Team Secret will look to continue their 2020 into the new year. (Picture: Team Secret) <\/span><\/p>\n
2020 was the year of Team Secret. Their seven championship streak was only marred by a handful of rough losses at the tail end of the year. Legendary captain Clement “Puppey” Ivanov is chasing his Aegis, likely still jealous of Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi victory at The International 7. Team Nigma is looking streaky, alternating between the podium and 8th place for much of last season. Team Liquid is the newest stack to breach into Dota’s top tier, a feat accomplished by grinding for years with a very stable roster. Double TI champions OG still retain the shell of Sébastien “Ceb” Debs and Topias “Topson” Miikka Taavitsainen, but several roster changes have left the team in a state of flux. Johan “N0tail” Sundstein’s team isn’t looking stellar, but OG is never a team to underestimate.<\/p>\n
The challenger slots were hotly contested, but the first one went to Vikin.gg off several sub-30 minute stomps. The pan-European squad first gained notoriety with an underdog championship at Dota Summit 13 in November.<\/p>\n Their story is similar to mudgolems, who pulled off the upset of the year to end Secret’s streak at ESL One Germany. Both Neta “33” Shapira and Adrian “Fata” Trinks supply plenty of star power to their sidelines. Lastly, Alliance is once again gunning for the Aegis with Gustav “s4” Magnusson, albeit from the offlane. The TI3 mid champion’s move to Position 3 was first met with confusion, then imitated by several famous players including fellow TI champ Syed “SumaiL” Sumail Hassan.<\/p>\n(Picture: The Alliance) <\/span><\/p>\n