Intel Extreme Masters XV New York Online CIS

Unless K23 find a way to improve for their bout against Cyber Legacy, they just might end the tournament with a 0-5 record. That is not to say Cyber Legacy are a strong team, but they showed glimpses of quality against Natus Vincere and forZe.

Both teams are in shaky form, making a three-map series a highly likely outcome. If we had to choose a team, however, Cyber Legacy are the better pick given the odds.

Winstrike Team’s only win this tournament came against Ethereal, and even there they dropped the first map (2-16). Winstrike also lost to HellRaisers (1-2) and Gambit Esports (0-2), so it’s difficult to imagine they can compete with Team Spirit.

Out of three games played, Team Spirit dropped a map to both Nemiga and Gambit but convincingly closed out all of their fixtures. Despite their slip-ups, Spirit are by far the strongest team in Group B and could go on to win the title. There is no reason to doubt their chances to sweep the struggling Winstrike.

Besides their win over Winstrike (2-1), HellRaisers’ performance at IEM New York has been nothing short of humiliating. They managed to win only 21 rounds across four maps in their losses to Nemiga Gaming and Team Spirit, which makes it hard to trust them with our money – even though they’re facing the worst-performing team at the tournament.

We don’t rank Ethereal highly, but there is no reason to have them priced at such generous odds. Ethereal took one map off Winstrike and won 24 rounds against Nemiga, which shows they have enough firepower to win at least one map against HellRaisers.

These teams last met in June during LOOT.BET/CS Season 7, where Gambit (then Gambit Youngsters) squeezed past Nemiga with 2-1. A lot of time has passed since then, so it would be wise not to put too much stock in that result.

While both teams have shown solid form of late, Gambit are much stronger in terms of individual quality. It’s difficult to bet against a team with Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov and Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov on the roster, and they should be too much for Nemiga to deal with.

2020 Global StarCraft II League Season 3

Jun “TY” Tae Yang swept Park “DongRaeGu” Soo Ho (3-0) in the quarter-finals to book a best-of-seven meeting with Kim “Stats” Dae Yeob. The in-form Stats is favoured over TY, which is no shock despite TY’s masterclass of a performance against DongRaeGu.

Stats has already defeated TY twice this year – once in August during 2020 Global StarCraft II League Season 2 with 4-2, and two weeks ago during ITaX Super Series #26 with 5-1. We expect a closer bout here, but we are not prepared to side with the underdog at the offered odds.

Nine to Five #5

Galaxy Racer have taken quite a few scalps recently and enter this bout with a 7-3 record in their last 10 outings. Giants Gaming have had their flashes of greatness as well, but overall their showings have been far less convincing.

Galaxy Racer are in better form and hold a better win percentage on five out of seven maps, but that does not necessarily mean this will be a blowout. This will be their first meeting with Giants, and that element of the unknown could pose a problem.

Clean sweeps are not tii common at this level of play. While Galaxy Racer are the most likely victors, they’re not consistent enough for us to believe they can cover the handicap. Expect Giants to put up a fight and steal at least one map.

Intel Extreme Masters XV New York Online – CIS

We last saw HellRaisers and Gambit Esports in action on Sunday when they played out their third-round fixtures. HellRaisers got smashed by Team Spirit with 4-16 on Inferno and 5-16 on Overpass, while Gambit locked in a very important 2-0 win over Winstrike Team.

Considering the very iffy level of play HellRaisers have been showing, we don’t have a problem with the odds favouring Gambit so heavily. HR have not shown any improvement since Gambit (then Gambit Youngsters) swept them in August, so we have to trust Abay “Hobbit” Khassenov to hand his former employer another 0-2 loss.

It’s difficult to be overly excited about Nemiga Gaming following their close series with Ethereal (16-11, 16-13), but we have even less confidence in Winstrike Team. Not only did Winstrike manage a mere 15 rounds against Gambit last time out, they also kneeled to HellRaisers (1-2) and lost one map against Ethereal (2-1).

