Getting a band back together is an exciting, but typically underwhelming pursuit. The promise of more music is alluring, but the finished product often makes you wish it never happened. The singer can’t hit the notes they used to, the drummer is slightly off-beat and that lead guitarist you loved isn’t able to lay down the licks of the past. Alliance was that band, but somehow they’ve managed to not only return to the Dota 2 stage, but this team is better than ever.
How Alliance went from ‘washed up,’ to a meme, to dominating Dota in 3 months
Alliance is back? Alliance is back! Wait ... Alliance is really back?
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
Alliance elicits strong reactions. The often-brash Swedish team became fan-favorites during their amazing run in 2013 to win The International, but what followed was a complete collapse. The Alliance of old was gone -- replaced with a team that lacked synergy, wasn’t able to adjust to the larger metagame and simply looked out of place. The world worked out their tricks, prompting many to suggest the team were a group of one-hit wonders, unable to excel outside of their one brilliant album.
A year later Alliance as we knew them were done. The team’s star No.2, s4 (Gustav Magnusson), left for Team Secret to form a super group. He was quickly followed by EGM (Jerry Lundkvist), who split and tried to rejuvenate his career with Team Tinker. Both had some success while the vestiges of Alliance kept working, kept grinding, desperately hoping they could pull it back together.
In the months that followed, Alliance became a meme. Each tournament brought the promise that it would be the true return of Alliance, only to be met with floundering inconsistency. “Alliance back!” became the catch-cry of Reddit and social media, an enthusiastic refrain sung by fans to try and manifest their desires. Meanwhile, those who disliked Alliance used it sarcastically to mock Alliance, suggesting the team was done for good.
Alliance’s return didn’t start with a spark, but rather a small, smoldering ember. After failing to qualify for The International 2015 some believed the team wouldn’t survive the year. In the background was Team Secret, where s4 had gone. They were expected to dominate but vastly underperformed, prompting s4 to leave and return to his roots. With three months until the Frankfurt Major Alliance locked its roster and prepared.
The new-look Alliance was reminiscent of its initial iteration, but there were some changes. The sometimes scattershot Loda (Jonathan Berg) became a more reliable carry. Meanwhile, AdmiralBulldog (Henrik Ahnberg) had quietly built a stable of heroes we hadn’t seen him play before. This iteration of the team had more depth, had more variability, they had glimpses of what they showed back in 2013 -- surprise. Things were far from complete, however.
The Frankfurt Major didn’t help assuage fears about Alliance’s return. Winless in their group stage and eliminated in the second round of the lower bracket -- the experiment seemed doomed for failure. A slush in a petri dish destined for the trash can. It showed promise, but something had gone wrong.
When EGM announced he was returning to Alliance, the reaction from most Dota fans was a side eye and a snide laugh. Pointing and staring at the aging rockers who thought they could take the stage again. “Alliance back!” echoed, and even the most stalwart of fans thought this team was going to fail.
In less than two weeks, Alliance proved everyone wrong. The Swedish team traveled to China for World Cyber Arena 2015 as a long shot. Their 1-1-1 group stage performance was nothing to write home about and it seemed pegged to be another, predictable mid-table finish for Alliance.
The playoffs began and Alliance took out The International 2015 runners up CDEC Gaming, then they blew through Wings Gaming -- suddenly “Alliance back!” became “Ummm ... Alliance is back,” and in the blink of an eye they took on and beat LGD Gaming to win the $370,000 prize.
Alliance is currently playing in StarSeries. Early on Thursday morning they shocked the world by beating Evil Geniuses, who won The International 2015. They’ve beaten Fnatic, LGD Gaming and Evil Geniuses -- all in the same tournament. Yes, they might still drop a game here or there and they’re far from a perfectly mechanized and unbeatable team, but they never were that. They’re loved because they play like nobody else, for better or for worse. The careers of these five players may have taken strange circuitous roads to get to this point, but we can now safely say, without hesitation, snark or meme ...
Alliance is back.
See More:
