Cover-Credits:
Throughout the past year, Western Europe (WEU) has undoubtedly been the most competitive region, claiming the top spots in multiple international events. The first Major of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) 2023 was a resounding success for the region, as three of the top six teams came from there. Meanwhile, Neta "33" Shapira, who won the Interntional 11 with Tundra Esports, that represents WEU, believes that the increased competition in the region, particularly in Division II, is "unfair." As 33 pointed out, it is better for a team to drop to Division II and play in a region such as North America where it is much easier to rise back to the top than continue fighting in the WEU. In addition, the offlaner cited the schedule of upcoming significant events as not ideal for Division II teams.
33 shares his thoughts on the competition in WEU DPC Division II
In Janne "Gorgc" Stefanovski’s recent livestream, 33 joined him to watch the DPC WEU 2023 Tour 2: Division II games.
During a conversation between the two, 33 spoke about the intense competition in Division II and its struggles in comparison to other regions, especially now when a number of reputed teams are expected to compete.
“I feel like if you drop to Division II, you can literally just go and play open qualifiers in North America. You are going to make Division I at the same time. It’s not even easy to get out of Division II in Europe…I think Alliance are fine. Secret is there, Into The Breach. It’s f**king hard. It’s bullshit, you know. It’s so unfair.”
Furthermore, the DreamLeague event by ESL happening this year also coincides with Division II games making it difficult for teams competing in this division to play these high-dollar tournaments. Due to this, moving down from Division I to Division II in WEU has a greater impact on a team's difficulties than it appears.
“The problem is that nowadays, there’s the ESL league as well. If you play Division II, then you don’t have time to play the ESL league. Not only can you not play the Major, you can not play the next Major, you can not play the third party tournaments that are happening at the same time. What do you do if you drop to Division II? You just call it a day? Retire? I actually don’t understand. It’s so hard.”
33 then took a jab at North America, claiming that some teams managed to qualify for the Major there every time due to the lack of strong competition.
"In other regions, just chilling in Division I. Life is good. Every Major you go for free. Shopify, TSM, every Major for free. Living the good life…It’s not like these teams are bad, I just think it’s unfair they just go to every Major for free.”
33 argued that over the past few years, more top-tier teams and players have emerged in WEU, further complicating competition and skewing comparisons.
With teams like Alliance, Team Secret, Into The Breach, and Old G, the WEU does seem to have the most cutthroat competition in the DPC ever. And only two of the eight teams in Division II will advance to Division I. Division II in WEU is expected to begin on 5th April.
