The Dota Pro Circuit 2021-22 (DPC2021-22) concluded the first Tour recently, showcasing many rising stars from Division 2. With many weeks till Tour 2 begins, the Dota 2 Champions League Season 7 is an early glimpse into the newcomers joining Division 1 next Tour.

Let’s dig into the January 28-29 matches and set our predictions.

CIS Rejects vs Coolguys

CIS Rejects’ success story came as no surprise. After all, the remnants of Virtus.pro now back the team, alongside the notable captain, Artsiom “Fng” Barshak. They overwhelmed theircompetition in Division 2, but it certainly isn’t an achievement worth bragging about. Their actual journey towards qualifying for the International 11 (TI11) only begins in Tour 2.

Coolguys return to the slums next tour, which is detrimental to their ultimate goal to play at TI11. The team placed last with a 0-7 score in Tour 1, and is really not favored by anyone.

Introductions aside, CIS Rejects are the favorites heading into this match, but not necessarily in Dota 2 Champions League Season 7. After all, they barely survived the 1^st-3^rd place tiebreaker in Division 2 with a fluke win. However, this match will be in favor of CIS Rejects at x1.27 versus Coolguys at x3.49 odds.

Winstrike Team vs Nemiga Gaming

Winstrike is one of the two opponents that gave CIS Rejects a run for their money in Division 2. As such, Winstrike gained fame when their efforts paid off with a promotion to Division 1 next Tour. The new roster seems to be an effective bunch, with a flair of unorthodox drafting strategy. There’s a distinct play Winstrike often goes for, that is an instant burst combo to put opponents at a pre-fight disadvantage. In fact, the initiation this strategy offers even overwhelmed CIS Rejects in Division 2, but CIS Rejects won the tiebreaker round.

Up against the underwhelming Nemiga, it’s yet another case of David vs Goliath. The Dota 2 odds favors Winstrike at x1.38 versus Nemiga at x2.89 returns, which isn’t as one-sided as Coolguys’ match.

Entity vs chekoldyriki

Frankly, the EEU underdogs that we can expect in next Tour’s premier bracket look promising. The mix of seasoned veterans and young talent give these hopefuls a sense of direction and reminiscence of Team Spirit. Entity will probably stomp chekoldyriki, as is reflected in the match odds. Entity has x1.05 versus chekoldyriki at a whopping x8.14 returns.

Although chekoldyriki players aren’t pros, they are still high Immortal players at average top 500 rankings on the leaderboard. Nevertheless, they would need to pull off a draft that they are comfortable with while remaining non-meta. In hindsight, chekoldyriki’s only advantage is their unfamiliar faces and lack of match history, so there’s a wild factor to use against Entity. Otherwise, Entity’s refined playstyle will certainly overwhelm chekoldyriki.

Brame vs Mind Games

The once-Greek squad of Brame was widely recognized as sophomores of underdogs. Yet, today, they are merely one of the many WEU teams at an existential crisis between Division 1 and 2. The squad will be returning to Tour 1’s heavy competition once again, but hopefully don’t get relegated again.

Anyways, Brame is against Mindgames, which is relatively even since both teams have been underwhelming. Even so, Brame’s typical playstyle revolves around pushing line-ups, a popular meta in the amateur competition. Fast-paced games that Brame introduces into the match, almost always end in favor of them. The truth is midgame snowballing tactics are difficult to counter for unsuspecting opponents, who didn’t counter it before the drafting phase ends.

Despite Mind Games’ poor performance in Division 1, it doesn’t change the fact that they have seasoned players. Players such as Semion “CemaTheSlayer” Krivulya and Rostislav “fn” Lozovoi probably wouldn’t fall for Brame’s generic tactics without a reliable bacJCp plan.

Hence, Mind Games have the leverage in Dota 2 odds at x1.69 versus Brame at x2.07 returns.

These are four DPC2021-22 hopefuls joining the Division 1 bracket next Tour. Since the Tour 1 Major was canceled, consider themselves lucky for not missing out on the generous prize pool and DPC points up for grabs in a major.

Else, we might just meet these folks in the Division 2 bracket once again. The Dota 2 Champions League Season 7 runs for an entire month, so compile a betting slip of matches, worthy of a sophisticated bettor on BUFF.bet. This curated Esports bookmaker provides exclusive odds for Dota 2 Champions League Season 7 matches.