My Dota 2 Predictions.

My take

Liquid bounced back well against Vici, and they looked sharp—fast Dota, clean execution. Heroic beat VP, but come on, VP is not exactly a scary opponent right now. The thing about Heroic is that they have this style where all 3 cores just want to farm, and against a team like Liquid that plays super aggressive and proactive, I just don't see how that works. Liquid will jump on them before they even get their items. I'm going with Team Liquid. Heroic got lucky with the bracket so far, and this is where it ends.

✓ Aftermath

Liquid is always getting traction at the end of the group stage. They always do. What did I tell you about greedy drafts? I'm going to die on this hill and say it again: Alchemist carry, buying Aghanim's Scepter for cores DOESN'T work!

My take

NAVI beat Yandex in the elimination match—Daze finally looked useful. Spirit lost to GamerLegion 0-2 and looked completely lost without Collapse. Batyuk just cannot replace what Collapse brings in the offlane. That said, Yatoro is Yatoro. He will always find a way to make it interesting.

✓ Aftermath

NAVI is going home. This second map is going to sting. How can you throw this lead? I understand that Bear is OP, but so is Ursa. Niku lost the mid game, and Larl just demoralized NAVI on the map.

My take

Two of the hottest teams in the tournament right now. GL just dismantled Spirit 2-0, and the way RCY is playing on Kez is just unfair. Falcons, on the other hand, lost to BetBoom—Gpk was flawless, and they couldn't do anything about it. But Falcons are still Falcons. Malr1ne and Ammar together are one of the scariest offlane-mid combos in the tournament. This is a tough one. I'm going with Team Falcons. GL is playing great, but Falcons have more experience in these high-pressure spots, and I think they will find a way to shut down Ghost.

✓ Aftermath

I knew Falcons were going to win, but I felt it for GamerLegion. The problem is that they never get out of the group stage, and now they are 2-2, and they will need to fight for the last slot. And guess whom they will need to fight for that slot? Team Spirit, HEROIC, Xtreme Gaming, and most likely SA Rejects. Basically a bloodbath.

My take

Oh man, what a match. Vici lost to Liquid 2-1—Xm and his Daedalus Ember didn't work in the end. Xtreme lost to SA REJECTS. SA REJECTS, boys. I can't say it enough. But even so, Xtreme with Ame on a good day is a completely different team. I'm going with Xtreme Gaming. In all their qualifier encounters in China, Xtreme always won without issues.

✓ Aftermath

El Classico from China. Xtreme always somehow destroys ANY Chinesse team. What is funny is that they are always picked to play against each other, which is kind of weird. Unfortunately, Vici Gaming is out of the PGL Wallachia Season 8.

My take

Look, I have to respect what SA Rejects have done this tournament. They beat Yandex, they beat Xtreme — nobody expected any of this. But PARIVISION? Guys, even Aurora couldn't beat them cleanly, and they are probably the best team in this tournament right now. SA Rejects have been playing on pure adrenaline and upsets. I'm going with PARIVISION. The miracle run ends here. PARI will figure them out, and it won't even be close.

My take

Liquid lost to BetBoom 0-2 — without Boxi they look completely lost in teamfights. Vici Gaming beat NAVI 2-1 and honestly, good for them, it's their first LAN win in 7 years. But Liquid, even a shaky Liquid, is a different level from NAVI right now. I'm going with Team Liquid. They need to bounce back, and Vici just doesn't have the consistency to hold them off across 3 maps.

✓ Aftermath

Daedalus on Ember :) Xm has the weirdest, yet working, builds in the pro scene. But that didn't help Vici Gaming to win against Liquid. When it comes to fast dota, these dudes are probably the best in the world.

My take

GL is finally drafting properly—Ghost looked scary against MOUZ. Spirit, on the other hand, lost to Falcons, but Ammar won game 3 on Bristleback basically solo. The problem for Spirit is still Batyuk. He is not Collapse. He simply is not. I'm going with GamerLegion here. Spirit without Collapse struggles against teams that play proactive Dota, and GL with Ghost finally clicking is a scary prospect.

