Alliance got off to a blistering hot start in ESL One Germany and the team is looking to keep that momentum going in the playoffs. Doing so starts with a win over Vikin.gg.
Vikin.gg is coming off the first prominent event victory in organization history, winning BTS Pro Series Season 3. Though this largely came at the expense of tier-two teams, Vikin.gg has proven on many occasions now that it can hang with Europe’s finest.
The two teams will face off on October 24 in the first round of the playoffs.
Alliance has been a serious force in Europe throughout 2020, but the team has struggled with consistency throughout the year. The team has been on an upswing since the end of summer, and is looking to be in strong form in ESL One Germany.Â
Alliance carved its way through the group stage with a 3-0 record, beating Extremum, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and OG to earn a spot in the playoffs. It was an impressive performance from Alliance, which could hint at success moving forward.
The full Alliance roster is competing in the ESL One Germany playoffs:
Alliance doesn’t seem to be bringing anything particularly new to the table thus far, but the team looks to be in strong form at the event. Whether that will translate to a strong placement remains to be seen.
Vikin.gg has been a welcome addition to the European Dota 2 scene. The organization actually had a rocky start to its time in Dota 2, putting together a solid roster in September 2019 that inexplicably fell apart, but has been solid throughout 2020.
The team’s greatest successes have been in tier-two and three events, including winning several tournaments in the spring. Vikin.gg showed that it can hang with legitimate competition at ESL One Los Angeles, where it took third place and famously delivered a shock upset win over Team Secret. Vikin.gg is actually the most recent team to eliminate Secret from a Dota 2 tournament, and brings that same roster into the event:
The trouble is that while Vikin.gg has impressed and dominated the tier-two scene, it hasn’t looked especially impressive in tier-one events. Outside of Team Liquid, Vikin.gg has a losing head-to-head record against every top European team.
They’ll be looking to even things out a bit against Alliance, and will also try and over-perform in another ESL One tournament.
Winners.bet has Vikin.gg as a clear underdog to Alliance, with the odds currently standing at 1.45 vs. 2.55. These odds are in line with those of other betting sites offering action on this match.
The head-to-head record between Alliance and Vikin.gg currently stands at 3-2-1, with Alliance owning three wins, Vikin.gg having two, and the teams sharing a single draw. Their last showdown came in the Omega League playoffs, which Alliance won in 2-0 fashion.
As the head-to-head record suggests, Vikin.gg is capable of taking wins off of Alliance. Alliance should be looked at as the clear favorite to win this match though, which basically makes this a question of whether 2.55 is juicy enough to chase an underdog pick.
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