Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe mimic each other a lot, meaning they have one or two teams that have proven themselves on an international stage and then a bunch of other teams with a lot of potential to turn into a solid squad.
At the start of the 2022 Dota Pro Circuit, T1 is the only proven roster that showed up at The International 10, finishing joint-seventh in the organization’s first outing. The remaining teams have either gone through serious roster shuffles, like Fnatic and TNC Predator, or have yet to show their potential.
Prize pool and format
Heading into the 2022 DPC’s Winter Tour, which runs until Jan. 23, a total of 16 teams will be fighting for a chance to represent SEA at the first Major, and hopefully secure their trip to TI11.
Split between two divisions, teams starting in the upper division will try to earn a spot at the Winter Major and earn DPC Points, while also avoiding a bottom two finish, which would lead to them dropping into the lower division. Meanwhile, lower division squads will aim to finish in the top two, which means they will be promoted to the upper division at the start of the second tour.
And, the bottom two teams from the lower division will be relegated out of the regional league entirely, being replaced by two new teams that make it in via a new open qualifier held after the Winter Major.
SEA will receive three spots at the Winter Major, a direct invite to the playoffs, a group stage spot, and one wild card team.
Every regional league will have a total prize pool of $280,000 per Tour and give out the same cash prizing every Tour. However, the DPC points given out to teams in the upper division and at Majors will scale up as the season goes on. This means that the first place finisher in the Winter Tour regional league will receive 300 DPC points, but the team that finishes first in the last Tour will get 500.
Related: Valve confirms 2022 Dota Pro Circuit Winter Tour Regional Finals, expanded roster for TI11
Teams to watch out for
Outside of T1, which should be everyone’s early favorite to take home the top seed or at least make it to the Winter Major, SEA is an open region with a lot of rosters fielding combinations of talented players.
Fnatic kept Raven, Jabz, and Dj, but swapped roles in order to facilitate what the organization thought would be its best roster and brought in Armel and Jaunuel Arcilla. And, while Fnatic mostly built around known commodities, TNC took a flyer on a new roster of younger players led by Febby and Prieme “PlayHard” Banquil.
Motivate.Trust Gaming and Team SMG are both dangerous contenders coming out of the lower division from last season, with rosters full of experienced players like JaCkky and MidOne. And, the remaining rosters like BOOM Esports, OB.Neon, and Execration can’t be overlooked either.
However, the team most are arguably excited to watch is sitting in the lower division for the Winter Tour. Fly, kpii, and Gabbi lead the newly formed Talon Esports roster in hopes of entering the upper division next Tour.
With the a stacked lineup for the new season, here are all of the standings, scores, and results for the Southeast Asia 2022 DPC Winter Tour Regional League, which will run from Nov. 30 to Jan. 23. You can view a full schedule here.
Standings
Upper division
Rank | Team name | Series | Games | DPC Points | Seed | Prize |
1 | BOOM Esports | 6-1 | 12-2 | 300 | Regional Finals | $30,000 |
2 | Fnatic | 5-2 | 10-6 | 180 | Regional Finals | $28,000 |
3 | T1 | 5-2 | 12-5 | 120 | Regional Finals | $27,000 |
4 | Team SMG | 5-2 | 10-6 | 60 | Regional Finals | $26,000 |
5 | Neon Esports | 2-5 | 6-12 | 30 | $25,000 | |
6 | Execration | 2-5 | 4-11 | N/A | $24,000 | |
7 | Motivate.Trust Gaming | 2-5 | 7-10 | N/A | Demoted to lower division | $23,000 |
8 | TNC Predator | 1-6 | 3-12 | N/A | Demoted to lower division | $22,000 |
Lower division
Rank | Team name | Series | Games | DPC Points | Seed | Prize |
1 | Polaris Esports | 7-0 | 14-3 | N/A | Promoted to upper division | $17,000 |
2 | Nigma Galaxy SEA | 5-2 | 12-7 | N/A | Promoted to upper division | $16,000 |
3 | Ragdoll | 5-2 | 10-7 | N/A | $15,000 | |
4 | Lilgun | 4-3 | 10-8 | N/A | $11,000 | |
5 | Talon Esports | 3-4 | 8-9 | N/A | $9,000 | |
6 | Army Geniuses | 2-5 | 7-11 | N/A | $7,000 | |
7 | 496 | 2-5 | 5-10 | N/A | Relegated | N/A |
8 | InterActive Philippines | 0-7 | 3-14 | N/A | Relegated | N/A |