For the first time in ages, B8 isn’t struggling to place higher than the bottom two seeds.
They were competing alongside other NA Division 1 staples, Shopify Rebellion, TeamSoloMid, nous and more this season. After a commendable tour, they are facing a three-way tie for 4th place with teams felt and DogChamp.
Later today, a three-way tiebreaker will decide their final placement and DPC point allotment.
Bottom of the table no more! – Image source: B8
On the up and up
B8 ended Tour 2 on a 3W-4L record, tied with felt and DogChamp. The three wins during this tour were exactly against these two opponents and the departing Wildcard Gaming.
Going into today’s tiebreaker they are favored, and likely earning themselves 80 DPC points. Not yet the big bank to get them to TI2022, but enough to get them i the running, especially if they run an insane Tour 3 and an even “insane-ER” Bali Major.
B8 the “new” NA team in town
It’s nice to see B8 being successful, yet many have raised the question of why and how B8 got a NA slot. And thus was former NA player, Quinn “Quinn” Callahan’s recent tweet calling out Valve and B8.
Anybody wanna fill me in on why its ok for B8 To fly 5 europeans into NA servers to attempt to steal a slot and its ok but I got dq’d for that 4 years ago?
— Quinn Callahan (@ccncdota2) March 15, 2023
B8 bought the NA DPC 2023 slot off Wildcard Gaming last season, which makes them technically a team in NA Division 1 bracket. Hilariously, B8 managed to stay out of the radar until the second Tour of DPC 2023 despite playing and placing 6th during the previous Tour.
B8’s case isn’t identical to Quinn’s after all. For one, Valve has provided clearer rules on regional teams, whereby 3/5 players on the team need to be located in the region they compete for the entire duration of the Tour. B8 is based in Mexico City for the entirety of Tour 1 DPC 2023.
For the uninitiated, Quinn had a similar instance back in 2018, albeit it landed him a disqualification from Valve. He was formerly a player of paiN X, which continued to play as team test123 after they left the org.
Valve disqualified the team for violating their regional team ruling as paiN X traveled to and out of South America for the qualifiers without permanent residency. This came off as an attempt to gain a competitive advantage over other regions, that don’t have many strong opponents. At the time, SA teams were infamously known for being the worst performing, so it makes the region an easy target for more promising teams to compete there.
This doesn’t fully eliminate the debate on how inter-region teams can buy team slots so easily. This, of course, is a competitive advantage for the well-financed powerhouses over the less renowned teams. It isn’t just B8 that is doing this trade, as it’s rampant too in other regional DPC 2023 tours.
In the end, the regional shift doesn’t really seem to bother anyone too much, especially for a region like North American which is in desperate need of more contenders. B8 might have just found the perfect way to re-build their foundation and legacy in long run.
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