Welcome back to EGamersWorld.
We continue our review of the first game day of the Group Stage of The Bali Major 2023. We open the second round of betting matches with a game between Team Liquid and Blacklist Internationall.
The encounter, let's be honest, is far from the central match of the tour, but it's an interesting one. At least because it's the last Major of the season.
In addition, the match is important in terms of the teams' standings. Obviously, we need to pick up points at Long Converge, so that we don't end up on the random tiebreaker, or even drop out altogether.
Blacklist International is a bit more motivated to win. The thing is that Liquid have already guaranteed themselves a place at The International 2023 and don't have to worry much, but the Southeast Asian residents are not in a very stable situation.
We'll try to see if there will be a winner in this match, and if so, who it will be.
Let's go.
Team Liquid uniforms
We'll open things up with a look at Team Liquid's form. In this match, the team plays at number one.
The bookmakers are clearly on the Liquid's side, as you can see from the odds. The odds for Liquid's success in this match are estimated at around 1.4.
That figure in Bo2 gives us a clear idea of what's going on. Roughly speaking, everything is decided here and this is not my assumption. It's just the facts telling, and also Liquid's performance and level of play in the 2023 season.
At DPC 2023: WEU Division 1 Tour 1 Liquid did not lose a single game and then took Top 2 at The Lima Major 2023 while playing with substitutes. More than worthy.
The second round of the DPC was as similar to the previous one as possible. Liquid again took the Top 1, but now with one defeat in the table. On the international stage, Liquid again shone, but were still overshadowed by Gaimin Gladiators, who took their second Major trophy of the season.
In the third season, Liquid were no longer able to clinch the premiership. "The Liquid fell to fourth place, but luckily this was enough to qualify for the Bali Major 2023, which makes no difference for Team Liquid that qualified for The International 2023.
- Liquid squad: miCKe, Nisha, zai, Boxi, Insania .
For Liquid at the Bali Major 2023, this match is the second series. In the first game Liquid meets Shopify Rebellion and in that match we bet one game for them. That's a minimum.
All because Liquid can afford to take liberties. In this match too.
Team Liquid's most popular heroes
In the top picks, Team Liquid have Crystal Maiden with 7 games and 6 wins.
In addition to Crystal Maiden picks are Doom (4 matches, 100% wins), Sven (4 matches, 75% wins), Skywrath Mage (4 matches, 75% wins).
Rubick (4 matches, 25% wins), Void Spirit (3 matches, 100% wins) appear in spades, Underlord, Pangolier, Storm Spirit each have 3 matches and all have 2 wins.
Blacklist International Form
Against Liquid in a nominally uneven game will be Blacklist International. The representatives of South-East Asia will play as the underdog.
That's what the bookmakers say. The odds for Blacklist to succeed against Liquid are around 9.
Such a critical gap is caused by the overall status of the teams in 2023. Blacklist is a long way from Liquid's level, as the team is new and does not yet have any meaningful experience in major arenas.
2023 was the debut year for Blacklist International on the professional stage. And they started it with a top-6 at the M. Invitational 2023. However, the main credit goes to the DPC league in Southeast Asia.
Blacklist International finished in the top 4 in the first round and was one step away from qualifying for the Lima Major 2023. That's still nothing, because it was worse in the second round.
At DPC 2023: SEA Tour 2 Blacklist International were already in the top 5. Obviously, there was never any talk of a Major.
In between very mediocre results at DPC 2023, the team participated in local events. It was BTS Pro Series Season 14 where BI finished in TOP 3. The key result was their final Top-2 in the third round of DPC and their final appearance in the Bali Major 2023.
- Blacklist International: Raven, Karl, kpii, TIMS, kuku.
For the once top Filipinos, the match against Liquid Stunet will be their Group A debut.
Blacklist International's most popular heroes
Among the most pickable Blacklist International heroes is Pangolier. Has appeared in spades 9 times and has a 77% win rate.
Next are Rubick (8 matches, 62% wins), Doom (6 matches, 83% wins).
Techies (5 matches, 100% wins) and Enchantress (5 games, 60% wins) were also there.
History of head-to-head encounters
The teams have not previously played each other in official matches. The encounter on Bali Major 2023 will be the first experience of face-to-face encounters.
Result of the match
In this match, you can expect a hectic outcome, as Blacklist International is kind of a cat in a bag. It's not really clear how they'll perform on the international stage.
For that matter, everything is also ambiguous with Liquid. Although we can assume that Liquid will be beaten because they did exactly that at Lima and Berlin, after getting through to The International 2023 and playing in the DreamLeague Season 20 it is doubtful about their attitude. However, their credibility is good, so I'll bet on them to win.
Bottom line: Liquid win.
