It’s the final day of ESL One Frankfurt, where two of the usual suspects have made it into the semifinals, along with everyone’s favourite CIS team and one dark horse that may have gotten lucky thanks to some unfortunate circumstances their opponents had to deal with in the first day. Still, they’re in the top 4 and that’s what matters at the end of the day.
We’re talking about OG, Team Liquid, Na’Vi, and Vega Squadron, respectively. OG and Liquid will have their Manila Major rematch in the semifinals rather than the grand finals, as they were placed in separate groups in the group stage. Na’Vi defeated CompLexity Gaming 2-0 in the final match of the group stage in order to advance. Surprisingly, Vega Squadron finished first in their group, although the circumstances mentioned above may have affected this result in their favor. On the first day of the groups, Liquid had to play with KuroKy in the carry spot and a stand-in to substitute for FATA-. Although he returned to play the next day, the first day ended terribly for Liquid.
Still, they did well to recover in order to get past Fnatic and Alliance. Today, they will face their most recent rivals for a spot in the grand finals.
Vega Squadron (11/10 bet365) v Natus Vincere (8/13 Skybet)
Vega Squadron find themselves against the best CIS team right now, which even then isn’t really saying much considering the region’s relative weakness at the moment compared to the rest of the world. We’re still more inclined towards calling a Na’Vi victory in this series despite Vega’s first place performance in Group A, because the current incarnation of Na’Vi seems to have a penchant for making deep runs in tournaments (whether they win the whole thing or not).
If Na’Vi can rein Ditya Ra in for this series, they are almost guaranteed to defeat Vega. Individually speaking they should have more than enough talent and experience in recent events to take this series 2-0.
Recommended Bet:
Natus Vincere to win the series with Skybet at 8/13 (1.62)
OG (1/2 bet365) v Team Liquid (6/4 bet365)
Is this the new El Clasico of Dota 2? We don’t quite agree with that sentiment just yet, but a heated rivalry is certainly starting to take shape between OG and Team Liquid. Last time around, OG handled Liquid three games to one in the grand final of the Manila Major. The outcome here could very well go the same way (except that this series is a best of 3 rather than a best of 5), but with the odds being as close as they are you’d be better off betting on Liquid’s more profitable odds.
Besides, this series favours Liquid slightly thanks to the shorter length. Liquid have been known to choke in long series in the past, so if they win the first game and close this one out before OG can recover for a twofer, we’ll see them yet another grand final. Honestly, you can still bet on whoever you feel is going to take it (they’re so evenly matched that it’s almost a coinflip), but the logical choice here would be Liquid.
Recommended Bet:
Team Liquid to win the series with bet365 at 6/4 (2.50)
— written by Patrick “EthanKairos” Bonifacio (@EthanKairosSC2)
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