Our esports tipster Michael Lee returns with free esports betting predictions for three Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) matches on Tuesday, April 12, including Vici Gaming vs Team Aster in the Chinese and Team Liquid vs Nigma Galaxy and Brame vs OG in the Western European upper divisions.
Esports Betting Tips: Tuesday, April 12th
Vici Gaming vs Team Aster
DPC China Tour 2 Division I
Vici Gaming have been on a bit of a downward spiral of late, seeing how Vici have lost three of the opening four matches of the Chinese DPC Tour 2 Division I. That includes defeats against PSG.LGD (1-2), Royal Never Give Up (0-2), and Xtreme Gaming (0-2), but also one win against LBZS (2-0).
Obviously, Vici are in a very rough spot, but they now had a two-week break to try and figure out their issues and improve. Of all the teams in the league, Vici will likely benefit from the break the most, but I have my doubts that it will help them improve.
There is no denying that the current Vici roster is not nearly as strong as the Vici of 2021, and while they have enough talent to compete for the top spots, we could have said the same thing at the start of the tour. And yet, Vici have not produced anything that would excite you about them.
They finished top-six at Intel World Open Beijing in January and fifth in the first DPC Tour of the season. But, unfortunately, they have yet to show any improvement in the second tour.
Team Aster have played only one match so far (2-0 against LBZS), so it's hard to rank them properly. But we do know that Aster won Intel World Open Beijing, finished DPC CN Tour 2 second, and placed third in the regional finals and in the OGA Dota PIT Season 6: China at the end of February.
Whether Aster will be as strong in the second tour is anyone's guess, but they have been playing much cleaner Dota than Vici. And unless Vici magically improve over the two-week break, there is a very good chance Aster will beat them 2-0.
Team Aster -1.5 Maps
$1.92
Team Liquid vs Nigma Galaxy
DPC WEU Tour 2 Division I
Team Liquid started DPC WEU Tour 2 Division I with two losses against Team Secret and OG, but they did not need long to bounce back and are now on a three-game winning streak. Over that stretch, Liquid secured Ws against Brame, Entity, and Tundra Esports, but even though they were dominant against Brame, Liquid did not look as sharp against Entity and Tundra Esports.
I expected Liquid to look much better, and I must mention that their drafts are a bit questionable, as is the team's synergy as a whole. But I must also mention that my expectations for Liquid are very high due to their success in the first tour of the season.
Nigma Galaxy is possibly one of the weakest teams not only in the European but across all DPC regions. Obviously, we're talking only about the upper-division, but that doesn't take away from Nigma's disappointing showings over this tour.
Similarly to Liquid, I had high expectations for Nigma Galaxy (but lower) due to the raw talent this roster possesses. Unfortunately, I have not seen anything from this team that would convince me.
They're 0-5 with a 1-10 map differential. On a more positive note, Nigma's only map victory came against Gladiators, but even that is a minor success in what was otherwise a very disappointing run for Nigma.
I could imagine Nigma winning a map on Tuesday, but I need to see a bit more from them before I'll start believing Nigma can compete with the likes of Team Liquid.
Team Liquid -1.5 Maps
$1.92
Brame vs OG
DPC WEU Tour 2 Division I
The Brame vs OG clash is yet another one-sided fixture on the DPC WEU Tour 2 Division I schedule for Tuesday, but perhaps this is the most unjust of the three. Brame have looked relatively solid in their past games, and we did see them stun Team Secret last week (2-1), but besides that, Brame's only other win came against Nigma Galaxy, who, as I said, is arguably the weakest team in the region.
Still, credit is where is credit is due – Brame's performances in their last two series were the best we've seen Brame play so far. Is that an indication of a resurgence? Perhaps, but Brame will need a lot more than good form to make it past OG.
Brame's biggest weakness this season was their mid game, particularly around the 15-minute mark, which is when Brame typically fell apart. They have improved in that department, but it remains to be seen if they've improved enough for Brame to go toe to toe with OG.
OG are 4-1 and have suffered only one defeat this tour against Team Secret back in March. But besides that loss, OG have been playing phenomenally and are fresh off a 2-0 victory against Gladiators and Tundra, which technically makes them the best team in the league.
I believe that Brame are better than many give them credit for. But considering how dominant OG looked last week, I have a hard time betting against them for this match. Take OG with a -1.5 map handicap.
