Welcome to the Weekly Recap, where we gather the top stories that happened in the past week to help you catch up with the busy world of eSports!
Dota 2
Liquid favoured in DreamLeague 7
Team Liquid is heavily favoured to win the DreamLeague Season 7 finals at DreamHack in Atlanta, USA.
Liquid, who is coming off wins in several LAN events this year, is backed to win in this four-team competition at 1.80.
The Blue Horse has been in good form since its creation after TI6, winning DreamLeague Season 6 in November, the Star Series Season 3 last February, the i-League invitation 2 in May and EPICENTER last month.
Next in the betting is Team Secret, who finished the league play first with 10 wins in 14 matches and finished second in Dota Summit 7, and third at EPICENTER. Secret lifting the cup is priced at 3.10.
Planet Odd is third in the list at 6.50, following its win in the Dream League 7 NA Division league play and a second-place finish at the Galaxy Battles in Taiwan.
C9 picks up NP roster
Team NP, who were all members and/or teammates of Cloud 9 in the past, will now play under the banner of one of NA’s top esports organization.
The roster, who won the International 2017 NA qualifiers, will now go to KeyArena in Seattle wearing the same colours but will bear different crests on their shirts.
EternalEnvy, Aui, and pieliedie were once teammates under the C9 banner for The International 2014, while FATA and EE were members of C9’s TI5 team.
Offlaner MSS played for Cloud9 back in 2015 but the org dropped its Dota roster and five of the club’s six members formed Shazam.
HellRaisers signs Planet Dog roster ahead of TI7
Famous e-sports organization HellRaisers will return to the Dota 2 scene after picking up the players from Planet Dog, whose roster qualified in this year’s The International.
The HR has not had a Dota 2 team since its former roster broke up in March last year.
All five players of Planet Dog were formerly from Elements Pro Gaming, but they left the club last month after a lacklustre performance in the Russian competition Blood in the Streets.
Contrary to popular opinion, HR CEO Aleksey Kucherov said the partnership will last beyond TI7, saying : “P.S. For those saying it’s only for TI – Challenge Accepted.”
CS:GO
Top bets clash in PGL quarter-final
One of the top teams in the PGL Major will get eliminated as quarterfinal of the big Krakow event gets underway.
SK Gaming and Astralis, who both finished the Swiss-format elimination 3-1, will clash horns in the competition’s last eight, leaving only one of the top two teams remaining in the next round.
The Brazilians, who enter the Major having won four big events in the last three months, lead the pack in the betting as another championship won by SK is backed at 2.35.
In their match against Danish side, SK is favoured at 1.54, while an Astralis is offered at 4.25.
Surprise top seed Gambit Esports will open its quarter-final campaign against eighth-seed Fnatic.
Fortuna to host €120K Balkan Esports League
Fortuna e-Sports will help the CS:GO scene in the Balkan region boom by hosting the Balkan Esports League.
The league, which will have a CS:GO division and a League of Legends division, will have a prize pool of €120,000, which is the highest in the region’s esports history.
The EBL will sift through the teams from 12 countries in the region, and will pick eight teams in each sport for its inaugural season.
NiP dominates DreamHack Valencia
Ninjas in Pyjamas easily swept Red Reserve in one-sided final to take home the biggest prize at the DreamHack Valencia 2017.
NiP blasted through Red Reserve in its first match in the competition, then outplayed Counter Logic Gaming to get the top seed in Group B.
The Swedes struggled against EnVyUs in the cross-over semi-finals but recovered well enough to reach the final, where they once again thundered past Red Reserve.
NiP went home with half of the $100,000 prize pool, while Red Reserve pocketed $20,000.
League of Legends
Samsung pulls ahead as SKT continues to stumble
Samsung Galaxy is now reaping the benefits of its blazing start and SKT T1’s shocking drop in form in this LCK Summer Split.
SSG, at 11-2, is now leading the Korean table after defeating bbq Olivers in Day 3 of Week 7, while SKT falls to fourth-place after suffering its fourth straight series loss.
SKT’s slump started in Day 2 of Week 6, when it got swept by SSG then bowed down to Afreeca Freecs. The three-time world champion opened Week 7 with a 0-2 loss to Jin Air Green Wings, then got stunned by Longzhu Gaming.
LZ, at 10-3, is a full series behind SSG but it won its last four series. LZ is tied with KT Rolster in the table.
C9 aims to boost playoff position against Phoenix
Cloud9 looks to return to the win column as it squares against Phoenix 1 in Day 1 of Week 7 of the NA LCS Summer Split.
C9 has lost its last three games but it beat Phoenix 2-0 when the pair met earlier in the Split.
The Blue Boys, at 6-6, are jostling for playoff position against Team Dignitas and Team EnVyUS, who are both at 7-5. Echo Fox and FlyQuest Esports are close at 4-8.
In the match, C9 is backed to win at 1.60, while a Phoenix win is offered at 2.30.
