Preview of EPICENTER:Moscow 2

10 best teams of the modernity will meet at the sports arena “VTB Ice Palace” on June 4 to determine the champion of the 2nd season and to divide among each other the prize pool in the sum of $500,000.

The format of hosting:

The championship will be carried out in two stages - the group one and the playoff. 10 participants will be divided into two groups, where they will play with each other in a Round Robin format. The team to hold the 1st place will go straight to the semi-final and teams to take the 2nd and the 3rd places will guarantee themselves a coming out to the quarterfinal. The rest of teams will get kicked.

At the playoff stage, we will see a familiar single-elimination bracket, where teams will fight till two victories and a team will have to win three maps in the grand-final to rise the desired trophy over a head.

The organizing of the championship:

The 1st season of the tournament in EPICENTER:Moscow series was carried out at the highest level - teams were provided with great living conditions, rooms for training, there were no big technical problems. The organizers did everything as possible to make the top tournament and they did it. The CS:GO championship was carried out with enthusiasm too, which was hosted by the same organizers, so there should be no doubts about the quality of organizing.Also, analysts and casters, who will work for viewers from the venue, are known.

Will the viewers vote warrant itself?

The organizers of the championship made a decision to leave one slot for the team to win in the viewers voting. 4 teams took part in it, which had held the 2nd places at the regional qualifiers, and Natus Vincere became the winners. It is impossible to answer the question “if such system of inviting a team to the championship is actual” at this moment, everything will depend on the performance of the Ukrainian team, however, such invitational system was used at tournaments of The Summit series and organizers made a decision to refuse from it.

The importance of the championship for Valve:

It is obvious that the tournament will play one of the decisive roles in giving direct invitations to The International 2017, so the teams will show their best.

The teams’ chances:

OG

The team, undoubtedly, is one of the favorites at the championship, however, it is unlikely to win the championship. The reason for it is the questionable participation of the team at various tournaments, which do not have “Major” in the name. Guys won the championship at The Kiev Major 2017 in the very challenging grand-final, however, after it, they took part only in The Manila Masters and could not get higher than the 5th-6th places among 8 participants. Yes, EPICENTER: Moscow is the tournament with better status and the European mix will try hard but they have already received their slot at The International 2017, so all their thoughts are all about the main championship of the year.

Our forecast - the 2nd place.The bookmakers’ coefficients for the victory - 4,5.

Evil Geniuses

The team has gained a very good shape and has got to the top 3 at few tournaments in a row. The American team could conquer the 3rd-4th place at The Kiev Major 2017 and become triumphant at The Manila Masters. This team, also, should be considered as one of the favorites of the competition, especially considering that guys have finally could find their game. The only thing is that the game of the team is very dependent on the mid-player, if Suma1l does not so good, there will be a great chance to lose - this statement works in another way too, which has been proved by the championship at The Manila Masters.

Our forecast - the 1st place.The bookmakers’ coefficients for the victory - 5,5.

Virtus.Pro

The team from CIS is very strong, which has proved at The Kiev Major 2017 having lost only in the grand final. After the Major tournament, the team has only taken part in the Russian Cup, where has had no challenge, and the players have informed that they are not in an optimal shape. Virtus.Pro will pretend for the highest places, also, with a help of their fans, which will obviously help “bears”. The only problem of Solo and the company can be the desire of the revenge for the final of The Kiev Major 2017, where the team, having overcome OG, can simply settle down. Evil Geniuses are the unpleasant fact too, who are being on the top of their shape right now and are the very uncomfortable opponent for Virtus.Pro.

Our forecast - the 3rd-4th place.The bookmakers’ coefficients for the victory - 5,0.

Team Liquid

The European mix is being in a good shape now - they won StarLadder i-League Invitational #2 not so long time ago and could fight their way to the LAN-finals of DreamLeague Season 7 and held the 5th-8th place at The Kiev Major 2017. Despite victories, the team looks enough unsurely at large LAN-finals and considering that they have become the champion of this tournament’s 1st season - guys will have some kind of psychological pressure. However, the Europeans will be a splinter for every opponent and, according to recent victories, will have to show their best. Probably, the good performance at this championship will bring guys a direct invite to The International 2017.

Our forecast - the 3rd-4th place.The bookmakers’ coefficients for the victory - 6,0.

Invictus Gaming

The team looked strong enough a month or month and a half ago but the team has deflated a bit for now. Many analysts and bookmakers forecasted this team the 1st place at The Kiev Major 2017, however, guys stopped at the 3rd-4th place having lost against Virtus.Pro in the semi-final. After the Major tournament, IG took part in StarLadder i-League Invitational #2, where held the 3rd-4th place considering that there were only three teams from “the first echelon” and The Manila Masters, where guys stopped at the 5th-6th place among 8 participants. The team looks a bit weaker now, however, they refused from participation in ZOTAC Cup Masters to prepare for the upcoming tournament and arrived in Moscow beforehand and these means that Chinese plans are great enough.

