Captains Draft give Evil Geniuses their first championship title of 2016

Captains Draft has come to an end, granting Evil Geniuses their first championship title of 2016. Evil Geniuses out-drafted and outplayed Vega 3:1 in the grand finals. This was the third iteration of the event for Dota Cinema but the first major event for MoonDuck Studios. 14 teams originally competed in the unique game mode for a share of the $100,000 prize pool. Evil Geniuses walked away with $43,000 and a boost of momentum going into the upcoming Shanghai Majors.

Evil Geniuses defeats @VegaSquadron 3-1 and emerge as the champions of #CaptainsDraft 3.0! #BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/Ky1xukdJAb

— Evil Geniuses (@EvilGeniuses) February 17, 2016

Captains Draft 3.0 began in January featuring 14 teams competing for the base prize pool of $100,000 – almost double the amount from the second season.

Evil Geniuses had quite a run in the event. Being the first team to debut the newly added hero Arc Warden in competitive play, they also topped their group with all wins.

In the playoffs they bested Team Empire 2:1 and knocked Vega into the lower brackets 2:0 before finding their place in the grand finals.

Vega Squadron had started out being in second place under Evil Geniuses in the group stage. They then started strong in the playoffs, crushing Alliance 2:0 in their first round. They were sent to the lower brackets by Evil Geniuses, where they then had climb their way back over Alliance again.

Once again Vega was facing Evil Geniuses and once again they were not able to overcome the North American team. For the second time in the playoff series they were knocked out by Peter “PPD” Dager and company. For the second time in the tournament series, Vega came in second place under Evil Geniuses.

Captains Draft 3.0

Captain’s Draft 3.0 was the third iteration of the event by Dota Cinema and the first for MoodDuck Studios.

The game mode is popular for fans and teams as it features less picked heroes and unusual drafting. The Captains Draft pool takes 27 randomly selected heroes from the entire hero pool. Newer heroes such as Arc Warden and less chosen heroes could be among those that make an appearance. Another unique feature is that the mode starts with six bans before the picks begin.

Captain’s Draft 3.0 Teams

Qualifier tier

• Mamas Boys*
• Digital Chaos
• compLexity Gaming
• Team Spirit
• STARK
• STEAK GAMING
• T.RoX
• Power Rangers

*Mamas Boys replaced Natus Vincere due to roster issues

Groupstage tier

• Evil Geniuses
• Team Empire
• Vega Squadron
• Virtus.Pro
• Team Liquid
• The Alliance

Captains Draft 3.0 prize pool

• 1st place $43,454 – Evil Geniuses
• 2nd place $28,555 – Vega Squadron
• 3rd place $18,623 – Alliance
• 4th place $12,415 – Mamas Boys
• 5th-6th place $8,070 -Team Liquid/Team Empire
• 7th-8th place $3,725 – Digital Chaos/Virtus.Pro