[PREVIEW] Summit 4 schedule, teams, format, brackets, prize-pool, talent

The Summit 4 will definitely be one of the most engaging tournaments of the season. Over the course of five days, eight of the most promising teams will be competing in a double elimination bracket for the $100,000 prize pool, in Los Angeles, California. According to the Summit 4 schedule, the first series will take place between two upcoming fan favorites, OG and Mineski, at 19:00 CET, on December 9th.

The Summit 4 will feature some of the brightest rising stars and some of the most distinguished figures in the professional Dota 2 scene.

Based on recent success, performances and expectations, The Summit 4 matches should be bursting with action, intensity and thrilling moments.

With teams of high caliber potential, the fourth title could belong to anyone in the end.

The Summit 4 teams

Evil Geniuses, Champions of the Aegis

In August, Evil Geniuses managed to turn the odds to their favor and claim the coveted TI5 Aegis of Champions and $6.6 million in prize money, thus becoming the first American team to win The International.

In a surprising turn of events, Kurtis “Aui” Ling was let go and replaced by Artour “Arteezy” Babaev not long after EG became The International 5 champions.

This season, Evil Geniuses competed in three LAN events following their accomplishment in Seattle.

Evil Geniuses started off the new season on the wrong foot, being eliminated in the very first round of the ESL One New York, their first official tournament of this fall.

They went on to take second place at the MLG World Finals and third at the Frankfurt Major.

Under the guidance of Peter “ppd” Dager, the team is able to adapt quickly and prepare for their opponents effectively.

Evil Geniuses roster:

Clinton “Fear” Loomis
Syed Sumail “Suma1L” Hassan
Saahil “UNiVeRsE” Arora
Peter “ppd” Dager
Artour “Arteezy” Babaev

Team OG, guardians of the EagleSong from the Frankfurt Major

Team OG, Frankfurt Major champions © Steffie Wunderl/ ESL

Only formed at the end of August, Team OG have already secured two consecutive LAN championship titles, including the championship title for the first Dota Major, in Frankfurt. Team OG rose through the Lower Brackets, bested The International 5 champions, Evil Geniuses, and upset favorites Team Secret to rocket to the top and claim the championship title and the staggering 1.1 million dollars prize at the Frankfurt Major.

After the Major, Team OG proved their worth once again, by clearing through Team Empire, 3:0, in the DreamLeague Season 4 grand finals. They had cinched their second consecutive LAN.

During the season so far, the team has taken a commendable 3rd-4th place at the MLG World Finals and second at the Defense #5.

Guided by the need for transparency in the decision-making process, balanced with increased attention to the players’ rights, the team strives to be something more than a mere team. They reach for perfection and unity in their passion for gaming.

Team OG roster:

Johan “BigDaddy” Sundstein
Tal “Fly” Aizik
David “MoonMeander” Tan
Andreas “Cr1t-“ Franck Nielsen
Amer “Miracle-“ Barqawi

Team Liquid, victors of the Defense

Team Liquid, Defense 5 champions. Picture courtesy of JoinDota

When The Defense 5 finals concluded, Team Liquid had usurped OG, 3:1, to take the championship title.

Team Liquid have been on fire lately, giving stellar performances that rivaled OG.

Appearing on the horizon and demanding attention in the post-TI5 shuffle, Team Liquid is on a road for champions.

The squad had walked away with their first victory only two weeks after formation in the Alienware Summer’s End Cup Grand Finals.

They took 4th at Nanyang Championships LAN and first place in the Dota 2 Champions League Season 6, both incredible displays of their talent and potential.

Team Liquid roster:

Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi
Adrian “FATA-“ Trinks
Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka
Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen
Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Borislavov

Mineski, rising stars of SEA

After many reshuffles, the latest roster changes to Mineski’s lineup came in March, when the SEA team added Jessie Cristy “JessieVash” Cuyco and Carlo “Kuku” Palad. In August, the team added Ryo “ryOyr” Hasegawa, formerly of Rave Dota.

