Cover-Credits:
Renowned Dota 2 player Danil "Dendi" Ishutin has steered his team, B8 Esports, to a significant milestone in the European Pro League Season 14, a Tier 3 Dota 2 tournament. B8 Esports, founded by Dendi, clinched a spot in the grand finals of this online tournament which features a prize pool of $10,000 USD. This marks a historic achievement for the team since this is the first time that it has secured a spot at the grand finals of a Dota 2 tournament since it was founded in 2020.
B8 Esports’ First-Ever Grand Finals
Notably, B8 Esports faced the challenge of participating in the European Pro League Season 14 tournament without its carry player Alik "V-Tune" Vorobey after he left the team on 12th November. Following this, B8 Esports brought in Tamás "lowskill" Kaszás as the stand-in carry for the tournament.
The team's roster for the European Pro League Season 14 comprises:
Tamás "lowskill" Kaszás
Danil "Dendi" Ishutin
Denis "StoneBank" Korzh
Nikolay "CTOMAHEH1" Kalchev
Vladislav "Mary_y" Krivtsov
The tournament was invitation only and featured ten invited teams, out of which 2 teams, Alliance and Team Tickles evaded the trenches of group stages and were directly seeded into playoffs. Meanwhile, the remaining 8 teams had to fight their way out of the group stages for a spot in the playoffs, B8 Esports who was amongst the 8 teams secured a commendable 3rd place with a 5-2 score.
During the playoffs, B8 Esports overcame formidable opponents, including MarsBet Team, Alliance, and NAVI Jr., earning a spot in the grand finals. The team is now set to face off against Team Tickles in a best-of-five showdown, with the victorious side walking away with $5000 USD.
Even though this is only a Tier 3 tournament, this marks a moment of pride for the Dota 2 legend Dendi, who is well-loved by the community for his goofy character and his mastery over Pudge.
One notable incident where the team almost secured a spot at the grand finals was just a few months back where B8 Esports faced Team Tickles at the Pinnacle Cup: Malta Vibes #4.
In the semi-final showdown, Team Tickles emerged victorious with a 2-1 series, knocking B8 out of the tournament with a 3rd-4th place finish.
Now, Team Tickles is set to face off B8 Esports again at the EPL Season 14 grand finals, B8 Esports will surely give it their all in this redemption match and possibly emerge victorious for the first time ever in the history of the organization.
Dota 2 Enthusiasts and fans of Dendi can catch all the action live on EPL Dota's official Twitch channel today on 1st December at 10:00 pm SGT.
