Esports Betting Tips May 6th – Overwatch League
Robert Paul for Blizzard EntertainmentEvery week, we take a look at some of the most interesting matches in esports for prospective betters.
We’ve teamed up with Rivalry.gg to provide weekly insight into the world of esports betting, highlighting comfortable favorites and exciting underdogs that might be worth betting on for those looking to make a wager.
This week, we’re taking a slightly narrower focus than usual, looking at all three games on the opening day of week four in Stage 4 of the Overwatch League regular season.
- Get a $1.50 free sign-up with no deposit required.
http://bit.ly/2jFvtb5
Play It Safe
Overwatch League
Seoul Dynasty TO WIN vs Boston Uprising
When: Wednesday June 6, 23:00 UTC
Odds: 1.43 vs 2.37 – Bet HERE
No team in the Overwatch League has seen so great a disparity between their peaks and dips in play as the Boston Uprising.
Prior to the league’s beginning, many looking at the rosters on paper judged the Boston Uprising to be amongst the weakest line-ups in the league, a team that would be competing for little more than avoiding last place. Instead, Boston proved themselves to be among the top competitors, keeping a playoff pace for the first two stages.
In Stage 3 of the league, the Uprising ascended to even greater heights, becoming the first team to go undefeated for an entire stage of regular season matches. There’s a good chance Boston will remain the only team to manage the feat, unless the LA Valiant can remain unbeaten for the last two weeks of Stage 4.
Unfortunately, the Boston Uprising of Stage 4 has finally begun to live up (or down) to those pre-season expectations, which had been thought thoroughly vanquished by their Stage 3 performance. All of a sudden, they’re one of the weakest teams in the league, sat at 0-6 in the stage.
Both of these teams are battling for a spot in the $1.7 million end-of-season playoffs. Unfortunately for Boston, whose position seemed almost unassailable at the end of the previous Stage, this match seems likely to send them closer to losing their place.
The Seoul Dynasty has never been the strongest team in the league, as many originally anticipated. As the season has progressed the team has been increasingly lacklustre, but they’ve never fallen nearly so far as Boston has now.
Granted, the Dynasty definitely isn’t on top form right now either. They started out the stage with a 0-4 record, although that record is somewhat more forgivable considering three of those teams currently sit in the top four. Meanwhile, the Uprising remains in near uniform shambles, and so it seems a fairly safe bet to back Seoul here.
Feeling Lucky
Overwatch League
Dallas Fuel TO WIN vs Houston Outlaws
When: Thursday, June 7th, 03:00 UTC
Odds: 1.87 vs 1.77 – Bet HERE
Dallas Fuel has had a remarkable turn-around in Stage 4 of the Overwatch League.
This was a team that was always expected to be among the stronger squads in the league – it was uncommon to find pre-season predictions that didn’t have them making the end-of-season playoffs at the very least – but for the first three stages the Fuel completely failed to live up to those expectations.
It’s far too late for the team’s season playoff aspirations, but they can still redeem themselves to some degree by ending on a high, and so far they’re doing just that. At a 4-2 record in Stage 4, Dallas has already secured more wins than in any previous stage and could well be on track to win as much if not more than all three previous stages combined.
Right now, they’re a legitimate contender for the Stage playoffs, with some notable wins under their belt – so too are the Houston Outlaws, however, who share a 4-2 record right now.
At the start of the stage, it was anticipated that the Outlaws would return to peak form under the current meta. On paper, things seem tailor-made for them, particularly on the DPS front – Tracer is far less prevalent, heroes that Jacob ‘Jake’ Lyon has thrived on like Junkrat and Pharah have been elevated, and Jiri ‘Linkzr’ Masalin can focus on Widowmaker duels more than ever, a specialty of his.
While that theory seemed to hold true early on, as the stage has progressed the Outlaws have been proven fallible still. Those weaknesses have resulted in the Outlaws more than likely missing out on the season playoffs, with key losses making the climb into the top six look incredibly tough even if they’re currently only one match win short.
We haven’t suggested betting on the Dallas Fuel since the early days of Stage 2 of the league, at which time we stated that if they lost the match in question it would be time to abandon any remaining faith that could be placed in the team.
That being said, in Stage 4 the Fuel do legitimately seem to have turned things around. They’re hardly a lock-in for victory here, but on what looks to be a fairly even match-up it makes sense to back the team whose win would offer greater return.
Wildcard
Overwatch League
Shanghai Dragons TO WIN vs Florida Mayhem
When: Thursday, June 7th, 01:00 UTC
Odds: 2.52 vs 1.42 – Bet HERE
The Shanghai Dragons might be the worst team to ever play at the highest level of any esport. It’s hard to point to another example in any game that comes close to the now 36-game long losing streak the Dragons are on, the negative 107 map difference. More than three and a half of the four full stages of the regular season are complete, and the Dragons haven’t won a single series.
The Dragons still have a chance to deny the 0-40 season, however, a chance at some measure of redemption, paltry as it may be, in winning just a single series. Though they technically have four matches left to play, their best shot at doing that will come here, against the Florida Mayhem.
The Mayhem, much like the Dallas Fuel for most of the season, have been a team spared sharing the mantle of “worst in the league” only by comparison to the abject failure of the Dragons.
There was a flutter of hope in Stage 3, as the arrival of ‘Sayaplayer’ introduced a DPS threat that could legitimately contend with some of the other stars of the league, but it hasn’t been enough to carry the team to greater success.
Now, in Stage 4, what progress the team seemed to be making almost looks to be regressing, as Florida appears less organized and less capable. Like the Dragons and the Boston Uprising, they currently sit at a 0-6 record in the stage.
On the flip side, though they’ve yet to see any results, Shanghai does seem to be trending ever so slowly in a positive direction. They have more talent to draw on, and every so often there are flashes of the kind of coordination they’ll need to close out a win.
The likelihood remains that the Mayhem will defeat the Dragons once more, almost certainly putting an end to any real hopes for the Dragons to secure a victory this season. Of all forty matches the Dragons will play this season, however, this might well be the greatest chance they have of a win. For a brave better, there’s something to be said for backing them in what could be their solitary victory.
That being said, there’s a reason this is in the Wildcard category – even more than usual, it’s really a bet to be made by those with hope or faith, or those looking to intensify a match that is likely to lack for the spectacle greater teams are capable of. Bet on the Shanghai Dragons only if you are prepared to lose – it’s all they’ve ever known, after all.
Get a$1.50 free sign-up, no deposit with Dexerto and visit Rivalry.gg for more odds on Overwatch, League of Legends, Call of Duty, DotA and CSGO.