✓ Aftermath

Man, that was a beautiful dota. It is kind of hard to draft against GamerLegion; either you let Lone Druid or Kez for RCY. And if you ban them, they will pick Huskar and dismantle the midlane.

My take

Look, I don't even know how to predict this one with a straight face. SA Rejects just beat the defending Wallachia champions. YANDEX. The CHAMPIONS. Xtreme Gaming lost to Aurora because they kept letting Nightfall pick Lone Druid. Both teams have no business being 1-1, but here we are. I'm going with Xtreme Gaming. SA Rejects had their miracle moment.Ame and the boys will wake up.

✗ Aftermath

You've got to be kidding me. SA Rejects just won against Xtreme. Man, how is this even possible? I don't get these drafts from Xtreme, Crystal Maiden, and Monkey on safe lane; I lost with Lone Druid. What is happening?

My take

Heroic beat Tundra and lost to PARI—they're hot and cold. VP somehow beat Tundra, which tells you everything about how broken Tundra is right now without Pure, not that VP is suddenly good. I don't trust VP at all. I'm going with Heroic. Yeah, they throw games; yeah, they have 3 cores that want to farm. But VP just doesn't have the firepower to punish that right now.

✓ Aftermath

Well, well, well. Never give this Batrider to Wisper, I guess. VP couldn't stand a chance against Heroic today—too smooth, too strong. What is really interesting is that TaiLung won the midlane on that Keeper of the Light against arguably the strongest laner, SandKing.

My take

Okay, so both teams are 2-0, and both looked clean. BetBoom destroyed Liquid without any chances—I said it myself; I underestimated them. Falcons, on the other hand, have been absolutely suffocating every team they face. Malr1ne is back at full strength, and ATF is just playing out of his mind right now. This is genuinely a coin flip for me, but I'm going with Falcons. BetBoom has a tendency to overcomplicate things, and Falcons simply don't give you space to breathe.

✗ Aftermath

Insane! BetBoom just outclassed Falcons. Mind you, they would've won game 1 as well, but as usual, they threw the game with 20k net worth. I need to add that Gpk looked absolutely flawless this BO3.

My take

Oh man. NAVI lost to Vici Gaming. YANDEX lost to SA Rejects. This is the upset special match of the tournament. Whoever loses here goes home embarrassed. Yandex with DM as a stand-in is clearly not working—DM is too passive, and Watson and Team Yandex need that aggressive offlane presence. But NAVI with daze still looks shaky. I'm going with Team Yandex. Yes, DM is a problem. But they are still the defending champions, and losing to SA Rejects will have woken something up in them. They cannot go out like this.

✗ Aftermath

No comment. The defending champions are going home. Actually, they didn't win a single match in the PGL Wallachia Season 8. So, if the rumors are true and they want to switch Noticed with DM; I guess they will get last places everywhere.

My take

Boys, this is the match of the tournament so far. Two undefeated teams, and both of them look like they actually understand the 7.41b patch. Aurora with Nightfallpicking that Lone Druid 3 times and nobody banning it—I mean, at some point teams will figure it out. But PARIVISION? They picked a Phantom Lancer carry and still won. Who does that? I'm going with PARIVISION. Aurora is strong, but PARI has not dropped a single map in this tournament. Aurora will find a way to make it difficult, but I don't see them winning.

✗ Aftermath

A few mistakes here and there, but Aurora had it in the bag in Map 3. They made a mistake and lost 2 lanes, and then Nightfall, with the chrono of his life, took the Roshan and then finished the game.

