It’s already confirmed that this year’s Dota 2 tournament as part of the 15th World Esports Championship has exponential growth in terms of skill, talent, and with that the level of competition. It became impossible for one to distinguish the favorites from the underdogs since the skill level across the national teams is at an all-time high and almost equally distributed across the national teams.
There’s been a whole lot of turbulence in the past period, starting from the national qualifiers onwards. In most cases, the players are prevented from continuing the road to IASI 2023 and competing in the World Esports Championship being obligated to perform for their professional teams, which leads to their replacement. This is making things hard for them since they are not with their teams when they’re needed the most – at the final stage of the tournament when the world is watching and history is being made. Good news is, the tide is slowly turning. A couple of teams chose to defend their national colors instead of the club colors, Team Polaris and Team IHC being the more sound ones. They’ve secured their slot in the biggest Dota 2 tournament – “The International”, and because of the overlap with the World Esports Championship, chose the national jersey, a moment of history right there.
Either way, these boys answered the call from their motherland and started preparing for what is coming next – the greatest battle they’ve ever been a part of, the battle for national success and Esports recognition. Today, being the best is not measurable by winning the biggest prizes, but by fighting the hardest battles, and these athletes choose to fight hard.
Eljohn “Akashi” Andales is a member of Team Polaris, the one we mentioned earlier. This 21-year-old already has achieved massive success in the esports scene. Just last month, accompanied by his teammates conquered 1st place at the IESF – Gamers8 Asian championship that took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Maybe one of the most feared teams in the tournament, Team Sibol is focused on the gold like no one else, and turning down The International just proves that even more.
Nicolas “Gunnar” Lopez, an American born in 2000, is another powerhouse focused on taking over one of the three top places in the tournament. Fearsome SOLO mid, possesses the skill to finish the game before it’s even started, especially on one of his signature heroes. Lone Druid. Reaching 11,000 mmr in 2020 distinguishes him even more as one of the best players in the world. The ambitions have grown for sure on the side of the United States.
Anas “MagE-” Hirzallah is maybe the least famous name of the previous two, but doesn’t necessarily mean less skillful. Anas is another solo mid-player, that can apply serious damage to an opponent team if wakes up on the right foot. Additionally, team Jordan has this unique chemistry and strong spirit that stands where skill is lacking, so that makes him even more dangerous.
