ESL One had hosted a tournament in Birmingham, UK, from the 28th of May to 2nd of June 2019. There were 12 slots – 8 Invitees, and 1 team from each of the 4 regions that would battle through qualifiers.
The participant teams were as follows:
- Ninjas in Pyjamas (Direct Invite)
- OG (Direct Invite)
- Vici Gaming (Direct Invite)
- Team Liquid (Direct Invite)
- Gambit Esports (Direct Invite)
- Evil Geniuses (Direct Invite)
- PSG.LGD (Direct Invite)
- Team Secret (Direct Invite)
- Alliance (GG.Bet Birmingham Invitational)
- Forward Gaming (North America Qualifier)
- Keen Gaming ( China Qualifier)
- TNC Predator (Southeast Asia Qualifier)
Throughout the group stages, each of the qualifying teams put up an exceptional show of their Dota2 prowess. Since this was the first professional event after the 7.22 patch, teams showed impressive ways to strategise around the new meta. New and interesting metas were put forth. Drow Ranger, who was the most picked/banned hero in the previous patch, now saw a huge decrease in its popularity. Mars was introduced to the added to the Captains Draft and hence he was hugely popular every series.
Team Secret had an amazing display of their Dota skills, resulting in them getting crowned as the champions of this tournament. Rising from the lower bracket, they fought through OG (2-0), beating TNC Predator (2-1), Gambit Esports (2-0), and then PSG.LGD (2-1) to earn the entry to Grand Finals, and then finally closing the enthralling series with EG (3-2) to earn their rightful spot.
This tournament offered a lot of spectacular matches of Dota. But this all fades in comparison to what is about to come; The International 2019. So gear up, level up your Battlepass, and come along with us as we witness yet another history in the making.
