Looking for advice on who to pick in the ONE Esports DPC CN Fantasy challenge? Here’s some help from Dota 2 pro player and analyst, Dominik “Black^” Reitmeier, who has revealed his DPC CN Power Rankings.
Here’s how he ranked the top ten teams.
1. PSG.LGD
PSG.LGD have to be the favorites right now. They haven’t made any roster changes, and there haven’t been any patch changes, so expect to see the same powerhouse we saw last year.
Strategical prowess coupled with massive amounts of individual talent firmly places them at the top of the teams. They are also chasing that TI victory that has eluded them for so long, so they will definitely be putting in a lot of hard work and many hours to correct their shortcomings.
2. Team Aster
With LaNm transitioning into coaching and the team picking up Siamese Cat as well as Ori they have all the pieces they need for success.
Another team that is very versatile in terms of hero picks and strategy, this team should also be able to easily make it to the Major. They dominated the Chinese scene last season but unfortunately failed to make much of an impact when it came to international tournaments.
3. RNG
This new version of the squad looks very promising. They have three veterans and two young promising talents, which looks like a recipe for success.
Somnus looks stronger than ever and under the leadership of Chalice and xNova the newer players should also be able to play to their full potential.
The biggest problem this team might run into is that they don’t have a traditional captain, meaning that their drafts and shotcalling might be lacking.
4. IG
Some people might be surprised to see IG this low on the list, but I truly believe that the loss of kaka will be a very big problem for them. In recent tournaments, the lack of their captain and in-game leader has had them struggling to put the pieces together.
They are still incredibly skilled on an individual level, but if they want to beat the best teams in the region they will have a lot of fine-tuning to do.
5. VG
Having lost most of their players, this squad has rebuilt into a completely new one. Being filled with a lot of newcomers, this team is inevitably going to run into experience issues. I believe they will need a season or two in order to get team cohesion to a level that will allow them to be able to play with the best of the league, but right now they are not there yet.
6. EHOME
Most of their players come from Phoenix Gaming, which made it from division 2 to division 1. They are a good group of people that have made a lot of progress throughout the last season. They certainly have the potential to cause upsets, but the players haven’t been tested by the strongest of the region yet.
As their ceiling is unknown, I will have to put them a little lower on the list, while fully expecting them to cause some chaos during the season.
7. LBZS
A team that dropped from division 1 to division 2, they fought hard over the last season to get that spot back. They worked out a lot of their previous issues and have gotten a lot better individually.
Despite their efforts and improvements, I still don’t think that they will be able to beat most of the teams in this current division 1. However, if they keep improving at the rate they have been, I am very confident that they will be able to cause some damage and upsets.
8. Phoenix Gaming
After most of their players left for EHOME, they had to build a new team from scratch. While the new team is good on an individual level, they really lack the teamplay, captaining, and strategic prowess that a lot of the teams higher on this list have.
They will probably be fighting for relegation, but I would love for them to be able to pull some magic out of their hats and really challenge the higher-tier teams. Their biggest strength at this point is how unknown their playstyle and drafting style is.
READ MORE: DPC CN Tour 1 Division I: Schedule, results, format, teams, where to watch
