Team Aster vs TNC Predator – The Chongqing Dota 2 Major

The Chongqing Major, the second major DotA 2 tournament of the 2018/19 season, has already began and will end on 27 January in China. The event has a prize of US $ 1 million with16 teams in the dispute and will distribute 15 thousand points of Pro Circuit.

Pro Circuit points are needed for The International, Dota 2 World Championship, which will take place in Shanghai this year. The top 12 finishers in the overall ranking will automatically be confirmed in the championship that will take place in Shanghai, China, with no date released so far.

In the knockout, with the right of audience presence at BLOOMAGE Cultural and Sports Center, the first-round matches of the lower bracket will be in best of one (BO1) format. The remainder of the clashes, with the exception of the big final (BO5), will be played in a best of three (BO3). It should be added that teams that won twice were placed into the upper bracket while teams that got two losses on the scorecard were dropped into to the losers’ bracket. This means that no organization will be eliminated in the first step.

The reason we have picked this match for you since it is one of the most interesting games of the lower bracket, TNC vs Team Aster. Both sides have a prominent roster but have struggled in the competition and now they will compete against one another to continue their run in the 2nd Major of Dota 2 competitive circuit.

Team Aster

We could say that almost the majority of Chinese teams are formed by big stars, as is the case of Team Aster with Lius “Sylar” Jiajun, Lu “Fenrir” Chao or Fu “Q” Bin as coach. Much is expected of this team and in the first Major of Kuala Lumpur, they got very bad results. In the first round of the lower bracket of The Kuala Lumpur Major, Team Aster lost to J.Storm in a best of one match and was eliminated from the tournament.

Rollercoaster ride for Aster

The things have started to change in this second Major since the team is playing at home soil and arrived as the first team through the regional qualifier. Team Aster defeated EHOME in the second game of the qualifying play-off of China at The Chongqing Major. A team led by Liu “Sylar” Jiajun earned a slot in the main stage of the tournament.

Team Aster beat DeathBringer Gaming with a score of 2-1 in the final of H-Cup Season 11 of Dota 2. The team earned $ 4,345. DeathBringer Gaming reached the final of the championship through the winners’ bracket, and Team Aster earned a place in the decisive meeting through the lower bracket. All playoff matches were played in the best of three format.

Things looked all set for the team before coming into the competition. However, they haven’t won a single series, yet alone a single map in the competition. However, they will still be confident in the lower bracket game against TNC.

Sylar, the hope for Aster

The team will be looking for motivation from Sylar. Sylar is one of the most stable and famous players in China. He joined professional e-sports in early 2011. Sylar has always been a proven game. His heroes slowly but methodically gained an advantage in order not to leave the opponent a chance at the end. It can be said that he was a model Chinese carry in the early days of Dota 2. The biggest achievement of the team is almost winning The International 4 with VG where Sylar and the team lost to Newbee. After that, he played for the team for a limited period and joined LGD. With the team, he finished 3rd place in the TI5, where LGD lost to the eventual champions of the tournament Evil Geniuses in the lower bracket finals.

Sylar moved to EHOME in September 2016 but left the team in January 2017. Only in September, he returned to the active game in the ranks of VGJ.Thunder. After a very unsuccessful spell at VGJ, he joined the ranks of Aster to make a mark in the competitive circuit of the 2018-2019 season.

So, having one of the players that played in the grand final of The International could be a big boost for the team that is currently struggling. Team Aster just needs to win one game, which they should do at the cost of TNC.

TNC Predator

It seems that from Southeast Asia the cast is clear. Fnatic and TNC Predator dominate the first and second places in the region, in addition, exactly in that order. It seems that the TNC is better able to face teams from other regions as in the Major of Kuala Lumpur was in a deserved fifth position. However, after all the ching chong saga, Carlo Kuku Palad took leave and went into the inactive roster. Instead, TNC Predator in the upcoming tournaments will include Rio “ryOyr” Hasevag, a former Team Admiral player. This is the leadership of the Philippine club reported on Twitter.

No Kuku no party

TNC managers clarified that Kuku is still a player on the team, but it is unknown when he returns to the main squad. RyOyr has already played for TNC in the 2016/2017 season until he moved to Mineski. On December 4, Valve suspended Kuku from participating in The Chongqing Major. But the absence of the player has made an impact on the team’s performance in the competition. They haven’t won any series in the group stage, however, managed to take a game off Virtus.Pro.

The TNC team is likely to get eliminated from the competition since the side has a rich history of getting eliminated in the first elimination phase of the competition. Moreover, without Kuku, they just can’t find their rhythm. Their lack of coordination is quite prominent and Aster will surely be looking to capitalize on it.

Final Victory

Team Aster 1 – 0 TNC Predator

Odds on bookmakers

Bookmakers	Team Aster Odds		TNC Predator Odds
	European	American	European	American
GG.bet	2.22	+122.00	1.66	-151.52
Loot.bet	2.13	+113.00	1.72	-138.89
10bet	2.25	+125.00	1.60	-166.67
Betway	2.20	+120.00	1.60	-166.67