League Of Legends Worlds Reaches Knockout Phase And Other News For The Week Ahead In eSports
Published: Oct 15, 2015 - Last Updated: Jul 14, 2023
After two weeks of frantic action, the eight quarter finalists of the League of Legends World Championship have been decided and they are ready in London to battle it out in this weekend’s quarter finals.
We’ll also bring you news this week of some fantastic betting available on a huge Dota 2 tournament this weekend, as well as news on how Bet365 has really raised the game for eSports betting enthusiasts, especially CS:GO fans.
But first let’s begin with events in Paris last week and London this week at the League of Legends World Championships.
League Of Legends World Championships 2015 – reviewed and previewed
If you are looking for some top quality eSports betting action this weekend, then of course your first port of call should be the events unfolding at Wembley Arena in London as the eight qualifiers from the 2015 League of Legends World Championships Group Stages face off over the next four days to decide who will be progressing to the semi finals next week.
After two weeks of action at Le Dock Pullman in France, eight of the sixteen teams qualifying for the finals made it through to the knockout phase, some in dramatic fashion. So it is Origen, SK Telecom T1, Fnatic, KT Rolster, Flash Wolves, ahq e-Sports Club, Edward Gaming and KOO Tigers who have made it to London for the third week of action.
The draw pits Flash Wolves against Origen on Thursday, with SK Telecom T1 taking on ahq-eSports Club on Friday. Saturday’s big match up is Fnatic against Edward Gaming, while on Sunday the quarter finals will finish with KT Rolster facing off against KOO Tigers.
The first game sees Origen as the 1/2 favourites for the win with Flash Wolves the 6/4 outsiders. Two other clashes, Edward Gaming (4/7) v Fnatic (5/4) and KT Rolster (2/5) against KOO Tigers (7/4) also look relatively even matches.
However the bookies reckon ahq e-Sports Club chances of downing SK Telecom T1 are slim, making them the 9/1 outsiders for this match up with Telecom a heavy 1/25 favourite.
That confirms the Outright betting market which sees SK Telecom T1 as the odds on favourites at 4/9, with KT Rolster 11/2, Edward Gaming 6/1 and European team Fnatic a 10/1 shot, with 16/1 or better bar these selections.
It promises to be an action packed four days of action which will culminate in four teams going forward to next weekend’s Semi Finals to be held at the Expo in Brussels.
Who will be making that short trip over the North Sea? Join us next week to find out!
Major League Gaming Dota 2 World Finals Taking Place This Weekend $250,000 Up For Grabs
In what promises to be an action packed event spread out over three days from Friday 16th October through to the finals on Sunday 18th October, the Major League Gaming Dota 2 World Finals take place this weekend in the Big Easy, New Orleans.
Eight teams have made it through to the playoff stage. Six were offered a place in the event by direct invitation:
- MVP Phoenix
- Team Secret
- Virtus.pro
- LGD.Taobao.cn
- CDEC Gaming
- Evil Geniuses
There were two other qualification spots up for grabs and they were awarded via two qualification competitions, one held in Europe and one in North America.
In the European section, Monkey Business went undefeated through the competition to defeat CIS Rejects 3-1 in the final on the 19th September, while in the American qualifier, it was Cloud 9 who came through from the knockout stage after defeating Digital Chaos 3-0 in the final match a week later on 26th September.
The competition kicks off on Friday 16th October with the two group phases were all the teams will face off against each other to try and claim one of the two available places in the Semi Finals in each group.
The groups are as follows:
Group A
- Evil Geniuses
- Monkey Business
- LGD Gaming
- Virtus Pro
Group B
- CDEC Gaming
- Cloud 9
- Team Secret
- MVP Phoenix
The results of the first round of matches in both groups will decide which teams face off in the next group matches with the prospect of a team only required to play two matches if they clinch their qualification spot (or are eliminated) without requiring to play a third.
Group Games will be played over Friday and Saturday, with the Semi Finals and Final both taking place on Sunday.
The bookmakers have the US-based Evil Geniuses as the 7/4 favourites for this event, with Team Secret the 11/4 second favourites and CDEC Gaming a 4/1 shot. The outsiders are Cloud 9 at 30/1 and MVP Phoenix who are 50/1 shots and all quoted prices are currently available with Bet365 Sport.
With $100,000 in prize money for the winner out of a $250,000 guaranteed prize fund, this is one of the biggest Dota 2 events of the autumn and one that should be closely followed if you enjoy eSports betting.
Superb Choice of CS:GO Betting available at Bet365 Sport
Counter Strike: Global Offensive is one of the most playable and enjoyable PVP Shoot’em up’s available to play online today. The team battles and different styles of gameplay make it one of the most playable pvp shooters and popular eSports games in the world today.
Now that popularity is being reflected in just how many sites are offering betting on a wide range of Counter Strike: Global Offensive tournaments and there’s no better example of this than what has happened over the last month or so at Bet365 Sport.
Not so long ago, the number of CS:GO betting markets on the site would number one or perhaps two over a few days during the week. However, Bet365 Sport has been making a clear and conscious effort to increase its eSports betting options recently radically and the result, especially on CS:GO is amazing.
Now there are several CS:GO tournaments available to bet on each day. For example, at the time of writing you can bet on eight different CS:GO events taking place during the week.
Best of all, it is not simply match betting that is available. You can of course bet on these markets but you can also elect in some tournaments to have specific map betting based on what maps are in play in the game and you can also bet on which team will win Map 1, Map 2 etc in some of the events offered.
Other eSports betting markets, such as those on League of Legends, Dota 2 and StarCraft 2 have also seen the number of markets on offer increase, but none as much as what is available for Counter Strike fans.
Highlights this weekend and beyond include betting on the GO Champions League, CEVO Pro, APM, Face IT, Fragbite Masters, and Starseries events all of which are attracting a raft of top CS:GO players and teams.
So if you fancy a flutter on what teams will prevail in the top Counter Strike: Global Offensive competitions, then Bet365 Sport have moved into real contention as being your first port of call for top eSports betting.
Since: August 10, 2015
