Dota 2 tournaments return to normalcy, and the BTS Pro Series Season 13 SEA is what’s cooking.
This came as a pleasant surprise for fans after Beyond the Summit recently announced that they likely won’t be hosting Dota 2 tournaments next season. Regardless, we will enjoy the thrilling scene of Southeast Asia’s talents while BTS lasts.
BTS Pro Series Season 13 > Americas coverage soon to follow.
BTS Pro Series Season 13 Southeast Asia Tournament Format and Teams
The BTS Pro Series needs no introduction after its thirteenth iteration since the year 2020. The reason why the BTS Pro Series is highly regarded is for its full-fledged format, featuring group stage and playoffs. Group stage is best-of-two single round-robin while playoffs are best-of-three (except the best-of-five grand finals).
More interestingly, it’s the ten competing teams, featuring several Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) staples. Fnatic, Execration, Army Geniuses and Lilgun could easily be fan favorites going into the group stage. However, we didn’t expect the return of Geek Fam of all orgs. Geek Fam last disbanded in year 2020, but was responsible for debuting star players during its active days.
Notably, the ex-T1 players, Carlo “Kuku” Palad, Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon, and Kenny “Xepher” Deo.
Additionally, Cheng “NothingToSay” Jin Xiang, currently mid player of PSG.LGD also hailed from Geek Fam, albeit in a much earlier era of Geek Fam.
Amongst these powerhouse namesakes, there are also newcomers, unfamiliar and potentially have untapped potential. The remaining teams include Neon Atomic, XERXIA, SPAWN Team, Unity Gaming, and Purple Paradox.
A new era of prodigies and young blood
You would be surprised to find out the amateur teams mean business going into BTS Pro Series Season 13 SEA. SPAWN and Atomic gave the seasoned DPC staples a run for their money on the first day of the tournament.
Atomic managed to snatch a game off Army Geniuses and Lilgun with a respectable draft. In a bird-eye’s view, it’s a teamfight-oriented one with incredible scaling potential. For instance, when Atomic dished out mid Mars, which evidently caught AG off-guard for assuming it was an offlane pick.
While they probably didn’t plan for the mind game involved here, their reaction to AG’s hard carry Lifestealer was properly considered with the Slardar last pick. As Atomic got comfortable with Naga and Mars picks, it’s hiding the real gem of their draft, being the Silencer. The support Silencer contributed to impactful fights, which was crucial in shutting down Lilgun’s line-up.
Another unsuspecting candidate at the BTS Pro Series S13 SEA seems to be SPAWN, which also swept the floor against Lilgun. Their heavy snowballing tactics with AOE magic damage line-up make for a dangerous combo when coupled with their synergy.
Fnatic’s unrevealed roster
While teams battle it out in the group stage, Fnatic has yet to finalize its roster. They will have until Day 4 before their first match, so only time will tell whom Fnatic’s upcoming line-up will consist of. It was a slow late-season for FNC at BTS Pro Series 12 and The International.
To recap, we already know that they released Marc “Raven” Fausto and Anucha “Jabz” Jirawong, their hard carry and offlane players respectively. While Raven’s departure is within expectations since teams replace hard carry players in most shuffles, Jabz’s departure was a big deal. Jabz is also captain of Fnatic, the mastermind behind durable Enigma offlane drafts.
Considering Jaunuel “Jaunuel” Arcilla, Fnatic’s current hard support player likely won’t serve as captain, which is traditionally a role for pos5 supports. There could only be two potential captain options. Firstly, Djardel “DJ” Mampusti, the pos4 support in Fnatic is renowned for his drafting expertise but has taken the backseat in drafting decisions last season.
Or we can expect a new offlane player, who will also be captain/drafter. And, among the limited offlane players who are also captains, there is only Kuku, who is a free agent now. The rumor mills are dishing out exceptional roster rumors to date, but we will probably know the big reveal of Fnatic’s upcoming line-up at BTS Pro Series S13 SEA soon.
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