DreamLeague Season 19 Favorites

DreamLeague Season 19 is currently underway and day 1 gave us a lot of insights into who the favorites are. The differences between the 16 teams are quite significant and a small number of them have already stood out not just in terms of raw results but also in terms of strategic prowess.

For anyone who watched the first 16 matches, it’s clear that Team Liquid, Gaimin Gladiators, ex-HellRaisers, and Talon Esports are the big favorites. All of these teams have a unique way of approaching the current meta and their understanding of timings and tactics is hard to match.

Team Liquid

Liquid started the tournament with a victory against Tundra Esports and a draw against Talon Esports. Both of these teams are very strong, so Liquid’s results are entirely relevant.

In both of these matches, the team led by Aydin “Insania” Sarkohi favored a fast-paced play style over a slow-paced one and tried to prepare the necessary tools to dominate the mid game. In most cases, they succeeded and managed to end the game early.

One time they needed a bit more time to win, but that’s because they were pushing against an Enigma and a Zeus. With the exception of this game, which was the first game of the tournament for them, Liquid won their successful games in around 30 minutes.

The team that defeated them once, Talon, made sure that their Nature’s Prophet pick got punished severely in the laning phase.

https://twitter.com/ESLDota2/status/1645150992781004801

Gaimin Gladiators

GG started with two draws. One against Shopify Rebellion and one against ex-HellRaisers. In both matches, they clearly showed their preference for Nature’s Prophet and other meta-defining heroes such as Rubick and Pangolier.

Their defeats were caused more by a lack of synchronization than by their picks. In all four games, GG had excellent drafts and when they won, they did it in under 30 minutes.

https://twitter.com/GaiminGladiator/status/1645232043897266178

Ex-HellRaisers

Alexey “Solo” Berezin and his crew looked outstanding on day 1 of DreamLeague Season 19, but it’s obvious that they do not like the best-of-two format. Their entire play style is different because of it and that made them a bit hesitant.

In both of the games they won on game 1, Solo picked unusual heroes like Tinker and Bounty Hunter. Death Prophet, Disruptor, Rubick, and Enigma were also among their favorite picks.

Talon Esports

This SEA team has learned to play really well around Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon, and his versatility solves most of the problems. On day 1, Talon were successful with a Templar plus Ember combo, as well as with a Spectre plus Dragon Knight combo.

When they try high-risk combinations of heroes, they tend to fail. How they draft has a huge impact on how they play. Both of Talon’s matches on day 1 ended in a draw. One was against beastcoast and the other against Liquid.

Header: Nisha, Team Liquid