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The penultimate day of the European OMEGA League Immortal Division group stage will feature a clash between Team Liquid and FlyToMoon, who will meet for the first time this tournament and for the third time this year.
Team Liquid have been a shadow of their former selves since they parted ways with their core roster and rebuilt their team with ex-Alliance players back in October 2019. Once a force to be reckoned with in the Dota 2 esports scene, Liquid slumped hard and finished in fifth-sixth place at the MDL Chengdu and Leipzig Majors.
Liquid’s best results this year include a runner-up finish at OGA Dota PIT 2020 Online Europe/CIS and bronze medals from WePlay! Pushka League S1 Division 1 and BEYOND EPIC Europe/CIS. While the online format might have something to do with their lack of success this season, their struggles against second-tier teams are indicative of serious problems within the squad.
Aydin “iNSaNiA” Sarkohi and his crew enter this match with four wins from their last 10 matches, although seven of those games were played two months ago. Since Liquid’s return to action last week, they have copped consecutive losses to Team Secret (1-2), Vikin.gg (1-2) and Ninjas in Pyjamas (0-2) – all in the OMEGA League.
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Like Team Liquid, FlyToMoon have not seen any great success this season, although they were never a top-tier team to begin with. Having said that, the Ukrainians won the Maincast Winter Brawl and Parimatch League Season 2, and they even managed a fourth-place finish at BEYOND EPIC and OGA Dota PIT Season 2.
FlyToMoon managed a few notable results throughout June and July before taking a month-long break. Those include a five-map series with Virtus.pro (2-3) in the finals of Parimatch League Season 3 and a 2-0 sweep of Natus Vincere during OGA Dota PIT S2.
FTM returned to action in the OMEGA League as one of 10 directly invited teams. While they struggled to find their footing in their opening two games when they lost to Vikin.gg (1-2) and OG (0-2), they managed am impressive 2-0 win against Ninjas in Pyjamas last Saturday.
These teams have met twice this year. Their first clash happened during the first season of the OGA Dota PIT in May, when Team Liquid reverse-swept FlyToMoon to snatch a 2-1 win. They followed that with a 2-0 sweep at BEYOND EPIC in June.
Liquid have a dominant record against FTM, winning all five of their meetings to date. However, three of those fixtures were played before TL rebuilt their roster last October.
Neither of these sides come off as serious OMEGA League title contenders, but it’s fair to say Liquid have shown less than their CIS counterparts. They sit at the bottom of Group B with a 0-3 record and 2-6 map differential, whereas FlyToMoon are 1-4 with a 3-8 map differential.
There is not a lot to set these teams apart in terms of form or quality at the moment. Even though FlyToMoon recently parted ways with Ilya “ALOHADANCE” Korobkin, they managed to get ahold of ex-Virtus.pro player Vladimir “RodjER” Nikogosyan as a stand-in for the tournament.
This match should be much closer than the latest odds at most Dota 2 betting sites suggest. Since Team Liquid are struggling with their form, there is no real reason to have FlyToMoon priced so high in the head-to-head market. A three-map series seems highly likely, but we will take our chances on the underdogs to claim their first win against the prominent North American esports organisation.
VP.Prodigy and FlyToMoon will clash for the second time ever this Wednesday on day seven of Division 1 matches in the WePlay! Pushka League.
Launched at the start of April, VP.Prodigy are Virtus.pro’s new Dota2 academy team. The current lineup consists of ex-HellRaisers player Dmitry “DM” Dorokhin, ex-Singularity support Albert “eine” Garaev, two former VP players in carry Egor “epileptick1d” Grigorenko and Vitalie “Save-” Melnic, with Rostislav “fn” Lozovoi standing in at no.2.
The team have enjoyed a reasonable amount of success in their early endeavours. They picked up titles at Gaming World and the StayHome Challenge, to which they added successful runs through Parimatch League Season 2 Relegation and the WePlay! Pushka League Season 1: CIS Qualifier.
Most recently, VP.Prodigy were seen competing at Epic Prime League Season 1, where they are currently sitting at the third place with a 2-1 record. Their only loss of the tournament so far came against the main Virtus.pro roster, while Save- and co. picked up two commanding wins over Winstrike Team and Team Spirit.
SEE ALSO: HOW TO BET ON DOTA 2 ESPORTS
While it is early days, the VP.Prodigy project appears to be paying dividends. Indeed, they already have the wood over FlyToMoon, who have been all over the place this year.
We saw some of the best of FTM at Parimatch League Season 2. Although they lost in round one of the playoffs, they bounced back with a clean sweep against Winstrike and a revenge win over HellRaisers before rallying from 0-2 down to beat Virtus.pro in the grand finals.
On the flip side, FlyToMoon showed nothing of note at the StayHome Challenge. Two 0-2 losses against Vikin.gg and VP.Prodigy meant Andrey “ALWAYSWANNAFLY” Bondarenko and his team had to settle for the bronze medal, which was decidedly underwhelming for a team that had already won two minor titles in 2020.
FTM are also participating at Epic Prime League Season 1, where they have claimed 2-0 wins over B8 and Winstrike but suffered a 1-2 loss against Cyber Legacy. On Sunday they copped a 1-2 defeat against the Virtus.pro first team in the Pushka League, although FlyToMoon’s performance in that clash should give them confidence as they prepare to face VP’s academy side.
