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Indonesia is the home of rabid Dota 2 fans. It therefore comes with a tinge of surprise that GESC: Jakarta will be the first Valve sanctioned tournament in the country. Hosting 8 teams with 300 DPC points up for grabs, the tournament falls under the shadow of the larger The Bucharest Major. That means major contenders in the international circuit chose to rest, leaving GESC: Jakarta open for a mostly disparate set of teams to compete. VGJ.Thunder, Evil Geniuses, and Fnatic strike out as the major aspirants in the race. Na’Vi comes under the next tier of competitors who also will be playing after a run at The Bucharest Major. At the periphery of this competition lie Rex Regum Qeon, DC, Infamous, and The Final Tribe.

Most of these teams do not represent the finest of their regions. GESC: Jakarta stands as the battleground not of the nations’ choicest, but of the ones relegated into the nether-world of their regions. Will VGJ.Thunder and Fnatic waltz above the competition, or shall we see a dent in the expected from the rest?



Southeast Asian and Chinese qualifiers are distinctively marked with deep muddy qualifiers that feature a large variety of teams eyeing to unfold as the victors. This tournament also saw a separate qualifier for Indonesia. From these morasses have emerged Fnatic, VGJ.Thunder, and Rex Regum Qeon.

The men in orange have had an eventful time with the addition of Universe to their roster. Barring a mild controversy, their achievements speak for themselves. They won the qualifier for DreamLeague Season 9 as well as arriving at a surprising 4th position at ESL One Katowice 2018. Fnatic breezed through the group stages there, defeating Na’Vi, Team Kinguin, and Team Secret. Losing only to Virtus Pro and Team Liquid marks the improvement that EternalEnvy has been able to bring to the competition. The Fnatic that will contest at GESC: Jakarta is filled to the brim with a host of skills and a resurgent inspiration to outbid their past selves. In 7.09 alone, Abed records an average of kills that is the almost double that of EternalEnvy, with scores of 10.42 and 5.50 respectively. The 17 year old has carried the bulk of the team successfully for a long time. It is on his back that the entirety of Fnatic’s hope and luck lies.

VGJ.Thunder attunes the necessities of venerable experience with newfangled youth. Sylar and DDC have been able to breathe new life into one of the most successful rosters in the DPC. Sitting only behind Newbee and VG as far as other Chinese teams go, VGJ.Thunder have managed to do fairly decently in the brutal Chinese qualifiers. Their first international success came against their counterparts in this tournament, Evil Geniuses, at Galaxy Battle II: Emerging Worlds. While the boys in blue could beat VGJ.Thunder in the upper bracket, it was Freeze’s Shadow Fiend, Terrorblade, and Death Prophet that had the last laugh in the finals. At the clash of the titans, The Bucharest Major, VGJ.Thunder certainly weren’t favoured over Team Liquid, Team Secret, and Newbee. Yet, they proved themselves to be numero uno in the Swiss brackets. Their playoffs began with great hope, defeating TNC and Newbee at unexpected pace. Their finals loss comes against VIrtus Pro at the behest of making their mark nevertheless. Jeremy Lin’s own come at Jakarta with great vigor, and with immense hope on their backs.

The only reason we see the addition of Rex Regum Qeon as an entrant is because of the additional Indonesian qualifier. There is no doubt that RRQ couldn’t have been victors within the Southeast Asian qualifiers given a string of disappointing runs in the same for other tournaments. A series of 5th-6th and 7th-8th in SEA qualifiers decorate their achievement list. Their few 2nd and 3rd finishes alongside a share of the prize money come from Indonesian-exclusive qualifiers or tournaments. At the GESC qualifier, RRQ came second in the group stages, losing only to Alter Ego, another no-name in the scene. However, they met them again in the finals only to beat them 3-1. RusmaN-, their position 1, seems to be their shining beacon of hope in the last patch. He along with their mid, Yabyoo, have a KDA of 7.45 and 6.67 respectively. Can they replicate their performances in tier 3 tournaments now at the Minor?



