Kiev Set For Esports Extravaganza With StarLadder i-League

[toc]Kiev’s CyberSport Arena is the venue for this week’s big Dota 2 tournament. Six qualifiers and two directly invited teams gather to compete for a $300,000 prize pool and 300 Pro Circuit Points in the StarLadder i-League Invitational.

Team Liquid and Newbee earned the direct invites, with a further six teams qualifying:

• Team Secret – European Qualifier
• Natus Vincere – CIS Qualifier
• complexity Gaming – North American Qualifier
• SG e-sports – South American Qualifier
• Vici Gaming – China Qualifier
• Mineski – Southeast Asia Qualifier

Competition format

Esports fans will be very familiar with this format: four teams in two groups.

• Group A – SG e-sports, Team Liquid, Vici Gaming, Mineski
• Group B – Newbee, Team Secret, complexity Gaming, Natus Vincere

The first two matches in each group have already been drawn, with the third, fourth, and fifth games in each decided by the outcome of the games preceding it. The draw for the opening two games in each group is as follows:

• Group A – Vici Gaming vs. SG e-sports, Team Liquid vs. Mineski
• Group B – Newbee vs. complexity Gaming, Team Secret vs. Natus Vincere

This will be a double-elimination (GSL) format tournament, which means a total of five games in each group decide which two teams progress. Each matchup is a best-of-three affair, apart from the best-of-five final.

Once the group stage is complete, the top two teams in each group will progress to the semifinals. No. 1 seeds will face the No. 2 from the opposite group. The two winners from the semis then contest the final.

Key tournament stats and information

• The tournament starts Oct. 12 and will be played to a conclusion by Oct.15.
• Team Liquid are the current champs. They won the last StarLadder Invitational event in Shanghai back in May.
• The winners of the tournament will receive $135,000 and 150 Dota Pro Circuit Points. The runners-up earn $60,000 and 90 points.
• Only the top three teams will earn Dota Pro Circuit points from the event.

Current odds on Bet365

Outlined below are some of the key markets from Bet365.

• Outright Winner – Team Liquid – 2/1, Team Secret – 7/2, Newbee – 7/2, Vici Gaming – 5/1, Mineski – 12/1, complexity Gaming – 14/1, Natus Vincere – 16/1, SG e-sports – 50/1.
• To Reach the Final – Team Liquid – 1/2, Team Secret – 5/4, Newbee – 11/8, Vici Gaming – 2/1, Mineski – 5/1, complexity Gaming – 6/1, Natus Vincere – 7/1, SG e-sports – 25/1

In addition to these standard bets, Bet365 is offering a number of other markets and a range of special bets. Find further details on the Bet365 website.

Check out the Manila Invitational on Bet365 too

Just a day after the StarLadder i-League Invitational gets underway, the small-scale Manila Invitational starts. Four teams are competing in a direct knockout event at the Mall of Asia Arena in the Philippines.

• pro
• TNC Pro Team
• OpTic Gaming
• iG Vitality

Bet365 Outright Winner betting

Bet365 is offering Outright Winner betting on the Manila Invitational. Virtus.pro are the current 4/7 favorites to win the event, with OpTic Gaming a 10/3 shot. TNC Pro Team are a 5/1 chance, with iG Vitality rated as the 10/1 outsiders.

SK Telecom are now short-priced favorites for LoL Worlds

After the first round of group games this past weekend, Bet365 has shortened the price on SK Telecom T1 to win LoL Worlds from 7/4 to 6/4. The reigning champs won all three of their group games with relative ease. Longzhu Gaming remain the 2/1 second favorites. These two teams have been the two favorites for some time now.

However, there has been significant movement in the market below these two teams. Samsung Galaxy has drifted considerably from 13/2 out to 9/1 on the back of their surprising defeat in the group stage to Royal Never Give Up. The latter saw its odds cut down to 8/1 following their excellent start in the Group Stage.

Other movers include Team SoloMid, who are now an 18/1 chance. That’s the same as World Elite, who have drifted somewhat from 12/1 to 18/1 on the back of a surprising defeat to the aforementioned SoloMid.

Farther along the line, Fnatic has swung wildly out to 250/1 following their disastrous opening week; they lost all three group games.

With a second week of matches this weekend, it is likely that the two favorites will maintain a vice grip at the top of the betting. It will be interesting to see how Royal Never Give Up fare if they can continue their unbeaten start.