LoL Mid Season Invitational Prepares For Group Stage This Week In Esports Betting

[toc]Following a hugely successful spring around the globe, three of the best League of Legends teams in the world – G2 Esports, SK Telecom T1, and Team WE – have already been seeded into the group stage of the Mid Season Invitational.

Round One, which featured eight teams from the developing sections of the tournament, saw two teams make it into Round Two: Turkey-based BAU SuperMassive came through their group, while Southeast Asia’s GIGABYTE Marines beat quality opponents to get out of Group B.

That next round begins next week and sees two of the teams from the lower-ranked qualification sections face off in a two-stage knockout competition against the two qualifiers from Round One.

Round Two sees North America’s Team SoloMid taking on GIGABYTE Marines, and Flash Wolves will face off against BAU SuperMassive. The two winners of these matches will earn a place in the group stage of the event. The two losers will go into Round Three for a playoff against each other; the winner of that matchup will claim the final place in the group stage.

Team SoloMid and Flash Wolves the massive favorites to win the play-in games. Team SoloMid are 1/100 to win their clash with GIGABYTE Marines, while Flash Wolves are at 1/300 to win against BAU SuperMassive. (Those odds are from Bet365.)

It is hard to understate how important that place in the group stage would be to either of the underdogs. The chance to play against five of the best League of Legends teams in the world, including the current and three-time World Champions SK Telecom T1 would not only considerably aid each team’s development, but it would help them attract better sponsorship deals.

Alongside the Round One excitement, there is also plenty of controversy. RED Canid’s substitute mid laner YoDA was suspended for three matches and fined $2,000 after he violated tournament rules regarding profanity and hate speech, as well as discrimination and denigration. A short time later, YoDa announced his retirement.

The group stage begins in earnest next week on May 10, and we’ll bring you coverage and all the latest esports betting on this invitation-only event next week.

CS:GO Intel Extreme Masters XII – Sydney Gets Underway

It is all action at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, as the Intel Extreme Masters XII  event is now underway. The Eight-Team Swiss System is ready to cull the eight teams down to just four for the semifinals.

The Swiss System is a complicated but shorter way to conclude a group in a major tournament. In this system, the winning teams always play against each other, and teams with the same records always play against each other. Seeding is therefore determined without teams having to play everyone in a group.

After the first round of matches, there are then two low matches (between the four losing first-round teams) and two high matches (between the four winning first-round teams). Round Three then features one low match (between teams with a 0-2 record), two mid matches (between teams with a 1-1 record), and one high match (between the two teams with a 2-0 record).

The winner of that high match is automatically the first seed in the table, and the loser of the low match becomes the eighth seed.

Round Four then proceeds with a low match (between the two teams with the worst 1-2 record), a mid match between the team with the best 1-2 record and the worst 2-1 record, and a high match between the two teams with the best 2-1 record. Leg difference will be used to decide which teams have the best 1-2 and 2-1 records. There is a final Round Five match between teams with 2-2 records to decide the final positions within the group.

After the first round of games, FaZe Clan, Astralis, SK Gaming, and North lead the way.

Over the next few days, Bet365 will have plenty of betting available on all the key matches in the IEM Sydney event, including Match Result betting on many of the key games, including the Round Two high matches where Chiefs esports club (2/1) takes on Renegades (4/11) and the very evenly matched clash between FaZe Clan and Astralis, which sees both teams rated as 5/6 shots to win.

Latest Outright Betting On This Week’s DreamHack Tours 2017 Event

CS:GO fans will also be aware that hot on the heels of DreamHack Austin is the next DreamHack event this weekend in Tours, France.

DreamHack Tours 2017 features three teams that competed in Texas – G2 Esports, HellRaisers, and Heroic – lining up for a share of the $100,000 prize pool. The winners of the Austin event, Gambit Esports, had to withdraw at the last minute due to visa issues, and they were replaced by Tricked Esports, the team that finished second to HellRaisers in the European Qualifier.

The format of the competition is exactly the same as last week’s event in Texas: two groups of four teams competing and then the top two seeds in each group playing in the semifinal, before the two winners contest the best-of-five final.

Group A consists of Natus Vincere, Heroic, Mousesports, and Misfits, while G2 Esports will line up against HellRaisers, Team EnVyUs, and Tricked Esport in Group B.

Gambit’s omission from the event will certain tip the betting toward the favourite Natus Vincere, who are a 12/5 shot. G2 Esports are 3/1, with HellRaisers 6/1, Heroic 7/1, Team EnVyUs 10/1, alongside Mousesports with the same odds. Misfits are the 100/1 outsiders, and as yet, Bet365 does not have a price up for Tricked Esports, although they will likely be ranked as an outsider to take the title.