Xtreme Gaming had a rough start to the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season. They needed three maps to defeat Aster.Aries (2-1) and then lost against Team Aster (1-2). But there’s a silver lining: Xtreme Gaming played well against Aster on Sunday and had their chance to win.

EHOME won both of their DPC 2023 CN Week 1 series against Invictus Gaming (2-0) and Dawn (2-0). They had a fairly easy schedule, so we wouldn’t overreact to EHOME’s perfect run, but they have played much better than expected.

EHOME are in much better shape ahead of this bout, but they’re still individually weaker than Xtreme Gaming, so it makes sense to see them priced as underdogs. Still, if EHOME keep their wheels spinning into the week of the season, it’s not too crazy to believe that they can win at least one map.
Xtreme Gaming looked lost against Aster.Aries on Friday, and if we see another such performance on Tuesday, EHOME might even come out on top.

Despite the roster changes, PSG.LGD looked just as good in the season’s opening week as you would expect from this team. They demolished Dawn Gaming (2-0) and added another commanding victory against Aster.Aries (2-0).

Even though PSG.LGD had to face fairly weak teams in Week 1; they hadn’t shown anything that would make us doubt them ahead of this match. However, they’re set to face a capable team that had some glimpses of greatness last week.

Knights lost their opening match of the season against Team Aster (1-2), but they fought well and added a strong performance against Invictus Gaming (2-0). It’s difficult to make any conclusions from just two games, but the Knights look strong, and they just might be able to cause some problems for PSG.LGD.

At the offered betting odds, we wouldn’t back PSG.LGD. Even though they’ve shown more in the first week of the season, it’s hard to believe that they’ll look as dominant when faced with stronger teams. This is a crucial match for Su “Flyby” Lei and his crew, and if they can show the same performance as they did against Team Aster, we should be in for a close series on Tuesday.

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Knights is a new team entering the Chinese Dota Pro Circuit (DPC), fielding a roster built around the ex-Sparking Arrow Gaming duo Xiao “XCJ” Chaojian, Su “Flyby” Lei. They teamed up a strong trio of Luo “eGo” Bin, Vincent “AlaCrity” Hiew, and Chong “FelixCiaoBa” Wei Lun.

The roster has some talent but features mostly tier-two talent who are coming in from SEA and China, which doesn’t sound too promising. But Knights have the potential to be good, and we wouldn’t be shocked if they turn some heads in the first tour of the season.

Team Aster made two roster changes in November, with the addition of Zhai “Xwy” Jingkai and former head coach of Elephant and Vici Gaming, Bai “rOtK” Fan. Aster were powerful last year, with a silver medal from ESL One Malaysia 2022 and a top-four finish at The International 2022, and there’s nothing to suggest Aster can’t be as dominant in 2023.

Still, at $1.10, we wouldn’t bet on Aster to win, nor are they appealing at $1.50 to cover the map handicap. Knights look weaker, but they are stronger than the market suggests. Moreover, we’re early into the season, so we expect a bit shakier performance from Aster, which should be enough for the outsiders to steal a map.

Xtreme Gaming made two roster changes, signing Thiay “JT-” Jun Wen and Daniel “Ghost” Chan from Invictus Gaming and Royal Never Give Up, respectively. The latest additions make Xtreme Gaming a very scary team, but it’s not like they weren’t solid last season.

Throughout 2022, Xtreme Gaming underperformed a bit relative to the expectations, but they have finished inside the top three in all but one event – The International Last Chance Qualifier (fifth-sixth). They claimed silver medals from Intel World Open Beijing, DPC CN 2021/2022 Tour 2: Division I, and Chinese TI 2022 qualifiers, a title from OGA Dota PIT Season 6: China, and third-place finishes in DPC CN Tour 2 Regional Final, and Tour 3: Division I.

Due to not making many roster moves, Xtreme might be one of the top teams in the opening tour and should eventually find themselves in a tight race with PSG.LGD and Team Aster for the status of China’s top Dota team.

Aster.Aries didn’t achieve much last season besides reaching the upper division with a runner-up finish in DPC Tour 2: Division II. For 2023, Aster.Aries added just one new player in Liu “White丶Album” Yuhao, and replaced coach Chen “86” Yuxuan with from Ou “Op” Peng.

On paper, it seem like Aster.Aries should be more competitive this term, but they’re going against one of China’s most stacked teams with solid synergy. There’s room for upsets in the new season’s opening week, but this looks like a clean 2-0 sweep for Xtreme Gaming.

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