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The group stage of The Bali Major 2023 is still on our screens. Get ready for unbridled fun in a bo2 roulette setting along with betting tier for the Team Liquid - Shopify Rebellion match.
Basket A is on the screens, and this is arguably the most important match of the tour. It's all about the position of the teams and their status.
Both squads have shown a very lively Dota throughout the year. They can rightfully be ranked among the top 5 teams in the world at the moment. That is why their face-to-face encounter seems to be at least an interesting event.
In addition, the prospects of both sides add weight to the encounter. Both Shopify and Liquid have their sights set on making the top play-offs, which means they should be in action from the very first Bali Major 2023 matches.
Let's find out how the match will go, and if we can find a winner in this B2 series that can earn important points at the Indonesian tournament.
Let's go.
Liquid form
Let's start the parsing of the match with an analysis of Team Liquid's playing form. In this match the team will play as a favorite.
Bookmakers confirm the Liquid's pre-match position. The odds of success for Nisha and company are estimated at around 2.8.
Such a figure is understandable for a bo2. Liquid are the favourites, but you shouldn't gamble on a Liquid victory. It's a group stage and anything can happen, and given Liquid's performance towards the end of DPC 2023 Tour 3 and especially at DreamLeague S20, they are not 100 percent confident.
At DPC 2023: WEU Division 1 Tour 1 Liquid did not lose a single match, and then took the Top 2 at The Lima Major 2023, while playing with substitutes. More than worthy.
The second round of the DPC was as similar to the previous one as possible. Liquid again took the Top 1, but now with one defeat in the table. On the international stage, Liquid again shone, but were still overshadowed by Gaimin Gladiators, who took their second Major trophy of the season.
In the third season, Liquid were no longer able to clinch the premiership. "The Liquid fell to fourth place, but luckily this was enough to qualify for the Bali Major 2023, which makes no difference for Team Liquid that qualified for The International 2023.
- Liquid's line-up: miCKe, Nisha, zai, Boxi, Insania .
The sense of needlessness of the undertaking called the Bali Major 2023 for Liquid is indirectly confirmed by their performance at DreamLeague Season 20, a tournament comparable in prize money to The Bali Major 2023. There the Liquid were so lazy that they didn't even make it through to the first group, let alone attempt to somehow get into the play-offs and compete with the principled gladiators, for example.
Team Liquid's most popular heroes
Crystal Maiden is in the top picks for Team Liquid with 7 games and 6 wins.
In addition to Crystal Maiden choose Doom (4 games, 100% wins), Sven (4 games, 75% wins), Skywrath Mage (4 games, 75% wins).
Rubick (4 matches, 25% wins), Void Spirit (3 matches, 100% wins) appear in spades, Underlord, Pangolier, Storm Spirit each have 3 matches and all have 2 wins.
Shopify Rebellion Form
Continuing with our match analysis of Shopify Rebellion's form. In this encounter, they are playing in underdog status.
The bookmakers do not particularly believe in Shopify Rebellion's success, but they are not in a hurry to discount them early either. The odds for SR to win are estimated to be in the region of 4.
Such a figure makes it clear: Shopify Rebellion is under scrutiny. And this is understandable: the team is not in a rut and is definitely capable of competing with the top clubs in the world, which it already did in 2023.
The team finished in the top two in the DPC domestic league twice, Ledge and TSM. In the third round of the DPC, Shopify Rebellion finally picked up a well-deserved top-1 DPC 2023: North America Upper Division.
Naturally, such a result can hardly be called an achievement, as the competition in the North American region is rather sparse. However, in the case of Shopify Rebellion, it's much more about playing on the international stage, where the results are much better.
At The Lima Major 2023, Shopify Rebellion made it to the top 4. Making it into the top three was prevented, unexpectedly, by Talon Esports.
In addition to the Lima Major 2023, the team was at the DreamLeague Season 19 and played even better than the Peruvian major. Cooler, because they played with a substitution (in the Abed performed inexperienced Mikey) and reached the top 3 of the tournament for 1,000,000 dollars.
Then there was The Berlin Major 2023 with a dismal top-12 and then the third round of DPC 2023: NA Division 1. The latter went better, with SR taking the top spot, guaranteeing themselves passage to The Bali Major 2023, and also actually qualifying for The International 2023.
- Shopify Rebellion: Arteezy, Miracle, SaberLight, Cr1t, Fly.
At DreamLeague Season 20 SR again played with substitutes, but this time it was not possible to repeat the success of the DL S19 period: Shopify Rebellion failed to pass the first DL group stage and, like Liquid, left the championship early.
Shopify Rebellion's most popular heroes
Shopify Rebellion most often played Crystal Maiden (8 matches, 62% wins), Storm Spirit (7 matches, 57% wins), Doom (7 matches, 57% wins).
Also had Rubick (5 matches, 80% win rate), Terrorblade (4 matches, 75% win rate), Underlord (4 matches, 75% win rate).
History of head-to-head encounters
Liquid and Shopify Rebellion have played each other three times in 2023. Team Liquid closed all 3 matches without too many problems, not giving their opponents a single win.
The outcome
There is every reason to bet on a Liquid victory in this encounter. The team is better overall, based on their performance on the international stage and their results, and the history of head-to-head encounters suggests that Liquid dominated their matches against SR.
I do believe in the card from SR though. I think they want to get even with Liquid for their bitterness and they'd better do it now, before the Liquids fully recover from their pause in the DreamLeague Season 20.
Bottom line: +1.5 on SR.
