the way back to the golden age of Dota 1

Dota history has seen many champions, but very few teams are truly successful. EHOME: the journey back to the golden age of Dota 1

The Rise of China

When EHOME e-Sports club was founded in 2007, DotA AllStars was still very popular in China. The domestic season kicks off, where players hone their skills to find a representative for China in the international arena. At that time, no one thought China could overwhelm the world, until the EHOME 5 set came out and won the 2008 WCG Asian Championships. That was 2009, Snoy, LongDD, GK, and DC. It’s rare to see a Chinese team able to beat Southeast Asian representatives, and they do it at the opponent’s home ground.

EHOME’s success is starting to be noticed. The team was invited to the SMM Grand National Tournament 2008 in Singapore. CaNt, one of China’s first professional teams, also attended. These two teams prepared carefully for the tournament, but had to face strong opponents Evo XTC, including 2 players iceiceice and xy-. Evo XTC wants to prove the WCG failure a few months ago was just bad luck.

Team Singapore sent EHOME and caNt down to the losing bracket without any difficulty. In the losing bracket, these two teams also had to play against each other. EHOME won and got revenge on Evo XTC in the finals. Winning both international tournaments in a row, China became the top region in the world.

However, the following year, the 2009 player chose an education over an esport career. Another reason is because he is no longer interested in the team manager of 71, and has been kicked. After that, LongDD moved to CaNt and the strongest team in the world at that time also got into the process of ‘roster reshuffle’ (teams constantly changing blood). For over a year now, many famous players have come and gone, but the team has not been able to regain its previous form. EHOME finished 3rd at SMM 2009. That’s no consolation for a team heading for the championship. That title went to For.The.Dream in 2009 and another star of the time, ZSMJ.

The Golden age

The “great blood change of China” occurs every year before the start of the Lunar New Year. This helps EHOME create a more stable roster. Two young players, BurNIng and KingJ, were invited, with arrangements to help them adapt: ​​some players had to switch positions to let BurNIng play carry. 820, 357, BurNIng, KingJ, and Dai (whose current name is MMY) quickly got to know each other.

By 2010, the China region had become much more competitive. Five or six of the top teams in the world are all playing here. EHOME’s new roster faces an extremely difficult challenge – to become the best team in China and the world. The Electronic Sports World Cup 2010 was the first challenge.

The other 3 top Chinese teams are CityHunter, LGD Gaming and Nirvana.CN. The first match is the clash between EHOME and CH – who owns the legendary YaphetS in the mid. Unexpectedly, YaphetS’ Shadow Fiend destroys Dai in mid, then hovers around the map taking out the rest of EHOME’s heroes. To be led too much, the chances of a comeback became slim, but EHOME turned the tide: not being carried away by CH’s pace, stabilizing the ranks and shortening the gap thanks to good teamwork. In the final, BurNIng’s team quickly compacted LGD Gaming – the top team.

Since then, EHOME has no longer a worthy opponent in the international arena. Before moving to the world finals, the team bolstered its confidence with wins in LAN and online tournaments. EHOME arrives in Paris (France) in extremely strong form. After the first few games, the opponents became afraid of these boys. Only The Elder Gods – the Romanian team led by ComeWithMe – can resist. The other teams lost by a big margin, often leading by more than 20 kills.

EHOME’s total kill/death count at that tournament was 259/73.

After the Paris event, EHOME returned to China to prepare for the Interl Extreme Masters 2010 next month in Shanghai where they will have to face off against their fellow countrymen. In the group stage, they only lost to ToTeam: ChuaN, Yao, kabu and Ferrari_430. EHOME entered the next round and rematched ToT in the finals. This time, the ESWC 2010 champions are the winning team.

In the fall, EHOME won a total of 7 gold medals that season. At the world’s largest DotA AllStars event, World DotA Championships 2010, along with SMM, EHOME is considered one of the two most prestigious teams in the world. Moreover, the tournament is also held in China. Just over 8 months, EHOME has gathered a large fan following. The other Chinese teams all sensed EHOME’s danger, and they prepared to fight back.

