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
Evil Geniuses top bet to win TI7
Evil Geniuses is the team heavily backed to win the most awaited event of the season: The International 2017.
The TI5 champion has seen a drop of form since winning the Manila Masters in May, with only a runner-up finish at EPICENTER and 5th-place finish in Mars Dota League 2017 but a team featuring talents like mid-laner Sumail and safelaner Arteezy, big things are still expected from the Boys in Blue.
EG becoming the first team to win two TI competitions is priced at 4.90, slightly ahead of the rising Virtus.pro winning TI7 offered at 5.25. The Russians have been noted for their deep hero pool and their ability to stun even the most experienced teams like OG and Secret. VP is yet to win a Valve event, but with an astonishing win at Dota Summit 7, this team may have something hidden in its sleeves.
Third and fourth in the betting are Team Liquid and OG, respectively. Liquid, at 6.00, being only third in this list is quite surprising as it has been the winningest team since the turn of the calendar, winning four big events, including last week’s DreamLeague Season 7, where Liquid came from behind to beat Planet Odd in the final, thanks to the performance of star midlaner Miracle and the masterful drafting of captain Kuroky.
OG, backed at 6.50, won both Majors this season but even in their victory at the Kiev Major the team showed flashes of regressing performances, and the boys in green have not finished higher than fourth in any of the big competitions they have joined since.
Close in the list are NewBee, LGD Gaming and Team Secret, who all have been inconsistent entering Dota’s grandest stage. NewBee’s mistakes cost the squad the Manila Masters against EG, and even though they championed against lesser competition at Zotac Cup and Galaxy Battles, it showed the same problems in mid-game rotation when they finished third at MDL 2017.
LGD has had difficulties translating its domestic successes to international wins but its first-placed finish at MDL 2017 showed it was ready to climb back up to the world’s standings. At MDL, LGD defeated OG, EG and NewBee, proving it has quite the handles on the current patch.
For the odds on the biggest esports competition to date, go visit Dafabet!
Liquid turns back Planet Odd in Dream League 7 final
With his team on the brink of elimination, Miracle literally took charge with his blazing pouncing machine of death called Huskar and ignited one of the best comebacks this season, leading Team Liquid to a 3-2 victory over Planet Odd in the Dream League 7 final.
Looking at an almost insurmountable 0-2 deficit, Liquid turned to Miracle and his Huskar, who delivered his best performance of the season on the hero, producing a 10-1-4 KDA with a GPM/XPM of 629/463 as the boys in blue defeated Planet Odd in just 17 minutes.
Game 4 was much closer, but Miracle’s Anti-Mage was so farmed in the late game Planet Odd had no choice but to give up. In 56 minutes, Miracle had a 48.9K networth and a nine-slotted inventory, including a consumed Moon Shard.
Liquid was too dominant in Game 5 Planet Odd had to call GG in just 26 minutes, as Miracle had an 8-0-7 KDA on his Weaver and carry Matumbaman had a 7-0-8 KDA on his Lycan. Liquid had a 25-4 kill-count lead, and was 15k ahead of PO in networth.
Counter Strike: Global Offensive
Gambit shock CS:GO scene with big PGL Major win at Krakow
From out of nowhere, Gambit bested the top teams in the world to win the inaugural CS:GO Major event at Krakow, Poland and win half a million US dollars in prize money.
With a competition featuring big teams like SK Gaming, Astralis, and North, it was Gambit who looked like the unbeatable squad from start to finish.
Gambit, a mixture of experienced veterans and talented youngsters based in UK, wrapped up the Swiss-format elimination with a 3-0 start, then destroyed Fnatic 2-0 in the quarterfinal before edging past Astralis in the final four.
The eventual champion lost the first map in the final against the Immortals, but a 9-6, 7-5 performance in the second map saw Gambit get back on track and win the final after dominating the third map 11-4, 5-6.
Gambit pocketed $500,000 from the event, while the Immortals had to console itself with $150,000.
EnVyUs gets last laugh over Heroics in Atlanta battle
Revenge is a dish best serve cold. It might be cliché but it doesn’t mean it’s not true.
EnVyUs lost to Heroics in the opening round but paid them back in kind in the final, making vengeance sweeter by winning the bragging rights along with $50,000.
After thrashing NRG 16-5 in its opener, EnVyUs got stunned in the winners match against Heroic 9-16 and had to defeat GOD for a spot in the playoffs.
NV turned back Renegades in the semi-finals, setting up the chance for revenge against Heroics in the finals.
Heroic exploded for a good start and won the first map (Overpass) 10-5, 6-6, but NV turned the tables in Cobblestone and Inferno, as the French side completely owned the Danes 16-8 in Map 2 and 16-2 in Map 3 to win the championship.
Overwatch
Blizzard releases personnel guidelines in Overwatch League
Following its announcement on the first seven teams who will play in the inaugural Overwatch League, Blizzard has declared the guidelines on how the clubs should handle its most prized possession: its players.
According to the release, players who belong to the teams that were given franchises do not automatically belong to the said club, and both organization and player will need to re-negotiate their agreements with a representative from OL present.
The release states that the teams can start signing players in the signing window which will open from August 1 to October 30 this year. Blizzard stated that this process is not final and is applicable only for the inaugural season.
To protect players, Blizzard says teams must offer players a one-year guaranteed contract that must not amount below $50,000, along with healthcare and retirement fund. Also teams are obliged to distribute at least 50% of their bonuses to their players.
And to save teams from players’ complacency, clubs are not allowed to offer more than one year in deals, as it is known in traditional sports that some players who receive big guaranteed contracts tend to underachieve in the following seasons.
Mysterious pull outs continue as Tempo Storm drops Overwatch roster
Another one bites the dust.
Tempo Storm follows the trend of organizations dropping its Overwatch roster, this time doing it with little mercy and not even bothering to announce the disbanding of its team.
The rumor of the disbandment started when players started looking for a team to play in their social media accounts, and Overwatch website Over.gg confirmed it with the said players.
“After confirming with the former players, it is clear that the organization has dropped the roster in its entirety, keeping DreamKazper under contract in hopes of securing a buyout to another team.”
Of the many endemic teams in this young esport, only more than a handful remain according to Twitter account Survivor:Overwatch.
Big teams like Rogue, NRG and the Immortals remain, along with other clubs like the Renegades and EnVyUs.
