Welcome to EGamersWorld.
The group stage of The International 2023 continues. Next up is the match between Tundra Esports and Talon in Group D.
For Tundra Esports this match will be the second in a row at The International 2023. Talon, on the other hand, are just starting their journey through The International 2023 and will play their first match here.
The game promises to be an interesting one, as both teams are clearly aiming for the top 2 and further passage to the next stage with a good seeding for themselves. Hence The International Riga before their face-to-face meeting.
Let's try to see if either team will be able to get a win in the Bo2 series and improve their position in the standings.
Let's go.
Tundra Esports uniforms
In their second match at The International 2023, Tundra Esports play as favourites. All because of being from Western Europe and having the Aegis of Champions under their belt.
In the first cycle of DPC 2023 Tundra only made it to the top 4 through tiebreaker, finishing in the top 3 at the end of the season. This gave them an opportunity to play at The Lima Major 2023, which they failed, finishing in the Top 12.
Things got better in the second DPC cycle. Tundra had re-matches again and again they did well, except now it was a Top-2 division match. Things also got better on the international stage at ESL One Berlin Major 2023, where the reigning world champions from The International finished in the top 6.
In the third cycle, DPC Tundra returned to the top of the competitive dota. The reigning World Champions of The International finished in the top 1 in their home league.
- Tundra Esports lineup: skiter, Topson, 33, Nine, Sneyking.
Tundra visited DreamLeague Season 20, but they were not very eager to win there. The team didn't make it past the first group stage and finished in the top 9-10.
At Bali Major 2023, Tundra had a forced stand-in. Saksa left the squad due to illness, but it didn't stop Tundra from reaching the top 3 of the tournament.
In Riyadh, Tundra again resorted to Aui for the same reason. With him they were able to pass the group stage and survive in round-robin tiebreaks. As a result, they managed to reach the top-12 of the Riyadh Masters 2023, but were knocked out of the tournament by Gaimin Gladatiators.
Before The International 2023, Tundra visited DreamLeague Season 21. There, the team somehow made it to the top 6, where they were knocked out by OG.
In the match before that, Tundra will play against TSM. I don't rule out a Tundra win, and a fairly easy one at that, but I believed in TSM on one map in Bo2.
Most popular Tundra Esports characters
Among the most popular characters in Tundra picks is Techies. The character has been picked 9 times, and his winrate at that is 66%.
Next is Bloodseeker, who has been picked 8 times. His win rate is 50%. Batrider (7 matches, 71% win rate), Doom (7 matches, 57% win rate), Timbersaw (6 matches, 66% win rate) were also picked.
Talon Form
We continue our match breakdown with an analysis of Talon's match form. In this match, they will have to play as a number two, and with a pretty solid backline. I don't agree with that.
The team has made it to the top 1 of the region, and also reached the heights at Lima Major 2023: in the first round of SEA the team took the 3rd place, at The Lima Major 2023 the same top 3, and in the next round they won the home league.
However, what followed was chaos. The first signs of Talon's fickleness were at DreamLeague S19, when after a solid The Lima Major 2023, the team finished top-12 at a major international event.
At the next Major, The Bali Major 2023, Talon finished in the top 8 before a very mediocre performance at DPC SEA 2023 Tour 3: Division 1, finishing in 4th place in their home league.
The last tournament before the Riyadh Masters 2023 was DreamLeague Season 20. There the team finished in the top 4.
- Talon Esports roster: 23savage, Mikoto, Jabz, Q, Oli .
At the Riyadh Masters 2023 Talon Esports got straight into the group stage, and all thanks to ESL rankings. They did well in the group stage: they finished in the top 4 and made it to the top play-offs.
In the first match Talon Esports played against Quest Esports. In a very difficult match, being an outsider on paper, Talon Esports managed to win with a score of 2-1.
In the second round of the top set, Talon played the same game against Liquid when Zai ate them ancient during a seemingly victorious trip to Liquid's base. However, Talon didn't get confused at all and in the lower grid first defeated 9 Pandas, and then defeated Gaimin Gladiators, the storm of international dota.
In the match for the exit to the grand final Talon again ran into Liquid and again lost. Thus - top 3 at the Riyadh Masters to add to Talon's prizes for the year.
Before the Long Convergence The International 2023 they visited DreamLeague Season 21, where for some reason they decided to play at half strength. I can't explain the team from the top 3 of Riyadh Masters not making it out of the group otherwise.
The most popular Talon Esports characters
The most popular Talon Esports character is Tiny. The team swaps his positions, but most often he is sent to position 4. The character has 8 matches and 87% wins.
Next are Natures Phophet (7 games, 100% wins) and Io with Leshrac, who was also picked 7 times and won 6 matches.
Clockwerk (100% wins) and Morphing (60% wins) appeared 5 times each.
History of head-to-head matches
The teams have played each other 5 times during the season. Tundra won twice and the rest were draws.
Predicted result of Tundra vs Talon at The International 2023
Talon are the dark horse of this The International. If the team is in the mood, they can take out almost all the top clubs in the world, but if the stars don't align, we see Talon from DL Season 19 and DL S21.
I believe that at the most important tournament of the year, Talon will gather all the will in their fist and show their dota. That will be enough for at least a map against Tundra.
Bottom line: +1.5 on Talon.
