The last batch of matches for Leg 3 of the 2016 Telkom DGL – DotA2 League were played on Sunday the 31st of July. The number of DotA2 teams competing in the league has increased from roughly 190 teams to 212 teams at the time of writing this article (from Ladder to Premier Division). With the Digital Gaming Championship at rAge only a few months away teams needed to make sure they were in positions that would ensure their direct invite to the event (or at least be in a position to earn such an invite by the end of Leg 4). The DGC LAN event in Johannesburg is pretty much the entire reason the league is played during the year, so netting a position high enough that earns an invite is, for many teams, the main objective of their season long campaign. Since I’ve previously outlined how the DotA2 League works from top to bottom, I am going to assume you are now a veteran supporter of local eSports. If not, or you want a rehash, make sure you read this article before you go any further.
Telkom DGL – DotA2 Wrap up
Premier Division: Leg 3 Results (04 July – 31 July 2016)
Ventus DotA2 enjoyed a dominant Leg 3 after their promotion from First Div. with a pretty impressive string of performances. This is not their first stint in Prem Div., however, as they were one of the two teams that were relegated from Prem Div. at the end of Leg 1. After their abysmal showing in Leg 1, Ventus completely changed their entire roster and the current team appears to be highly competitive once again. They finished in first position (7-6-1) on 19 points with a 72.22% win rate. Their only loss is the series they dropped against eN.eVo. Narrow victories against Pulse Gaming (2-1), coupled with comprehensive victories against iM Reborn and Sing.VH (2-0) ensures the best possible return to Prem Div. that Ventus could have hoped for. They have shown that they’re clear contenders for a top 3 finish at DGC. The only question is if they are able to replicate this success over the duration of Leg 4 or if their opposition will have worked them out and take appropriate steps to be better prepared. At the time of writing this article there have been no roster changes to the Ventus DotA2 squad during the post-Leg 3 transfer period.
Energy eSports eVo finish in second spot at the end of Leg 3 in the 2016 DGL DotA2 League, demoted for the first time from their usual top spot finish. This is primarily due to a double forfeit they earned along with Flipsid3 Academy, due to not playing their scheduled match by the appointed deadline, and the near perfect run Ventus enjoyed. eN.eVo pick up 18 points in their second place finish (6-0-0) with a 85.71% win rate. Although they did drop a few games against teams during Leg 3 with RDK and 225 absent, they didn’t appear significantly weaker and still managed a few truly spectacular matches. RDK has since returned to the team, while 225 at the time of writing has not yet rejoined. In an odd turn of events, the team appears to have left Energy eSports and are now without a clan on the DGL site. Whether this is merely an administrative error, or part of a larger move elsewhere, is as yet unknown. But there have been whispers that a move was possible, especially after Energy were unable to participate in Masters this year. This is all speculation, however, and we will have to wait and see how this unfolds. Provided eVo still attend DGC, then they’ll certainly be favourites to win the LAN event.
Singularity eSports Victis Honor “Sing.VH”
Sing.VH have, for the most part, been fairly consistent this year in their performances over Leg 1, Leg 2, and Leg 3. They have never truly looked in danger of dropping out of Prem Div., but alternatively they haven’t looked like they’re quite close to being able to topple eN.eVo either. They’re certainly a top 3 contender at DGC this year and if anything they’re one of the teams to beat if a team hopes to take first place. Sing.VH finish in third position on 17 points at the end of Leg 3 (7-5-2) with a 58.82% win rate. They only narrowly beat MDK Clouds End, F3.A, and Reversal FoJ (2-1) who all ended up at the bottom of the table. But they also dispatched iM Reborn and puLse.Salt with relative ease (2-0) to secure a top 3 finish. Their two losses come at the hands of Ventus DotA (0-2) and eN.eVo (0-2), both of whom finish above Sing.VH. At the time of writing there have been no changes to their roster.
Team Immersion Reborn “iM Reborn”
Immersion Reborn are another of the more consistently performing teams in Prem Div., ending in the top half of the table across Leg 1, Leg 2, and Leg 3 so far in 2016. Like Sing.VH, they are also one of the bigger obstacles any team hoping to win DGC would need to overcome. They have at moments threatened to upset eN.eVo’s strangle hold on the top of the table, but have as yet been unable to overcome the current hegemony. They finish in fourth spot on 15 points at the end of Leg 3 (7-4-3) with a 57.14% win rate. Their losses are to the teams that end above them (Ventus, eN.eVo, and Sing.VH) while their victories come at the expense of the teams that finish below them (puLse.Salt, Reversal FoJ, MDK Clouds End, & F3.A), indicating that their final position is a settled and consistent one. Similarly to Sing.VH, they too have as yet made no changes to their lineup before the all important Leg 4.
