Dota 2: The best teams of 2019

The difference between a good team and a great team is often decided in the big arenas. With so many Majors going on, we’ve seen many names emerge.

In Dota Pro Circuit 2018-2019, many names have won different championships, but only one team stood at the top of the highest glory. However, that doesn’t mean the other teams aren’t worth mentioning.

Here are the top 5 best Dota 2 teams in 2019.

5. Vici Gaming

Vici was once one of the few Chinese teams expected by the community in 2019, led by veteran player Pan “Fade” Yi. And the boys have been playing consistently throughout the year.

Things got off to a rough start, but after winning StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Season 1, the team began to find a winning formula to win 2 of the last 3 Majors. Thanks to that, they surpassed PSG.LGD on the DPC rankings and surpassed Evil Geniuses to take third place.

That put a lot of pressure on Vici Gaming at TI9. Despite their solid performance, they eventually lost to LGD and Team Secret and were eliminated from TI9. Vici Gaming was forced to rank 5. But overall, VG had a pretty great season to get ready for the 2020 season.

However, the team ran into some internal problems, forcing them to part ways with Fade and change their roster. However, VG also ended 2019 with an impressive achievement.

4) PSG.LGD

Considered the strongest team in Chinese Dota 2 for two consecutive seasons, LGD failed to overcome the barrier at TI9. Even so, the team had a great season.

Xu “fy” Linsen and his teammates are among the few teams that can compete with Team Secret, Virtus.pro, and Evil Geniuses for an entire season. These were all the strongest teams at that time.

And when TI9 arrived, despite being overtaken by Vici on the DPC rankings, LGD still showed themselves as the strongest Chinese team. The team performed very well in the group stage, advanced to the playoffs, taking out VP and Vici. It was not until they met OG and LGD that they lost in the final of the winning bracket.

The draft error was probably what caused them to miss their chance to win The International, but LGD put up a tough fight against the runner-up and champion of TI9, to the cheers of the home crowd. Overall, 2019 is a year that fy and his teammates can be proud of.

3. Team Secret

Clment “Puppey” Ivanov rarely plays for a team that is not in the top tier of the world. And the 2019 Secret roster can be seen as the strongest roster he has joined since leaving Natus Vincere after TI3.

Not only dominating the season, winning two Majors and becoming the most ESL Dota 2 team to win, Secret also achieved the highest ranking in The International’s history. Since the founding of Secret, Puppey has appeared at every International. After beating Vici in the playoffs, Secret won the top 4 for the first time.

This is a very impressive achievement given that the previous team had a problem and finished outside the top 10 at the EPICENTER Major, the last Major of the season. But Puppey found stability in the squad: both Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg and Michał “Nisha” Jankowski were at their best, helping the team to reach the top four at TI9.

After this success, Puppey made major post-TI9 adjustments. He brought in Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen and Lee “Heen” Seung Gon to overcome some weaknesses in the lineup.

2. Team Liquid

Liquid has a similar story to Secret. They got off to a rough start and then made a few small adjustments to come back strong at TI9.

Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi was considered the captain of the year when he made a very bold decision: removing Matu from the squad despite finishing second at the MDL Disneyland Paris Major and playing stably mid-season. As a result, it was Aliwi “w33” Omar and his distinct play that was what helped Liquid break through.

After this move, Kuro can use new strategies including different core heroes since w33 has a different expertise than Matu. This also made a lot of opponents unable to react, because they were so used to the traditional playstyle that Liquid had mastered since winning TI7. Not all of the gameplay from the Matu era has completely disappeared, but the team has undergone transformations and improvements.

Liquid’s TI9 journey was a miracle story, as they won 5 series and lost no games in the losing bracket, then beat LGD to reach the finals.

The main surprise was that Kuro and the team members left Liquid after the TI9 runner-up to form a new team called Nigma. But that has nothing to do with the legacies they have left in 2019.

1. OG

There is nothing to argue here. Everyone knows that the two-time TI champion in a row will hold the position, even though the team has yet to compete in the new season.

OG didn’t really show much during the season, skipping the first Major, missing the second Major, and only placing 5th at the two Majors they attended. It took everyone by surprise when Joan “N0tail” Sundstein and the boys revived at TI9.

OG dominated the group stage and created a whole new meta in the playoffs. Anathan “ana” Pham’s Alchemist and Carry Io lineups broke the opponent’s draft knowledge. It’s great to watch such a unique Dota thing.

OG’s liberal playstyle is truly rare – as shown by Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen’s fearless attack. The team played as if they were the conductor of the concert. Despite the lead, OG still implemented what needed to be done and didn’t let the opponent take over the game.

N0tail and his teammates were already one of the greatest rosters in history before TI9 started. But now, they will still be remembered as the strongest and most dominant team in Dota 2 history. Can OG continue to cement their legacy in 2020?

According to Dot Esports