PGL Arlington Major 2022 Day 2 Match Analysis and Predictions

The Arlington Major 2022 concluded Day 1 as anticipated. For starters, Evil Geniuses’ underwhelming streak continues since their last major participation. Meanwhile, the Chinese teams are living up to their expectations as formidable opponents.

Yet, it was Fnatic’s ability to hold up against heavy favorites, namely OG and Outsiders, was interesting since they are playing with three stand-ins. Day 1 in Arlington featured plenty of ties, hopefully the story on Day 2 is different.

PGL Arlington Major 2022 Day 2 Schedule

Day 2 Match Expectations

Evil Geniuses vs Team Spirit

Third time’s the charm for EG in many scenarios, and we need a third loss to reaffirm that EG is just terrible. Team Spirit makes for a good obstacle since they are the International 10 Champs, and already knocked two teams out.

While there are no concerns about Spirit’s performance, EG on the other hand, needs to step up their game. After all, this is the finalized roster they have decided to bring to Arlington Major and ultimately the International 11 (TI11). In hindsight, nothing changed on the side of EG, they rocked the same roster, besides replacing their offlaner to Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko.

Well, perhaps they are hoping that not picking Storm Spirit for Abed “Abed” Yusop is the dealbreaker. Hence, it boils down to day 2, whether EG can still compete against the other powerhouses.

Thunder Awaken vs RNG

TA is definitely a team that many South American fans are rooting for, and fortunately, they are still well. Going into day 2, TA has a long day ahead of them, and to kick off a match vs RNG with Anathan “ana” Pham. Although ana’s presence in RNG strikes fear in many opponents, the truth is RNG didn’t get an upgrade.

Ana’s participation in RNG was lacklustre and doesn’t seem to click well with RNG’s typical objective. Of course, ana’s farming rate and hero versatility are still strong points, but RNG doesn’t seem to be leveraging on these benefits at all.

Nevertheless, up against TA, we would have to side with RNG because they are among the Chinese powerhouses, renowned for their consistent playstyle.

Team Aster vs Team Spirit

Showcasing another Chinese powerhouse, Team Aster lives up to the hype as a phenomenal opponent as they secure top seeds in Group B. Even so, Spirit is also well in the same spot, so this is the battle between titans.

As much as Spirit has a reputation as champions, they certainly aren’t invincible going into Arlington Major. We saw how PSG.LGD overwhelmed Spirit at Riyadh Masters 2022 in grand finals, so chances are, Aster already has Spirit figured out.

Fnatic vs PSG.LGD

Fnatic initially came into the Arlington Major as a lost cause due to having three players failing to secure US visa. With three stand-ins, Fnatic might as well be renamed as a different team altogether, which is ironically what happened.

Fnatic’s stand-in consist of three TeamSoloMid players, so the latter did make it into Arlington after all. Jokes aside, this Fnatic line-up is exceptional after they gave both OG and Outsiders a run for their money.

Up against PSG.LGD, it’s difficult to side with Fnatic even if they are doing great right now. LGD is way out of Fnatic’s league, and Fnatic would be lucky if they manage to draw the series.

Team Liquid vs Outsiders

We like the current Team Liquid better than its temp form at Riyadh Masters. Liquid is still among the best from Western Europe scene and arguably stronger than OG, the Stockholm Major champions.

Nevertheless, they are going to prove it once more than their Eastern European counterparts are no match. Just take Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen’s for it, when he stated that he wants to play for a WEU team.

Anyways, Outsiders isn’t too shabby of an opponent, even if this is their first major appearance. They rock one of their superstar players, notably Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev, so there are high expectations.

Day 2 will surely set the tides of the group stage at Arlington Major 2022. Since day 1 concluded with many ties across both groups, the actual predictions for which teams will likely advance to Playoffs can begin. As usual the best Dota 2 odds are available at our feature providers.