Last year’s All-Star match was one of my favorite parts of The International. I’m sure this year it will be just as entertaining. Most of the guys picked for the All-Star match are also playing in the Solo Championship which takes place tonight. So, who are these eSports celebrities?
Solo Championship Players
Dendi (Daniil Ishutin)
Considered one of the best Solo-Mid players in Dota 2 (like all the rest of these Solo Championship Players), Dendi is one of the biggest celebrities Dota 2 has as a sport. Playing for Na’Vi, he shot to fame when his team won the first International, with him playing a hero for the very first time. He was also featured in Valve’s Free to Play film, garnering even more fans.
Signature Heroes: Pudge, Puck, Templar Assassin
Arteezy (Artour Babaev)
One of the most recent additions to team Evil Geniuses, Arteezy is also one of the youngest players. The Canadian player has already proven himself as an excellent mid-laner, beating the likes of Mushi and Dendi at last year’s MLG Columbus.
Signature Heroes: Naga Siren, Shadow Fiend, Morphling
s4 (Gustav Magnusson)
S4 was part of Alliance’s winning team at last year’s International, also playing as solo-mid. An award winning Ganker, s4 will need to show the rest that Alliance is up to the challenge again this year.
Signature Heroes: Magnus (irony much?), Puck, Batrider
iceiceice (Daryl Koh Pei Xiang)
Beginning his competitive career in StarCraft II, iceiceice already picked up the award of best solo-mid at The International 2013 where he won the 1 v 1 solo championship against Mushi. He has since transferred to the Chinese Team DK where he generally plays solo-mid or carry.
Signature Heroes: Invoker, Nature’s Prophet, Timbersaw
fy (Linsen Xu)
When playing with his team, Vici Gaming, fy primarily plays support. However, he has had excellent results in 1 v 1 matches as well. Another young player, Chinese born fy hasn’t seen much success with VG this year and will need to pull out all the stops to show people his worth.
Signature Heroes: Rubick, Shadow Shaman, Sand King
Resolut1on (Roman Fominok)
One might expect Resolut1on to be drawn to a team like Na’Vi considering his Ukrainean background, but he actually gained quite a bit of attention at Virtus.pro before moving to Team Empire.
Signature Heroes: Invoker, Puck, Templar Assassin
Mushi (Chai Yee Fung)
Mushi is one of the more varied players, opting to play solo mid or carry depending on which heroes the team picks. Having played for Orange to great success, he now plays for Team DK, helping to make them a favorite to win the competition.
Signature Heroes: Shadow Fiend, Queen of Pain, Templar Assassin
Ferrari_430(Luo Feichi)
With a claim to fame of being the best Invoker player in the world, Ferrari_430 has been with Invictus Gaming for years, although this year they’re looking their strongest yet. With plenty of matches against Team DK this year, knows their opponent well; Ferrari_430 will know Mushi’s tactics as solo-mid and it will be interesting to watch them go head to head.
Signature Heroes: Invoker, Night Stalker, Ember Spirit
All-Star Teams
Team rOtK
- Puppey (Na’Vi)
- s4 (Alliance)
- BurNing (DK)
- N0tail (Fnatic)
- Ferrari_430 (Invictus Gaming)
Team XBOCT
- Dendi (Na’Vi)
- Loda (Alliance)
- iceiceice (DK)
- Arteezy (Evil Geniuses)
- Chuan (Invictus Gaming)
Some of you might be wondering why players who are taking part in the Solo Championship aren’t in the All Star match and vice versa. However, the All-Star match is about putting together the best players (as voted on by the fans) to see how they face off. For example, Puppey is one of the best captains, helping Na’Vi do exceedingly well as a team. His chemistry with Dendi is incredible as they work exceedingly well together. While he can play any role or hero, he is not as exceptional as a solo mid, something necessary for the Solo Championship. Don’t underestimate him, though – whether you want to call him a Support, Carry, Ganker or Pusher, he will still own the opposition.
I’m looking forward to seeing the players from the same teams go head to head as opponents. The Solo Championships will be interesting, but the All-Star match will still be my favorite.
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Last Updated: July 8, 2014
Kyratic
July 8, 2014 at 18:30
Im not much of a soccer fan, and hence, mildy annoyed by the constant media focus on soccer :/
Dota’s international is starting to make me feel the same way…But I do approve of your heightened esports focus 🙂 this is a good thing, but I do hope we get some World LoL championship coverage 😉
Gustav Minnie
July 8, 2014 at 21:01
Get your LOL fix here. In SA noobs…. I mean players prefer DOTA2. 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/user/LoLChampSeries
MichaelMatusowsky
July 9, 2014 at 09:25
“World” where only USA USA USA participates =)?
hairyknees
July 9, 2014 at 08:31
S4 too stronk :O
Matthew Holliday
July 9, 2014 at 09:50
2ez4rtz
Eric
July 9, 2014 at 13:26
I don’t know if you heard the shoutcast that was originally from, but damn that was whack.
Eric
July 9, 2014 at 08:58
Nah, Puppey is too focused on his shoutcasting lately. They’ve been outdrafted and out-played a lot recently(although same could be said for last year before TI3).
I think TI4 will be more of a contest between EG(Too easy for Arteezy… so smart), Alliance(based on their recent form and ability to stay competitive in games they’re losing badly), IG was impressive against EG(Whitewashing them in their last game 22-0) and DK.
B3ware_za
July 9, 2014 at 11:35
Don’t forget, Alliance might have some tricks up their sleeves they have yet to reveal. ~ Remembers Naga Siren from TI3.
Although I do feel they won’t take the cup this year. One should never cash out your Alliance chips yet.
Eric
July 9, 2014 at 13:25
Alliance did really, really well at Dreamhack with their Wisp/Sven Furion/Tree lineups. If they get either, they’re pretty hard to stop when they get going. They do have one of the best furions and whisps in the business. But at the same time, they weren’t facing the likes of EG, DK or IG in the finals. C9 was amazing in their last series final.