The Beast from the East, DK is without a doubt the strongest team in Asia and possibly the world. Their strength lies not just in the assortment of superstars in a single lineup, but in the fact that the team believes in its own strength and trusts in each other to a degree that one would not generally associate with a chorus of huge names and giant egos. This has led to the team having some of the best farm-allocation of any pro-team, as well as fantastic coordination in teamfights.

Taking home the Sina Cup, DK has a record of 17-8 in 6.80 against the best of China. While the team dominates as hard as any other when things are going smoothly, it’s the way the machine plays from behind that makes them the undisputed early favorite on the road to TI4.

On paper, the current iG roster is just as strong as that of DK; Luo, YYF, and 430 are all at the top of their game in their respective roles. However, the team hasn't quite pieced everything together, and they have yet to showcase the level of fluidity and flexibility that DK has. The team tends to be very tempo based as they like to play an aggressive midgame with their mid and support heroes engaging in frequent skirmishes.

Their 24-10 record in 6.80 is a little inflated by their Netolic cup results (which DK did not participate in) but still showcases a team that's hot on the heels of DK. Their style looks very sharp and deadly when successfully executed, but lies on an edge in which slightly inferior farm allocation and lack of full commitment in the midgame puts the supports far behind, making comebacks hard to achieve should they lose the early game.

Between iG/DK and VG/Newbee there exists a small yet crucial gap in individual skill. As a whole VG has fallen off quite a bit since their victories last winter. Their flamboyant, overly aggressive style has been reined in both by 6.80 and other teams adapting to the new flow of the game. The team is still a constant threat to the other top teams, but their style of Dota suffers from its inherent risky nature that does not lend well to best-of-5 series.

17-13 is a middling record that is really better than it looks, with a close 3-2 loss to DK in the Sina cup finals. Right now we have a team that is on the cusp of greatness, but without any clear idea as to how to take the next step.

There was a great deal of hype for the new ‘Dream Team’ when they were first announced. Unfortunately, most of it died down when they acquired the solid but uninspiring veterans KingJ and Banana, and whatever was left after that disappeared with the team's debut fiasco in Sina Cup as they bombed out against amateur teams.

Since then, the team has come quite some way, and the issue of conflicting positions has mostly been solved despite some remaining unease. After dismantling LGD in WPC, NewBee has taken a solid step up the ladder of Chinese Dota, but their lopsided record against DK and iG doesn't bode well for the team's future unless they make another breakthrough.

LGD has fallen far since their D2L win in the middle of winter. The departure of iconic captain Xiao8 has put the team and brand in a do or die position, and the direct TI4 invite that was once taken for granted is quickly fading in the horizon. Icy is a solid player, but he provides neither the soul nor face that the team desperately needs.

Crowned by a pair of crushing defeats from iG and NewBee in recent days, 14-13 is simply not a good record. LGD is slowly becoming the gatekeeper that still beats amateur teams handily but is utterly impotent against the other members of the big 5.

We’re not gonna lie - we really argued this one out. In the end, however, Na`Vi retains their top spot via various flashes of brilliance as well as a solid win over Alliance in their last encounter. Admittedly, the team's play has recently oscillated between their typical brilliance and some utterly horrendous showings. However, with the entire Western scene in a state of complete chaos, Na`Vi seems like the only team unfazed by all the changes to retain their own style of Dota.

Even with their schedule slightly disrupted last month by Dendi's trip to the States for the Free-To-Play premier and a general break for the team, Na`Vi retains much of the magic they've always had. Sitting in the finals of the XMG CD Invitational with relatively blank slates in both Starladder and Dreamleague, Na`Vi is likely to return in force as they refocus. While 23-18 isn't a great record for a team that we’re claiming to be #1, it is interesting to note that half of those losses came from the MLG TKO league, an event that the team has approached with what appeared to be complete abandon.

Several of us actually felt Empire deserved the first place position, and if online results over the last month was the only thing we evaluated by, Empire would be hands-down the best team in the world. However, in a scene notorious for instability, it feels impossible to give Empire a well-deserved first place without first seeing them in action on LAN. The core style of the team often relies on a gank-based 4-1 that comes alive in the midgame to crush their opponents with overwhelming force. This kind of momentum-based play is indeed absurdly strong when working as intended, but as their series vs C9 showed in the D2CL semifinals, it doesn't work the best when put on the back foot.

With a monstrous 60-17 record in 6.80, Empire is expected to sail smoothly into the LAN finals of both Dreamleague and Starladder. Those will be the events that tell us whether the current Empire is a force to be reckoned with on the road to TI4, or whether they are merely a clone of the Empire of yesteryear.

EG's true skill level is very much obscured by their inconsistency and infrequent contact with the top European teams. They have a style that tends to rely on dual cores, and many EG games end up coming down to whether or not A-God wins his lanes (which he admittedly does more often than not) as the team reliably moves into a comfortable midgame with a pair of very farmed carries decimating the opposition. These setups rely very much on the early game momentum and the ability to deflect pressure on the midlane, two factors for which there's no guarantee the team will always be able to maintain.

Truth be told, being able to destroy the NA opposition with a 61 - 13 record doesn't really mean all that much for a team seeking to compete at a global level, but it does showcase what they are capable of. The evaluation has since become even murkier with Fear's injury-related absence. With the team’s top potential shrouded until LAN, we can at least watch the best (real) NA team perform at the top level, even without old-man-Fear watching their backs.

Yes, our reigning world champions are not at their best, and yes, they did lose their D2CL Semi Finals match to Na`Vi. However, they only did so in a hard fought bo5 that went to a fifth game.

One of the main criticisms of Alliance is that they haven’t adapted well to 6.80, and while they certainly have needed time to adapt during the 2013 - 2014 season, they still are one of the highest individual skill teams. It is also important to consider that a new patch is likely on the cards before TI4, making their diminished performance on 6.80 slightly less concerning. As defending champions, they are guaranteed an invite to TI4, and what will be crucial is how they do on 6.81.

Still the epitome of greed and the sworn enemy of BKBs, C9 is an interesting team, and the fact that they are both capable of defeating Empire and losing to TL in equally decisive fashion makes them exceedingly difficult to rank. With a 50-30 record, C9 is probably the most unpredictable team in the world, with no real pattern to their results. It seems like teams that grapple with C9 regularly, most notably EG, seem to have the team's number, while unprepared teams are often swept away by EEkami's wrath. A set of eclectic characters with a large fanbase, C9 certainly makes heads turn.