The International looms just around the corner and Starladder's i-League Season Two finals will serve as a last chance for TI participants to get their practice in and hopefully, some insight into their competitors, and the states of each team.
The Starseries Season Two finals gathers teams from regions across the globe within the BTS house in Los Angeles, where they will compete for a total prize pool of $300,000. The decision to host the final in the US was taken by Starladder to help avoid unecessary jetlag, flights, and time zone changes for teams before the upcoming International.
Notably, while the tournament has a global presence of teams from every region, three of the eight come from North America itself: Evil Geniuses, Digital Chaos and due to some last minute changes, compLexity Gaming. CoL gain a second chance after being defeated in the NA qualifier by Digital Chaos, replacing a dropped out Newbee and an Invictus Gaming, with visa issues causing their absence. CDEC.Y from China and Fnatic from SEA round out the Asian presence at the tournament. Fnatic look to perhaps keep their momentum going as they come off their win at the SEA Kappa Invitational Season 2.
Finally from the EU and CIS regions are the controversial former Virtus.Pro squad F.R.I.E.N.D.S, Ukranian favorites Na'Vi, and the powerhouse Team Secret. Virtus.Pro dropped their squad earlier this year on June due to poor performance. Perhaps hoping to change that, F.R.I.E.N.D.S look to perform well as they face off first against DC. Eyes will be on the ever engimatic Team Secret and their performance, as they have been relatively quiet since their difficult run through the EU Open qualifiers and many are curious to see if the qualifiers had an effect on the fractured team. Na'Vi also perhaps seek to bolster confidence after their disappointing run in the EU qualifiers for Nanyang Season 2 and in preparation for TI.
Here is a full list of participants for the tournament:
Evil Geniuses
Team Secret
Natus Vincere
F.R.I.E.N.D.S
Fnatic.Dota2
Digital Chaos
compLexity Gaming
CDEC Youth
All in all, the tournament will no doubt have some amazing Dota for all to see, all hosted by the BTS crew for English speakers and the Starladder crew themselves for Russians.
The first two series will be held on July 21st at 18:30 CEST and 23:00 CEST respectively for EG vs CDEC.Y and Fnatic vs Na'Vi. Each can be respectively watched here and here.