Despite their less-than-convincing display against Ethereal, Nemiga are still the only team in the group that came close to derailing Team Spirit. They might be a hit-or-miss proposition, but that is not an excuse to have them priced so high against one of the worst-performing teams at the tournament.

DreamHack Open Fall 2020

Team Vitality and Ninjas in Pyjamas will clash in the DreamHack Open Fall quarter-finals in their first meeting since September, when Vitality reverse-swept (2-1) NiP in the first round of ESL Pro League Season 12 Europe. Since then, Vitality have played 11 games and won six, while NiP have three wins in nine games.

NiP hold a rather poor 40% win rate across the last three months, which is significantly lower than Vitality’s 61.1%. However, that does not guarantee the French squad will walk away unharmed.

Vitality looked very iffy in their win against Fnatic (2-1), which leads us to believe they can drop at least one map against any top-tier team. The odds offered on the Swedes at the +1.5 handicap are a bit too short, so we have to go for the overs as the next best thing.

AfreecaTV Starleague Season 10

Park “Soma” Sang Hyun and Jang “Snow” Yoon Chul have met more than 70 times in competitive play, which means we are likely in for a close bout. The latest StarCraft II betting odds somewhat confirm that, but we expected Snow to be priced slightly lower.

Despite what the odds suggest, Snow should have an advantage in this bout because the current meta favours Protoss players. While his PvZ (Protoss v Zerg) performances are still a bit questionable, Snow has shown enough improvement in that department for us to believe he can take down the favourite.

Intel Extreme Masters XV New York Online – CIS

?ESPADA started their IEM New York campaign with a convincing 2-1 win against forZe but stumbled on Wednesday when they were swept by Virtus.pro. Cyber Legacy shocked many with their three-map series against Natus Vincere (1-2), which remains their only notable result to date.

Despite Cyber Legacy’s relative success against the no.3 team in the world, they need to show a bit more before we start believing they’re a serious threat for the title. We feel the same way with ESPADA, but we don’t have a problem with esports bookmakers pricing them as favourites over Cyber Legacy.

ESPADA hold better win rates on Dust II (100%-60%) and Mirage (62%-33%), which are besides Inferno (30%-60%) the two maps the teams play the most games on. This is enough for us to believe ESPADA can manage a clean sweep, but the odds are not high enough for us to go for the -1.5 handicap over the straight win.

?ForZe have looked very good of late with their 2-1 wins over HAVU, North and Gambit. While K23 deserve some praise for their showings as well, their results are not nearly as promising as those of their regional rivals. They picked up one map against Virtus.pro on Tuesday, although that was only because VP forfeited it.

After a streak of iffy showings, we have no reason to side with K23 to win – even though they bested forZe in August. While forZe are far from the best CIS team, they are in good form and should defeat the Kazakhstani squad without any real issues.

?Both Natus Vincere and Virtus.pro have won their opening two fixtures of the tournament. VP defeated K23 (2-1) and ESPADA (2-0), while NaVi took down Cyber Legacy (2-1) and K23 (2-0).

If we look solely at those results, these two CIS rivals appear equally matched. Despite their renown as one of the best teams in the world, NaVi showed some cracks against both Cyber Legacy and K23. Perhaps they are not as strong as the odds would seem to suggest.

We expect a three-map series, but since there is a chance VP can upset NaVi and win 2-0, we have to go for a +1.5 map bet on the outsiders.

?Nemiga looked quite impressive in their win over HellRaisers, who they kept to only 12 rounds across the series. Ethereal lost their opening match of the tournament against Winstrike Team (1-2) with disastrous performances on Overpass (4-16) and Dust II (7-16), which makes us question their stability and all-round ability.

Nemiga are 4-1 in their last five games. While we are not too excited about their 17-19 loss to Crazy Killerz, it seems like that was an anomaly rather than a true indication of Nemiga’s quality.

Considering their form, the odds offered on Nemiga to win 2-0 are quite high. There is a chance Ethereal might get on the board, but siding with Nemiga at the map line is a much safer bet.

