The Dota 2 Champions League (D2CL) Season 16 is what’s brewing in the EEU region. Considering how poorly the region performed at the International 11 (TI11), and cementing Team Spirit’s fall from grace, EEU teams need to step up their game if they intend on making their region great again.

We are aware all competition in the region is limited, so any bit of Dota 2 still going on is good to at least keep the scene alive.

Vasilii “AfterLife” Shishkin now representing OneMove

Remaining teams at Dota 2 Champions League S16

It’s day 2 at the D2CL S16 Playoffs and we are down to only eight teams. Frankly, there aren’t any renowned teams in the competition to really call home to, but certainly some staples in DPC 2022 season. For instance, One Move, X3, Monaspa, and IVY will likely bag the victory going into the finals this weekend. Regardless, we are at that point in D2CL S16, whereby these teams will brawl it out in a well-executed Dota 2 performance.

IVY despite being a staple in DPC Division 2 brackets, landed in the lower bracket quite early into the playoffs. Nevertheless, they are able to keep their tournament life up by defeating most of the no-name teams with ease.

Standouts at D2CL S16

One Move, X3, Ancient Tribe, and Monaspa won the initial Upper Bracket rounds, so here are some highlights of their performance. One Move features a decent stack of players, whom you would expect to deliver a decent game. They pack a heavy team fight-oriented draft in most games, which makes them an exciting team to watch.

X3 are much newer among the upper bracket candidates, but have a strong drafter to back their execution. We often see them pull off the snowballing line-up, which opponents in this bracket have a rough time countering.

Ancient Tribe, is by no means a staple, but with Nikola “LeBronDota” Popović, they are a decent stack. They pick unorthodox heroes, but LeBronDota is playing as typical support, so he’s definitely not the x-factor going into D2CL S16. Regardless, they are still going strong in the upper bracket.

D2CL Season 16 Playoffs Bracket

Then, there’s Monaspa, a team name that is mostly unfamiliar. However, Greek fans will recognize the former players of Ad Finem. Notably, we have Giorgos “SsaSpartan” Giannakopoulos, Sakis “dEsire” Kartsampas, and Kharis “SkyLark” Zafeiriou. These remnants of Greek’s finest Dota players are definitely a blast from the past. Hence, it becomes evident that they have old roots in their drafts, such as Shadow Fiend, Necrophos, and Broodmother cheese picks.

Regardless of how the bracket looks, the four initial Upper Bracket teams are favored to advance until the finals.

Who would win the D2CL S16?

As the grand final draws close, only one team will rake in $20,000 in prize pool winnings and bragging rights as champions. We have featured several phenomenal teams in D2CL S16, which makes this conversation a difficult topic. However, we could definitely expect One Move to win the finals this season. For one, this team has been very consistent since its formation back in May 2022. They barely survive in fifth place of DPC Tour 3 Division 1, but considering they deal blows with BetBoom frequently, makes them much more reliable.

Additionally, they lost to BetBoom during TI11 Regional Qualifiers, which the latter went on to qualify for TI11. That aside, One Move has a long history of good performance at past D2CL tournaments, where they secure runner-up victories, second only to BetBoom.