The Dota 2 International 2016 – The Qualified Teams Preview

Can the Qualifiers Upset the Invited Sides?

After the long slog of qualification, 2 teams from each region, America, Europe, China & South East Asia, have made it to The International DOTA 2 2016 championships to battle it out for the $18million prize pot.

These eight Dota 2 teams will be looking to upset the big powerhouses that gained invited places to the International Dota 2 Championship tournament, with a few of them certainly wanting to justify that they deserved the invited place instead.

Team Secret and Evil Geniuses in particular have a lot to prove, as they lost their place due to a rules infraction. Though Fnatic will also feel disgruntled at missing out on an invite spot after some good showings in the three Majors.

This all sets it up for some exciting rivalries in what is going to be one of the biggest e-sports tournaments of all time.

In this second part of our three part preview for this years The International 2016 Dota 2 tournament, we’ll look at who can expect to challenge for the title amongst the 8 qualifier entrants, and give you our very best esports betting tips.

Evil Geniuses are the clear favourites

The first North American side entering the Dota 2 International 2016 is Evil Geniuses, who breezed through qualification in first place, following a tiebreaker with complexity Gaming.

Of course Evil Geniuses are one of the biggest, best, and most well established e-sports teams in the world, across all esports games, and would likely have received an invite to the tournament if they hadn’t fallen afoul of roster swap rules.

This is their fourth entry into The International, and they are the current reigning champions. They have shown good form in esport tournaments this season.

In the majors they placed 3^rd in Frankfurt and Shanghai, though they finished poorly in Manila, being knocked out in the group stages.

This group stage knockout likely had a lot to do with quite a bit of change in their roster as they lost Arteezy and UNiVeRsE to Team Secret just before the tournament. They since had UNiVeRsE return to the side though which has helped improve their results.

Before losing these players they were looking very strong; other than the majors they saw 1^st place finishes in The Summit 4, and Captains Draft 3.0, as well as 2^nd place finishes in both StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 1, and MarsTV Dota 2 League Winter 2015.

They’re in better form overall than many of the invited sides, and have to be considered real contenders for the championship.

They’re currently the 10/1 joint sixth favourite to be the outright winners according to the esports bookmaker Betway, and they certainly need to be considered at those odds.

Are Wings Gaming more than a one-hit wonder?

Chinese team Wings Gaming have qualified for The International Dota 2 esports tournament for the first time after forming in late 2014.

Over the past couple of years they have really grown as a team and are coming into the Dota 2 International 2016 in their best ever form.

While they did not qualify for the Frankfurt or Shanghai Major’s, and were knocked out early in the Manila Major 2016, they since signed a whole new roster that have set their performances on fire.

Since the roster change they have qualified in 1^st place in the Chinese International 2016 qualifiers, come second in the Nanyang Dota 2 Championships Season 2 and won The Summit 5, beating OG 2-0 in the Winner’s Finals and 3-1 in the Grand Finals.

That phenomenal result against the best eSports team around in the world right now marks Wings Gaming as genuine contenders in the title shakeup.

If you want to make an esports bet on Wings Gaming, then Betway have made them the 7/1 joint 4^th favourites, largely due to that fantastic result in The Summit 5. Was that a flash in the pan though, or a sign of things to come?

The experienced International DOTA 2 players: Team Secret

Team Secret are one of the very top European teams, and would have received an invite entry to The International DOTA 2 2016 if it weren’t for breaking rules on roster swaps.

Ever since they were formed in 2014 they’ve been top competitors in the Dota 2 world.

They were the favourites for the Dota 2 International 2015 in fact, though they actually went out early in the playoff stages.

This season they have gained a 2^nd place finish in the Frankfurt Major 2015 and 1^st place in the Shanghai Major 2016.

They went out in the group stages of The Manila Major 2016 but this was closely following a couple of roster changes. After the poor result they made further changes to correct this.

Since the Manila Major 2016, Team Secret have gotten back into good form, qualifying for the International 2016 in first place following a tie-break, and coming in second place in the StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 2.

But there was a period where Team Secret was struggling, especially following the roster changes in March, which does call into question whether Team Secret can win this years International tournament. However overall they are still a top side who usually really turn it on in the big tournaments.

They’re the joint fourth favourites with Betway at 7/1. Those are good esports betting odds for a team with a 1^st place and 2^nd place finish in two of the three majors this year.

TnC Gaming are an eSport wildcard

The Filipino side of TNC Gaming are the 1^st place qualifiers from South East Asia for the 2016 Dota 2 International tournament. This was after a three way playoff between themselves, Fnatic and Execration.

It’s fair to say their 1^st place finish, ahead of the much more established side of Fnatic, was a bit of a shock result, who are generally seen as a much better side.

After forming in early 2015, TNC Gaming have competed in very few premier Dota 2 tournaments. They’ve never qualified for one of the Dota 2 majors or last year’s International 2015.

