Dota 2 Champions League S6 betting picks – Thursday, December 23

ESB’s free esports betting predictions for Thursday, December 23, include two Dota 2 Champions League Season 6 group stage bouts. Here are our selections for HYDRA vs X3 and Team Empire vs V-Gaming, with top odds courtesy of BetOnline.


HYDRA Picked up a crucial win on Tuesday when they swept aside Nemiga Gaming to go up 4-2 with two more games left to play. Four wins are good enough for a fourth place in the standings, but HYDRA still need to deliver against Brame on Wednesday, and X3, who HYDRA will meet for the first time on Thursday.

A team with nothing to lose can be dangerous, but X3 don’t have the talent needed to compete with the best. Their only notable win of the tournament came against Brame at the start of the month, and X3 have since dropped series against CIS Rejects (0-2), Nemiga Gaming (0-2), Fantastic Five (1-2), and even IVY (0-2).

There is a chance that HYDRA won’t need to win this bout, but that doesn’t mean they will take their foot off the gas. HYDRA are much stronger, and we expect that to show on Thursday.


Team Empire will meet with V-Gaming on Thursday for the first time since November, when V-Gaming won 2-1. It marked their second consecutive head-to-head win, following a 2-0 sweep in September, but only their second of the year from five bouts.

Regardless of their past success, Empire are priced as heavy underdogs, which is fair considering they’re 1-5 and haven’t won a single match since the first round of the tournament. Even in the regional Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) competition, Empire are 0-4 with a 2-8 map differential.

It’s tough to bet against Team Empire since this team has some solid players, but they aren’t delivering. Empire need to make some changes, and until they do so, they will continue to sink.