The Dota 2 International 2016 – The Wildcard Teams Preview

Which Wild Card Will Make It?

Having come third in the Dota 2 International 2016 main qualifiers, we have four Wild Card entries, one from each region, who hope to make it into the main tournament proper.

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The Wild Card stage, which happens on the 2nd of August 2016, involves the four teams taking part in best-of-3 matches, in a double elimination tournament, with the top two making it to the group stage of this DOTA 2 tournament.

EHOME and comPlexity are certainly the favourites to make it through, but the new boys of Escape Gaming will be hoping to cause an upset.

Execration will also want to build on a very good main qualification campaign.

But can any of the teams potentially win this esports tournament? If not, can we at least expect them to do well, or will they just be also rans?

In this final preview for the Dota 2 International 2016 tournament, we’ll look at who will answer these questions, giving you our best esports betting tips.

compLexity Gaming, it’s all or nothing

The US side complexity Gaming have entered as the American regions Wild Card. During main qualifying they actually finished joint first in the group stage with Evil Geniuses, but were surprised by Digital Chaos in the playoff final.

This will be their third entrance into the Dota 2 International tournament. In both 2012 and 2015 they finished in the top half of the group stage, only to be beaten in winners’ round one and finally knocked out in losers’ round two.

Should they qualify through the Wild Card stage, they stand reasonable chance of repeating that feet.

Since last years’ International tournament, complexity Gaming have done quite well.

They qualified for both the Shanghai Major and the Manila Major. Both times they finished in the bottom half of the group stage, but then did well in the Lower Bracket, making it to the fourth round.

This all follows having quite a turnaround of players after The International 2015. So the team has been developing it’s understanding over time, and the results appear to be improving with it.

Overall complexity Gaming are very likely to make it through the Wild Card qualifier. Assuming they do so, we would expect them to make a good fist of the group stage, but will likely finish in the bottom half and enter the lower bracket.

With the Betway esports bookmaker, complexity Gaming are 11/20 to qualify through the Wild Card stage. This makes them second favourite to get through.

If you want to bet on them to win the tournament you’re looking at 100/1 odds, which makes them the 4^th least favourites. Obviously these odds will drop if they qualify through the Wild Card stage.

EHOME a surprise wild card

The Chinese side of EHOME are another Wild Card entrant that are a bit of a surprise. They too came joint first in the group stage, only to fall in the playoffs against Vici Gaming Reborn.

EHOME were an entrant in the first Dota 2 International tournament, back in 2011, where they finished 2^nd. They also qualified in 2012 and 2015, both times making it through to the Losers’ Round 4. Though in 2015 they actually started in the Upper Bracket after finishing in the top half of their group.

Since The International 2015, EHOME had a 4^th place finish in the Frankfurt Major 2015, followed by a poor showing in the Shanghai Major 2016 and failing to qualify for the Manila Major 2016.

Outside of the majors they haven’t had too much luck, though they gained a notable championship win in the MarsTV Dota 2 League Winter 2015. They’ve had a little bit of instability in their roster through May and June which might be partially to explain for this.

However EHOME are a strong side, that will be aiming to qualify through the Wild Card stage and do well in the group stages.

With Betway, EHOME are 1/5 favourites to qualify through the Wild Card stage and the 33/1 twelfth favourites for the overall tournament. we would say those e-sports odds are a little on the short side, but they are a talented team who could make for a few upsets.

Cans the newbies Escape Gaming make it to the top?

The UK based European Wild Card entrant, Escape Gaming are an extremely new side, founded in March 2016.

Other than doing well in the group stages of the Dota 2 International 2016 qualifying, before being beaten by Alliance in the playoffs, they have little record having entered in few tournaments.

The strength they showed in the main qualification stage for The International 2016 shows what a talented side they are. They even beat Team Secret during the group stages.

It’s likely though that making it through the group stages will be a step too far for the team. It’s a notable achievement for them just getting there, but we doubt they will get farther.

Escape Gaming are the 7/10 3^rd favourites to make it through the Wild Card stage. If you want to bet on them to win The International 2016 you can get odds of 250/1, making them the joint second least favourites.

Are Execration a long shot bet?

Execration are a Filipino side who will are the South East Asian Wild Card qualifier.

They finished joint first in the group stage of main qualifying in SEA, before losing in the playoff final to Fnatic comfortably.

Otherwise though Execration’s record is fairly poor.

The last Premier tournament they qualified for was the World Cyber Arena 2015 where they failed to pick up a win. They did not qualified for any of the Frankfurt, Shanghai, or Manila Majors.

Getting to the Wild Card stage of The International 2016 is their biggest achievement by far in 3 years of the team running. They’ve made a couple of changes to their team this year but they still seem very unlikely to even make it through the Wild Card stage.

Betway have Execration as the 4/1 least favourites to make it through the Wild Card stage. They are also the 500/1 least favourites to win the tournament.

Don’t get tempted by the long odds though, it’s never going to make you money when betting on the long shots in esports.

Who’s are best DOTA 2 bets?

If you’re looking for someone to bet on to make it through the Wild Card stage, both EHOME and compLexity Gaming are good bets, despite their short odds. Escape Gaming have a chance to score an upset, but we see it as unlikely.

Despite the long odds, we wouldn’t put any money on Execration right now.

In terms of the main tournament, both EHOME and compLexity Gaming will likely enter the Lower Bracket of the playoff stage, should they qualify as expected. They then could go relatively far, but we wouldn’t be betting on either of them to win the championship outright.

If you’d like more information on betting on e-sports, we’ve got everything you need to know.