Winstrike vs Yellow Submarine
EPIC League Division 2
Yellow Submarine have been looking very solid so far this tournament and deserve to hold a 5-0 record along with a near-perfect 10-1 map differential. That is not to say they're unbeatable considering they have shown occasional signs of weakness, but overall, it's fair to say Vitaliy "so bad" Oshmankevich and the company are the main favourites to go all the way.
Winstrike have seen far less success in their journey through the EPIC League. They will enter this match with a 4-4 record and a slightly less convincing 1-3 record in their last four. To be honest, Winstrike did not show anything outstanding this tournament nor did they achieve any remarkable results for the past month.
Even though Winstrike managed to defeat Ninjas in Pyjamas last week, we have to note that NiP were forced to play without Mikhail "Misha" Agatov and Charlie "CharlieDota" Arat, which made Winstrike's job much easier.
Yellow Submarine and Winstrike last met at the start of November during the Motivation Cup Group Stage, where Yellow Submarine won 2-1. Yet even that result does not show the true picture of how the game played out since Winstrike got awarded a free win, effectively meaning it was YeS who claimed a clean sheet win. Bet on Yellow Submarine to win 2-0!
Yellow Submarine -1.5 Maps
$1.54
Gambit vs Live To Win
EPIC League Division 2
Gambit are not nearly as good as they used to be, but they're still performing well enough for me to have confidence in them. On Monday they have faced Ninjas in Pyjamas and while they have shown some signs of struggle, Gambit still managed to edge out a 2-1 win, which is still a very solid result considering the were the only team - besides Yellow Submarine - to defeat NiP with their complete roster.
Live To Win have managed a few decent results at EPIC League as well, but nothing that would make me excited. In many ways, they have looked equal or slightly worse than Gambit, so I can't agree with the bookmakers who have priced LtW at only 1.60.
Even though Gambit have only recently returned to the scene with a fresh roster, they don’t look too shabby. In six games played, they have lost only to Tempo Esports (1-2) and mudgolems (1-2) and if they can continue playing with the same fire, I don't see how they can't defeat Live to Win. Bet on Gambit to win!
PSG.LGD vs Team Aster
CDA-FDC Professional Championship S2
Team Aster and PSG.LGD will clash in the upper bracket finals of CDA-FDC Professional Championship S2 in what promises to be an exciting and close affair. Seeing Aster make it so far is quite surprising, however, I can’t say they don’t deserve to be where they are now.
Throughout the group stage, Aster managed a perfect 4-0 record with equally impressive 8-1 map differential. They have beaten iG.Vitality, Sparking Arrow Gaming, Invictus Gaming and even reverse-swept PSG.LGD (2-1) before they bested (2-1) Elephant in the opening round of playoffs.
PSG.LGD ended the group stage with a 3-1 record and 7-3 map differential. Even though I was not too impressed with PSG.LGD's showing - namely with their loss to Aster and a narrow 2-1 win against iG.V - we cannot forget that PSG.LGD usually perform much better in the latter stages of the tournament.
In the opening round of playoffs, PSG.LGD defeated ViCi Gaming (2-1) which is quite a solid result on paper, but then again, it does not convince me PSG.LGD have found their true form yet. ViCi, while a solid team haven't really impressed this competition so I can’t value PSG.LGD's narrow win too highly.
It's hard to bet against PSG.LGD and their quality, but at the same time, I can't find any arguments against Aster and their strong form. This match has the potential to be a very close one and while I believe PSG.LGD should win, Aster look very scary. Expect a close series and all three maps played!
