The DotA 2 Boston Major 2016 Betting Preview

The Defense of the Ancients 2 Boston Major 2016 is Here

This is the first DOTA 2 Major of the new season and will take place in the Wang Theater in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Sixteen teams will be battling it out for a massive $3,000,000 prize pool.

As usual, eight of the teams have gained invited qualification through their performance in the previous DOTA 2 tournaments. The other eight teams have qualified through the regional qualifiers.

The tournament starts with the group stage on the 3^rd-4^th of December 2016. The sixteen teams will be split into four groups of four teams. These groups will be played in a double elimination format.

This group stage will then decide the seeding for the main event which takes place from the 7^th-10^th of December 2016.  The main event is a single elimination bracket (the first time a DOTA 2 major hasn’t been played as a double elimination bracket).

All matches throughout the group stage & main event are played in a best-of-three format, with the exception of the grand final which will be played best-of-five.

So let’s not wait any longer, let’s look at the sixteen teams and how they are likely to fair in the Boston Major 2016 and who would be best to place your eSports bets on.

The Teams

The sixteen teams that will be taking part in this year’s Boston Major tournament are:

Invited Teams – Wings Gaming, Digital Chaos, OG, Newbee, MVP Phoenix, EHOME, Execration, Evil Geniuses

Qualified Teams – Team NP, compLexity Gaming, LGD.Forever Young, iG Vitality, Ad Finem, Virtus.Pro, Team Faceless, WarriorsGaming.Unity

In this article we’ll look in depth at the four esports betting favourites as well as the four best outside bets to win the overall title. Finally we’ll have a quick look at the eight longshots and see whether any of those could make an impact in the DotA 2 Boston Major 2016.

The Favourites – Who Should You Back to Win?

Undoubtedly the team to watch coming into this tournament has to be Chinese side, Wings Gaming.

Having won The International 2016, they continued their impressive form by winning the Northen Arena BEAT Invitational.

The recent Summit 6 was a bit of a let-down for the team, coming in 4^th place. However that is a small blip in an impeccable record, and when they are on form, which they usually are, they are almost unbeatable.

You can make an esports bet on Wings Gaming to win at odds of 5/2 with the Betway eSports bookmaker. They have to be considered the safest bet out their right now, even at these low odds.

The second biggest favourite of the bookmakers are European side, Virtus.pro. This is something of an interesting pick given they’re lack of even qualifying for either The International 2016 or The Manila Major 2016.

Of course after their failure to qualify for The DOTA 2 International 2016, the entire roster of Virtus.pro was replaced and since then they have been on fire. They’ve either won or come in second in every qualifier or tournament they have taken part in, usually winning it.

Their only win in a Premier DOTA 2 tournament was The Summit 6, but this included a dominant victory over Wings Gaming.

If you fancy some e-sports betting then you can get odds of 7/2 for Virtus.pro to win The Boston Major. I’d be hesitant myself as despite their good form, there isn’t too much evidence at the very top level yet.

The third favourites are Chinese team, Newbee, who’re looking to correct the surprise early knockout they suffered in The International 2016.

Since then they’ve made large changes to their roster bringing three new faces, Sccc, uuu9 & Faith. Faith is a long standing veteran of DotA 2, while Sccc & uuu9 are relative fresh faces, particularly Sccc who has been promoted from their Newbee Young side.

With these changes in place, the only Premier tournament they have only participated in was the MarsTV Dota 2 League 2016 Autumn, where they came a notable 2^nd behind Evil Geniuses.

In other smaller domestic tournaments though they have several 1^st & 2^nd place finishes to their name.

You can get esports betting odds of 17/4 for Newbee to win the tournament with Betway. Similar to Virtus.pro though, these are short odds for a team with so many changes to their side & little Premier tournament experience this season.

US based side Evil Geniuses are the fourth favourites to win the 2016 Boston Major tournament. They’ll be looking to continue their good form and capitulate on home advantage to win their first ever DotA 2 major.

Despite having a decent season, including a 3^rd place at The International 2016, Evil Geniuses made several changes to their squad for this season.

This new roster hit the ground running though and results have, if anything, improved.

First place at the MarsTV Dota 2 League 2016 Autumn was a standout result. While they’ve picked up 3^rd & 4^th spots in the two other Premier tournaments they have entered.

This shows good form for a team that must still be gelling and bodes well for the future.

If you’d like to place an e-sports bet on Evil Geniuses to win The Boston Major 2016 tournament then you can get odds of 6/1 with Betway. With their good recent form and the fact the team could easily still progress in team cohesion, they’re decent money for 6/1.

The Outsiders – Longer Odds but Larger Returns

If you’re looking for something of an outside bet for the tournament, then that would definitely be European side, OG.

For most of last season OG were looking very good, winning or coming in the final places in several Premier tournaments. This includes winning The Manila Major 2016 and ESL ONE Frankfurt 2016.

However, when The International 2016 came around they flopped on the big stage, going out in the lower bracket round 2. They responded to this poor result by replacing 3 of their squad.

So far this roster change has had some fairly mixed results. In the two Premier tournaments they have entered this season though, they have placed 3^rd and 2^nd.

They’re clearly a side that is still gelling for the most part with some of the new guys in mixed form. However, they have some exceptional players in their side and on their day they can beat anyone.

If you’d like to place an eSports bet on OG you can get odds of 9/1 for them to win the tournament outright. These odds are probably a little short, but they’re the longest odds of anyone who really has a chance of winning.

The Chinese side EHOME come into the DotA 2 Boston Major 2016 in, quite frankly, poor form.

Last season they only qualified for The International 2016 via wildcard qualification and were knocked out fairly early on, claiming a 5^th-6^th placed finish.

After that they picked up two new players to try and rejuvenate their side.

