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.
Keen Gaming will play their second-to-last fixture of China Dota2 Professional League Season 2 this Sunday when they face ViCi Gaming for the second time this year.
ViCi Gaming enter Week 5 with a 3-2 record next to their name, which sits them in sixth place. While they disposed of Newbee, Sparking Arrow Gaming and Team Aster with ease, they failed to deliver against two of the strongest Chinese Dota2 teams in Royal Never Give Up and PSG.LGD.
While a 60% win rate is nothing to brag about, it leaves the door to the playoffs wide open for Zhang “Eurus” Chengjun and his crew. As it stands now, ViCi are one win short of reaching a top-four placement. With CDEC Gaming, Keen Gaming, EHOME and Invictus Gaming as their next four opponents, the finalists at The International 2014 will fancy their chances of progressing.
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Keen Gaming are on a neverending quest to establish themselves as one of the strongest Chinese Dota2 teams. While this squad have had a few flashes of greatness in their 2.5-year history, they are still nothing more than mediocre.
On Friday, Keen Gaming went through a massive roster reshuffle that saw the departure of coach Tang “71” Weny, Zhai “一” Jingkai, Tue “ah fu” Soon Chuan and Xiao “ShengSi” Yihu. As their replacements, Keen brought in Xu “Blood” Ziliang, Zhuang “xiaofu” Yongfu, Yu “Fantasy” Yajun and coach Chen “86” Yuxuan, all formerly members of KG.Luminous.
Since Keen Gaming lost two core members and one of the most experienced coaches in the Dota2 esports scene, it’s hard to be overly optimistic about their chances this weekend. When you throw in KG’s 3-7 record in their last 10 meetings with ViCi, the outlook is very bleak indeed.
There is no solid argument for siding with Keen Gaming, who field a squad loaded with potential but lacking in experience. Although ViCi Gaming are in the midst of some shaky form, there is no doubting that they are the stronger side here.
Esports bookmakers have ViCi priced as heavy favourites in both the outright betting and the map line, where they are paying around $1.67 to win in a clean sweep. Keen have lost five of their six matches this season and have a poor record against ViCi, so the -1.5 handicap looks doable for Eurus and company.
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.
Keen Gaming and Invictus Gaming will meet for the four time this year when they clash in Week 4 of China Dota2 Professional League Season 2 this Saturday.
Invictus have had a fairly successful run through the 2019/20 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season, which they began with a gold medal from DOTA Summit 11. They also claimed an impressive third-place finish at the MDL Chengdu Major and ended 2019 with a silver medal at the World Electronic Sports Games 2019 China Finals. Invictus failed to deliver in the Leipzig Major, however, as they lost to Evil Geniuses (1-2) in the fourth round of the lower bracket to finish in fifth-sixth place.
In the months that followed, IG won the ESL One Los Angeles 2020 China Closed Qualifier, crashed out of WeSave! Charity Play – China in round one, finished third in China Dota2 Professional League Season 1 and ran fifth at ESL One Los Angeles 2020 – Online: China.
Invictus Gaming’s results might suggest they are on a slow decline, but it is not fair to bash them too hard for their recent showings. At the WeSave! Charity Play tournament they faced one of the strongest Dota2 esports teams in the world in PSG.LGD, while ESL One Los Angeles 2020 – Online: China was a complete mess with upsets happening left and right.
While there are some positives to take away from IG’s run through the last couple of months, it’s hard to say the same when we look at Keen Gaming’s showings. Since The International 9, where they finished 13th-16th, the Chinese squad have failed to produce any notable results.
Not only have Keen failed to qualify for a single Dota 2 Major this season, they have also struggled to perform up to par at some lesser tournaments. For example, they finished in seventh-eighth place at the Battle of Dawn last October and then ran fifth-eighth at the Hainan Master Cup the following month.
On a more positive note, Keen pocketed silver at the Elite Challenge (S1) in December. However, even that achievement was soured by a 0-3 thumping at the hands of Newbee – the only other top-tier team in the tournament.
In 2020, Keen’s results include seventh place in China Dota2 Professional League Season 1, third in the StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Season 3 China Qualifier and seventh in the ESL One Los Angeles 2020 China Closed Qualifier.
