The first season of Dota 2 Champions League concludes tonight with the delayed final taking place at 18.00 CET. Alliance versus Speed is the match-up, both teams performed top notch in the past but have most recently left fans with much to wish for. Tonight is their shot at redemption.
The Dota 2 Champions League featured it's very first group match October 17 and the semi finals were played December 3 and December 5. The final was supposed to be played within the days to follow but was postponed due to various obstacles appearing such as schedule conflicts and, most noticeable, Speed Gaming's long trip to China. The decision was to play it in January when all players were back home, rested and available.
It is definitely a final both teams need since they have both been performing worse than what we are used to seeing them do. Alliance dominated the first half of 2013 and topped it all of nice and neatly with winning The International 3, the biggest tournament in the history of Dota. In the post-TI3 times though, they were not as dominating, could it be that they were not as quick to adapt to new ideas and new patches or that they did not invest as much time and energy as previously. Speed Gaming on the other hand, rose like an eagle where Alliance fell from grace. Ironically enough, this happened at the exact same time over at MLG Columbus in the end November. Alliance did not manage to enter the playoffs whereas Speed Gaming won the entire tournament, beating Team DK in the finals. Speed Gaming portrayed a creativity and flair which was fresh and entertaining.
Prior to that, Speed successfully qualified to G-League, being one of two European teams with the other one being Fnatic who unfortunately had to drop out eventually due to visa issues. Following their grand achievement at MLG, the world was eager to see how Speed would perform amongst the Chinese elite. They started out well, taking second place of the group but lost their very first playoff match to TongFu, thus getting eliminated before reaching a prized position. They had a second chance when entering the Fengyun Hegemony but were once again eliminated by TongFu before earning any dimes. They returned to the west with the sour taste of defeat on their tongues.
The two fallen teams meet each other tonight, in the best-of-five series, where both will be looking for revenge and redemption. Given, the losing team still gets second place and $15,000 but because of the lengthy pause between the semis and the final, it is likely that a loss will just feel like a loss. Alliance still pull their weight in various online tournaments, having had a great run in earlier stages of the tournament as well as taking pole position after the conclusion of the regular StarLadder online season. But at offline events and matches where it matters, they seem to struggle. Acclaimed offlane player AdmiralBulldog is said to be learning new heroes to widen the strategical options of the team. Whereas Speed Gaming carry quite wide options in terms of drafting and strategy, they have yet to tighten up their game and be one step ahead of the opponents as they were when winning MLG.
The prize pool for tonight is $40,000 and is the first part of the Money Week where over $214,000 will be earned before Monday. The actual prize of the D2CL is higher than previously announced as a share of the ticket sales will be working it's way into the pot. However, since it was added without the sharing system within the client, there is no way of telling how much money the addition consists of until the organisers choose to reveal so. The upcoming season will be featuring the more transparent in-client share system. Virtus.pro have already qualified back into the slot they lost after getting eliminated in the groups. The other slot will be given to winning team of RoX.KiS vs Team Empire, played tonight at 17 CET which is just before the grand final. English cast will be provided by Tobiwan over at the D2CL DailyMotion channel.
The third place match was played December 16 and had Sigma International as the victors after coming back with three straight games won following the initial 0-1 opening loss. The prize pool below is just mentioning the original announced numbers as the extra revenue shares are unknown.
1st - To be decided - $25,000
2nd - To be decided - $15,000
3rd - 
Sigma International - $7,000
4th - 
Team Liquid - $3,000
Related links
-- Alliance vs Speed - place bets on the grand final
-- Visit the coverage hub - with vods, brackets, results, articles
-- The $214,000 Money Week - read about the prize pool progression in Dota 2 from 2013 to 2014
