Earlier this week, we covered ESL One Cologne 2017 and the many quality esports betting opportunities Bet365 esports is offering. So rather than go over this event again, let’s turn our attention to Dota 2 tournaments also happening this weekend: the Mars Dota 2 League 2017 currently taking place in Wuhan, China.
The tournament, which runs through July 9, features eight teams. Four received a direct invitation while the others qualified from China, Europe, and Southeast Asia.
- Invited Teams (4) : Invictus Gaming, Newbee, OG, Evil Geniuses
- China Qualifiers (2): LGD Forever Young, LGD Gaming
- Europe Qualifier (1): Vici Gaming
- SEA Qualifier (1): Clutch Gamers
There is a total prize pool of $250,000 up for grabs, with the winning team taking home $112,500 and the runners-up receiving $50,000.
The group stage, which is all best-of-one matches, has been hotly contested. Here is the table as it stood yesterday:
- LGD Gaming 4-1
- OG 4-2
- Evil Geniuses 3-2
- LGD Forever Young 3-3
- Vici Gaming 3-3
- Invictus Gaming 2-3
- Newbee 2-3
- Clutch Gamers 1-5
While it is not surprising Clutch Gamers have endured the most losses, it is perhaps surprising to see Newbee and Invictus Gaming near the bottom and in danger of dropping into the Losers Round when the tournament hits the playoff stage.
The playoffs will have two brackets. The top four teams will contest the semifinals, with the two subsequent winners contesting the Winners Final and then the winning team from there moving into the Grand Final.
The teams finishing fifth through eighth in the group stage will contest the Losers Round One, with the winners there then taking on the losing semifinalists in Losers Round Two. These two winners then compete in the Losers Round Three before the winner of that takes on the loser of the Winners Final. The winner of that match then goes on to contest the Winners Final.
During the playoffs, matches are all best-of-three, except for the best-of-five Grand Final.
Bet365 is offering plenty of betting, including on game events (such as the First Team to Get 20 Kills on Map 1, or the Team to Draw First Blood on Map One).
League of Legends 2017 Rift Rivals underway in five cities
Forty-one of the top League of Legends teams have taken a break from their Summer Split program at present to compete in Riot Games’ 2017 Rift Rivals competition.
Based in five different locations around the globe — Berlin, Kaohsiung, Moscow, Santiago, and Ho Chi Minh City — the competition sees the top three or four teams from each LoL region from the Spring Split competing against the top teams from another one or two qualifiers.
The tournament continues through July 8, so let’s get a quick recap of how things have gone so far in the two biggest competitions. That’s the Blue Rift, which pits the North American LCS teams against the European LCS teams, and the Red Rift, which sees the best in Korea, China, and Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macao battle it out against each other.
Blue Rift
Day One comprised six matches, and Team SoloMid proved to be the stars of the day. They were the only team to win both their games, while Unicorns of Love landed the booby prize after losing both of their opening matches. That meant the other four teams, Phoenix1 and Cloud9 (both NA) and Fnatic and G2 Esports (EU) have a 1-1 record heading into the second day.
In the Blue Rift, each team plays the other team in the opposing qualifying section twice. Ultimately, the best NA team will face off against the best EU side in the finals, which is a best-of-five matchup.
Red Rift
The organization of the Red Rift is very different. Here, the four teams representing each of the three qualifying sections work together for the benefit of their qualifying section to reach the final.
The first two days pitted teams from each of the three qualifying sections against each other. Every time a team wins, they score a point for their qualifying section. The best qualifying section will head into the Grand Final.
The other two sections will then battle in a relay format to decide which of the two will head to the final for a best-of-five match.
Early on, the South Korean qualifying group got off to a not-so-surprising strong start.
Bet365 Sport is offering a large number of markets on Rift Rivals 2017, including Match Winner betting on all the key matchups, as well as plenty of bets on in-game events, such as the total number of towers destroyed, or the team to destroy the first inhibitor.
