DPC League qualifiers sees 3 new NA teams

The Dota Pro Circuit leagues are set to begin in just a few days and with that is a crush of new teams coming together.

North American Dota 2 has had just a handful of active teams so, unsurprisingly, there’s a number of prominent free agents available to mix and match into new rosters. Three have already come together, with a number of familiar faces combining with new talent.

Timado, Moonmeander come together on Undying

The most intriguing new team to come together ahead of the DPC league qualifiers is Undying. The squad brings together a number of established stars from multiple regions, with its roster standing as follows:

• Kim “DuBu” Doo-young
• Enzo “Timado” Gianoli O’Connor
• David “MoonMeander” Tan 
• Jonáš “SabeRLight-” Volek
• Jonathan Bryle “Bryle” Santos De Guia

The biggest name on the roster is two-time major winner MoonMeander. The Canadian rose to prominence with OG and enjoyed success after leaving for Digital Chaos, but has struggled to find a steady home since then. He’s joined by a number of veterans who have had success in other regions, and will continue playing alongside former CR4ZY teammate Bryle.

DuBu is best known for his run with MVP Phoenix but has found his way to The International before with Digital Chaos and Fnatic. Timado has bounced between various North and South American teams over the years, most recently playing for EgoBoys. SabeRLight- is transitioning to North America once again after rising up the European scene with Ninjas in Pyjamas. 

Monkeys-Forever, Zfreek join new prospects in NA4WAT

While squads made up of established free agents were expected to come together, there are some veterans coming together with newcomers. One of those veterans is Jaron “monkeys-forever” Clinton, who revealed his new team on Twitter:

The most credentialed name on the list is Zakari William Lee “Zfreek” Freedman, who anchored compLexity Gaming’s Dota 2 roster for five years. He most recently played for OG Seed but has been inactive since the team’s dissolution in June.

Though Monkeys-Forever and Zfreek are some known names that have played in big events, they’re joined by three newcomers. The team is a great demonstration of how the new DPC leagues open the doors for new players, and it will be interesting to see if they can make the cut.

Black N Yellow comes together around Ryoya

NA veteran Eric “Ryoya” Dong arguably had the best year of his career in 2020. As a substitute for Evil Geniuses, he won ESL One Los Angeles Online and BTS Pro Series Season 1. Later in the year, he reunited with Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao on Team Zero and shockingly won Dota Summit 13.

The results showed that while Ryoya hasn’t been attached to a top team, he does have what it takes to perform with the right people around him. For the NA DPC League, he’s hoping that Black N Yellow prove to be the right people with this lineup:

• Eric “Ryoya” Dong
• Daniel “Zero” Yun
• Francis “FLee” Lee
• Luke “YamSun” Wang
• Andrew “Jubei” Evelyn

FLee and Jubei are two players who have been around for a long while but haven’t yet posted a breakout performance. Zero recently had a one-off showing as a stand-in for 4 Zoomers, bringing along a former teammate in YamSun to Black N Yellow.

These teams will play in the qualifiers for the upcoming NA Dota Pro Circuit leagues. Black N Yellow and Undying were both revealed to be participants in the closed qualifiers for the upper division leagues, but NA4WAT will be forced to work their way through open qualifiers in order to reach the upper division.