Team Liquid, featuring star players Miracle, Matumbaman, Mind Control, GH and Kuroky, only lost three games in the entire tournament on route to their ultimate victory. They played a total of seven games in the group stage and eight games in the playoffs.
Miracle, the position two player, played 10 different heroes in this tournament including Invoker, Phantom Assassin, Ember Spirit, Morphing, Ursa, Troll Warlock, Sven, Anti-Mage, Juggernaut, Drow Ranger out of 15 games Team Liquid played in this tournament. His incredible heroes knowledge and wide variety of skill was a huge factor in his team’s victory.
In the Grand Final series against the Evil Geniuses, Team Liquid played a total of four games in the best-of-five series and every single game ended before the 30-minute mark.
In game one, Team Liquid drafted Phantom Assassin for Miracle, Viper for Matumbaman and Nature Prophet for Mind Control. Team Liquid out-drafted Evil Geniuses when they put Viper in the mid-lane to fight against Monkey King in the laning phase.
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Viper is a hero that could out-play any single in the mid lane as long as the player is capable of utilising the hero. Matumbaman, one of the best carry players in Dota 2, did a great job of harassing Monkey King in the laning phase and used the advantage to build support items.
This was a unique team tactic from Team Liquid, which has shown that they are capable of adapting their draft and building item accordingly. They understood that Miracle’s Phantom Assassin was the main carry of the game and supported him to make him tankier in team fight so Phantom Assassin could deal with all five enemies by himself.
Viper bought Mekansm and Arcane Boots, combining them into with Guardian Greaves at the 19-minute mark.
Guardian Greaves passively provides 4.5 health regeneration and 2 bonus armour to a teammate nearby the item carrier. When inactive, it restores 300 health and 200 mana to nearby allies and removes most negative effects from them.
Miracle was unstoppable in that game. He wiped out four enemies in their fountain. Fountain is a “safe zone” for the heroes to regenerate 4% of your health and mana per second and it also deals a high damage towards enemies within its attack range. However, Phantom Assassin has a 50% chance to evade any incoming damage from the fountain and he also purchased Satanic to lifesteal from enemies.
Evil Geniuses surrendered after their “safe zone” turned into a kill zone.
In game two, Team Liquid drafted Magnus to support Juggernaut and Matumbaman once again picked Viper.
Similar to game one, Matumbaman has an easy laning phase in the mid lane and he purchased Rod of Atos, as well as Guardian Greaves. Miracle played Juggernaut and had a great farm thanks to Magnus’s Empower allowing him to farm a lot of faster with the extra cleave damage.
Team Liquid started to the push high ground of Evil Geniuses at the 17-minute mark after securing Aegis of Immortal for Juggernaut. The only thing Evil Geniuses could do was stand by and watch as Team Liquid tore down their bottom barracks.
The moment they tried to go for a team fight, GH, the position four player from Team Liquid, used Reverse Polarity on Nature Prophet and Lina from Evil Geniuses. Miracle just killed both of them when they were stunned for 2.75 seconds.
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Evil Geniuses called GG when Team Liquid was destroying their throne.
Team Liquid lost miserably in game three because Evil Geniuses drafted nicely and picked dual support heroes – Enigma and Chen. These two heroes are very good in pushing and Evil Geniuses went on Team Liquid’s high ground and secured themselves top two barracks by the 15-minute mark.
After struggling for another 13 minutes, Team Liquid surrender because there was no way of coming back in that game.
In game four, Team Liquid banned Enigma after Evil Geniuses picked Chen. They understood that these two supports can do a lot of damage, thanks their pushing ability.
Team Liquid drafted Troll Warlock and Lone Druid as their core heroes in this game. They also picked Magnus as their support. Thanks to the Magnus pick, Troll Warlock ended the game with 856 golds per minute.
At the 20-minute mark of the game, Team Liquid went on the high ground of Evil Geniuses and expected a fight from Evil Geniuses because Miracle had both Satanic, Sange and Yasha, he had a status resistance of 41% with those items.
However, Evil Geniuses did not take a fight with Team Liquid and let Team Liquid destroy their bottom Melee barracks without any casualties.
Team Liquid understood that they won the game because Evil Geniuses were not trying to defend at all. Team Liquid went to secured Aegis of Immortal and did the same trick again by putting Troll Warlock and the Spirit Bear in front line to destroy the barracks.
Team Liquid claimed the trophy of MDL Macau 2019 after Troll Warlocks secured another lane of barracks.
]]>After an outstanding run in the group stage of ESL One Katowice, OG sits at third place in Group A and will come up against the fourth-placed Team Aster for a do-or-die elimination match on Friday night.
OG has shown a wide-array of drafting tactics of late, recently picking Lifestealer, Anti-Mage, Phantom Assassin, Ember Spirit, Juggernaut, Phantom Lancer, Troll Warlock and also Morphing in the group stage. OG star iLTW played a total of eight different heroes in 10 games, displaying a wide heroes pool knowledge.
