The International 2012 - A look at the East Qualifiers

For eight South East Asian teams, it is their last chance to qualify for Dota 2's most prestigious event of the year. GosuGamers will be there for all the thrills and spills of the East qualifiers, where the Philippines and Thailand will fight for their chance to be represented in Seattle later this year.

Your commentator for the five days, David "GoDz" Parker, shares his insight on what looks to be a tight double elimination bracket.

China - Malaysia
TongFu	Ice
Gosu Ranking: #43 Statistics: 3-2 (60%) Chen "Hao" Zhihao Zhang "Mu" Pan Zhao "Kabu" Kai Ye "Awoke/Qeki" Liang Wang "Sansheng" Zhaohui	Gosu Ranking: #32 Statistics: 13-6 (68%) Lim "Bboy" Ewe Wei Soon "Bruce Lee" Sien Sein Lok "Gigolo" Wai Kent Ooi "WeNz" Woo Boon Ng "n|chx" Aik Huang Nicholas
Predictions: TongFu > Ice

TongFu

David "GoDz" Parker: With most of the remnants of the WC3 Panda organization, this is a team with a massive amount of skill, potential, and popularity. Besides, who doesn't love Hao?

Few people had even heard of this team or expected much, until they stunned Zenith in a recent bo3 in the GDM, taking game 1, having a fairly even game 2 they ultimately lost, and a very epic game 3 I felt they should have won if not for a few un-characteristic mistakes I feel their unfamiliarity with Dota 2 caused. This team is a team I could see even getting a high placing at TI-2 with their current progress.

Rating: 10/10

Ice

David "GoDz" Parker: Well, a clean sweep in their GDM, but unfortunately I still feel they are heavy underdogs here. Since, they have had average showings in PD2 and had a few tough losses. Also, their wins came over struggling Pinoy teams (and ones not even with full rosters) as well as some fairly straight-forward wins over Giggles/Big Plays.

Their one "big" win was over TongFu who were crippled by having their manager as a standin as well as the disgruntled LanM still in the team despite his wishes to join EHOME. Time to step it up Ice.

Rating: 5/10

Philippines - Thailand
Mineski	Trust
Gosu Ranking: #54 Statistics: 19-20 (49%) Joshua "owa" Dela Serna Ralph Richard "RR" Peñano Fernando "AsD" Mendoza James Kenneth "wootz" Inabangan Ryan "Jay" Qui	Gosu Ranking: #34 Statistics: 18-22 (45%) Pipat "LaKelz/LK" Prariyachat Chanon "aabBAA" Chiwpreecha Aphinan "l3nu" Phasue Trai "TrinaKub/TnK" Akaravinak Nattapong "r5r5" Petkong
Predictions: Mineski < Trust

Mineski

David "GoDz" Parker: The fan favorites, that's for sure, but much like MiTH's consistency, fan support will not win you games! They are unproven in Dota2 having some questionable results recently, although if you do go far enough back they did post strong LAN results against the likes of Orange.

It's really up to these guys to buckle down and just put in the hard hours to acclimatize to Dota 2 and they may cause some upsets.

Rating: 6/10

Trust

David "GoDz" Parker: Well a strong, oh-so-consistent team that never disappears from the competitive scene. They are the epitomy of a stable team. But, stable does not win you tournaments. MiTH currently over rely on a few heroes in their big games against the top teams; they seem to really struggle when they don't get their hands on their comfort heroes, and don't offer much variety with their style of play.

Hopefully they use this time to practice and prepare some lineups to catch teams by surprise.

