Monday kicks off another big week in the world of esports and after a bit of a hiatus, our gaming guru Michael Lee is back with another round of best bets! This Monday, the 13th of December he heads to the OGA Dota PIT Season 5 for all three of his best of the night.
Esports Betting Tips: Monday, December 13th
OG vs Natus Vincere
OGA Dota PIT Season 5: Europe/CIS
The recently announced OGA Dota PIT Season 5: Europe/CIS will kick off on Monday, December 13, with the opening match between OG and Natus Vincere, who clash at 12:00 CET. It will mark the first meeting between the two esports organizations since OGA Dota PIT Season 4 in December 2020, when Natus Vincere won 3-0, however, both teams now field a much different roster.
Natus Vincere and OG have both undergone roster changes, but those are most noticeable in OG, who blew up its roster heading into the 2021/22 season and replaced former star players with young talent to form a new lineup.
So far, OG have yet to impress, but they have only played two games this season, a 2-0 sweep of Team Secret and a 1-2 defeat against Team Liquid. Likewise, Natus Vincere have played only two and have managed the same 1-1 record, with a 0-2 loss against PuckChamp and a 2-1 win against Team Empire last week.
Unlike NaVi, who we have seen play with this core of players earlier this year, we don't know much about OG and how good they can be. And two games are hardly enough to form a strong opinion on them.
OG have looked very good so far, are playing with a lot of discipline, and have solid drafts. Still, I don't see them winning 2-0 against the experienced Natus Vincere squad.
Natus Vincere +1.5 Maps
$1.70
Team Spirit vs Tundra Esports
OGA Dota PIT Season 5: Europe/CIS
As the reigning The International 10 champions, Team Spirit are expected to dominate the tournament and kick off their road to the title with a convincing win. However, while we should respect Spirit and their recent achievements, Tundra Esports are much stronger than what the bookies would lead us to believe.
It's not fair to draw any conclusions on how the first tour of the season will go, but based on what we have seen so far, Tundra Esports are easily a top-two team in Europe and strong candidates to qualify for the first Major as EU's first seed.
Spirit will likely achieve the same feat in their region, but I am not as interested in Spirit's (obvious) quality as I am surprised to see Tundra Esports priced as 2.33 underdogs. Tundra are undefeated in their region, with back-to-back wins against Alliance and Nigma Galaxy, which isn't too exciting knowing that those are by no means EU's top teams, but it's important to mention that Tundra dominated in both games.
Team Spirit won this match when they last played Tundra Esports in September (2-0), but I don't believe we will see a repeat score on Monday. Tundra Esports have been improving and seem to be in the best spot to defeat the reigning The International champions.
Alliance vs Nigma Galaxy
OGA Dota PIT Season 5: Europe/CIS
Alliance and Nigma Galaxy are two of the weakest teams attending OGA Dota PIT, and while one of them is guaranteed to advance into the second round, I don't see them going further than that.
Alliance is a household name in the Dota 2 scene, but they haven't been good for years, and likely won't change with their current roster. Like many other European Dota 2 teams, Alliance blew up their division for the 2021/22 season and now field what can only be described as a middle-of-the-pack roster that won't be in the race for The International 2022 title.
Nigma Galaxy are in a similar spot, and while they haven't made any roster changes since April 2021, this team lacks the talent to make much noise in the upper echelons of the Dota 2 competitive scene. Even in the regional competition, Nigma Galaxy were largely disappointing, losing back-to-back games against Team Tickles and Tundra Esports, matching Alliance's 0-2 record with losses against Team Secret and Tundra Esports.
I don't prefer either team since this seems more like a coin flip match rather than a fixture where one team will take over and dominate. Sure, Nigma Galaxy had to play without Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi in their opening two games of the season, which has hurt their chances to win, but I don't see them improving much with Miracle- back, at least not with the way the team as a whole has been playing so far. Take Alliance at 2.14!
