The Group Stage of World Electronic Sports Games (WESG) has ended and the WESG Dota 2 Playoffs are scheduled for the next 2 days (17th and 18th of March 2018). Just a quarter of the initial 32 teams are left in the tournament and they will compete for an impressive prize pool: 1.42 million dollars.
WESG Playoffs on the 17th and 18th of March. Photo via https://twitter.com/WESGcom
The Quarterfinals matches bring excellent betting opportunities but in order to correctly predict the winners, you need to understand who the teams are and how they’ve performed so far at this event.
WESG Dota 2 Playoffs Team Analysis
Team Hellas
This is a great Greek team made up of 4 former Ad Finem / mousesports members and Focus, another highly skilled Greek player. This is a roster that has a lot of experience playing together, which is one of the main reasons why they’ve made it so far.
Team Hellas finished phase 1 at the top of its group and then went on to win 3 consecutive matches in phase 2.
Team Hellas advance to Playoffs. Photo via https://twitter.com/wesgcom
Fire Dragoon
Fire Dragoon is a Malaysian team made up of completely unknown players. They ended phase 1 in 2nd place (Group F) and then took another 2nd place in Group A (won by Team Hellas). Overall, they’re one of the underdogs going into the Playoffs, so I don’t think they’ll make it past the Quarterfinals.
SG e-sports
This is a strong and established South American team with a lot of experience, both locally and internationally. Given how much experience their roster has, it’s not a big surprise that they’ve made it this far at World Electronic Sports Games.
SG e-sports won Group F in phase 1 and then Group B in phase 2. Their most impressive results have been against EHOME (2 – 0) and Keen Gaming (1 – 1). Both of these Chinese teams are very strong, so the positive results suggest that SG e-sports is in great shape right now. However, they will play against Team Russia in the Quarterfinals, and I’m very skeptical about their chances.
Keen Gaming
This is an established Chinese team with a lot of experience behind it. It even participated at the ESL One Hamburg 2017 Major around 4 months ago, so you can be sure that these guys mean business. In fact, based on the structure of the Playoffs pairings, they will likely make it all the way to the Finals.
Keen Gaming finished first in its group in phase 1 with 3 consecutive wins. The second phase was much tougher, but they still managed to finish 2nd in Group B with 1 victory and 2 draws.
PaiN Gaming
Probably the strongest team in South America at the moment, PaiN Gaming is an established Dota 2 team with a very experienced roster. In phase 1 they got 2 victories and 1 defeat and in phase 2 they got 2 victories and 1 draw. The team is looking strong at the moment, but it will have to beat Keen Gaming in the Quarterfinals and I don’t think they have what it takes to win.
PaiN Gaming make it to the WESG Dota 2 Playoffs after a stong showing. Photo via https://twitter.com/wesgcom
Rock.Y
This is another Chinese team with some big names in it. The most important of these names is Ayo a former VGJ.Thunder player.
Rock.Y’s record so far has been 3W – 0D – 0L in phase 1 and 1W – 2D – 0L in phase 2.
Ultima Thule
This is a fairly strong Russian stack with several known players: Cooman, KingR, and Miposhka. They finished phase 1with 2 victories and 1 defeat and phase 2 with 1 victory and 2 draws.
Team Russia
This is the team that in principle should win this event. Made up of 4 Virtus.pro members, Team Russia is, at least on paper, the strongest participant in this tournament. And not by a little, but by an enormous amount.
Team Russia finished phase 1 with 2 victories and 1 defeat and phase 2 with 1 victory and 2 draws. The Russians don’t seem to be at the top of their game with iLTW as their midlaner instead of No[o]ne, but they should still be able to adapt to the tournament’s meta and reach the Finals.
Both Russian Teams; Ultima Thule and Team Russia advance to playoffs. Photo via https://twitter.com/wesgcom
WESG Playoffs Betting Predictions
Rock.Y vs. Fire Dragoon
Odds: 1.53 – 2.33 (GG.BET)
This should be an easy victory in favor of Rock.Y, and they’ll likely win without dropping a single map.
PaiN Gaming vs. Keen Gaming
Odds: 2.65 – 1.42 (GG.BET)
Both of these teams are very strong, but the skill difference between South American and Chinese teams in general is quite big, so I’m confident that Keen Gaming will win this match.
SG e-sports vs. Team Russia
Odds: 4.72 – 1.15 (GG.BET)
No matter how you look at this match, Team Russia is the clear favorite. The only way SG e-sports can win here is with the Russians’ help. It doesn’t have to be a 322 level of help but some significant mistakes are definitely required.
Team Hellas vs. Ultima Thule
Odds: 1.45 – 2.55 (GG.BET)
No doubt, Team Hellas is hungry to win and 4 of its players have years of experience playing together. At the peak of their power, this roster made to the Grand Final of The Boston Major in 2016, and that says a lot about its potential.
