Singapore Major Proves Tough for the Top European Dota 2 Teams in 2021

The first Dota 2 Major of the year has started and the results have been unexpected. The best teams from Europe have been crushed in Singapore, despite the fact that many thought they would dominate the tournament.

Some of the top-rated teams are already out and squads from other regions look much stronger in the first LAN competition for what seems like forever.

I share my thoughts on what happened and why the top EU teams are behind the curve in my analysis based on what we saw in the Dota 2 Singapore Major 2021 so far.

The best Dota 2 teams from Europe and CIS entered the Singapore Open 2021 with a lot of optimism.

The overall sensation was that the region is way ahead of the rest of the world, mostly because the competition there is stronger and that helped the top squads stay in shape during the global lockdowns.

The Wild Card round showed signs that might not be the case. Team Liquid barely made it to the next stage and Nigma finished last, winning only one game out of five.

And yet, the absence of Mind Control could be pointed out as the main reason why Nigma underperformed and Liquid got the job done.

Then came the group stage and it became clear that the EU is not the best region in Dota 2 right now. Alliance finished last and Liquid once again barely survived, while teams like Thunder Predator and PSG.LGD dominated this phase.

The Peruvians were very impressive against both EU teams, as you can see from the highlights from the match against Alliance.

By the time we hit the playoffs of the Singapore Open, it was obvious that the European teams are in trouble. At the time I’m writing this, Team Liquid is already out of the tournament, while Virtus.pro and Secret are in the Losers’ bracket.

Even if they somehow manage to recover and go further, the overall performance of the region has been disappointing. But why did the EU teams got crushed so hard in Singapore?

Many believe that the strong competition in EU and CIS should help the teams stay ahead of the other regions during the tough year we had.

The lack of LAN tournaments meant that the squads in each location were basically capsulated within their region and barely had any contact with other sides.

Combine that with the false narrative that they are better than the rest and that might explain the bad results. In a sense, no one was prepared for the first LAN tournament in such a long period of time.

The other teams knew that and came with the mindset that they will have to adapt on the go, while the European squads thought they should have the upper hand. The results show that’s not the case.

I’m fairly confident that the European teams will bounce back quickly.

The harsh reality check in the Dota 2 Singapore Major will motivate them to study the opposition and improve their overall strategy.

There are plenty of talented guys from a mechanical standpoint and the experience is there too, so I expect them to come back much stronger in the next big Dota 2 tournaments in 2021.