Прогноз на матч: Team Liquid - Entity | Dota 2

The final day of the second week of the regular season arrives in Western Europe. The situation in the standings is heating up, and every game carries weight.

Team Liquid and Entity will open the final draw of the second week of DPC 2023: WEU Upper Division - Tour II. Both teams are aiming for the Berlin major and are desperate for a head-to-head victory.

Entity and Liquid are in a similar situation. Both teams share 3rd place in the standings with 2 wins in 3 matches and 4-3 on the cards.

It's hard to exaggerate the significance of the game: The winner will break away from the chaser, and that's a direct road to the Berlin majors. Naturally, it's going to be a hotly contested match.

Let's see who will come out stronger in this match-up and secure a more comfortable position in the standings.

Team Liquid form

Let's start the tournament by analyzing Team Liquid's form. They're the odds-on favorite for this game.

Bookmakers believe in the success of Team Liquid. The odds on the team's victory are estimated at around 1.2.

The pre-match odds suggest that Liquid have a strong advantage. It's easy to believe, Liquid are the last major's top 2 and last round's champions, and that's something.

Team Liquid line-up

Team Liquid approached the new DPC round with their standard lineup. Boxi, who was ill towards the end of last season, returns to the squad of four.

Team Liquid players

• miCKe
• Nisha
• zai
• Boxi
• iNSaNiA

Boxi's illness has affected Team Liquid's level of play at the start of the new round. Liquid don't look "ironclad" any more, as their performance in the matches hints at.

Team Liquid performance

Last season Team Liquid played almost flawlessly at the top of the league. The team did not lose a single series, giving up only two cards.

Having made it to the Lima Major 2023, Team Liquid were placed in Group B, where they eventually proved their mettle. "Liquid" won their basket, closing with a score of 14-2, exactly the same as the DPC season.

As the Lima Major 2023 playoffs progressed, the team was well on their way to the grand final, but before the final wingers Boxi was forced to leave the tournament for health reasons. Thus Team Liquid fell to the bottom of the net.

In the losers, the Liquid managed to eliminate Talon and return to the top net final, where the Gladiators awaited them. With a replacement in the slot of four, Liquid were unable to compete with GG and lost.

In the first match of the second round, DPC Team Liquid extended their losing streak. Gaimin Gladiators did away with the Liquid with a score of 2-0.

Next up was a game against OG. The latter look miserable in the new round and they expectedly blew the series as Liquid closed the match 2-0 without any problems.

In the third match of DPC 2023 WEU Upper Division - Tour II, Team Liquid played against Nigma Galaxy. One of the worst teams in the race managed to pick up a card, which was something of a surprise, but the game ended quite predictably, with Liquid winning.

Team Liquid heroes

The most popular hero of the last round for Team Liquid was Treant Protector. The character appeared in spades 13 times and had a 76% win rate.

Nature`s Prophet and Tiny were also popular. Both appeared in spades 8 times, but the first has a win rate of 87% and the second has a win rate of 75.

There were also Tusk (7 games, 71% wins), Rubick (7 games, 57% wins), Snapfire (5 games, 100% wins).

Entity Form

Let's move on to the parsing of Entity's uniforms. They will have to play in an underdog status in this match.

The bookmakers do not have much faith in Entity, but there is still room to maneuver. The pre-match quotes are at 3.4.

It's a little unclear why the difference is so large. Obviously, the Liquid's past and their performance in the last cycle, when the Liquid won the regular season and finished in the top 2 in the majors, play a role, but now the situation has changed slightly and not in favor of the Liquid.

Entity line-up

Entity showed a very good dota in the last round, which puts them on par with the top of the region. For the new season, Entity are playing a similar roster, indicating their desire to develop a stable lineup.

Entity players

• watson
• Stormstormer
• Tobi
• Kataomi
• Fishman

In terms of personal performance, all are, with minor exceptions, pretty good. Entity have managed to adapt to the new patch, and some Fishman team-friendly characters have entered the meta: Invoker for Stormstormer, Disruptor for Fishman.

Tobi looks out of place at his plate. The hardliner Entity often fills up, as he did in his match with Nigma, for example.

Entity's performance

Entity finished DPC 2023: WEU Upper Division - Tour 1 in fourth place. The team played the regular season 4-3 before heading to round-robin replay with Tundra Esports and OG.

After going through tiebreaks Entity went to the Lima Major 2023. Prior to that, they entered the top 4 of the BB Universe Comics Zone.

After the group stage, Entity made it to the top of the playoffs, from where they crashed out losing to the future champions from Gladiators. Entity's stay in the tournament was halted by Talon Esports, who created the biggest sensation of the past championship.

The first match in the second round was against Nigma Galaxy. Despite a sizeable lead, Entity had a difficult time, but came through with a 2-1 victory.

In the next match Entity faced the Greek Monaspa in the underdogs of the tournament. The match ended 2-0 in favor of Fishaman's team.

But with Tundra Esports was not easy. The International 2022 champions had no problem taking on a less titled opponent.

The heroes of Entity

Treant Protector who appeared in 8 matches has a 62% winning percentage. On a par with Treant is Rubick, who has also appeared 8 times and has a similar winning percentage.

Slightly worse is Undying with 50% win rate in the same 8 matches. Almost the only team playing the Invoker. Stormstormer rolled their signature 6 times and won 4.

Directly on DPC Entity play their favourite characters. Apart from Invoker by StormStormer we see Disruptor by Fishman, who has appeared in spades 3 times and won 2 matches.

History of head-to-head encounters

The teams have played each other twice: in the first round of DPC 2023 and at the Lima Major 2023. Both times Liquid won 2-0.

Match outcome

Should anything change from the previous series played between the teams. Will the new patch create opportunities for Entity to prove themselves and surprise Liquid? In my opinion, no.

The new Western European season is in chaos, and it's possible that the chaos will be present in this matchup as well. Either way, the Liquid look more favourable and that's who we'll be betting on.

The closer looks 2-0, but there is no one hundred percent certainty of a clean win for the Liquid.

Bottom line: Liquid/Liquid 2-0 win.