2020 Global StarCraft II League Season 3

?Cho “Maru” Seong Ju has been playing very well of late and even managed to defeat one of the best Zerg players in Byun “Byun” Hyun-woo with a clean sweep. Cho “Trap” Sung Ho has not disappointed either, although he did lose to Maru (2-3) less than two weeks ago.

Trap is priced as the favourite, which is fair since Protoss are regarded as the strongest race in the current meta, but the odds offered on Maru still seem a bit high. He has beaten Trap before, and as the favourite has since dropped a map against Park “Armani” Jin Hyuk (2-1) and lost to Kang “Solar” Min Soo (1-3), we have no problem siding with the outsider.

Intel Extreme Masters XV New York Online – CIS

Gambit Esports enter this bout after a rather disappointing 1-2 loss to Team Spirit on Wednesday where they took the series lead with 16-11 on Dust II but dropped the ball with 8-16 on both Mirage and Train. In the same way, Ethereal started their series against Winstrike Team with a 16-2 win on Nuke but lost the next two maps with 4-16 on Overpass and 7-16 on Dust II.

Although the results were similar, Gambit had to face a tougher opponent than Ethereal. Still, that should not justify the high odds offered on the outsiders in this clash.

Ethereal might not be the next big thing in CIS CS:GO, but in an online environment, they just might surprise Gambit. Ethereal are severely overpriced, and we will gladly take our chances with the underdogs.

Winstrike Team started their IEM New York campaign with a well-deserved 2-1 win over Ethereal despite a rather humiliating 2-16 loss on the first map. HellRaisers saw far less success in their opening fixture of the tournament, where they lost to Nemiga and took only 12 rounds across the series.

Despite their shaky display against Ethereal, Winstrike are 7-2 in their last nine games. HellRaisers are 6-3 over the same stretch, but we can’t ignore their 11-16 loss to HauntedFamily and that three of their wins came against semi-amateur teams.

Since this is an online match, a three-map series is a possibility, but we don’t believe HR have it in them to defeat Winstrike – at least not with the form they are showing.

League of Legends World Championship

We don’t have a problem with LoL betting sites pricing JD Gaming at shorter odds, but Suning are tougher than many people give them credit for. This team, while far less experienced, have shown little to no weakness in the group stage. Even though they lost to JD Gaming in the LPL Summer, we expect a much stronger performance from them this time out.

That is not to say JD Gaming have disappointed at this tournament, but Suning’s improvement alone is enough for us to believe this won’t be a one-sided affair. These teams also know each other well, so there should be no surprises.

JD Gaming are the most likely victors, but there is a good chance this fixture can go to five games. Since Suning are capable of winning two maps, it makes more sense to go for the +1.5 handicap bet on the outsiders rather than an outright on JDG.

League of Legends Belgian League Country Finals

Despite their lack of success on the international stage, Sector One have established themselves as the strongest Belgian LoL team with titles from both League of Legends Belgian League (BL) splits. Now, Jeroen “Night” Segers and co. are only one step away from another domestic title to end the season on a positive note.

Aethra Esports have seen their fair share of success in 2020, albeit only in the latter stages of the season. They finished the BL Summer regular season in fourth place but failed to make it further than the second round in the playoffs, where they were swept by KV Mechelen.

If the current season is to go by, KV Mechelen and Sector One are by far the strongest teams in the league, so it makes sense to have Aethra Esports priced as heavy underdogs. While Aethra have looked good against weaker sides, they’ve yet to leave a dent in either of the two top dogs. We don’t expect that to change on Friday.

TSM coach says American LoL teams must ‘level up’

A disastrous performance across the board for North American teams at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship has drawn both ridicule and criticism. With not a single NA team making the playoffs, the effectiveness of esports development strategies in the region has been called into question.

TeamSoloMid’s coach, Parth “Parth” Naidu, spoke up after his team’s crushing 0-6 run at the tournament. “I think one of the things that the NA region has constantly done is rely too much on their veterans and their leadership to carry them through their games,” he said in an exclusive interview with ONE Esports.

The coach added that “North America has to level up” when it comes to developing rookie talent. According to Parth, it’s the only way the region can remain competitive going forward.

