TI 6 Team Preview: MVP Phoenix

The all-Korean team emerged as part of the MVP Professional eSports organization three years ago and has since become one of the strongest outfits in SEA Dota 2.

From an eSports scene dominated by the StarCraft franchise, MVP’s breakthrough onto the international Dota 2 stage was a lengthy process. Their goal of becoming one of the top Dota 2 teams in the world was realised at TI 5 where they managed to finish 7-8^th despite being considered underdogs. This year they have built on this performance and received a justified invitation for TI 6 after winning both the WePlay Dota 2 League Season 3 and Dota Pit League Season 4.

With a couple of exceptions, MVP have largely consisted of Korean players. They have one of the longest standing rosters – the current draft was assembled in late 2015 – while former captain Kim “QO” Seon-yeob has been part of MVP since March 2014.

 

Roster:

Pyo “MP” No-a – position 1/2
Kim “QO” Seon-yeob – position 1/2
Lee “Forev” Sang-don – position 3
Kim “Febby” Yong-min – position 4
Kim “DuBu” Doo-young (c) – position 5

 

2016 achievements:

WePlay Dota 2 League Season 3 – 1^st

Dota Pit League Season 4 – 1^st

Pro Gamer League 2016 – Summer – 1^st

The Shanghai Major – 4^th

 

Current form:

July – 80.00% win rate (4 wins, 1 loss)

 

Top 7 most picked heroes this month:

 

Top 6 most banned heroes this month:

 

MVP are renowned for their aggression and ability to set the tempo of the game from the very beginning. They love to fight and press their opponents, and managed to surprise strong teams at the Shanghai Major such as Team Secret and Team Liquid.

Although not known for their late game, MVP have shown that they can do well in this stage of the game by staying cool-headed and waiting for the enemy to make a mistake (e.g. in Game 2 v Team Liquid during The Manila Major). MVP are also known as a comeback team and can win games in which they are seemingly a long way behind. The most recent example of this was Game 1 of the Pro Gamer League 2016 Summer Grand Finals against CDEC.

QO is a very aggressive player and is prone to high-risk/high-reward moves such as tower dives in one-on-one fights when playing in the mid lane. His behaviour can cause him to feed the enemy team and QO’s Alchemist can be a letdown at times. Nevertheless, MVP do not give up on heroes with whom they haven’t performed well.

Even though he is not among the most played heroes for July, Witch Doctor is an MVP favourite. They also like tanky offlaners such as Axe and Bristleback, sometimes laning with Io as Support in an aggressive duolane. Carries that perform well in the early game, such as Juggernaut or Ember Spirit, are favoured in general by MVP.

MVP’s main strength and weakness is their aggression. While it does pay off at times, it can also let them down when they become overconfident. On a good day, they have proven that they can overcome any opposition, but they can also lose to anyone. The team have not yet fully matured and they are occasionally prone to a lack of coordination.

There is one thing that MVP can guarantee though – a treat for Dota 2 fans.