The fourth major tournament of the 2018-19 season will take place next week when 16 teams from around the world vie for supremacy at MDL Disneyland Paris. There is a $1 million prize pool and 15,000 DPC Points to dish out, and every stage of the competition should be thrilling. The top teams are more concerned about the cash and the international glory, while the lesser teams are looking to collect the points they need to qualify for the most lucrative tournament in Esports, The International. The last three Internationals have all had prizes pools of over $20 million, and results there make or break organizations.
DOTA 2 MDL Disneyland Paris Betting Odds
Team Secret +130
PSG.LGD +180
Vici Gaming +180
Virtus.Pro +480
Team Liquid +700
Evil Geniuses +1700
Keen Gaming +1800
Fnatic +1850
OG +1885
Ninjas in Pyjamas +2500
Mineski +3000
TEAM TEAM +3500
Team Empire +4000
Chaos Esports Club +4000
Pain Gaming +5000
Complexity Gaming +5000
The Favorites
The three favorites coming into this event are Team Secret, PSG.LGD, and Vici Gaming. Secret has only won one of the three majors this year, the Chongqing Major, but they have largely looked like the best team in the world. This is the definition of an international organization with players from Denmark, Malaysia, Germany, Jordan, and Estonia, and they have been together as a squad for over 20 months now. Secret routed TFT, OG, and Ninjas in Pyjamas to make it here, and they are largely the favorites because they shouldn’t face a real challenge in a group with Ninjas in Pyjamas, Chaos, and Team Empire.
PSG.LGD are the sentimental favorites as this competition is taking place in Paris. Paris Saint-Germain bought a share in LGD last year, and this has long been one of the best teams in Asia. They finished second to OG at The International in 2018, but we have yet to see them match that performance at majors this year. PSG.LGD have been consistent with fourth to sixth place finishes in each of the three majors, but it can’t feel good to be swept by Evil Geniuses twice.
Vici Gaming won the last major, so there is plenty of optimism with regards to their chances. Vici knocked off Team Secret, PSG.LGD, and Virtus. Pro en route to the title, but all three series went to decisive final games. This team may finally be clicking at just the right time with Yang, Fade, and Dy now having been on the team for eight months. Vici have to be gritting their teeth after being drawn into the same group as PSG.LGD.
The Primary Challenger
It’s a bit curious to see Virtus not listed with the favorites. The best team from the CIS region has performed fabulously at the previous three majors, and there are no major changes in their lineup coming into this event. Virtus beat Secret to win the Kuala Lumpur Major, finished second to Secret in Chongqing, and they nearly knocked off Vici at DreamLeague Season 11 in March. They are the only team in DOTA 2 history with five majors, so I love them at this price even though they are in a tricky group that includes Keen Gaming and Team Liquid.
Best of the Rest
Liquid are the next favorites to win, but this team has underperformed outside of The International. We saw Liquid reign supreme and sweep Newbee at the 2017 International, and they finished fourth behind Evil Geniuses last year, but they didn’t qualify for Kuala Lumpur, and they came outside of the top 12 at DreamLeague. That’s not promising coming into this event.
Evil Geniuses are an intriguing dark horse given their history at majors, and they are in a group without a major contender. OG and Fnatic are the two teams most likely to compete with them, but they can win the group and set themselves in good position to make a run at this price.
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