GEST: GoDz predicts GIGABYTE E-Sport Tournament group stage

GosuGamers broadcaster and show host for GIGABYTE E-Sports Tournament International DotA Cup 2012 predicts this weekend's group stage.

- "Former champions MSI-EvoGT, Invasion-Red who took down Mineski last month in the group stage, and newcomers Badburn all will be looking to make their mark," says David "GoDz" Parker.

GEST May \ Group A

Redspade

SkyNet

Invasion ReD

MSIEvo GT

Badburn

"Badburn have a very good chance to cause upsets"

GEST May \ Group B

iZone 125

Starsboba

eNcy

Neolution

Fire

"We may see StarsBoba repeat their form from February"

GEST May \ Group C

Mineski

deperruku

Orange

G7

Pacific.UST

"Mineski vs. Orange - Most anticipated and exciting game of the group stage"

GEST May \ Group D

Ritter-ART

Dreamz

Pcfc

iDeal

Tt.How

"Pinoy dominance will continue this month - a gambler would suggest otherwise"

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Patrik “Raistlin” Hellstrand Hi. I'm no longer involved in GosuGamers. Follow me on @phellstrand on Instagram and Twitter, or drop me an email on [email protected]

This group sees some serious talent and dark-horses present. Former champions MSI-EvoGT, Invasion-Red who took down Mineski last month in the group stage, and newcomers Badburn all will be looking to make their mark. A struggling Red Spade and SkyNet who have seen players bounce around to other teams for DotA/Dota 2 will probably struggle to compete with these three teams. Coming through the qualifier, I'd say Badburn, the recent GMPGL champions, have a very good chance to cause some upsets, and Inv-red/MSI-EvoGT had better watch out - because they could be the first to see an early exit.Probably one of the hardest groups for me to predict - a couple of months ago Neolution would have been an easy pick to get out of their group (like they did back in February); but today: they are in mediocre form and I think will struggle - although they may find some beatable opponents in Fire and eNcy - but even those are tought contendors. I expect iZone125 (despite not having the strongest results against fellow PH teams lately) will emerge in the top 2 position. With this group, I expect we may see StarsBoba once again emerging and looking to repeat their form from February where they were the runner-up to Mineski.When I think of GEST IDC, two big teams pop into my mind: Mineski and Orange. They will be going head-to-head in what I imagine will be the most anticipated and exciting game of the group stage (fingers crossed). Their fellow group-mates are in for a challenge if they are to escape, they have to cause an upset against one of the two teams. With that said, deperruku (ex-Velocy Hyper) have caused upsets in the past, overthrowing Mineski and getting to the players, and G7 are an always-consistent team that never have bad showings. Pacific.UST, only getting in through a rematch in the qualifiers against uG, will find some great practice, but something tells me they won't go past Saturday.Will the Pinoy dominance this month continue? I think so. And you'd have to be quite the gambler to suggest otherwise. Pcfc are always a top contender, with playoff-finishes, and Dreamz, with newly added Julz, could be a contendor as well. With that said, iDeal and Tt.How, the two Thai teams, have had some decent results lately, getting 1-1 draws against some top Thai teams such as Neolution and MiTh.Trust, so maybe expect a surprise finish. Finally, Ritter-ART have proven they are no walkovers as well in the past. We may see one of these teams preventing Dreamz from qualifying, but Pcfc should make it through with relative ease.Don't miss ourwhere you can win a GIGABYTE GV-N56GOC-1GI video card, a GIGABYTE K8100 Gaming Keyboard and a GIGABYTE M8600 Gaming Mouse. All you need to do is place your bets on the group stage and playoff matches.