Dota 2 Moon Studio New Year Showdown Playoffs Predictions

Dota 2
February 22, 2021
Marcus Wong

Amidst the Dota Pro Circuit 2021 (DPC 2021), many teams also participated in Moon Studio’s New Year Showdown, mostly for bragging rights and to celebrate the Chinese New Year period. While the event is not nearly as grand as any DPC 2021 event, teams took the opportunity to polish their crafts in hopes of making it to The International 10 this year.

Moon Studio New Year Showdown pits 7 SEA and 8 Chinese teams in an inter-regional showdown for the best B-tier team in the spring season.

Moon Studio Dota 2

© Moon Studio

True team SMG showcase

It smells like nostalgia in the air as Dota 2 fans welcome the SE Asia veterans’ return, most notably, Chai “Mushi” Yee Fung. The pro player once led a Malaysian team to become the second runner-up at the International 2013.

Despite being the only team that didn’t make it into the DPC 2021, team SMG definitely gave their rivals a run for their money. The SEA group consisted of renowned teams competing in the SEA Upper Division of DPC 2021, such as Neon Esports and Execration. The others aren’t too shabby either, being participants of the SEA Lower Division, such as Galaxy Racer, Army Geniuses, Yango Galacticos, and HOYO.

Team SMG kept their strategies simple by picking the best heroes in recent meta. Whereas Mushi transitioned to the hard support role, letting the young prodigies shine at their carry role. While fans will miss Mushi’s glorious days as a feared mid-player, the current formation just works much better.

BurNIng and 请回答 1988 make their entry

Over at the China group stage, another old-timer has returned to the competitive scene. Legendary carry player and Team Aster co-founder Xu “BurNIng” Zhilei has returned with a brand new team. His name resonates deep into Dota 2 fans across the globe, especially generations that remember old Dota and the early stages of Dota 2. Despite not being an Internationals Champion, BurNIng lived up to his reputation as one of China’s best carry players to-date.

Coincidentally, BurNIng and Mushi were once teammates in team DK back in 2013, and are now united years later. The Chinese all-star squad had expectations and hype riding its bandwagon since its debut.

At the Moon Studio’s New Year Showdown, BurNIng’s team has an even score in their book, so it’s too early to determine whether they can keep up. After all, the China group stage also has its fair share of DPC 2021 participants. They are likely moving on to Playoffs anyways just not sure how far down the bracket they will land.

An underdog, and nothing more

Speaking of LBZS, the new Chinese team certainly did well to qualify for the China Upper Division. However, it seems like that’s really all they had going for them as they are on serious losing streak. The squad moved heaven and earth to win a match, but the Chinese competitive scene proved too harsh for the newbies.

As LBZS will most certainly be eliminated in the final weeks of DPC 2021, they aren’t doing too bad at this tournament, per se. After three series, they are on a reasonable lead at 2-1 on the scores.

The SEA contestants have already secured their playoffs slot, but the China group’s remaining games will be running their course this week. So far, there hasn’t been a single Chinese team that looked as dominant as team SMG. Perhaps, team SMG is in the running for the Moon Studio’s New Year Showdown champions.

Moon Studio New Year Showdown Playoffs Predictions

Coming into Playoffs next week, Team SMG and Neon Esports are looking like favorites for the entire event going forward. We can expect Crocodile and LBZS to advance into the upper bracket meaning one of the two will have to face either Neon or SMG in Round 2. This is where the true cross-regional test begins and we can witness how SEA and China match up.

Based on what we’ve seen at the Huya Dota2 Winter Invitational, Neon can hold their own even against Tier1 teams in China, making this competition more or less an SEA showcase come Playoffs. Regardless, we have a full week ahead of matches to be proven wrong. Our in-depth match by match playoffs predictions will be updated next week.

Meanwhile, here is a combo system bet for nine upcoming matches at Moon Studio New Year Showdown: (winners marked with bold)

请回答1988 vs Dalanjing Gaming @ 1.64
Crocodile vs Dragon @ 1.63
Aster.Aries vs Dynasty @ 1.52
iG Vitality vs Dragon @ 2.73
请回答1988 vs LBZS @ 1.64
Crocodile vs Dynasty @ 1.35
请回答1988 vs Dragon @ 1.3
Dragon vs LBZS @ 1.28
Crocodile vs LBZS @ 2.85

Bet type: System bet 7/9
Bet amount: 36$ (1$ per combination)

Total potential win: 1553.79$
Operator: GG.BET

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