Esports bookmakers did a fine job placing the odds on this match, as there is no going around the fact Invictus Gaming are the superior team in all aspects.
Since Keen Gaming made a roster shuffle and brought in Yang “Erica” Shaohan, Zhao “Yds.” Jiayi, Tue “ah fu” Soon Chuan and Xiao “ss” Yihu, they have met with IG only once. That clash at CDA League Season 1 ended in a resounding win for Invictus, who finished with an aggregate kill score of 54-14 and a combined gold lead of more than 28k.
It is hard to think this bout will end any differently. Trust Invictus Gaming to sweep Keen for the second time this month.
Two Dota 2 fixtures set to take place this Thursday at China Dota 2 Pro League Season 1 featuring ViCi Gaming who will lock horns with EHOME and Royal Never Give up. Here are the www.riosexsite.net predictions with betting odds courtesy of the best esports betting sites.
After a dominant run at ONE Esports Dota 2 World Pro Invitational Singapore, ViCi Gaming ($1.19) are set to return to China Dota 2 Pro League Season 1, where they will look to keep their flame alive and bounce back from their poor start of the season.
Entering their fifth game of the season, ViCi are holding onto a 2-2 record, which sits them at the eighth spot in the group.
Despite being below the playoffs line, there is no reason for concern, as they still have four more fixtures to play before the playoffs, thus plenty of opportunities to secure a spot in the final six. That being said, ViCi will have to get off to a strong start in January, which should inspire them to not hold back this Thursday.
So far ViCi defeated Invictus Gaming (2-0) and Newbee (2-0), but lost to Keen Gaming (1-2) and suffered a shock defeat against IG Vitality (1-2) in November. Despite their underwhelming record, we have to consider a lot has changed since their last fixture, most notably their title-winning run at ONE Esports Dota 2 World Pro Invitational, where they completely decimated some of the strongest teams in the Dota 2 pro scene.
While ViCi were putting up a show in Singapore, EHOME ($3.99) were struggling to keep up the pace in the Pro League, where they lost to Aster (0-2), PSG.LGD (0-2) and RNG (0-2). That means they will enter this bout on a streak of six consecutive defeats, which includes defeats against TNT, KG and IG during WESG China Finals in early December.
There are not a lot of comparisons to make between the two sides, considering it’s rather obvious which squad should come out ahead. ViCi were simply phenomenal in recent weeks, while EHOME were the complete opposite. As we see it, if Xiong “Pyw” Jiahan and co. can produce anything similar to what they did in Singapore, this one should be a clean sweep for them and we don’t expect to see anything less this Thursday.
The second fixture of the day will see ViCi Gaming ($1.45) flex their muscles against Royal Never Give Up ($2.50) in what promises to be an exciting bout and a true test of strength for RNG who are on a phenomenal 6-2 run so far this season.
So far this season, RNG lost to only IG (0-2) in week one and Typhoon E-Sports Club (0-2) in week three, which were both obviously upset losses. On a more positive note, RNG defeated Aster (2-1), EHOME (2-0), PSG.LGD (2-1), KG (2-0), Newbee (2-0) and IG Vitality (2-0) to cement themselves as the league leaders.
As it stands now, RNG are on a six-game winning streak in the league and considering this is their last fixture of the season, we can expect Su “Flyby” Lei and his squad to put up a show. That being said, we must mention RNG are already guaranteed a spot in the final six, no matter the final result here, which leads us to believe RNG wouldn’t mind too much if they lose.
Other than their impressive run in Pro League, RNG also made a solid run at Yabo Supreme Cup earlier in December, where they lost to Adroit in the finals. ViCi and RNG met six times throughout 2019. Out of five meetings, we saw RNG take four wins and ViCi only two. While the head-to-head record favours RNG, we have to consider RNG have not defeated ViCi since EPICENTER Major Chinese qualifiers in May 2019. Furthermore, the last two meetings which took place at TI9 and MDL Chengdu Major Chinese Closed Qualifiers both belonged to ViCi, 2-0 and 2-1 respectively.
The recent form of two teams and the last two h2h results suggest ViCI are the superior side here and we have no reason to believe otherwise. Furthermore, RNG have nothing to lose, while ViCi have a lot to gain, and for that reason we expect ViCi to deliver and win their second fixture of the day against RNG.