The BTS Pro Series Season 13 showcases the best of Americas and Southeast Asia scenes in their respective groups.
With Evil Geniuses making up the last slot for the Americas division, the BTS Pro Series S13 is bound to be an eye-opener. Additionally, it’s a glimpse into the new team rosters for the upcoming Dota Pro Circuit 2023 (DPC 2023), notably Fnatic, Thunder Awaken, beastcoast, TeamSoloMid, and Geek Fam.
We dig into some key matches happening in the Group Stage.
Beastmost!
Army Geniuses vs Geek Fam vs Fnatic
Fnatic is a SEA powerhouse that needs no introduction. They feature a roster of seasoned players, who are household names at the International tier. Even so, they still lose a series against Purple Paradox in a clean sweep. The latter is a Mongolian squad with little official match history on their name, so that might have caught Fnatic and other opponents off-guard. Regardless, we will give PP the credit for picking viable meta-heroes against their opponents.
On the other hand, Geek Fam’s return to the competitive scene is certainly a sight for sore eyes, which is made even better with Rolen “skem” Ong as the power forward. Skem formerly took a backseat in carry role at BOOM Esports, so this is a blast from the past for Skem fans. While Geek Fam is currently on a winning spree, it’s nothing to call home about. At least until we truly see Geek Fam’s potential up against the DPC staples, namely Fnatic and Army Geniuses.
Fnatic certainly has the odds advantage here, just because of their reputation and namesake. However, Geek Fam can certainly prove that they are a capable team in the making.
Another second hot match-up at BTS Pro Series S13 SEA, is GF vs Army Geniuses.
Army Geniuses features an Indonesian squad, many of which were remnants of BOOM ID’s Indonesian roster days. One notable player that AG can boast about is Muhammad “inYourdreaM” Rizky, who is dubbed the SEA Miracle after he became the first 9K MMR player in SEA server.
Despite his reputation, inYourdreaM doesn’t find much success in the DPC, let alone the International scene. Regardless, AG is certainly no run-in-the-mill team that GF wants to undermine. After all, AG is currently top on the scoreboard with zero clean losses. GF will find it difficult to deal with AG’s teamfight-oriented draft with inYourdreaM at the forefront.
Thunder Awaken vs Infinity
Over at BTS Pro Series S13 Americas, the top dogs of the region, EG, TSM, and even beastcoast are not playing any match until the Playoffs. However, that’s not the case for the International 11 fifth-place winner, Thunder Awaken.
TA sold all their players to EG and beastcoast, so they are essentially building a new team from the ground up. Nevertheless, TA did recruit several seasoned experts to lead the squad, such as former Infamous captain and two other players.
Thunder Awaken’s new roster for DPC 2023
Considering Cristian “Accel” Quispe, Miguel “Michael-” Gomez, and Ricardo “Alone” Fernandez placed second runner-up at the last DPC Tour 3, makes TA somewhat credible for their performance. Additionally, TA also scouted out Aliaksei “Smiling Knight” Svirydau from the Eastern European scene to spice up their roster. Currently, TA is not at comfortable standing on the scorecard, but they haven’t lost a clean sweep yet.
However, Infinity’s stack of all-star players from various teams makes for an interesting lineup. They delivered thrilling gameplay with strong initiations and even gave Hokori a run for their money. As such, we would have to lean towards Infinity as the superior candidate against TA.
Hokori vs Wildcard Gaming
As mentioned, Hokori is a staple and a good representation of South America’s rising talent. Wildcard Gaming likely won’t pose much threat to the SA giant, but we have to give credit to WG for their persistent run. With Hokori as their last opponent in the group stage, WG has yet to lose a clean sweep and likely advances to the Playoffs regardless of this match’s outcome.
Even so, WG’s drafting choice is rather unique compared to the typical meta-picks that have grown stale by now. To sum up, WG’s playstyle is a late-game-oriented draft with high sustainability. This is a direct opposition to what the rest of the scene chooses, and WG seems to be up for proving that their opponents’ cheese picks aren’t foolproof.
Despite the lack of prominent powerhouses on the group stage, the BTS Pro Series S13 did not fail to entertain. And it will only get more intense as the playoff invites make their debut vs the qualified group stage winners.
