The first day produced some upset results, with The Mongolz and Heroic going down as the esports betting sites’ favourite in their opening best-of-three series.

The Mongolz are on the brink of elimination at IEM Cologne after a 1-2 loss to SAW, faltering on defence.

BIG, on the other hand, managed a comeback victory over FlyQuest after initially blowing a 9-3 lead.

These two winners will face off for a spot in the main event of the tournament.

SAW, energised and well-prepared under new head coach Danny “?BERRY?” Kr��ger, overcame a slow start on Anubis.

They trailed 4-8 on the counter-terrorist side but rallied in the second half, exploiting The MongolZ’s weak B bomb site.

Despite a comeback from The Mongolz forcing overtime, SAW secured a 16-13 win.

After The Mongolz won on Ancient, SAW dominated Dust2, with key contributions from Jo?o ‘story’ Vieira, Michel ‘ewjerkz’ Pinto, and Rafael ‘arrozdoce’ Wing, to win 13-5.

.@BIGCLANgg put a stop to the @FlyQuestCS comeback at the last hour! The German squad opens their #IEM Cologne 2024 campaign with a victory

14-16 Ancient
13-10 Inferno
13-11 Vertigo pic.twitter.com/B9DTOIWTD7

— Intel? Extreme Masters (@IEM) August 7, 2024

BIG’s match against FlyQuest was similarly dramatic.

After trading 9-3 terrorist halves and forcing overtime, FlyQuest took the lead.

BIG responded by winning on Inferno and dominating Vertigo with a 10-0 start.

FlyQuest attempted a comeback, but BIG held on for a 13-11 victory.

MIBR, under new in-game leader Andr�� “?drop?” Abreu, defeated Heroic 2-1.

Heroic struggled on the defensive side, losing 7-13 on Mirage and Anubis after a strong start on Ancient.

MIBR’s Felipe “?insani?” Yuji and AWPer Rafael “?saffee?” Costa were standout performers.

.@MIBR take down @heroicgg 2-1 in their opening game of #IEM Cologne 2024

10-13 Ancient
13-7 Mirage
13-7 Anubis pic.twitter.com/GtNPlIX1xR

— Intel? Extreme Masters (@IEM) August 7, 2024

The next phase will see 3DMAX face Heroic in an elimination match, and 9z Team take on MIBR for a group stage spot.

9z easily defeated 3DMAX 13-3 and 13-4, showcasing star player Franco “?dgt?” Garcia and captain Maximiliano “?max?” Gonzalez.

Eternal Fire is close to securing a spot in the main event after a 2-1 win over Falcons.

The match saw standout performances from Ismailcan “?XANTARES?” D?rtkarde? on Vertigo and ?zg��r “?woxic?” Eker on Dust2, despite some sloppy play from both teams.

Team Liquid and FURIA won their opening matches, defeating paiN Gaming and Imperial, respectively.

Liquid, coming off strong performances at BLAST Premier Fall Groups, overcame paiN with solid terrorist-side efforts on Anubis and Inferno.

FURIA’s Brazilian derby against Imperial saw them recover from a disastrous start on Dust2 to win the series 2-1, highlighted by a 13-0 thrashing on Inferno.

Day one of #IEM Cologne 2024 and we've seen it all.

A back and forth affair that goes 3 maps until @FURIA decided to end it with a 13-0 against @imperialesports

3-13 Dust 2
13-11 Nuke
13-0 Inferno pic.twitter.com/Os0naPYZyI

— Intel? Extreme Masters (@IEM) August 7, 2024

Thursday’s IEM Cologne play-in fixtures

• SAW ($1.80) vs BIG ($1.90) @ 1:30pm CEST
• The Mongolz ($1.40) vs FlyQuest ($2.75) @ 1:30pm CEST
• 3DMAX ($2.25) vs Heroic ($1.57) @ 3:45pm CEST
• FURIA ($2.62) vs Team Liquid ($1.44) @ 3:45pm CEST
• ALTERNATE aTTaX ($7.00) vs Falcons ($1.08) @ 6:45pm CEST
• Complexity ($2.10) vs Eternal Fire ($1.66) @ 6:45pm CEST

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Talon Esports started their VALORANT Champions 2024 campaign with a 0-2 loss against one of the tournament favourites, Leviatan. Team Vitality were just as unsuccessful, albeit against one of the tournament underdogs, Trace Esports, who bested EMEA��s second seed 2-1.

