The winners and losers of the EPICENTER Major

Vici crushed it, Alliance clinched it, Liquid moved on from MATUMBAMAN for good and Valve continues to rake in fat stacks of cash. The final event of the DPC season has just ended, and as everyone’s attention quickly turns towards this year’s TI after the amazing final in Moscow, it’s worth taking a look at the winners and losers of the final major of 2018/19.

Winner: Vici Gaming

The outright winners of the EPICENTER Major haven’t dropped a single series in Moscow, capping off a meteoric rise in the second half of the DPC circuit, joining Team Secret as the second team that managed to win two Majors. With the kind of strength they’ve displayed here, this young side must be considered one of the stronger candidates and ones to watch for at TI, especially with Dy firing on all cylinders.

Winner: Team Liquid

Remember how this DPC season began for Liquid, missing out on (or “sitting out”, depending on who you ask) the first major entirely? To put things in a numerical perspective, they’ve collected 525 DPC points until DreamLeague S11, rallying to collect 6000 more over the course of the remaining three months. It’s getting increasingly harder to find arguments against moving beyond MATUMBAMAN, with their first roster change in almost 900 days seemingly already paying dividends. If there is a right time to peak, it’s right about now.

Winner: Alliance

So iNSaNiA and co. did manage to squeak by in the end, though just barely. After successfully fighting their way into the event through the StarLadder ImbaTV Minor, they still needed things to go their way if they wanted to avoid the scourge of the regional qualifiers. Finishing third in a tough group seemed reasonable, and they’ve successfully navigated a treacherous path in the lower bracket all the way to the promised land. Kinda-sorta throwing that second game to VP in the following game was not particularly impressive and it’s not the sort of mistake they can afford to make at The International.

Read more: The storylines of the EPICENTER Major by stuchiu

Winner: Valve

Despite all the complaints about the DPC setup, the majors are still bringing in impressive numbers and the prize pool for TI 2019 is getting more and more ridiculous by the minute. Even if the issues are beyond nominal, the behemoths of Bellevue are doing just fine.

Loser: Gambit Esports

Barely missing out on an automatic invite to TI is arguably even worse than completely falling away, and the CIS side will have to very quickly dust themselves off and move past this disappointment if they want to be at their best at the regional qualifiers.

Loser: paiN Gaming

The Brazilian side suffered an early elimination off the back of a rough group stage against stacked opposition. Lelis has gone on record in an interview with VPEsports saying that the team may very well make roster adjustments, and this added uncertainty won’t be helpful in the qualifiers even if he’s right in his assessment that the side is “pretty strong” in South America.

Photo credit: EPICENTER