Na’Vi Makes It to ESL One Katowice

Destination Russia

Epicenter XL is one of the major DotA 2 tournaments to be held in Russia. In the DotA Pro Circuit line of tournaments, teams will also compete for big DPC Points as they fall into the major category. The competition set out from direct invite teams to regional qualification.

In total, there are five teams that received the direct invite to Epicenter XL. Through Twitter, Epicenter’s account announced that Team Secret, Newbee, and Natus Vincere are the last three teams to get the direct invite.

For Team Secret and Newbee, it looks reasonable because their performance has been quite good in recent tournaments. But there is something not right. Yes Natus Vincere got the direct invite. Epicenter, really?

Why Na’Vi?

After review, Na’Vi did rise dramatically in the 5th position in Pro Circuit rankings with the addition of new players. These players had previous points form Virtus.Pro, with most of the points coming from Ilya “Lil” Ilyuk’s signing. Some people argue that teams in the top 5 of the Pro Circuit deserve a “direct invite”.

However, some argue that with the entry of Na’Vi in Epicenter XL, it will cause a storm in the tournament. Since we know that the crowd in the CIS region is a big supporter of the team, the direct invite will only get more viewers for the completion. In fact, last year Natus Vincere got a special slot in the Epicenter tournament with the help of a “public vote”. They got a slot based on votes from fans around the world.

Mineski the First Team to Qualify

Mineski defeated the TNC Pro Team with a score of 2-0 in the EPICENTER XL final qualifier for Southeast Asia. In previous matches, the teams beat Geek Fam and Fnatic respectively.

The group stage passed through the GSL system with matches up to two wins. Eight teams were split into two groups, of which two teams entered the playoffs.

A closed qualification for South-East Asia was held on February 10-12. Mineski, TNC Pro Team, Fnatic, and Geek Fam received invitations. While team Team Admiral, Execration, BOOM ID, and Alpha Red were selected through an open stage qualifier.

EPICENTER XL will be held from April 27 to May 6 in Moscow. Twelve participants will play for a million dollars and 1500 DPC points.

DPC Standings

As previously mentioned, Natus Vincere took the fifth line of the DotA 2 Pro Circuit rating after the transfer of Lil. Previously, NaVi was in tenth place. The number of points in the VP remained unchanged. Here are the top 5 teams as we reach almost the mid-stage of the DotA 2 pro circuit.

1. Team Secret – 4,260 points

2. Team Liquid – 3,060 points

3. Virtus.pro – 2,697 points

4. Newbee – 1,635 points

5. Natus Vincere – 1,110 points