Timur “buster” Tulepov, Alexey “qikert” Golubev, Dzhami “Jame” Ali, Sanjar “SANJI” Kuliev and Dauren “AdreN” Kystaubayev make up the current AVANGAR squad, which is widely regarded as one of the top two in the CIS region alongside Natus Vincere.

Two of the biggest achievements of the Kazakhstan team in recent months are the second-place finish at the StarLadder Berlin Major and the title win at BLAST Pro Series: Moscow 2019.

Virtus.pro are one of the most recognisable teams in the Counter-Strike community. They were established in 2003 made waves in Counter-Strike 1.6 before transitioning into the CS:GO esports scene.

Virtus were regarded as one of the world’s best CS:GO teams between 2015 and 2018, when their long-standing members Wiktor “TaZ” Wojtas and Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski left for Team Kinguin and mousesports respectively. That started a series of mediocre results from which the once-dominant CIS giants have never fully recovered.

Pawe? “byali” Bieliński, who was with the team since January 2014, opted to leave Virtus.pro in September 2018, with Filip “NEO” Kubski and Jaros?aw “pashaBiceps” Jarz?bkowski following suit three months later. That marked the end of the ‘Golden Five’ era, with coach Jakub “kuben” Gurczyński the only remaining member from that historic group.

Virtus.pro have kept hitting new lows since then, which would explain their alleged interest in buying up the impressive AVANGAR roster. It is still unclear whether Virtus will look to retain any of their current players.

One of the main talking points is the future of Snax, who returned to Virtus.pro in December 2018. While a respected player and one of the team’s iconic members, Snax is not the star he once was and could be on the chopping block.

Another question that needs answering is the future of kuben, who could be succeeded by AVANGAR’s head coach, Dastan “dastan” Akbayev.

The post Virtus.pro set to sign AVANGAR CS:GO roster appeared first on Esport Bet.

The eSports & Music Festival Hong Kong is back and will once again feature local and international gamers competing in several esports events, including the League of Legends International College Cup, Honor of Kings Official City Tournament and PUBG Mobile Hong Kong Tournament.

Of the four events scheduled for the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, the one which is expected to grab the most attention is the CS:GO World Invitational showdown between AVANGAR and FURIA. Featuring two of the strongest teams in Counter-Strike esports, the clash will take place on Friday, July 26.

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AVANGAR, ranked 21st in the world, will hope to get the wheels rolling ahead of the BLAST Pro Series Moscow CIS closed qualifiers, which they will attend at the start of August.

FURIA enter the tournament at no.8 in the CS:GO world rankings, which would be much higher had the Brazilians performed better at ESL One Cologne. Nonetheless, the team is enjoying a successful season and rose to a peak rank of no.5 last month after starting the year at no.51.

The clash will provide FURIA with a chance to avenge their defeat to AVANGAR at DreamHack Open Rio 2019, where the Brazilians lost 1-2.

The post AVANGAR and FURIA to clash at EMF CS:GO World Invitational appeared first on Esport Bet.

Virtus.pro vs. AVANGAR

Wednesday, May 23 – 2pm local time

Virtus.pro has endured a rough year so far, even having to make a roster change after years of conservatism. The team’s only notable result in 2018 to date was a second-place finish at V4 Future Sports Festival Budapest. The replacement of TaZ with MICHU has certainly led to some improvements, but there is a lot of work to do if Virtus.pro wants to rejoin the upper echelons of professional CS:GO.

AVANGAR is a second-tier team with little to no experience at the highest level of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Perhaps its most important result this year was its participation at ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018, where it finished 17th out of a total of 23 teams.

Virtus.pro is definitely favorite to win, but it will have to perform at a decent level. Betway puts the odds at $1.60 to $2.20 in favor of Virtus.pro, giving AVANGAR a lot of respect and clearly taking into account VP’s poor form and inconsistency.

Betting prediction: Virtus.pro to win

SK Gaming vs. Gambit Esports

Wednesday, May 23 – 5pm local time

After several months of disappointments, SK Gaming parted ways with TACO and then brought in one of Cloud9’s best players, Stewie2K. However, the language barrier between him and the rest of the Brazilian roster quickly became apparent as SK Gaming suffered crushing defeats at the hands of much weaker opponents. The team finished ninth-12th at DreamHack Masters Marseille 2018, 13th-16th at Intel Extreme Masters XIII Sydney and then finally had its first decent result in four months, finishing fifth-sixth at the ESL Pro League Season 7 Finals. Right now, SK Gaming is clearly on an upward trend and is slowly but surely recovering its former strength. So just like Bitcoin after it’s hit a bottom, SK will likely rise pretty fast in the weeks to come.

