HellRaisers knocks Team Spirit to Lower Bracket in EEU DPC Finals

HellRaisers have defeated TI10 winners and EEU DPC table-toppers Team Spirit in a surprising upset to begin the EEU Regional Finals. The squad defeated Team Spirit 2-1 in the opening game of the Finals, taking the first game and the third.

HellRaisers put an exclamation mark on their victory in a dominating third-game display. They did this by sweeping away Spirit with early game dominance. Ultimately the win seems to herald the coming of another incredible youth-filled roster to the CIS.

Starting as underdogs in the series, HellRaisers were fresh off of a Victory in the Dota 2 Champions League Season 7. After eliminating WEU DPC Regional Finals winners Gaimin Gladiators, they’d won that tournament.

But their opponent, Team Spirit, would be no easy win. The TI10 champs were undefeated in the Upper Division and headed into this game as heavy favorites. However, after a series of draft missteps and, unfortunately, team fights, Team Spirit was on the back foot. 

HellRaisers win came of the back of incredible team fighting that saw Spirit knocked about by their engage. With a more finesse and timing-based lineup, Spirit were unable to dictate the pace against a more versatile HellRaisers composition. In particular, the flexed Mars to mid prevented Spirit’s Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Khertek from having an effect in-game. His Leshrac struggled against a more utility-focused Mars pick.

Game two came off the back of a much better draft from Spirit. Rather than picks that relied on timings and setup, the squad took the fight to HellRaisers. While HellRaisers team fighting had been particularly good last match, the overall skill of Spirit looked higher. In head to head team fights, HellRaisers were outmatched.

As a result, Team Spirit dictated the pace of the game instead of their opponents. Early moves to take towers and create space for Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov gave Spirit’s cores more farm.

And with this increased farm Team Spirit were able to punish HellRaisers for attempting to fight into them. HellRaiser clearly struggled when they weren’t in control of the rotations they wanted to make.

With the series on the line, it appeared like Team Spirit had once again drafted a winner. Taking away the Mars and giving their carries comfort heroes like Morphling and Lina was a perfect game for Spirit. 

However, HellRaisers early game lineup dominated early. They cut off Spirit from the farm with lane bullies and pushing heroes like Lycan and Razor. It made Team Spirit unable to feed their carries and by the 10 minute mark, it was already looking like HellRaisers game.

Spirit made a valiant attempt to hold on, but were just unable to catch up from the deficit the early game had put them in. And after a few critical catches, HellRaisers decisively took the win. A huge upset overall.

This HellRaisers lineup was formed just four months ago, and managed to get fourth place in the DPC. But this performance has confirmed what many already thought after their victory of the Dota 2 Championship League: This team is the next big thing in the EEU DPC. And it’s their consistent team fighting and incredible synergy after just a handful of months that have created this situation.

Catch HellRaisers in action again on February 19th on the BeyondTheSummit Twitch channel.