?Aster.Aries enter the penultimate round of DPC 2023 China Tour 3 with a 0-6 record, which guarantees they’ll get demoted to the second division. Wang “Ulu” Jiakai and co. have lost their last six games and failed to win a single map, so things can’t get any worse from here.
And despite Aster. Aries’ struggles, they’re priced as favourites to defeat Team Bright.

Team Bright are 1-5 with a 3-10 map differential, which is slightly better than Aster.Aries’ record, but unlike Aries, Team Bright at least won one game – against Azure Ray (2-0) on Tuesday. That was the only game Bright played well, but we can put more weight on it since it was their most recent outing.

Even though it’s not fair to say that Team Bright are good due to their victory against Azure Ray, they are definitely better than Aster.Aries and shouldn’t be priced as underdogs. A bet on Team Bright to sweep looks like a fine choice, but they can be a bit inconsistent, so we’ll settle with a moneyline bet.

?Team Aster have made a strong case for themselves as one of the best Chinese Dota 2 teams. They are 5-0 ahead of their final two games of the tour and have so far dropped just one map — against Xtreme Gaming at the end of Week 2. But do they deserve to be priced as $1.14 favourites with Dota 2 betting sites for this clash?

Invictus Gaming have managed a 3-2 record across the first two weeks of play, which is not bad; however, those wins have come against some of the weakest teams in the league – Team Bright (2-1), Piggy Killer (2-0), and Aster.Aries (2-0).

While Invictus Gaming have looked good against lesser teams, their losses to PSG.LGD (0-2) and Azure Ray (0-2) suggest they might struggle against Aster. However, a closer look at their defeats unveils that IG know how to put up a fight and are not as weak as their record might appear.

At better Dota 2 esports betting odds, backing Aster to sweep would be the play, but Invictus Gaming with a map advantage offers more value.

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?PSG.LGD won their third match of DPC Tour 3 on Thursday against Piggy Killer (2-1) and are now set to face to face Team Bright, who shouldn’t pose as big of a threat for the former Chinese powerhouse. Even though PSG.LGD showed some cracks against Piggy Killer (who are in a similar spot as Team Bright record-wise), PK are a much stronger team.

Team Bright have yet to win a game this season (0-4) and hold a 1-8 map differential with defeats against Piggy Killer (0-2), Invictus Gaming (1-2), Xtreme Gaming (0-2), and Aster (0-2).

We saw that PSG.LGD can slip against a weaker team, but Team Bright didn’t amaze in the second division and are evidently not good enough to compete at the highest level. Expect a very one-sided win for PSG-LGD.

?Aster.Aries lost against its sister team, Aster (0-2), on Thursday and are now in real danger of getting eliminated from the upper division. On a more positive note, Aster.Aries’ defeats came against Aster, PSG.LGD (0-2), and Azure Ray (0-2) – some of the strongest teams in the league.

Since Aster.Aries played only against the top dogs, it’s tough to say how good they are relative to other mid-table teams. And while it’s not fair to say that Aster.Aries amazed anyone with their past results; they have shown some good qualities.

Xtreme Gaming are 2-1 ahead of this match with wins against Piggy Killer (2-1) and Team Bright (2-0) and a 1-2 defeat against Auzre Ray. Those are decent results on paper, but Xtreme Gaming have won only against Bright and Piggy Killer (barely) and struggled against Azure Ray, so perhaps they’re not as strong as the latest Dota 2 betting odds suggest.

On paper, this looks like Xtreme Gaming’s game to lose, and while they should win, having Aster.Aries priced at $5.50 is disrespectful. Xtreme Gaming are solid, but not good enough to deserve a bet at the offered price. The value is with Aster.Aries to win at least one map.

?Invictus Gaming and Azure Ray last met on March 21, in the third round of DPC China 2023 Tour 2 Division I, when Azure Ray (then Ybb Gaming) won 2-1. They ended the tour in sixth place with a 3-4 record, while Invictus Gaming placed third with a 4-3 record.

But even though Invictus Gaming looked better last tour, they enter this match as $3.00 underdogs, which doesn’t make much sense. IG and AR are 2-1 ahead of this clash, and neither produced anything remarkable last week.

Invictus Gaming lost a map against Team Bright (2-1) in the first week of the season, but they played well against PSG.LGD (0-2) and didn’t disappoint against Piggy Killer (2-0). On the other side, Azure Ray won against Aster.Aries (2-0) and Xtreme Gaming (2-1), but lost against Aster (0-2).

