It hurts to go out this early at the biggest tournament. We can only learn from our losses and improve for next season. Our goal is never just to qualify.
Thank you to our players who worked tirelessly to prepare. Thank you to our fans.
As advertisers are starting to shift towards the digital and unconventional way of advertising, Kellogs is the latest heavyweight to follow that trend by committing a large sum in Esport advertisement.
The main aim of the American giant is to target Millenials and young working-class adults who have a large disposable income to buy their products by sponsoring Esport events and streams. This way of advertising is the way forward- as the traditional way of the newspaper and TV ads just don’t work anymore.
This trend has led Kellogs to sign Esports partnerships with N3rd Street Gamers; a gaming community that runs its own tournaments. Pringles- a popular Kellogs owned brand also signed a deal with Riot Games to sponsor the LoL European Championship this year.
Deals such as these run between $2 Million and $4 Million and include logo placement in streams, advertising placements and in-game activations, which in case of Pringle cans is a specific link that can be used to participate in a raffle to unlock loot and rare characters in-game.
โI would love to measure my sales off the back of the sponsorship, but I canโt because we have distribution partners that sit between us and consumers,โ said Dominik Schafhaupt, marketing manager for snacks in Northern Europe at Kelloggโs.
โAt the moment, the industry looks at measurement in esports from a media-value perspective. Itโs one of the areas weโre building on with the sponsorship by looking at how the community responds to our brand and also the redemption rates of the code.โ
Day 3 was very crucial for many teams, as it would determine whether they would proceed to the playoffs in the lower bracket or upper bracketโฆ.for some, it would decide whether they would be playing in the main event at all.
Following was the schedule and caster information for day 3:
One of the first series of the day saw tournament favourites Team Secret take on dark horses TNC Predator. Everyone expected the game to be a fiery clash, and it didnโt disappoint. The series ended in a draw with both teams winning a game each. This was Team Secretโs first loss in the group’s stages at The International 2019.
TNC beating Secret must be a huge morale boost for them. If you can beat probably the strongest team at the event, then you maybe you stand a legit chance at winning it all too. Will be interesting to see how they carry it forward. #TI9
After their games today, it has become impossible for Chaos Esports Club to make it to the main event with their record of 2 wins โ 12 losses, effectively eliminating them from The International 2019.
With their record of 13 wins โ 1 loss, OG are guaranteed top seed of Group B, irrespective of tomorrowโs result. They will choose between 3rd and 4th place team of Group A, to be their opponents in the playoffs Round 1.
The last series of the day saw DPC Ranking Number 1 and 2 Team Secret and PSG.LGD take on each other in a best of 2 series. PSG.LGD outplayed Team Secret in both games to win the series 2-0, which was pretty anti-climatic as everyone expected a close series.
2-0 Against @teamsecret. Our boys's hard work was not to be overlooked!
With that win, PSG.LGD has 12 wins โ 2 losses record in the group stage, which guarantees them top seed of Group A. They will choose between 3rd and 4th place team of Group B, to be their opponents in the playoffs Round 1.
PSG LGD are the Top Seed of Group A. Congratulations.
This means the two Grand Finalists of TI8 are the leaders of the groups of TI9 and with the same rosters too. #TI9pic.twitter.com/pSedrOHOtS
"This means the two Grand Finalists of TI8 are the leaders of the groups of TI9 " There's something so magical about reading this text. pic.twitter.com/VFxbK11Qtl
PSG.LGD, OG and Team Secret have already made their way to the Upper Bracket of the playoffs, while Chaos Esports exits the tournament in the last place.
The rest of the teams have their fates hanging in the balance. Tomorrow will be the last day of the group stages, tiebreakers will be played if necessary.
Grayhound Gaming recently won the Asia Minor against TyLoo Gaming and secured their slot at the upcoming StarLadder Major: Berlin 2019. In a dreadful revelation, Erdenetsogt “erkaSt” Gantulga has disclosed that he will be leaving Grayhound Gaming after the major.
The organization claimed that they could not secure Australian visa for 24-year-old Mongolian. He earlier played for Grayhound lineup under his student visa. However, there are several rumours suggesting that he would form a fresh team in Mongolia along with Batbayar “kabal” Bat-Enkh and Gan-Erdene “dobu” Batbold.
Erdenetsogt “erkaSt” Gantulga played under Grayhound banner for little over 2 years. During his tenure, the roster won the recently held Asia Minor, LPL Alpha Invitational and Zen Esports League 2017. While they secured commendable results at COBX Masters 2019, CS:GO Asia Summit 2018 and ROG Masters 2017.