EHOME fell into the difficult group stage with AEMON MUFC – owns WinteR; DTS, the team that EHOME knocked out in the ESWC finals; and the Xi’an College team. In the previous match against DTS< EHOME had a record of 2-0.

ArtStyle’s (DTS) team did not extend their match at WDC. They used a familiar push, knocking out the Xi’an College team in just 19 minutes, but it didn’t work against MUFC. Meanwhile, EHOME prefers slow but steady play to gain advantage.

EHOME vs. DTS ended with a surprise victory for DTS – they mastered the gold by picking proactive heroes and quickly stopping EHOME in all 3 lanes. At the end of the group stage, there were 3 teams with a score of 2-1. Therefore, match time is used to choose who will advance to the next round. It was at this time that EHOME’s ‘playing slowly but surely’ made me disqualified.

EHOME had to leave despite being the top team, the Chinese fans continued to support the tournament. Because they can still keep cheering for other Chinese teams, and EHOME’s early elimination is good news. According to Vitaly Vlochai – DTS manager at the time, other Chinese players came to thank the DTS members for helping them eliminate the strongest opponent.

EHOME leaving early at World Dota Championships 2010 is not really sad. They only lost 1 match in the group stage and the strange rules took away the boys’ chance to continue. Meanwhile, EHOME still has the 2010 SMM National Tourtnament. EHOME doesn’t stand a chance to avenge DTS (which was absent from that tournament), but still has other talents, including WDC champion Nirvana.CN. Those were 2nd to 4th place teams, but EHOME continued to be the champion after a tense victory over LGD Gaming in the finals. This proves that EHOME is still one of the best teams of 2010.

Choosing between AllStars and Dota 2

The first information about Dota 2 appeared in early 2011, but no one noticed it in China – where people are too passionate about the success of Dota 1. The new season brings in larger investors. , “The Great Blood Change of China” spares no one, including EHOME. BurNIng and KingJ were transferred to Team DK for 50,000 yuan (about $7,500), a record number at the time.

Once again, the best team in China has to change positions and find new players. 820 returned to carry position, EHOME got LaNm and LongDD. The first tournament was full of disappointment. They lose everywhere.

Over the summer, Valve announced The International 2011, a Dota 2 tournament with a $1 million prize pool and EHOME of course among the 16 invited teams. Before the tournament, LongDD was replaced by Crystal, but that wasn’t the main issue. This is a tournament with a brand new game and everyone is having a hard time.

In the upper bracket, EHOME lost to hyhy and xy-‘s Scythe.SG. Down quickly, they almost stumbled before Moscow Five. Team Russia dominated throughout the match, but couldn’t push in and lost to MMY’s Tinker. EHOME smartly plugs in and controls M5’s every attack, while M5 tries to run around the map to reduce enemy vision with Gem of True Sight – but they don’t know that a bug in the game is causing the item to not play. currently being warded. The Chinese team slowly extended the match to regain their footing at the end of the game and continued on to the finals. There, Natus Vincere – whose 3 members beat EHOME at WDC 2010 while still DTS – ended EHOME’s journey.

In the semi-finals, EHOME defeated 4GamersLeague – the team from Balkan always picked Lich, Void and Ancient Apparition in the whole group stage and was not banned by any opponents. EHOME read this and soon stopped 4GL. But the finals were a mess, EHOME was easily defeated by Na`Vi. From there, he created a new meme for Dendi “one Chinese per minute”. Dendi mid kills EHOME players, averaging 60 seconds per kill.

Even before ESWC 2011 started, there were rumors that EHOME was about to be disbanded. They can’t compete in the China region, and it’s hard to play Dota 2 and AllStars. 357 and MMY went to Nirvana.CN, while the rest took a break. However, the artists reunited when The International 2012 announced. The team manager of 71 wants to create a roster that has a good track record in the first Dota 2 tournaments. Unfortunately, the deliberate act of sending LaNm away led to a ban by ACE (Chinese esports association), and Chinese teams refused to practice with EHOME. After TI2, the lineup disbanded and the organization then hid for the next 3 years.

In 2015, 71 revived EHOME for a second time and still can’t replicate the success of 2010. EHOME is still struggling to keep up with the world’s Dota 2 teams.

Source: Cybersport