Preview of ESL One Hamburg 2018

On the 23 of October twelve strong teams of the modern professional stage will get to Barclaycard Arena in Germany to define the winner of the first Dota 2 LAN tournament in this season and to share the prize pool of $300,000

Holding format:

The championship will be held in two stages - group stage and playoff. Twelve participants have been divided into two groups where they will fight by the Round Robin system with matches in the bo2 format.  Two worst rosters from each of the groups will leave the competition, while the others will get to the playoff with the double-elimination bracket and the matches up to two wins.

We should mark that the collectives taking the first or the second position will start their way to the playoff from the upper part of the bracket where the other will try to succeed at loser’s. The Grand Final will be held up to three wins while the other matches of this stage will be taking place in the bo3 format.

Division of the teams into groups:

Organisation of the championship:

ESL is organizing the ESL One Hamburg 2018 championship and their competitions have always been known for good atmosphere, absence of delays of broadcasting and positive reviews from the players so all professional Dota 2 esportsmen wouldn't make visiting ESL One. A good bonus for players is motivation from the partners of ESL - Mercedes-Benz company, that will give the keys from a new car to the best player of the competition. This title can be taken according to the results of spectators and analysts' voting and at the moment all the three previous cars belong to the guys from Virtus.Pro.

Importance of the championship:

This championship is unique as despite the fact that it is not included in the rating system and there is no fight for Dota Pro Circuit points - the teams will still do their best. We can explain it due to the fact that this is the first LAN tournament in the season and the teams want to show what they are worth of in order to get direct invitations to the further events.

Teams’ chances:

Virtus.Pro - win’s coefficient is equal to 2.8.

Virtus.Pro have performed together since August 2016 and they have had only one change so far and it happened approximately eight months ago and it made the team stronger. At the previous TI 2018, the guys took the 5-6 position, and after that they managed to qualify for The Kuala Lumpur Major in the CIS and to triumph at the online tournament of the Maincast Autumn Brawl series. At this competition the roster are a clear favourite as they  are one of the teams that haven't participated in the transfer window and at all the previous championships of the ESL One series with Mercedes “Bears” ended up being the winners.

Team Secret - win’s coefficient is equal to 3.8.

Team Secret look as the team that got some help from the reshuffles after The International 2018 - Nisha and Zai joined the roster and helped their teammates to win PVP Esports Championship, where they defeated the new roster of Fnatic at the Grand Final. We should also mark that on their way to  the championship the managed to beat PSG.LGD Gaming, who are one of the strongest teams on the modern professional stage. At the moment Puppey and the team will be able not only to create good competition for Virtus.Pro, but also to beat them.

Evil Geniuses - win's coefficient is equal to 6.

The guys from Evil Geniuses were gathered before The International 2018, and there they took the 3-4 position, which is a great result and proves great power of the American-European mix. The collectives have good chances to take a good place at this competition but it is reduced by the fact that the roster will have a substitute - because of the visa problems Quinn «CC&C» Callahan will fill in for Syed Sumail «SumaiL» Hassan. It’s extremely difficult to estimate the current shape of the roster as within two last months the roster played only at the qualifiers for The Kuala Lumpur Major and got the first place there with no difficulty.

NiP - win’s coefficient is equal to 10.

PPD was created after the end of The International 2018 calling free agents and now they are performing better and better tournament by tournament. Since the moment NiP were created, they have overcome the qualifiers for The Kuala Lumpur Major, taking the second place, also they won GG.Bet Invitational Season 1 and got placed at Maincast Autumn Brawl. This roster will get to the competition being fully prepared and if they have difficulties to become the champions, they will definitely pass the group stage.

Vici Gaming - win’s coefficient is equal to 12.

The main roster of Vici Gaming showed itself well during the rating season 2017/2018 but the guys failed the main championship of the year - The International 2018, having placed 9th-12th. After such a result, Yang, Fade, and Dy joined the team, however, they don’t look stable. The team managed to make it to the Major tournament but the team was not able to win the desired slot at World Electronic Sports Games 2018 China Finals, even despite a weaker list of participants than at the previous qualifiers. This roster can win a group and not advance to the playoffs at the same time and it’s unclear what to expect from the team from “the Celestial”.

