For once, the Division 2 brackets at Dota Pro Circuit China have enticing matches to watch. Notably, it’s because Invictus Gaming is in this bracket, which reduces the odds of other candidates to secure top-two seeds. After all, the Singapore Major champion is already off to a good start in DPC CN Division 2, defeating team ShenZhen.
But not all is at it seems. Invictus are looking shaky and the rest of the pack is looking strong.
IG’s terrible performance during the last Tour left many fans with negative impressions. IG, whose last greatest accomplishment was finishing fourth at the International, just didn’t put on any fight. They end DPC CN Tour 1 with seven losses.
Yet, we wouldn’t put IG at the same tier as the current Alliance roster, which is also in their respective region’s Division 2. The reason is IG still rocks the same line-up that revived IG’s glory last season. The other reason is we are fans of Zhou “Emo” Yi ever since his iconic taunt on Evil Geniuses.
Jokes aside, IG barely won their match against ShenZhen unscathed after getting teamwiped during late game. Presumably, IG is testing the waters on what drafts and playstyle they intend to put on the table as they head deeper into DPC CN Division 2. Emo, despite being IG’s golden boy since his debut, has become their opponents’ top priority to cripple.
Hence, diversifying their hero drafts to put Jin “flyfly” Zhiyi and Thiay “JT-” Jun Wen into the spotlight instead.
This time around, IG is accompanied by their sister team, IG.Vitality. Although this is IGV’s debut into DPC2021-22, they do rock a decent line-up of seasoned players. Namely, there are Gao “@dogf1ghts” Tianpeng and Ni “ButterflyEffect” Weijie, who are long-time IGV players.
However, it’s evident that IGV is inefficient at leveraging its midgame drafts. For instance, their round vs Sparking Arrow Gaming earlier showed their lack of presence throughout the game despite having an incredible global presence and sustainable heroes. They played too conservatively against an opponent that picked Anti-Mage, which usually put the team at a four-player handicap.
Even in the next round, they once again had reliable initiation heroes, that can instantly get any pick-off. Yet, they failed to capitalize on the sure-fire combo they meticulously drafted themselves.
Before we even get into drafting expertise, IGV is already held back by their poor execution of midgame fast-paced drafts. On the other hand, we can expect IG to follow suit with their midgame objectives with Emo being the catalyst. Dota 2 odds-wise, IG indisputably has the upper hand at x1.09 vs x6.77 odds.
For neutral betting markets, consider betting on Total Kills on any map to be under 43.5 kills, which returns x2.45 winnings. IG will likely stomp on IGV while they are pursuing their objectives, but IGV probably won’t hold its ground. Although we are expecting lesser kills and action, the Map Duration will likely be over 33.5 minutes as IG tries playing the late game meta recently. This would rake x2.38 odds, which is decent considering the one-sided match.
Aster.Aries might just be the next powerhouse line-up in the making. For context, we have Liu “WhiteAlbum” Yuhao, the former Team Aster mid-player. Ru “RedPanda” Zhihao, on the other hand, was the face of team Elephant, which featured several prominent Chinese players.
If there’s one piece of advice for the duo, it might just be they need to start small. Their experience in prominent teams only puts them at an obvious power gap when they are merely new players in the Chinese competitive scene. Therefore, hopefully, AA’s humble beginning in DPC CN Division 2 will be a great one.
Not much can be said for Dandelion Esports Club since they are first-timers in DPC CN Tour 2. However, Dandelion does seem to have some outstanding traits among its players. For instance, they stray away from the conventional meta picks and opted for skill-based heroes, such as Rubick and Abaddon.
Well, the unorthodox draft alone is enough to give us a hunch on what kind of team, Dandelion is. Let’s just say the initial impression is great, but hopefully, we find more insights on the new challenger when they play in the DPC CN Division 2.
Both teams are relatively even in terms of power level and odds, where AA has x1.75 against Dandelion at x2.03 odds. Sure, AA has slightly better odds, probably because of their status as a staple in Division 2. However, Dandelion doesn’t look too shabby for a team from open qualifier.
At the very least, expect Dandelion to put up a decent fight, which means the Map could span as long as 37.5 minutes, returning x2.23 returns. However, the Total Kills will likely be under 43.5, raking x2.4 odds since AA’s playstyle remain rather conservative.
As a cherry on top of this Dota 2 Betting spree, betting on Total Maps to be over 2.5 will rake x1.93 returns.
[cta id=2581 type=geo]The two matches are the last matches of the first week at DPC CN Tour 2, scheduled for March 18-20. The outcome should give us viewers a glance into which teams are strong candidates. To catch more matches of DPC CN Tour 2, GG.BET is your one-stop platform for all your Dota 2 betting needs.
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