ESL One Birmingham Group A Predictions

ESL One Birmingham is the next $1 million Dota 2 tournament of 2024. This competition brings together 12 formidable teams and is scheduled to take place between April 22 – 28. The winner gets $300.000 and 6.400 EPT points.

Initially, the 12 participants will be divided into two groups. Both of them are full of strong teams that could easily win the tournament.

Going to #ESLOne Birmingham? Make sure to check out our Attendee Guide which includes everything you need to know about the event including:

⏰ Schedule
🚗 Transport
⚔️ On-site Activities
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❓ FAQ

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— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) April 16, 2024

Group A Competitors

Here are the six teams that will play in group A of ESL One Birmingham:

• BetBoom Team
• G2.iG
• Shopify Rebellion
• Talon Esports
• Team Falcons
• Team Liquid

Among these teams, Falcons and Liquid are the strongest. But BetBoom and G2.iG also have the potential to finish in the top two. At the very least, these teams should finish in the top four and qualify for the playoffs.

BetBoom Team

BetBoom started the season with promising results. First they finished 3^rd at BetBoom Dacha Dubai. Then they finished 2^nd at DreamLeague S22. At Elite League they did a bit worse (11^th – 12^th), but the competition had 24 participants, so it’s still not bad.

BetBoom’s roster is full of players who know what it means to compete at the highest level, against the world’s best teams, and get good results. Nightfall finished 5^th – 6^th at The International 2021, 2^nd at DreamLeague S20, 3^rd at DreamLeague S21, and 5^th – 6^th at Riyadh Masters 2023. TORONTOTOKYO is a former TI champion with Team Spirit.

At ESL One Birmingham, BetBoom are expected to finish in the top six again. Of course, that would require them to finish group A in the top four, which they will almost certainly do.

G2.iG

G2.iG finished Elite League in 7^th – 8^th place just one week ago. Regionally, they qualified for ESL One Birmingham and PGL Wallachia Season 1, so they are one of the best teams in China right now.

The only problem is that ESL One Birmingham is an international tournament that brings together a relatively small number of teams. And these teams are among the strongest from every region. Because of that, the odds of G2.iG qualifying for the playoffs are not 100%. But they are quite high.

Their main rivals will not be Liquid, Falcons, or even BetBoom, but rather the weaker teams, with whom they compete to avoid elimination. Those teams are Talon and Shopify Rebellion. If they can finish ahead of them, they’re in a good spot. But if not, they will need some of the favorites to blunder really badly in multiple matches.

Shopify Rebellion

Despite having players like Arteezy, Shopify Rebellion are not in a good position to win anything at this point. Most of their roster is made up of regular players, and there is hardly anyone who can help them create strategies that have the potential to work against the world’s best teams.

Without a doubt, Shopify Rebellion is one of the weakest competitors in this group and they will need a miracle to qualify for the playoffs of ESL One Birmingham. Their first match, against Talon Esports will tell us a lot about their current form.

In 2024, Rebellion won three regional qualifiers against nouns. Each time, the score was 3 – 2. At DreamLeague S22, they finished 7^th after surviving the first group stage and then getting destroyed in the second group stage. It is worth noting, however, that they defeated Gaimin Gladiators and Aurora in the second stage.

Talon Esports

Talon finished 17^th – 19^th at Elite League and failed in most of the regional qualifiers for the big events in 2024. On top of that, their roster is full of players who never won a Major or at least a tier-1 Dota 2 event. Because of this, the odds of them finishing the group in the top four are very slim.

If you’re searching for a team to pick as an almost guaranteed candidate for elimination, Talon should be your first choice.

Team Falcons

This is the strongest team in the group by far. Perhaps Liquid can challenge them, but their top-two position is pretty much guaranteed, unless of course they start playing poorly.

In January this year, Falcons competed in three regional qualifiers in the MENA region and won all three of them. Each time, their Grand Final opponent was PSG Quest.

In the first four months of the year, Falcons played in three tier-1 Dota 2 events. They won BetBoom Dacha Dubai and DreamLeague S22, and they finished 2^nd at Elite League after Xtreme Gaming managed to find a way to beat them despite losing game 1.

Falcons have a formidable roster, full of players who won either The International or at least multiple Majors. The coach, Aui_2000, is the only person in Dota 2 who won TI both as a player and as a coach. Given this situation, it’s no wonder that Falcons have risen to the top of the professional scene in this esport and are now a top contender at every big event.

Team Liquid

Team Liquid finished Elite League in 4^th place and they are expected to qualify for the playoffs of ESL One Birmingham from one of the top two positions in group A. Clearly, this is not the same team from 2023 but they’re still strong enough to be a top contender.

Nisha is playing his part to perfection and that helps a lot. Earlier this year, he won the solo tournament in Dubai after beating many of the world’s best cores in the mid lane. With him in great shape, we should expect to see Liquid getting a good result at this event.

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