Asia esports news

Onic Esports Win Ultimate Warrior Showdown

The likes of Tencent Games, Esports Fight Club and Verasity Tech combined forces to stage the inaugural edition of the Ultimate Warrior Showdown. This 12-day tournament saw more than 1,000 Asian PUBG teams compete for US $15,000 in prizes.

Many of the most renowned international esports teams participated in the competition. That includes the likes of T1, Orange Esports, Team Secret, and FaZe Clan.

In the end, Onic Esports walked away with the first UWS title. Second place ended in a tie between TRX and Secret TH, followed by GF ID in third. T1 made the top 10, finishing ninth, while Orange Esports were 13th, and FaZe finished 15th.

Africa esports news

AEC Organizers Listens To Players

After the Africa Esports Championship organization announced the game selection for the upcoming national league tournaments, many players were upset. The tournament was slated to include FIFA 20 and Street Fighter V, two choices that didn’t go over well with players.

Many fans spoke out, demanding that the newer FIFA 21 replace its older iteration in the roster. An equally loud contingent complained about Street Fighter V, a less popular title than fan-favorite Tekken 7. The AEC was listening, though.

As a result of the online feedback, the organizers have announced two modifications to the roster, conceding to both demands. This move speaks positively of the AEC and its willingness to work with its audience. It’s also expected to help increase esports betting interest online.

Europe esports news

Kjaerbye And NBK- Clash On Twitter During IEM New York Final

FaZe Clan recently dominated OG in the Grand Final of the Intel Extreme Masters New York 2020 Europe tournament. The news made the headlines across CS:GO betting sites and esports news trackers. What didn’t make the headlines at first, though, was the heated banter.

FaZe Clan’s Markus “Kjaerbye” Kj?rbye may be the clan’s newest member, but he proved he’s among the loudest. He and OG senior member Nathan “NBK-” Schmitt got into it on Twitter, both before and during the match.

Kjaerbye fired the first shot, tweeting to his 127,000 followers that OG would “choke” again in the Grand Final. NBK- shot back, posting a screencap of Kjaerbye’s three-month stats and calling out his performance.

During the match, Kjaerbye dominated the first map with 33 frags. He then took another potshot at NBK, tweeting for him to “join the server”. After FaZe’s victory, Kjaerbye doubled down, quoting the earlier stats and sarcastically quipping, “This aged well”.

South America esports news

SporTV Series Latin America Digital Conference Brings Together Key Players

As South American esports leagues continue to mature and seek commercial viability, key business interests are starting a dialogue. Market research firm Dataxis have organized a digital conference for stakeholders to discuss challenges and strategies in the region.

SporTV Series Latin America features more than 400 different executives, sports leagues, clubs, teams, rights owners, and broadcasters. The event will discuss current trends and future technological requirements of the nascent Latin American esports ecosystem.

Fan engagement will be another major topic in the conference, with marketing executives assessing different strategies for the region. The issues of piracy and broadcasting rights will also be focal points.

A dedicated panel will discuss broadcasting rights negotiation within the context of the pandemic. Monetization, attracting bookmaker and betting interest, and long-term sustainability are also key concerns for this South American esports conference.

Oceania esports news

Ground Zero Gaming Beat Mindfreak In Overwatch Contenders Australia Season 2 Finals

The second season of Blizzard’s Overwatch Contenders Australia has come to an end. The matches are over, and the results are in: Ground Zero Gaming are the champions.

They beat Mindfreak, who overcame the losers’ bracket to reach the final. Ground Zero dominated the decider, dispatching Mindfreak with a comfortable 4-0 score to claim the US $20,500 grand prize.

Mindfreak didn’t go home empty-handed, pocketing $15,875 as the runners-up. Third-placed Dire Wolves won $26,562 all up, thanks to their first-place finish in the regular season.

Intel Extreme Masters XV New York Online – CIS

?These teams will clash for the first time since late June, when Nemiga swept HellRaisers 2-0 during ESEA Season 34 Premier Division Europe. Nemiga have since cooled down and have recently put up some very concerning results, including a 17-19 loss to Crazy Killerz and a narrow 22-20 win over Chocojapaskat – both semi-amateur teams.

