[ESL One] Manila 2016 - Day 1

On April 22 2016 02:26 Azarkon wrote:
Might as well do this.

1. Secret: on paper the best team at the tournament, but we all know how that goes. They could be bad, but how bad could they be? The only other team that we know is a solid top team in the tournament is Liquid, and it's not though Secret hasn't played with Arteezy before. It's only Universe's play this tournament that is still not known to us, given that he's never played much outside of America, but I trust Universe has the experience to do it without a problem.

2. Liquid: the most solid team coming into the tournament, since they made no changes from the time of Shanghai. They will be the measure of every other team's skill, as they are the only team we know to be a top Western team. I think they have what it takes to reach the final, but not necessarily win it, though it'd be nice to win Secret.

3/4. Complexity: we'd like to believe that hard work is what distinguishes the top teams from those below, and swindlemelonzz is all about hard work. It's difficult to put Complexity above Fnatic, however, because simply put, they don't have the results to back it up. Complexity's group is the easiest to take second in, however, and they're liable to play Secret and just lose. Even were they to play Fnatic, however, I can't see it being much worse than an equal game.

3/4. Fnatic: the best Southeast Asian team. They've been doing well in all their recent games, and are certainly playing the best Doto in Southeast Asia. But one has to consider this: Southeast Asia, outside of Fnatic and the Koreans when they're on their game, is bad, so it's not though Fnatic's recent results matter all that much. They're going up against the best of the West here, and the best of the West rarely lose to Southeast Asia. That said, Fnatic has, in the past, done well against Secret, so who knows? They could take first in the group, in which case they can even make it to the final.

5/6. Ehome: Most people agree that Ehome got worse after they lost Cty, and so do I. How bad are they, exactly? Well, they've not won a single Chinese tournament after the change, and in fact haven't played many of them. This doesn't speak well for Ehome, and I have no idea why they chose to not play in the most recent Chinese tournament. They could've used the practice, and given how Chinese teams don't try hard in practice except in tournaments, I can't see them having got a lot of use out of it. I don't think this Ehome is that solid - their middle player still isn't a top player and their carry player has only gotten worse. Iceiceice's support might be the only idea that saves them.

5/6. Wings: Speaking of Iceiceice, we also have Iceice playing in this tournament. While he's one of the best support players in China... That's all they have going for them. There's no cause to believe any of this team's other players will hold up well against the competition. But they could take a game, even two, due to not being known and due to the fact that they do have their own strategy. And they did do well against Newbee - one of the only Chinese teams to do so - before this tournament. So who knows, they might go even higher than this.

7. Empire: didn't even qualify by themselves. Judging by current players might be able to play Russian Doto early game and throw. Won't get past the top teams unless I'm completely wrong about Russian Doto. Still, they're hard to place among the bottom teams. I'll put them here simply because I don't want them to do well.

8. Mineski: Is Pinoy Doto, best Doto? Unfortunately, no. Even with home advantage, I don't think Mineski is going to do much this tournament. They lost one of their most important players, who helped them qualify in the first place, and at the same time, they have not been a solid top team in even Southeast Asia. Although it is sad to put Mineski as last place in their own country's tournament, it's not though it'll be worse than the Chinese at Shanghai, and maybe they'll even take a game and get all the people there behind them.

On April 22 2016 05:12 Pandemona wrote:
Yes but the last ESL (New York) was meant to be as well but they messed scheduling up and had to be bo3. So bo5 it should be but if they mess up schedule it will be bo3 xd

On April 22 2016 06:49 Nyan wrote:
The finals are on the last day without anything else so it can't be a bo3. It just can't