There is not much to separate the two sides based on their first-round performances, although looking at the season stats, Team Vitality are the better squad. Jok��bas “ceNder” Labutis and co. were, however, a bit inconsistent in the second stage of VCT 2024 EMEA, dropping maps even against lesser opposition.

Vitality��s inconsistency should open opportunities for Talon Esports to do some damage. And while expecting the fourth seed from VCT Pacific to win is a bit too optimistic, this has the potential to be a close affair.

FUT Esports slipped up against EDward Gaming in the opening match of Group D. On the other side, Paper Rex proved to be no match against the young G2 Esports roster, who bested VALORANT Champions 2023 runners-up in one clean swoop.

The VCT 2024 Pacific Stage 1 champions are priced as favourites for this affair, which is not shocking considering this is a very experienced roster. But Paper Rex��s results leading into VALORANT Champions 2024 are very similar to that of FUT Esports.

Paper Rex have a better win rate on Sunset and marginally on Lotus, whereas FUT Esports are more efficient on Split and Ascent. At best, VALORANT betting sites should price this series closer to even money, so we will gladly side with the underdogs.

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The rule with KT Rolster is to fade them as big favourites and back them as underdogs. However, betting against Gen.G looks like a sure way to lose, as they are on a 15-game winning streak in league play and have yet to drop a series in the LCK 2024 Summer.

KT Rolster are $7.40 underdogs, which gives them just a 13.5% implied probability of winning the series. This is incredibly low, but considering their showings against Kwangdong Freecs and OKSavingsBank BRION over the last two rounds, it is fair to question KT��s chances to defeat the hottest team in the league.

Gen.G are efficient in running over teams that do not do well in the early game, which we should see in effect on Friday. And with side choice, the LCK title favourites will likely close out the first map without spilling too much blood.

T1 seem to have stabilised over the last two weeks and put themselves in a good position to defeat Gen.G on Saturday. The game ended in a crushing 0-2 loss, but it was a significant improvement and T1 should have won the first map.

Nongshim RedForce are the opposite in terms of where they��re trending. RedForce��s quality has fallen over the season, with some glaring issues — namely their abysmal early game.

Nongshim RedForce should have done much better — but not by much, as this squad is still low on individual quality. This series should end in a comfortable victory for T1, and knowing RedForce usually get smoked in losses, taking kill unders on both maps at $1.86 with LoL betting sites makes a lot of sense.

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UPSETS ARE IN THEIR DNA

TRACE ESPORTS TAKES DOWN LEV TO ADVANCE TO THE PLAYOFFS. #VALORANTChampions pic.twitter.com/zGYHoZpFGX

— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) August 7, 2024

Trace picked Bind and ran a double sentinel composition with Deadlock, while Leviat��n used a Gekko variation with Viper, Skye, Raze, and Brimstone.

Starting on attack, Trace won the first pistol round, but Leviat��n prevented spike plants, leading to a 7-5 half-time score in favour of Trace.

A classic 3K from Li “Kai” Zhinan confirmed Trace’s second pistol round win, making it difficult for Leviat��n to plant the spike.

Despite Leviat��n’s late comeback attempt, a fumbled post-plant and a clutch defuse from Zhang “LuoK1ng” Zhanpeng secured the map for Trace.

Leviat��n needed to win on their map pick (Sunset) to stay alive, and despite Trace’s strong start with a 5-1 lead, Leviat��n adapted quickly, ending the half up 7-5.

Leviat��n’s aggressive push into spawn on the second half pistol round didn’t work, but Erick “aspas” Santos’ Neon and a clutch from Ian “tex” Botsch helped them close out the map.

For the decider map (Ascent), Leviat��n opted for a double sentinel composition with Deadlock and Cypher, while Trace went with a Killjoy.

Leviat��n won the first pistol round but immediately lost the anti-eco.

Kai, playing on Jett, used the operator effectively, pulling Trace ahead to a 10-2 lead at the half.

Despite Leviat��n winning the second pistol round, Kai’s operator sealed the map and series for Trace.