StarLadder Major: Berlin 2019 will be Erdenetsogt’s concluding event with the Australian organization. Post the major, Grayhound Gaming’s CS:GO lineup will be:
The group stage is a phase where massive upsets can happen and ultimately shock the entire dota 2 community! Following up with the exciting day 1, day 2 just got even better! Day 2 is where the teams start getting comfortable and pull out exciting new metas out of their pockets!
Day 2โs schedule included 20 best of 2 games, divided into batches of 4.4 best of 2โs were played simultaneously. Everything was on schedule!
OG: 200IQ CORE IO PICK
N0tail
with the strats and ANA with the IO gameplay completely destroyed NIP in this
exciting game 1. Hereโs a clip of anaโs IO ultra-kill!
OG seemed unstoppable today, clean sweeping any team and anyone that possess a threat!
NAVI IS BACK?
Navi
surprising the dota 2 community with god level gameplays and strategies.
Pulling out a clean sweep against fellow CIS team Virtus pro and then ending
the day with 2-0ing NIP!
Alliance, a team that never hesitates to experiment at any given situation or tournament. In, game 2 micKeโs infamous Morphling pick worked out wonders. Hereโs a short clip of pudge wars at a group stage match.
In the best of 2 series, against Vici Gaming. RTZ unleashed his beast mode and went berserk on Vici Gamingโs lineup completely destroying them 1v5! Hereโs the clip.
In what can be dubbed as poetic justice, thousands of CSGO and Apex Legends cheaters have had their credit card details stolen after installing a malware contained in their cheats.
Photo via SOPHOS
A report by Sophos, a cybersecurity firm, states that a Malware called Baldr was installed along with the cheats that exposed the credit card details along with the login information of sites like Paypal of the affected users.
The main source of this malware was “CSGO Aimbot+Wallhack” and “Apex Legends New Cheat 0.2.1” along with some other cheats, with Brazil and Russia being the worst affected regions. The popularity of these cheats rose due to advertisements in Twitch broadcasts and YouTube videos.
The issue is ongoing, with several more accounts being vulnerable. This begs the question though, whether this can dissuade hackers from using cheats- and potentially be used in the future as a deterrent.
Day 1โs schedule included 20 best of 2 games, divided into batches of 4.
4 best of 2โs were played simultaneously.
The International 2019 Groups Day 1 Schedule & Caster Information. Be sure to follow @dota2ti for all the latest updates live from Shanghai. #TI9pic.twitter.com/J5n5bxfj9L
We witnessed a massive upset in one of the first games of the day, with the NA based Newbee squad defeating TI7 winners Liquid 2-0 in a dominating fashion.
The tournament will be held in China for the first time this year. Hosted by Valve Corporation in Shanghai’s Mercedes-Benz Arena, over 18,000 fans will witness 18 of the worldโs best teams go head to head to lift the Aegis of Champions.
The tournament is in its ninth iteration this year, and the prize has increased exponentially every year. The International 9 currently has a prize of over 32 million $, which in turn means that the winners take home a prize of over 14 million $.
18 teams have been divided into 2 groups of 9 each. The event is two weeks long, which includes the 4-day long group stage, a 2-day gap followed by the 6 days long playoffs stage.
The event is divided into 2 parts: Group Stage and Main Event.
Group Stage: August 15th – 18th
Two groups of nine teams. Teams play every other team in their group in a best-of-two. Top four teams in each group advance to the upper bracket of the main event. Teams in 5-8 place in each group advance to lower bracket of the main event. Bottom team from each group is eliminated.
Group Stage – Day 1: August 15th
Group Stage – Day 2: August 16th
Group Stage – Day 3: August 17th
Group Stage – Day 4: August 18th
Potential tiebreakers are resolved on the last day.
Main Event: August 20th – 25th
Sixteen teams play in a double-elimination bracket over six days. Bracket placements are decided through group stage results. First-round Lower Bracket games are best-of-one. Grand Finals are best-of-five. All other matches are best-of-three.
Main Event – Day 1 (UB Quarter Finals, LB Round 1): August 20th
Main Event – Day 2 (UB Quarter Finals, LB Round 2): August 21st
Main Event – Day 3 (UB Semi-finals, LB Round 2): August 22nd
Main Event – Day 4 (LB Round 3 & 4, All-Star Match): August 23rd
Main Event – Day 5 (UB Finals, LB Round 4 & 5): August 24th
Main Event – Day 6 (LB Finals, Grand Finals): August 25th
The broadcast beings at 6:30 am IST for group stages and 7:30 am for playoffs every day.
