The Oceanic Esports League is drawing to a close, however, the most exciting stage of the competition is just around the corner, as the final six Australian Dota2 teams get ready to duke it out in the playoffs, slated to kick off on Tuesday, 2nd June.
The inaugural iteration of Oceanic Esports League was announced at the start of April as a Dota2 tournament, which was made for the sole purpose to help the Oceanic Dota2 scene gain the recognition it deserves. The competition was put together by a Dota2 professional player Justin “xMusiCa” Yuen, who joined forces with a multi-award-winning PC brand AFTERSHOCK and one of the leading esports bookmakers PickleBet as two of the tournament's sponsors.
Oceanic Esports League kicked off on April 13 with 10 Dota2 teams, assembled from Australian and New Zealand players, who took a swing at claiming the lion’s share of AU$25,000 prize pool.
After seven weeks of gruelling group stage fixtures, Flashpoint Gaming, Sincerely Fury, SADBOYS.AU, Adió Chula, Sweaty Soldiers and Burger Flippers emerged as the top six teams and earned themselves a spot in the final stage of the competition.
Oceanic Esports League playoffs will kick off on Tuesday, June 2, with two upper bracket fixtures where we will see Flashpoint Gaming meet with Adió Chula, followed by an exciting clash between Sincerely Fury and SADBOYS.AU. Playoffs will run from Tuesday to Saturday 6th June, when the top two teams will duke it out for the title of Oceanic Esports League champions and AU$5,000 in tournament winnings.
Dota2 Oceanic Esports League Playoffs Betting Tips - Tuesday, 2nd June
Flashpoint Gaming vs Adió Chula
Tuesday 9:00pm AEST
Flashpoint Gaming are entering the playoffs as the main favourites to go all the way and claim the spoils, however, they first need to overcome Adió Chula, who have already caused them some problems in the group stage.
Flashpoint Gaming and Adió Chula met twice throughout the tournament. In their first meeting that was played on April 20, Flashpoint Gaming came away with a 2-0 win but struggled to see the same success in the reverse fixture, which was played on May 11. Adió Chula started the rematch with a surprisingly strong performance on map one. Although they needed 38:31 minutes to win the game, they were undeniably the better side and never looked like they will lose the grip of the match.
The second map was perhaps one of the most exciting and longest fixtures of the tournament. Flashpoint got off to a strong start and held the lead for almost 30 minutes, only to fall apart in the mid-game when Adió Chula took over and set themselves up for success. Despite holding onto a 22.k net worth lead at the one-hour mark, Adió Chula’s plans fell apart, as Flashpoint executed an impressive comeback to turn the game around and tie the series at 1-1.
Flashpoint Gaming were clearly the strongest team throughout the group stage, but I don't see any reason why they are priced at such low odds against a team that made them bleed just a few weeks ago. Additionally, Flashpoint Gaming did impress me throughout the final week of the group stage, where they lost to Benny Brian, SADBOYS.AU and even struggled to defeat Spag and Sons (1-1). While Adió Chula had their iffy moments, they’re not as bad as the odds would lead us to believe. Value bet on Adió Chula!
Sincerely Fury vs SADBOYS.AU
Wednesday 12am AEST
Sincerely Fury ended the group stage second with an 8-8-2 record, behind Flashpoint (11-3-4) and slightly above SADBOYS.AU, who ended the first stage of the competition with an 8-7-3 record. Despite their marginally worse record, SADBOYS.AU have proven they can stand up to Sincerely Fury, considering the two sides split their meetings, each winning one game.
The first meeting between Sincerely Fury and SADBOYS.AU ended with Sincerely Fury coming away with a 2-0 win. While Fury tore apart SADBOYS.AU on the first map, they dealt with strong resistance on the second map, however their stronger draft allowed them to pull away in the late game and come away with a win.
The second meeting, that was played just a week ago, saw SADBOYS.AU get their revenge and win the series 2-0. Unlike how it was in their first match, SADBOYS.AU took an early lead on map one and needed just over 36 minutes to seal the deal. The second map played out more or less the same way, and while SADBOYS.AU gave away 21 deaths, they had no issues defeating Sincerely Fury in just 31 minutes.
Due to their dominant display last Tuesday, SADBOYS.AU are entering this match as the favourites, but I see no reason to bet on them at these low odds. They might have shown more in their last clash with Sincerely Fury, but this is still an online tournament, where anything can happen. Close fixtures have become almost a staple for these online competitions, so an over 2.5 map bet makes the most sense for this match.
