Alliance crushed in AniMajor following cheating accusations

Alliance had something to prove at the WePlay AniMajor. Unfortunately, the event did not go their way.

The embattled European squad was dealt a swift elimination from the AniMajor on Thursday morning. The team was unceremoniously eliminated from the event after back-to-back losses in the playoffs. It’s a devastating blow for the squad and one that is undoubtedly satisfying for those who accused the team of cheating last month.

Courtesy of Alliance’s first-place finish in DreamLeague Season 15, the team started the AniMajor in the upper bracket of the playoffs. Alliance had an unfortunate draw in its first opponent, PSG.LGD. The Chinese squad looked very strong in the group stage and that carried over into the playoffs, with Alliance being dealt a swift 2-0 defeat.

While Alliance had possibly the toughest draw of the upper bracket, it was seemingly set for a cushy landing in the lower bracket as it faced Team Spirit. The CIS squad was one of the biggest underdogs when it came to winning the AniMajor, barely surviving the group stage. 

Unfortunately for Alliance, it wasn’t able to take advantage of that opportunity.

Team Spirit absolutely dominated the opening game with a kill tally that ended at 37-10. From there, Alliance got on the board to force a decider but Alliance had possibly the worst showing in a major in years as it posted just two kills in a 29-minute loss that closed the series.

Catch up on the drama surrounding Alliance

• Alliance, ppd accused of cheating in DPC
• DreamHack puts out statement on Alliance cheating allegations
• ppd states OG refusing scrims with Alliance

Alliance flops in AniMajor after cheating allegations

Alliance’s instant elimination from the AniMajor comes at an awkward time for the organization.

In May, the team came under fire from fans and OG captain Johan “N0tail” Sundstein when a vlog was posted to Alliance’s YouTube channel that included call-outs from coach Peter “ppd” Dager during footage of a Dota Pro Circuit game. 

Valve has historically put strict limits in place regarding the role of coaches in Dota 2 esports, which led many to assume that Alliance was cheating during official matches.

DreamHack and ESL later put out a statement that rules had been changed ahead of the season to allow coaches to communicate with players in-game. While this meant that Alliance was within the rules by having ppd on-hand during games, this rule change was reversed at the behest of Valve.

Though Alliance went on to take first place in DreamLeague Season 15, the team faced harsh criticism and needed to show that it was a bona fide elite in the AniMajor. Instead, the team fell flat on its face. 

For many, this will place a bit of an asterisk on Alliance’s recent strength. Though the team’s overall body of work this season has been strong, catastrophically failing this first big test without ppd on comms is certainly a bad look.

Alliance still positioned for TI10 berth

Despite flopping in the AniMajor, Alliance’s strong performances in league play will almost certainly still see the team qualify for The International 2021. At present, the team has 800 DPC qualifying points with 300 coming from the second-place finish in DreamLeague Season 14 and 500 coming from taking first in DreamLeague Season 15.

It would take a very precise set of outcomes in the rest of the major to see Alliance fall short of TI10. datDota’s Ben "Noxville" Steenhuisen pegged Alliance’s probability of leaving Kiev with a TI10 invitation at 99.96%. 

While Alliance still has a spot on lock, the rest of the AniMajor remains a high-stakes endeavor for many teams. The likes of Team Nigma and TNC Predator are still fighting for a spot in TI10 and will need to make deep runs into the tournament in order to make the cut.