Our forecast - the 5th-6th place.The bookmakers’ coefficients for the victory - 9,0.

Natus Vincere

Natus Vincere has not been at the LAN-finals since August last year when they have taken part in The International 2016. After few months of regular reshuffles and tactic changes, the team could get to the certain style of the game and the regular five players. The team has the title of the 2nd team in CIS now and, also, is strong enough average in the European region. Dendi and the company will play on their maximum, proving everyone that they have won in the viewers voting for a reason, and “native tribunes” will help them with this.

Our forecast - the 5th-6th place.The bookmakers’ coefficients for the victory - 27,0.

Planet Odd

The mix has been showing enough middling results for a long time. After the championship at ESL One Genting 2017, the team won only few qualifiers and was far from the top at large championships. The team has gained a sponsorship for now, which can motivate guys for new achievements. The interesting remark - the peak of the team was in August 2016, when the team held the 2nd place at The International 2016. The team was in stable top the next 4 months but could not come out to the final and won ESL One Genting 2017 in January 2017. 4 months passed after the moment of victory… when should the first place be taken if not now?

Our forecast - the 7th-8th place.The bookmakers’ coefficients for the victory - 19,0.

Team Secret

Team Secret is enough unstable team and has already received the status of “onliners” - they play much better while being at home than at the LAN-finals. The mix wins all qualifications in which takes part in and is one of the strongest European teams online, of course. At the last three LAN-finals, where Team Secret participated, they got kicked in the first match of a playoff stage or didn’t come out from a group at all. It is unlikely that the team could change something in such a short term, however, they have to overcome LGD.FY and Clutch Gamers by a class and an experience and they have had more victories than losses against Natus Vincere for the last few months.

Our forecast - the 7th-8th place.The bookmakers’ coefficients for the victory - 11,0.

LGD.FY

The team has changed three players at once for the last month and its level of the game has significantly increased. Guys could win the qualifications to EPICENTER and Mars Dota 2 League 2017 and they lacked only a victory over their own club members from LGD Gaming for the trip to the finals of Galaxy Battles. It is unknown what to expect from the team, they have not played even a single match at LANs after reshuffles, which can be a favor for them - none of the top teams will prepare for these guys and they will be able to surprise. However, we think that grandees of the European and American Dota will ride over the still weak roster.

Our forecast - the 9th-10th place.The bookmakers’ coefficients for the victory - 15,0.

Clutch Gamers

Guys have shortly enough got from the obvious outsider to the favorites. They overcame the qualifiers to DOTA Summit 7, The Manila Masters, EPICENTER 2017 and Mars Dota 2 League over the last months, however, as it was expected, inexperienced guys could not cope with emotions and “a big scene” - they held the honorable last place at the first LAN-final and went home. Without any doubts, the team will confront with best teams of the planet very soon because guys have a great potential but they look depressingly enough at the finals now. Maybe this championship will be momentous because they have sat in cabins and have to get used to it and get rid of shivers and the experience of participations against best teams of the modernity at The Manila Masters will only help them in achieving objectives. However, we consider that the Philippine roster will not be able to overcome the group stage because they got to “the group of death”.

Our forecast - the 9th-10th place.The bookmakers’ coefficients for the victory - 19,0.

The distribution of the prize pool:

1st place: $250,0002nd place: $100,0003rd-4th place: $40,0005th-6th place: $20,0007th-8th place: $10,0009th-10th place: $5,000

The roster of teams-participants:

OG: N0tail, ana, s4, JerAx, Fly.Evil Geniuses: Suma1l, Cr1t, Arteezy, UNiVeRsE, zai.Virtus.Pro: Lil, Solo, Ramzes666, 9Pasha, No[o]ne.Team Liquid: MATUMBAMAN, GH, KuroKy, Miracle~, MinD_ContRoL.Invictus Gaming: BurNIng, Op, Xxs, BoBoKa, Q.Natus Vincere: Dendi, GeneRaL, SoNNeikO, Pajkatt, Biver.Planet Odd: Resolut1on, w33, MoonMeander, Saksa, MiSeRy.Team Secret: Puppey, KheZu, MP, YapzOr, MidOne.Clutch Gamers: Gabbi, Armel, Rapy, Boombacs, flysolo.LGD.FY: Monet, Super, Inflame, Ahfu, ddc.