Virtus.pro face HellRaisers in group B of The International 2017 Dota 2 tournament.
Virtus.pro
They are the best team in the CIS region and one of the strongest teams in the world. Thanks to their impressive performances in the last 4 months, Virtus.pro received a direct invite at The International 2017, where they are expected to get at least a top 6 finish.
The team is coached by Ivan “ArtStyle” Antonov (a former Na`Vi player) and lead by Alexei “Solo” Berezin (a 26 years old, highly experienced Dota 2 player with multiple trophies to his name). With their leadership, and thanks to the tremendous experience and talent of each player in the team, Virtus.pro have climbed to the heights of the Dota 2 professional scene and are a serious contender for the Aegis of Champions this year.
Among their recent achievements are the following: a second place at The Kiev Major (where they lost in the Grand Finals against OG, score 2-3), and a first place at The Summit 7 (where they won in a spectacular way: by picking a completely new and unique set of heroes each game, until the very last one of the tournament, at the score of 2-2 against Team Secret in the Grand Finals. They played 81 different heroes over 17 games at this event.).
HellRaisers
HellRaisers (former Planet Dog) qualified for this TI by going not just through regional qualifiers, but open qualifiers as well. They managed to secure a spot at the event by winning the second phase of the European regional qualifier, defeating Mousesports in the Grand Finals (score 3-1).
The Europeans are regarded as a heavy underdog and they’re expected to finish at the bottom of their group. It remains to be seen whether or not they can make a comeback, but so far they’ve looked much weaker than most of their opponents.
Head To Head Record
With their current rosters, the two teams have never played against each other.
Betting Odds And Predictions
Based on the two team’s performances, both prior to and during The International 2017, it’s quite clear that Virtus.pro are a heavy favorite in this dispute. Their record so far is 2 wins (against Digital Chaos and OG), 2 draws (against Execration and Cloud 9) and one loss (against LGD Forver Young, who hasn’t lost a single game yet at this TI), while their opponent’s record is 1 draw (against Execration) and 3 losses (against LGD Forever Young, OG and Digital Chaos).
Betway puts the odds at 1.45-2.85-12.50 in favor of Virtus.pro. Betspawn gives even better odds in favor of the CIS team: 1.43-2.94-17.00.
A lot of special bets are available for this match on websites like betway.com and betspawn.com. Among them, it’s well worth a bet that Virtus.pro will slay the first Roshan, as they are known to be a team who prefer to win the early game, secure the first Roshan, and then snowball out of control. Another bet worth taking is that Virtus.pro will destroy the first barracks.
Top Betting Tip
My top betting tip for this match is Virtus.pro to win 2-0. They are much stronger and much more experienced than their opponents, and it is highly unlikely that HellRaisers will be able to contest them.