Eight Dota 2 teams are more than ready as the StarLadder ImbaTV Minor is preparing to begin this Thursday, March 5. For these teams, another shot to be part of the ESL Los Angeles Major is at stake. Of course, it's not all about the Major, as the tournament offers DPC Points along with a $300,000 prize pool.
With the competition just days away, the official groupings of the teams have been revealed. Today we look into that and give our predictions as to who makes it to the playoffs.
Before we begin with the groups, let’s take a quick look at the format. During the Group Stage, all games are best-of three, with the top two teams moving to the Playoffs and the bottom two getting eliminated. Teams that make it to the Playoffs then undergo a double elimination bracket with all games in best-of three, with the exception of the Grand Finals, which is best-of five.
That said, let’s go to the groups.
Group A
For this group, the teams are:
- BOOM Esports (SEA)
- business associate (NA)
- forZe (CIS)
- Team Aster (China)
Prediction
It’s somewhat clear that Team Aster has a good chance of getting the top spot. We say this because the team has some excellent players on its roster. There’s Song “Sccc” Chun, who was part of the Newbee team that got a runner-up finish during The International 2017. Then you have Ye “BoBoKa” Zhibiao and Pan “Fade” Yi.
The second team is bit difficult but we’re going with business associates for this one. Why this team? Consider this, business associates has David “Moo” Hull, who was part of Digital Chaos and earned a second place finish at TI6. It will be interesting to see how Clinton “Fear” Loomis performs. Known for his versatility at being able to play at almost every position even at the competitive level, Fear is considered of the best Dota 2 players in North America.
Group B
This group is just as exciting with the teams consisting of:
- Alliance (Europe)
- Fighting PandaS (NA)
- Gambit Esports (CIS)
- NoPIng e-sports (SA)
Prediction
No question that our choice for top spot is none other than Alliance. I mean, come on. Ever heard of Nikolay “Nikobaby” Nikolov? That should be enough. Like Group A, the second team is a bit difficult, but we have to go with Gambit. The PandaS had a chance, but after what happened to their roster, it’s going to be a bit difficult for them.
The StarLadder ImbaTV Minor is starts on March 5, with the Grand Finals on March 8. The tournament is held in Kyiv, Ukraine.
