The Dota 2 Boston Major is just roughly 6 weeks away and Valve had finally announced the direct invites for the upcoming tournament yet it seems that some fans are a little upset over the latest selection for the next Major event. Today, we will answer the riddle of the why and how behind the Major's direct invites.
The Logic Behind Dota 2 Major Direct Invitations
In order to properly assess each team's qualification for a direct invitation, there are three major pointers that Valve is taking into consideration: TI6 Performance, post-TI6 Roster Changes and post-TI6 Performance. After the last TI tournament, as expected, there have been major reshuffles across all active competitive teams; some players were dropped and acquired which then gave rise to new teams such that of Team NP.
With that being said, surely Valve has had a rough time picking out the top 8 teams that qualify for the next Major tournament. If Valve is to stick solely with its three major pointers then only Wings Gaming is the sole qualifier for an invite as it's the only team that didn't make a post-TI6 roster change. In lieu of the roster changes, Valve has focused more on the TI6 top placers and the post-TI6 performances.
Wings, EG and Digital Chaos
Given the top TI6 finishers, it's basically a no-brainer that teams DC, EG, Wings Gaming deserve the sweet spots. DC has made a roster change by dropping its offlaner Moo and acquiring OG's former offlaner, MoonMeander. EG, despite having a fantastic TI6 run - placing third in the tournament, made a major roster change by acquiring Arteezy and Cr1t. The change however, proves to be a great choice as the new squad placed first in the latest MDL 2016. Lastly, Wings certainly deserves a direct invite, having been the TI6 grand champions and making no changes in their current roster.
EHOME and Newbee
After the top 3 teams, the next two teams that follow the pattern is clearly EHOME and Newbee. The former is arguably the most underappreciated team despite placing sixth on TI6 and successfully placing first in the China qualifiers for the LAN tournament, Summit 2016. The team has made a major roster change by dropping a former all-star "iceiceice" but it also acquired formidable and longtime professional players, Sylar and 2015's CDEC finalist, Garder.
Newbee on the other hand, has suffered greatly on the last TI tournament; having been eliminated early from the main event, most of its team members has departed the organization after TI. But the organization has stood its ground after acquiring China's rising stars namely: Sccc, uuu9 alongside its remaining players, kpii and Kaka. The roster is completed by iG's renowned support, Faith. Newbee may have been through a disastrous TI6 run but their post-TI performances has been stellar - placing first and second on all 4 LAN tournaments post-TI6 including the recently concluded MDL 2016. Those accomplishments alone have earned them a spot for the Major's direct invite.
OG, Execration and MVP Phoenix
The bottom three Dota 2 teams are considered to be the dark horses of the tournament - OG, Execration and MVP Phoenix. OG is probably one of the teams that have suffered severely post TI6 alongside Alliance after a major reshuffle that basically changed the entire roster of the team. OG is one of the teams that have been criticized for getting the direct invite considering their major reshuffle post-TI and seemingly mediocre performances on the post-TI LAN tournaments. Nonetheless, it seems that their previous track records pre-TI as well as their latest MDL 2016 performance has earned them the spot for the Boston Major.
Execration and MVP Phoenix are also the two teams that are regarded to be the unexpected direct invitees considering their poor performances in TI6. The most notable argument was that Fnatic should've been on the list as the team is now comprised of the former highly successful TI6 runners, TnC DeMoN and Eyyou. This is not the case, however, as unlike OG Execration and MVP Phoenix, Fnatic and other top tier teams like Team Secret and Team Liquid has placed well in the past LAN tournaments.
It seems that aside from the TI6 performance, Valve is giving major credit on Dota 2 teams that are placing well on post-TI LAN tournaments as it's highly improbable for most teams to remain intact after a conclusion of The International.