On the other side, Gambit Esports used to be a pretty strong CIS team, finishing ninth-11th at ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018. The team went on a steep decline after that result but has recently resurfaced with good runs at the DreamHack Masters (third-fourth) and DreamHack Open Tours 2018 (third-fourth).

All things considered, this will likely be a very close match. SK Gaming is still slightly favored, however, having defeated important teams such as NiP in its last CS:GO event. Betway puts the odds at $1.35 to $2.95 in favor of the Brazilians, seeing a much bigger gap between these teams than is actually the case. Based on this, you may want to bet a smaller amount on the underdog here and cover the upset, as Gambit Esports has at least a 40 per cent chance to win this match.

Betting prediction: SK Gaming to win

The post Adrenaline Cyber League 2018 betting tips & analysis appeared first on Esport Bet.

The online event featured 32 of the world’s best PUBG esports teams from the EU and NA regions battle it out for the coveted top spots, after fighting their way through a whopping 512 participating teams in earlier public tournaments.

Three lesser-known European esports teams – Airstation Mike, Avangar and Team Kinguin – beat out household names like Team Liquid in the EU Closed Qualifiers to earn their spot at IEM Katowice, while the North American Closed Qualifiers were headlined by popular pro gaming organizations Cloud9, OpTic Gaming, and Noble Esports.

A final challenger from the smaller South America Closed Qualifier, Kaos Latin Gamers, rounds out the pack, but the fight for top standings is far from over.

These seven regional teams will join the world’s best PUBG squads who received a direct invite to IEM Katowice, by-passing the Closed Qualifiers completely. Their invitations were based on their performance in past PUBG Invitationals.

FaZe Clan, Ghost Gaming, Method, TeamSolo Mid, Tempo Storm and Team Vitality are no push-overs in the last man standing department, with Vitality previously winning the PUBG Invitational under the Against All Authority brand.

All up, we now know 13 of the teams to play at the PUBG Invitational in Katowice, with the remaining three contenders to be announced at a later date.

The PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Invitational at IEM Katowice starts February 24 and is the third of its kind, following the success of the Gamescom PUBG Invitational LAN Tournament and IEM Oakland PUBG Invitational late last year.

Both events hosted 80 popular professional players and live-streamers and featured much larger prize-pools – US $350,000 and $200,000, respectively – but suffered heavy criticism for netcode issues and sloppy camerawork.

While PUBG’s larger-than-average player count makes even spectating more complicated than the average esport, we hope Katowice’s production team can find a way to properly improve the viewer experience.

Katowice also marks the first PUBG Invitational of the year officially supported by Bluehole Interactive, the publisher of the game. Smaller tournament organizers, such as G:loot and OnGameNet, are hosting their own PUBG tournaments without official sanctioning, but have already shown off incredible production values. So long as Katowice can match their efforts, we’ll continue to support ESL’s slow and steady support for the burgeoning PUBG competitive scene.

How to watch the PUBG Invitational Katowice

Find the best live-streaming sites to watch PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds esports events like the PUBG Invitational at IEM Katowice in our guide. All options can stream PUBG esports in high-definition on computer and mobile, for free.

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The post IEM Katowice PUBG Invitational: Closed Qualifier teams decided appeared first on Esport Bet.

The third CS:GO Major Championship in North America kicks off the New Year with more teams and bigger prize-pools, with twenty-four of the best professional CS:GO teams in the world competing across January 12 – 15 to take home a slice of the enticing US$1,000,000 up-for-grabs.

In conjunction with Valve, ELEAGUE have re-formatted this year’s event to include the Offline Qualifier as part of the Major Championship. The New Challengers Stage is its new name, and it will feature sixteen teams duking it out in hopes of securing a spot in the Legends Stage, which will commence next week, and eventually to become CS:GO Major Champions.

Eight of The New Challengers were the bottom eight finishers from the previous PGL Major Championship Gambit Esports in Kraków, while the other eight teams fought tooth and nail in last year’s ELEAGUE CS:GO Minor Championships to qualify for a spot – hard-earned, and perhaps a little more battle-ready than their foes. With no announced map pool at all prior to the event’s commencement, some of these match-ups could surprise, while others are more one-sided.

