SEA Dota Teams 2016 — SEA Dota teams to watch out for

The SEA Dota teams you need to watch after the Fall Shuffle

The Fall Shuffle has concluded and Southeast Asia was one of the most active regions. Some of the teams have already had a chance to test their new lineups, but others are yet to play together.

Here are some of the most intriguing transfer period moves over the last few weeks:

Mineski

Out: Benhur, Bok, Cast
In: Meracle, RR

Last season was far from great for Mineski as they failed to challenge the stronger SEA teams on the international stage while also failing to dominate domestically. Traditionally seen as one of the best Philippine teams, Mineski were outperformed by rivals and missed some important tournaments, including TI 6, after failing to qualify. What made matters worse was that when they did qualify, they could not make any significant impact, with a 13-16^th finish at the Manila Major being a typical example.

As a result, Meracle and RR were brought into the team in an attempt to arrest the slump. Singaporean Meracle is a well-known player in the SEA region and has experience playing for a number of teams. Often used as a hard carry, Meracle prefers split pushing heroes such as Anti Mage and Morphling, but also has a good grasp of trendy heroes in the current meta like Juggernaut.

Meanwhile RR is not exactly a new face – he has been part of the Mineski roster several times throughout the years, with independent stints in 2012, 2013 and 2014-15 – and hopes are high that he can refresh the roster.

Mineski finished 3^rd in MPGL and were close to reaching the final, but they fell just short of beating MVP. Nevertheless, it was a good effort and showed that the current roster can play on par with the stronger SEA teams.

Roster:

Bimbo (c) – position 1
Meracle – position 2
RR – position 3
Julz – position 4
ninjaboogie – position 5

Fnatic

Out: MidOne, 343, DJ
In: DeMoN, Raven, eyyou

After securing 4^th place at TI 6, three players surprisingly left Fnatic as DJ decided to return to the Philippines to join Execration, 343 took time off, and MidOne headed for Europe and Team Secret.

To fill the gaps, captain Mushi targeted the surprise package of TI 6 – TnC Gaming. DeMoN, who had recently returned to the big stage, alongside his team-mates eyyou and Raven, broke ties with TnC to join the ranks of Fnatic. As everyone assumed their usual playing roles, the captaincy was taken over by DeMoN.

Fnatic finished 4^th in the recent MPGL and the new lineup showed they are highly skilled and capable of achieving success. They will now need to build their team chemistry over the coming weeks.

Roster:

Raven – position 1
Mushi – position 2
Ohaiyo – position 3
eyyou – position 4
DeMoN (c) – position 5

MVP

Out: MP, Forev
In: Velo, Reisen

Along with Fnatic, MVP were the dominant team in the SEA region last season. The Koreans had a great year in which they managed to win several Premier tournaments as well as finishing with a prestigious 5-6^th place at TI 6. Despite this success, the players had expressed higher ambitions prior to the tournament and not fulfilling them was probably one of the reasons why MP and Forev left.

This prompted several changes – Velo and Reisen were promoted from MVP.Hot6ix as an offlaner and a support respectively, while Febby is now playing as a mid laner rather than a support.

MVP finished 2^nd in MPGL and while QO is still part of the team, there was never any doubt that they would remain true to their early game aggressive playstyle and willingness to fight. And because of this, despite the loss of two key players, MVP still have the potential to be the SEA powerhouses they were last season.

Roster:

QO (c) – position 1
Febby – position 2
Velo – position 3
Reisen – position 4
DuBu – position 5

Execration

Out: Tims, Nando, RR
In: DJ, Gabbi, Rapy

Execration are a relatively new organization that first appeared on the international radar during TI 6. Falling just short in the Wild Card stage, they failed to advance to the main event, but not without leaving good impressions from their games along with some memorable Meepo displays.

The team experimented with several players during MPGL, which proved to be successful as they won the competition in convincing fashion. Most notably, Execration were boosted by the arrival of star support DJ from Fnatic, who jumped right in to help his new team in the tournament.

The player who stole the show, however, was Gabbi with his incredible Puck play. Execration can also be proud of having one of the rising stars of SEA Dota – Abed.

Execration seem to be shaping up as one of the top SEA teams and it would not be a surprise if they make a breakthrough on the international stage this season.

Roster:

Gabbi – position 1
Abed – position 2
Rapy – position 3
DJ – position 4
Kim0 (c) – position 5

Team Faceless

Out: No-one
In: Black^, Jabz, iceiceice, xy-, NutZ

Team Faceless are a newly formed outfit that have not yet had the chance to show what they are capable of. The new project was started by iceiceice, a living legend who stated his intentions right after leaving EHOME (who finished 5-6^th at TI 6).

His lineup selection includes some familiar faces from the past as well as some former teammates, namely Black^ (from VG.Gaming) and xy- (from Scythe and Zenith). Black^ has been playing in low profile teams for the last couple of years, while xy- has been absent from the pro scene for the last three. They will be joined by NutZ, who was part of the MVP squad at TI 5.

The last member of the team is Jabz, an up-and-coming player from the Thai scene who has mostly played for Signature.Trust.

Team Faceless will be playing in the qualifying stages for the ROG Masters scheduled for November and this will be their first chance to form the team chemistry they will need for success.

Roster:

Black^ – position 1
Jabz – position 2
iceiceice (c) – position 3
xy- – position 4
NutZ – position 5

The Fall Shuffle saw a lot of changes to teams in the SEA pro Dota scene. As a result, there are several teams that look capable of breaking the status quo imposed by Fnatic and MVP during the last season. Meanwhile, the International 2016 results for the SEA teams were impressive enough and proved that the SEA has plenty of talent that can elevate the scene higher on the international stage.