WePlay! Bukovel Minor Preview

What is the WePlay! Bukovel Minor?

The Bukovel Minor follows the trend of unique esports experiences for the Dota Pro Circuit minor system following the Summit 11’s enclosed studio environment. The tournament will be held at the Bukovel ski resort in Ukraine from January 9th – 12th, with 8 top teams competing for the last spot at the Leipzig Major.

When the teams aren’t hitting the slopes, they’ll be competing in two GSL format groups with the top two teams advancing to the playoffs for a chance at the $300,000 prize pool and the all-important final Major slot.

Bukovel Minor odds:

Bukovel Minor Favourites

Nigma (1.70*) are the obvious favourite for this minor after missing out on a Major qualification spot to the new look Alliance. The TI9 finalists haven’t played an official match since then but were still expected to qualify for the Major.

Nevertheless, they find themselves having to struggle through the Minor competition in order to attend the Leipzig Major. The unchanged ex-liquid roster lost to their former organisation and also lost a series to Vikin.gg, but we’ll put this down to teething problems.

The Ninjas (NiP, 10.82*) are veterans of the Dota Minor system by this point, participating in five of the last six minors (winning two of them). The EU/NA mashup has struggled to find consistency despite the obvious calibre of talent on their roster.

With former TI winners ‘PPD’ and ‘Universe’, the expectation is wearing on the team and they are looking to new upcoming talent to change their fates. Can ‘Tanner’ revitalize the team and bring the energy from the mid-lane?

Another team familiar with the Minor competition is Royal Never Give Up (RNG, 6.50*). Taking part in 50% of the last six minors, the only Chinese representatives at the Bukovel Minor will be relying heavily on their position one ‘Monet’ to carry them to the final Major sport.

Teams to watch out for

Despite some clear favourites for this tournament, recent performance and lack of stability can open up some opportunities for less accomplished teams. One team looking to cause some upsets are Geek Fam (21.04*). Featuring SEA’s answer to ‘Arteezy’ in 'Raven', Geek Fam has an impressive 75% win rate in patch 7.23 but have played 100% of their games on the dire side. Could this be exploited by their opposition?

Another team with a puncher’s chance is the Canadian all-stars, Fighting PandaS (16.15*). The ‘EternaLEnVy’ lead team are in Group B along with tournament favourites Nigma, but they narrowly missed out on Major qualification after taking series from Evil Geniuses ultimately losing in the lower bracket finals. The analytical powerhouse of ‘Aui_2000’ and ‘Sneyking’ will be looking to out-smart the opposition.

The CIS team Team Spirit (26.99*) are looking to put their stamp on international Dota. With the acquisition of ‘Immersion’ from Gambit (5.33*) and ‘nongrata’ on trial, the ex-Positive Guys roster have also been reunited with their old coach ‘TheHeartlessKing’. The new look line-up will face some tough competition in Group A if they want to advance to the playoffs.