Team Yandex to win it all? PGL Wallachia Season 9 Finals preview and predictions
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 favorites, but can a Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan-infused LGD flip the script and take things for the finals. Here’s our predictions and insights from the markets and preview of the PGL Wallachia Season 9 Finals.
PGL Wallachia Season 9 Playoff recap
While our initial predictions for the PGL Wallachia Season 9 Playoffs came out almost perfectly, things started to get strange after the second round of the PGL Wallachia S9 playoffs. First odd occurrence was the utter meltdown of 1win. The organization has really not lived up to to the standards of its players at any point since their signing, and continued that trend here with a not so surprising loss to Yandex, but then a shocking 2-1 elimination by perennial middle-of-the-pack GamerLegion. 1win really lived up to their name in the playoffs, and getting eliminated by NA’s only rep is just disappointing.
Aurora Gaming, another top team, fared little better. After a great win to kick off the playoffs, the team were shocked by a resurgent NAVI, who are playing like they’re frustrated they never got to show their strength at TI15.
NAVI went on to eliminate Xtreme Gaming, who’d finally remembered how to play Dota 2 only at the start of the tournament.
Meanwhile, LGD Gaming look like a perfect plug-and-play team if you have a spare superstar. With SumaiL at the helm, instead of Topson, the squad has cruised to the final three, but struggled with their initial meeting with Yandex. Who knew that Team Yandex would flourish into the scariest team in Dota 2 with the addition of just one man, Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf. Well, actually, any team who picked this superstar up from the Falcons explosion would have managed to dominate, but Yandex and veteran Saksa are definitely the clear beneficiaries. ATF gels so well with this team, its hard to imagine a different winner to the tournament. Still here’s our thoughts on what’s set to go down.
PGL Wallachia Season 9 Finals predictions
Image credit: PGL
LGD Gaming vs. NAVI
It’s a difficult one to call here because this feels truly like the battle between star power and team synergy. This NAVI team are good, and the NAVI organization has been one of the better at nurturing talent (only a step behind Team Spirit). They’ve played together for several months and there’s a lot of talent.
But LGD has SumaiL, and SumaiL is fantastic. This LGD organization has gone through so much, with the TaiLung issues and not finding a permanent replacement yet. And this turmoil hasn’t led to trophies just yet. Now with a roster of stars (Sneyking, Davai, SumaiL), this event could be the first, if they managed to keep things together. Just so long as the picks are right and the short-term synergy sticks. We’re picking LGD, against the Prediction markets, but a 61/39 split (as it was at the time of writing) is no sure deal.
Team Yandex vs. TBD
Team Yandex are heir apparents to this trophy, having really dominated it at every turn. We’ve already gushed about ATF above, but the lane of Saksa and ATF is just a mean lane. A cocky and brutal lane. ATF will be able to deal with Saksa’s signature move of roaming and causing havoc, because ATF doesn’t need a support to win lane.
We’re going with Team Yandex against all comers.
Featured Image Credit: PGL
Michael is a eight-year veteran of the games writing space, but has being playing them for as long as he can remember. With bylines across the internet, he’s used his expertise to cover esports, prediction markets, mainstream gaming, streamers, and more besides.
View full profileRead Also
Dota 2
Dota 2
Dota 2
News
Dota 2
Dota 2
Dota 2