ESL One Berlin Major Betting Preview: Teams, Odds & Predictions

As a Dota 2 fan, you won’t want to miss the ESL One Berlin Major – the highly-anticipated event. Following the unforgettable Lima Major, the stakes are even higher as the world’s top teams go head-to-head in the battle for glory and a share of the massive prize pool.

If you’re looking to elevate your viewing experience, then look no further than our exclusive ESL One Berlin Major betting preview. We’re bringing you the latest insights, analysis, and predictions, so you can make informed wagers. Don’t miss out on this epic showdown – read on for all the details!

ESL One Berlin Major Overview

Series	Dota Pro Circuit/ESL One
Start Date	26th April
End Date	7th May
Venue	Velodrom, Berlin, Germany
Teams	18
Prize	$500,000

ESL One Berlin Major Event Format

In order to bet on Dota 2, learning the format is an essential step.

Similar to prior Majors, the ESL One Berlin Major will feature multiple stages of the competition. To get to this point, the best Dota 2 teams have been seeded from multiple regions:

• Four teams: Western Europe, China
• Three teams: Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe
• Two teams: North America, South America

Initially, all eighteen teams will have to fight through a Group Stage. Accordingly, two groups of nine ESL One Berlin Major 2023 teams have been determined as follows:

• Group A: 9 Pandas, BetBoom Team, Evil Geniuses, Execration, Gaimin Gladiators, PGS.LGD, Team Aster, Team Liquid, TSM
• Group B: beastcoast, Invictus Gaming, OG, Shopify Rebellion, Talon Esports, Team SMG, Team Spirit, Tundra Esports, Xtreme Gaming

Within each, a single round-robin will take place, where each team faces one another once in BO2 matches. Moving onto the Playoffs from each Group will be determined by the following criteria:

• 1-4th – Playoffs Upper Bracket
• 5-6th – Playoffs Lower Bracket
• 7-9th – Eliminated

Once in the Playoffs, the competition will be decided by a simple, double-elimination bracket.

For those unaware, teams who lose an Upper Bracket match fall to the Lower Bracket – an additional loss in the Lower Bracket results in elimination.

Notably, all matches in the Playoffs are BO3, except for the epic BO5 Grand Final – the pinnacle of ESL One Berlin Major betting!

Dota 2 ESL One Berlin Major Schedule

With regards to the Dota 2 ESL One Berlin schedule, the two stages of the competition will take place over the listed dates:

• Group Stage – 26-30th April
• Playoffs – 1-7th May

In addition, with the Group Stage kicking off in the coming days, both Group A and B will be taking place simultaneously. Bearing this in mind, we’ve listed the full schedule for 26th April, Group A below – a taste of the Dota 2 ESL One Berlin Major schedule:

April 26th – Group A – CEST

• Evil Geniuses vs Gaimin Gladiators (12:00)
• PSG.LGD vs Execration (12:00)
• 9 Pandas vs TSM (12:00)
• BetBoom Gaming vs Aster (12:00)
• Team Liquid vs Aster (14:30)
• TSM vs BetBoom (14:30)
• PSG.LGD vs Gaimin Gladiators (14:30)
• Execration vs Evil Geniuses (14:30)

To view the entire schedule for the event, we recommend tuning in to the ESL One Dota Twitter page.

Prize Pool and DPC Points

Beyond the overall $500,000 prize pool at stake, the Dota Pro Circuit Points on the line are equally valuable and will determine seeding for future Dota 2 tournaments later in the year – here’s a breakdown of the prize:

• #1 – $200,000 + 500 DPC Points
• #2 – $100,000 + 450 DPC Points
• #3 – $75,000 + 400 DPC Points
• #4 – $50,000 + 350 DPC Points
• #5-6 – $25,000 + 300 DPC Points
• #7-8 – $12,500 + 200 DPC Points

ESL One Berlin Major Teams and Predictions

As we mentioned earlier, the 18 teams attending this Major event have earned their spot through regional competition across the Dota Pro Circuit.

Bearing this in mind, the following are the ESL One Berlin Major 2023 teams according to region:

• Western Europe – Team Liquid, Tundra Esports, Gaimin Gladiators, OG
• Eastern Europe – 9 Pandas, Team Spirit, BetBoom Team
• China – Xtreme Gaming, PSG.LGD, Invictus Gaming, Team Aster
• Southeast Asia – Talon Esports, Execration, Team SMG
• North America – TSM, Shopify Rebellion
• South America – beastcoast, Evil Geniuses

Favourites – Repeating the Lima Major?

Considering how recent the Lima Major was, standings from that event still apply, especially considering that the majority of teams also participated at that event.

Bearing this in mind, Gaimin Gladiators are the defending international champions, while recently placing 3rd in the most recent regional Western European DPC Tour. Indeed, the Dota 2 odds will likely favour this team.

Speaking of Western Europe, Team Liquid are another example which prove that WEU is truly the most competitive region in the Dota scene. Anyways, after placing second at the Lima Major, they maintained their form to win the WEU DPC Tour.

Our third favourite would have to be the likes of Talon Esports, as a representative of the rising Southeast Asia DPC region. Since placing third at the Lima Major, they have continued to dominate their region and will look to replicate their results internationally.

Underdogs – Familiar Yet New Faces

Kicking off our underdogs discussion is the curious name of ‘9 Pandas‘. While the name may be new, the team consists of the entire former HellRaisers roster.

Anyways, the new name should not distract from the fact that this team earned the first seed from Eastern Europe DPC – definitely dark horse material for our Dota 2 predictions.

Mounting an impressive run of form in their respective region, Xtreme Gaming are an underdog here considering they didn’t even attend the Lima Major earlier this year. Despite this, they managed to be crowned the kings of China and could certainly go deep into this competition.

How to Bet on ESL One Berlin Major

If you’ve never placed a bet on Dota 2 and fancy giving it a shot, the ESL One Berlin Major could be a great place to start. Bearing this in mind, it’s worth knowing what type of bets one can place using the right Dota 2 betting sites. 

Specifically, here are some examples of betting markets which will be available with Dota 2 ESL One Berlin Major odds: 

• Tournament Outright Odds – prior to a tournament starting, there’s the chance to place a bet on who you think will come out on top.
• Match Outright Odds – predicting whether a match will end in a win for a particular team, or in some instances a draw. Often, a map handicap is present to keep things more balance.
• Total Kills – specified on a particular map, one may bet on which team they believe will have most total kills regardless of win or loss.
• Special Bets – sometimes, special bets are available which usually correlate to occurrences of an event, such as an Aegis of the Immortal being stolen by a particular team
• Live Betting – apart from betting pre-emptively, one may try out in-play or live betting and enjoy the experience of placing bets on the fly

How to Watch – ESL One Berlin Major Betting

Speaking of live betting, you’ll want to view the event either through Twitch or YouTube channels owned by ESL One. 

Regardless of how long Dota 2 has been around, the excitement for any upcoming Major always lights a spark in the community. It’s for this reason that such events are known to be fantastic esports betting opportunities – ESL One Berlin Major betting looks to be no exception.