Coming just after Galaxy Battles 2, it is time to look at the second Minor of the year – ESL One Genting. This is the most exciting tournament to be held since DreamLeague S8, because it will feature the best teams in the world right now.

What makes it even more interesting is that, because of all the drama with Valve’s decision to remove Galaxy Battles 2’s Major status, teams will try their best to secure the priceless qualifying points. The event will be held in the Resort World Genting at the Arena of Stars from the 23rd to the 28th of January.

Eight invited teams will be joined by the eight winners of the regional qualifiers.

Despite being a Minor, the tournament features $400,000 prize pool and 400 qualifying points, making it the most exciting Minor yet. Having in mind that, this is also a huge opportunity for YOU to make the most out of it and win some easy money while enjoying some of the highest quality Dota out there.

Even though the top teams are looking pretty confident in the official leaderbord, they should not underestimate the others, because there are still a lot of tournaments to go until TI. Having the home advantage, teams like Mineski might punish the teams who do not pay the needed respect.

Teams, Format, Schedule and Prize Distribution

Format

Sixteen teams in total will be taking part in the tournament, eight of which have been directly invited and the other eight are the regional qualifier winners. In the beginning the teams will be playing in two double-elimanation format groups, where each group will have eight teams. The first matches of each group will be played in Bo1, while all the following matches will be Bo3.

The top three teams of each group will be advancing to the to playoffs as follows:

– Each Group Stage winner will be placed in the Semifinal

– The Group runner-up’s advance to the Quarterfinals as the High Seeds

– The Teams which finished 3rd in the groups will advance to the Quarterfinals of the Low Seeds

The Playoffs will be played in a single elimination bracket. The Quarterfinals and the Semifinals will be Bo3 while the Grand Final will be Bo5

Official Schedule & The Groups

Here is the official group stage and main event schedule

Participating teams

As we already said, this minor will be featuring sixteen teams in total, eight of which are directly invited while the others had to go trough the qualifiers in order to get their spot.

The team lineup looks like this:

• Directly invited – Virtus.Pro, Team Liquid, Newbee, Mineski, Evil Geniuses, Team Secret, Vici Gaming and Fnatic

• Europe Qualifier – PENTA Sports, Planet Dog

• NA Qualifier – compLexity Gaming

• SA Qualifier – SG e-sports

• CIS Qualifier – Na’Vi

• China Qualifier – LGD.Forever Young, VGJ.Thunder

• SEA Qualifier – TNC Pro Team

The groups look like this:

• Group A – Team Secret, Planet Dog, compLexity Gaming, Fnatic, Vici Gaming, VGJ.Thunder, SG e-sports and Virtus.Pro

• Group B – Team Liquid, PENTA sports, Na’vi, Evil Geniuses, Mineski, TNC Pro team, LGD.Forever young, Newbee

Prize Distribution

The winner will be taking $160,000 and 200 Pro Circuit points, while the team that finishes second will get $60,000 and 120 Pro Circuit points. The 3rd and 4th place finishers will get $30,000 and 40 Pro Circuit Points. As we can see this is the biggest Minor in the Pro Dota Circuit and it even gives extra 100 points as well as the unique sixteen teams line-up. This make is really interesting to watch not only because of the number of games that will be played, but also because the competition will surely be fierce. If you follow the tournament from the start you would be able to see which team will be dominating the most and in doing this, you could maximize the profits and minimize the risks of your bet. It is always hard to tell for sure which team will win but our eSports betting tips will surely give you a better starting position!

Our Favorites

Team Liquid

Like I said it before, this is the team which can make you rich. Team liquid (TL) are always considered one of the favorites, regardless of the tournament that they play in. Their run in TI 7 and after that has been never-seen before and they are more than likely going to continue this tradition.

You should keep it in mind that TL have not played in any tournaments after their loss at DreamLeague Season 8 but I am pretty sure that it will not matter as much. However, the competition will be pretty high so we never know – there might be some surprising results, but that’s why Dota is such an interesting game.

If you are planning on betting for Team Liquid, you will most likely not regret it.

Team Secret

In the game where every team is as good as it’s last game, Team Secret are surely THE team to look at. After their rough start in the Pro Circuit season they have managed to bounce back and now considered one of the best teams in the world. They managed to beat the TI champions several times in big tournaments, including a phenomenal 3-0 win at the final of DreamLeague S8. What’s more, Team Secret also won the last minor – Captain’s Draft 4.0. Their captain – Clement “Puppey” Ivanov is highly motivated to continue their successful path to TI8. Having the massive experience in the pro scene, he will try to lead his team to victory once again. Therefore, Choosing Team Secret as your tournament winner might just as well earn you some cash.

Virtus.Pro

Undoubtedly the best CIS team right now will also try their luck and fight in order to get that sweet first spot in the tournament. VP’s one of the most consistent teams throughout 2017, taking part in nearly every tournament in the post TI7 period. What’s more, their two core players Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev and Vladimir “No[o]ne” Minenko are considered to be one of the best individual players in the world right now.

The deadly combination of their individual skills plus their aggressive play style make VP a worthy contender for the first place at the ESL One Genting. People call them “The Kings of CIS” for a reason.

Vici Gaming

The Chinese Powerhouse delivered a clear message to all the teams that they are definitely a force to be reckoned with. Their performance at Captain’s Draft 4.0 was nearly flawless, falling shortly just to Team Secret in the Grand finals. Their carry player Zhang “Paparaz” Chengjun is one of (if not the) best Chinese players in the pro scene at the moment and having him in your team always makes you a challenger for the top spots. I also think that Vici will receive a lot of support from the fans there, because usually Chinese teams are popular in the SEA reagion, which could also boost their moral and lead them to success.

Teams which are worth mentioning

Evil Geniuses

After their recent roster change, Evil geniuses are still trying to find their place and start winning again. With Old man Fear coming back in to play it is highly possible that EG might be able to deal with the best teams right now, however I think that they still need some time and practice in order to adjust to their new positions and starts.

Mineski

The SEA team is preforming surprisingly well in the new Pro Circuit season as well as having players like Mushi in their lineup makes them definitely a team which is capable of delivering surprising results. What’s more, they will be playing in their region, which means that the team will receive a lot of support from the people who will attend the event. If they perform well in the groups we might see them securing a top 4 finish.

Fnatic

Coming just after a roster change, this team is looking better than ever. After being joined by arguably one of the best offlaners of all time – Saahil ‘UNiVeRsE’ Arora, Fnatic will try to impress and try to prove themselves against the best team in the world.

They surely have the needed individual talents but the question is can they work together and put up a challenge?

Conclusion

Having so many good teams in one place is definitely pleasing to watch but it could be tricky to predict the outcome of the event. Despite that, teams such as Team Secret and Team Liquid are always a secure choice in terms of making a bet. Nevertheless, I would advice you to keep an eye on the tournament itself and see how it develops, because every tournament has its own meta and you never know who might abuse it the most.

What do you think about the Minor? Do you like the different style of the Format? Let is know in the comments.

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