Kiev Major invites revealed: 3 teams from China, EU and 2 from NA make the cut – leaving SEA out

The Kiev Major invites, both direct and regional, have been revealed by Valve, in partnership with PGL. Sixteen teams – eight directly invited and eight qualified ones – will travel to Kiev to compete for a $3 million prize-pool in this springs’s Dota Major.

The Kiev Major will take place at the at the National Palace of Arts, in Kiev, Ukraine, between April 27-30th, and will be organized by Valve and PGL. Sixteen teams will compete over six days in a single elimination tournament.

According to Valve, the Kiev Major will feature eight directly invited teams and eight teams coming from the Regional Qualifiers. A total of 60 teams will be competing in the Regional Qualifiers next week, with eight slots reserved to the winners of the Open Qualifiers that are set to start on Monday ,March 6th.

True to intention, the Dota 2 Majors are creating a sense of consistency among the Valve-sponsored event. From the direct and regional invites announcement timing and format, through the regional and open qualifier process, until the main event structure and production, the events provide a sense of structure and stability.

It also appears that the Dota 2 Majors are indeed putting emphasis on the LAN tournament results during the season leading to the next Major.

Wings Gaming are the TI6 championship team. Although they seem to have fallen flat to many fans – taking 3-4th in ESL One Genting and 5-6th at SL iLeague, they still have received the nod from Valve for all of their overall accomplishments and potential.

The second team to receive their invite is OG. The three time Major winners will be aiming for a fourth title at Kiev and have already been looking strong enough to pull it off.

Ad Finem received a direct invitation to the Kiev Major, following their extraordinary run and second place finish in the Boston Major. The Greek squad will have a lot to prove to fans and critics – as they attempt to replicate their success following struggles as of late.

Team Liquid’s stellar performance and revitalized performances have earned them a direct invite to the Kiev Major. Only one week ago the team seized the championship title at StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 3.

After a 3-4th place finish at Boston Major and championship titles in China Top 2016 and Dota Pit League Season 5, Evil Geniuses have been granted a direct invite – little surprise to most.

The famed European-North American based team – Digital Chaos have landed their direct invite. The squad started off the season with bang – and championship title for ESL One Genting 2017. Having slipped a few rungs in the ladder through the season, DC is no stranger to a comeback storyline and rebound victory.

Newbee has had a relatively quiet season thus far. After taking 2nd place at ESL One Genting 2017 in January the team has gone almost silent. Newbee has had a predominate presence in major tournaments and internationals for the last few years.

Rounding out the invites is VG.J – the team of veterans had taken second place at StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 3 with some memorable performances and stand out plays.

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The eight teams that have received direct invites to the Kiev Dota Major:

• 1.Wings
• 2. OG
• 3.Ad Finem
• 4.Team Liquid
• 5. Evil Geniuses
• 6. Digital Chaos
• 7. Newbee
• 8. VG.J

Sixty teams will participate in the Regional Qualifiers:

Each of the six regional qualifiers (North America, South America, China, Europe, CIS and Southeast Asia) will feature invited teams. In addition, Open Qualifiers will be held for all regions. The winners from the six Open Qualifiers will earn the remaining spots of each of the Regional Qualifiers.

Registration is now open.

Each region consists of two round robin groups of five teams. The top two teams from each group will advance to a double elimination bracket.

The winner and runner-up of from China and SEA will receive Kiev Major invites. Only the winner from EU, CIS, NA and SA will receive Kiev Major invites.

