Bloated Champions – Aster, Alliance and VP Show Why New DPC System Doesn’t Work

Let me go Wild Card

I don’t want to justify any of the champions who have taken off, but statistics are a stubborn thing. If the teams, which until recently were at their best in their regions, are the first to be eliminated from the playoffs, and having shown an extremely pale game, it means that the lack of practice really affects the result. For the first time, Valve decided to try out such an unusual format, when several teams at once skip the group stage, waiting for rivals in the playoffs. And, apparently, the experiment was not the most successful.

It would seem that the teams from the playoffs have more time to prepare and properly study their opponents. However, in reality, everything looks different: the winners of regional leagues simply do not have time to gain the necessary playing tone and do not fall into the meta that was formed at the championship. Due to the fact that the conditional Alliance or VP spent two weeks in “tournament isolation”, having the opportunity to hone strategies only in screams or in a pub, it seems to them that Kunkka in third position is a great option, while Slark and Monkey King – strong meta carries. And the same Aster takes Medusa, against which all the participants of the major have learned to play, and the character himself has a win rate of 22% in the championship. At the same time, both Aster and Alliance, unlike VP, have trainers, but it turns out that they could not help adapt to the meta.

And the very fact that spectators see league champions only on the decisive days of the Major, moreover, only in a few matches, hardly adds to the entertainment of the tournament. Victory in the regional league already brings an increased number of DPC points, getting a slot in the playoffs is an extra bonus, which at the same time plays against the teams.

Motivation

Of course, the league champions themselves are to blame for their failures in Kiev. Conditional Invictus Gaming or Evil Geniuses at the first Major, no one bothered to adapt to the meta and reach the final of the tournament. What has changed now? First of all, motivation: three out of four dropped champions, in fact, did not need anything in Kiev, since they had already secured slots for themselves at The International 10.

Indeed, the teams for which the performance at the Major is important because of their position in the DPC table can be counted on the fingers of one hand in Kiev. The rest of this tournament is not needed, since they have either already secured an invitation to TI, or, in fact, have lost their chances of getting one. This is only the second Major of the season, and its competitive value is already at the level of Tier-2 of an online tournament. Aster, for example, according to the team’s mentor, came to WePlay AniMajor 2023 not in the best shape, but Team Secret generally played Wild Card carelessly. Considering how cool the tournament was in terms of design, WePlay organized it, it is doubly disappointing that Valve just messed it up with their new system.

In addition, do not forget about the tournament’s prize fund, which is 80 times less than that of The International 10. That is, Valve, in fact, has taken away any motivation from the teams to give all their best and “fire strata”.

Distribution of points

The last problem of the “bloated champions” is the very system of regional leagues. Valve created several local get-togethers, whose importance was higher than the international LAN-tournaments. Virtus.pro is not obliged to beat EG, Vici Gaming or PSG.LGDto be at the top in Valve’s coordinate system. It is enough, being at home or at the bootcamp, to roll out NoTechies and EXTREMUM, because for this they will give more DPC points. The thesis itself sounds comical.

Now at the Major in Kiev Nigma shows “Dota” of the highest level, but the team may still not get to The International. It turns out that the significance of local showdowns with ViKin.gg and HellbearSmahers are much higher than the battles with the giants. To earn DPC points at the Major, Nigma had to go through the Wild Card grinder, the group stage of seven matches (three per day), advance to the playoffs and reach eighth place. All the same can be done without unnecessary physical and emotional stress: win three or four matches out of seven, which take place once a week, against teams from your region, and now you have the same points. It’s absurd from start to finish. And most importantly, all this leads to the fact that such a long-awaited LAN tournament with the best teams in the world simply loses its attractiveness and becomes secondary. And “thank” for this is exclusively the system of the season.