Team Liquid

After the disappointing performance in The International 8, Team Liquid kept faith on the TI7 winning lineup. However, in the 2018-2019 DPC, the side has yet to make its mark. Since teams like VP and Secret have secured the much-needed points, while the Liquid side is sitting in the bottom ranks with just 270 points. Therefore, winning a non-DPC competition could boost their aspirations for the TI9 qualification. We would have to admit that they had their fair share of bad luck with the absence of their star man Miracle in the Chongqing Major, but before that, the Liquid side showed lacking passion with unconvincing performances in the qualifiers. They need to shine with Miracle on board and with the absence of Sumail in the competition for EG, it will surely be a great opportunity.

Evil Geniuses

Although this season there are fewer tournaments and are supposed to be better organized than in the previous competitive circuit for Dota 2 points, the truth is that teams and players have very little time to rest between events and qualifiers. Not to mention the competitions they attend, despite being out of the classification system for The International. So it’s not uncommon for organizations to be giving their players breaks, as in the case of Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan.

Evil Geniuses has revealed that Samael “SumaiL” Hassan will miss MDL Macau. The organization granted him leave of absence for the duration of the tournament for Dota 2. The player replacing home is, Queen “CCNC” Callahan. Before the start of the major DreamLeague Season 11, Sumail will return to the lineup.

CCNC has already replaced SumaiL in EG with ESL One Hamburg 2018 when the mid-star of the team could not get a visa to Germany on time. The organization clarified that this time its absence is not related to the visa problem. They revealed that Sumail will not participate because EG has given him time off to recharge and return to the side when it matters the most. On February 7, CCnC registered for Team WTFROG to participate in StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor. The absence of Sumail is a big blow to the team in Macau. This might not be a DPC competition but still, it would be a huge boost of confidence if the team gets a good result before DreamLeague. But without Sumail it would be highly unlikely even though CCNC is a good replacement, it is hard to see EG win anything without one of the best mid laners in the world.

PSG.LGD

On 29th January, the leader of PSG.LGD Lu “Somnus 丶 M” Yao was moved into the inactive roster. The organization tweeted that the player asked for leave to solve personal problems. His place in the team will be temporarily taken by Guo Xm Hongcheng from CDEC Gaming.

In the 2018/2019 season, the Chinese team performed at two major majors. On The Kuala Lumpur Major, the team took the 5-6th place, and on The Chongqing Major – the 4th. PSG.LGD also ranked third on the MegaFon Winter Clash. Lastly, this team was the runner-up at TI8.

Guo Xm Hongcheng has represented CDEC since September 2018. The team could not pass any open qualifications for tournaments of the DPC series. Now he will have bigs shoes to fill in the PSG.LGD colors. The Chinese side holds, 2250 DPC points and even with the absence of Somnus, they will be big contenders for the title.

Virtus.Pro

VP is one of the best teams in the world since they are currently sharing the top spot with Secret. So, they should be favorites, to win the competition, but that is not the case since VP in the current squad has never had success in Chinese tournaments. The last major success was 2nd place at Super Major and the Chongqing Major. We can also mention WESG, where four Virtus.pro players under the Team Russia tag took first place, but this tournament was not held under the auspices of Valve. Will Virtus.pro be able to win in China? Only their performance in playoffs will reveal the answer.

Vici Gaming

Less than a day ago, Vici Gaming has revealed that Pan “Fade” Yu will not be representing the team in the future. Since the player announced on weibo that he has personal problems to take care off and is not comfortable to play with Vici Gaming. Fade has represented Vici Gaming in various compositions since 2016 and losing just before the competition, means that the side will not display optimal performance at Macau. They will have slightest odds and will be a huge gamble to bet on the team.

EHOME

EHOME will be aiming to make a decent run in the competition. They have performed well in the Chongqing major and hold 900 DPC points. The side was rated by many as a substandard team but seeing them well ahead of teams like Liquid in the standing shows that the EHOME side will be aiming to make a strong run in the competition. They have few chances of winning it but don’t be surprised if they finish in the semifinals.

Royal Never Give Up

The organization acquired a Dota 2 roster in September 2018. The Dota 2 side includes players competing in the first and second divisions of the Chinese pro-scene. Royal Never Give Up will take part in the main stage of MDL Macau 2019 by Dota 2. In the closed qualifiers, they won against Room310 2-0. They are not the best and we might very well see them getting eliminated early as well as a poor performance from the team.

Invictus Gaming

Invictus Gaming beat Newbee 2-0 and went to the main stage of MDL Macau 2019 of Dota 2. However, just like RNG, we predict a similar fate for the team. They will surely struggle, seeing the likes of PSG.LGD, VP, Liquid, and EG. So, it will not be a wise bet putting your money on Invictus.