One and done, mouseports: a 2017 mid-year report by Sheen Sah
mousesports is the newest addition to top tier Dota 2 tournaments. Their participation dates back to April 7, leaving only three months of gameplay to consider. Their current roster spent the first quarter of 2017 playing under the name Ad Finem. Skeptical viewers will see this team as one and done, but that’s for you to decide.
Right around the one year anniversary of their debut, Ad Finem made a deep run to meet OG in the finals of the Boston Major. The series wasn’t too close, but it was made interesting before OG closed AF by a 3-1 scoreline.
Ad Finem in 2017 — one and done
Happy times haven’t spilled over into 2017 thus far. To begin the year, Ad Finem failed in back-to-back Qualifiers (missing out on DAC 2017 to Team Liquid after finishing the group stage winless).
The mousesports deal took place just before the Kiev Major, giving mousesports a great opportunity to capitalize on any of their new team’s early success. A 1-3 series record (going 3-6 in total games) left mousesports tied for 13th Place with Team Faceless. mousesports met Invictus Gaming straightaway, and tied for dead last at the Kiev Major. Given a chance to show their stuff, mous proved one and done in their second Valve appearance.
A handout is given
mousesports could have reached Summit 7 through the Lootbet Invitational. A loss to Team Empire sent mousesports to the losers’ bracket, where mous won a single series before elimination.
June has been more kind to mousesports than April or May. Despite missing Summit 7, mousesports won the European qualifier for Galaxy Battles. This led to a 4th Place finish (behind TNC Pro Team, Planet Odd, and winners Newbee) for $13,500. I give mousesports a fair bit of credit for edging out Vega Squadron in the Galaxy Battles European Qualifier tiebreaker.
Grade: C (down from a B+ following the Boston Major)
Making the finals of a Valve Major is a major success. How long will it take to repeat that success? Reach out on Twitter and let me know exactly how long it’ll take mousesports to rid themselves of the one and done title. OG’s mid-year report is right here.