https://www.cybersport.ru/dota-2/articles/eshe-bolee-groznaya-team-secret-i-vozmozhnye-problemy-virtus-pro-prevyu-epic-league

The first test for the new Virtus.pro roster

It is quite difficult to judge the form of the new Virtus.pro (ex-VP.P) roster now. The last time we saw the team in action was at the end of September at OGA Dota PIT Season 3. Then Danil gpK ~ Skutin was still listed as a standin, and in the position of “four” played Ilya lil me alone Ilyuk… The team also approached OGA Dota PIT Season 3 after almost two months of downtime. However, despite this circumstance and two stand-ins in the squad, the team reached the final, where they even imposed a fight on Team Secret on one of the maps – at that time it was akin to a feat. Moreover, during the tournament, VP.P then beat Nigma, Team Liquid and Alliance… Before the EPIC League, Virtus.pro found itself in a similar situation – a reshuffle in the roster and more than a month without tournaments.

Now, as the players themselves admitted, they have assembled the optimal composition, in which the participants are comfortable with each other. Usually, after substitutions in the roster, we make a discount on the fact that the team needs time to play. In the case of Virtus.pro, this process should not take too long – eSports players have long been playing matchmaking together and feel good about each other. In addition, unlike OGA Dota PIT Season 3, in which VP.P took part right from the playoff stage, the EPIC League has a rather long group stage. Thanks to this, VP can progress right in the course of the championship and approach the decisive matches in an optimal game form. We can probably even count that Virtus.pro will be able to at least enter the top three at the end of the tournament.

On the other hand, the EPIC League roster Egor epileptick1d Grigorenko will not act as a youth roster, but as the main team of the club. The fact that this roster replaced the collective Alexey Solo Berezin and became the flagship of the organization, can put extra moral pressure on esports players. After the club made a bet on the youth squad, the level of expectations from his performances among fans and management increased. Considering that Virtus.pro players are young, the first match after being officially signed to the main roster can be rather nervous and difficult for them. Bookmakers share these concerns and, despite the not very successful performance of OG at ESL One Germany, they consider the European team to be the favorite in the opening match.

Coefficient: Virtus.pro (2.15) – OG (1.65).

Will NAVI be able to reach the final again?

Despite the fact that NAVI recently took second place at ESL One Germany, the composition of which was almost identical to the EPIC League, to build a team Andrey ALWAYSWANNAFLY Bondarenko it’s too early to become a favorite. The Ukrainian team has achieved an excellent result, but it can hardly be called too revealing. NAVI made it to the final of ESL One Germany in the upper bracket, but the team’s path to the decisive match was not so difficult. In the playoffs, the ALWAYSWANNAFLY roster with a score of 2: 1 defeated OG, which is still not in shape and is still trying to find its game, and ViKin.gg and mudgolems… The latter, despite the sensational success in the duel with Team Secret, can hardly be ranked as tier-1.

Not the most fierce struggle awaited NAVI in the group stage. The Ukrainian team beat the crumbling Cyber ​​legacywhich, according to Arseny ArsZeeqq Usova, didn’t even train, and Yellow submarine from Winstrike Team, while losing to mudgolems and Team Liquid. At the group stage of the EPIC League, the team will have to play with all the European giants, plus, probably, with a new stack of Solo and VP.P.

NAVI is definitely progressing now. As ALWAYSWANNAFLY admitted in an interview with the club channel, the team somewhat lost their game form after the start of the bootcamp and only recently began to build it up again. However, it is too early to say that NAVI must repeat the result at ESL One Germany and reach the final. Bookmakers, who do not consider the Ukrainian team to be the favorite in its debut match at the EPIC League, share a similar opinion.

Coefficient: NAVI (2.48) – Team Liquid (1.50).

Team Secret is not the same?

