The playoffs to the Great American Rivalry are finally here, with the action being kicked off by a showdown between CR4ZY and Thunder Predator.
The top seed from the group stage is taking on the fourth seed in the upper bracket. Both have made strong impressions in this online league era of Dota 2, but neither has gotten that big tournament victory that will stamp them as one of the best teams in the west.Â
They’ll be looking to change that here, with each team’s eyes on the $21,000 top prize of the event.
The former Fighting PandaS squad has had to deal with a lot of adversity over the last few months, losing two of its star players in Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao and Jingjun “Sneyking” Wu and playing shorthanded since June 15. Despite that, the team has been generally strong, placing in the top four at every event since the start of the online portion of the 2019-2020 season.
At the Great American Rivalry, CR4ZY has been playing with the following roster:
The Great American Rivalry has been one of the team’s best performances to date. CR4ZY went 12-6 in the group stage, with its only 2-0 loss coming from tournament favorites Quincy Crew.
They face a stiff test in their first playoff match against Thunder Predator.
The 2019-2020 Dota Pro Circuit season was shaping up to be a transformative one for South American Dota 2, with beastcoast flexing its muscles and posting solid performances in the first two majors. Over the last few months though, things have shifted. While beastcoast has suffered with consistency issues from event to event, Thunder Predator has hit its stride.
Though Thunder Predator hasn’t been consistently bringing home trophies in interregional events, it has also taken wins off of almost every notable team in North and South America.
Thunder Predator has been fielding the following roster:
The team has been good, but is still looking for a first-place finish in an event featuring teams from outside South America. The Great American Rivalry might just be that event.
Since the start of the online league era, CR4ZY and Thunder Predator have a heads-up record standing at two wins apiece. They’ve also had a draw in the group stage of the Great American Rivalry, with the two teams splitting the series 1-1. The early outlook is that the odds will be close to even between the two teams.
If that’s the case, there is a serious value in a bet available on Thunder Predator. The team has been hot over the last month, with its only losses coming at the hands of Quincy Crew and Evil Geniuses. CR4ZY has looked a definitive cut below those two strong sides despite showing its own generally solid play.
Don’t bet the house on Thunder Predator, though. This is still an online league, and if Thunder Predator starts experiencing troublesome network conditions, it could put them at a severe disadvantage.
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