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The road to The International 2023 for teams from Southeast Asia continues. In the race for the only slot to the year's main tournament, which will be held this October in Seattle, USA, are the region's top teams that didn't make it to the TI directly. Which, for a second, is everyone but Talon Esports.
We're looking at the top grid of The International 2023 - SEA Qualifier, where the match to reach the grand final of the qualifiers is approaching. Team SMG and Blacklist International will be competing to advance to the final match.
Both teams have claimed direct passage to the Long Sogpeg Championship before the Long Sogpeg. So far they are proving their abilities, which means that the match promises to be The International heresy.
As mentioned above, the winner of the series goes to The International 2023 Grand Final - SEA Qualifier, while the loser goes to the lower grid, where the team will have the last chance to succeed.
We try to figure out who goes where with betting tipNEW for the SMG - Blacklist International match in The International 2023 - SEA Qualifier.
Let's go.
Blacklist International Form
Let's open the match with an analysis of Blacklist International's form. In this match, the team plays the first number one.
Bookmakers believe in the success of a very cheerful Filipino roster. The odds for the team's victory are at around 1.5.
The figure is not surprising, as Blacklist were among the main contenders for The International before the tournament's Long Round. After the previous round of the top round, they were actually the main favourite for the race.
In the first round of the DPC 2023 Blacklist International they finished in the top 4, one step away from reaching the Lima Major 2023. This is nothing, because at DPC 2023: Sea Division 1 Tour 2 the situation was worse. At DPC 2023: SEA Tour 2 Blacklist International were already in the top 5. There was obviously no Major to speak of.
In between very mediocre results at DPC 2023, the team participated in local events. This was the BTS Pro Series Season 14, where BI took the top 3.
The key result for the year, however, was a top-2 finish in the third round of the DPC followed by an appearance at Bali Major 2023. Unfortunately for Blacklist and their fans, the club with big name players failed to show class at their only international tournament of the season. At Bali Major 2023, Blacklist finished in the top 14.
- Blacklist International lineup: Raven, Karl, kpii, TIMS, kuku.
Bali Major 2023 was the last tournament for BI before the Long Sogpeg qualifiers for The International 2023. Despite a very mediocre result, the club kept the squad unchanged.
The team met Army Geniuses in the first round of the upper grid, where Blacklist got to thanks to the top 2 on the third round of the DPC and 360 DPC points in the asset. The match ended 2-0 in favour of Blacklist, but the match was not an easy ride, Blacklist had problems, especially on the first map.
In the match before that Blacklist played against Bleed. The match, which promised to be a battle of equal teams, turned out to be a beating of one of the sides. Iceiceice and company were unable to do anything against the serious-minded BI and as a result went to the lower grid.
Blacklist International's most popular heroes
Among the most peaked heroes of Blacklist International is Pangolier. He has appeared in the peak 9 times and has a 77% win rate.
Next are Rubick (8 matches, 62% wins), Doom (6 matches, 83% wins).
There were also Techies (5 matches, 100% wins) and Enchantress (5 games, 60% wins).
Team SMG uniforms
We continue the match analysis with the analysis of Team SMG's form. In this match the club plays the second number.
Bookmakers are not ready to believe in the old guard of MidOne. The odds for SMG's success in this match are at around 2.3.
As far as I'm concerned, that's a workable number. Prior to the Long Sogpeg tournament, SMG were one of the four contenders to win the tournament, but had the least chance of success due to their erratic and often incomprehensible results. As a result, they are already top 3 qualifiers and looking pretty good.
Team SMG started the year with a "mediocre" result. The team finished top-5 at DPC SEA 2023 Tour 1: Division 1 and then played at The Arena Anthem.
The local The Arena Anthem ended prematurely for SMG, as the team didn't finish it. But they did finish the second round of the DPC.
At DPC 2023: SEA Upper Division Tour 1 MidOne and company took the top 3. This, by the way, was enough to get to The Berlin Major 2023. However, they didn't manage to show their game there.
Team SMG failed The Berlin Major 2023 at the group stage. The team played groupstage with the score 1-2-5, which cut off their chances to qualify for the play-offs. As a result, The Berlin Major ended with SMG in the top 16.
- Team SMG roster: MidOne, None, masaros, ah fu, Januel.
The last tournament before the qualifiers for The International 2023 was the third round of DPC. There SMG took their usual top 5, didn't go to Major, but at least kept a slot in the first league. However, it doesn't make any sense at the qualifications.
They made their debut at The International 2023 - SEA Qualifier with a duel against Geek Fam, especially being an outsider. After losing the first one, SMG outscored Geek Fam 2-1 on class.
In the match for the top 3, Team SMG faced Execration. The team with the most DPC points before Long Sogpeg qualifications went to the bottom of the qualification grid, but SMG is at the top and seems to be ready to fight hard.
Team SMG's most popular characters
The top of the most chosen Team SMG characters is headed by Crystal Maiden. The character has appeared in the peak 6 times and has an 83% win rate.
Apart from Crystal Maiden, Disruptor and Underlord are also appreciated, having been peaked 5 times each with 80% winrate. There was also Skywrath Mage (4 matches, 100% win rate), Doom (4 matches, 75% win rate), PL, Viper, Slark, Riki appeared 3 times each and has 100% win rate.
Head-to-head history
SMG and Blacklist International have played each other multiple times over the course of the 2023 DPC season. In three matches, the head-to-head score is 2-1 in favour of SMG.
Predicted result of SMG vs Blacklist International at The International 2023 - SEA Qualifiers
I will pick Blacklist International as the winner of this match. Raven and company look very monumental and left no chance at all to the direct competitor in the previous series, while SMG broke the resistance of Execration with a bit of grief. And globally Blacklist is brighter as a team, but SMG, who replaced mid Laner before Long Corner of the qualifiers, need to prove their competitiveness further, and they will do it in the lower grid.
Bottom line: Blacklist International wins.
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