CDEC Gaming and Royal Never Give Up will duke it out for a spot in the upper bracket finals and a guaranteed US $8,000 windfall when they meet this week in the ESL One Birmingham 2020 playoffs.
CDEC failed to impress through the early months of 2020. They finished eighth at the ESL One Los Angeles 2020 China Closed Qualifier, second in China Dota2 Development League Season 2 and third at the CDA League Season 1: Qualifier.
In April, CDEC picked up the pace and saw more success at the DPL-CDA Professional League Season 1 – Qualifier and Promotion series, although they faced only weaker Dota2 esports teams in those events. In May, CDEC finished seventh-eighth at OGA Dota PIT 2020 Online: China, ninth-16th at the ESL One Birmingham 2020 – Online: China Open Qualifier, first at the ESL One Birmingham 2020 – Online: China Qualifier, and sixth at DPL-CDA Professional League Season 1.
Despite their subpar performances at most of their top-tier events, Guo “Xm” Hongcheng and co. showed remarkable quality at the China Dota2 Professional League Season 2. There, they picked up big wins against ViCi Gaming (2-1), Invictus Gaming (2-1) and EHOME (2-1) en route to third place in the group stage. CDEC couldn’t back it up in the playoffs, however, losing to PSG.LGD in a reverse sweep and then bowing out with a 0-2 loss to Team Aster in the lower bracket.
CDEC have been plagued with inconsistency, but the same can be said for Royal Never Give Up. Over the last week, RNG defeated Longinus, Aster and ViCi but lost to PSG.LGD twice and went down to Invictus in the China Dota2 Pro League Season 2 semi-finals. In the week prior, RNG lost to CDEC and Aster but defeated Sparking Arrow Gaming and Keen Gaming.
Throughout the ESL One Birmingham group stage, Royal Never Give Up defeated Longinus (2-0) and Aster (2-0) but narrowly lost to PSG.LGD (1-2), while CDEC defeated EHOME (2-1), Invictus Gaming (2-0) and Sparking Arrow Gaming (2-0).
These teams last met on Monday, May 18, when CDEC Gaming came away with a 2-1 win. Although Xm and his men lost one map, they outshone Royal Never Give Up and ended the series with an aggregate 91-48 kill score and a combined gold lead of more than 12.4k.
Since both sides have put up plenty of iffy displays in recent weeks, this match seems like it can go both ways. While RNG have looked the better team of late, they may struggle against a CDEC outfit who have won at least one map against them in their last two meetings.
We expect another close series between these two, so we would steer clear of the outright winner and handicap bets. The map line, however, becomes very appealing.
EHOME and CDEC Gaming will clash for the third time this week when they renew hostilities in the China Dota2 Pro League on Saturday.
CDEC have produced a strong run through the opening five weeks of the competition, defeating ViCi (2-1), Aster (2-0), Keen Gaming and Newbee (2-1). Although a 4-0 record is impressive, CDEC’s true test begins now, as they are yet to face Royal Never Give Up, Invictus Gaming, PSG.LGD and EHOME.
Guo “Xm” Hongcheng and his crew showed a lot of quality and synergy in their recent clash with ViCi. Although game two slipped out of their hands early due to big displays from Zhang “Eurus” Chengjun and Zeng “Ori” Jiaoyang, CDEC bounced back in game three and wrapped things up in just under 38 minutes.
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Talking about strong performances in recent weeks, EHOME dealt with RNG (2-0), PSG.LGD (2-1), Invictus Gaming (2-1) and ViCi Gaming (2-1) in consecutive fixtures between April 28 and May 2. That run came to an end with losses to IG (1-2) and CDEC (1-2) at OGA Dota PIT 2020 Online: China, but EHOME bounced back with a 2-0 win over Wang “Liekkas” Yutian’s squad in the DPL-CDA Pro League on Wednesday.
The first match of that series was very close for the first 35 minutes, although it became clear early on that CDEC were only delaying the inevitable. Cheng “NothingToSay” Jin Xiang more than compensated for Zhang “y`” Yiping’s shaky display on Grimstroke and singlehandedly carried the game, finishing the match with 17/0/8.
NothingToSay took that momentum into game two and helped his team edge out a narrow win on recently buffed Clinkz, ending the match with 17/7/9. With that, he proved once again that EHOME made the right call when they signed him in November.
Wednesday’s result saw esports bookmakers turn the odds upside down and install EHOME as favourites for the rematch this weekend. To price them as short as $1.58, however, makes little sense, especially in an online event.
NothingToSay’s recent surge in form appears to give EHOME the edge, but it’s difficult to trust a team whose results rely solely on the performance of one player. As the rest of the team have looked ordinary of late, siding with EHOME to win outright seems a bit too risky for our liking.
The last two meetings between these teams were extremely close, while the four before that saw CDEC claim convincing wins, so EHOME’s win in their last bout counts for little. Online bookies are paying better than evens for a three-map series, and we don’t have to think twice about taking that action.
ViCi Gaming and CDEC Gaming will meet for the first time this year on Friday during Week 5 of China Dota 2 Pro League Season 2.
ViCi got off to a shaky start this season and hold a slightly underwhelming 3-2 record ahead of their upcoming bout. While Zeng “Ori” Jiaoyang and co. defeated Newbee (2-0), Sparking Arrow Gaming (2-0) and Team Aster (2-0), they fell flat against Royal Never Give Up (0-2) and, most recently, PSG.LGD (0-2).
There is no shame in losing to high-calibre teams like RNG and LGD, but one might have expected to see a bit more from the second-place team on the 2019/20 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) – especially considering ViCi had already defeated both those sides this year.
Since the start of April, ViCi have been on a rollercoaster of results. They ended their ESL One Los Angeles 2020 – Online: China venture in fourth place after losing to Newbee (1-2) in round one of the playoffs. Ori and his crew bounced back with a streak of solid results at CDA League Season 1, but they have fallen in a hole again with four defeats in their last five matches.
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Things are looking a little rosier for CDEC, who take a 3-0 record into Friday’s Dota2 Pro League clash. While they have yet to face any of the top three sides, Guo “Xm” Hongcheng and co. looked solid enough in their wins over Keen Gaming (2-1), Team Aster (2-0) and Newbee (2-1).
CDEC took a swing at the CDA League Season 1: Qualifier in March but failed to see much success, as they lost to Ocean (0-2) and SAG (1-2). They also made an appearance at DPL-CDA Professional League Season 1, where they lost their opening match against Invictus Gaming (1-2).
Since CDEC failed to qualify for the CDA League and ESL One Los Angeles 2020 China Closed Qualifier, they have suffered from a severe lack of competitive play in recent weeks.
Last time CDEC and ViCi met on the battlefield was in November at World Electronic Sports Games 2019 China – Eastern Circuit, where ViCi won 2-0. While we shouldn’t put too much weight on that result alone, it’s fair to say that the balance of power between these two Chinese Dota2 teams has remained much the same.
CDEC are desperately searching for a way back to their glory days of 2015, when they claimed second place at The International. ViCi, meanwhile, are looking for some more stability in order to become serious contenders on the world stage.
If ViCi can step up and deliver up to par with the quality of players they have, Ori and his crew should win this bout with relative ease. Betting on CDEC to win one map was considered, but the odds for the favourites securing a clean sweep are far too good to ignore.