After this weekend’s The International 2017 Main Qualifiers, the 18 teams that will contest the $20 million tournament at Seattle’s KeyArena in August are known.
It promises to be an intriguing event, with a number of new teams taking their places for the first time, some at the expense of more well-established teams.
After the weekend qualifiers, the teams joining the six invited teams — OG, Virtus.pro, Evil Geniuses, Team Liquid, Invictus Gaming, and Newbee — are:
- Europe Qualifiers (2) – Team Secret, Planet Dog
- CIS Qualifier (1) – Team Empire
- China Qualifiers (3) – iG Vitality, LGD.Forever Young, LGD Gaming
- Southeast Asia Qualifiers (3) – TNC Pro Team, Fnatic, Execration
- North American Qualifiers (2) – Team NP, Digital Chaos
- South American Qualifier (1) – Infamous
It was a hugely competitive qualifying process for the teams in each regional qualifier.
In the European Qualifier, Planet Dog earned a spot in the semifinals, where they lost to the more established mousesports. That sent them into the Losers Round, where they defeated Team Singularity 2-1 and then Danish Bears 2-0 to earn a Grand Final spot. Planet Dog beat mousesports that time around to earn a place in the August tournament.
Both the Southeast Asian and Chinese sections saw a number of top teams battle it out. While iG Vitality and TNC Pro Team showed their class and Fnatic found their best form in the knockout section, it was an incredibly competitive qualifier.
The void that used to exist between the very top professional esports teams and those just making their way in the industry is closing more quickly than ever.
Currently, Bet365 is offering the following ante post betting odds on each of the finalists for The International 2017:
- Evil Geniuses and Virtus Pro – 7/2 joint favourites
- OG – 6/1
- Team Liquid – 13/2
- Newbee – 10/1
- Invictus Gaming, Team Secret – 14/1
- LGD Forever Young, LGD Gaming, TnC Pro Team – 16/1
- Team NP – 17/1
- IG Vitality – 22/1
- Fnatic – 33/1
- Digital Chaos, Team Empire – 40/1
- Execration, Infamous – 80/1
- Planet Dog – 100/1
The International gets underway on Aug. 7. After a comprehensive group stage, there is a double-elimination main event for the 16 teams from the first stage.
CS:GO PGL Major Offline Qualifiers produces eight teams
This past weekend in Bucharest, Romania, 16 top CS:GO teams fought for places in the PGL Major 2017 Krakow.
Joining the eight Legends teams in Krakow on July 16 will be eight very familiar names from CS:GO esports tournament play. The field will battle in Krakow over eight days of action in a Swiss Qualifying system to decide the eight playoff teams.
From the quarterfinals onward, it is a straight knockout format to decide a winner on July 23.
The eight Legends teams that came through Atlanta are:
- Astralis
- pro
- Fnatic
- SK Gaming
- Natus Vincere
- Gambit Esports
- North
- FaZe Clan
And the eight qualifying teams now confirmed as joining them are:
- Mousesports
- G2 Esports
- BIG
- Cloud9
- PENTA Sports
- Immortals
- Vega Squadron
- Flipsid3 Tactics
It is worth remembering that in addition to the prize money for the top team, there is also “Legend” status up for grabs for the teams that can finish in the top eight. That means an easier road to the tournament next year.
The draw for the first round of matches is:
- Astralis vs. Immortals
- Virtus pro vs. Vega Squadron
- Fnatic vs. Flipsid3 Tactics
- SK Gaming vs. PENTA Esports
- Gambit Esports vs. mousesports
- Natus Vincere vs. G2 Esports
- FaZe Clan vs. BIG
- North vs. Cloud9
Each of the matches listed above is a best-of-one contest. Teams need to win three matches in order to be one of the eight teams that will progress into the quarterfinals.
There’s a prize pool of $1,000,000 up for grabs at the Tauron Arena in Krakow when things get underway on July 16. Bet365 Sport will certainly be offering plenty of high-quality esports betting on this event, including In Play betting, as well as outright betting on which of the 16 teams will eventually be crowned.
