?Fnatic enter the fourth week of the competition off a devastating 1-2 loss against BOOM Esports. Their next opponents, Vice Esports, were much more successful last week as they edged past Execration (2-1) to win their first match of the tournament and their third of the year.

Fnatic and Vice last met in December when Fnatic won 2-0 at BTS Pro Series S4: SEA. They have since played six games and won only half of them, while Vice have a slightly worse record with three wins out of seven outings in the same stretch.

Fnatic are individually much stronger but haven’t looked too clean in their recent games, so there is a world where they drop a map to Vice. The odds on the underdogs with a map handicap are far too high and will likely drop, but anything above $2.50 is still worth a bet.

?On paper, this seems like a match that can end only one way, but looking at the latest Dota 2 betting odds, BOOM Esports seem to be slightly underestimated. TNC Predator and BOOM share the same 2-2 record this tournament, although Alfi “Khezcute” Nelphyana and co. have had to face slightly tougher opponents, so we have to put greater value on their record.

BOOM beat TNC five times out of 13 meetings in 2020 (5-2-6) and have not lost a single match against TNC in their last four meetings (3-1-0), claiming three successive clean sweeps in September-November. TNC have improved of late, but they historically struggle against BOOM and we don’t expect that to change here.

We predict a close match that will be decided on the third map.

Fnatic will clash with BOOM Esports for the first time since September, when the Indonesian squad won 2-0. That marked BOOM’s sixth head-to-head victory of 2020 and their third in a row, having previously bested Fnatic 2-1 twice during ESL One Thailand 2020: Asia.

It’s fair to mention Fnatic had to play with two stand-ins – Lee “Forev” Sang-don and Kenny “Xepher” Deo – in their most recent bout with BOOM, so it’s not fair to criticise them too much for that loss. Fnatic have since acquired a veteran support in Anucha “Jabz” Jirawong and a talented offlaner in Natthaphon “Masaros” Ouanphakdee.

With those signings Fnatic look the stronger team, but at these betting odds we have to take a shot with the underdogs. BOOM have won at least one map against Fnatic in all but two of their 14 meetings in 2020 and have not lost once in their last six. Expect a close series.

Execration started their 2021 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) campaign with a 2-0 win against TNC Predator but were far less successful when faced with Fnatic (0-2) on Wednesday. Regardless, they seem to be in great shape and should be favoured to defeat the shaky Vice Esports, who enter this match with two 0-2 defeats against 496 Gaming and TNC Predator.

Despite Execration’s solid form, we can’t agree with the latest odds at Dota 2 betting sites which imply Vice Esports have only a 26.5% chance of winning. They might have not looked too sharp of late, but they shouldn’t be priced as high as they are.

Vice have beaten Execration twice in 2020 (2-1-6) and have won at least one map in all of their last four meetings. Execration should win, but we don’t expect to see a clean sweep.