Dota 2 DreamLeague Season 12 Odds & Preview

• DOTA 2 DreamLeague Season 12 begins on October 18th from Rotterdam, Netherlands
• Six teams will compete for a prize pool of $250,000
• Demon Slayers and FlyToMoon made it to Season 12 through the NA and EU qualifiers respectively

In the shadows of The International 9, six teams compete in DOTA 2 DreamLeague Season 12. Team Liquid find themselves as favorites following second place finishes at TI9 and the EPICENTER Major.

DOTA 2 DreamLeague Season 12 Odds

*Odds taken 10/015/19

Due for a Win

There’s only so many times that you can finish second before you get that big win. That might just be the case for Team Liquid at DreamLeague Season 12. TL has been so close to glory over the past few months. At the EPICENTER Major, Liquid beat every single opponent except for Vici Gaming. They initially got sent to losers by Vici, and then in the grand finals rematch, TL nearly righted their wrongs but eventually lost 3-2.

At The International, Team Liquid looked off their game in the group stage. TL managed only six points as they finished seventh in Group B, giving them a tough road to make a deep run. Ultimately, the difficult path didn’t matter as they beat everybody enroute to the grand finals. Once again, Team Liquid would fall just short of hoisting the trophy as OG put an end to a crazy losers run.

Now at DreamLeague Season 12, TL should be able to finally get that elusive win. The tournament is much smaller and the competing teams are less prestigious. This should be their tournament and anything else would be a disappointment.

Potential Spoilers

There are a couple of teams in the field that could play spoiler to a Team Liquid victory. The most likely is Alliance. They disappointed greatly at The International as they lost their first playoff match to Royal Never Give Up. The big reason why an Alliance win is possible, is their most recent result at the MDL Chengdu Major Qualifier. In the upper bracket final, Alliance got the better of Team Liquid 2-1.

Team Liquid would eventually qualify as well, but a head-to-head win against their stiffest competition at DreamLeague is a great sign for Alliance despite their recent disappointments. With better value, Alliance presents a good opportunity considering their recent history against TL.

After Alliance, there don’t appear to be any other teams that could compete against the big two. At the International, Ninjas in Pyjamas finished last in group A and didn’t qualify for the playoffs. They also had an early exit at EPICENTER. The only bright spot for NIP comes from their 3-2 win over Alliance at the StarLadder ImbaTV Minor many months ago.

Even with an outdated win over Alliance, their recent loss to TL just last week should negate that.

Although a NIP win would be a surprise, J.Storm is apparently more likely to win DreamLeague S12. J.Storm don’t have any recent notable wins to their name and they’ve been unable to qualify for other tournaments because of losses to the Fighting Pepegas. The North American team of J.Storm shouldn’t be put in the same pool as the Ninjas.

Although the bet to win comes down to Liquid and Alliance, if one of these two teams struggles in the group stage, it could force one of them immediately into the losers bracket. If that’s the case, the Ninjas in Pyjamas could find themselves in the finals. At +650, a bet on NIP provides good value.

The problem is that the double elimination bracket style generally makes it harder to eliminate the favorites. One bad game won’t get you eliminated in this format. Although it’s not exciting, Team Liquid and Alliance should both make the finals. From there I’d favor Alliance to once again get the better of Liquid, and hand TL yet another second place finish.

Picks: To Win – Alliance (+240), To Make Finals – Alliance (-140)  & Team Liquid (-250)