Here is our betting preview, top picks and tips for Round 1 of the New Challengers Stage.

E-League Major: Boston 2018 accumulator tips

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E-League Major: Boston 2018 – New Challengers Stage, Round 1 accumulator picks at Arcanebet

• Renegades to beat Vega Squadron – 1.65
• Mousesports to beat AVANGAR – 1.20
• FaZe Clan – Pistol Winner, Round 1 – 1.62
• Misfits to beat FlipSid3 – 1.80

Accumulator odds: 6.38 at Arcanebet.com

Vega Squadron vs. Renegades

Game 1, Friday, January 12 from 9am EST at ELEAGUE Arena, Turner Studios, Atlanta

Vega Squadron are no stranger to the big stage but have yet to have a big break. Their performance in last year’s PGL in Kraków left a lot to be desired, with the team dropping all three maps spectacularly despite plenty of hope from the fans. Vega have had strong form in their Asia-Pacific tournament performance, but haven’t had many opportunities to take the limelight in the EU, with only their wins against AGO and Tricked keeping them in the top 25 going into ELEAGUE 2018.

The Renegades have something to show in their first match-up against the Vega Squadron. In our eyes, they are easily a top 10 team in the making. Noah ‘Nifty’ Francis of the Renagades has demonstrated some deadly fragging as the team’s In Game Leader (IGL) and great synergy with his North American team-mate Keith ‘NAF-FLY’ Markovic, a top favourite himself who was probably the best acquisition for a permanent fifth they could have made last year. Both players have few equals on the Vega side and are widely considered to be RNG carries – but we’re also fond of their three Aussie team-mates all the same. If the map ends up being Cache, Mirage or Train, we’re confident to say Renegades have it in the bag.

The Renegades’ 2-0 steam-rolling to take the top spot in theStarLadder i-League Invitational #2 and the 1st Major Asia Minor Championship Boston 2018 to take the top spot was some great viewing last year, and they have tier 2 tournament experience under their belt going into this event. Experience, performance and the higher seeding has us rooting for the Renegades here, no questions asked.

Renegades to win – 1.65 at Arcanebet.com

Mousesports vs. AVANGAR

Game 2, Friday, January 12 from 10am EST at ELEAGUE Arena, Turner Studios, Atlanta

Mousesports or MOUZ are the favourites here and for good reason. Fresh off their 1st place win in the LOOT.BET Cup #2 and second place standings in last year’s DreamHack Open Winter 2017 Major and Esports Championship Series Season 4 Finals Premier, they have more than proved they are one of the best teams in the New Challengers line-up when it comes to BO1 (best of 1) upsets.

On a good day, they are more than capable of taking a map from higher-ranked teams like FaZe – who they performed admirably against with a hard-earned runner-ups standing at ECS Season 4 – let alone the likes of AVANGAR, who lack a significant premier or qualifier placing on their belts. AVANGAR have, however, won the hearts of some fans with their success via their qualification to Boston, suffering zero losses in the open qualifier for the CIS region’s Minor, where they smashed Quantum Bellator Fire in the Minor winner bracket and final to secure this spot.

However, while there will always be some underdogs going through CS:GO Majors, AVANGAR are not it. We’re backing pure experience and form here, and it’s definitely MOUZ.

Mousesports to win – 1.20 at Arcanebet.com

FaZe Clan vs. Team Liquid

Game 1, Friday, January 12 from 11am EST at ELEAGUE Arena, Turner Studios, Atlanta

The Swiss System is never kind to everyone and unfortunately two of the most popular North American teams in this qualifier are set to duke it out with each other in the very first round.

FaZe Clan is entering their match-up with strong form and a string of successes in the past three months, with three first place premiers under their belts, while Liquid has had some seriously bad runs in the recent ECS and EPL Season 6 Finals. Both teams croaked at the PGL Major Kraków 2017 last year without winning a single game, perhaps FaZe’s only significant loss since. We can’t say the same for Liquid, who will be going without Brazilian pick-up Lucas “steel” Lopes due to Valve’s roster lock rulings.

Liquid has a long history of difficulty with overcoming FaZe. The last five matches they’ve faced-off have been utter wipe-outs, though Liquid fought hard and showed some brief promise in their ESL Pro League 16-14 standoff with FaZe. Even with three weeks of additional training under Liquid’s belts, we can’t seem them offering any counter to the recently signed Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer (named best player in the world in 2015) or Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács, the new FaZE lurker and AWPer, respectively. Apart from their close Bo1 at the EPL finals, FaZe has categorically beaten every North American team they have played since picking up GuardiaN and olofmeister.

