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The Kuala Lumpur Major - Looking ahead to the first Major of the DPC 2018-19 season

Shounak SenguptaPublished On: 

Cover Image source: PGL

PGL’s Kuala Lumpur Major will be the first Major of the current season and the second DPC event following the Dreamleague Season 10 Minor. The event sees 16 international teams fight for the top spot with a million dollars on the line along with 15,000 DPC points, the bulk of which go to the victors. With the difference between Minors and Majors, changing so much this season, it’s unlikely that the points won in a Minor event will have any significant impact in the points table, especially in the top half. So for the top teams, it will be imperative to show up in the Majors, and do so consistently, with Kuala Lumpur being the first official event where the new rosters clash heads.

 
Format and timings
 

The Group Stages will be played out in just 2 days, with Groups A and B being played out tomorrow, ie the 9th of November and Groups C and D on the 10th of November. Opening matches for the group stage days will begin at 7 30 am IST or 10 am SGT on both days. Only the last 3 days of the event will be open to the crowds as the event goes live at the Axiata Arena from the 16th of November.

All group stage matches are bo3’s and groups will be played out in a GSL style with the top 2 advancing to the upper bracket and bottom 2 to the lower bracket. The first round of the lower bracket is a bo1, which means that the group stages will be especially crucial. All other playoff games are bo3’s barring the final which is a bo5.

 

Group A - Puppey goes up against his former teammates

 

Group A sees 2 of Dota’s most revered captains, Puppey and PPD clash with their teams, Team Secret and Ninjas in Pyjamas respectively. The absence of Neta ‘33’ Shapira is definitely cause for concern for NiP who are using MC from Team Liquid as a standin. Puppey can also face 4 of his former teammates in Misery and w33 from Pain Gaming and Fata as well as Ace in NiP. The 4th team in the group is NA stack J.Storm who will have their work cut out for them against 3 experienced teams. Fortunately though, Secret take on J.Storm in the first round which leaves us a juicy NiP vs Pain Gaming clash to kick things off. 

 

Group B - 4 heavyweights clash in the group of death

 

Group B, sees 4 incredibly strong teams and has rightly been labelled as the Group of death. One of the few unchanged rosters from TI8, EG will take on China’s Team Aster in their opening games. Both teams had a similar result at the recently concluded ESL One Hamburg, but to be fair, EG were without their mid laner, Sumail. Aster as well, have changed their midlaner from Dstones to loveyouloveme, which has to be the best player name in the current Dota scene.

Elsewhere, a new TNC with Gabbi and ninjaboogie, take on an increasingly dangerous looking VG side. Kuku’s recent behaviour was heavily condemned by the VG org and there is bound to be some bad blood between the two sides following the incident.
 

 

 
Group C - 2 SEA teams face TI8 finalists, PSG.LGD

 

Group C, sees two SEA teams, iceiceice’s Fnatic and Dreamleague Season 10 winners, Tigers, take on one of China’s top teams in PSG.LGD. 1437's team will have to start off their Major campaign under difficult circumstances as they take on the TI8 finalists while Fnatic have a relatively easier fixture against the untested Gambit Esports. The Russian squad have some known names like Afoninje, VANSKOR and AfterLife in their roster and could very well be a surprise factor in this group. 

 

Group D - Former champions, VP kick off their journey

 

Defending DPC champions, Virtus.Pro kick off their journey in Group D, against TI3 champions, Alliance. The Swedish team will face an uphill battle in their first game as they look to take their org back to the very top like they once were, all under the guidance of a former TI-winner, Loda.

In the other match, Forward Gaming, this time with the addition of Universe, will take on CCNC’s PainX. 

 

Talent and content

 

Apart from some great games of Dota, the choice of talent by the PGL staff seems to be on point. The content team of Malystryx, SirActionSlacks and PindaPanda will have a huge responsibility to entertain. We also see the return of KOTLGuy to Dota and of course, GrandGrant has been exceptional in the recent events. BSJ, Pieliedie and Black will join Godz and Bulldog as analysts and have always been on point. While Sheever and Redeye share the hosting responsibilities, the likes of Tobiwan, ODPixel, Fogged and Kyle will be the main stars on the mic.

 

 
For Daily coverage of the Kuala Lumpur Major, visit the AFK Gaming website and check out our social media handles for regular updates as well!