DreamHack Winter 2012 was a great event. For fans, for crew and casters, but especially for the players. Overall, the event has made all teams winners.
This is an editorial opinion piece and the author's opinion does not necessarily represent the opinion of GosuGamers or the opinion of any affiliates.
Na'Vi won at DreamHack. The team didn't win the competition, but they won as a team, as an organisation. What might seem odd, is a result of DreamHack in principle only producing winners. Yes, Na'Vi had lost some credibility after XBOCT stating they would have to play “against these teams”, refering to Absolute Legends, 3DMAX and Out of Tangos in the group phase. Yes, Na'Vi lost their half-year-long lasting offline invincibility against western teams when getting destroyed by Evil Geniuses.
However, the way Na'Vi reacted on the loss is the reason why they still went out of the tournament better than before. In principle, they did three things: They showed up way before the grand final on Saturday, although they didn't have to play anymore. They didn't hide. Na'Vi released a video even flirting with their loss against Team EG in some way. And they produced a video summary of the tournament, not underrating their loss in the quarter final at all. While the players will still have to show how they react on their defeat, the organisation already turned the situation upside down and made Na'Vi one of the winners of DreamHack.
We haz Asian is another hidden winner of DreamHack: The Danish-German team has made it through the group phase, probably as the only surprise, after taking down mousesports in a best-of-one. Though RMC said at the Airport on Sunday, they certainly aren't content with their performance against fnatic later in the quarter final, the teams' chances for finding a financier for their trip to Stockholm for the Thor Open aren't looking bad at all.
fnatic is a winner, because the team for the first time showed that they have skills that are completely independent of the game, that made themselves strong at DreamHack Summer in Heroes of Newerth, where they won, just as it made them undefeatable until the semi finals in Winter for Dota 2. They might not be among the top in a lot of different online competitions, but when it matters, they can concentrate and show an amazing performance at offline tournaments with all their experience.
Empire is a winner team, as they managed to reach the semi finals even without one of their starplayers Blowyourbrain. In some games, funn1k simply crushed through the enemy's ranks, no matter of they gave him Bounty Hunter, or Clinkz or Batrider. Empire's capacity if adjusting their playstyle so standin player Sockshka's signature hero Tinker fitted in implies there's even more to come from this Russian team.
Not to mention of course Evil Geniuses and NoTidehunter. Roshan faking has brought NTH every sympathy they needed in the grand final, not only from the Swedes. Though Maelk has failed yet again to win a big trophy, he was so close to finally beating Loda in a grand final. EG and NoTidehunter, they bring personalities into the race for champions. They are not streamlined, not at all.
AdmiralBulldog has made his breakthrough, S4 is getting more and more attention and can't be overlooked anymore, Fear and Maelk position themselves as the brain and heart of team Evil Geniuses. The quality of Dota, both teams have shown in the grand final, was top-notch, on a player lever and on a meta-team level.
Of course, the “only winners” theory has its flaws. The third-placed teams will certainly shed a tear for their decisive loss. Pulse against dignitas, mousesports against We haz Asian, 3DMAX against Absolute Legends. FATA- already made the next step: By admitting own faults, he shouldered part of the pressure lying on his team. The time until Christmas will decide if that was worth it for the team and whether FATA's effort will eventually make the Germans' second chance at team mousesports a story of winners as well.
