Write what you are looking for and press enter to begin your search!

Logo
live-news-icon

Live News

Corpse Party II: Darkness Distortion to Launch in Fall 2024: In an intense match, the Lone Wolves came out victorious. Read all about the big night here // HBO GO April 2024: Our Picks & Highlights: In an intense match, the Lone Wolves came out victorious. Read all about the big night here // Godzilla X Kong Sighted At Dataran Merdeka In KL, Malaysia: In an intense match, the Lone Wolves came out victorious. Read all about the big night here
post-16 post-13

So What Is Going On With Singapore’s First Major Dota 2 Tournament Of 2021?

This story is still developing…

ONE Esports and Dota Pro Circuit have announced the ONE Esports Singapore Major 2021 Dota 2 tournament, which is quite a big deal as it is one of the first-ever Dota 2 major tournaments of the year following the COVID-19 pandemic. Remember, that still-lingering plague that has cancelled a number of offline esports events?

Anyway, the first-ever Dota 2 major of the 2021 Dota Pro Circuit season means all the best teams will be competing in Singapore at the Fairmont Singapore, with the Singapore Tourism Board also organizing the tournament alongside ONE Esports and PGL. And to play it safe, the event will not have a live audience but instead be a livestream for all to see in the comforts of every Dota 2 fan’s home for obvious safety reasons.

The event will be happening on 27th March, which is this Saturday, and will last until 4th April. And the teams involved have already pledged their commitment and support to make this a good major tournament.

  • Team Secret
  • Invictus Gaming (China)
  • Fnatic (Southeast Asia)
  • Virtus.Pro
  • Evil Geniuses
  • beastcoast
  • Alliance
  • Team Aster
  • Neon Esports (Southeast Asia)
  • Natus Vincere
  • Quincy Crew
  • Thunder Predator

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

As it turns out, anything. This is in spite of the many, many precautions taken.

Ahead of the Singapore Majors, Virtus Pro, Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko may need a stand-in as he said on 18th March that he was feeling sick. This was despite the fact that he tested negative for the virus. The stand-in in question? It’s Igor “iLTW” Filatov.

Virtus Pro has stated their support for the upcoming major via an official Twitter post.

On 20th March, Natus Vincere’s player Bogdan “Iceberg” Vasilenko and team captain Andrii “ALWAYSWANNAFLY” Bondarenko have been tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the team’s departure to Singapore. The stand-ins include former Virtus Pro and EG player Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev and coach Andrey “Mag” Chipenko.

On 21st March, Neon Esports’ John Anthony “Natsumi” Vargas will not be participating due to being “unfit to travel” to Singapore. His stand-in will be Rafael “Rapy” Sicat”, which means Rolen “skem” Ong will be moving from position four to carry (via Dotesports).

Quincy Crew manager Jack “KBBQ” Chen confirmed on 22nd March that Arif “MSS” Anwar has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be able to travel to the event. The team has secured his substitute: Milan “MiLAN” Kozomara, formerly of the team mudgolems.

On 24th March, Team Nigma announced that Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov will not compete as he is tested positive for COVID-19. His stand-in will be Team Nigma’s coach Roman “rmN-” Paley.

In any case, the respective teams have their stand-ins all confirmed and accounted for. It should be smooth sailing for them, right?

Abuzz On Twitter

Things don’t seem so hot on Twitter. At about 7 hours ago, Moonduck TV managing director Andrew Campbell made a critique about the DPC League 2021 statement on 12th March on its participating team’s full support for the event, in order to quell rumours about players hoping the event is cancelled:

Singapore esports StarCraft 2 player Kelly “Milkies” Ong responded like any person who has a huge stake in a major Singapore-based event like this would:

As for ONE Esports’ Twitter feed? Well, the accounted retweeted professional Dota 2 caster Jorien “Sheever ” van der Heijden’s teaser picture. Basically, the event is still a-go despite the supposed drama surrounding the event.

What Now?

These kinds of events, even without a live audience, will always have a calculated amount of risks that organizers have contingencies for, especially in a COVID-19 era. You can plan as much as you like, but as anyone who has worked in events management can tell you, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Tournament organizers for bigwig events like these will always plan ahead and prepare for the worst.

What I’m getting at is that so far, Singapore’s biggest Dota 2 tournament is looking alright so far and will be going ahead this weekend. However, there is a chance that players will need to go through a 2-week isolation period, which means they need to have their accommodations sorted during that period. We’re not sure if a company like ONE Esports has enough of a budget to accommodate all of its participants in the Fairmont for more than two weeks.

Still, we’ll be sure to keep this story updated if there are any new developments, positive or otherwise. In the meantime, catch the streams here:

Related News

post-07
The National Esports Federation Of The Phillippines Outlines Its Future Plans

The National Electronic Sports Federation Of The Phillippines (NESFP) recently began operating in last year's 2019 SEA Games, with nine countries in t...

post-07
That R-Type Final 2 Kickstarter Project Is Fully Funded

Back in the late 80s and 90s, the 2D shoot-em-up R-Type was known for its methodical approach to action. When other games were fast, R-Type was slow y...

post-07
Avengers Endgame Won't Be End Of Phase 3, Says Kevin Feige

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige announced a startling revelation in Shanghai last week (via Newsweek) when he said that Avengers Endgame (despite...

Write a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tournament Tool Kit

Kakuchopurei Community