ESL One Birmingham 2019 DotA 2 Playoffs Start on May 30th
The ESL One Birmingham 2019 is the most important Dota 2 tournament of May and an important milestone ahead of The International. 12 of the best teams in the world got together at the beginning of the week to fight for a share of the guaranteed prize pool worth $300,000. Only 8 of them have survived the group stage matches, with two of them advancing to the upper bracket of the playoffs. The third and fourth placed squads will play in the lower bracket, with the first matches scheduled for May 31st.
During this stage of the competition, the matches will be played in a best-of-three series, with the exception being the grand finals. The final act of the ESL One Birmingham 2019 Dota 2 will require up to nine matches to decide a winner, since it consists of a best-of-five series. All the games played from May 31 to June 2 will take place in front of a live audience, at the Barclaycard Arena. The double elimination system provides playoff teams with a second chance if they lose the opening match.
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ESL One Birmingham 2019 Early Playoff Matches
Most of the matches scheduled at the ESL One 2019 have ended, with 30 of them being played in the group stage alone. Two teams were eliminated, four were sent to the upper bracket and four more must claw their way to the top, starting in the lower bracket. On the same day the group stage matches have concluded, the top four teams have locked horns and the ones from Group B have emerged victorious.
Evil Geniuses and ViCi Gaming have finished the groups with the best records, winning eight games and losing just twice. Both were given lower odds by ArcaneBet in the upper bracket games played against the teams in second place. Interesting enough, both have struggled and at the end of the day Evil Geniuses barely won, while ViCi Gaming were defeated in straight matches. The pleasant surprise of these early playoff games were the guys at PSG.LGD who were the first to qualify for the upper bracket finals.
PSG.LGD will meet a familiar foe during this stage of the competition, which is scheduled for June 1 in the afternoon. A match against Evil Geniuses is guaranteed to generate a lot of interest since these two teams have played an epic series in Group B. Punters should remember the fact that even though Evil Geniuses have won the group, the only two defeats came at the hands of PSG.LGD. Under these circumstances, it is hardly a surprise that Rivalry offers identical esports odds of 9/20 on each team to win. We do expect Evil Geniuses’ experience to make the difference in this highly contested series.
ESL One Birmingham 2019 DotA 2 Playoffs go Live
Only eight matches are left to be played at the ESL One 2019, but these are the games that will be played in front of a live audience. The Barclaycard Arena will be packed with enthusiastic fans cheering for their favorites starting on May 31st at noon. They will bring together four teams that have finished in the third and fourth places in each group. There is no safety net in place for the losers, so those who are defeated at this point will be promptly eliminated from the ESL One Birmingham 2019 Dota 2 tournament.
Team Liquid have finished the group stage with five victories and five defeats, but they are clear favorites against Gambit Esports who have lost six matches out of 10. Betway only offers odds of 1/4 on the favorites to prevail, which doesn’t represent too much value. Team Liquid has achieved the dubious performance of not winning or losing any series at the ESL One Birmingham 2019. All their previous series have ended undecided, with the team winning once and losing the other match.
By comparison, Gambit Esports were more pragmatic and they defeated the weaker teams, while losing to the main favorites. Considering the fact that the two upper bracket finalists are teams from Group B, Gambit Esports’ performance so far is rather strong. Punters should definitely consider the odds of 3/1 offered on them to win or the even odds for them to win at least one match. After all, Team Liquid have lost at least one game against any opponent, regardless of quality.
The other lower bracket ESL One Birmingham 2019 Dota 2 match is almost as lopsided. Team Secret is the main favorite with odds of 3/10 at GG.bet in the match played against OG who are priced at 7/2 by the same bookmaker. Team Secret can brag about winning six matches out of 10, compared to their opponents who have split the games played so far. Both were only able to defeat teams that eventually finished below them, while failing against better opponents. We strongly believe that Team Secret will confirm their favourite status and punters can maximize the return on investment by betting on a 2-0 win.
ViCi Gaming and TNC Predator are Waiting in Round 2
May 31st is going to be a busy day at the ESL One Birmingham 2019 Dota 2, with the second round of the lower bracket scheduling two more games. ViCi Gaming will play the first against the victor of the series between Team Liquid and Gambit Esports. Meanwhile, TNC Predator are lurking in the final series of the day, where they will play against either Team Secret or OG. Obviously, the odds will only be available after the first lower bracket matches will conclude. We can, however, give you the heads up for these matches, as we expect ViCi Gaming and TNC Predator to swiftly deal with any of the qualifying teams.