This season, Gigabyte.Mineski have been taking the region and the world by storm. Consistently besting the SEA giants, Fnatic, for the qualifier spots in LANs, Mineski are quickly rising to the top in the region and making an international name for themselves.

The team failed to advance into the main event stage of Nanyang Championships LAN but took a commendable 10th place position at Frankfurt Major, having been eliminated by OG in the second round of the Lower Brackets.

The team has been demonstrating strong individual talent and tight team cohesion. Executing their strategies well and displaying great communication in fights, Mineski have been impressive as they continue to rise to the top.

Mineski recruited Jio “Jeyo” Madayag for the Summit 4 due to Ryan Jay “Bimbo” Qui’s visa issues.

Mineski roster:

Ryan Jay “Bimbo” Qui
Carlo “Kuku” Palad
Jessie Cristy “JessieVash” Cuyco
Ryo “ryOyr” Hasegawa
Julius “Julz” De Leon

Virtus.Pro, the tenacious and unyielding polar bears

Virtus.Pro © Brita Jonsson/ ESL

A team that has historically had struggles with consistent achievements due to frequent roster and structural changes, Virtus.Pro has broken free of the ill fated-pattern and has soared to great heights with their stable roster.

Since they found stability in the spring of 2015, their results have been undeniable: top three finishes in numerous major tournaments in the months leading up to The International 5.

They came in a commendable 5th-6th place at this year’s International championship and walked away with close to 1.2 million dollars.

Virtus.Pro was one of the few teams to keep their rosters intact at the height of the post-TI5 reshuffle period and they have continued to show strength in their recent official matches but have appeared to struggle obtaining top placements.

On December 2nd, Virtus.Pro replaced Ilya “Illidan” Pivcaev with Airat “Silent” Gaziev, most recently of Team Empire. The change was made in the hopes to give VP the push they need to take a few more steps forward.

Artsiom “fng” Barshack’s strong drafting and aggressive tendencies were decisive for the CIS team during the fall season. Silent was an integral part of Team Empire’s victories.

Virtus.Pro roster:

Airat “Silent” Gaziev
Sergey “God” Bragin
Alexander “DkPhobos” Kucheria
Artem “fng” Barshak
Ilya “Lil” Ilyuk

ViCi Gaming, the troublesome antagonist

When ViCi Gaming failed to advance to the Upper Brackets of The International 5 main event, they fought valiantly in the brutal best-of-one elimination series and progressed all the way to the semifinals to claim fourth place.

Following the event, Chen “Hao” Zhihao returned to Newbee and the squad recruited Xu “BurNIng” Zhilei as a replacement.

This season, ViCi Gaming have made a slightly late debut, at the Nanyang Championships LAN, where they managed to come in second. They followed suit with a 6th place at the Frankfurt Major.

The Chinese team always seems to have a way to change the course of a story and surprise the audience and their opponents, striking out from behind.

Xu “BurNIng” Zhilei’s and Xie “Super” Junhao are ViCi Gaming’s two most aggressive players.

ViCi Gaming roster:

Xu “BurNIng” Zhilei
Xie “Super” Junhao
Daryl “iceiceice” Koh
Lu “Fenrir” Chao
Xu “fy” Linsen

EHOME, the burgeoning threat

Although EHOME is one of the oldest Dota 2 organizations in China, their inconsistent rosters have created difficulties. The team had to battle their way through the qualifiers in order to obtain their place at TI5. They then impressed fans as they finished the group stage second in their group and 5th overall in the main event.

Despite being subjected to some of the roster changes that always follow The International, EHOME have been demonstrating top performances ever since.

The Chinese team claimed back to back qualifier spots, since the beginning of the season. EHOME were forced to withdraw from the ESL One New York LAN, due to unfortunate visa issues. They made their LAN debut later, during the Nanyang Championships, where they went up against Team Secret, LGD and Fnatic, and showcased steady and promising performances.

They took third at Nanyang Championships LAN and fourth at the Frankfurt Major – both performances indicative of their blossoming future and the possibilities for championship titles that is brewing under the surface.

