The Dota 2 Shanghai Major Promises A Week Of Top Quality eSports Betting

Following on from the first Frankfurt Major in November, the Valve-sponsored Major series returns on the 25^th February for a week of top quality Dota 2 action with the eagerly anticipated Shanghai Major.

The Shanghai event is the second of Valve’s Dota Major Championship series of events, which will see three more major events added to the eSports calendar each year alongside the hugely competitive The International.

The third event is scheduled to take place in Manila, the Philippines later in the year.

Earlier on this year, four Open Qualifiers and Main Qualifiers were held in January online around the globe in America, China, South East Asia and Europe to decide the names of the eight teams that would qualify for this event in China, alongside the eight teams that have already been confirmed as seeded through to the main event.

• Seeded Teams – OG, Evil Geniuses, Team Secret, EHOME, CDEC Gaming, Vici Gaming, Virtus.pro, Alliance
• Qualified Teams (qualification competition in brackets) – Team Liquid, Team Spirit (both Europe), Team Archon, compLexity Gaming (both American), LGD Gaming, Newbee (both China), Fnatic and MVP Phoenix (both South East Asian)

The teams have subsequently been drawn into four groups for the start date of the Shanghai Major finals stage with two seeded teams being drawn alongside two qualified teams.

The groups are:

• Group A – MVP Phoenix, Team Secret, EHOME, CDEC Gaming
• Group B – Alliance, Fnatic, Team Spirit, Vici Gaming
• Group C – LGD Gaming, Newbee, OG, Team Archon
• Group D – compLexity Gaming, Evil Geniuses, Team Liquid, Virtus.pro

The top two teams in each group will qualify for the upper bracket, with the bottom two teams qualifying for the lower bracket stage in the knockout phase. The team that wins through in the upper bracket phase will face off in the grand final against the winner of the lower bracket.

The action starts on the 25^th February with Group A played to a close, Group B follows on the 26^th February, Group C on the 27^th and Group D playing to a conclusion on the 28^th.

There is then a short break for the teams before the knockout phase of the upper and lower brackets commences on the 2^nd March 2016, playing through until the Grand Final is competed for on Friday 5^th March.

What this means is that eSports betting fans will have a host of top quality Dota 2 matches to enjoy betting on throughout the week as the tournament progresses.

Be sure to check out eSports bookmakers like Betway, Bet365, and William Hill for more information about placing real money wagers on this event.

StarCraft 2 and CS:GO Competitors Ready To Do Battle in Katowice

The Intel Extreme Masters X event kicks off on Wednesday 2^nd March in Katowice, Poland as many of the world’s finest StarCraft 2 players and Counter Stike: Global Offensive teams head to the city to battle it out for a total prize pool of over $400,000.

Let’s take a look at each of the individual eSports tournaments in turn, starting with how the StarCraft 2 event is shaping up.

Starcraft 2 Katowice – 2016 WCS Circuit

Don’t get confused because the SCII 2016 WCS Circuit: Winter Circuit Championship is also doubling as the IEM Season X World Championship event in Katowice.  This event is the first of three events scheduled throughout the year with the Spring and Summer Championships set to follow later in 2016.

A total of 32 individual players have made it into the offline finals in Poland , 8 players qualifying from Regional Challenger events, 14 from Server Qualifiers (8 from the EU and 6 from North America), 2 players from the National Qualifiers plus a further 8 players were invited based on their performances in the 2015 WCS event.

Some of the more notable names participating include French player Lilbow, Norwegian ace Snute, Danish SCII ace Bunny  and Korean stars Polt and Hydra.  Polish hopes are carried by their two National Qualifiers, Nerchio and Elazer.

While a couple of notable names have been forced to drop out as they were unable to make the trip to Poland, they have been replaced with stand in players and the competition will be as strong as ever as all 32 individuals compete for the $35,000 first prize, plus the equally valuable 3,000 in WCS Circuit points on offer for the winner.

The format of the event is a simple knockout format with the 32 qualifiers drawn into 16 Best of Five matches in the Round of 32. The Best of Five format is continued right through until the final, where it then becomes a best of seven match between the two players remaining in the competition.

The event starts on Wednesday 2nd March and matches will be played, and eSports betting markets available on games, right through until the final is played on Saturday 5^th March.

Intel Extreme Masters Season X World Championships Katowice – CSGO

At the same time as the StarCraft II event listed above is taking place in Katowice, so will a dozen of the very best Counter Stike Global Offensive teams compete against each other for a share of a $250,000+ prize pool in this eagerly anticipated event.

Eight teams were invited directly into the Katowice event, Fnatic, Astralia, Team EnVyUs, Natus Vincere, Virtus.pro, Luminosity Gaming, Ninjas in Pyjamas and FaZe Clan.

They are joined by four qualified teams E-Frag.net Esports Club, mousesports, The MongolZ and Tempo Storm.

The twelve teams have already been drawn into two separate groups as follows for the first stage of the competition – a round robin group stage:

• Group A – Fnatic, Natus Vincere, Luminosity Gaming, Ninjas in Pyjamas, mousesports, The MongolZ
• Group B – Team EnVyUs, Astralis, Virtus.pro, FaZe Clan, E.Frag.net Esports Club, Tempo Storm

Starting on Wednesday 2^nd March, each team in their group will face the other teams in their group trying to either earn the top spot in the group (thus earning a guaranteed place in the semi finals) or the 2^nd or 3^rd spot in the group, which will see the teams earn a place in the Round of 6.

Once the group games have been played, the sides finishing 2^nd and 3^rd in the group will playoff against teams from the other group in the Round of 6, before the winners face the Group Winners in the Semi Finals. The winners of these matches then contest the Final.

There will be a large number of top quality betting markets available on the two big events in Poland this week, so do remember to check back to your preferred eSports betting provider for all the latest odds and news on this high quality eSports event.

And of course, don’t forget to take a look at our eSports betting odds tracker before placing your wagers!