The fifteenth CS:GO major is right around the corner as Berlin is all set to host the most prestigious event of Counter-Strike. Earlier today, Valve also unveiled viewer’s pass, stickers and graffiti which can be bought from the in-game store. The major comprises of three sets of eight teams โ The Minor Challengers, The Returning Challengers and The Current Legends.
Quality eight teams from Minor Challengers and Returning Challengers will battle out to advance to the top 16 and compete against the Current Legends. 9th-14th placed teams from ESL One: Katowice 2019 (previous major), top two teams from each regional minor and three teams from minor play-in have advanced to the New Challengers Stage.
Let us take a look at the teams which can cause serious damage at the Berlin Major.
5. Team Vitality
Photo via HLTV
Team Vitality poses a serious threat to the tournament favourites โ Team Liquid. But, at first, they have to get past the New Challengers Stage to dethrone the favourites. After the addition of Alex “ALEX” McMeekin, French men have produced commendable results. Vitality star-AWPer Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut has the sheer ability to destroy any player on a given day. 18-year-old boasts 1.30 HLTV rating and he has the capability to make big plays and get early picks for his side.
During the past one year, Team Vitality has won DreamHack Open Atlanta 2018, Charleroi Esports 2019, cs_summit 4 and ECS Season 7 Finale while losing twice to Team Liquid in the playoffs of ESL One: Cologne 2019 and IEM Chicago 2019. Team Vitality is a force to be reckoned with.
4. NRG Esports
Photo via HLTV
NRG Esports have always had noteworthy outings at almost all the events in 2019, but, their play-off finishes are eventually overshadowed. NRG has not won many events but they have displayed incredible consistency all throughout the year. NRG have advanced to the New Challengers Stage without dropping a map at Europe Minor. They recently went through a roster move and acquired the service of Peter “Stanislaw” Jarguz.
After winning IEM Shanghai 2018 and cs_summit 3, the North-Americans have lost quarce in playoffs against four different opponents in the last one year. NRG on the back of new IGL is expected to land up to the New Legends Stage and they are second-most fan favourite team in North-America after Team Liquid.
3. mousesports
Photo via HLTV
Soon after the unsatisfactory result at ESL One Major: Cologne 2019 – Europe Minor, mousesports went through a radical overhaul as the management earlier benched every player except Robin “ropz” Kool, however, Chris “chrisJ” de Jong was later called back alongside two young faces and Finn “karrigan” Anderson. Finn is a reckoned IGL and 29-year-old has created an excellent structure in this new lineup of mousesports.
Although mousesports were not seen at several LAN events, their breathtaking matchup against Team Liquid in the semi-finale of ESL Pro League Season 9, win at DreamHack Open Tours 2019 and their performance in Europe Minor suggests that they will certainly create havoc in Berlin. 17-year-old David “frozen” ฤerลanskรฝ will be attending his first CS:GO major.
2. FURIA Esports
Photo via HLTV
FURIA took the whole community by shock when the Brazilian roster displayed tremendous potential at recently held DreamHack Open Rio, DreamHack Masters Dallas, ECS Season 7 Finals and later qualified for ESL Pro League Season 10. The team’s growth is no less than a fairy tale on the outside but their sheer dedication and unconventional playstyle has taken a lot of top tier teams off-guard.
FURIA’s star player Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato boasts 1.22 HLTV rating and his side relies heavily on his ability to demolish opponents through his raw aim and skills. FURIA can make wonders happen and the Brazilian side could do serious damage at the Berlin major.
1. AVANGAR
CIS teams are the trump card of every major. Each year, a CIS lineup will get through the Challengers Stage and give neck-to-neck competition to the contenders. AVANGAR had quite a struggle this year, however, they still stand a chance to surprise any team in the New Challengers Stage. AVANGAR does not always receive invites to tier-one events, but they won DreamHack Open Rio 2019. Although they had a pretty rough season overall.
As a part of their Independence League, Entity Gaming have announced a PUBG Mobile show match between India and Pakistan. The game will be aired on Entity Gamingโs YouTube channel at 4 PM tomorrow, on the Indian Independence Day.
The announcement comes from Entityโs deep belief in the words โLibertyโ and โFraternityโ, a part of the preamble of the Indian constitution. The show match, first-of-its-kind initiative, aims at showing a great display of brotherhood, camaraderie and entertainment, to the viewers.
The showmatch will be casted by Ketan โK18โ Patel from Entity gaming.
