The TI11 LCQ is upon us, as twelve teams brawl it out for one last chance at qualifying for the International 11 (TI11). We covered in detail Group A and Group B teams, which also feature the fan favorites we expect to perform.
As such, we included more predictions on the TI11 LCQ Opening Round 1, which can be your go-to betting slip recommendations.
T1 vs Team Liquid
It’s redemption rounds for ana and Topson, who gambled on the Southeast Asia team, T1 for their returning debut into competitive scene. Topson formerly voiced his wishes to play for a Western European team. While ana also wished to play with Chinese teams when returning to the competitive scene recently, which contradicts their current placement under T1’s namesake.
Unfortunately, this leap of faith proved to be a poor choice after losing in the recent TI11 SEA regional qualifier to Talon Esports and Polaris Esports. Against Team Liquid, T1’s crippling flaw in their drafter is still a major concern, putting the latter in a bad position against Liquid.
As such, the odds are against T1 at x3.80 while Team Liquid is at x2.50
Team Secret vs nouns
Team Secret is certainly going into this match as the favorite for many reasons. They recuperated from their season-long poor performance after picking up Roman “Resolut1on” Fomynok as offlaner. Additionally, western European teams are often highly regarded as strong regions.
Compared to nouns, which is by no means a run-in-a-mill team, they are heavily favored across all metrics. NA teams in general are having a flip-floppy season. TeamSoloMid did showcase their prominence at ESL Stockholm 2022 but was overwhelmed by OG in the finals. Meanwhile, Evil Geniuses, which is dubbed the strongest powerhouse in NA, is barely keeping up as they placed eleventh out of the top twelve on DPC 2022 Leaderboard.
We can’t expect a big upset here, but a draw is not out of the question. It’s absurd that nouns are at a whopping x9.00 odds of winning against Team Secret at x1.42 over at DuelBits.
Xtreme Gaming vs Virtus.pro
Now that VP received the green light to re-use their founding name, it’s great to call the EEU powerhouse by its hallmark. Despite the shortcomings on the DPC Leaderboard, which ultimately ruled VP out of the top twelve by 0.5 points.
VP is still a heavy contender to qualify for TI11 via this TI11 LCQ. They reunited with Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev, who was once the proclaimed best carry player in Europe.
Their match against Xtreme Gaming will surely be one of their toughest, given the Chinese powerhouse’s promising line-up. Xtreme has done wonders in their highly competitive Chinese region, where PSG.LGD, Team Aster and Royal Never Give Up ruled as China’s Big Three.
This makes Xtreme a feared team in TI11 LCQ, comparable to the likes of VP, T1, or Natus Vincere. Hence, the odds are relatively even between VP and Xtreme at approximately x3.20 returns.
Natus Vincere vs Polaris Esports
Speaking of Navi, the EEU squad reeks of seasoned players, which is reasonable considering there’s Volodymyr “Noone” Minenko and Alexey “Solo” Berezin. The former remnants of Virtus.pro’s prime, when they won multiple majors and played in TI Championships, is an unforgettable era for VP fans.
Fast forward to DPC 2022, the iconic duo now resides under the Navi namesake, which is a promising team all-around. They went neck-to-neck with the winners of TI11 EEU Regional Qualifier, BetBoom, so they are considerably decent.
Polaris, on the other hand, gained short-lived fame after halting the two-time champions’ team from qualifying to TI11. Nevertheless, they aren’t the most promising team to bet on, based on recent performance. Polaris does have the line-up to hold up their own in TI11 Last Chance Qualifier, but we will have to see how they change up their strategies going forward.
Polaris does have an x3.80 return, which is worse than Navi at x3.00. However, this is reasonable, considering Polaris’ lacklustre DPC season to begin with.
If we setup a nice accumulator slip, selecting Polaris, VP, Secret and T1 we are looking at x75 return on our investment. I don’t expect either of these matches to finish in a draw either.
There are sixteen games on the first day of TI11 Last Chance Qualifier Opening Day. Most matches are relatively one-sided in favor of the familiar faces, but it’s advisable to know which teams live up to the expectations after Day 1.
