Esports World Cup Playoffs Preview

The playoffs for one of the biggest Dota 2 tournaments of the year starts tomorrow. Only eight teams remain and they will battle it out in a single elimination bracket. This format is unconventional for a Dota tournament, but it is undeniably exciting and teams will have to give it their all in every single match.

Team Spirit vs Gaimin Gladiators 1.45 | 2.8 by BetBoom

Both teams had a pretty similar dynamic this season. They started off significantly weaker than expected and then slowly, but surely, started climbing back up to their previous level in the Dota pantheon.

That said, it was painfully obvious that Gaimin Gladiators’ decision to part ways with Durachyo resulted in a much deeper fall from grace. Between adjusting to a different playstyle and multiple roster reshuffles, it took time for GG to get back into form.

It is safe to say that GG is back, though. They might not be the most dominant team at the moment, but they are certainly one of the Tier S squads in the tournament.

Will it be enough to overcome Team Spirit? We are not sure, but it is definitely a possibility. What we do know is that it is going to be one of the more exciting series of the playoffs, as these two teams have very distinct and differing playstyles.

Aurora vs PARIVISION 3.0 | 1.4 by BetBoom

The most one-sided game of the first round of playoffs and for a good reason. Aurora is still mostly a top6 team, whereas Parivision are, possibly, one of the strongest teams in the world right now.

An upset is highly unlikely. We don’t believe that this match is going to be a stomp and we’ve seen Parivision falter lately, but the sheer amount of creativity from the squad, especially in a single elimination format is definitely a massive advantage.

Aurora’s brand is strong, precise, disciplined, by the book Dota and we feel like it won’t be enough against chaotic opponents. In fact, we would argue that they drew the shortest straw during the seeding, not only because their opponent is incredibly strong, but also because this matchup is probably very uncomfortable for them.

BetBoom Team vs Tundra 1.75 | 2.1 by BetBoom

A very close series, with a slight edge given to BetBoom Team by their sponsor. Personally, we tend to disagree with this evaluation. Tundra are yet to finish below 2nd place this year and they are definitely bringing their A game to one of the biggest tournaments of the year.

However, we are also seeing some very rapid progress from BetBoom throughout this season. They’ve managed to win a couple of high profile tournaments and are the champions of the most recent LAN event.

There were a lot of tournaments this year, however, and most of them didn’t have all the S Tier teams in them. BetBoom’s recent performance is very impressive nonetheless, but we think that Tundra’s experience should give them a bit of an edge.

All in all, this is probably going to be the closest series and it is almost guaranteed to end up a 2:1.

Team Liquid vs Team Falcons 1.45 | 2.8 by BetBoom

Team Liquid are on a roll. After a rather quiet season, they are getting back into their Championship form. In our opinion, they are currently the biggest favorite to win the tournament.

Team Falcons, on the other hand, are on a bit of a decline. They are still a very strong team, but perhaps due to the changes in the meta, or just sheer exhaustion, they aren’t as crisp as they used to be at the tail end of the last year.

There is another explanation as well: maybe Team Falcons were saving their strats and their energy for the biggest tournaments of the year. And perhaps they will now show up big time, when it matters the most. This is certainly an explanation many of their fans would enjoy.

We, however, don’t believe it to be the case and we think this is going to be a pretty straightforward series for Team Liquid. But we were wrong before, so who knows?