PSG.LGD vs Newbee – Dota 2 Professional League Season 2

Dota2 Professional League 2018 organizers announced the important dates and prize money for the second season. The total prize fund of the season will be about $ 143.6 thousand. In addition to the cash prize, the winner will also receive a quota for MDL 2019, which will be held in February 2019.

The competition will have two stages in the regular season. The main stage to be held from 21 to 25 November and from 5 to 9 December. The playoff stage is scheduled for December 28-30. Let’s have a look at one of the matches coming our way.

The reason we have picked this match for you is that this match is between two giants of Chinese region PSG.LGD and Newbee. One of the teams is arguably having its best year but have little to show for it since they come short on big moments, PSG.LGD. While another team Newbee was a force to be reckoned with in the past year and now are a shadow of their former self. Let’s see will Newbee come out top against the side of PSG.LGD.

PSG.LGD

The year 2018 for PSG.LGD can be simply phrased as “so close yet so far”. They have built up a reputation as being the best team in the initial stages of prestigious competitions but when it comes to winning games that matter the most, they simply disappoint. This simply has been the theme of the team all year long. We are looking into the initial statistics of the team because the roster has remained unchanged. Since the LGD came under the ownership of one of the richest football clubs, PSG. So let’s have a comprehensive look at the team.

PSG.LGD started this feat at the beginning of the year when they won some of the biggest competitions of the DPC to secure a direct invite to the biggest competition of the year, The International. In the competition, it seemed like they were not able to evolve since they faced their grand final opponent’s, OG, three times in the competition and were not able to beat them. Their TI run was quite admirable since they made their way to the grand finals, beating some of the best and biggest teams. However, the failure to evaluate their opponents and at times underestimating OG was not a good move for the Chinese lineup.

After the run at TI8, the team participated in a small competition known as the PVP Esports Championship. Here the only big test they had was against Team Secret. They completely failed their test and were beaten 2-0 in the semis. Before facing Secret, PSG.LGD completely dominated in all stages of the competition but couldn’t prevail when mattered.

The team of PSG.LGD had a similar run in the first Premier competition of the DPC, The Kuala Lumpur Major. They were unbeaten in the group stage. Then dominated initially in the playoffs. Their first few games were against tier 2 teams. Then their next big game was against Secret which they were beaten 2-0 and then in the lower bracket, they faced Evil Geniuses one of the best NA teams in the competition. Evil Geniuses also beat them 2-0. After the competition, many analysts criticized them of being overrated due to the fact that against weaker teams they do well but couldn’t get results against the bigger teams.

So, will they prevail against one of the forgotten names of the competitive world of Dota 2, Newbee?

Newbee

Newbee is in a drought since the implementation of the DPC. They were the grand finalists of the TI7. Therefore, everyone expected them to be a force to be reckoned with in the following season. The only time the team shined in 2018 was at ESL One Genting back in January. Since then they had multiple rosters as well as organizational problems. They failed to deliver decent results all year long. Their organizational problems might have an impact on their in-game performance since their owner had faced multiple lawsuits for money embezzlement and corruption. These lawsuits are not new in the Chinese region as almost every team have trails going on. Hence, it shouldn’t have an impact on the lineup of the team but we really do not know what is the cause except for this.

The team has even had multiple roster changes which saw a couple of their players leaving the team on bad terms. Newbee has found replacements but it doesn’t seem like they have been successful in their objective. The side after the TI8 has failed to qualify for two competitions, The ESL Hamburg and The Kuala Lumpur Major. In the qualifiers, they were beaten by new lineups like RNG and Team Aster. This just shows how much the team is struggling at the moment. The team really lacks the winning chemistry and are nowhere near the form they were in the TI7.

New Patch

One of the biggest deciders of this game will be the new patch. The patch 7.20 has just landed less than three days ago and it has completely changed how the game is being played at the moment. The meta has completely changed, it is unclear to predict out a true winner. We honestly don’t know how the game will be played. But we do know that how the Chinese play, they are not known to play aggressive and finish the game early. They have the reputation to play games late and farm as much as possible. This patch has extended the map which means that both teams will have a lot of time and space to finish the game late. So, get ready for a really long-lasting game.

Final Verdict

So now we know about PSG.LGD, Newbee and the new updated game. Let’s decide who will be the winner. PSG.LGD have all the tools, they have almost always dominated weaker opponents and it is fair to say that at the moment, Newbee is not even close to being called a tier 2 team. This best of two game will likely to be dominated by the PSG.LGD. There is a big question mark on how the patch will work since it is the first big competition after the release of the 7.20.

PSG.LGD 2-0 Newbee

Odds on bookmakers

Bookmakers	PSG.LGD Odds		Draw Odds		Newbee Odds
	European	American	European	American	European	American
GG.bet	1.71	-140	2.47	+147.00	7.66	+666.00
Thunderpick	1.83	-120	2.37	+137.00	8.63	+763.00