Hello everyone at EGamersWorld.
We continue our tour of the group stage of The Berlin Major 2023 with a betting tee on Team Liquid vs Team Aster in Group A. Nominally, the match will close out the first round of games in the group, but given the fantastic format of the Major event, it could well end up being the first on the lineup.
Ahead of the match, we discuss whether Aster will be able to counter something against the formidable Liquid and pick up at least a card. The answer to that question will be in the text below, so enjoy reading.
Let's start
Team Liquid's form
We'll open our match analysis with an analysis of Team Liquid's form. The European giants will enter this game as favorites with odds of around 1.2 to win.
As always with Team Liquid, that number comes as no surprise. Liquid is a serious contender for anyone taking part in The Berlin Major 2023. However, Liquid stand out from the list of all professional teams this season.
Beginning with the first DPC cycle, the Liquid identified themselves as a potential winner and confirmed their status in action by winning DPC 2023 Tour I. Later, the Liquid went to the Lima Major 2023 as the main favourite, but it did not work out and finished in the top-2 due to the illness of Boxi.
To The Berlin Major 2023 Liquid will arrive fully armed, so there should be no doubts in their competence.
- Team Liquid line-up: miCKe, Nisha, zai, Boxi, Insania.
They have played with this line-up since DPC 2023: Tour II and they have shown a high level of play since the Lima Major 2023. And after the Peruvian Major event, Team Liquid played DPC 2023: Tour II and DreamLeageu S19.
The second round of DPC does not interest us much at The International, despite Liquid's TOP 1 performance there. Much more revealing was Liquid's performance at DreamLeague S19.
The biggest commercial event of the 2023 season ended for Liquid in the same way as The Lima Major 2023, but with a less dramatic outcome.
There were no forced substitutions at DreamLeague, but there was a defeat by Gaimin Gladiators in the final, which was 2-3 this time.
Team Liquid's most popular heroes
Liquid quickly adapted to the conditions of the 7.33 patch. the team took Chen (75% win rate) 4 times. Enchantress and Disruptor have a perfect win rate with 3 appearances, and Pangolier, Underlord and Shadow Fiend are a bit worse, winning 2 matches out of 3.
The successful characters include Necrophos, Beastmaster, Undying, Monkey King, Rubick, Sven and Ember. All of them appeared in spades 2 times each and won both matches.
If you are ready to believe in Team Liquid in this b2 series - pick them as the winner of the match at odds in the region of 1.2.
Don't believe in Liquid's success in the new patch against Team Aster - read the review on the Chinese team.
Team Aster form
Let's move on to parsing Team Aster's form. The Chinese team will play this game as underdogs with odds of around 3.8 to win.
Just six months ago, such an underperformance by Chinese teams compared to their European counterparts would have been strange, but current trends confirm the pre-match state of affairs.
Things are complicated with Aster this season, as they are with the Chinese region as a whole. To say that teams from China are experiencing bad times is not to say anything.
The Lima Major 2023 was one of the worst tournaments in Chinese history and Aster were directly involved in creating that anti-record. To be fair, the result wasn't terrible, but it was far from good.
China's top team according to DPC 2023: Tour I failed to cope with the pressure and failed to create decent competition not only for European teams, but also for representatives from less titled regions such as South America.
The only achievement of Aster at Lima Major 2023 is a win against Tundra Esports in the first round of the lower net. I doubt that this will surprise Liquid, who have consistently beaten Tundra in the domestic league and on the international stage as well. Speaking of which.
Playing in The Lima Major 2023 was not the only Aster experience in The International Dota 2 this season. Then there was DreamLeageu S19, where Aster tried to defend the honor of the Chinese region as the only representative from there.
It didn't turn out so well. Aster had failed to pass the first stage of the Ledgeiv for the same title in Execration.
In the end, the only representative of the Chinese region finished in TOP 12 while it was the main championship before The Berlin Major 2023 and at the same time the best training area imaginable.
- Team Aster line-up: Monet, SumaiL, Xxs, BoBoKa, Siamese C.
At the tournament, Aster will play with a substitute on the centre line. Helped SumaiL, who clearly missed big Dota 2.
At first glance, it seems like a significant boost for Aster. First, SumaiL has experience playing against Liquid, and second, he is still a more dynamic player than Xwy, who left the roster before the Berlin Major 2023 Long Saugus.
Most popular Team Aster heroes
In the Aster pool there was Disruptor (9 games, 55% win rate), Enchantress (9 games, 44% win rate), Beastmaster (7 games, 71% win rate), Clockwerk (7 games, 28% win rate).
There was also Storm Spirit, who SumaiL likes (6 games, 60% wins), Jakiro (6 games, 50% wins.
If you believe that SumaiL on the new patch will be stronger than his colleagues in the region and help Aster win - bet on Aster victory with odds around 4.
However, the history of head-to-head encounters suggests otherwise.
History of head-to-head encounters between Aster and Team Liquid
The teams have already played each other in The Lima Major 2023. Then Team Liquid proved to be stronger and closed the series 2-0.
Predicted result of Team Aster vs Team Liquid
I'm not expecting any revelations in this match. We have already seen Liquid in action and I am confident in their thorough preparation for The Berlin Major 2023. SumaiL in Aster is good, but it doesn't guarantee victory without reservations.
Bottom line: Liquid win.