Azure Ray look slightly stronger because they showed a good fight against Aster, but they’re not good enough to be priced as $1.36 favourites with the top esports betting sites. The value is with Invictus Gaming at $3.00 or better.

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Aster.Aries and its sister team, Aster, will clash on Thursday, in the second week of DPC CN Tour 3 Division I. It’ll mark their first meeting since March when Aster won 2-0, and according to the latest Dota 2 esports betting odds, this game should end similarly.

Aster.Aries are 0-2 ahead of this match, with two (0-2) defeats against PSG.LGD and Azure Ray in the first week of Tour 3. Aster, on the other side, are 3-0 with clean 2-0 victories against Piggy Killer, Azure Ray, and Team Bright.

The Chinese DPC has seen many upsets this season, but it’s hard to believe we’ll see another on Thursday, mainly because Aster.Aries lost Liu “White Album” Yuhao at the start of the month, which hasn’t done them any favours.

Aster.Aries have never won or come close to winning against its sister team before, and we don’t expect that to change. Expect a dominant victory from Aster.

PSG.LGD are heavy favourites to defeat Piggy Killer, which makes sense considering what we saw from the two teams in the opening week of Tour 3. PSG.LGD started the final stage of the season with two wins against Aster.Aries (2-0) and Invictus Gaming (2-0), while Piggy Killer have managed just one win from their last three outings.

Piggy Killer played relatively well against Aster (0-2) but got stomped by Invictus Gaming (0-2) on Tuesday, which suggests Piggy Killer aren’t good enough to compete with the top teams. Still, $2.10 on Piggy Killer to win at least one map on Thursday is a bit too generous.

This team needs more time to gel, but Piggy Killer are strong and worth a bet against PSG.LGD.

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?Xtreme Gaming had an underwhelming start to the 2023 DPC season and finished DPC China Tour 1 Division I in fifth. However, after making a couple of roster changes in March, Zhang “Paparazi灬” Chengjun and co. won the second DPC Tour of the year with a 6-1 record.

Despite their domestic success, Xtreme Gaming failed to accomplish much internationally. They crashed out of ESL One Berlin Major 2023 in 9th-12th place after losing to one of the eventual finalists, Team Liquid, 1-2 in the first round of the playoffs.

Their next opponents Piggy Killer won the DPC China 2023 Tour 2 Division II with a 6-1 record, which is impressive, but we’ve yet to see them play a top-tier team. This explains why the best Dota 2 betting sites have Piggy Killer priced as $4.00 underdogs, and while the price might make sense, the raw talent on this roster isn’t to be underestimated.

We have to respect Xtreme Gaming and what they showed in the second tour of the season, but at the offered Dota 2 betting odds, siding with Fade and his crew with a map advantage is a better play.

?PSG.LGD are priced as heavy favourites to defeat Astrer.Aries on Tuesday, which isn’t too surprising considering what the two teams have shown lately. PSG.LGD finished DPC Tour 2 Division I in second place with a 6-1 record, well ahead of Aster.Aries (3-4), but like Xtreme Gaming, they couldn’t produce a deep run at ESL One Berlin Major 2023 (9th-12th).

Aster.Aries last met with PSG.LGD on March 18 and lost in a very one-sided series. PSG.LGD smashed Aster with 36-10 and 29-4 in kills and a massive +35k and 18k net worth lead. Aster.Aries have since not made a single roster change, whereas PSG.LGD added Li “niu” Kongbo as a replacement for Nicholas “zeal” Lim, which made them even stronger.

We don’t expect any surprises on Tuesday. PSG.LGD are the better team and should make it past Aster.Aries without any issues.

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The online tournament started on March 15, featuring six teams from the previous Division 1 tour, while the remaining two participants were from the previous Division II tour. All are fighting for a piece of the $205,000 prize pool, 920 Pro Circuit points, and qualification to ESL One Stockholm 2022.

So far, most teams played only three games before going on the enforced break. To meet up, all eight participants would compete in at least two series’ in Week 4. Royal Never Give Up, Magma, Team Aster, and Vici Gaming have played their first games of Week 4.

Key Matchups in week 4 of the DPC China Tour 2

RNG has picked up where they left off, sweeping Magma in their first game back. They have continued their perfect run in the tournament and now hold the No. 1 spot in the standings with a 4-0 record. Coming into the game, RNC were heavy favorites on most sports betting sites with an average win odd of 1.2.

After coasting to victory against Magma, they will square off against PSG.LGD in their second series of the week. The race for the number one spot on the standings is on, and upsetting PSG.LGD, which is arguably the strongest team in the competition, is not unattainable, especially as they have only lost one map throughout the entire series.