The Final Tribe and Na`Vi represent Europe and CIS respectively. This marks The Final Tribe’s first successful emergence from the European continent. Na’Vi has slowly managed to turn the odds in their favor decently in the recent past.

The Final Tribe is the moderately talented line-up that has failed to achieve significance and terror in the EU qualifiers. The 2017 roster featuring Era, jonassomfan, and Handsken from the current team never saw the light of the day. They constantly faced slaughter and ended with 3 5th-6th positions in the qualifiers. With 2018 and the addition of Nox and Pablo, there resulted a marked improvement. Most notably in their 2nd position at the DAC 2018 EU qualifier, they enjoyed a praiseworthy run. It was OG that took them down in the finals. In the next qualifier for GESC: Jakarta, TFT made sure to cover their faults and cracks which ensured a successful run. TFT is our pick for the x-factor of the tournament. Most of the players have struggled for a very long time to shine in the limelight. This certainly seems to be the ideal ground for them to prove themselves.

The ‘achievements’ section on Na’Vi is adorned with an array of 1st positions that teams can only dream of today. Na’Vi shadow over competitions has diminished spectacularly. The DPC began with great fervor for Dendi and co., winning 3 qualifiers consecutively. The team however, like the narrative of most regional teams, stuttered at their international outings. Na’Vi isn’t characteristically at the two extremes in terms of bringing results. They’ve managed to peddle and float in the middle of the lake, but cannot move beyond into the ocean. Post 7.08, the team has fizzled out in terms of momentum and vigor. They’ve won 7 out of 18 games played. Every player’s individual statistics scream of a lack of tenacity. It will take a Herculean effort for Na’Vi to win it all and find grounding and momentum.



Evil Geniuses haven’t tasted glory in a long time. If there ever was a tournament in twilight that could help Arteezy overcome his Valve-tournament curse, this seems fit. Former teammate Aui_2000’s team, DC, will also represent the region. And finally, Infamous will contend as the challenger from South America.

The boys in blue have had their journey across DPC tournaments cut short by a variety of elite teams. LGD, Newbee, Team Liquid, Team Secret, and Virtus Pro have all contributed in putting a stop to EG’s ambitions. CompLexity Gaming had the problem of winning regional qualifiers but not being able to strike gold at the international competition. This now seems to be EG’s chronicle too. At GESC: Jakarta however, none of these teams are there. Moreover, The Bucharest Major saw the team win against Team Liquid, and Newbee giving an impression of renewed strength in EG’s roster. VGJ.Thunder will be their main competitor but are far from the only challenge EG might face. Secondly, Fnatic enter with more momentum albeit an inferiority to EG. Most of EG’s victories in the recent past are the result of excelling in teamwork. Finding great rhythm within the roster brings them results, and that should be the case in Indonesia too.

DC’s history begins a series of promising results at North American qualifiers. The StarLadder qualifier saw them defeating VGJ.Storm and OpTic Gaming and losing to coL in the finals. Revenge was exacted with their win against coL in the GESC: Jakarta qualifiers. At the ESL One Katowice qualifier, the team put up a valiant effort, going down to OpTic Gaming only after an epic 3:2 match. Herein conclude the positive news. After joining Iceberg Esports, the roster failed miserably. Sub par performances marked their runs in 3 qualifiers. That being said, the team enters in poor momentum alongside an ongoing controversy with their former organization. Nevertheless, given the experience that Aui_2000 and Moonmeander, a TI winner and a 2-time Major champion respectively bring to the team, it would be surprising to not see DC capitalize on the meager competition at hand. The team sports a poor individual performance, and a revival will be the prerogative for DC.

The Peruvian roster led by the Argentinian, Papita, have only themselves to blame for their myriad position at the international stage. Most spectators and analysts simply glance over the pea under the bed that is Infamous. And why not? Somewhere, the lackluster results from them is a problem endemic to the entire South American continent. The bets placed on Infamous never yielded results before, and by our estimate, it would take an enormous effort for that narrative to change at GESC:Jakarta.