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Source: FISSURE
It is always fun to watch up and coming teams try to get qualified to big tournaments. Doubly so when they are mixed with some more recognizable squads. In the absence of a DPC system, FISSURE Universe play-in is a great tournament for Tier 2 teams to showcase their prowess and maybe earn some fans.
A newly formed roster from a legendary organisation, MOUZ are primarily notable because it is where Seleri found his new home. After over a year of domination, the former captain of Gaimin Gladiators decided to take a break, now returning with a very diverse and international squad.
This team is yet to play a game in the tournament, so it is hard to gauge their strengths. That said, they do not lack talent or experience, making them stand out. Who knows, maybe Abed will go through the same character development arc as No[o]ne and will once again get his Tier S midlane status?
Currently, there is only one team where MOUZ are not the favorites. Their match against Virtus.Pro on May 15th is going to be the biggest proving ground and possibly one of the more entertaining series of the tournament.
Speaking of the legendary EEU tag — they are not coming into the tournament with their full roster. Playing with stand-ins doesn’t necessarily mean they are not going to perform well, but it is something to keep in mind.
What makes it extra interesting is that they might be a bit overvalued in their matchup against OG. 10.0 on series victory for OG, who recently announced the return of NoTail as the team’s coach, is certainly spicing things up a bit.
On one hand we have the probable candidate for the first place in the tournament, but playing with stand-ins. On the other we have the potential comeback for the most recognizable WEU tag with one of the most creative coaches at the helm. We genuinely don’t think this is going to be as easy for VP, as BetBoom assumes.
The last hope of NA? Maybe. Even though there are no NA players on the squad, it is still coached by Bulba and plays NA qualifiers, meaning they almost always get to play international LANs.
Because of it, they probably have the most experience and exposure to different types of Dota, across all participants. And that makes it kind of scary to have them as an opponent.
BetBoom also values the team quite high. They are not necessarily the undeniable favorites of the tournament, but they are considered stronger than Wildcard, L1 and even Avulus. We are not so sure about the last one, but overall we agree that Shopify Rebellion is one of the bigger threats in the tournament.
Avulus is a very weird team. Much like Shopify Rebellion, they also qualify to a lot of international tournaments. Unlike SR, they are highly unstable. Their performance varies greatly from tournament to tournament and the recent roster change certainly didn’t help with that.
And it’s not like the team got undeniably weaker. We’ve seen some amazing performances from them, taking maps from much stronger opponents. However, we’ve also seen them falter versus outsiders and their power level seemingly fluctuates between Tier 1 and Tier 3 Dota at random.
We believe this is the reason why BetBoom is extremely cautious when it comes to Avulus. Sure, we can consider them very strong favorites in their series against teams like One Move, but even then, we would advise caution when betting on Avulus. You never know what kind of team you are getting. On the positive side of things, it does make them very exciting to watch.
Watching Tier 2 Dota is undeniably exciting. Sure, the level of play isn’t as high as what you get from high profile LANs, but the potential for highlights, blunders and impossible comebacks is much higher. That almost makes it a better show for casual viewing, in our opinion.
It is also where we can witness the new stars rising. Being there to see players who could become the next Miracle or Topson and passionately telling your unbeliever friends that they are potentially watching Dota history in the making is half the fun. So tune in to FISSURE Universe Play-in and maybe spice it up a bit with BetBoom!
