Tips for the first day of the group stage of ESL One Birmingham 2018

Today the first day of the group stage of ESL One Birmingham 2018 is on and we will try to find out who will be able to win the matches of this tournament but at first, let’s try to find out who is the favourite in each of the groups.

Group А: Here Virtus Pro are the favourite, due to their fails at the previous tournament, they must be getting prepared for this major very seriously. Evil Geniuses and Fnatic are approximately at the same play level but the last results of Evil Geniuses are very bad and if they reconsidered their attitude to matches, they will fight for the second place as otherwise they will not get out of the group and let Fnatic win. And the last place must be taken by Team Spirit as the team is ranked below the level of the other teams.

Group B: Team Liquid are the favourites in the group as they are at the peak of their play shape and the other rosters of this group are not so convincing. OG are very unstable at the tournaments so it is very difficult to say what place will be taken by them or maybe they will not get out of the group but it is clear that they will not get the first place in the group. Vici Gaming performed in a great way at MDl showing a pretty good game, so that is why I think the second place will be taken by them. Pain Gaming are outsiders of the group, but OG can join them as well..

Group С: It must be the difficult group for defining the favourite as each of the teams can make it to the top and show a perfect game, but let’s say that Mineski look better than the other teams. But who will get out of the group together with them is very difficult to find out as it can be Optic Gaming who can always surprise their opponents or NewBee who play very unstable or LGD.Forever Young who should not be ignored but they must be watched during the group stage.

The match between Fnatic and Evil Geniuses, the coefficients of bookmakers for this match starting from 1.99 for Fnatic and 1.7 for Evil Geniuses.

The most interesting match for today, Fnatic are playing very well now, but we all know who EternalEnvy is and how he can ruin any game of his team. Evil Geniuses are having bad times, awful  results of the team, let’s look how they have made it to the tournament.

The overall impression of Fnatic from the author: If this team did not have EternalEnvy, I would  say that they must win and make it to the playoff, but I cannot do it.

The overall impression of Evil Geniuses from the author: We want to believe that the team have prepared for this tournament as they have very good and experienced players.

The match is 50-50, but I personally think that Fnatic will not make it at the decisive match so the win is for Evil Geniuses. 2-1 for them.

The match between Virtus Pro and Team Spirit, the coefficients of bookmakers for this match starting from 1.1 for Virtus Pro and 4.5 for Team Spirit.

Virtus Pro must have prepared to show who is the best at the tournament after the pretty bad performance at their last major. Team Spirit are a Tier-2 CIS team who are not outstanding, but should not be ignored.

The overall impression of Virtus Pro from the author: They are thought to be the favourites of the tournament but I would not say that they are Top-1 team taking into account their last results, we will see if they will be able to do what is expected.

The overall impression of Team Spirit from the author: We have nothing to say about them, we will watch them during the tournament.

If it were not a CIS competition, I would say that it is easy 2-0 for Virtus Pro, but there is a little chance that Team Spirit will be able to take one map, but it will not be the win of Team Spirit for sure.

The match between OG Dota 2 and Vici Gaming, the coefficients of bookmakers for this match starting from 3.1 for OG Dota 2 and 1.3 for Vici Gaming.

OG Dota 2 are not pleasing us now, I think they have more chances to get out of the group at this tournament, but do not forget that the team is very unstable and can play very well which will be surprising for everybody. Vici Gaming performed well at their last major showing very good game and level of preparations.

The overall impression of Vici Gaming from the author: If the team will treat this tournament seriously, they must take the second place in their group.

The overall impression of OG Dota 2 from the author: I do not believe in the team’s good performance, as they need a new mid player but they do not hurry with the replacement which will influence their game in a very bad way.

The favourite of this meeting is Vici Gaming who must win the match by the score of 2-0, but we should not ignore the team OG Dota 2, who can also show a good game, but unfortunately the number of such events is decreasing.

The match between Team Liquid and Pain Gaming, the coeffiients of bookmakers for this match starting from 1.1 for Team Liquid and 4.6 for Pain Gaming.

Team Liquid showed a good performance at their last major and they had enough time to get prepared for the tournament. Pain Gaming are not at the same level with Team Liquid, but they can focus and show good results.

The overall impression of Team Liquid from the author: I think that Team Liquid must take the first place at this tournament as there is no worthy opponent for them except for the team Virtus Pro.

The overall impression of Pain Gaming from the author: The team can surprise us at some games, I hope the fact that they got the fourth place at their group is a mistake and I do believe they can fight.

Frankly speaking, Pain Gaming have no chance to win, easy 2-0 for Team Liquid.

The match between Optic Gaming and NewBee, the coefficients of bookmakers for this match starting from 2.1 for Optic Gaming and 1.6 for NewBee.

Optic Gaming have not been seen for a long time but their last results are very impressive. NewBee are unstable as always, so we should not take them into account. ]

The overall impression of Optic Gaming from the author: I believe that the team has prepared well for this tournament even though it will be enough for them to get prepared for the tournament at the level they always do it and we will be pleased with the results.

The overall impression of NewBee from the author: NewBee were favourites of their groups at many tournaments, but after three failed tournaments, they are not expected to win.

The results depend on the preparations of the team Optic Gaming, if they did not waste their time and were preparing for the tournament, they must win the meeting but unstable NewBee can win this meeting as well.

The match between Mineski and LGD.FY, the coefficients of bookmakers for this match starting from 1.5 for Mineski and 2.4 for LGD.FY.

Mineski always perform pretty well but they always have no key element to win, we will watch what they are going to show us at the tournament. LGD.FY had not very good results at their tournament so nobody thinks they can get out of the group.

The overall impression of Mineski from the author: They are to get out of the group, the results of the further matches depend on them only.

The overall impression of LGD.FY from the author: I cannot say anything about this team, we need to watch them during the group stage.

Mineski are the favourites here and they must win this meeting with no difficulties, only good preparations of LGD.FY can become their obstacle.