win.gg
Win.gg Dota 2 These are the smart betting favorites for the WePlay AniMajor

These are the smart betting favorites for the WePlay AniMajor

Author Icon
William Davis Published 25/05/2021

18 teams will compete for $500,000 at an anime-themed Dota 2 tournament in Ukraine.

The WePlay AniMajor marks the second international Dota 2 tournament since the start of 2020. Dota’s six regions have spent the last six weeks battling for major positions. The $500,000 prize pool provided plenty of motivation. Of the 18 squads attending, only one can become champion.

The teams will enter the competition at different stages. The six DPC champions of each region advance directly to the playoffs. The group stage consists of the regional runners-up. The wild card round features two rosters each from China and Western Europe and two more from Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia. They’ll compete for the two remaining slots in the AniMajor group stage.

WePlay AniMajor betting favorites

Team Aster

China is Dota 2’s strongest region, and Aster is China’s strongest team. After a historic reverse sweep of Evil Geniuses, Singapore champions Invictus Gaming came home to fourth in China’s upper division. Team Aster has dominated their home country in Invictus’ stead. The squad’s only loss this season was against EHOME, who won’t be in Kiev. Midlaner Liu “WhiteAlbum” Yuhao and carry Du “Monet” Peng are a fearsome combination, controlling the midgame and lategame respectively. They’ll likely deliver at the AniMajor just like they’ve done all season long.

Alliance

In an era dominated by late-game strategies, Alliance’s drafting philosophy stands out from the crowd. Captain and TI3 champion Gustav “s4” Magnusson favors an even power curve throughout the game. The strategy earned the team a near-flawless 6-1 record in Western Europe’s upper division. Support duo Simon “Handsken” Haag and Artsiom “fng” Barshak are the players to watch at the WePlay AniMajor. Explosive support combos like Grimstroke Lina and Nyx Assassin Snapfire make them just as entertaining as Alliance’s cores. A playoff start dodges a lot of potential problem matchups. s4’s unique drafting style could give them an edge over other teams.

WePlay AniMajor betting dark horses

Evil Geniuses

The North American juggernaut scored silver in Singapore and came within a single teamfight of winning the championship. Season 2 hasn’t gone quite as smoothly for EG. The team lost its playoff spot to Quincy Crew after a close series lost. 

But the sheer talent on the team cannot be understated. Off laner Daryl “iceiceice” Pei Xiang, mid laner Abed Yusop, and carry Artour “Arteezy” Babaev all have enough star power to build a team around. The support duo is also top notch. As one of the most experienced teams at the AniMajor, Evil Geniuses stand a solid chance of winning from the group stage, and could be a dark horse to take the entire event.

PSG.LGD

Despite losing their playoff berth to Aster, LGD stands a very good chance of winning the AniMajor. Wang “Ame” Chunyu has retained his reputation as one of the deadliest carries in the world with a 6.64 KDA across patch 7.29. His late-game dominance is backed by Zhang “Faith_bian” Ruida’s versatility. LGD’s off laner has played 24 different heroes across the patch. While their individual stats paint a pretty picture, PSG.LGD is also one of the most coordinated squads in action. LGD could make short work of the preliminaries on the way to the podium.

The Dota 2 WePlay AniMajor begins on June 2 with the playoffs starting June 8. The tournament will be streamed in English and Russian across four Twitch channels. All AniMajor streams can be watched concurrently on the WePlay Twitch Team page.

William Davis
About William Davis

View full profile
Read Also
Yandex to repeat?: BLAST SLAM VIII preview, predictions, and more Dota 2
Yandex to repeat?: BLAST SLAM VIII preview, predictions, and more Michael Hassall If you can believe it, we’re already on the eighth edition of BLAST SLAM, as BLAST SLAM VIII kicks off tomorrow (Sep. 29) pitting 16 of the world’s best Dota 2 teams against each other in what promises to be the first big challenge of this young season. Let’s face it: At PGL Wallachia, we were missing a lot of the heavy hitters. No TI15 champs, no PARIVISION, not BetBoom, ...
Unstoppable Yandex crush NAVI in one-sided PGL Wallachia finals Dota 2
Unstoppable Yandex crush NAVI in one-sided PGL Wallachia finals Michael Hassall Team Yandex has swept the grand finals of the PGL Wallachia Season 9 Dota 2 tournament, defeating Natus Vincere (NAVI) in a 3-0 drubbing this past weekend (Sep. 27). As predicted, the revitalized Yandex, hot off the signing of former Team Falcons star Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf, crushed their youthful opponents in a three-game sweep in the best-of-five finals. Here’s how it happened: After upsetting the star-studded LGD Gaming roster (albeit ...
Team Yandex to win it all? PGL Wallachia Season 9 Finals preview and predictions Dota 2
Team Yandex to win it all? PGL Wallachia Season 9 Finals preview and predictions Michael Hassall The first big event after TI15, PGL Wallachia Season 9, wraps up this Sunday, Sep. 27, and it’s set to be a hell of a show. After a solid week of action, with some surprise eliminations along the way, we’re down to just three teams from the original 16. Team Yandex, LGD Gaming, and Natus Vincere (NAVI) remain, having battled through some big upsets to get there. Yandex are hot ...
MidOne to Play for Team Liquid at BLAST Slam 8, Replacing Nisha: Permanent or Stand-in? Dota 2
MidOne to Play for Team Liquid at BLAST Slam 8, Replacing Nisha: Permanent or Stand-in? Owen Harsono Like most other Dota 2 teams, Team Liquid have also undergone roster changes after The International 2026, replacing Ace for Wisper. However, a swap in offlaners wasn’t the end, as veteran mid-laner MidOne has been registered under the team ahead of BLAST Slam 8, taking Nisha’s spot. Is MidOne only acting as a stand-in, or is this going to be a permanent move? Here’s what we know. On September 25, ...
PGL Wallachia Season 9 Playoffs preview and predictions Dota 2
PGL Wallachia Season 9 Playoffs preview and predictions Michael Hassall PGL Wallachia Season 9 is the first major tournament since the 2025/2026 Dota 2 season came to its conclusion at TI15, and with the roster shuffle still, well, shuffling, and top teams skipping the event while they get things finalized, it’s been an unusual tournament so far. With some surprising names in the playoffs (especially if you’ve been following the scene for the rest of the year) and the absence ...
ESIC hand down ruling in EWC Dota match-fixing case: Lifetime ban for coach as DarkMago gets a nickel Dota 2
ESIC hand down ruling in EWC Dota match-fixing case: Lifetime ban for coach as DarkMago gets a nickel Michael Hassall South American Dota 2 player Gonzalo "DarkMago" Herrera will be banned for five years from competitive Dota 2, with his coach Juan "Vintage" Angulo banned permanently, following the results of an The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) investigation. ESIC handed down the findings and rulings from its investigation into match-fixing allegations leveled at members of South American Dota 2 team PlayTime during the Esports World Cup on Sep. 10, in a ...
Polystrike Turns a Dota 2 Mod Into a Standalone Tactical Shooter News
Polystrike Turns a Dota 2 Mod Into a Standalone Tactical Shooter Hannan Mundia After the community-made mod found success within the community, developer and publisher Robin Entertainment has decided to turn Polystrike into a proper standalone game. Community-made mods of games finding success within the respective game’s community is nothing new. However, only a handful of those mods are able to go on and become a standalone game. One of the more recent examples is The Forgotten City, which started as a mod ...