EPIC League Semifinals Predictions
After a full month of play, the EPIC League is slowly coming to a close. With only four Dota 2 teams remaining in Division 1 and Division 2’s Lower Bracket Finals matchup already decided, which team can defy the odds and go all the way?
Division 1
Team Liquid vs. OG
OG is once again up to their old shenanigans. After a fairly lackluster Group Stage, the back-to-back TI winners have yet again found their second wind coming into the playoffs.
Coming off two clean victories against the surging squads of Yellow Submarine and Natus Vincere, OG are looking more like their former selves. Team Liquid themselves have a stellar repertoire after eliminating some of the tournament’s biggest favorites in Nigma and Team Secret, but we have to go with OG in this case.
MidOne’s Sven has looked unstoppable in the last two series, so it will be imperative for Liquid to get it out of his hands. Although Liquid has the broader hero pool heading into the series, OG is the better-oiled machine in this case.
OG is the favorite heading into this matchup.
Virtus Pro vs. Vikin.gg
In the Upper Bracket Finals, we have two of the tournament’s biggest surprises going head to head.
After a stellar Group Stage, both teams proved it was no fluke and that they are there for a reason, with Virtus Pro demolishing tournament favorites Secret and Vikin.gg besting Na’Vi with relative ease.
If we’re looking at this from a pure talent perspective, Virtus Pro is definitely the favorite. The odds are massively stacked against Vikin.gg, but don’t do the team justice as Vikin has surprised us time and time again. The matchup leaves space for a good value bet, with the odds of 2.98 (via gg.bet) for a Vikin.gg victory looking very tempting.
Division 2
Gambit Esports vs. Alliance
The Lower Bracket Finals of Division 2 is almost looking like a done deal before it has even started.
After a disappointing second-to-last place finish in the Division 1 Group Stage, Alliance has utterly dominated Division 2’s lower bracket with clean sweeps against Winstrike, Just Error, and Spider Pigz.
The Swedish organization’s resurgence has been impressive to say the least, and the teams’ 15-minute Game 2 victory over Spider Pigz was one of the most dominating displays of Dota we’ve seen all year.
Alliance is the heavy favorite coming into this matchup, and the odds reflect that. Although we can never count Gambit out, betting on Alliance seems to be the safest option there is currently.