Two consecutive defeats in the playoffs of ESL One Germany – from mudgolems and Team Liquid – made fans doubt Team Secret, which had previously taken championship after championship without a chance for rivals. Indeed, for the collective Clement Puppey Ivanova it was a rather noticeable signal that six months later competitors nevertheless got close to him. If the defeat from mudgolems can be attributed to a banal underestimation of the opponent or laxity, then in the case of Team Liquid everything is different – the Taiga team acted much more confidently and more powerful. During the match, there was no impression that Team Secret was playing half-heartedly – rather, the opponents showed an even higher level.

Plus, Team Secret’s losses at ESL One Germany cannot be attributed to experimentation with drafts and strategies. The Puppey team played in a familiar style and proven heroes. On the lost maps, Secret used characters that it had used quite successfully before. We didn’t see the conditional Pudge in the mid or Techies in the 4 to say that Puppey scored the championship and gave the team some fun. In addition, even at the group stage, Secret faced a fairly serious rebuff from Nigma, who took the first map and fought for the third.

Secret is likely to have two problems. The first is due to the fact that all teams in Europe and the CIS have probably begun to prepare in a special way for the games against the Puppey roster. This happens with almost all teams in any discipline: long-term leadership always leads to the fact that opponents begin to see you as a principled rival, preparation for which becomes more detailed and serious. The second reason is related to the approach of Team Secret itself. The community is more and more actively discussing that the Puppey team began to spend less time in Dota 2 itself. Of course, it is difficult to get tired of victories, but online tournaments could well become something everyday for Secret, which, in turn, could not be early or too late to affect the level of motivation.

Does this mean Team Secret is not the favorite of the EPIC League? Absolutely not, and quite the contrary. Firstly, the Puppey roster has tremendous experience on the professional scene, so one failure can hardly unsettle the roster. Quite the opposite – that snap on the nose that Team Secret got at ESL One Germany can be an excellent motivator for the team at the EPIC League, and therefore we can see an even more formidable team at the tournament. Therefore, Team Secret is still the favorite of any major tournament, including the EPIC League. Parimatch bookmakers have not lost faith in Puppey either. In their opinion, Team Secret should deal with ViKin.gg without any problems in the first match of the group stage.

Coefficient: Team Secret (1.25) – ViKin.gg (3.75)…

Should we expect something from OG?

OG is in a fever all season, but after the long-awaited return of Topson, the team is finally getting into shape – in the OMEGA League, the roster took second place, losing in the final to Team Secret. However, at OGA Dota PIT Season 3, the team again had to play without their mid lane. Topson had a daughter, because of this he missed the championship, and his place was taken by the team coach Tituan Sockshka Merlotwho ended his professional career five years ago. As a result, OG took the logical 5th-6th place, having won only one fight.

To ESL One Germany Topias Topson Taavitsainen returned, but this did not correct the situation. OG left the group, but lost to Alliance and NAVI in the playoffs, after which it left the championship, taking 7-8 place. It is noticeable that the two-time champions of The International are still in search of their game and are sorting out different heroes. For example, in the match against Alliance for Topson, they took Skywrath Mage, which the team had not used for more than six months. At the same time, Ember Spirit acted as a support, and MidOne played on the carry Elder Titan. The experiment did not justify itself.

Favorite EPIC League team Sebastian Ceb Debs definitely not, but you shouldn’t discount it ahead of time. Who knows, maybe it is at this championship that OG will be able to surprise the audience and rivals with a crazy new idea, which will work this time. And the high performing level of the band members has not gone anywhere either. This is probably why Parimatch analysts do not consider Alliance to be the favorite in the match against OG, although Fng’s roster was stronger in the last four face-to-face meetings.

Odds: OG (1.87) – Alliance (1.87).

Odds taken from the website of the bookmaker Parimatch and are relevant at the time of publication of the material. After registration there is a 100% bonus on the first deposit.

The EPIC League matches will be played online from November 12 to December 13. The first division will feature eight invited teams, as well as two qualifying winners. However, it is unlikely that the latter will somehow affect the final result of the championship, so we did not touch on them in the preview. The prize fund of the tournament will be $ 500 thousand. You can follow the progress of the EPIC League in our report…