- Dota 2
TSM conquer Evil Geniuses, win 2022 DPC North America Regional Final
The Undying spirit finally sits atop NA.
After more than a year of playing in the shadows of Evil Geniuses and Quincy Crew, the former Team Undying stack have won their first Major North American Dota 2 event in their first appearance under the TSM banner.
Not only did MoonMeander and his crew run the gauntlet and beat all three of the other top NA teams, but they also survived a 3-2 series against a revitalized EG to claim the 2022 DPC NA Regional Final.
Overall, NA may have had the closest Regional Final across the board. Once EG eliminated 4 Zoomers in the first round of the lower bracket, every series went the maximum length—even if some of the matches were very fast.
Quincy Crew ended up finishing third, but they played both TSM and EG very closely for the majority of their series. They, however, seemed to fall apart in game three of each matchup, losing by wide margins, including a 20-minute loss to TSM as they dropped into the lower bracket from the upper bracket finals.
Meanwhile, EG played a very poor opener against TSM, dropping both games and looking like they might be in for a quick exit. But that turned around quickly as the entire team focused in and went on to set up a rematch in the grand finals after sweeping 4Z and handling QC in a competitive series.
The grand finals was must-watch Dota, with every game seeing the lead trade hands at least twice as EG tried to pull off the lower bracket comeback. On the back of some excellent team play and the core of Arteezy, Abed, and Nightfall firing on all cylinders, EG managed to take a 2-1 lead before TSM fought back.
In the final two games, Bryle and Timado gave TSM an edge, opening the door for a 3-2 comeback to seal their first win at an event that featured both EG and QC. And in doing so, the team collected $50,000 and 250 DPC points, jumping up into a tie for fourth place on the International Rankings.
Now that all of the Regional Finals have concluded, expect a week full of rosters being shuffled ahead of the next DPC Tour as teams who didn’t perform to their expectations look to improve along the fringes.