Even with their latest victory against Magma, the odds are still against RNG at 2.89 while PSG.LGD remains the favorites with 1.39 winning odd. PSG.LGD have will take on LBZS tomorrow, and stand a great chance of equalling RNG’s record. LBZS is yet to win a series in this tournament but has won a map, which came against RNG.

Team Aster has the most tasking schedule this week, as they have three series’ lined up. Throughout weeks 1, 2, and 3, they played only once, sweeping LBZS. With that single victory, they were tied for 4th place with EHOME and Vici Gaming but currently occupy the sixth position. Nonetheless, significant movement in the standings is expected this week, especially in the middle of the park.

Aster had a difficult time contending with VG, who came into the contest with a 1-3 record. VG’s pulled off a major upset over Aster, who were the favorites at 1.2 on several esports betting sites. Aster has now recorded their first loss of the Tour, but it is not enough for their head to drop.

A top-four ranking by the end of this week is possible for Aster if they get back to winning ways in their remaining two games of the week. They will face the two teams from Division II of the previous tour – Magma and Xtreme Gaming – in a best of three on April 15 and 17, respectively.

It is a packed week for the DPC China Tour 2, and bettors can take advantage of the several games available to win some money.

?DPC China Tour 2 – Wednesday Betting Predictions, 13/04/22

?PSG.LGD and LBZS were supposed to clash on April 5, but due to the lockdown in China, this and all subsequent tournament matches got postponed to this week. The break should benefit LBZS more, as they really need to come up with something spectacular to stand a chance here.

PSG.LGD were arguably the best team in the world in 2021, and they continue to look like one in the 2022 DPC season. They won the first DPC CN tour and claimed the regional finals title but were not as successful at the end of February when they placed sixth at OGA Dota PIT Season 6 China.

Regardless, PSG.LGD look like the most dominant team in China, and you could easily rank them as the current best team across all DPCs. LBZS are the complete opposite, with a 0-4 series record and a 1-8 in maps, proving again that they don’t have what it takes to compete with the best teams in the region.

You could feel concerned about the effect the two-week break had on PSG.LGD, but even if they are a bit ring rusty, the reigning The International finalists are just too good for us to doubt them.

?EHOME are 1-2 after three rounds of play, which isn’t great, but they had to face PSG.LGD (0-2) and Royal Never Give Up (0-2), so we have to give them some slack for losing two matches. Xtreme Gaming are 3-0, which looks considerably better, but they had to face much weaker opponents in LBZS (2-0), MagMa (2-1), and Vici Gaming (2-0).

This is a prime example of why results don’t mean much if you don’t consider the quality of the opponents the teams had to play against. Of course, that doesn’t mean that we believe EHOME are better than Xtreme Gaming, but it’s hard to explain why Xtreme are priced as $1.24 favourites.

At $3.88, EHOME are severely underrated for no reason, and that presents us with an excellent value bet that is tough to look past. EHOME with a map handicap ($1.84) is a safer alternative.

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?We’re only a week into the tournament, and Neptune Gaming have already proven that they’re the weakest team in the division. They’re 0-6 with a 0-12 map record, meaning they’re all but guaranteed elimination.

Technically, Neptune can still survive if they beat CDEC Gaming, CDEC defeats Xtreme Gaming, and they go on to lose their remaining two fixtures. But that’s a very unlikely scenario.

CDEC Gaming are by no means title contenders, and it’s hard to be overly optimistic about their 0-3 start. However, CDEC have lost only against Team MagMa, Sparking Arrow Gaming, and Aster.Aries, which are some of the strongest teams in this division.

For this match, we have no reason to doubt CDEC Gaming. You could make a case for them to cover the map handicap, but we’re satisfied with the $1.57 we’re getting on the moneyline.

?Xtreme Gaming have played only two series so far, against Neptune Gaming (2-0) and Ybb Gaming (1-2), so it’s hard to say how good they are. Still, this is a very stacked roster, featuring Zhang “Paparazi灬” Chengjun and two former Vici Gaming players in Xiong “Pyw”‘ Jiahan and Ding “Dy” Cong, who finished top eight at The International 10. But despite all that talent, Xtreme still lost against Ybb, which is concerning.

ShenZhen’s only loss so far came against Aster.Aries (1-2) on Sunday, but no team has managed to defeat Aster.Aries so far, so there is no shame in that. What’s more, ShenZhen are currently the only team to win a map against Aster.Aries.

It’s hard to bet against Xtreme Gaming, but they clearly haven’t found the needed traction yet and seem vulnerable enough to drop a map on Friday.