Leviat��n will now face the winner of Talon Esports vs. Team Vitality for their final chance to qualify for the playoff stage.

G2 Esports defeated EDward Gaming 2-1 (8-13, 13-11 13-11) to advance to the playoffs at the season-ending VALORANT event.

They will now wait for the group stage to finish, with knockouts beginning next week.

This victory guarantees one team from each VALORANT Champions Tour region in the playoffs, with DRX representing Pacific, Team Heretics from EMEA, and Trace Esports redeeming China.

WHAT A PERFORMANCE

G2 IS PLAYOFFS BOUND AT #VALORANTChampions SEOUL! #G2WIN pic.twitter.com/U1JGBLCmTZ

— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) August 7, 2024

G2’s map pick of Icebox began with EDG taking an early lead.

G2 showed resilience in rounds 7 and 8 but couldn’t maintain momentum.

EDG adapted quickly, with Hsieh “S1Mon” Meng-hsun’s quadruple kill anchoring the map win for EDG.

EDG started strong on Haven with a pistol win, but G2 dominated the early half.

EDG stabilised with Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang’s Neon plays, ending the half tied at 6-6.

G2 regained their lead post-break, but EDG responded with a five-round streak.

A clutch from Trent “trent” Cairns and back-to-back triple kills from G2 secured the map win to tie the series.

G2 remained dominant on Bind, starting with a pistol round win on the third and deciding map.

Despite EDG’s efforts, including a well-timed timeout and key plays from S1Mon and Zhang “Smoggy” Zhao, G2’s coordinated defence ended the map and clinched the series.

EDward Gaming will next play on August 11 in the group D decider match for their second chance at playoffs, determining the final team to reach the top eight.

Check out ESB’s free preview and best bets for Thursday’s VALORANT Champions fixtures.

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Sentinels had a very tough start to VALORANT Champions 2024, as they had to face the top team in the world, Gen.G, and lost in two maps. FunPlus Phoenix did not have it much easier, as they lost to Team Heretics in overtime.

FunPlus Phoenix showed more than expected against Team Heretics, although the latter side did not perform at 100% on the day. As such, it is fair to question whether FunPlus Phoenix are actually good.

Sentinels, with their roster, should not be losing games like this. But as FunPlus Phoenix proved in Shanghai and last week, they can hang with the best. Expect a close series.

Bilibili Gaming kicked off their tournament run with a 0-2 loss against Fnatic; however, they showed a pulse on Bind, where the VCT China representatives won nine rounds. Lotus was much more one-sided, but it is not like Bilibili have ever been good on that map.

Bilibili Gaming do not have to worry about Lotus for this series, as it is one of their opponents’ weakest maps, along with Abyss — as shown in KRU Esports�� defeat against DRX in the opening series.

VALORANT betting sites have KRU as big favourites for this match. But based on the teams�� performances in the first round, it is easy to believe Bilibili Gaming can leave a dent in VCT Americas�� fourth seed.

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The last time these teams squared off, Hanwha Life Esports won with 15-9 and 19-6 in kills and a 9,000 and 18,000 gold lead on the two maps, respectively. According to the latest LoL betting odds, the rematch should be just as one-sided.

Hanwha Life Esports had a bit of a hiccup at the start of LCK 2024 Summer Week 7 when they were humiliated by KT Rolster, but that does not take away from their strong results over the last few weeks. OKSavingsBank BRION are quite the opposite, having struggled for most of the split, yet they swept KT Rolster on Sunday.

The teams�� stats prove Hanwha Life Esports are a far superior squad, and they are known for doing well against weaker opponents. Since BRION rarely put up a fight in losses, even the relatively high kill handicap is an inviting bet for Hanwha Life Esports on their map pick.

Dplus KIA have been on the brink of breaking into the group of elite LCK teams for this entire split. But despite their dominant map performances, they seem unable to get over the line when faced with the likes of Hanwha Life Esports, Gen.G, and T1.

BNK FearX are not considered one of the top contenders in LCK, but they��re 5-1 over the last four series, with just one loss against Gen.G and two promising victories against KT Rolster and T1. This is not enough to jump to conclusions, yet FearX have looked outstanding over the past month.

