The International 9: Betting preview

This year’s TI is already set up to be a showstopper as the world of esports holds its breath to see who will be crowned this year’s Dota 2 TI Champion. TI is the culmination of the hard work every team has put in over the past 18/19 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season.

Five out of the eight previous champions have qualified for this year, with none of the Chinese winners qualifying. This means we are ever more likely to see a repeat champion at TI9. But who’s the most likely to take the crown?

Dota 2 The International betting: Who are the favourites?

The 2018/19 DPC season was dominated by a few teams. Going into TI9, those same successful teams are looking to take their superior form in the DPC into the tournament in order claim the biggest prize in esports.

Team Secret (3.53*)was one of the most dominant teams this year, winning two majors and securing strong placements at all DPC events except the EPICENTER major. Going into TI9, Team Secret are looking to be a strong opponent for any team in the international Dota 2 scene, but with ‘Puppey’ at the helm, Secret look to be nearly unstoppable.

Virtus.Pro (VP, 6.10*) are another team that had a strong performance throughout the DPC season. Representing the CIS region, VP secured qualification early in the season after winning the Kuala Lumpur Major and second places at Chongqing and Dreamleague Season 11. VP seem to have dipped in form towards the end of the season, but look to ‘Ramzes666’ to carry his team to victory in Shanghai.

Arguably the strongest Chinese team attending the event in front of their home crowd is Vici Gaming (4.10*). Vici won two majors throughout the year, claiming the Dreamleague season 11 and EPICENTER major, securing 11,250 DPC points throughout the year. ‘Ori’s mid play helped this team dominate the Chinese region this year, and we’ll looking for him to perform well if Vici hope to finally claim the aegis at TI9.

Who can cause an upset at TI9?

Some strong teams are being overlooked coming into this International and we’ve seen open qualifiers win the whole tournament before. Teams that qualify in this way are often underestimated by the stronger teams, and as a result can provide some entertaining upsets. So who should you keep your eyes on?

Forward Gaming’s (43.15*) journey to TI9 was certainly a trial of fire for the new team. Missing out on automatic qualification to the tournament, Forward had to qualify through the NA closed qualifiers where they crushed the region, dropping just one game. Under the captaincy of ‘PieLieDie’, Forward will be looking to out-manoeuvre their opponents utilising ‘CCnC’s mechanical skill. They are a strong outsider that are likely to cause some upsets throughout TI9.

Chaos Esports Club (63.42*) are another team that have a strong lineup and had to qualify through closed qualifiers. Chaos will be an underrated team coming into TI9 after a disappointing qualifiers stage involving having to fight through the lower bracket. But after recently strengthening their roster with the Ex-Liquid player ‘MATUMBAMAN’, Chaos are a team that even the strongest teams will need to prepare well for.

The Filipino team, TNC Predator (16.21*), really have a good chance of winning the entire tournament. Having taken the scalps of NiP, OG and PSG.LGD at the EPICENTER major alone, TNC has also taken Secret, Liquid and EG to edge. The only factor holding back TNC is their late-game decision making. If they can work this issue out before TI9, they will be in a great position to take home the lion’s share of the prize pool.

Will we see a repeat TI Champion winner?

With The International 9 being on its ninth iteration and five of the 8 previous winners qualifying, we are more and more likely to see a repeat winner. With none of the previous Chinese winners having qualified, we take a look at which teams are in the strongest position to become the two-time Champions.

The 2015 Evil Geniuses (EG, 7.66*) roster was a strong outsider to take the tournament, but the current team looks to be improved with the addition of ‘Fly’ in the captain’s role and the ever-stable ‘S4’ taking the offlane. The EG team have had a stable season, claiming multiple third places at majors during the DPC season. They will be hoping a calmer ‘Sumail’ will help them achieve a return to form for the boys in blue.

Liquid’s (6.86*) recent shake up of their roster sees ‘MATUMBAMAN’ leave and be replaced by ‘W33’. In their first tournament together (EPICENTER Major), Liquid claimed second place, taking wins away from top tier teams PSG.LGD, EG and VP. With just a single change to the roster that won The International 2017, will Liquid’s lineup already be “figured out” or can ‘Kuroky’ recapture that lightning in a bottle for a second time.

OG (16.18*) are the current holders of the TI crown but after a disappointing start to the DPC season, ‘ANA’s return to the squad saw OG return to form and secure 10^th in the overall rankings. OG’s playstyle sets them up as a wild-card team that can pull out miraculous wins against the best teams, which also caused their Cinderella win at last year’s tournament - but can they make it twice in a row?