Na’Vi, Evil Geniuses, Absolute Legends and Team Dignitas are facing fresh blood from the likes of No Tidehunter, 4 Friends + Chrille, Out Of Tangos and We haz Asian.

It was a great start for the tournament, quelling most peoples fears of a one sided competition. Even if Na’Vi won all of their games, unsurprisingly, we have seen some great potential coming from the newer teams.

And everyone loves the underdogs, right?

Match of the day: Evil Geniuses Vs No Tidehunter
This has to be one of the best Luna games I have ever witnessed. The rate Lodaberg acquired his items was almost alarming, allowing him to utterly dominate team fights. Every time EG wanted to push, Luna’s sheer lane presence would simply dissolve any hard pressed attempt.Even EG’s DeMoN as Batrider tried to isolate her on a number of cliffs using his Lasso, to which Lodaberg just chuckled at the obvious desperation.
Team of the day: No Tidehunter
After today’s performance they’ve have surely increased their fame throughout the Dota 2 community. Just as Na’Vi did, they’ve won all three of their group stage games, without even breaking a sweat. Most if not all of their team fights were perfectly orchestrated and Lodaberg sure knew how to make the big money fast for that all important carry.
These guys are definitely the ones to watch, who might actually give everyone a run for the grand prize.
Player of the day: Na’ViLighTofHeaveN
It sucks being given the solo lane, feeling always distant from the rest of your team. Watching LighTofHeaveN do his thing however makes it all look like a walk in the park. He played as Windrunner twice today, demonstrating caution and patience while in the laning phases. Even when he was getting repeatedly ganked in lane, he kept his cool to deliver some insane Shackles that almost certainly won Na’Vi a few team fights.
If you want to get better at playing the solo lane, this is the guy you want to watch.
Tomorrow, watch out for….
As much as it’s easy to just choose a well known team to watch tomorrow, just take a second to witness how good these new teams are playing right now. We haz Asian are ones to watch, and not due to their stereotypical take on Asians. You will also have the opportunity to see the winners of the BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer) team winners fight it amongst these pro teams.
Again, don’t underestimate them. Teams like this are very effective at taking people by surprise.
Dreamhack is ongoing: you can check out the current DOTA 2 stream here. We’ll be rounding up all the weekends action so stay tuned.