Change or Consistency: The Paths Towards Building A Championship Team
One of the issues of being a fan of a Dota team is because the team is always changing. Are we a fan of the brand or the rotating carousel of players? But from the perspective of the players and organizations, they are just maneuvering themselves into the best situation to win the next TI, and most of the time, it means moving players.
Shuffling Towards TI
Dota rosters are in a tenuous state of change, swayed by success and failure, talent and chemistry, and Icefrog’s nerf hammer. Evil Geniuses swapped a player after winning TI5, while Wings Gaming brought all five players back. Everyone questioned EG’s decision, while agreed that Wings Gaming’s commitment to their roster made rational sense. Why fix something that isn’t broken?
The reality is that it’s difficult for to keep a team together after it’s had some amount of success at TI. And success doesn’t have to be first or bust. Na’Vi should be commended for their consistency in the early years of TI (1st, 2nd, 2nd place finishes). Most recently, Digital Chaos, a team cobbled together last minute, surmounted all expectations by taking 2nd place at TI6.
The aftermath of placing in the top three of a TI is less like winning a sports event and more like a band making it big. They’ve had a lifetime to make their first album, and now they have a year to put out their second. The jackpot prize pool for TI is so incomparably outsized to every other tournament that it trivializes them. So it makes successful teams less motivated after TI. Newbee, after winning TI4, was known to skip practice for RPGs.
Every TI winner so far hasn’t been able to replicate that success in the following years. Alliance and Na’vi had two of the most stable rosters in the scene, but their successes declined after their TI wins. Even the most successful teams of Dota haven’t been able to follow up on their wins, so the expectation for every other team shouldn’t be different.
Change We Can Believe In
Success or failure doesn’t always lead to consistency or change, because there’s issues of team chemistry and fit. These were the core of the reasons cited for EG removing Aui, or Secret dropping w33ha and Misery.
This aspect of roster shuffling is often underrated by the community, because the community doesn’t know what’s happening behind the curtain. We can evaluate a team’s roster based on talent and perhaps the expected synergy between playstyles, but we can’t speak for certain about how their personalities will mesh.
The chemistry between players outside of the game is something that’s significant when it comes to LAN performance. These players live and breathe Dota all day, and then they eat, sleep, and travel together at all other times. Then there’s the fact that they are all Dota professionals, at the height of their skill, and at some point, one person will have to say another person is wrong.
The Convenience Of Swapping Teams
It’s easy to switch teams. For esports, it’s just a few mouse clicks away. Yes, there are team houses, but the standard, outside of China, is that people practice remotely. Bootcamps may be held before a major tournament, but largely, everyone is working from home. Compare this to stories of sports players who, upon being traded, have to uproot their lives and their families. It’s difficult to divorce the personal from the professional, but the nature of esports removes many of those barriers.
Sometimes rosters do need to change, because Dota changes. As a new patch arrives, the field around the players shift underneath them, and it can shift towards the strengths or weaknesses of those players. And it happens every three months or so. Alliance saw the meta drift away from them. Team OG and Liquid were powerhouses through the Majors and benefitted from their team stability, but both underperformed at TI. Roster consistency does have its benefits, but it can also hinder a team’s ability to adapt.
Another Kind Of Roster Stability
What has been consistent for some of the top Dota teams is that they’ve maintained an identity through their core players. Team Secret is Puppey’s team. EG is PPD and Fear. OG is Notail and Fly. The rest of the roster may shuffle, but it’s these core players that gives their team its history, its identity, and its leadership.
For now, Wings Gaming has decided to stick it out. Out of all the past TI champions, Wings Gaming may be in the best position to repeat. They were the most eclectic and versatile team at TI6, even picking Pudge during a Grand Finals match. After the event, Black and Winter agreed that they were perhaps the best Dota team of all time. It may be too early for to give that award out, but if Wings Gaming continues their streak this year, they certainly have a strong case.
1st
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me 4 koira ollemme emme pelkää m,itään siksi olemme niin pelkäämättömiä
miä siä juho egi
#4DOGS #THENEWMEME
Hi
Good article as always. Keep it up.
No doubt Wings is the most versatile team, but the title for the best team is still debatable.
wings might be the best team though
5th
6th never too late
7th not too late
9th never too late
In my humble opinion, in the dotabuff comments it is never too late to think that I am going to say I am the 10th. Hahaha hahaha.
11th?
The one who said i'm the best usually isn't.
In a diverse meta, I'm going with Wings until some other team shows anything close to their hero range. They just have a much better chance of outmaneuvering other teams during the draft, and while I don' t think they're the best tactically, they're damn good.
I'll be rooting for EG like usual but I really like watching Wings.
Who said puppey is core player....
When they say core, they mean the people that gives the team the identity, not the core roles. Can you guys think outside of dota first, then dota second maybe? Smh.
I always think about professional dota teams of 6 players? Like in soccer or ice hockey every team has a player that can be substitute. This could lead to lesser team changes and longer team development without the nescessity to switch every season. It also ensures readyness in case of illness or indisposition. An finally you can have more signature heroes or specialists in your team.
17th never ever too late
you see, those who have no constructive comments and keep posting their orders are usually 1k scrubs.
wings undoubtedly showed the world they are the best this year.
their hero pool and synergy is way better than any other teams currently.
i would give them the best team for 2016.. of all time... well too early to say since they are only in the scene for 1 year.
it usually takes some form of "unseen" tactics to win TI sometimes...
TI1, TI2 and TI5 were generally uneventful.
TI3 alliance won with "rat dota". Then an unseen style of play.
TI4 Newbee won with "deathball" Then another unseen style of play.
TI6 Wings won it out of pure versatility.
what was the point of this article? This was dull, recycled humdrum
I always think about professional dota teams of 6 players?
Nice idea. Team has lost a game, and substitute is coming. Wow, what's their plan? Another hero pool, possibly totally different draft strategy. Looks cool.
And I not believe in Wings. One win is nothing. OG seemed undefeatable some time ago. Then Newbee crushed all the records. And where are they?
IF U WIN A FUCKING TI UR THE BEST TEAM .PERIOD.
We are talking best team all time not currently, so I have to say wings is not the best team they did not have to play OG, Newbee or liquid the three "favorites". They had a good group stage but third place out of eight is hardly dominant. They just found interesting ways to use all aspects of the meta while playing at an extremely high level, which I think is highly impressive and deserving of a TI but not the best team of all time.
i cant like the chinese teams sorry they seem like they dont have personality at all, well i like ice3x hes not chinesse hes asian but the guy is funny he can joke and stuff...i played and watched sc1 for a loong time until 2013 or something the koreans are so different more fun and funny....i cannot seeanything from chinese..im i the only one who feels like this?
its kinda offtopic but i hated when wings won ti...
Chinese masterrace is back lads/lass.
Honestly I find it really surprising that most western teams failed to perform! Let's hope a western comeback will be a thing this new season.
IM BLUE
ofc wings is the best team , no one cant argue about that
except Itali won World Cup title by materazzi bastard made Zidane angry , so Zidane got red card
i cant remember all the detail of that match
31st.. well as you all said "never too late"