Michael Lee is back with his coverage of the BetBoom Xmas Show Dota 2 tournament. Today, he looks at three games, scheduled for Tuesday, December 20, including One Move vs Ancient Tribe, HellRaisers vs Nemiga Gaming, and PuckChamp vs X3.
Esports Betting Tips: Tuesday 20th December
One Move vs Ancient Tribe
BetBoom Xmas Show
One Move took care of business on Saturday when they defeated X3 (2-0) and won their first match of the tournament. But despite their strong showing in the second round, One Move proved no match for Team Spirit, who smashed them (2-0) on Sunday.
One Move have since not played a single game, but perhaps a one-day break will do them good as the CIS squad forges a plan on how to secure their second W of the group stage and move up the standings.
One Move’s next opponents, Ancient Tribe, enter this match fresh off a 0-2 loss against PuckChamp, who showed no mercy on Monday, needing just over 52 minutes to close out the series. Ancient Tribe were clearly the weaker team that day and had no response to PuckChamp. Whether that’s an indication of Ancient Tribe’s weakness or PuckChamp’s strength is debatable, but I believe it’s more of the former.
Ancient Tribe have won one game so far, but that came against X3, and even that game had close moments, so it doesn’t count for much. Although we can say the same for One Move, they actually played a solid series against Team Spirit, so One Move have at least shown something across the first four days of play.
If One Move can show the same form they had over the weekend, I don’t see a reason to doubt them. This is still a match between two fairly weak teams, but from what I saw, One Move are good enough to sweep.
One Move -1.5 maps
$2.62 (1 Unit)
HellRaisers vs Nemiga Gaming
BetBoom Xmas Show
HellRaisers won their first match of BetBoom Xmas Show on Monday, when they defeated YNT, handing them their second loss of the competition. However, despite entering the game following a long break, HellRaisrers showed they were ready to play.
HellRaisers had a few shaky moments on Monday, which was expected from a roster that was out of action for two months, but overall, they played solid Dota 2 and look ready to compete for top spots. But first, they need to defeat Nemiga Gaming, who’ve yet to taste defeat.
Nemiga Gaming are 2-0 with wins against Monsapa (2-1) and RISE (2-0), which is impressive but not unexpected. RISE and Monsapa are both arguably weaker than HellRaisers, so Nemiga Gaming’s success against them doesn’t suggest that they will have an easy time on Tuesday. Still, I would not completely ignore their recent showings either.
Esports bookmakers have HellRaisers as 1.57 favourites for this match, which isn’t too shocking, knowing that HellRaisers are 10-0 up in the H2H against Nemiga since the two teams first met in 2019. They’re also 3-0 (6-0 in maps) up in 2022, but with different roster iterations.
So despite HellRaisers’ impressive H2H figures, they’ve yet to meet Nemiga with their current lineup, so I wouldn’t overreact to their past record. From what we’ve seen from Nemiga and HellRaisers, this should be a very competitive series, so I’m taking over 2.5 maps at evens.
Over 2.5 maps
$2 (1 Unit)
PuckChamp vs X3
BetBoom Xmas Show
PuckChamp played their first two series of BetBoom Xmas Show on Monday and did pretty well. Although they lost their opening match of the event against Team Spirit (1-2), PuckChamp are the only team to take a map away from 2021 The International champions. And then they added a commanding victory against Ancient Tribe (2-0), which put them in a promising position ahead of the playoffs.
With a 1-1 record, PuckChamp now has a fairly easy schedule, starting with a clash against X3, who’ve yet to win a map after three series. X3 are evidently the weakest team in the tournament, and with three losses to their name, X3 are already eliminated from the playoff contention.
This could work in their favour, as X3 can now play without any pressure. On the other side, PuckChamp need to win this match without dropping a map, as they’re still not in the clear and can easily miss out on a top-two finish.
The question here is not whether PuckChamp can win, but rather can X3 win a map. They’ve yet to do so but came close against One Move and Ancient Tribe, so I have some faith in them to shock PuckChamp. At the offered odds, a bet on X3 to win one map is a solid bet, as there is more to this team than their record might suggest.
X3 +1.5 maps
$2.37 (1 Unit)
