Chinese DOTO No-Longer Best DOTO?
Throughout the history of DOTA, China has always been known as the powerhouse of DOTA and DOTA2 in eSports. China has been a finals contender in the past 5 out of 6 The Internationals tournaments while taking home three championships. So why are Chinese Dota teams no-longer the strongest in the world all of the sudden? To put it simply, the rest of the world has caught up with the skill-gap while China continues to isolate itself in a closed-door practice environment.
Recent tournament results have shown that while the Chinese teams are still a force to be reckoned with, all-star teams such as VG.J led by ROTK (R-God) simply gets crushed by the young-blooded Team Liquid in the Starladder i-League finals in Shanghai. While some tournaments have shown a closer result and others not so much, it is clear that North America (known as the worst major region for DOTA 2) and Europe are no longer living in the shadows of China.
Once known as the best region — what happened?
A very similar trend of lessened skill-gap can be seen in the competitive scene in Starcraft, where it was a popular eSport in South Korea 8 years prior to making its way to North America and Europe. In both Starcraft: Broodwar and Starcraft II, Koreans have always been dominating the scene, consistently placing top 4 finisher in almost all major international tournaments. However, as time passed, the skill-gap between the regions was much closer than ever before. And so forth for the first time in the 15 years of Starcraft eSport history, a young foreigner crushes his way to become the champion of the most prestigious all-Korean tournament as a result of the closing skill-gap.
Competitive Scene in China Nowadays
The nature of isolationism will always result in falling behind in one way or another and eSport is no exception to this rule. Due to both geographic and language barriers, Chinese teams are unwilling to practice against top teams from the West. Meanwhile, teams from all other regions part-take in regularly scrimmages to improve team skills and exchange ideas. To combat this situation, major Chinese teams such as IG, VG, LGD, and Newbee have created sister teams as a form of in-house practice partners. The issue with practicing with sister teams is that the ideas exchanged are limited. While foreign teams are well-versed with all sorts of strategies through practices, Chinese teams can only get its share of information trade during major LAN tournaments, which often is way too late to be of any use.
Player salary in China versus players abroad
As you may have heard, Chinese DOTA2 players are typically paid a ridiculous amount of money in comparison to their counterparts in the West. This can also play a significant role as the lesser paid players tend to try harder to win tournaments compared to those who are already comfortable with money. I personally believe that the shortening of skill-gap between Chinese players and players abroad in the recent years is a result of Chinese players being less motivated due to a life-long satisfaction of money. Unfortunately, the future of eSport is a money-driven business where prizepool affects the prestige of the tournament as well as the mentality of the players attending.
Future, TI 7?
My prediction of Chinese teams is that they will continue to perform well in the upcoming The International 7 event. However, the lack of ideas and the rapid shortening in skill-gap may knock out the Chinese teams before the finals. China will continue to be the region with the best mechanical players in the world. But in order to stay at the top of competition there will need to be some serious changes in both practice and idea exchanges between China and the West. With the shortening of skill-gap between Chinese teams and western teams, TI7 will certainly be the battleground between titans and likely the best tournament of DOTA history.
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