ESL One Malaysia 2022 starts on Tuesday, August 23, and our esports tipster Michael Lee is here with his top picks for the first round of action. Today, he looks at BOOM Esports vs Fnatic, Nigma Galaxy vs TSM, and Team Secret vs Thunder Awaken.
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Esports Betting Tips: Tuesday 23rd August
BOOM Esports vs Fnatic
ESL One Malaysia 2022
Fnatic were last seen playing at Arlington Major, where they ended up placing 9th-12th, earning no DPC points. But you could say that their run in Arlington doesn't mean much since Fnatic had to play with three stand-ins from TSM due to multiple visa issues.
Fnatic, with their full roster, have achieved enough this season, even though they weren't too successful at Gamers Galaxy earlier this month, placing dead last with a 0-3 record and defeats against Team SMG, RSG, and Execration. Perhaps Fnatic didn't care too much about that tournament, but even so, I expected to see a bit more from this SEA squad.
And to make matters worse, Fnatic will again have to play with a stand-in, as Marc "Raven" Fausto will skip the event due to COVID.
BOOM Esports have looked far better than Fnatic this season. They've won the first and third SEA DPC tour, placed top eight in Arlington and won Gamers Galaxy with just one defeat against Polaris Esports, who BOOM got revenge on in the finals with 3-2.
Since this is a match between two teams from the same region, you can expect a much closer match than the teams' stats suggest. So even though I like BOOM Esports better, a bet on a draw at 2.10 looks far more appealing, especially knowing that Fnatic are 1-2 against BOOM this season, but 3-4 in maps won.
Nigma Galaxy vs TSM
ESL One Malaysia 2022
Nigma Galaxy have climbed their way back into the top division of the European DPC, but have yet to play many games against the top teams since. They have attended Riyadh Masters in July, where they performed well but couldn't make it past the first round of the knockout stage, losing against PSG.LGD (1-2).
It wasn't a terrible run from Nigma, but they have looked somewhat lost competing against other top-tier teams. Things likely won't change here, mainly because Nigma are without their star player Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi.
TSM have not played an official match in over three weeks, but that doesn't concern me since each player of TSM have had enough practice as they were called by other teams to play as stand-ins. So while the team wasn't active for a while, their players have been.
This match has no clear favourite, and it wouldn't be fair to say that one team is better than the other. I am leaning towards TSM, but I like a bet on a draw better.
Team Secret vs Thunder Awaken
ESL One Malaysia 2022
Team Secret have not played an official match since Riyadh Masters, where they lost to Team Spirit in the semi-finals. But despite that defeat, Secret looked good, especially compared to the previous iterations of this roster.
So even though it's hard to have high expectations for Team Secret due to their lack of success this season, the current lineup looks good and are still one of the best European Dota 2 teams.
South America's representatives Thunder Awaken travel to Malaysia following an underwhelming performance at the Major, where they lost two matches and drew three. They clearly couldn't match Outsiders, Fnatic, and PSG.LGD, and seeing how Thunder Awaken struggled against other elite teams, I find it hard to believe this match will be any different.
Some may say that Thunder Awaken doesn't have a reason to try anymore as they're already qualified for The International, But surely, they would want some practice, so there is no excuse for what they've shown recently.
Team Secret have already beaten Thunder Awaken twice this year, and I don't believe this match will end any differently. Many people are low on Secret, and rightfully so, but I liked what I saw from them at Riyadh Masters.
Team Secret to Win
$1.83 (1 Unit)