Rating: 7/10

Singapore - Philippines
Aeon	MSIEvoGT
Gosu Ranking: #21 Statistics: 16-15 (52%) Alan "King" Ter Liang Ming Su "Shadow/Kiosaii" Wei Han Kenneth "Ken" Lee Wong "Warnutz" Jeng Yih Garry "ZanQtreeS/BOB" Yang Patrick "Xul-" Kwan	Gosu Ranking: #465 Statistics: 0-3 (0%) Angelo "Doc/8D" Docosin PJ "DoA/12" Bondal Fernando "Nando" Mendoza Kimuel "LeumiK/17" Rodis Patrick "JyC/19" Pascua
Predictions: Aeon > MSIEvoGT

Aeon

David "GoDz" Parker: A team who have proven they can cause an upset on even some of the biggest names. However, I do feel their upsets came at timely times: a struggling DK of recent, and an out-of-form AL.

Not to take anything away from the Singaporeans, they did in fact beat DK a second time in the group stage and really solidify themselves as the clear #2 in Singapore behind Zenith. The main problem seems to be they are only 50:50 vs these top teams after suffering losses to Orange and EHOME as of late.

Rating: 8/10

MSIEvoGT

David "GoDz" Parker: Another team who have so far had a rough time with their switch to Dota 2, even resulting in their team initially deciding to focus on WC3 DotA. However, unfortunately for them (haha) they were so dominant in the Philippines in WC3 DotA they earned themselves an invite to try prove themselves once again in Dota 2.

But this is the real deal. Not your GDM where they felt a bit out of their league. This is Valve's International Qualifier and they are 1 in 8 teams who may go. I know they've already started training, so let's hope for the best.

Rating: 6/10

China - Philippines
WE	Duskbin
Gosu Ranking: #20 Statistics: 5-2 (71%) Wei "Fnty" Lingfeng Chen "Chan/Yaodao" Zhixi Wang "Icy" Peng Luo "Luo" Yinqi Wang "Jiejie" Bingjie	Gosu Ranking: #9 Statistics: 28-6 (82%) Michael "ninjaboogie" Ross Mark "Cast" Pilar Jundell "Arsian" Navaja Chester "LeiAiSher" Lum
Predictions: WE > Duskbin

WE

David "GoDz" Parker: Well it's a Chinese team. So I have high expectations, and will probably slightly overrate them (based on their games so far and initialy scrims they'd be closer to a 5-6). But, the thing is, these Chinese teams have massive experience in these big games.

They also have proper training conditions and supportive organizations that will provide WE the perfect conditions to prepare for this trial. Will they be ready? I'm still doubting myself.

Rating: 7/10

Duskbin

David "GoDz" Parker: A team of up and downs and mixed results, not to mention have a bit of a rollercoaster ride with some recent drama to their roster. Duskbin got elimnated early after suffering defeats to sqL and Invasion-Red in the GDM, but have since bounced back - winning the jD SEA Open and currently sitting undefeated in the PD2 non-pro Asia division; they have multiple wins over AEON including on LAN; and have had some very strong, albeith somewhat inconsistent, results.

Let's hope their replacement for MrSwish can fill his shoes!

Rating: 6/10

David "GoDz" Parker: Call me a pessimist, a realist, or just plain wrong, but I feel this qualifier may not see many surprises (that's not to say I'm not excited for the games to come). With all respect to the teams competing, I don't feel WE are in strong enough form currently to be a huge threat, although they are one of the teams who may surprise.

Additionally, I feel MiTH, despite their consistency, are likely to disappoint their fans as teams tend to figure them out very quickly. With Ice becoming slightly over-rated due to their easy GDM group, we get left with TongFu and AEON likely to fight over that top spot.

The problem here is that TongFu appear so damn strong, and as mentioned are a team I would expect to reach a very high placing even at the main event itself.

Now what's left? The Pinoy teams! Fanboy-mode aside, these are the most unpredictable teams and the ones who will add the spice to this tournament. They have the potential to produce some great upsets and provide exhilierating games to watch. They have the potential to be the true darkhorses in this qualifier. They also have the potential to flop.

So with all said and done, I think for once the community must hope for these Filipino's to emerge from their WC3 DotA caves and provide a show during this qualifier, as otherwise it may become a somewhat ordinary affair.