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The Boston Major invites for the European Qualifiers (March 10-13):

• Bears
• Elements Pro Gaming
• Alliance
• Cloud 9
• Ninjas in Pyjamas
• Team Secret
• Team Alternate

The Boston Major invites for the CIS Qualifiers (March 10-13):

• Comanche
• Vega Squadron
• Team Empire
• Virtus.Pro
• F.R.I.E.N.D.S
• Na’Vi
• Team Spirit
• Effect

The Kiev Major invites for the North Americas Qualifiers (March 10-13):

• Team Freedom
• NP
• Onyx
• Team Red
• WanteD

The Kiev Major invites for the South Americas Qualifiers (March 10-13):

• SG esports
• Midas Club Elite

The Kiev Major invites for the Chinese Qualifiers (March 10-13):

• IG.Vitality
• Cavalry
• Vici Gaming.Potential
• Invictus Gaming
• LGD
• CDEC
• LGD.FY

The Kiev Major invites for the SEA Qualifiers (March 10-13):

• Clutch_Gamers
• Faceless
• Execration
• RRQ
• Geek Fam
• TnC
• Mineski

Kiev Major invites: Direct invites

Wings Gaming

Wings Gaming at China Top 2016 awards

The Chinese titans have not made any changes in their roster once again. The TI6 championship team had decided to keep their roster intact since August 2015.

Last season they claimed their first championship title for the year at Nanyang Dota 2 Championships – Cruise Cup #1 and Northern Arena BEAT Invitational LAN, fourth at the Summit 6. They had disappointing results at Boston Major with a 9-16th place finish and seemed to have been struggling a bit at the start of the new season – taking 3-4th at China Top 2016 (of four teams), 10th in Dota2 Professional League Season 2 and 9-12th at Dota2 ACE – Provisional.

Most recently they did bounce back for a 3-4th place finish at ESL One Genting.

Wings have received a spate of recognition and awards in the last year.The team was nominated for the prestigious Laureus Awards, alongside well known athletes and sports teams from across the world and and Games Awards 2016.

The team also received a certificate from the Guiness World Records for winning the largest single prize in esports – $9,139,002.

OG

OG at Summit 6

Following TI6, it was announced on OG’s facebook that the European organization bid farewell to Andreas Franck “Cr1t-” Nielsen, David “MoonMeander” Tan and Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi.

To help them accomplish their goals, OG recruited Gustav “s4” Magnusson – recently departed from Alliance and Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka who had just parted ways with Team Liquid earlier in the same day.

The most surprising addition to the team was Anathan “Ana” Pham, a relatively unknown face for Western fans. Ana is an Australian who has been spending time in China as part of Invitcus Gaming roster as substitute while Luo “Ferrari_430” Feichi was absent.

The player centered organization was the first team to win two Valve championship titles but slid into a disappointing 9-12th place finish at TI6.

Last season the team had taken took third place at MDL 2016, second at The Summit 6 and the championship title for Elimination Mode 2.0. They then rounded out their season with the championship title for the Boston Major – making history as the first team to now win three Valve events.

Making no changes to their roster following their feat, they seized second at Dota Pit Season 5 and then 3-4th in StarLadder iLeague StarSeries season 3.

Ad Finem

Ad Finem have been an imposing force in the European region since their inception, when Giorgos “SsaSpartan” Giannakopoulos had once again formed an all-Greek squad, on December 4th, 2015, just in time for the Shanghai Major roster lock.

Ad Finem means “to the end” and the team has always had their sights set on their end goal. They have been a stable and constant fixture in the European Dota 2 scene. Since the all Greek squad was formed, they have not made any roster changes and have been a source of pride for their nation.

Their TI6 qualifier run was thrilling, demonstrating a vast improvement in the team’s level of skill and synergy. They laid low following their failure to advance to the main event and re-emerged post TI6 stable as ever. They most recently placed 9-12th at BTS Europe #4, 5-8th at FACEIT invitational, 7th in DreamLeague Season 6, 5-6th at Northern Arena BEAT Invitational and 4th at Royal Arena.

Taking second place with an exhilarating journey through the Boston Major, they landed in second place and won the hearts of fans around the world.

Since then, the team has struggled to find their place in the new patch and has been low key – playing in only two qualifiers and Elimination Mode 3.0.

Team Liquid

Post TI6, the team’s reshuffle bid farewell to both Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka and Adrian “FATA-” Trinks – while welcoming Kanishka ‘Sam’ “BuLba” Sosale and famed 9k MMR player Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi. The fans were hyped for the new roster, but quickly disappointed in the team’s less than prominent presence.