Nemiga are 3-4 since the start of October, which is only slightly worse than HellRaisers’ 5-3 record. Like Nemiga, HellRaisers have not impressed of late, particularly with their losses to Sangal Esports (10-16) and HauntedFamily (11-16).

Neither team is in good form, which suggests we are in for a scrappy match that could go either way. A bet on the outsiders can be considered, but we have no faith either team will manage a clean sweep.

?Team Spirit last met with Gambit Esports’ current roster (then Gambit Youngsters) in August in the Nine to Five #3 semi-finals and won 2-1. The match was relatively close, with Gambit taking the series lead (16-9) only to lose the next two maps 12-16 and 15-19.

Since Gambit promoted their reserves roster, Abay “Hobbit” Khassenov and co. have produced a very impressive 7-1 record. Meanwhile, Spirit are 5-5 from their last 10, although they played most of those games in ESL Pro League Season 12 Europe against some of the best CS:GO esports teams in the world.

Spirit are the stronger team, but their lack of playtime – only nine games since September – is a concern. However, at the offered odds, we have to side with the favourites.

?As the reigning IEM Katowice champions, Natus Vincere are the clear favourites to win this tournament. We have to consider, however, that NaVi are notorious for sloppy performances in the opening stages of any tournament, which is our biggest concern for their group stage fixtures.

K23 (formerly Syman Gaming) enter IEM New York on a 10-match winning streak, but eight of those wins came against amateur and semi-amateur teams. Despite K23’s strong form, they have only looked good against weaker opponents and will likely struggle to leave a dent in the current no.3 team in the world.

Prime League Pro Division 2020 Grand Final

?The last time we saw GamerLegion and Schalke Evolution on the Rift was during European Masters 2020 Summer. While GL reached the grand finals, S04E failed to make it out of the group and ended the tournament in 12th-13th place.

Despite Schalke’s underwhelming result at the EU Masters, this is still a very stacked team who reached the grand finals of Prime League Pro Division 2020 Summer in August. They swept GamerLegion 2-0 during that campaign, so it’s fair to say they’re more than capable of defeating their regional rivals.

If the previous meetings between these two sides are anything to go by, we are in for another exciting and close affair. They have each won two of their four battles since June, but Schalke Evolution have looked more stable in best-of games and should have no trouble covering the +1.5 line in this one.

Master League Portugal Season 6

?For The Win Esports have managed only one win (16-11 against ZEROZONE) in their eight games at Master League Portugal S6, putting together a disappointing -40 map differential. While eXploit Esports look to be in a much stronger position at 4-4, they have yet to face any of the tournament’s top dogs.

The betting odds on FTW are inflated due to their poor record, but they’ve had a tougher schedule and were fairly unlucky in some of their losses. FTW have met with eXploit nine times in 2020 and won six games (including a 16-6 win in September), so we have no problem backing them for the win.

Asian Teams Dominate LoL Worlds 2020 Group Stage

After the end of the group stages at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship, the utter dominance of Asian teams is sending a message. Chinese teams finished 17-8, while South Korean teams finished 14-4. That’s far better than Europe’s 9-10 and North America’s anaemic 6-12.

These disparities speak volumes about the different approaches to the nascent esports industry in these territories. Asian countries have been quick to invest resources and capital into esports, developing new talent every year.

The results of this year’s LoL Worlds 2020 group stage seem to validate this approach. Asian teams exhibit a quality, talent, and consistency that so thus far escapes other regions.

Africa esports news

Africa Esports Championship Gears Up For Season 2

After a successful first season, the second edition of the Africa Esports Championship is just around the corner. The annual tournament spans more than 30 nations across the continent.

This year’s edition of the AEC will feature League of Legends, FIFA 21, Tekken 7, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile. Registrations were open online through the dedicated AEC website until September 30.