However, in the two Premier tournaments they have entered since, they have only gained a 3^rd place finish and a 7^th-8^th place finish.

If you’re interested in eSports betting on EHOME then Betway will give you odds of 16/1. This EHOME team is not a great one though and I don’t fancy them to get too far in this tournament.

The next team most likely to win the DotA 2 Boston Major 2016 (according to the e-sports bookies) is Digital Chaos.

This US based side surprised a lot of people when they took 2^nd place at The International 2016. They were a side that had never made any kind of impact in the Premier tournaments, regularly leaving in the early stages of the playoffs.

After their surprise result at the biggest Defense of the Ancients 2 tournament of them all, they have only participated in a single Premier tournament, where true to their previous form, they finished in 5^th-6^th place at The Summit 6.

Mostly this is the same side that did so well at The International, with just MoonMeander coming in to replace Moo. But it is hard to say right now that that one great result wasn’t just an aberration.

If you think that Digital Chaos can again up their game and pull off a shock by winning The Boston Major, then you can get odds of 20/1 with Betway. Tempting at those long odds, but too much of a risk for my tastes.

Team Faceless are a Singapore based side who are making their DotA 2 Major debut. Forming only earlier this season they have taken part in a single Premier tournament where they finished 7^th-8^th.

Why are such newcomers the joint seventh favourites for the tournament? Well their team is mostly made of experienced players, including a couple of big names.

Black^ in his time has a number of Premier tournament wins and has been competing since 2012. In-game leader iceiceice is similarly experienced with even more Premier wins while playing for top sides like Vici Gaming.

However, it is very early to say how this team works as a unit and whether they can really step up together into the big time.

If you’d like to make an esports bet on Team Faceless to win the Boston Major 2016 you can get odds of 20/1. They’re very unlikely to win, but as an unknown quantity, with some undoubted quality, they could possible cause an upset.

The Longshots – Could There be a Major Shock?

What about the final eight eSports teams? Can any of them cause an upset? Well there is a real range of newcomers, as well as experienced teams that are out of form or have recently lost key players.

These team have to be looked at for what they are though. Either in poor form or of weak pedigree and so betting on these sides is always a major risk.

Team NP are a new team this season from Canada who have a 5^th-6^th finish and a 2^nd place finish in their two Premier tournaments so far. In their second place finish in the Northern Arena BEAT Invitational they defeated some top sides like Evil Geniuses & EHOME, losing only to Wings Gaming.

You can get esports odds of 20/1 from Betway for them to win at the Boston Major 2016.

LGD.Forever Young are the development team for Chinese side LGD Gaming and are competing in their first Major and only their second Premier tournament. In their one other Premier tournament they finished in 5^th-6^th. They’re an inexperienced side but are very talented.

You can place an e-sports bet with odds of 29/1 for them to take the Boston Major 2016 title.

AD Finem are a Greek side that have previously not had much of an impact in DotA 2 and are making their Major debut. Their impressive qualifying campaign included wins against Team Liquid and Team Secret though so they need to be taken seriously. They’re recent Premier tournament entry finished in 5^th-6^th place.

You can get esports odds of 39/1 with Betway for Ad Finem to win the Boston Major 2016.

IG Vitality are a Chinese team that are a development side for Invictus Gaming. They’re also making their Defense of the Ancients 2 Major tournament debut. In the spring they brought in a new roster which has seen some improvements in results but they’ve only been seen in one Premier tournament where they finished 7^th-8^th.

You can place an e-sports bet on IG Vitality to win the tournament at odds of 40/1 with Betway.

MVP Phoenix are a Korean side with a long history in DotA 2. Last season was their most successful ever with two Premier tournament victories & decent showings at the majors. However they have had a bit of a change around in their squad, with Forev leaving briefly and MP leaving permanently to Team Secret. This season they’ve only entered one Premier tournament which ended with a poor 8^th-9^th place finish.

You can esports bet on MVP Phoenix at odds of 50/1 to win the Boston Major 2016 with Betway.

WarriorsGaming.Unity are a Malaysian side making their DotA 2 Major debut. Their only other showing in a Premier tournament was the Nanyang Dota 2 Championships Season 2 where they finished 7^th-8^th. They’re showing good form in local tournaments but are not a real threat here.

You can get esports betting odds of 100/1 with Betway for them to win the Boston Major outright.

Execration are a Phillipines side and the least favoured of all the Invited teams. They have shown some good form in smaller tournaments but have not qualified for a Premier tournament in 2016. They’ve also had a big turnover in their squad recently with players changing on several occasions which does not make for good team cohesion.

You can make an e-sports bet with odds of 150/1 from Betway if you fancy them to win the Boston Major 2016.

The US side, complexity Gaming are the least favoured team for the Boston major 2016. They have consistently attended Premier DotA 2 tournaments for years and have taken part in two of the DotA 2 Majors last year. However they haven’t done well in these tournaments and have lost a number of key players recently and so are not the side they once were.

If your esport betting is going the way of complexity Gaming you can get odds of 250/1 with Betway.

So Who Should I Place My ESports Bets On?

At the slightly longer odds, Evil Geniuses at 6/1 or OG at 9/1 represent good value. Also, given their excellent showing at The International 2016, Digital Chaos at odds of 20/1 is tempting.

However I think Wings Gaming have to be considered very strong favourites for this tournament and that’s certainly where my money is going.

I wouldn’t personally bother with anything longer than 20/1, it’s absolutely not happening and you’re really wasting your money. However you can still use this guide to inform your bets on head-to-head matches which will appear on Betway once the tournament begins.

If you’d like to know more about esports betting then make sure your check out our eSports betting guide and our esports FAQs. They’re excellent resources to get you started or improve your betting skills.

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