Falling short of qualifying for Boston Major, and struggling through the season the team dropped out of Northern Arena Beat Invitational due to roster changes. Although nothing was officially announced, shortly after Maroun “GH” Merhej began to play the support role in BuLba’s stead.

The reconstructed European team reignited spectacular performances and former grandeur and seized the championship title for DreamLeague Season 6.

On January 4th Team Liquid completed their new roster, officially adding Maroun “GH” Merhej to the lineup.

Evil Geniuses

Arteezy and Zai

The long time captain Peter “PPD” Dager transitioned out of the team into a business management position with the brand.

Andreas Franck “Cr1t-” Nielsen stepped into the rather large shoes left open with PPD’s departure. Hailing from one of the most successful teams of the 2015 -2016 year, OG – Cr1t- was part of history as the only team to claim two Valve sponsored championship titles – Frankfurt Major and Manila Major.

For the third time, Artour “Arteezy” Babaev dons the blue jersey for the organization. The famed Canadian player has had an on and off again relationship between Team Secret and Evil Geniuses since 2014.

Saahil “UNiVeRsE” Arora, Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan and Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg have remained with the team.

Evil Geniuses were close to getting their names written on the Aegis of Champions for the second time. Not close enough, though: they fell to Digital Chaos in the Lower Bracket Finals and placed third overall.

They took first place at MDL 2016 – a strong start to the fall season, followed up by 4th at Northern Arena BEAT Invitational, 3rd at the Summit 6 and 2nd in Elimination Mode 2.0.

After a 3-4th place finish in Boston, the team grabbed two titles – China Top 2016 and Dota Pit League Season 5

Digital Chaos

courtesy of ESL

The North American team has not made any changes in their roster since the last season.

Last season had been relatively quiet for the team – they took 5-6th place at The Summit 6 and 4th in the offbeat favorite- Elimination Mode 2.0 but then made a much noise at the Boston Major where they took an impressive 3-4th place finish.

Earlier this season they participated in China Top 2016 coming in 3-4th place for the four team exclusive event but most recently the team took the championship title at ESL One Genting 2017 last month.

DC had a disappointing 7-8th place finish at Dota Pit League Season 5 and StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 3 – following their incredible start to the season with a first place finish at ESL One Genting 2017.

Newbee

Newbee’s roster from last season has continued to remain together for the new Kiev Major season.

The Chinese team had a strong showing earlier last season, barely a hint of struggle with the new additions in the roster. Newbee’s season was quite busy, claiming two second place finishes at LANs – MDL 2016 and Nanyang Cruise Cup and several first place finishes in regional events and qualifiers.

After a disappointing 9-16th place finish at Boston Major and 5-10th place at World Cyber Arena 2016, the team rebounded back for second place at China Top 2016 and to claim the championship title for Dota2 Professional League Season 2 – Top.

The only performance in 2017 so far has been at ESL One Genting 2017, receiving the runner up spot behind Digital Chaos.

VG.J

fy,

Post TI6, ViCi Gaming created a new squad called ViCi Gaming J – featuring not only some of the most celebrated players – but introduces honorary captain role for Jeremy Lin – professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets. Jeremy is an avid Dota 2 fan, making appearances at The Internationals and participating in youtube content promoting the game.

The team struggled to attain many notable achievements since inception and failed to appear at the Boston Majors – taking 5-10th in The Boston Major 2016 China Qualifiers.

VGJ did seize second place in the Dota2 ACE – Provisional and first in Dota2 Professional League Season 2 – Secondary.

For the new season however, ViCi Gaming announced the 2016 VGJ roster would be undergoing roster changes for the upcoming Kiev Major season. Xu “fy” Linsen and Liu “Freeze” Chang will be added to the lineup in exchange for hym to ViCi Gaming and most likely as a replacement for Wang “Nono” Xin – resulting in a revive of the famed duo of Fenrir and Fy.

The team impressed this season at StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 3, taking second place and giving fans a lot of hope for the future.