Betting against Dplus KIA is always a bit tricky, as they can defeat anyone. But consistency has not been their strong suit this split, so a smaller position on BNK FearX to win a map at $1.75 with top LoL betting sites is worth a look.

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In a rematch from VALORANT Champions Tour Masters Shanghai, Team Heretics got their revenge over their Korean opponent, as they claimed a tough 2-1 (11-13, 13-11, 13-10) series win to open the second week of competition.

Los Ni?os win the Masters Shanghai Finals rematch and move on to the Playoffs Stage! #VALORANTChampions #VamosHeretics pic.twitter.com/MmfaK1cjkS

— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) August 6, 2024

Abyss was Team Heretics’s pick and a new addition to the VALORANT map pool.

Gen.G, who typically bans Abyss, showed resilience with a Breeze-like composition.

The match saw a closely contested first half, with Gen.G leading 7-5.

Off the back of a strong performance from Kim “Meteor” Tae-o (28 kills on Yoru), Gen.G narrowly secured the map after effective timeout strategies by their coaches.

Lotus, Gen.G’s pick, seemed to favour them initially, leading 10-5.

However, Team Heretics made a remarkable comeback, winning eight of the last nine rounds to claim the map.

Gen.G’s inability to convert 5v4 situations, despite having 15 first bloods, was critical.

Benjy “Benjyfishy” David Fish highlighted their aggressive post-plant strategies as a key factor in their turnaround.

The decider map, Bind, saw Heretics employing a flash-heavy composition, aiding their attacking and defensive strategies.

They led 8-4 at half-time, with effective use of flashes and coordinated attacks.

Despite a late surge from Gen.G, Team Heretics closed out the map at 13-10 and took the series from the hometown favourite.

Kim “t3xture” Na-ra��s underperformance, with zero operator kills, was notable, and external factors like smoke machines were cited by Gen.G as distractions.

Meteor led Gen.G with 76 kills across the series, while Dominykas “MiniBoo” Luka?evi?ius from Team Heretics highlighted the mental strain of the match, calling it the hardest of his career.

DRX gets the clean series win to advance to the Playoffs Stage! #VALORANTChampions #DRXWIN pic.twitter.com/wNPY4c7OD7

VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) August 6, 2024

DRX secured a playoff spot with a clean 2-0 (13-11, 13-6) victory over Fnatic.

On Abyss, DRX turned a small lead into a 7-5 halftime advantage, eventually winning their map pick by the same margin, thanks to key plays from Yu “BuZz” Byung-chul and defensive strength.

Lotus saw DRX take a slender lead into halftime before running away with the map by winning six of the seven rounds in the second half and claiming the series.

Despite Emir “Alfajer” Ali Beder��s (1.40 rating) standout performance for Fnatic, DRX��s consistency and home-soil advantage proved decisive.

DRX’s victory marked a significant step towards their goal, showcasing their ability to perform under pressure and signalling their potential to go far in the tournament.

Wednesday’s VALORANT Champions matches

• Leviatan ($1.11) vs Trace Esports ($6.00) @ 5pm KST
• EDward Gaming ($2.75) vs G2 Esports ($1.40) @ 8pm KST

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FlyQuest and BIG have enough talent on their rosters to qualify for the IEM Cologne 2024 main event. However, it is tough to pick a winner between these two, and betting on the total maps market looks to be the safest play.

The Mongolz broke into the top 10 on the ESL world rankings for the first time, but they have since dropped to 11th. The Mongolian squad is ranked 18 spots higher than SAW and shouldn’t have much trouble beating the Portuguese roster.

Heroic will have to play at IEM Cologne with Volodymyr “Woro2k” Veletnjuk as a stand-in, which should make this clash against MIBR closer than first expected. Neither team enters this event in great form, so taking the underdog at the match line is the play.

9z Team surprised everyone when they finished in third-fourth place at IEM Dallas 2024, where they defeated the likes of Liquid, Vitality and MOUZ. 3DMAX have had little time to prepare for their IEM Cologne campaign after being added as a replacement for BetBoom Team on Monday. At $1.80 with top esports bookmakers, 9z represent great value.

These teams are separated by 84 spots in the ESL world rankings, so it is no surprise that Complexity are $1.06 favourites. There is no value in head-to-head or match-line betting with esports betting sites, so the round-line market is the value option.

