B/R Weekly Rushdown: LoL Worlds Results, Overwatch Open, Dota 2 Boston Major
The lull between major events is officially over, with the League of Legends Worlds kicking off what will be a busy few months for the Rushdown. It isn't alone, either, with other interesting competitions and announcements all coming to the fore.
Let's get right to it! Here's your weekly news rushdown!
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2016 League of Legends World Championship Underway
Unsurprisingly, the biggest topic in the world of esports is the biggest event of the year for arguably the biggest game in the industry. The 2016 League of Legends World Championship.
As of this writing, the month-long, 16-team tournament is entering its fifth day of the group stages, with Group A (consisting of ROX Tigers, G2 Esports, Counter Logic Gaming and Albus NoX Luna) set for round-robin action.
Of course, Bleacher Report has been covering the goings-on! Make sure to check out Brian Hough's breakdown of the action to this point and find out what the Rally Point crew thinks!
Next Dota 2 Major Announced
League of Legends isn't the only MOBA getting fans excited. Dota 2 gave its players a reason to cheer on Monday with the announcement of the Boston Major. Here are the details from the official Dota 2 blog:
"The Boston Major, presented by PGL, will take place December 7 – 10, 2016 at Wang Theatre in Boston, USA.
Sixteen teams will battle through a single-elimination playoff bracket in best-of-three matches, with a best-of-five Grand Finals to determine the winner of the $3,000,000 prize pool. Seeding for the Main Event bracket will be determined by the results of Group Stage play on December 3–4.
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Open Qualifiers will run October 23–26, and the Regional Qualifiers will follow on October 27–30.
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Teams receiving an invite to the regional qualifiers, and teams that are sent directly to the tournament proper, will likely be announced in the coming days.
ELEAGUE Overwatch Open Delivers the Goods
Overwatch is one of the most popular games on the market, but its esports presence is still in its infancy. ELEAGUE's spin-off tournament, the Overwatch Open, however, showed that the game translates well to any stage. The tournament kicked off last week and ended in dramatic fashion on Friday, with the European Misfits squad edging out Team EnVyUS in the finals, which were broadcast live on TBS.
The game was high drama, with Misfits quickly establishing themselves as the better-polished team on the night in a strong showing on King's Row. EnVyUS managed to remain competitive through wrenching their way into the lead, taking back-to-back games on Gibraltar and Route 66. Misfits would rally back, however, taking games on Eichenwalde and Hollywood to take the series—and the $100,000 top prize.
From top to bottom, the tournament felt like a home run. Hopefully ELEAGUE can deliver a full season dedicated to Overwatch in the near future.
ELEAGUE Gets its Own CS:GO Major!
The ELEAGUE news this week doesn't end with the Overwatch Open. According to a press release put out by partners WME | IMG and Turner, ELEAGUE will host the next Counter-Strike: Global Offensive major, the ELEAGUE Major. President of Turner Sports Lenny Daniels elaborated:
"When we launched ELEAGUE, we set out to deliver a best-in-class experience for eSports teams, players and fans and we’re grateful to the entire community for their ongoing support and engagement with our content. Less than one year since ELEAGUE’s debut, we’re thrilled to host the next CS:GO Major Championship and we will utilize all of our collective resources to help further elevate this prestigious event.
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As with other recent CS:GO majors, the ELEAGUE Major will feature a $1 million USD prize pool (with the top prize being $500,000) and, as with the Overwatch Open, the tournament's finals will be simulcasted live on both TBS and Twitch on January 29, 2017. The qualifiers begin December 15 with the main event starting January 22.
While that's exciting on its own, don't forget: ELEAGUE Season 2 kicks off on October 21.
Report Shows That Skin Betting Was a Billion Dollar Industry
Part of the reason CS:GO is as big as it is today is the popularity of skin betting, which saw players wager in-game items on the outcome of pro games through automated websites. While it has since been shut down through a series of lawsuits, a report has surfaced detailing just how big skin betting was in its heyday.
How big was it? "Over $1 billion" big.
According to a report by Will Green of LegalSports (via the Daily Dot's Josh Raven), the biggest skin-betting site, CSGOLounge.com, was handling 10 figures' worth of skins with an average of 37,000 skins trading hands in each competitive match. Worth noting is that CSGOLounge.com was far from the only outlet, with dozens of competitors across the web.
Of course, CSGOLounge.com is in something of a transitional phase these days as it looks to move into traditional gambling (that is, for actual money). It's easy to see why they, and so many others, were attracted to it.
Ka-ching.
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