Dota 2 veterans & old-timers gather in Europe’s DPC Division 2

Ever wonder where your favorite veteran players are? Well, they certainly haven’t kicked the proverbial bucket just yet. Many are now in DPC Division 2 Europe, which looks like a retirement home nowadays.

Multiple former International Champions, such as ex-OG players, ex-Team Liquid players, and even Alliance’s Gustav “s4” Magnusson are all stuck in Division 2, fighting for a shot at Div 1 next year.

Old-timer showcase in DPC 2023 WEU Division 2

While the young guns are striving on the main stage of DPC 2023, the Division 2 bracket has become bloated with old-timers.

First up, Sébastien “Ceb” Debs and Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen in Old G. The former two-time champions played alongside other high-profile veterans too, such as Volodymyr “No[o]ne-” Minenko. Despite the stacked line-up, Old G didn’t live up to the fans’ expectations of a TI-winning roster. Fans believed that placing seventh in Tour 2 and ultimately losing their Division 2 slot should have been a tell-tale sign to retire and disband.

Yet, by merging with PuckChamp, they managed to have a Division 2 slot to compete in Tour 3 somehow.

Nigma Galaxy and Alliance’s status

Then, there’s Nigma Galaxy, which fell from Division 1 last tour. If anything, Nigma arguably looked the worst in shape after losing Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan and Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf. Nigma failed to capitalize on the two young prodigies’ strength, which has led to Nigma’s underwhelming performance.

This is once again proven true when Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov’s performance as a stand-in for team OG at Berlin Major 2023 looked phenomenal. Whereas, the same can be said when SumaiL stand-in for Team Aster.

Nevertheless, Nigma is another old-school team, better known as ex-Team Liquid players who won TI7. Even so, they are merely a husk of their former self in the recent DPC 2023 WEU Division 2.

S4 and Alliance

Lastly, there’s Gustav “s4” Magnusson, who still plays for his founding Esports organization, Alliance, that he won TI3 in. Although none of s4’s former teammates are active anymore, s4 continues the legacy by leading a new squad of talents. Last tour, they placed fourth place, which is certainly much better than Old G. However, chances are, Alliance won’t be the best bet on placing top seeds.

Other old-school players

Besides the former TI Champions, the DPC WEU Division 2 bracket also consists of several seasoned teams. Former Monaspa roster, that is led by the iconic Greek captain, Giorgos “SsaSpartan” Giannakopoulos, is one that could potentially climb back into Division 1 next DPC season. Team Level UP comprised of Nikita “Daxak” Kuzmin and Milan “MiLAN” Kozomara could also be an unexpected contender to challenge first place as they are the latest team from closed qualifier to compete in Division 2.

Additionally, over at Southeast Asia Division 2, Galvin “Meracle” Kang, renowned for his Naga Siren, is competing for Myth Avenue Gaming. And Ryan “Raging Potato” Qui, another popular Filipino player is now in Neon Esports in the same division.

Harsh competition in DPC 2023 WEU

The Dota Pro Circuit 2023 (DPC 2023) Western Europe has been very competitive in recent years. Tundra Esports winning the International 2022 (TI11) was just the tip of the iceberg when discussing about the WEU teams’ supremacy because the top-four in TI11 were also occupied by Team Secret and Team Liquid, both WEU rivals.

Fast forward to the recent DPC 2023 Tour 3, Gaimin Gladiators and Team Liquid secured top-two finishes in two consecutive majors. As such, it truly puts other regions, especially Southeast Asia and China to shame, for their underwhelming performance.

With all said and done, expect intense competition in DPC WEU Division 2, even if it could seem like a retirement home for Dota 2 players. These teams could have easily rivalled DPC WEU Division 1 bracket if it was dated back in 2016.