VP.Prodigy enter this match as heavy favourites, but perhaps esports bookmakers have put too much emphasis on the teams’ recent meeting at the StayHome Challenge. That match was much closer than the final result would suggest, as the two sides secured 22 kills apiece in the first game and FTM blew a substantial lead in the second.
The difference between these teams is not nearly as huge as the odds would imply, which makes siding with FlyToMoon at $2.35 a great value bet. You could take the safer option and back FTM with a +1.5 map handicap, but the $1.43 odds are nowhere near as attractive as those on offer for the outright win.
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FREE TIPS: STARLADDER IMBATV BETTING PREDICTIONS
StarLadder ImbaTV Invitational Season 5 features 8 teams from 6 different regions:
To Win outright
VJG Thunder: $3.25
Fnatic: $3.25
OpTic Gaming: $4.00
Kinguin: $13.00
FlyToMoon: $15.00
Vega Squadron: $17.00
Natus Vincere: $19.00
SG e-sports: $23.00
* odds courtesy of GG Bet and were correct at time of publishing.
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The eight participants will be initially divided into two groups of four. Both of these groups will be played in a double-elimination bracket format (GSL).
The top two teams from each group qualify for the Playoffs, where 1st place from Group A plays against 2nd place from Group B and vice versa. Every match is a Bo3 series with the exception of the Grand Final (Bo5).
StarLadder ImbaTV Invitational Season 5 belongs to the Dota Pro Circuit, offering not only prize money but qualification points as well. These rewards will be distributed among the participants in the following way:
VGJ.Thunder is currently sitting at number 8 in the Dota Pro Circuit rankings table with 1665 points. The team has a lot of potential and has had two 2nd place results at Dota Pro Circuit events this season. One of these events was a Major. At the latest tournament it participated in, VGJ.Thunder did poorly (9th-12th place), but the opposition was very strong. At this event, the Chinese team is more than likely to make it all the way to the Grand Final.
Best odds: VJG Thunder to win, paying $3.25 at GG Bet
This is a CIS team that has existed for only 2 months. And although it’s made up of experienced CIS players, it has very little experience and not a single notable result at the international level. In all likelihood, FlyToMoon will finish StarLadder ImbaTV Invitational Season 5 in 7th – 8th place.
Best odds: FlyToMoon to win, paying $15.00 at GG Bet
Apart from Evil Geniuses, this is probably the strongest North American team at the moment. OpTic Gaming has a lot of potential, having plenty of experience, good individual players and a formidable captain: Peter “ppd” Dager, former TI champion with Evil Geniuses in 2015. OpTic Gaming is easily a top 3 team at this event and could easily get a great result. I’m expecting them to qualify for the Grand Final.
Best odds: OpTic Gaming to win, paying $4.00 at GG Bet
This is a mediocre European team with some level of international experience but not a single notable result. Given the level of competition at this event, they might get a 5th-6th place finish, but it’s still more likely that they will finish among the last 2.
Best odds: Team Kinguin to win, paying $13.00 at GG Bet
Vega Squadron is an up and coming contender in the CIS region, having recently defeated Team Empire, Natus Vincere and Team Spirit in the CIS qualifiers for GESC: Thailand Dota2 Minor. With its roster of little known but experienced players, Vega Squadron doesn’t stand much of a chance against the main contenders for this event (VGJ.Thunder, OpTic Gaming and Fnatic) but has a good chance of winning against all of the other teams. A 5th-6th or even a 3rd-4th place finish wouldn’t be surprising in its case.
Best odds: Vega Squadron to win, paying $13.00 at GG Bet
This is one of the strong South American teams, but unfortunately, South American Dota is known to be the weakest of all the 6 recognized regions. Like other teams present at this event, SG e-sports hasn’t really had any notable results this season. And, based on the skill difference between their region and the rest of the world, I think it’s safe to assume that they won’t make it very far into this tournament.
Best odds: SG e-sports to win, paying $23.00 at GG Bet
Fnatic is currently sitting at number 11 in the Dota Pro Circuit rankings table with 884 points. So this tournament will be decisive for them in the sense that, if they want to get a direct invite at The International 2018, they need to earn as many points as possible and get back into top 8. If they can’t do it at an event like StarLadder ImbaTV Invitational Season 5, where most of the participants are fairly weak teams, then it’s pretty clear that they won’t achieve this goal this season.
Fnatic is the 2nd placed team at this tournament in terms of strength. Their main rival for qualifying for the Grand Final will likely be OpTic Gaming.
One thing to keep in mind for this tournament is that Fnatic will be playing with their coach Adam instead of pieliedie. So we’ll have to see how that decision turns out.
Best odds: Fnatic to win, paying $3.25 at GG Bet
Natus Vincere is currently sitting at number 10 in the Dota Pro Circuit rankings table with 1199 points. So its situation is similar to Fnatic’s. I honestly don’t like this new Na’Vi lineup and consider that after the departure of RodjER, Na’Vi lost all momentum and all hope of getting a top 8 finish at the end of the season. Even when they win, Na’Vi seem to be extremely lucky or are getting carried by one of their cores. The team as a whole doesn’t seem to have much synergy.
Best odds: Natus Vincere to win, paying $19.00 at GG Bet
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