National qualifiers are now set to start. The tournament will feature a national league stage followed by a knockout finals event. African sportsbooks are looking forward to this one as it creates a buzz across the continent.

Europe esports news

FaZe Clan Become European Champions of IEM New York 2020

After besting eight other elite teams, FaZe Clan have been crowned European champions of IEM New York 2020. The team prevailed over OG in the finals, while Team Vitality and Fnatic rounded out the top four.

FaZe take home a US $70,000 prize, half of IEM New York Europe’s $140,000 prize pool. The team originally finished Group B in second place with a 2-1 record, losing their Winners’ Match against OG 0-2. However, the tables turned in the playoffs, surprising CS:GO betting sites.

FaZe managed to beat Team Vitality 2-0, and then went on to face OG again in the IEM New York Europe Grand Final. This time, FaZe bested OG with a whopping 3-0 score.

South America esports news

Valve Backing Movistar Liga Pro Gaming For Dota 2 Esports

The Movistar Liga Pro Gaming series had been going strong for over a dozen seasons until it was cancelled this year due to the COVID outbreak. Now, Valve Corporation – the titanic gaming company behind the likes of Steam, CS: GO, and Dota 2 – have given the league the financial backing it needs to relaunch.

The rebooted Movistar LPG is expected to launch sometime during early 2021, creating much interest among Dota 2 betting sites. The tournament features a total prize pool of US $45,000.

Oceania esports news

Mindfreak Dominate Oceanic RLCS Regional Major Playoffs

The final Oceanic Rocket League Championship Series X Regional Major Playoff bracket is finished. All the matches have been played out, and results are in. Mindfreak dominated the competition, managing a 4-1 victory over Ground Zero Gaming in the grand final.

Along the way, Mindfreak bested both Renegades (4-3) and Canberra Havoc (3-1). Meanwhile, Ground Zero had comfortable victories against Cringe Society (4-1) and Vort Central (3-0).

Intel Extreme Masters XV New York Online – CIS

?K23 have won 10 games in a row heading into the IEM New York CIS main event, including wins over Gambit (16-14) and Lyngby Vikings (2-0). Virtus.pro are 6-4 in their last 10 but have managed a perfect 5-0 run since last Thursday with wins against Giants Gaming (2-1), NaVi Junior (2-1) and HellRaisers (2-0).

Not only have VP defeated stronger teams, but K23 recently parted ways with their head coach, Asset “Solaar” Sembiev, who was suspended after he was found guilty of exploiting the CS:GO spectator bug. This won’t do K23 any favours when facing a team who swept them in May during ESL One Road to Rio CIS.

Since this is an online match, a three-map series is not entirely out of the question. However, the odds offered on VP to win 2-0 are too good for us to ignore.

?Out of their three games played this month, ESPADA beat APOLOGIS Esport (19-15) but saw far less success against Lyngby Vikings (14-16) and Nemiga Gaming (0-2). ForZe, on the other hand, have won five out of their last seven games (5-2), although they’ve only looked good against weaker sides and severely underperformed against ENDPOINT (11-16) and Sprout (1-16).

ESPADA’s record is far from perfect, but we can’t ignore their results from September when they defeated Winstrike (2-0), SKADE (2-1) and SJ (2-0), and forced a three-map series against GODSENT (1-2). ForZe are still the most likely victors, but unless Andrey “Jerry” Mekhryakov and co. show a bit more consistency, ESPADA should steal at least one map.

Intel Extreme Masters XV New York Online – North America

?Rebirth Esports beat ImPerium Esports (2-1) but lost their remaining three fixtures this tournament against FURIA (0-2), New England Whalers (1-2) and Evil Geniuses (0-2). Likewise, Triumph have only one win, although they put up a strong resistance against FURIA (1-2) by forcing overtime in map one (19-22) and winning convincingly on Inferno (16-7).

Triumph are not as strong as they were with Michael “Grim” Wince; however, if their performance against FURIA is to go by, they should not struggle against Rebirth. The betting odds are not high, but anything over $1.40 is worth a shot.