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In their first game against For The Dream on Feb 21, OG ended the game at the 13-minute mark with a draft that included Nature Prophet, Troll Warlock, Chen. Before the game one started, they only had four points. They understood that they must win a game from For The Dream to avoid elimination from the tournament by securing at least five points in the group stage.
They revealed their secret strategy and ended the game in 13 minutes. We believe OG has more secret drafting tactics to reveal in the playoffs.
Team Aster was poor in Group B, especially factoring in the tier two sides they came up against.
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Mushi, the position two player from Team Aster, only joined this team three days ago. Mushi was a legendary player and participated in a lot of The International tournament, however, he has not been a high-quality player since 2016. He can’t play heroes that require micro-management skill and his heroes pool knowledge is certainly limited.
OG vs. Team Aster betting prediction
After running our eye over the heroes’ pool knowledge and recent roster changes, we give OG a 85% chance to win this match-up.
Considering the payout odds, our recommendation is to go low and bet on OG to win the game 2-0 at $1.42 or better with GG Bet.
]]>After dropping into the lower bracket of the MDL Macau tournament as the lowest scorer in the group stage, EHOME will take on Newbee in an elimination match on Friday afternoon.
In roster news coming into the game, Faith Bian, the position three player from EHOME, is unavailable due to injury so EHOME invited XinQ from Team Serenity to stand-in at position three for the rest of this tournament. ASD, the second position player from EHOME, was benched in the group stage and replaced by his coach Xiao8, but ASD is back in the squad for the playoffs, putting the team’s synergy at risk.
Newbee did well in the group stage, scoring four points in the seven matches they played.
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Newbee was tied with Vici Gaming, Evil Geniuses, Royal Never Give Up, however, they dropped to the lower bracket in playoffs due to the tiebreaker rule of head-to-head results.
Newbee also has a stand-in in the tournament. Awen from Mr Game Boy is playing the position three role because JT has been unable to join the tournament due to a tight schedule.
Looking into their head-to-head matches in group stage, EHOME certainly showed the stronger drafting form.
Newbee picked Drow Ranger and Tidehunter in their last encounter and EHOME immediately knew that Newbee would be adopting a pushing strategy. So, EHOME then picked Tinker to counter-push against Newbee.
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EHOME was only able to defend against Newbee with Tinker’s spamming skill in the back line, while BristleBack was tanking. They did not have high ground pushing advantage against Newbee, so, Newbee took their time to farm until Drow Ranger had level 25, instead of pushing effortlessly.
Once Drow Ranger had his level 25, he learned the talent of 50% cool-down reduction on all abilities and items. He constantly spammed Black King Bar and tear down the tower of Newbee because Tinker was unable to do damage or control Drow Ranger in Black King Bar form.
Newbee vs. EHOME betting prediction
After running our eye through drafting abilities and head-to-head results in the group stage, we give Newbee a 70% chance to win this match-up.
Considering the payout odds, our recommendation is to go low and bet on Newbee to win the game at $1.83 or better with GG Bet.
]]>Virtus Pro will begin its MDL Macau 2019 campaign on Wednesday with battles against Evil Geniuses, Royal Never Give Up and Vici Gaming.
The match between Virtus Pro and Royal Never Give Up is the focus of today’s preview, as it looks to provide punters with the most interest and value.
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Virtus Pro has proven themselves as one of the top three teams in world after finishing in second place at the Chongqing Major back on January 27. The Dota 2 squad also earned their way into The International 9 on the back of their Dota Pro Circuit Points count. They displayed a very solid performance in the CIS qualifier without losing a single game to their opponents including Winstrike, Pavaga Gaming, The Pango and Gambit Esports. The fact that they were able to eliminate The Pango and Gambit Esports without too much stress was amazing, considering they are well-regarded tier one teams.
Solo and Rodjer, the duo supports from Virtus Pro, have done a great job swapping their roles depending on which support hero is able to contribute more of what the team needs.
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Initially, Rodjer is the fourth support position so he should be getting core item while Solo need to buy wards and sentries for the team. In their first game against The Pango back in the CIS Qualifier, Solo was getting more resources from farming creeps because they understand Rodjer only needed three bracers in that game and Solo was able to deal much more damage in team fight if Rubick purchased Drum of Endurance for the squad. So, Rodjer decided to buy wards and let Rubick get his item.
Royal Never Give Up did a decent job in the StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor China Qualifier. They whitewashed Room310 and Team Aster 2-0 then qualified into the main tournament. However, they relied too much on Lifestealer and Keeper of the Light in those games. Lifestealer and Keeper of the Light are getting nerfed in this patch and if they are the only combo move they have, they are not going to compete in MDL Macau 2019.
