Last week we learned that the top teams in the world originate from Asia and North America, but Europe has some pretty decent ones too. Check out our list of the 10 most successful european Dota teams of 2014.
1. [alliance]
Though [alliance] surely had better years than 2014 they are still the best european team of the year. They won the Dota 2 Champions League in January, Dreamhack Bucharest in April and the ASUS ROG Dreamleague Season 1 in June. What the swedish team is lacking is more success at the biggest tournaments: They were third at ESL One Frankfurt and World Cyber Arena, fourth and fifth in the Star Ladder Star Series and only eleventh at The International.
2. [natus vincere]
The ukranian team [natus vincere] used to dominate the Dota scene for years so it is surprising to see them on the second place of this list. But they only won two major tournaments this year, Star Ladder Star Series in January and Dota 2 Champions League in April. Lately they were runner-up at the Game Show League and the Excellent Moscow Cup so things might shape up in 2015.
3. [team empire]
[team empire] is always among the best teams in europe but never quite at the top. This year the Russians won the Electronic Sports World Cup and the Excellent Moscow Cup a few weeks ago. This comes with third places at the ASUS ROG Dreamleague and Dota 2 Champions League. But when it comes to the most prestigious tournaments, [team empire] is one of many: Ninth at Star Ladder Star Series twice, 13th at The International.
3. [fnatic.eu]
[fnatic.eu] isn’t a huge deal in media but they gather their points regularly, for example by winning the MLG T.K.O. Europe or XMG Captains Draft Invitational both in April, being second at the Dota 2 League or third at ESL One Frankfurt. That placed them amongst the best teams in the World right now.
5. [virtus.pro]
[virtus.pro] is always in the shadows of their russian counterparts [team empire] and their sub-team [virtus.pro polar] proved to be more successful than the main team lately but doesn’t exist long enough to enter this list. [virtus.pro] however won the MSI Beat it this month, was third at Game Show League and fifth at the i-league in September. When it comes to Star Ladder Star Series they lack this success: This year [virtus.pro] ended up on ranks 7, 9 and 10.
6. [power rangers]
Currently the [power rangers] need a fifth player but when they act as a full team, they prove to be succesul. Their best shots this year were a fifth place at i-league and the triumph at the Techhlabs Cup in May. In the Star Ladder Star Series they finished as seventh, ninth and 14th this year.
7. [team liquid]
Yes, [team liquid] consists of North American players mostly. But they are a dutch organisation which is why i put them in this list. The team which won four tournaments in 2013 lacked similar success this year. They were second at MLG T.K.O. America, fourth at Dota 2 Champions League and ninth at The International. But hey, at least the qualified for it.
8. [secret team]
Before you shed any tears because the [secret team] is only eigth in this list, let me remind you that the list covers the whole year and [secret team] only exists since August. But in this short period of time in which they finished two major tournaments, their success is astonishing: Second at Star Ladder Star Series (lost the final vs [evil geniuses]) and third at ESL One New York (lost the semifinal to [vici gaming]) – in 2015, this team will be way up in the ranking.
9. [sigma – international]
[sigma – international] is a bit like the [secret team]. They only existed in a short period of time this year. The french team with some german player like [fata] disbanded in April. Until then they had won the Pinnacle Sports Pro-Am and were third at Star Ladder Star Series and Dota 2 Champions League. Imaging what could have been…
10. [mousesports]
The best german team of the year disbanded after The International in August – once again [fata] was involved. The team had won the American Dota League but was only fourth at ASUS ROG Dreamleague, fifth at ESL One Frankfurt and eleventh at The International in Seattle – not enough to keep on fighting.