Two Dreams Can Come True This Weekend In Dota 2 And CS:GO

[toc]There’s plenty of money and prestige up for grabs this weekend for Dota 2 and CS:GO teams. Two massive winter events, the Dream League Season 8 Finals and the DreamHack Winter 2017, will take place in Jonkoping, Sweden, at the Elmia Convention Center.

Let’s take a closer look at both and see who the bookmakers have down as the favorites.

CS:GO DreamHack Winter 2017

Following Cloud9’s win at DreamHack Denver in October, DreamHack Winter comes in tandem with a massive esports gaming convention in Jonkoping this weekend.

This latest major has the same familiar prize pool and the same two-group format, followed by a single elimination best-of-three playoffs. Fifty thousand of the total $100,000 prize pool will be handed to the winning team. The runners-up will take home $20,000.

The eight teams participating are a mixture of six directly invited teams squads — BIG, Gambit Esports, Heroic, mousesports, Natus Vincere, and Team EnVyUs — as well as two teams that came through European and North American qualifiers. Those would be North Academy and Rise Nation.

It is worth noting this was not the original lineup for the tournament. First, Team Liquid had to withdraw from the event due to visa issues. This led to Team EnVyUs being called up to replace them. On Nov. 10, Fnatic were forced to withdraw due to a heavy schedule of games and personal issues, which saw BIG invited to take their place.

Tournament structure

The draws for the initial group stage of the tournament have been made:

• Group A – Gambit Esports, Heroic, Natus Vincere, Rise Nation
• Group B – mousesports, BIG, Team EnVyUs, North Academy

Like other DreamHack events, the first two games of the group will see the four teams play one match apiece in a best-of-one format. Then, the two winning teams play each other in a third best-of-one game. The team that wins both of those matches tops the group.

The two losing teams from the first games play a best-of-three match, and the loser is eliminated. The two remaining teams then play one final best-of-three match to decide who finishes second in the group and who is eliminated.

The playoffs are a simple straight knockout format played over a best-of-three with the two winning semifinal teams competing in the Grand Final on Dec. 3.

Latest betting

The latest betting for DreamHack Winter has Gambit Esports as the 3/1 favorites to win. They’re followed closely by mousesports at 10/3. Natus Vincere are 4/1 shots, with Team EnVyUs a 9/2 chance. Heroic are 11/2 before we reach the first of the longer options.

BIG is a 10/1 shot, North Academy a 33/1 chance, and Rise Nation are the 50/1 outsiders to take the top prize.

Gambit Esports won this event last year, defeating Renegades in the final. Gambit also won DreamHack Austin 2017, as well as the PGL Major Krakow, so they certainly look like the favorites here.

1,500 DPC points at Dream League Season 8 Finals

The next Dota Pro Circuit Major also kicks off this weekend in Sweden. Eight teams hoping to claim Pro Circuit Points in their quest to qualify for The International 2018.

That event is the ROG Dream League Season 8 Finals, which features eight teams that have qualified from Europe, North and South America, China, and Southeast Asia.

There is a massive $1 million prize pool on offer, which is the case for every Valve Major in the Dota Pro Circuit series. In addition, the winning team can claim 750 Dota Pro Circuit points, the new currency by which teams earn qualification for the The International.

The eight teams that have qualified are as follows:

• European qualifiers – Team Secret, Natus Vincere, Team Liquid, Virtus.pro
• Chinese qualifier – Newbee
• Southeast Asia qualifier – Fnatic
• North American qualifier – Evil Geniuses
• South American qualifier – Infamous

Tournament structure

In a changeup from prior iterations, this event now boasts a double-elimination playoff. One team qualifies from the winners bracket for the grand final, while another will qualify from the losers bracket.

The draw for the quarterfinals is outlined below, together with the odds for each game:

• Virtus.pro (4/9) vs. Natus Vincere (13/8)
• Team Liquid (1/10) vs. Fnatic (11/2)
• Team Secret (4/6) vs. Evil Geniuses (11/10)
• Newbee (1/14) vs. Infamous (7/1)

Bookmakers deem Virtus.pro, Team Liquid, and Newbee the clear favorites. These odds project only the Team Secret-Evil Geniuses match will be close, but that’s why they play the games.

For the outright winner, you can back Team Liquid at 9/4 and Virtus.pro at 10/3. Newbee 4/1 and Team Secret at 5/1 are next, with Evil Geniuses a 13/2 chance. We then head to the outside bets with Natus Vincere a 12/1 shot, Fnatic 25/1, and Infamous the 80/1 outside bet.