The most successful region of last year’s The International is stacked with tremendous teams as the 2023 season begins in Western Europe.
Returning to their regions as The International champs, Tundra is given the best odds by Pinnacle at 3.71. Despite achieving second place, the loss of Nisha impacted Team Secret’s odds for this season with them coming in as the third favorite at 6.01, a spot below Team Liquid’s who is priced at 4.45.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: January 3rd, 6:00 A.M. (EST)
Nisha jumped ship to Nigma after MATUMBAMAN’s retirement from the pro scene. Micke will be moving back to his original role as the carry to give way for the changes. Nisha is arguably the best mid laner during Secret’s TI run, winning most of his match-ups and having significant impact around the map in all their games. MATUMBAMAN’s replacement is certainly up to par with the legend’s level and potential.
On the other hand, Nisha will be replaced by BOOM, the position 2 standout from Gaimin Gladiators. The team found some success during the course of last season but ultimately fell short when it mattered most, losing to regional rivals OG during TI11 and going home with a 9th-12th place. BOOM will join Team Secret who maintained their entire roster apart from Nisha.
Tundra, who dominated during their entire TI11 run, will play with the same roster and coach, aui_2000. The team has given a lot of credit to aui_2000 for his strategies as the team was ahead of the meta throughout the entire tournament. The team did not drop a single series on the main stage. Tundra will look to carry that momentum to the start of the 2023 season strong and confident. All eyes will be on offlaner 33 who stood out among the rest of the team.
After grinding out in Division 2 of Western Europe, Nigma will be vying for a Major slot in Division 1. The team acquired the services of OG’s former position 3 player, ATF, who has consistently been one of the best players in the entire division. He will replace Miracle~, who has decided to take a break for the first tour due to health reasons. In turn, OG replaced ATF with DM. The 11,000 MMR player has been with Virtus.Pro since 2020 and is now returning to tier 1 competition after being inactive for quite some time.
Compared to other regions, there is little movement in the Western European pro scene. Will history repeat itself with Tundra coming out on top? Or will another team emerge victorious?
