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Swan song, or Strong start? If the recent DAC Alliance vs Navi’ Lower Bracket Final is any indication, it’s another year of El Clasico Dota 2 with the hype meter turned all the way up to maximum.

DAC 2015 is an Asian tournament on the scale of The International, organized by Perfect World, the licensee for Dota 2 in China.

Perfect World, since October 2012 has been partnered with Valve to bring Dota 2 to China, modifying the game aesthetically to meet China’s set of stringent censorship guidelines for their games.

The tournament starts off a new year of Dota 2, and already it is producing great games.

Perfect World is announcing their presence in a big way by making a Compendium that mirrors that of The International’s.

This tells even the layperson playing Dota 2 and perhaps just casually buying the newest compendium that Valve and Perfect World are equally important, so much so that the unique “look” of the International Compendium is allotted to the DAC’s Compendium.

Look for DAC to become a recurring major tournament, as the Immortal Treasures that come with the Compendium is a truly rare resource to be allocated by Valve to DAC.

This raises the profile of the tournament in Valve’s eyes to be on the same level as The International, and it certainly looks like the teams are not just playing around either.

This year’s DAC looks to enjoy the same level of competition as last year’s International as well, with 6 of the 8 directly invited teams being in the top 8 seed in the world, two slots to the top 2 seeds in Asia, MVP Phoenix and Rave (according to Gosugamers.net).

Say hello to the Immortal treasures.

Teams to look out for in DAC are the Champions of OK Dota 2 Cup Cant Say Wips, Team of retired legends Big God (BurNing, LaNm, xiao8, rOtk, iceice), Up-and-coming Hyper Glory Team and the beloved Team Secret, whom has recently undergone a roster shuffle, shuffling in Arteezy and zai from EG.

As of the time of writing, Cloud 9 has qualified through the American qualifiers and only Navi, Power Rangers and Hellraisers remain in the European qualifier Lower and Upper Bracket Finals.

Seriously, if you read until here, and haven’t watched the video I’ve linked above (Alliance vs Navi) yet, watch it. It seriously channels the spirit of Ti3 into the qualifiers of DAC, insane matches played out always between Alliance and Navi.

Look for Nexon, the company who has been licensed to bring Dota 2 to Korean and Japan since 2012 to come up with their own tournament as well.

If each year has 3 majors, it will be well-paced and perhaps a year-round season can be established organically this way. The sword is in China, the shield, America. What will East Asia have?

You can catch coverage of DAC on twitch via www.twitch.tv/beyondthesummit, and follow me on twitter @TheFreakofnatur if you want to keep up with everything I write about!

Chen Yiji
The Gaming Ground