EHOME roster:

Chen “Cty” Tianyu
Wang “old chicken” Zhiyong
Ren “eLeVeN” Yangwei
Hu “KaKa” Liangzhi
Zhang “LaNm” Zhicheng

Digital Chaos, low profile contenders:

Digital Chaos at Nanyang Championships LAN

Seasoned Dota 2 stars Aui_2000, BuLba and TC have been trying out their luck in the new season alongside up and coming players YawaR and Biryu, on a brand new team, Digital Chaos, founded by SUNSfan.

Although the team’s online presence has been noticeable, they haven’t really had the chance to go up against teams from different regions and they have been struggling to attain the top position in the NA region, always remaining one step backward, under Cloud 9’s shadows.

Having secured their spot at the Nanyang LAN finals as the runner-up team when Cloud 9 were forced to withdraw after travel document issues, Digital Chaos placed seventh in their first LAN.

On November 28th, Digital Chaos welcomed Theeban “1437” Siva to the North American roster as their fifth player, while moving Dat Quoc “Biryu” Ha to the sub and coaching position.

Digital Chaos roster:

Kurtis “Aui” Ling
Sam “BuLba” Sosale
Tyler “TC” Cook
Yawar “YawaR” Hassan
Theeban “1437” Siva
Dat “Biryu” Quoc Ha (substitute and coach)

The Summit 4 format

The Summit 4 will be unfolded in a double elimination bracket format. All eight teams will start in the Upper Brackets and all matches will be best-of-three. The grand finals will be best-of-five, with no Upper Bracket advantage.

Four teams will compete on the first day, December 9th, followed by the remaining four teams competing on the second day. December 11th will be the first day two teams will be eliminated. Three teams will be eliminated the following day, during the Lower Bracket quarter and semi finals. The final three teams will compete on the last day of the event, December 13th, for the Lower Bracket finals and Grand finals.

The Summit 4 brackets

The Summit 4 schedule

OG will face off against Mineski, while ViCi Gaming will go up against Virtus.Pro on the first day. EHOME, Team Liquid, Digital Chaos and Evil Geniuses will compete on the second day.

The Summit 4 schedule – December 9

The Summit 4 schedule – December 10

The Summit 4 schedule – December 11

The Summit 4 schedule – December 12

The Summit 4 schedule – December 13

The Summit 4 qualified teams

• Mineksi (SEA qualifier winner)
• Team Liquid (EU qualifier winner #1)
• ViCi Gaming (Chinese qualifier winner #1)
• Digital Chaos (Americas qualifier winner)
• EHOME (Chinese qualifier winner #2)
• OG (European qualifier winner #2)

The Summit 4 directly invited teams

• Evil Geniuses
• Virtus.Pro

The Summit 4 talent

English talent

• David “LD” Gorman: COMMENTATOR
• David “GODZ” Parker: COMMENTATOR
• Ben “MERLINI” Wu: COMMENTATOR
• Chan “WINTER” Littbinn: COMMENTATOR
• Dakota “KOTLGUY” Cox: COMMENTATOR
• Ioannis “FOGGED” Loucas: COMMENTATOR
• Ted “PYRIONFLAX” Forsyth: SHENANIGANS
• Jacob “SIRACTIONSLACKS” Kanner: TOMFOOLERY

Russian talent

• Vitalii “V1LAT” Volochai
• Rustam “ADEKVAT” Mavliutov
• Roman “CASPERRR” Lepokhin
• Viktor “GODHUNT” Volkov

The Summit 4

The main event scheduled for December 9-13 will line up a total of eight teams competing for a prize pool starting at $100,000. In addition to the qualified teams from each of the four regions, there will be two directly invited teams. This year, BTS was not be able to reinstate the Redemption Vote for the upcoming Summit 4 due to issues with third party compendiums in Reborn.

The Summit 4 prize pool

The Summit 4 will feature a $100,000 minimum prize pool, which has grown to become $110,411. Full travel support will be provided to the teams.