The groups have finally been released for the tournament and they make it even harder to predict who will be the top 3 finishers of the event. After looking over the top 3 predictions, 4 teams in group A were predicted to finish top 3.

The competition just got a lot tighter. Many wanted to vote for EG as a top 3 finish but were under the impression that EG was not using Andre for this event. Now with their regular lineup, they will be a neck-to-neck competitior against teams like SK, KingSurf and srs.

Drayich and I have evaluated both groups to predict who we think will advance into the playoffs.

Group A:

SK
srs
EG
KingSurf
NAFU
S3X

Rinoa predicts:

This is a really tough group and by e-sports vocabulary it would be branded the "group of death." That is when more than two teams that are capable of advancing into the playoffs are in the same group. Well I'm positive SK will advance through this group seeing that they have had no problem defeating any of these teams in the past. Now what I was really torn about is second place. I'm going to have to say KingSurf over EG just because I know the amount of training they have shelled out before this event.

All 3 teams have a vast amount of LAN experience and want this so bad. KingSurf knew they weren't picking well so for the past week they have been studying and analyzing the way Europeans tend to pick. If they can adapt and figure out counters better, I think they'll provide an upset and make it through. This is only the second time an Asian team is given the chance to play against the top teams on LAN and after Zenith's disappointing performance at dreamhack and ASUS, I think KingSurf is ready to make up for that.

1. SK
2. KingSurf

mouz|Drayich predicts:

Group 1 might seem like the easiest group to predict. However i expect this group to be really interesting. KS/EG/SRS are all -real- contenders for a top2 spot here, and I'm gonna be boring and say that SK will take on of the slots. So 1st SK and 2nd EG, and they win because they have a lot of experience together as team both online and offline. But I wanna give heads up for KS and SRS. SRS could take a spot, they looked really strong online lately and KS is definently good enough, but their strategy isn't.

1. SK
2. EG

Group B:

MYM
Pandemic
TeG
Fearz
Zenith

Rinoa predicts:

If there's one thing I've learned about the MYM DotA team, they tend to go in a slump sometimes and just lose and lose and lose. When that happens, they make it their prime goal to get better and get on the top again. They've just recently come out of a slump, failing to top at Dreamhack and Masters. Ever since they've been training hard and picking a lot better so I think they'll make it. Otherwise I'd have to say I'm impressed with Pandemic DotA, everyone thinks TeG and MYM have this in the bag but I think Pandemic is heavily underestimated. They have a lot of hidden talent on this team and they performed really well in the USA qualifiers.

1. MYM
2. Pandemic

mouz|Drayich predicts:

And for the second group, this one is most open. While on paper TeG and MYM should be stronger, we see both these team suffer from losses of players and not looking strong lately. On the other hand you see Zenith and Pandemic who has EVERYTHING to win. Lag wont be a matter here either. Predicting this group will be just a guess, And im gonna say that Pandemic and MYM gonna win this group. I think the hunger of the teams will be what finally decides the winner, and these teams looks more hungry then the rest.

1. Pandemic
2. MYM