?New England Whalers have had their flashes of greatness this tournament and beat both ImPerium (2-0) and Rebirth (2-1), but Ben “ben1337” Smith and co. have yet to show anything that would lead us to believe they can cause any damage to the Brazilian juggernauts. Even though FURIA slipped when they dropped a map against Triumph last Wednesday, they’re still one of the best North American CS:GO teams, and their 2-0 win against Evil Geniuses proves that.

The odds offered on the -1.5 map handicap offer no value, but that does not mean there are no betting opportunities. FURIA are priced at $1.74 to win the first map with at least seven rounds to spare, which is very generous considering they have kept their opponents under 10 rounds in five out of nine maps this tourney.

LOOT.BET/CS Season 8

?Nemiga Gaming and Izako Boars last met in May during the UCC Summer Smash, where Nemiga sprung a reverse sweep to snatch a 2-1 win. It marked their third head-to-head win against Boars and the second of 2020 after they defeated the Polish squad in April (16-11).

Nemiga are 5-5 in their last 10 games, while Boars managed are 8-2 in the same stretch. Most recently, Mateusz “TOAO” Zawistowski and co. picked up wins against PLMIX (16-10) and AGO (2-0), whereas Nemiga took down ESPADA (2-0) but struggled against amateur team Killerz (17-19).

Even though Nemiga are the stronger team on paper, their slip-ups against amateur teams don’t inspire much confidence. Izako Boars might not have defeated any high-profile teams in a while, but they are far more consistent.

IEM New York: North America

Evil Geniuses are the natural favorites at Counter-Strike betting sites for their day three IEM New York match against the New England Whalers. They recently placed third in the ESL Pro League behind FURIA and 100 Thieves. In this campaign, they’ll face FURIA again in the group stage on day four.

The Whalers are going to be in for a challenging game against the top seed in this best-of-three match, and the odds at North American sportsbooks reflect that. They’ve had an excellent run, defeating four of their five most recent foes. However, the Whalers squad isn’t at the same level as Evil Geniuses.

Asia esports news

VALORANT Mildom Masters Quarter-Final

Sengoku Gaming and REJECT are preparing for their quarter-final match in the Japanese Mildom Masters tournament today. Whoever wins will progress to the semi-finals against FAV Gaming later in the day.

These sides are well-matched and have played against each other on two occasions, taking one victory apiece. However, Sengoku are the favorites across VALORANT betting sites after their 13-10 success against REJECT in round six. It was so close that if REJECT can push forward and assert dominance early, the game could turn in their favor.

Africa esports news

League of Legends: Intel Arabian Cup

Tunisia’s Divine Vendetta will compete against the Fatigue Team of Iraq in their opening match of week two in the Intel Arabian Cup. The competition is tight, with some strong League of Legends rosters fighting for the title.

Fortunately for Divine Vendetta, they’ve had a better start to the campaign than their opponents, winning two of their four games in week one. After defeats at the hands of Fox Gaming, Anubis Gaming, and Summon Aery, African betting sites have the odds stacked against Fatigue in this one. They need a miracle to overturn their current 3-1 deficit.

Fox and Anubis are two of the strongest squads in the tournament, so we may see a better run from Fatigue this week against lesser opposition. Anubis of Egypt are also playing tomorrow and will face Galaxy Racer Esports of the UAE. Both are amongst the favorites to win the Intel Arabian Cup, so it’ll be an exciting game to watch.

Europe esports news

Complexity Continue with NaToSaphiX

Niels-Christian “?NaToSaphiX?” Sillassen is continuing his stand-in role at Complexity Gaming for the European region’s IEM New York campaign. He took over from Owen “?oBo?” Schlatter when the youngster decided to step away from gaming for personal reasons.

NaTo showed promise when he joined Complexity at short notice in the ESL Pro League, and he could be looking at a permanent position depending on the outcome of the IEM event. The team took a massive hit with oBo leaving. However, they’ve had some time to adjust and practice with NaTo now, so we should see consistency return to the roster. Bookmakers’ odds are changing as a result, so keep an eye out.

