There are some great matchups in the world of esports this Thursday night and once again, Michael Lee has you covered with his best bets of the night across the DOTA2 title.
Esports Betting Tips: Thursday, October 15th
Vikin.gg vs 5men
ESL One Germany
Vikin.gg met with 5men three times in 2020 and came away victorious twice. The only fixture, where 5men came out ahead was during OGA Dota PIT S3: Europe/CIS - Closed Qualifier (2-0), however, Vikin.gg did not need long to get their revenge with a 2-0 win of their own only a week later during the BTS Pro Series Season 3: Europe/CIS.
Vikin.gg are slowly shaping up to be a very deadly Dota2 team and while I would not rank them as highly as perhaps OG, Team Secret and other Dota2 juggernauts, Vikin.gg are still a team that can cause some serious damage in Tier2 tournaments.
5men don't exactly lack individual quality since they are assembled from former Cloud9 and OG seed players, however, their results as of late were not convincing. They should still be capable of reaching the playoffs and perhaps make a decent run, but I have no faith 5men can derail Viking.gg after their near-flawless run through the BTS Pro Series Season 3: Europe/CIS.
Natus Vincere vs Winstrike
ESL One Germany
One thing to note here is that Natus VIncere are not playing with their roster, but instead field FlyToMoon's squad on trial. That does not necessarily mean they're weaker, and it would be perhaps fairer to say that the current NaVi's roster is stronger than their previous one.
NaVi recently finished their OGA Dota PIT S3: Europe/CIS run in fourth place, which was quite a solid result, considering they managed to defeat Team Nigma (2-0) and OG (2-1) and only lost to Team Secret (0-2) and the eventual finalists VP.Prodigy (1-2). So far this tournament, NaVi swept Cyber Legacy (2-0) but had to admit defeat to Team Liquid (1-2).
Winstrike did not attend the OGA Dota PIT S3: Europe/CIS, but instead participated at the ESL One Germany 2020 - Closed Qualifier and AOC Play Dota2, where the produced a mixed bag of results. Overall, however, Winstrike's performances were rather lacklustre.
They're entering this bout with a 3-3 record since the start of the month, which includes wins against Team Generation (2-0), Imperial Pro Gaming (2-1) and HellRaisers (2-1), as well as three losses against OG (0-2), Nemiga (1-2) and Ensis Academy (0-2).
If we look at the teams' results alone, it's very obvious which of the two should be a heavy favourite, and I don't see any problems with NaVi priced at such short odds. Based on what we have seen from Winstrike, they don't have the tools to deal with NaVi and will likely struggle to win a single map, let alone the whole series. NaVi to claim a clean sweep!
Natus Vincere -1.5 Maps
$1.63
Team Secret vs Team Liquid
ESL One Germany
Although both prominent names in the highest circles of competitive Dota2, there is no hiding the fact that Team Secret are currently one of the strongest teams in the world, while Team Liquid are just not the same team since they lost their old core to Team Nigma.
Team Secret had a fairly easy schedule so far this competition and had no real issues taking two 2-0 wins against Yellow Submarine and Tempo Esports. Team Liquid, meanwhile, had to work much harder for their 2-0 record with wins against mudgolems (2-0) and Natus Vincere (2-1).
Team Secret last met with Team Liquid in August during OMEGA League: Europe Immortal Division where they secured a 2-1 win. Before that, we saw Liquid and Secret clash during BEYOND EPIC: Europe/CIS in June, where it was again Secret who came out ahead.
The only time when Liquid defeated Secret in the last six months was in their first clash at BEYOND EPIC (2-0). That also marked Team Secret's only loss to date, meaning they're undefeated in almost four months, which only goes to prove just how far above Secret are from their European competition.
I don't expect to see any surprise results this Thursday and while there is definitely a chance Liquid could show up, I have yet to see anything from them that would make me believe they're a better team than Secret. Bet on Team Secret to win 2-0!
Team Secret -1.5 Maps
$1.57
