Vikin.gg vs B8 betting predictions – ESL One Los Angeles

VIKIN.GG VS B8 ESL ONE LOS ANGELES DOTA2 ONLINE: EU & CIS BETTING PREVIEW

Vikin.gg and B8 are slated to meet on the 11th day of ESL One Los Angeles Dota2 Online, which will mark each side’s sixth fixture of the tournament and their first-ever meeting in the competitive arena.

Vikin.gg have enjoyed a solid start to their ESL One LA venture, having picked up three wins in the opening five rounds. While their displays against Gambit (2-0) and Cyber Legacy (2-1) were promising, the 2-1 victory over the reigning TI champions, OG, will go down as one of the biggest Dota2 upsets in 2020. However, the Romanian squad did not see the same success against CIS squads HellRaisers (0-2) and Virtus.pro (0-2) in rounds two and four.

The biggest question is how and where we rank Vikin.gg. There is no denying this is a B-Tier team at most, but they are very strong in their weight class and have shown they can match it with some of the world’s best Dota 2 esports teams.

Indji “Shad” Lub, Miroslav “BOOM” Bičan, Tobias “Tobi” Buchner, Adam “Aramis” Moroz and Melchior “Seleri” Hillenkamp have already seen a lot of success in minor tournaments throughout 2020. In January, they picked up a third-place finish at the Hainan Master Spring Invitational – Europe Qualifier, made it to the finals of OMG.BET Cup 2, and won Hot Price League Season 1 while losing only one map. That form continued into March when Vikin.gg hoisted titles at Winter Madness, Hot Price League Season 2 and GGBET Championship 2.

While those are far from top-tier tournaments, it’s hard to ignore Vikin.gg’s impressive 24-3 record since the start of March. Prior to ESL One Los Angeles, their only loss in that run came against Aggressive Mode (0-2) in the SIGUL Pro League.

B8 have had a far less successful run through the opening stages of ESL One LA. While they claimed a 2-1 win over HellRaisers, Danil “Dendi” Ishutin’s team fell flat against Cyber Legacy (1-2), OG (1-2), Nigma (0-2) and Gambit (0-2). Although 1-4 record is nothing to write home about, their three-map series against OG is something B8 can look at with pride.

B8’s preparation was less than ideal, as the newly established CIS squad failed to secure top-four finishes at the ESL One Los Angeles 2020 CIS Open Qualifier, WePlay! Dota 2 Tug of War: Mad Moon, Arena of Blood and WeSave! Charity Play – EU & CIS. Since Dendi formed his team on January 27, 2020, they have produced only five wins in 21 outings.

VIKIN.GG VS B8 ESL ONE LOS ANGELES DOTA2 MAJOR: NA BETTING PREDICTIONS

Esports bookmakers have Vikin.gg priced as heavy favourites, which is no surprise. Having said that, we must take into consideration that ESL One LA is an online tournament, where underdogs tend to have a much greater chance to shine.

That does not necessarily mean we can count on B8 to win, as they clearly need to make a couple of roster swaps if they wish to find any stability with their results. However, it’s still fair to expect B8 can pick up at least one map.

B8’s prospects are heavily dependent on the performance of owner-captain Dendi, who, on his best day, can take over any match. Although he is not playing at the same elite level as he once did, Vikin.gg are also not the same calibre of team Dendi is used to playing against.

We are counting on Dendi to deliver. B8 picked up maps against HellRaisers, Cyber Legacy and OG, which suggests they are more than capable of doing the same against Vikin.gg.