Their best result this season has been a quarter final place in the World Cyber Arena 2015 back in December, where they were knocked out by eventual winners Team Liquid.

Since their qualification they haven’t really competed much, only one showing in a minor tournament where they again got knocked out in the quarter-finals.

Betway have TNC Gaming as they 250/1 second to last favourites for the tournament. That puts their odds amongst those of the wild cards, who haven’t even qualified for the main tournament yet. So we wouldn’t really be throwing much money at this bet.

Digital Chaos are on the rise, but not quite there yet

Digital Chaos are a North American side who finished 3^rd in the qualification group stage, behind Evil Geniuses and complexity Gaming.

However in the playoffs they managed to beat complexity 3-2 in the final to claim the second NA qualification place for The International 2016.

Overall their form going into the tournament is ok. They didn’t qualify for either the Frankfurt or Shanghai Majors, but did qualify for the more recent Manila Major where they made it through the group stage and into the upper bracket playoffs.

More recently we’ve seen semi-final finishes in the Nanyang Dota 2 Championships Season 2, The Summit 5 and StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 2. These are great results for this side.

Going into the International 2016 they won’t be looking at winning the tournament, however they certainly should be aiming to get through the group stages and into the playoffs.

Betway make them the 80/1 fourteenth favourites for the tournament. Those odds are perhaps a little harsh on Digital Chaos but they aren’t going to be winning the tournament outright either way.

Bet on Vici Gaming Reborn for a very longshot

Vici Gaming Reborn are a Chinese team that qualified for the International after winning the playoffs, following a third place finish in the league.

This means they qualified ahead of the Vici Gaming’s main first team, though they’ve been outperforming them for some time, and so this isn’t a surprise.

So far in 2016, Vici Gaming Reborn have had some mixed results. First place in the StarLadder i-League Invitational was a good statement by the team. They also qualified for the Manila Major 2016 and made it through to round 3 of the lower bracket.

The only other premier tournament they’ve competed in though is the Nanyang Dota 2 Championships Season 2 where they were knocked out in the playoffs in Losers’ Round 2.

Overall they are an ok side, who have a chance of making it to the upper bracket playoffs, though it’s more of an outside chance.

Betway currently have Vici Gaming Reborn as the 16/1 eighth favourites. We can’t really imagine how they’ve managed to end up so favoured with Betway ourselves and personally wouldn’t go near those odds.

The consistently mediocre Alliance eSports team

Alliance are a European side who finished in 5^th during the group stage of the European qualifiers, before managing to turn it around in the playoffs to claim the second qualification spot for the Dota 2 International 2016 championship.

Once Alliance were amongst the very best Dota 2 teams, actually winning The International 2013 and making into the playoffs in 2014. However they failed to qualify at all for The International in 2015. Following that though they have shown some improved form.

First place in the World Cyber Arena 2015 and StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 1 are great results. They also qualified for all three majors this season, where they did reasonably well.

Overall they seem to be reasonably consistent in the premier Dota 2 tournaments finishing around 6^th on average.

Betway have Alliance at 28/1 to win The International 2016 which makes them the 11^th favourites. We would say that’s a reasonable estimation of where they are at right now.

Fnatic might just surprise you

Fnatic took the second qualification spot in South East Asia after finishing second in the group stage and then winning the playoffs.

In this seasons Majors Fnatic have done reasonly well. They struggled in the Frankfurt Major 2015, going out in the first round of the lower bracket. However they got through to the 4^th round of the lower bracket in the Shanghai Major 2016 and round 2 of the upper bracket in the Manila Major 2016.

This shows clear progress in their results which has to be encouraging leading into The International. They also have a semi-final in The Summit 5 and a 3^rd place finish in StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 2, both just recently in July.

Many in fact felt that based on their results in the majors Fnatic should have received an invite place to the International, so they’re a team to keep an eye on.

The Betway esports betting site currently have Fnatic at 50/1 to win the championship outright which puts them at 13^th favourites. We would say those odds are a little long for them, however we would not consider them as potential winners.

Which team should I be on for the Dota 2 International Championship?

Are any of the qualified teams likely to challenge for the outright championship in this years International Dota 2 tournament? We would say yes, a couple of them have a chance.

Team Secret and Evil Geniuses are both good sides who should have received invites.

Team Secret did particularly well in the Frankfurt Major and Shanghai Major, and Evil Geniuses won last year’s International.

That puts them both as good bets. Wings Gaming are also a bit of a wild card with a chance, though at 7/1 we would be a little hesitant.

Overall if we had to pick one to win, it’d be Team Secret, however overall we still fancy the invited side, OG.

If you’d like some more help on making your esports bets, then you know where to go. But otherwise go check out the odds on Betway and make your winner selection.

Start Betting at Betway eSports