My take

Both are going home if they lose. MOUZ got ragdolled by PARI and then got 2-0'd by GL—they look genuinely lost. Tundra lost to Heroic AND VP. Without Pure, this team is unrecognizable. V-Tune is nowhere near the same level. That said, MOUZ is MOUZ. I'm going with Tundra. I don't believe in MOUZ at all at this tournament, and Tundra, even broken, is still Tundra.

✗ Aftermath

HAHAHHAHA, I can't believe it…Tundra is out of the PGL Wallachia Season 8. Oh my GOD! They lost to Crystallis Medusa… I can't find the words to describe what I just witnessed.

My take

I want to go with Xtreme here. Aurora seems off in the PGL Wallachia Season 8. Xtreme looked spectacular against NAVI today, and they played fast. We're going with Ame to win.

✗ Aftermath

I don't even want to comment on it; I just want to know the following: WHY the hell did Xtreme let Aurora pick this Lone Druid 3 times? What was the plan? Did they think they could outfarm Nightfall?

My take

Both teams lost round 1. NAVI, on the other hand, actually looked good against XG before just losing a key teamfight. I'm going to NAVI here. The new Daze addition gives them better flexibility in support.

✓ Aftermath

No comment, just no comment. How was thatBeastmaster carry, huh? Did it work against a 6-slotted Tiny?

My take

Maaan, such a hard match to predict. BetBoom is strong, but when they face Liquid, they look like a dog in the alley. I'm going with Team Liquid. Remember my words, though—they WILL make this harder than it needs to be.

✗ Aftermath

Wow, it looks like I really underestimated BetBoom here. They destroyed Liquid without any chances. I actually can't believe how good BetBoom is looking in the PGL Wallachia season 8.

My take

Look, I love Ghost, but that Viper pick drives me insane. Why does this keep happening? MOUZ has that chaotic YOLO style that can work against a team that doesn't know what to do against it. GL with Ghost should be scary, but they need to stop forcing heroes that don't work. I'm going with MOUZ here. GL needs to figure out their draft identity before they can win a map against anyone serious.

✗ Aftermath

I don't get it. WHY, when I try to pick MOUZ in any predictions, do they play like they never played Dota before? I get it, GamerLegion is no joke right now; FINALLY they picked well. But MOUZ? What happened?

My take

Spirit just beat Vici 2-1, which I got wrong—Yatoro went absolutely mad. But Falcons are a completely different beast. They suffocated Yandex in both maps and looked sharp. Spirit still doesn't have Collapse, and Batyuk just isn't on that level. I'm going with Falcons here. Spirit can't rely on Yatoro to 1v9 every single game.

✓ Aftermath

Man, Spirit doesn't look that bad, to be honest. I mean, Ammar won the last game solo on his Bristleback. Falcons only lost game one because they wanted to try that Death Prophet on mid.

My take

DM as a stand-in is a concern; I don't like this Aura type of offlaner. But SA rejects just don't have the firepower to punish them if they draft properly.

✗ Aftermath

This has got to be the biggest upset I've ever seen in my life. Was there ANYONE who is reading this that thought SA rejects had a chance? Now, we can blame it on the patch, of course, but we can also say that DM is not really a good fit for Yandex. You know why? Because he is just passive.

My take

PARI came in 2-0 against MOUZ and looked like they owned this patch. Heroic somehow beat Tundra 2-1 yesterday, which I did not expect. But boys, let's be real—Tundra without Pure are shells of themselves. PARI has been the most consistent team so far, and I fully believe this patch is made for them. I'm going to PARIVISION. Heroic got lucky yesterday, and PARI won't let them farm with 3 cores the way Tundra did.

✓ Aftermath

I said it before and I'm going to say it again, PARIVSION looks unbeatable. There was not a thing Heroic could've done today to win this match. They even picked a Phantom Lancer carry (like we are in 2019) and still won without an issue.

My take

Both 0-1. Tundra lost to Heroic, which is embarrassing—Largo got picked 3 times in a row, and they just didn't adjust. VP got 2-0'd by BetBoom, which is a 9-0 head-to-head now, so that tells you everything. I'm going to Tundra. Yes, Pure is missing, but VP is genuinely in a rough spot right now. They can't find any angle against basically anyone. Tundra will wake up here.

