The Dota2Replays Brawl tournament has been home to many upsets right from the get go. Dignitas were disqualified due to a breach of rules (more info found here) and a newly formed What is Dusa saying? managed to overcome both xP and WW. How did these events unfold? Read on…
DRB has been making quite an impact on the scene. In the first, of four, qualifiers we witnessed
Fire dispatch mouz, WW and eSahara only to falter in the finals against Absolute Legends (then known as N9) due to bug abuse (read more about it here). Absolute Legends have since progressed as the first team to reach latter stages for a chance of winning a slice of the $6,000 prizepool.With the eyes of the community over them, DRB modified the rulebook and allowed Fire to participate in the second round of qualifiers which consisted of teams such as
AEON, 
exPerience, 
Western Wolves, 
Panzer, mouz and 
Dignitas. As soon as the qualifiers began, everyone was keeping an eye on the Fire vs AEON match-up which seemed to be the most interesting of the first round. However, there was news floating around of a potential upset regarding Loda’s team,
xP, which resulted in viewers frantically switching IPs. After half an hour into the game, xP found themselves unable to stand their ground against WIDS? and “gg” was called.xP, the team that fought toe-to-toe with and took one game from EG in The Premier League just a few hours before, were knocked-out in the first round by a team that no one knew anything about... and that was just WIDS?'s first strike.
The rest of the bracket progressed with no surprises but there was a new team out there to look out for. The second round kicked off with WIDS? against WW being the match that the community took greatest interest in. The stream had around 600 more viewers than Fire vs mouz.
There is a lot that can be said of that game. Some argue that WW threw the game while others say WIDS? defended will all their hearts. In the end, the Americans overcame a 10,000+ gold disadvantage and took the game in an intense 60 minute war. The game had some sloppy plays by both teams but it was highly entertaining and exciting. You can watch the VOD here.
The other American powerhouse put up quite a show too. Fire outclassed both mouz and Panzer only to find out their third round matchup against Dignitas was abandoned due to reasons already mentioned. Thus, it resulted in them managing to secure themselves a slot in the finals for the second time.
The finals of the second qualifier featured two sponsor-less American teams whose performances demonstrated to the world that they could compete with even the most decorated of sponsored teams. It was neither the toughest nor the most exciting game of the tournament but it was a decent one. Fire methodically destroyed their opponent's lanes and towers, gaining more and more momentum as time passed. Shortly after the 30 minute mark, Fire breached WIDS? defenses and joined
Absolute Legends as the second team to make it to the latter stages.It seems that the American teams decided to wake-up after a long time. We haven’t really witnessed anything big from the NADota community since the US team in MYM Nations #3. However, it all looks set to change in the coming months.. if not weeks. American teams proved that can defeat big European names that are considered top-teams and b]GoSu no longer holds the title of the undisputed best North American team after losing SECS matchup against Fire. Let’s see how this develops. American Dota has the opening to shine as much as they did in the past.
We will keep an eye on them, especially in the next qualifier on Sunday (January 29). Will we see more American underdogs? Can WIDS? join AL and Fire in the final brawl? Stay tuned, GosuGamers will keep you updated.
Links
GameReplays - Official news release
GosuGamers - WIDS? line-up
