Meet UIC, Your CSL Dota Grand Champions
The players from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) have achieved their goal, ending their two-season Dota journey successfully. Last year, UIC was the underdog; this year, they had one of the most impressive runs in the history of CSL. The University of Toronto (U of T) placed second, winning one game against UIC in the best-of-five grand final.
Former underdog UIC went undefeated throughout their championship season, but last season didn’t go quite as smoothly. UIC struggled in the Fall and didn’t receive an invite to the Winter Invitational last season. After months of lacklustre play, UIC decided to take a chance by changing their roster. The addition of SammY to UIC’s roster marked the beginning of their underdog story. Fittingly, SammY was elected to give the winners’ interview on behalf of UIC.
After their underdog story came to an upsetting end last season, UIC’s championship story began. Maintaining their momentum the whole year, the former underdog became the most dominant team in CSL.
UNDERDOGS
Victorious usurpers dethrone former champions. The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) nearly earned the first back-to-back-to-back championship in CSL, but UIC’s victorious conclusion overthrew RIT’s reign. Atop the throne, UIC is now in a position to achieve the win streak that their predecessor could not.
UIC’s final series was more than just a game of Dota. Finishing in second place, the University of Toronto competed with an aptly-named Dota team. The Underdogs, like UIC, entered the playoffs undefeated. Similar to UIC’s playoff run last year, U of T went unnoticed through the upper bracket despite their consistent success. Crawling up to the grand finals from the lower bracket, the Underdogs were true underdogs when they entered the series with a one-match disadvantage. U of T was in nearly the exact same position UIC was when their underdog story came to an end last year. Will U of T come back for vengeance next year as UIC did? Only time will tell.
Congratulations to UIC! Follow us on Twitter and Twitch to stay up-to-date with collegiate Dota and let us know what games you’re looking forward to playing this summer. We’ll be back with more action and an even better event next year!
