The Battle for the Elusive Eaglesong — A detailed preview of the Valve Spectacular.
Six days, Sixteen teams and single-elimination playoffs to crown the one who rules all. Every competitor will enter the arena with a common goal in mind, but only a select few will survive long enough to challenge for the throne.
There are three kinds of teams at Boston — potential champions, dark horses and first-round knockouts. Fitting sixteen teams into one article would‘ve been rather cumbersome and not in the spirit of the longform.
So instead, the attendees were separated by their potential & results coming into the Major. Each tier is given a detailed treatment in their own article.
Tier 1: The Elite
Sure, anything can and will happen in a single elimination tourney. A dark horse will make a strong run and an upset train will be authored by an underdog. But to really win the bragging rights over the Eaglesong, every team will have to run the gauntlet against three teams at Boston — and they won’t go down so easily.
These teams will most likely finish Top 4 at the tourney, and also dictate the tournament’s meta game.
Tier 2: The Contenders
There is a sizable group of teams at the Major who posses the potential to beat any of the attendees, but have not displayed a championship caliber just yet. They’ll be tough opponents to square up against and several of them will make deep runs into the single-elim tourney, before ultimately falling short at the hands of the elite few.
These teams will likely occupy the 5–12th spots at the tourney, but at least one of them, if not more, will crack the Top 4.
Tier 3: The Spectators
Qualifying for a Major in itself is an accomplishment — a mark for teams to be considered good domestically & internationally. These teams have fended off multiple competitors for a chance at Valve glory and now they’re readying up to take on the big dogs. However for a lot of these teams, Boston will be an extremely cold affair — and not just because it will be December in the city of Champions.
These teams will take their leave early and watch the rest of the tournament from their VIP boxes. A lot of them have been marred by Visa issues and other roster changes, and they’ll occupy the 8–16th spots.
Group Stages for the Major begin in two days. The groups have been announced and you can always find updates on Valve’s Dota 2 Blog for the Boston Major.
As has been the case for previous events, the matches will be broadcasted on Twitch and Steam broadcasting, or you can also watch in-game using the free ticket.
