Our Esports betting guru Michael Lee is back for his best bets from around the Esports world for Monday, December 21st. Today, we head to the Huya Dota2 Winter Invitational for all three of our best bets of the night.
ESports Betting Tips: Monday, December 21st
Execration vs IO Dota 2
Huya Dota2 Winter Invitational
Execration enter this match with a 1-3 record, meaning a loss here would guarantee them a bottom-two finish and an elimination from Huya Dota2 Winter Invitational. So far Execration already lost against Neon Esports (1-2), Team MagMa (1-2) and Phoenix Gaming (1-2), but pocketed their first win of the tournament on Saturday, when they bested the struggling Invictus Gaming (2-1).
IO Dota 2, meanwhile, won two out of their three outings against Neon Esports (2-1) and Invictus Gaming (2-0), but failed to see the same success against Phoenix Gaming (1-2) on Saturday. Despite their slip-up against Phoenix, I don't see why they should be priced as underdogs against Execration.
Not only have IO Dota 2 already beaten Execration twice before, but they are also far more consistent with their performances and should not be priced anywhere near to where they are. Execration might have their occasional flashes of greatness, but those became very scarce as of late Bet on IO Dota 2 to win!
Invictus Gaming vs Neon Esports
Huya Dota2 Winter Invitational
Despite their renown as one of the biggest organizations in the Chinese esports scene, Invictus Gaming's recent form is anything but promising. Although I should give IG some praise for their strong start of the tournament with two 2-0 wins against Phoenix Gaming and Team Magma, IG left a lot to be desired with back-to-back losses against Execration (1-2) and IO Dota 2 last weekend.
Neon Esports enter this match with a 1-2 record, which includes a 2-1 win against Execration and two losses against Phoenix Gaming (0-2) and IO Dota 2 (1-2). Their poor results don't surprise me one bit, since Neon have not been performing well since September when they finished ESL One Thailand 2020: Asia in fourth place.
Regardless of Neon's poor form, I don't believe IG can walk away from this match with a clean sweep. Individually, IG are still stronger, but that does not take away from the fact that their form is in the toilet. Neon should take advantage of the situation and win at least one map, as they did in October, when they forced IG to a 1-1 stalemate.
Neon Esports +1.5 Maps
$1.91
Team Aster vs iG.Vitality
Huya Dota2 Winter Invitational
The final fixture of the day will feature an exciting clash between iG.VItality and Team Aster, who have last met in November, when Aster won 2-0. Neither side made any roster changes since then, so it seems fair to assume Aster should secure another 2-0 sweep.
Out of three games played at Huya Dota2 Winter Invitational, iG.Vitality managed only one win against Army Geniuses (2-0) and two 0-2 losses against Royal Never Give Up and CDEC Gaming. They're 4-6 in their last 10 outings, which includes a three-game losing streak.
Team Aster have yet to lose a single map at the Huya Dota2 Winter Invitational with three 2-0 sweeps of Army Geniuses, CDEC Gaming and Sparking Arrow Gaming. Although they are 5-5 across the last three weeks, I would not criticise them too much for their losses since those came against some of the strongest Chinese teams in Elephant, PSG.LGS, EHOME and ViCi Gaming.
Team Aster are beatable, but I have a hard time believing iG.Vitality field the needed quality to prove that. Aster rarely lose against lower-rated teams and have not suffered any notable losses since September when Aster dropped the ball against LBZS, and even here I can confidently say LBZS are a much stronger team than iG.Vitality. Bet on Team Aster to win 2-0!
Team Aster -1.5 Maps
$1.77