We’re boring with our predictions here, but FaZe really is too strong right now to bet against – and they’re an easy Pistol Winner, Round 1.

FaZE Clan to get Pistol Winner, Round 1 – 1.62 at Arcanebet.com

FlipSid3 Tactics vs. Misfits

Game 1, Friday, January 12 from 1pm EST at ELEAGUE Arena, Turner Studios, Atlanta

The end of last year wasn’t too kind for FlipSid3 Tactics. One of their best players, Electronic, defected to fellow Boston ELEAGUE competitor Natus Vincere, they lost against several tier 3-4 teams in every qualifier played post-October, and placed a mediocre 5th-8th in the World Cyber Arena 2017 Europe.

Fans have barely seen Flipside play any LAN in the lead-up to the New Challengers, so confidence in their performance for a tense Bo1 (Best of 1) is low. While many will argue the team’s highest result in the top 8 standings at ESL One Cologne 2016 was managed without Electronic, his loss is too significant to not feel a lot less excited about his replacement loan, Seized.

All of that is not to say the Misfits are the clearly better pick either, with some average performance in their last few majors and premiers outside of a top placing in the Americas Minor Championship 2018 in Boston. Their latest hard-fought battle against SK can’t be faulted against them, however, and their IGL Sean “seangares” Gares definitely proved he still has it to lead the team right down to the wire.

While the two teams have not crossed paths in recent tournaments, we’re a lot more confident in the Misfits line-up here as the dark horse.

Misfits to win – 1.80 at Arcanebet.com

Sprout Esports vs. Space Soldiers

Game 1, Friday, January 12 from 2pm EST at ELEAGUE Arena, Turner Studios, Atlanta

For these kind of major qualifiers, experience always trumps “oh, but they could upset!” if you want a smart bet.

In this case, Sprout (formerly Penta Esports) have yet to play a single official CS:GO match on the level of a Major or Premier, with only a small Qualifier and Minor under their belts. Their roster, which was acquired from Seed, also lacked experience and were thoroughly annihilated by Space Soldiers under this banner at Dreamhack and ESEA on two separate occasions last year, 2-0 and 16-6. They lack team synergy and consistency due to the roster shake-ups, as most haven’t played together for very long.

The Space Soldiers form hasn’t exactly been on point or consistent for their past dozen matches, but the core group have played together for much longer and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. While they have a decent baseline with some extremely talented players in the form of Can ‘Xantares’ D?rtkarde? and Bu?ra ‘Calyx’ Ark?n, they’re lacking a consistent AWPer, and their T-side needs work.

Overall, while Space Soldiers aren’t a top tier team themselves, when they hit their stride, they can be very dangerous with their unpredictable aggro and their longer time practising and playing together is an advantage we can’t ignore. For us, it’s SS.

Space Soldiers to win – 1.51 at Arcanebet.com.

Natus Vincere vs. Quantum Bellator Fire

Game 1, Friday, January 12 from 3pm EST at ELEAGUE Arena, Turner Studios, Atlanta

Natus Vincere is one of the longest-running professional CS:GO teams with a rich history, holding the prestigious title of being the first team to win three major CS:GO tournaments in one year – the Intel Extreme Masters, Electronic Sports World Cup and World Cyber Games 2010.

Unfortunately, past success has not translated in recent years, with the team starting quite literally from the bottom 24 teams after a terrible last year with one exception – Dreamhack Winter, where they beat down Mousesports spectacularly for first place. Navi will have all eyes on them here to replicate their performance, move past being carried by star player Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev and become the come back kid many fans want them to be.

Quantum Bellator Fire have a weird name and an even stranger path to Boston, having secured their spot by beating out Team Spirit in the CIS Minor lower bracket. They face scrutiny for having the lowest rankings and most unknown roster of the New Challengers, and we can’t say we disagree. They’ve had extremely poor form in their last few matches, including a head-shaking 19th-22nd placing in the Loot Bet Cup, so we aren’t exactly about to bet on an out-of-nowhere upset versus an established team facing a bit of a bad run.

Natus Vincere to win – 1.70 at Arcanebet.com.

The post E-LEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 – New Challengers Stage, Round 1 tips appeared first on Esport Bet.