We are in the fifth week of DPC (2021-22) Tour 3, and established powerhouses are firmly at the top. New challengers may still rise in the final two weeks, with all scorelines across all leagues relatively close.
Let’s dig into four crucial matches this week and how they impact the standings heading into Playoffs.
TeamSoloMid vs nouns
TSM has become a North American staple since the founding of Team Undying. What sets the team apart from its rivals, such as Evil Geniuses and Quincy Crew, is their seasoned veterans, notably David “MoonMeander” Tan Boon Yang. Even the Finnish coach, Rasmus “MISERY” Filipsen has roots way back in Dota. These same veterans failed to bring TSM glory in Tour 3 as they lost both matches against the aforementioned opponents.
Coming into Week 5, TSM has only found success against teams directly below them in the standings. Meeting felt last week boosted them into 4th in standings behind nouns.
TSM is a formidable foe for good reasons, they were first runner-up at Stockholm Major, but this week the real test begins.
nouns are tied for 2nd with a 4-1 scoreline, having already beaten Evil Geniuses (the team they tie). To us they are the favorites in this match, although not by a big margin. All of nouns victories were in long drawn out games, and so were their defeats. There is an opportunity to pursue game duration betting markets here, at over 30-minute game times in each map played.
Fnatic vs BOOM
Fnatic, is a refined team in every aspect, down to its drafts and players. Placing seventh at Stockholm Major certainly isn’t something to scream home about. However, given that they were halted by team OG, and still managed to snatch a game off. BOOM has good reasons to study and fear Fnatic, even though they are first in the standings over in Southeast Asia.
Facing Fnatic is arguably one of the toughest challenges at DPC Southeast Asia Tour 3, especially for BOOM. Both teams are hardened opponents having played each other consistently for almost two seasons and across different roster iterations.
Both teams have versatile hero pools to make incredible drafts, making this one of the best series to watch this week. If we have to predict a winner, I’d go for BOOM Esports to take it in 3 games.
Team Spirit vs Outsiders
Eastern Europe finally has a running league, and TI10 champions Team Spirit are finally on form. Both teams played largely the same opponents, with TS being marginally more successful after demolishing NaVi in two straight games. The following week NAVI demolished Outsiders in two straight sub-30 games leaving us with a clear winner choice in this series.
Team Spirit are still undefeated and it doesnt seem like Outsiders will challenge them too much. However, it is an interesting series to watch due to champions played and cheese strats that will most certainly be employed.
Gaimin Gladiators vs Team Secret
Lastly, we head into DPC Western Europe, which has been the star region since many WEU teams were in the top finishes at the Major. Gaimin Gladiators was among those formidable few, so any match featuring Gaimin is worthwhile.
This time, however, the spotlight is on Team Secret’s fight to remain relevant. They recently defeated Team Liquid, who are not a benchmark for performance, after playing awfully at Stockholm Major, but still a formidable opponent. This week Secret have a chance to finally break into the the Top 4 ahead of both the Gladiators and Liquid.
Gaimin are not having a good time in Tour 3. They’ve only beaten Alliance and Goonsquad, both of whom are serious under-performers. When it comes to matching Secret, we are in for a banger series that will finally bring Puppey back into the spotlight.
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