Cover-Credits:
The International 10 (TI10) qualifiers have already started off with some upsets as the South American (SA) qualifier’s prime contender, NoPing e-sports has been eliminated. This means that they will no longer be able to qualify for Dota 2's most lucrative tournament of the year, marking the end of their DPC 2021 journey. NoPing e-sports had quite a tumultuous journey in the qualifier as they lost to Infinity in the first round of the upper bracket, dropping to the lower bracket. They then cruised to victories in three consecutive lower bracket series. Despite appearing as though they had found their rhythm, NoPing e-sports was eliminated by Team Unknown in the fourth round of the lower bracket.
SA Qualifier favorites, NoPing e-sports did not qualify for TI10
NoPing e-sports looked in decent shape going into this qualifier. From their performance in the second DPC season, they were rated the best in the region. Despite not performing particularly well at the WePlay AniMajor, Dota 2 fans from around the world still expected them to register an easy qualifier run and take the final TI10 slot from the region. The fact that beastcoast and Thunder Predator had already qualified for TI10 with sufficient DPC points also bolstered their chances.
NoPing e-sports, however, was dealt a huge setback in the first upper bracket round by losing 2-1 to Infinity. A win in seven DPC series was all Infinity managed in the second DPC season. Meanwhile, NoPing e-sports had won six out of seven series and also managed to easily defeat Infinity.
Then, NoPing e-sports seemed to have found their way in the lower bracket as they convincingly defeated Interitus, Hokori, and EgoBoys. It had all been 2-0 in favor of HFn and his teammates who were once more looking to secure the final spot.
However, they faced some tough competition from Team Unknown in the fourth round of the lower bracket. It was a close series, but Team Unknown won it 2-1, knocking NoPing e-sports out of contention for TI10.
Despite the relative promise of NoPing e-sports in the past two months, we have always seen some underdogs pull off huge upsets during these deadly qualifiers. When only one slot is on the line, teams give it their all and have to be consistent and this time, NoPing e-sports did not turn out to be the best SA team.
Three teams now remain in the SA qualifier - SG e-sports, Team Unknown, and Infinity. SG e-sports is already in the finals while Team Unknown and Infinity will battle it out in the lower bracket finals. It is intriguing that these three were the worst-placed teams in the second DPC season.