Falcons have yet to win an S-Tier tournament since their inception into Counter-Strike; however, recent results suggest they are improving steadily. Eternal Fire enter this series as favourites, but given the improvement of this Falcons squad, the underdogs can spring a surprise.

FURIA are heavy favourites to beat Imperial, as they are 16 spots higher in the ESL world rankings. Following a strong performance at the Esports World Cup, it is hard to bet against this new and improved FURIA outfit.

Team Liquid have looked better under the leadership of Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken, defeating Natus Vincere twice en route to qualifying for the BLAST Premier Fall Final. PaiN Gaming have been competing against South American teams in qualifiers and A-Tier events, so it is hard to see them beating Liquid in this series.

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Gen.G kept their winning streak alive on Saturday when they defeated T1 in two maps. It was another game which should not have ended with such a one-sided score, but we can give Gen.G props for their excellent defensive play.

DRX were smashed by BNK FearX on Saturday, proving once more they are not equipped to play at a high level. Their performance stats prove it, including the league��s lowest average kills per game (8.7), tower plates per game (2.84), and third-lowest dragons per game (1.58).

Assuming Gen.G don��t play with their food too much, they should steamroll DRX, which should result in a lower-scoring game. Under 23.5 total kills is a smart play.

KT Rolster achieved the unthinkable in LCK 2024 Summer Week 7 when they upset Hanwha Life Esports with a superb showing. But KT quickly proved how untrustworthy they are as favourites, losing 0-2 to OKSavingsBank BRION in the last round.

Kwangdong Freecs have looked very shaky over the first half of the split, but they found some traction last week with a 1-2 loss to Dplus KIA and a 2-0 sweep of Nongshim RedForce. There is some pulse with this squad, yet Kwangdong Freecs still have a lot more to prove.

KT Rolster are the stronger team, but at $1.33, they��re a bit overrated. Kwangdong Freecs will also have side choice, which makes them an appealing bet on the map handicap market.

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Filling in for the Russian Counter-Strike 2 team will be 3DMAX, as per the ESL Pro Tour’s Team Replacement Rules.

Unfortunately, @BetBoomTeam have been unable to obtain visas to travel to #IEM Cologne and have been replaced by @3DMAXGaming as the next eligible team based on our Team Replacement Rules. pic.twitter.com/25kb62Tq02

— Intel? Extreme Masters (@IEM) August 5, 2024

BetBoom had earned a spot in the play-in stage of IEM Cologne via the ESL World Ranking.

The tournament would have been their first of the season, following their last official match in June at YaLLa Compass.

BetBoom had also planned to attend the Skyesports Championship but withdrew, citing unmet conditions and fairness concerns with the Indian tournament organiser.

3DMAX, who recently won the Skyesports Championship and achieved their peak world rank of 18, will take BetBoom’s spot in the play-in bracket, facing 9z in the first round of the double-elimination stage.

Additionally, Herioc announced that Volodymyr “?Woro2k?” Veletniuk will replace Abdul “?degster?” Gasanov, who also faces visa issues.

Woro2k, known for his time on Monte and their underdog run to the BLAST.tv Paris Major quarter-finals, will join Heroic in their play-in stage match against MIBR.

winning Cologne with the stand-in buff pic.twitter.com/u1n23twFa1

— HEROIC (@heroicgg) August 5, 2024

It’s unclear if degster will miss the entire event as Heroic awaits visa approval, ready to fly him in if circumstances change.

Visa issues have increasingly impacted Russian players in the CS2 scene.

Earlier this year, Team Spirit’s Danil “donk” Kryshkovets and Boris “magixx” Vorobyev missed the BLAST Spring Groups 2024 due to similar problems.

These visa challenges continue to hinder one of the most talented regions in the scene, preventing players from participating in major tournaments.

Heroic’s IEM Cologne 2024 line-up

• Ren�� “?TeSeS?” Madsen
• Rasmus “?sjuush?” Beck
• Guy “?NertZ?” Iluz
• Damjan “?kyxsan?” Stoilkovski
• Volodymyr “?Woro2k?” Veletniuk
• Coach: Eetu “?sAw?” Saha

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