Four Big Dota 2 Qualifiers Highlight This Week In Esports Betting

[toc]As we head into February, one of the biggest events on the Dota 2 calendar starts the qualifying process in earnest, with 32 teams competing across four geographic qualifiers for the Dota 2 Asia Championships 2017.

The qualification tournament runs from Feb. 3 through Feb. 13. Bettors can find extensive esports betting on Bet365 right now on all four of the qualifiers taking place this week.

Four teams have already been invited into the Asia Championships 2017: Evil Geniuses, Wings Gaming, OG, and Newbee. Earlier this month, four Chinese qualifiers also made it through:

• Invictus Gaming
• Team VG.J
• LGD.Forever Young
• iG Vitality

That leaves just one qualification spot up for grabs in each of the four qualification events starting Friday, Feb. 3 in the Americas, Europe, Southeast Asia, and the CIS.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these events and how the betting is shaping up for each.

Dota 2 Asia Championship 2017 – Americas Qualifier

The Americas Qualifier features eight teams battling it out in an initial group stage: two groups of four teams, before the top two teams in each group move on to the playoffs.

The groups are as follows:

• Group A – Digital Chaos, WanteD, compLexity Gaming, and Team Freedom
• Group B – Team NP, SG e-sports, Infamous, and Team Onyx

The playoffs comprise a semifinal and a winners final, with the teams losing in the semifinal and the winners final having one final chance to progress via the losers final.

Then the victor from the winners final and the losers final will battle it out to earn that spot in Shanghai later in the year.

Bet365 currently has esports betting odds Digital Chaos as the very hot favorite to win the Americas event at 5/4, with Team NP at 4/1, and compLexity Gaming a 6/1 chance. All other teams are 10/1 or greater odds to take the win.

Dota 2 Asia Championship 2017 – European Qualifier

The qualification process for the eight teams of the European Qualifier is exactly the same structure as the Americas Qualifier. In fact, the structure is the same for all four of the qualifiers being held over the next few days. This is a very tough group with some very talented Dota 2 teams competing in Europe to earn that one spot in Shanghai later on in the year.

The groups for the European Qualifier are as follows:

• Group A – Ad Finem, Bears, Natus Vincere, and Team Secret
• Group B – Team Liquid, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Alliance, and Cloud 9

Bet365 has rated Team Liquid as the 7/4 favorites to win this qualifier, with Team Secret a 4/1 shot, and Ad Finem a 6/1 shot. The bookies reckon this should be a closer event than the Americas Qualifier, with two more teams — Cloud9 at 7/1 and Alliance at 8/1 — ranked at less than 12/1.

Dota 2 Asia Championship 2017 – CIS Qualifier

There are some very familiar names in Friday’s CIS Qualifier, but some new names also seek to upset the form book and claim their place in the Main Event.

The draw for the groups is as follows:

• Group A – Virtus.pro, Effect, Team Spirit, and LQ
• Group B – Vega Squadron, Comanche, Team Empire, and F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

Bet365 has Virtus.pro as the hot, even money favorites to earn their place in the finals, with Vega Squadron a somewhat distant second at 11/2. You can back both Spirit and Team Empire at 8/1, but after that, the remaining four teams are either 12/1 (Rebels and F.R.I.E.N.D.S) or 20/1 (Comanche and LQ) shots.

Dota 2 Asia Championship 2017 – SEA Qualifier

The final qualification section is Southeast Asia, and there are eight teams. It’s a mix of some well-established teams and some new faces. Even the withdrawal of one popular team, Fnatic (replaced by Next Generation) hasn’t harmed the quality of teams contesting this qualifier.

The draw for the groups saw the teams allocated as follows:

• Group A – Team Faceless, Signature.Trust, WarriorsGaming.Unity, and Next Generation
• Group B – TNC Pro Team, Rex Regum, Mineski.GGNetwork, and Execration

Of all the qualifiers, Bet365 reckons this will be the most keenly contested, with a smaller disparity in odds among the teams. Three teams stand a good chance of success according to the bookies, with Team Faceless the 5/2 favorites just ahead of TnC at 11/4 and WG Unity at 7/2.  Punters can back Execration and Mineski at 8/1, and other teams are 20/1 or greater shots.

Astralis are DreamHack Masters Las Vegas favorites

In a hotly contested competition among 16 teams in Atlanta, Astralis emerged and earned a fantastic $500,000 top prize and Legend Status at the next ELEAGUE Major event.

It wasn’t an easy road. Defeat in their opening match against GODSENT saw them forced to win their next two games against Optic Gaming and G2 Esports.

That put them into Round Four, where Astralis lost to SK Gaming, leaving them on the verge of elimination. Then, a Round Five win over Team Liquid saw them progress as one of the bottom seeds in the playoff phase.

Astralis were not expected to cause much of a stir in the quarterfinals, but in the opening match, they defeated the previously unbeaten Natus Vincere 2-1 to progress into the semifinals.

There, they defeated Fnatic by a comfortable 2-0 margin before they faced Virtus.pro in the final, earning a 2-1 win and surprising more than a few pundits in the process.

That shocking win has seen the betting for DreamHack Las Vegas completely change during the last few days. Astralis has been installed as the new 10/3 favorites, with Virtus.Pro now 4/1, Natus Vincere 11/2, and SK Gaming 15/2.

All other teams are 10/1 or better, and all prices on this pre-event betting market are available at Bet365 Sport.