✓ Aftermath

No guys, Tundra is not here. Either the patch affected them so much, or V-Tune is nowhere near Pure's performance. You can tell me that Tundra EVER had an issue with VP until now.

My take

A tough match to predict, boys… NAVI looked unstopable in the qualifiers for DreamLeague, but so did Xtreme Gaming. I am going to go with Ame and the boys, just because I believe that they are way more experienced, and NAVI has a tendency to lose the games in an important tournament.

✓ Aftermath

You see, NAVI plays a beautiful dota, right? They picked that Lycan offlane in map 1 and DESTROYED the mid-game, but what happened next? Well, Xtreme just stood there and farmed, and after that they won a team fight, and they won the game.

My take

I don't believe AT ALL in Team Spirit. Collapse is missing from the squad, and based on what I saw in the PREMIER SERIES, they have some real issues to fix. Yatoro can't win 1v9, and I don't believe they are capable of beating Vici Gaming (which is the first time on a LAN in 7 years).

✓ Aftermath

Man, you can't doubt Yatoro, I swear to God. He won 1v9. As for Vici Gaming, that's what happens when you try to go late-game against a team that always goes to late-game. What did you think was going to happen?

My take

You can call me insane; you can say whatever you want. But I believe that GamerLegion will beat Team Liquid here. Boxi is out; they BARELY won the qualifier. On the other hand, we have GamerLegion with Ghost, which destroyed any competition that they had (didn't lose a single map in their qualifiers).

✗ Aftermath

That's what I don't like about GamerLegion. Why do they always pick this Viper carry for Ghost? It simply doesn't work, especially against a team like Team Liquid.

My take

It's a pity that Pain Gaming released its roster, but even with a tag, SA Rejects wouldn't have had a chance against Aurora Gaming. I believe that Aurora is just too good in the 5-man Dota, which SA Rejects clearly miss.

✓ Aftermath

It's actually insane that Aurora lost a map, to be honest. They wanted to try this tiny pick and got ragdolled by a fast push.

My take

PARIVISION looked unstoppable in the PREMIER SERIES. They didn't lose a single map and won in the grand finals 3:0. I believe they will ragdoll MOUZ and win easily just because they are way better at stopping this kind of YOLO style that MOUZ has.

✓ Aftermath

Clean game by PARIVISION. If you ask me, it looks like the patch really favors them. I like their playstyle, and I think they are one of the favorites to win the PGL Wallachia Season 8.

My take

I'm going with BetBoom to win. BUT, remember my words, these guys will throw AT LEAST one map. I don't know why or how they do this, but they always seem to lose the unlosable games.

✓ Aftermath

Every time when BetBoom plays against VP, they win without any chances. Head-to-head matches are 9-0 for BetBoom. I don't know, somehow VP can't play against them. It's a pity that they played so many times and they never found any angle against them.

My take

I'm going with Team Falcons to win. Yes, I am upset that DM is playing as a stand-in again for them, but even with that, Yandex is just on another level when it comes to execution. I don't believe Falcons can drag these games into super late-game scenarios, but even there they can still lose.

✓ Aftermath

What a sad draft from Yandex… Why the hell do you pick this Alchemist 2 times? Who is going to carry the game? Chira_Junior on his invoker? Or maybe Pangolier? Props to Falcons for capitalizing on the game and just suffocating Yandex in both maps.

My take

Even if Pure is not on the team, I believe Tundra is still stronger than Heroic. Man, Heroic has this weird style where ALL 3 cores just want to farm; Tundra will not let them do that.

✗ Aftermath

Wow…actually Heroic could've won the second game as well, but they threw as usual. I don't know, Tundra looks squishy without Pure, and this Largo picked 3 times in a row.