Apart from Newbee, the Chinese region seems to be in trouble again. At the Manila Major, only one Chinese team remains in the upper bracket, with the rest being in danger of elimination. One of the Chinese teams who was supposed to make it far was eliminated on the first day of the event. Now the remaining teams from the Far East will have to compete amongst themselves to get to the finals — at least as far as the lower bracket is concerned.
Meanwhile, a decent number of Western teams have survived so far, the most notable of which is Na’Vi. They’ve done well to keep themselves alive this late in the tournament, considering they dropped into the lower bracket in the first round. Team Liquid lost to MVP Phoenix in an upset in the upper bracket, but OG are now sitting pretty in the winner bracket finals.
Team Liquid (1/2 Betfair) v Natus Vincere (6/4 Skybet)
Even though they lost their upper bracket spot to MVP Phoenix, Team Liquid are still favored to make it to the grand finals if not win the whole thing. This is where the buck should stop for Na’Vi, because for all the spirit they’ve shown throughout the whole tournament, we just don’t think they have the talent to get past Liquid here.
For them to win this matchup, they would have to do two things: outdraft KuroKy and make sure Ditya Ra plays at his best. The latter is probably easier to achieve, but the former is a tall order unless Kuro himself screws the draft up. We’re gonna go with the safe bet here, therefore. Apologies to the Filipino Na’Vi fans — they’ve been absolutely insane in this event in terms of showing support for the country’s “national team”.
Recommended Bet:
Team Liquid to win the series with Betfair at 1/2 (1.50)
LGD Gaming (1/2 bet365) v Vici Gaming Reborn (6/4 bet365)
We’re still not convinced LGD is one of the best choices in this tournament. They were beaten in a close series by Fnatic, which according to the bookmakers, shouldn’t have happened. Meanwhile, they’re facing VGR, who have a nice amount of momentum going for them after three straight lower bracket wins. Besides, in this fixture, they’ve got a nice price given their strength as a single unit.
Against LGD, they’ve got a decent chance of winning. This series is more than likely going to go three games, so it will be difficult — but possible, for sure. Look out for fy’s plays as he seeks to support his teammates against xiao8 and the rest of LGD, who will no doubt rally around the Director and his skill in the offlane. Shutting him down in that role will be crucial to VGR’s success.
Recommended Bet:
Vici Gaming Reborn to win the series with bet365 at 6/4 (2.50)
— written by Patrick “EthanKairos” Bonifacio (@EthanKairosSC2)
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