Main preparation for TI 10 or madness show — recalling ESL One Fall in a belated review
Yuriy SheremetA week has passed since the end of ESL One Fall 2021 but the main summer event is still alive in our mind. The matter is that the event turned out to be very multifaceted.
Having digested the show several times, we decided to release a text about a doubtlessly spectacular tournament. Even though it is behind time with a lag, it might become its strong point – you might have forgotten the events but the material will help you to plunge into the atmosphere of the last tournament in the summer.
New patch – new life!
One of the main, and maybe the most main, features of ESL One Fall 2021 is patch 7.30. The balance update which was released four month before was necessary for the competitive stage.
The patch was not tremendous: the map has been untouched, the economics has not been changed, new characters haven’t been added. Tens of skills have been reshaped, several neutral items have been added. But it was actually enough.
ESL One Fall 2021 showed what can happen to The International 10 in October.
Top clubs realized plenty of, as it may seem, crazy ideas. Here we had Keeper of the Light at the central and hard line, Monkey King with Night Stalker at the fifth position, and the icing on the cake was Spirit Breaker in the center.
The changes concerned not only the patch and several character. The philosophy of the game has been changed.
And those who accepted and absorbed it got rewarded. Fortune favours the brave and resourceful. Now we are moving to them.
Vivat Tundra
We can't help but remember the main tournament of the summer, staying away from the main triumph players of the event. ESL One Fall 2021 became a benefit event for Tundra Esports.
Tundra fought bravely during two DPC seasons causing numerous problems to two-times world champions OG at the closed qualifiers for The International 10. ESL One Fall 2021 became a reward for the strong performance of the team throughout the year and a flash-like reaction to the fresh patch.
Tundra at ESL One Fall 2021 became some of a few contestants who got a feel of the update and who the format of 7.30 suited to. They were the first to show us a slightly broken Keeper of the Light, they didn’t think much and flexed the heroes around the position playing from their heart.
But it is extremely sad that such a team as Tundra will not make it to the main tournament of the year. We are losing a pretty bright representative of the European Dota, but we have to face the reality, it’s no use crying over spilled milk.
Blunt threat
Before The International 10 the Internet is teeming with speculations on the balance of power at the upcoming tournament and the winner of the main event of the year. It is most typical to see the famous tag PSG.LGD in these topics.
The Chinese club deserves the prophecy about great results in Bucharest. At ESL One Fall 2021, we got a chance to take a look at the rehearsal of PSG.LGD.
They played the tournament without one of the key players of the roster. NothingToSay missed the event and his slot was taken by the legendary but slightly less skilled Xiao8.
Despite the apparent weakness, PSG.LGD looked threatening. They played around (as they put Spirit Breaker to the center) and made it to the grand final where they stopped one map away from the championship.
I think lots of people will agree that the fully-armed PSG.LGD with NothingToSay would have looked even stronger. Of course, we are going to see whether that’s true or not in October but we feel that the Parisians will compel our attention for the third TI in a row.
Stagnation didn’t make any good
Speaking of the teams like Tundra and PSG.LGD, you will definitely spot preparation for the patch and more considerate understanding of changes. But there is the reverse side of the coin.
The majority of teams at the tournament either treated the patch lazily or couldn’t adapt to the changes quickly. Let’s take VP as an example.
«Bears» started harshly and easily won the group proceeding to the playoff. At the first round of the main stage VP beat PSG.LGD and it seemed to be it. But the misfortune sneaked up invisibly, even though it was pretty obvious.
If we take a look at Dotabuff Virtus.pro, we will see the following characters among those who are chosen most often: Lion, Winter Wyvern, Phoenix, Tidehunter. Do you know how many times Tundra Esports played WW or Phoenix at the tournament? None.
The other teams faced the same problems. At ESL One Fall 2021 we saw farming T1 with their annoying and non-working Medusa and Alliance that demonstrated almost nothing throughout the year.
I guess the idea is clear. You won't go far with a broken vehicle.
Adaptation and flexibility are important qualities for teams that are preparing for The International. At ESL One Fall 2021 we didn’t see these features in most of the teams so it means that they have a lot of things to work on.
Eternal question of the competitive Dota
ESL One Fall 2021 turned out to be a bright and intense tournament. We saw plenty of different matches with unexpected outcomes, and the decisive battle appeared to be almost the best series of the season.
But there is a but which always appears from nothing and spoils the celebration. Notorious motivation of teams.
7 October gives a start to the tournament. The prize pool of the event is 40,000,000 dollars. At ESL One Fall 2021 the teams were playing for $400,000.
The team that won the tournament IS NOT going to the tournament in October. The teams that played at the grand final put the player from the fourth position to the central line on the fifth map.
It is apparent that not all teams played seriously there. But this is where a question arises: how different will gaming of some teams at TI be from the one we saw a week ago?
Of course, the ancient idea of not showing your weakness could not have played at ESL One Fall 2021. The patch had been released several days before the tournament and some of the teams just could have no chance to make up for those failures.
On the other hand, perhaps most of the teams did not try to think of anything. Here there story is different.
It seems that it is much better to try your ideas in practice than to shoot in emptiness in the future. PSG.LGD do it all the time, experimenting with their gaming and achieving top places.
In the modern Dota inhibitions are not welcomed. If we dive into the history, we will see that it has never been welcomed, actually. Just look at Navi in 2011-2013 годах, Xiao8 in 2014, or OG in 2019 and 2020, and you can easily understand that only those who like surprising the audience tend to win Dota events.
The well-worn track is unlikely to lead anyone to Aegis as this path could be taken by any team. The majority of teams took it at ESL One Fall 2021 but they stumbled at the finish line.
What’s next
ESL One Fall 2021 was a remarkable tournament. Taking all roughness shapes of the teams and their motivation into account, it was fun to watch the event.
There is only a month left before The International 10 but old good DOta is going to visit us again. The OGA Dota PIT Invitational is going to start on 6 September.
The lineup of the contestants will be more humble, but we are going to see Tundra, PSG.LGD and Team Spirit again. The event is unlikely to be different from ESL One Fall 2021 and this is good.
See you soon.
Yuriy Sheremet – Expert in mobile gaming and esports among shooters and MOBA games.
At EGamersWorld, Yuriy, as in 2020 when he joined the portal, works with content, albeit with adjustments to his area of responsibility.