EPICENTER XL Group Stage - Dota 2 Betting Predictions

The EPICENTER XL Major is well underway and tomorrow will be the last day of its Group Stage. Six amazing matches full of betting opportunities await but before we take a look at them, let’s see what the teams have been doing so far.

Group standings

Group A:

• 1^st place: Team Liquid (4 W – 0 L)
• 2^nd place: PSG.LGD (3 W – 1 L)
• 3^rd place: Mineski (2 W – 2 L)
• 4^th place: FlyToMoon (2 W – 2 L)
• 5^th place: compLexity Gaming (1 W – 3 L)
• 6^th place: Team Empire (0 W – 4 L)

Group B:

• 1^st place: Virtus.pro (3 W – 1 L)
• 2^nd place: OG (3 W – 1 L)
• 3^rd place: Team Secret (2 W – 2 L)
• 4^th place: Natus Vincere (2 W – 2 L)
• 5^th place: Newbee (1 W – 3 L)
• 6^th place: paiN Gaming (1 W – 3 L)

Keep in mind that the top two teams from each group advance to the first round of upper bracket matches, the next two teams advance to the first round of lower bracket matches, while the last 2 teams are eliminated.

Betting predictions for May 2^nd

FlyToMoon vs. Team Empire

In spite of being formed just 2 months ago and lacking notable results at previous international competitions, FlyToMoon has proven itself to be a very strong CIS team that can go head to head with any opponent. During the Group Stage of EPICENTER XL, FlyToMoon won against compLexity Gaming (2 – 0) and Mineski (2 – 1) but lost against Team Liquid (2 – 1) and PSG.LGD (2 – 0).

On the other side, Team Empire seems to be in complete disarray right now. This CIS squad has certainly failed to adapt to the new patches and has lost every single match so far in Group A. What’s worse, the defeats were pretty crushing for the most part and Team Empire managed to win a single game out of the 9 they played in total.

Team Liquid vs. Mineski

Team Liquid is currently sitting at number 2 in the Dota Pro Circuit rankings table with 4734 points. Liquid hasn’t been at the top of its game recently but it certainly seems to be making a comeback at EPICENTER XL. Apparently, having won the previous two editions of the tournament is working wonders for Kuro and his teammates.

So far in Group A, Team Liquid won every single match. They defeated Team Empire, PSG.LGD, FlyToMoon and compLexity Gaming.

After winning the Dota 2 Asia Championships 2018 Major, Mineski seems to have lost some of its momentum and its understanding of the current meta is not top notch yet. Mineski is still one of the world’s best teams, sitting at number 4 in the Dota Pro Circuit rankings table with 3150 points. However, until they adapt to the latest patches, Mineski will likely get mixed results and lose most of its matches against the top contenders.

At EPICENTER XL, Mineski is currently sitting in 3rd place in Group A with 2 wins and 2 losses.

PSG.LGD vs. compLexity Gaming

Apart from Team Liquid, PSG.LGD seems to be the strongest team at EPICENTER XL. It was also the finalist of the latest Dota Pro Circuit Major, Dota 2 Asia Championships 2018. In the first 4 days of EPICENTER XL, PSG.LGD got 3 wins against Mineski, FlyToMoon and Team Empire and one loss against Team Liquid.

CompLexity Gaming has been struggling throughout the Group Stage and is now one loss away from elimination. The team won a single match against Team Empire and lost 3 others against Team Liquid, Mineski and FlyToMoon.

Regardless of what statistics you want to look at, PSG.LGD is vastly stronger than compLexity Gaming at this point.

Newbee vs. OG

In spite of sitting at number 5 in the Dota Pro Circuit rankings table with 2220 points, Newbee has looked surprisingly weak so far compared to the other teams. In the first 4 days of EPICENTER XL, Newbee only won one match (against Na’Vi). With a 1 W – 3 L record, Newbee’s chances of qualifying for the Playoffs are minimal.

OG is sitting on the exact opposite side of the spectrum, being ranked number 2 in Group B and having defeated teams like Natus Vincere and Team Secret. It seems that all OG needed to make a comeback was to put s4 in the mid lane and let 7ckngMad play offlane.

Natus Vincere vs. paiN Gaming

Like OG, Natus Vincere has played much better than people expected during the Group Stage of EPICENTER XL. Dendi’s squad got 2 amazing victories against Team Secret and Virtus.pro, but also lost against OG and Newbee. Still, overall the team looked pretty strong and should definitely win this next match against paiN Gaming.

PaiN Gaming only has one win so far, against Newbee, and 3 losses, against Virtus.pro, Team Secret, and OG. It looks like the South American team is still quite far away from the world’s best in terms of skill.

Going into this match, I fully expect Natus Vincere to win as long as it plays the same style of Dota as it has until now.

Virtus.pro vs. Team Secret

This is a battle of two giants but surprisingly enough, only one of them has looked strong so far at this event. Virtus.pro got 3 victories against paiN Gaming (2 – 1) and Newbee (2 – 1) and OG and one close defeat against Natus Vincere (1 – 2). VP is currently sitting at number 1 in the Dota Pro Circuit rankings table with almost 8000 points. However, it’s still trying to adapt to the latest patches and is not exactly at the top of its game.

Team Secret, another top 3 team within the Dota Pro Circuit rankings, has managed to lose two matches against two underdogs (Natus Vincere and OG), and is now being ranked 3rd in Group B with 2 wins and 2 losses.

Going into this match, Virtus.pro should ultimately win against Secret, even though the confrontation will likely span over 3 games.