Complexity face Team Vitality next, with CS:GO betting sites still listing them as the underdogs. It’s worth noting that the odds are equalizing across bookmakers after their 2-0 victory over G2 Esports.

South America esports news

FURIA Maintain Winning Streak at IEM New York

FURIA made a strong start at the IEM New York tournament, defeating Rebirth 2-0 in their opening game. If they can keep delivering, they’re in line to take the NA title and head to the IEM Global Challenge. FURIA’s next opponent is Triumph, who they’ve dominated in their three previous meetings.

FURIA are competing without their coach for this tournament after he received a ban for using a bug in previous competitions. Nicholas “guerri” Nogueira’s punishment lasts for four months, but the team can still perform without his guidance. They’ve been playing together for a long time, and the odds at South American sportsbooks show that they have a good chance.

Oceania esports news

Oceanic Esports League Week 10

The top two rosters in the Oceanic Esports League are both getting ready for their opening battles in week 10. Spag and Sons will take on the Power of Friendship, while cuteanimegirls will face C’s Better. SaS and cuteanimegirls are both firm favorites at Australian betting sites and head into their clashes tied in first place with identical 9-4-2 records.

Intel Extreme Masters XV New York Online

?Team Liquid and Mythic will clash on the third day of Intel Extreme Masters XV New York Online NA in what is billed as a very one-sided match. However, there is more to this bout than meets the eye.

Liquid have a tendency to lose games against significantly weaker teams, and the online format won’t help their cause. What’s more, Mythic’s players know Liquid’s stars extremely well since they often scrim each other off stage.

As this is an online match between rosters who know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, there is a chance we could see Mythic steal a map. The odds on over 2.5 maps are surprisingly high, so it’s well worth a stab.

?We talked about the underdogs putting up a fight in the Team Liquid vs Mythic matchup, but we don’t have the same faith in the New England Whalers. Even though Evil Geniuses’ form as tapered off a fraction in recent weeks, they’re still a far superior team to the Whalers and, unlike Liquid, have an excellent record against weaker opponents.

Evil Geniuses have won 17 out of their last 20 games, with their only losses coming against FURIA (twice) and 100 Thieves. That run includes an impressive 36-11 map differential against some of the best CS:GO teams in the region.

Not only are the Whalers in worse form than EG with a 13-4 record since September, but they’ve also faced much weaker opponents – mostly semi-amateur teams. With all due respect, we are giving the outsiders no chance of causing an upset. While the odds offered on EG are not high, the -1.5 map handicap is worth a bet.

League of Legends World Championship 2020

?Machi Esports got the better of Team Liquid in their first meeting, but that was largely due to a poor showing from the latter rather than a strong performance from the former. Although Liquid struggled to find their footing in the first half of the group stage, the recent win against G2 Esports proved they are still a force to be reckoned with.

Liquid were very disorganised in their first match with Machi; however, after seeing how controlled and stable they were against G2, we have no doubt the NA representatives can avenge their loss this Thursday.

G2 Esports and Suning met on the second day of play and produced one of the most exciting fixtures at the 2020 LoL Worlds to date. While the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) representatives came out ahead in that bout, it was far from a convincing win.

We don’t want to discredit G2 for their incredible comeback, but the Chinese squad looked like the better team for most of the game and could have won the match if they did not make a few poor decisions late in the game. G2’s inconsistencies make this a complete coin-toss, so we have no issues siding with Suning to grab a revenge win.

2020 Overwatch League Playoffs

The Seoul Dynasty have met with the San Francisco Shock only once this season, in a showmatch where the Shock got the better of their cross-Pacific adversaries. However, that result does not show the true balance of power.

The Overwatch League betting odds heavily favour San Francisco, but we feel Seoul have the individual quality to compete with the North American champions. If the Dynasty can activate their supports and tanks – which have been their main source of strength – they may well come out ahead.

A close match is expected, so a 3-2 win for Seoul is not entirely out of the question. The only negative thing we have to say about the Dynasty is that they tend to use only one strategy, but as the famous Bruce Lee quote goes: “I fear not the man who has practised 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practised one kick 10,000 times.”