Virtus Pro vs. Royal Never Give Up betting prediction
After analysing their drafting in previous patches and recent performances from both squads, we give Virtus Pro a 80% chance to win this match-up.
Considering the payout odds and this is one-match series, our recommendation is to go low and bet on Virtus Pro to win the game at $1.20 or better with GG Bet.
]]>Team Liquid will get its entire squad back for the first time in 2019 when it takes on EHOME in its opening game of the MDL Macau 2019.
Team Liquid’s star, Miracle, returns for the first time since he withdrew from the Chongqing Major, which was a disaster for his team.
Team Liquid’s most recent professional matches were at the DreamLeague Season 11 Europe Qualifier where they advanced to the main tournament after whitewashing Vega Squadron 2-0 back on February 7.
Team Liquid took down The Real Deal and OG in the group stage, followed by a solid victory against Kaban and Vega Squadron in the playoffs.
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Their only loss was against Team Secret in the Upper Bracket Round 1 in the playoffs after they were out-drafted with the selection of Keeper of the Light in both games.
After looking at their most recent encounters, it could easily be said that there is no way to counter Team Liquid in drafting because they have an unlimited choice of heroes to play.
Miracle and Matumbaman always swap their roles according to the situation because Matumbaman is better in micro-management skill, so Team Liquid can always draft Lone Druid, Visage and Broodmother for him when they think these heroes are suitable for them to execute the plan.
EHOME is not playing with their full squad in the group stage. Xiao8, their coach, will be standing in for ASD in the group stage.
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Xiao8 is a talented player who is also a The International champion. Despite that, having a stand-in in such high tier competition is definitely a liability for EHOME.
Liquid vs. EHOME betting prediction
After running our eye through their heroes’ pool knowledge and drafting abilities, we give Team Liquid a 75% chance to win this match-up.
Considering this is a one-match series, our recommendation is to go low and bet on Liquid to win the game at $1.50 or better with GG Bet.
]]>Team Root and Newbee will go to war on Friday afternoon in their MDL Macau China Closed Qualifier, with the winner taking one step closer to qualification to the main tournament.
Team Root and Newbee were both invited into the tournament, while others have had to fight it out to make it this far.
Royal Never Give Up took one of the China Qualifier slots into main tournament by beaten down IG Vitality and Room310 today.
Team Root has lost five consecutive games against For The Dream, Royal Never Give Up, CDEC Gaming, EHOME and also Newbee Young.
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It’s no surprise they lost to For The Dream, Royal Never Give Up and EHOME — three tier 1 teams from the China Region — however, losing to CDEC Gaming and Newbee Young in their H-CUP Season 11 Tiebreaker match was disappointing.
Team Root is considered as a tier 1 team in the China Region thanks their star players including Yao, DDC, END and Super. The last member of Team Root, Victoria, is not rated as highly.
Looking at their draft against CDEC Gaming in H-CUP Season 11 tiebreaker, we would not say they drafted badly because their draft included Phoenix and Faceless Void in that match.
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Ensuring the Supernova of Phoenix successfully landed with Faceless Void’s Chrono is a strong combo. They also picked Batrider and Lich to protect and initiate the team fight.
However, they lost the game because they could not end the game before Terrorblade from CDEC Gaming became a beast in that game.
Inability of Team Root to end the game and controlling Terrorblade was the crucial reason they lost the game.
Judging at their draft against Newbee Young in in H-CUP Season 11 tiebreaker on the same day, their draft was quite bad considering they picked 4 melee heroes and 3 of them are cores. Lich and Outworld Destroyer had the complete control over Team Root in the early stage of the game, allowing Anti-Mage farmed freely and had his 4 cores item including Battlefury, Manta Style, Butterfly and Abyssal Blade by 30-minute mark.
That game undoubted ended in Newbee Young’s favour because of the fail draft from Team Root.
Newbee, is suffering the same lose streak as Team Root which was 5 lost as well.
Their opponents were IG Vitality, CDEC Gaming, EHOME and MR Game Boy, they lost to EHOME twice.
Considering Newbee and Team Root also lost against CDEC Gaming, we analysed Newbee match-up against CDEC Gaming in China Dota2 Winter Cup. That was a best-of-three series match and CDEC Gaming whitewashed Newbee 2-0.
Newbee drafted Puck for SCCC, the position two player from Newbee in both game. Although Puck buffed in this patch however this hero is still not strong enough in this meta, SCCC is very good in playing Puck, this might be the reason they drafted Puck in both game.
Despite that, CDEC Gaming still out-played them with Phantom Assassin carry in first game and Faceless Void in second game, because they are the strong carries/cores in this patch.
Team ROOT vs. Newbee betting prediction
After analysing the drafting abilities and most recent performances of both squads, we give Newbee a 60% chance to win this match-up.
Our recommendation is to go medium and bet on Newbee to win the game at better than $2.37 at GG Bet.
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