Aster.Aries vs Invictus Gaming Prediction: the IG Players Show the Traditional Comeback

Qualifier for the upcoming Dota 2 world event of the year, The International 2022, continues on Sunday, September 11 in the Chinese region. Aster.Aries and Invictus Gaming will face in the first elimination game of the day.

The International 2022: China Qualifier is an online Dota 2 tournament that will take place from September 08 to 12, 2022. This mini-tournament has no prize pool and features one straight regional berth to The International 2022 group stage and two additional berths to the "last chance" qualifier that will take place the day before the main tournament kicks off in Singapore. In China, 13 teams will compete in qualification. Recall that the two strongest Chinese teams are PSG.LGD and Team Aster have already secured their place in TI11.

In the first battle for the slot in the main tournament of the year, the youth team of Team Aster lost to their formidable opponents from RNG (0-2); only this team couldn't win in any way this season, although the Aster.Aries guys are in the good game form now. From the top net Aster.Aries fell to Invictus Gaming, which slowly rolls into the tournament and, with each new game, shows better and better playing, which certainly should not make the Aster.Aries happy. 

It's still a mystery how the Aster youth team is eligible to play in this qualifying tournament. A clause in the tournament rules of The International series prohibits the participation of two or more teams from the same organization, and the Aster base has already guaranteed itself a place in the group part of TI11. But if they play, they're allowed, and I won't discuss this topic for long. 

It's worth understanding that Aster.Aries are not whipping boys. The guys spent the winter and spring DPC league in the second division, and here the final summer round - already in the elite, where they became the fifth, playing mass replay with all the tops for a place in the majors. In this qualification, the team started with a confident victory over Vici Gaming (2-0), answering the nominal favorite of this meeting with a push. Do not underestimate the youth Aster. This team has beaten many seasoned squads this summer.

The Aster Aries team is the youth squad of Team Aster, which participates in various TIR-3 tournaments in China. They regularly participated in the Chinese DPC league's second division. At the end of the second championship in spring, it was the vice-champion of the tournament, earning a ticket to the elite division.

In general, Aster's club vertical is exemplary. Youth squads for the Chinese teams are common, but Aster Aries is the most successful youth team in the world. Firstly, they got into the elite, where they will get the most crucial game experience with the strongest teams in the region and the world. Secondly, they have already started to supply players to the main team. So after TI10, Siamese.C was promoted to the main squad, which became a worthy replacement for RedPanda, who, after being kicked from the basics, intends to fight for a place on the inter.

The Invictus Gaming team blew this entire DPC cycle with one and only one goal - to successfully qualify for TI11. The IG team had an excellent previous season, won the major in Singapore, and made it to TOP 4 on TI10, which is a fantastic result. Still, Invictus Gaming ultimately failed in the January regional league in the first division, falling to the second. At the spring's end, IG could not return to the elite, and everyone realized that this team would only qualify for The International through the final qualifications. 

But not everything is going so smoothly for the experienced guys in this mini-tournament. In the first match, Invictus Gaming loses without a chance to their opponents from Xtreme Gaming (0:2) and falls straight into the loser's net. In the away games, the problems came immediately in the first match against LBZS. The favorite lost the first card, winning by a salad levying, but underestimating their opponents cost further big victories. The Suns won the second and after the third card with IG players at the start, but the traditional master of the comeback turned around an already considered lost match, passing LBZS with a score of 2-1. 

The game on the next game day against ShenZhen, on paper, should have been even more difficult, but the Invictus Gaming squad seemed to wake up and gave a good match, did not feel the opponents, and won 2-0. IG is only aiming for success and another trip to successful Singapore.

We can't help but believe in Invictus Gaming's ability to win an important slot at TI11, so we believe in their success in this match. Also, we offer the frags H2 (-5.5) on map 1 and the frags TO (44.5) on map 2.