Newbee
Newbee got to this year’s TI by receiving a direct invite after a series of very good results obtained in the wake of The Kiev Major disaster, where they were eliminated in the first round of the competition. The Chinese team got 4 top 3 finishes just prior to The International 2017. They finished 1st at Galaxy Battles, 1st at ZOTAC Cup Masters, 2nd at The Manila Masters and 3rd at Mars Dota 2 League.
One of Newbee’s strengths is that they’ve had the same roster for close to a year and as a result are playing very well together. The team is led by Hu “Kaka” Lianzghi, a top MMR support player in the Chinese region with great experience and a lot of trophies to his name. Under his leadership, Newbee have had strong performances in the months prior to The International 2017, and are now considered a top contender for the Aegis of Champions.
Execration
They are a heavy underdog at the moment and have achieved very little in 2017: a 5th-6th place finish at ESL One Genting 2017 in January, and a 2nd place in the APAC qualifier for the World Cyber Arena 2017. Furthermore, they barely made it to this year’s TI, after a 5-4 result (being tied for 5th place with Team Faceless) in the group stage of the Southeast Asian regional qualifier, and a victory over Clutch Gamers (score 2-1) in the loser’s bracket Finals during the second phase of the competition.
With a roster of little known players, Execration are still a big question mark at The International 2017, but are generally expected to do poorly against most of the higher caliber teams.
Head To Head Record
With their current rosters, the two teams have never played against each other.
Betting Odds And Predictions
So far at this TI, Newbee have played 2 matches: one against Invictus Gaming (score 1-1), and one against Cloud9 (which they won, score 2-0). On the other side, Execration have also played two matches, resulting in a loss (against LGD Forever Young) and an unexpected draw (against Virtus.pro).
At the moment, it cannot be said if Execration’s draw against one of the tournament favorites (Virtus.pro) was a fluke, or if the Southeast Asian team really is capable of producing big upsets. In the meantime, considering the two teams’ overall performance and their results prior to The International 2017, I think it’s safe to say that Newbee are the clear favorites in this dispute. Both Betway and Betspawn put the odds decisively in their favor: 1.45-2.85-12.50 and 1.44-2.97-14.60 respectively.
A lot of special bets are available for this match on websites like betway.com and betspawn.com. Among them, it’s well worth a bet that Newbee will destroy the first barracks in both games. The Chinese team slaying the first Roshan is also a bet worth taking.
Top Betting Tip
My top betting tip for this match is Newbee to win 2-0. They’re a Dota 2 machine at the moment and it will be hard for a team of unknowns to stand in their way. Keep an eye on the drafts though. If by any chance Newbee get heavily outdrafted, or pick heroes with terrible win rates at this tournament, then Execration might have a shot at achieving the impossible and taking a game off them.