Team Aster - win’s coefficient is equal to 12.

After the failed season 2017/2018, the former players of Vici Gaming, VGJ.Thunder, and Invictus Gaming united at the beginning of September and showed good results - the team managed to pass the qualifiers to The Kuala Lumpur Major and ESL One Hamburg 2018 and at the qualifiers to World Electronic Sports Games 2018, the guys were one step from a slot, having lost to EHOME with a score 2:0 in the grand final. At this championship, we would bet that they would not advance to the next stage, however, they have been lucky with the group, so the guys will be able to guarantee themselves an advancement to the top eight.

Forward Gaming - win’s coefficient is equal to 14.5.

Resolut1on and the company had shown themselves great during the rating season 2017/2018, after which finished the season on the 7th-8th place at The International 2018. UNiVeRsE became the team’s only newcomer, who only reinforced the team. Over the last two months, the roster prevailed at King's Cup 2: North America and qualified to The Kuala Lumpur Major. This championship could become a real test for the guys, however, they are unlikely to demonstrate something really good due to visa issues.

Alliance - win’s coefficient is equal to 22.

The Swedish roster from Alliance has been playing together for almost a year and looks pretty strong now. Over the last couple of months, they managed to win Reshuffle Madness and the qualifiers to ESL One Hamburg 2018 and the team placed 3rd-4th at GG.Bet Invitational Season 1 and The Kuala Lumpur Major. This team looks good, however, it prevails over its opponents with a help of a stability and a good synergy due to playing together for a long time. At ESL One Hamburg, the roster will face really strong teams and we can determine what to expect from the Swedes at the upcoming Major tournament.

Mineski - win’s coefficient is equal to 22.

The team Mineski was looking pretty good during the previous season, however, performed unsuccessfully at the main competition of the year, so the head of the team made replacements. At the moment, the management has signed players, which had been rejected by other organizations, and released really strong esportsmen from their contracts, so they can’t find their play. After the reshuffles, Mineski held the 3rd-4th place at DreamLeague Season 10 and placed 5th-6th at The Kuala Lumpur Major, which didn’t bring them a slot at the rating tournaments. Mineski seems to be one of the teams that will not continue their participation after the group stage.

CompLexity - win’s coefficient is equal to 25.

The North American organization replaced three players at once to play in the new season, however, the team looks controversial now - the roster prevailed in the qualifiers to DreamLeague Season 10 and ESL One Hamburg 2018, however, all strong opponents qualifiers to the Major and didn’t play this qualification. As the practice of matches against strong rosters at World Showdown of Esports #1 and King's Cup 2: North America showed - an advancement to the playoffs will be a good result for EternaLEnVy on the fifth role.

PaiN Gaming - win’s coefficient is equal to 27.

The guys got to the championship with a help of a direct invitation, however, the qualifiers in South America would not be a problem for them as the roster is considered to be the best in the above-mentioned region for a reason. The roster gathered the best players of the organization’s former team and the famous MisERy held the position of a captain, who added a great part of the experience to the roster. Over the last couple of months, the team won the qualifiers to The Kuala Lumpur Major held the second place at Red Bull Guardians, having lost to Mineski only in the grand final. Considering the team’s performance in the previous season, we would place them in the top six but the hopeless loss to Mushi and the company in the final of the above-mentioned LAN makes us think about it.

EVOS Esports - win’s coefficient is equal to 81.

The Indonesians from EVOS has been playing together for some time and play well enough at the tier-3 level, however, the guys came to the competition accidentally - TNC Predator had refused from their slot. At the moment, the roster looks like the main outsider of the competition and the main candidate to be eliminated in the group stage, which is reflected by the bookmakers’ odds but it’s not worth to write off the guys as they beat Lotac and Tigers in the qualifiers, who can’t be called weak.