Michael Lee returns more Dota 2 betting previews and predictions for Monday, December 20. Today's menu includes two fixtures at Dota 2 Champions League Season 6 and a clash between Nigma Galaxy SEA and Army Geniuses in the lower division of Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) Southeast Asia Tour I.
Esports Betting Tips: Monday, December 20th
Team Empire vs Brame
Dota 2 Champions League Season 6
Team Empire have had a rough start to their Champions League Season 6 campaign, suffering three losses across the opening four series. Their only win of the tournament came two weeks back, then Empire defeated IVY (2-0), but they have since lost three in a row against Nemiga Gaming (0-2), HYDRA (0-2), and X3, who reverse-swept them (1-2) on Wednesday.
Brame have been doing significantly better, with only one loss and three wins after the first two weeks of play. They took down Nemiga (2-0) and IVY (2-0) at the start of the month and added another clean win against Fantastic Five (2-0) on Tuesday. Their only loss so far came against X3, who swept Brame 2-0 on December 8.
Clearly, Brame are in a much better shape, and as the betting odds show, they should secure a comfortable win on Monday. That is even though Empire defeated (2-0) Brame during the fifth season of Dota 2 Champions League in November.
The teams have not made any roster changes since their last H2H match, so in theory, Empire should do fine on Monday. But it's hard to trust a team that is 1-7 since the start of December.
You have to show some respect for Empire's individual talent, but if a team goes 1-7 and drops games against weaker opponents, something isn't right behind the scenes. Considering Empire's form, I have to trust Brame to defeat Empire 2-0.
Fantastic Five vs CIS Rejects
Dota 2 Champions League Season 6
The day will conclude with another one-sided affair featuring CIS Rejects and Fantastic Five, who the bookmakers have priced as heavy underdogs. That is not because Fantastic Five are in terrible form, but rather because CIS Rejects seem to be that much better than any other team in this tournament.
CIS Rejects are 5-0 after five rounds and have dropped only three maps across 13 played. That includes three close series against HYDRA, V-Gaming, and (surprisingly) IVY, who CIS Rejects had to reverse sweep on Saturday to keep their perfect record intact.
Fantastic Five are 2-4 after four matches, which isn't too comforting. Their only two wins came against X3 (2-0) and IVY (2-0), but F5 couldn't deliver against V-Gaming (0-2), HYDRA (0-2), Nemiga (1-2), and Brame (0-2).
It takes a lot of courage to bet against CIS Rejects, which is essentially a team comprised of the former Natus Vincere core, who joined forces with Artsiom "fng" Barshak and Gleb "depressed kid" Zyryanov to round up a highly experienced lineup. But while you have to acknowledge the talent on this team, we also can't simply ignore that CIS Rejects dropped a map against IVY, and they weren't very impressive against Neimga and V-Gaming last week either.
Both teams have had their highs and lows so far, and while I can't confidently say that Fantastic Five have a legitimate chance of winning, there seems to be about a 50% chance that they win at least one map.
PickleBet has CIS Rejects priced at 1.65 to win in two maps and Fantastic Five at 2.09 with a 1.5 map advantage. The choice is obvious.
Fantastic Five +1.5 Maps
$2.09
Nigma Galaxy SEA vs Army Geniuses
DPC SEA Tour 1 Division II
Nigma Galaxy SEA will play their final fixture of the 2021/22 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) Tour 1 Division II on Monday when they face off against Army Geniuses. A victory will guarantee Nigma Galaxy SEA a top-three finish and potentially a promotion into the top division.
Their plans could still get spoiled by Ragdoll, who share the same 3-0 record and 6-2 map difference. So the only way Nigma can set themselves up for success is if they defeat Army Genoises with 2-0.
These two squads last met at the start of November, when they parted ways with a 1-1 draw. Before that, Nigma won two back-to-back games against Army Genoises in September, played a 1-1 draw, and won 2-1 in August and July, respectively.
To sum up, Nemiga are 3-2-0 against Army Geniuses across the last six months and based on what we have seen from these two teams; it's unlikely that Army Geniuses will manage to turn it around. AG have had some bright moments earlier this month when they won a map against Talon Esports and even caused some problems to Lilgun (2-1), but they haven't beaten any team besides 496, who have yet to win a single game this season.
Nigma Galaxy SEA have proven to be the better team, and they need to win this match without dropping a map. We don't know how the pressure will affect the players, but I have to trust Nemiga to do what's needed to reach the top division.
Nemiga Galaxy -1.5 Maps
$1.83
