EHOME vs Phoenix Gaming: EHOME newcomers against their former team

The first DPC league of the 2021/22 season in China kicks off on Monday, January 03. EHOME and Phoenix Gaming will meet in the first match for the elite division.

DPC CN 2021/22 Tour 1: Division I is an online Dota 2 tournament that will take place from January 03 to 21, 2022. Eight of the strongest teams from the China region will compete for $205,000. On top of the cash prizes, the teams will also fight for four entries to the majors and the crucial DPC points needed to qualify for T11.

EHOME is one of the oldest teams in China, but last season was such a disaster for the organisation that they will forget all about it. Throughout 2021, the team has been trying to find their game, changing their manager and the coach. However, they still haven’t managed to qualify for TI10, and the management hashas decided to change their strategy and plans, including the roster radically.

For the DPC season 2021/22, the focus will be on young talented players. The backbone of the new EHOME is made up of former Phoenix Gaming players: curry shiro and two supporting players - plAnet and zzq. Phoenix Gaming has generally performed well, but not for China’s elite division. The recruits would have played in the elite division anyway. They had a great run in the second DPC league of the 2021 season in the second division of China, but coming to EHOME is a breakthrough for the boys. Whether they can even make it to a major member is still a difficult question.

The second position in the new EHOME will be played by player 7e, who spent last season at Phoenix Gaming and afterwards at SAG. Position 3 has not yet been announced, but one thing is certain that the team in their current foursome remains to be seen how their chemistry will help in games against established opponents. For now, EHOME is completely without title players at their disposal.

The Phoenix Gaming team is one of those squads that is a springboard for nurturing new Chinese players. Last season, the former Phoenix Gaming squad showed so much promise that they almost ended up in EHOME, but before, they left to play their former team in China’s elite, which is already an unreal cool achievement.

Phoenix Gaming begins the new season, albeit in the elite, with a completely revamped roster:

M77 is a little-known carry who hasn’t been out of Tier-4 Chinese Dota since 2014, but here’s a chance for him to prove himself right away in the Chinese elite.

zone is a complete novice destined to play in the second position. It’s hard to say yet what the not-so-young Chinese Doter is about.

Shining is a three who previously played together with the M77 carry on the same team as We Are Young, where they even participated in the same Tier-1 tournament called World Cyber Arena 2016, but that was so long ago that it seems as if it’s not true.

Yp is a supporter who hasn’t been seen on the professional Dota horizon for over three years. What the previously little-known player is like is also hard to say.

Lww is a five, which, unlike its new teammates, flashed on the professional stage, playing for teams Aster.Aries and Team Sirius, but it was all in 2020. All this year, this supporter never played anywhere.

On paper, the squad is extremely weak for China’s elite. It’s not certain that the guys would have been able to snag a good spot in the second division in that region. But Phoenix Gaming had to recruit at least some players not to lose their historic slot, although for me, they are the first contenders for relegation.

What the EHOME and Phoenix Gaming teams are like is hard to say, but I will give preference to the more played EHOME. What does matter is that they previously played under a different name, but the main thing is that they played as opposed to the new Phoenix Gaming. I even want to suggest taking a risk and choosing to bet on their handicap -1.5 on maps for 2.60.

I would not say that the guys from EHOME are capable of a rout here, so I expect a large number of kills from Phoenix Gaming as well, and that means Total Over 46.5 frags for 1.83 is not a bad option to bet on.

The second map will last more than 35.30 minutes. I don’t believe that any of the teams will go down quickly, and that means we will get the traditional long Chinese rink. The odds are 1.92.