European Power Teams
5JunGz(5Boys) – Kuroky(Drafter, 5), matumbaman(1), FATA-(2), MC(MinD_ContRoL, 3), jerAx(4).
Alliance – s4(Drafter, 2), Loda(1), AdmiralBulldog(3), Mynuts(4), Akke(5).
NiP(Ninjas in Pyjamas) – Era(Drafter, 1), Limmp(2), jonassomfan(3), Handsken(4), Sealkid(5), Chessie[Sub]
Secret – Puppey(Drafter, 4) EternalEnVy(1), w33haa(2), Misery(3), Pieliedie (5)
Mnky Bzns – Fly(Drafter, 5) BDN0tail(1/2), Miracle(1/2), Moonmeander(3), Cr1t (4)
Golden Boys (Formerly London Conspiracy) – SKANKS224(Drafter 4/5), Madara(1/2), Keyser Soze(1/2), Skylark(3), Maybe Next Time (4/5).

Of all these teams, only Team Secret hasn’t played a broadcast professional game. 5JunGz has recently won their first online tournament at the Alienware Summer’s End Cup, beating out Vega, 4C&L and Golden Boys to take the win. Alliance, Empire and NiP were part of this single elimination tournament, making it the first EU professional tournament after the roster shuffles.

Although Empire was beaten by Golden Boys in this tournament, 5JunGz had earlier lost to Empire in the Quarterfinals of the ESL New York 2015 European Qualifier. What this tells me is that the power levels between the top tier teams in Europe are more or less equal, with each team having a good chance against each other. The best indicator of a team’s form is their performance during the tournament, and the fact that 5JunGz has so quickly risen to the occasion in spite of their new roster shows that they will definitely be a powerhouse team in time to come.

Alliance, in their debut game in the ESL New York 2015 European Qualifier, experienced a setback against NiP, losing to them 2:1 after an excellent start to the series. It seems that Alliance still need more time to settle themselves into a stable play style, which has been a problem since their win at The International 3. It doesn’t help that they recently failed to qualify for the MLG World Finals 2015, having lost to CIS Rejects 2:0.
Alliance definitely still has the skills to make it happen, as evidenced by their match against NiP, but they need to work together as a team again to produce results. Their mid-game decision-making is very weak, and s4 seems to be unable to juggle being a great mid-lane tempo controller and a shot-caller at the same time. If they switch responsibilities around or even come up with a new game plan other than split-push if Loda/s4 gets shut down, I’m sure Alliance can make a convincing return to form.

Finally, we have Monkey Business. After falling out with Team Secret over the kicking of Fly, BDN0tail(Big Daddy N0tail) has teamed up with his longtime friend once again, picking up popular streamers Miracle(midlane/hardcarry) and Moonmeander(offlane) together with Ex-NAR support cr1t. An interesting thing and a possible new trend emerging in Dota 2 is that BDN0tail and Miracle are interchangeably carry or midlaner. Not only does give their draft much more flexibility, but it also makes it extremely difficult for the opponent to guess what lanes will they be setting up (as they have no idea if a Miracle hero or a BDN hero will play carry), and thus makes for a much more unpredictable laning stage.

What’s 1/2, 4/5? It’s a new trend in Dota 2 – flexible roles.

As of today, only one other team practices swapping roles around as part of their gameplan; we have Golden Boy’s carry(abbreviated as “1” in Dota speak)/midlaner(2) players as well as farming support(4)/hard support(5) players being interchangeable. We’re fast approaching the sixth year of Dota 2. Most of the game mechanics have been figured out, and having a trick or two up any team’s sleeve helps out a lot to gain an advantage over the opponent. Flexible roles can possibly introduce a new dimension of strategy as the game itself becomes more stale, and being more knowledgeable about other roles other than your own will definitely allow you to better predict what your opponent will do next.

You can follow me on twitter @TheFreakofnatur and email me at [email protected]. Until next time!

Chen Yiji
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheFreakofnatur

More by Chen Yiji:

• MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries PC review – A time-demanding but action-intense Mecha game
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• This is why 2016 was simply amazing for SG eSports
• Interview with Witching Hour Studios creative director Ian Gregory – Masquerada: Songs and Shadows

Tags: Defense of the Ancients 2, DOTA 2, Dota 2 Majors European power team list, DOTA 2 power team, Valve