The road to The International has reached its final stop and with only a handful of DPC points up for grabs, the competition has never been this tight.
Talon Esports has the lowest odds to win outright being listed at 2.15 at Pinnacle. The team has been the most consistent organization in all of Southeast Asia, making it to both Majors twice and even going as deep as third place in Lima after eventually falling to a very strong Team Liquid. Taking first place in tour 3 will definitely confirm their TI slot that will surely motivate this team. The team is really stacked in all positions and are captained by one of the better captains coming out of the Chinese Dota 2 scene.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: May 14th, 1:00 A.M. (EST)
At odds of 5.23, Team SMG is primed for another strong showing in the region. The rise of their position 1 player CDR to a phenomenal carry has certainly helped them conquer the region, finishing third in the region. The legendary MidOne going back to his old role at the mid lane after his offlane stint to make way for the arrival of Masaros is going to be interesting. The team had to make some changes after a very disappointing showing in Berlin, only managing to win four of their sixteen matches that caused their early exit.
Strong dark horses for this tournament that are worth their decently high odds are Blacklist Rivalry and BOOM Esports. Blacklist Rivalry’s Boss Ku took up the captain mantle again but will be doing so from the hard support role. The team strayed away from their all-Filipino superstar roster as the team has employed the services of kpii, who most of them played with during their stay with TNC. The team has failed to finish top 3 quite closely during the first two tours and will look to make a strong finish before The International season heats up. However, their chances of qualifying for Dota 2’s is very slim.
BOOM Esports is back to Division 1 after a horrible Tour 1 despite what may seem like upgrades on paper, most notably bringing in xNova from Royal Never Give Up, a premier Chinese tier 1 team, following their untimely disband. They however crushed the Division 2 competition with a perfect record of 14-0, winning all seven of their series in a dominant 2-0 fashion, proving that they deserve to play amongst the best in the region.
BOOM Esports being back to Tour 1 made the competition even tougher for the rest of the pool. The Mushi-coached team definitely has a lot of new strategies in store with the new patch that extensively changed the game. Despite the dominance of a lot of these teams, it seemed like 7.33 has reset all that and it is now a fair game.
Will BOOM Esports complete their run from Division 2 to the Major?
