ESL One Birmingham is going into its playoff stage. Four teams dropped out of the tournament after group stages, while 8 teams advanced on. Playoffs will be played in a double elimination bracket with best of 3 matches all the way until the grand finals, which will be played in a best-of-5 format.
Dota 2 ESL One Birmingham Group Stage – Analysis:
Biggest Disappointment
Team Spirit is surely the biggest disappointment of the group stages. Being placed in group B, they had a good opportunity to advance on. Being placed among underdog teams that could mess up with plans of top teams like Falcons, Liquid, or Xtreme Gaming, Spirit failed miserably. The International 2023 champions didn’t manage to win a single best-of-2 series. However, they didn’t lose a single match too, as all their matches were a draw. With 5 draws, they couldn’t reach the playoffs, as they needed at least 1 win.
Looks like they were so close, but so far away as they lost all 3 maps in the tiebreakers. Maybe they didn’t just have luck, as on paper, their lineup looks scary. Much better compared to HEROIC for example. Are Team Spirit on a decline after their TI 12 win is yet to be seen?
Biggest Surprise
The biggest surprise for me is definitely OG. A team that is struggling with their lineup and that has a Timado on their position 1 as a standin. Nobody expected 1st place in group B from them. With one 2-0 win vs Xtreme Gaming and 4 draws, they are looking solid. Yes, they can be a real threat in the playoffs and a proper underdog that replaced Team Spirit with that title, but I don’t think they can go really far. Ceb can surely pull a few upsets based on his experience, but playoffs are something else.
I would mention BetBoom Team too, a 2nd underdog team we mentioned in our tournament preview analysis. With 2 wins, vs Rebellion and Talon, they’ve managed to secure the upper bracket of playoffs.
Playoffs – Analysis:
Team Falcons vs Tundra Esports
Team Falcons are easily the biggest favorites of the tournament. With that being said, they are big playoff round 1 favorites vs Tundra too. Tundra is struggling a lot, and this is not the old Tundra squad anymore. With 2 new players, and Tobias standin on position 3, this team looks like a bottle of water that is leaking. I’m pretty confident that they cannot beat Falcons, a team that is playing the best Dota 2 in the last months. Aggressive with a lot of rotations.
OG vs BetBoom Team
I believe the BetBoom Team is favored here. They are looking good, and OG is well known to have problems vs CIS squads lately. This is a good chance for BetBoom to show that they are still the number #1 CIS squad out there, by mile. Maybe this can go to all 3 maps, but I’m positive that BetBoom has all the advantages. They showed better plays in the group stage.
Team Liquid vs HEROIC
The South American roster of HEROIC is holding up pretty well, I must say. They have barely managed to get into the playoffs over Team Spirit, sharing the same points, but beating them in the tiebreakers. Sadly, they are facing Team Liquid, a very strong and top-tier Dota 2 team that is in the small circle of favorites of this ESL One Birmingham. Liquid can take this best of 3.
Xtreme Gaming vs G2.IG
Two Chinese teams battling it out. Both teams ended up in the group stage with an equal number of maps won and lost. Those two teams still haven’t faced each other, so this will be very interesting. Odds are on Xtreme Gaming’s side, as they showed better form and performance lately. This is always a double-edged sword when two Chinese teams are playing, as when 2 CIS teams are facing each other. I believe Xtreme Gaming are better team now and will win this.
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