Pulse Gaming Salt “puLse.Salt”
Pulse Gaming enjoyed an explosive start to their inaugural DGL season, placing second in Leg 1. As a relatively new team this start was certainly better than they could have hoped for, but by the latter half of Leg 2 some cracks started to show. In hindsight this drop in performance makes sense since many of the players were new to each other and some growing pains are expected for any new team. This inconsistent performance continued into Leg 3 where they finish in fifth place on 13 points (7-3-4) with a 41.17% win rate. They ended up only narrowly losing to Ventus (in a series that they could have taken 2-0 but ultimately lost 1-2), highlighting once again that they’re potentially one of the strongest teams in Prem Div., provided they can get all the cogs working. Since the end of Leg 3 they’ve started making massive changes, picking up Scrat in the post-Leg transfer window (with one more player needed to fill the vacant pos. 5 slot). They have also assigned a new captain (Fenner) in order to change things up. Since both supports from Leg 1 – 3 are now relegated to the bench, one of the new incoming players will no doubt take over shot calling in game as well since it is unlikely the safe lane carry will be able to do this during the early phases of the game. The core lineup of the squad remains the same but if poor performances continue to plague the team you can expect this to change.
Reversal eSports Full on Jukes DotA 2 “Reversal FoJ”
Reversal FoJ narrowly avoid the drop, ending in sixth position on 11 points in Leg 3 (7-2-5) with a 37.5% win rate. Their sole victory comes against MDK Clouds End (2-0) but they also had a forfeit go their way against F3.A, helping them out of the bottom 2 positions. A highlight from this leg for Reversal FoJ must be their amazing comeback in one of their games against eN.eVo, where they managed to take the match even though one of their players disconnected and was unable to rejoin. Reversal FoJ might have lost the series (1-2), but they’ll take a bow for actually taking a game off Energy, which not many teams have been able to do in 2016. Reversal FoJ have added a few more players to their squad since the pre-Leg transfer period (ThoR, & zuS! who is still pending acceptance). Their squad is now sitting around 10 or so members, whom I am sure can’t all go to DGC later this year! It’ll be interesting to see how Reversal FoJ do in Leg 4, and later at DGC.
MDK Gaming Clouds End “MDK Clouds End“
MDK Clouds End (now MDK Dropkick Doggos) end in seventh spot on 9 points at the end of Leg 3 (7-1-6) with a 18.75% win rate. They’re thus the first of two teams that will be relegated to First Div. for Leg 4. Their sole victory comes against bottom side F3.A (2-1) but they performed admirably against some of the other teams they played in a few close matches that could have gone either way. MDK Clouds End have, like many teams before them, had a harsh introduction to Prem Div. and will ultimately return back to First Div. with a wealth of knowledge and experience. They will no doubt be aiming to immediately return to Prem Div. for the start of the 2017 season and they’re already assured a DGC spot already for which they’ll need to adequately prepare. F3arbender is the only player to leave MDK Clouds End so far, with no incoming player as yet confirmed as his replacement. Skaapie has also recently been assigned as the captain of the team.
Flipsid3 Tactics Academy Tilt “F3.A Tilt”
The Flipsid3 story is an interesting one that ends on a bit of a sad note. The current F3.A team that played in Leg 3 is mostly the same team that played Masters DotA2 in Leg 1 at the beginning of the year, but who were eventually replaced by the Prem DotA2 team. So essentially Flipsid3 swapped out their Masters and Prem Div. teams almost wholesale. With all the changes F3.A endured (as well as the change of scenery from Masters to Prem Div.) they had very little time to adjust and unfortunately finish bottom of the log on 5 points in Leg 3 (0-0-5) with a 28.57% win rate. They failed to win a single series of the five they played (they also picked up two forfeits – not helping their campaign), but they showed flashes of brilliance against many of the teams they faced. There is little doubt that with some time to readjust and find their footing they will once again be a force to reckon with. It’ll need to happen soon though, as Leg 4 is one of the most critical legs, and DGC is just around the corner. Major changes to help them on the path back to success might be the addition of players General Grootwors, avb, and F3arbender (from MDK Clouds End).
DGC Invites
Telkom have announced which finishing positions in the DGL League will earn invites to the annual Do Gaming Championships held at the rAge Expo over the 7th – 9th October 2016. According to Telkom, the teams that qualify for DGC are:
- The teams that are 1st – 8th in the Leg 4 Premier Division
- The teams that are 1st – 8th in the Leg 4 First Division
- There will be a open waiting list in case there is a team that cannot make it.
- Teams on the waiting list will be ordered by seed from Leg 4.
TL;DR – The Shorter Headline
Ventus storm the gates and finish top of Prem Div., Flipsid3 and MDK slide into First Div., puLse.Salt working towards findings a new groove, eN.eVo no longer with eN?, and Telkom issues 16 DGC invites.
@SargonDotA2
