Just a few days ago, MyMGN admins released the invite list for the anticipated DotA-Pride Asia league. For those of you who haven't heard yet, these are the teams that have been invited:

1. Singapore - XTC, Aeon.sg, DsD, Little
2. Malaysia - Aeon.my, Kingsurf, Inc excello, ftz-asia
3. Australia - RUBIK, MCiTY
4. China - cD, ftd, CH, EHOME, XFY
5. Indonesia - Axis, rdigi, rdigi2
6. Thailand - Dtrust, TZR
7. Philippines - Mineski
8. India - err0r
9. Vietnam - Starsboba
10. United States - Pandemic, Blight.Int (USA players)
12. Special invites - PMS|Asterisk (SG), Shadowplay (IN)

Source - DotA Pride

The Chinese line-up for this league looks to be very formidable. cD, CH, EHOME, in particular, are the teams to beat, having proven their worth in the recent SMM tournament in Malaysia, clinching 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions. What's also interesting to note is that five teams from China were invited to the league - the most teams from any single country. MichaeL from XTC expects matches against the Chinese teams to be "tough", while furryfish from PMS|Asterisk is expecting some strong 5v5 teamplay from the likes of Team ftd.

Team ftd from China taking the championship title at SMM

Much can be expected, as well, from the Singaporean line-up. Aeon.sg is, as usual, one of the temas to look out for in this tournament. Having recently won the Razer Asian DotA Championships, they certainly seem to be on track to clinching a top position in the league. Superstars aren't all that Singapore has to offer though. Underdogs XTC expect to perform well in this tournament as well, with their recently revamped team, comprising of xy, lux, alanter, zhamqtrees and darkwish. Team manager MichaeL, has high expectations for the new lineup, especially zhamqtrees, who he describes as a "hidden gem" in the DOTA scene. Despite XTC's simultaneous commitments to Gosucup #2 & Kode5 Asia, MichaeL expects the team to excel, hitting "at least the top 3". Looking back at the upsets they've pulled over the past year (think WCG Singapore and ESTC 2009), there seems to be little reason to doubt the targets that the ambitious team manager has set for his team.

Aeon.SG at SMM

Team MciTy has been dominating the Australian scene, and have added many players to their roster. However, with their leader and founder Kirai (otherwise known as xMusica) serving national service in Singapore, their performance might not be as stable as it could be. They definitely have the skills to go far, but probably not very far.

The previous MciTy lineup, with xMusica (first from the right, kneeling)

As for the Indonesians and Vietnamese, their performance has always been rather unstable, sometimes completely steamrolling over top teams but often losing to not so highly-ranked ones. This tournament might give them a chance to stabilize their performance, but they are not expected to go as far as the stable Chinese teams.

More than the money, fame or score-settling, there is one thing that most teams are hoping for more than anything else - low latency. As furryfish from PMS|Asterisk puts it, "to have a GOOD GAME on a GOOD HOST, meaning 0.5 secs delay at most." While there are no guarantees that can be made there, this league certainly looks to be an exciting one for the DotA community. Stay tuned for more updates from Rapture Gaming!