Virtus.Pro and Team Spirit decide everything at ESL One EEU Season 2

The battle for first at ESL One CIS Online Season 2 begins this week. Virtus.pro and Team Spirit will likely decide the winner of the season in a head to head duel. With a shot at securing a direct invite to the TI 10, everything comes down to a single bo3 series. Meanwhile, Natus Vincere is fighting to remain relevant in the scene with a duel against Unqiue that may decide their entire season moving forward.

Plenty is on the line at ESL One Eastern Europe Season 2. Here’s my predictions for three crucial matches this week.

Virtus.Pro vs Team Spirit

Before the Singapore Major, VP was considered one of the strongest contenders for the crown. After two playoffs it became clear both the CIS and EU regions are not up to scrap in international duels. However, back in the home region VP is still the team to beat. And this week they are set to beat the strongest contender in their region.

VP vs Spirit is a direct battle for first in the CIS Upper Divison Season 2.

Spirit is having an incredible run at Upper Division Season 2, so it is somewhat baffling they are considered underdogs in this matchup. Illya “yatoro” Mulyarchuk is an absolute monster this past two weeks, sporting an insane KDA and map presence across the previous three matches. He is the player to look at if Spirit are winning the battle for first.

As far as Dota 2 odds go, Virtus.Pro are considered favorites. VP with x1.41 versus Team Spirit’s x2.91 is a strange odds division considering both teams are sitting on identical map differentials and are tied for first in the standings. Ideally, you can singles bet on Team Spirit for almost a three-fold return outright.

PuckChamp vs Winstrike Team

Talk about an underdog favorite. The Winstrike Team crushed its competition in last season’s Lower Division to claim a spot at the ESL One CIS Online Season 2. Despite being the ‘underdog’, Winstrike Team has the odds in their favor against their Lower Divison contender from last season.

Winstrike is on an x1.46 versus PuckChamp’s x2.72.

Overall, PuckChamp has only beaten Extremum this season, and I am simply not seeing a way they edge over Winstrike here. This match should be a straight 2:0 for Winstrike in a fairly short series. You are looking at a x2.4 return on your investment for this selection over at GG.BET.

Team Unique vs Natus Vincere

The former NoPangolier roster of Team Unique has a chance of a lifetime to edge over regional favorites and earn a spot at the next major. They have to win two consecutive matches against NaVi and Gambit do so. Thus far, they have beaten the underdogs in the competition and the real test comes in the final two weeks of the competition. Semion “CemaTheSlayer” Krivulya and the boys have to pull off a miracle run against NaVi.

The odds reflect this at x8.48 for Unique to start their miracle run against x1.07 for Navi.

Speaking of NaVi, they are definitely falling behind VP and Spirit this season and can only hope for a wildcard spot at the major if they win their remaining matches. Tough luck for Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev who was really looking to turn things around for the roster when he joined the team a month ago.

All CIS teams considered, NaVi is still in the spotlight, despite their underwhelming run this season. Going for a 1:2 Correct map score in favor of Natus Vincere still earns you a hefty x4.52 return.

If you combine all three matches in an accumulator betslip, you are looking at an absolutely insane 30x fold return on your investment. I do think for Dota 2 betting, you should stick to singles.