Navi were looking strong at the beginning of the IEM in Cologne beating Faze but then when I checked on the game with Astralis they were in double overtime. They eventually lost on the final map.
A surprise were Ence defeating Heroic. They must of had a roster change same as Team Vitality but for the opposite effect due to them going down to G2 in the earlier matches as well.

ENCE didn't make any roster changes recently, they're just meshing pretty well as of late and it all came down to some clutch moments in Mirage. I hope they make it in the final and possibly face a rematch against Heroic as the back-and-forth shouting made it entertaining. 

For now, i'm looking forward to the LoL playoffs (LPL and LCS) that'll happen during the weekend.

I don't follow the Valorant scene that much, but if i'm going to pick one team, it'll be Fnatic since they won the VCT Masters Tokyo.

Unfortunately, Navi also had a couple of roster changes they picked up three new players (Aleksi, jL, and iM) while electronic and Perfecto moved to Cloud9 that's why they've struggled to survive in the lower bracket.

G2 was the other team with good results (including ENCE) and hasn't made any changes after the off-season.  

Watched so much ESL IEM on Wednesday, had the two overlapped.
I remember looking at the teams and saying nobody was cut from the same team roster as last season, so it was G2.

Flamez having a 4k was impressive so I think he is comfortable on his new team. I remember seeing you mention somebody else had a 4k earlier in the week during this tournament on another thread. I saw the clip and it was nice too see those while they happen live.

Cloud 9 is in the quarter-finals which is about to begin in the next hour and h0bbit is looking good during these IEMs.
I like the over 2.5 maps for both matches happening with Team Vitality vs C9 and Heroic vs Astralis.
No Faze clan who were last years champions of Cologne.

For Dota 2 people here, we're seeing left and right roster changes from different regions. There's this sad moment in the Chinese region but it's just all about the retirement[1] of a known player there, Paparazi. This is an era for those players, bettors and fans.
[1] Paparazi retires from competitive Dota 2 ahead of TI12 qualifiers

Awful bet from my side yesterday and I've ended up losing both of my tickets on Cloud 9 but they were so close to win 2nd map but they ruined everything in overtime ... . I also think that Apex had his best CS:GO match of this year when it comes to LAN and I don't see it happening again today against Ence because this team is so unpredictable right now.

Funny or not , I don't see 3 maps today but what do I know ? my bets are not on point lately 

Makes sense. LPL's looking as strong as ever and LCS is in massive shambles so I don't really expect them to win this playoffs. Plus Doublelift's not playing since he's still in the hospital so i'm not really keen on watching lol. He's the only person besides Faker that makes me watch these games nowadays cause the game's just so linear after 20 mins, you pretty much know which one's going to win soon as that first turret falls before plates.
Same bet here, Fnatic is going strong here and they aren't really showing any signs of stopping. Although paper rex shows real promise and a game is coming up if I'm not mistaken. They'd open the VCT game if I'm not mistaken and will be fighting against DRX.

Yep , finally some good bets on my side as well but I didn't expect G2 to beat Astralis 2-0 but I do see G2 winning against Ence today and lift the trophy. M0nesy and Niko are in god mode right now and I don't see anyone that could stop these 2 from taking their angles to peak and kill.

SunPayus is a next star in my opinion and he will be a problem for G2 today as long as they don't let him play his AWP.

After Riyadh Masters, Ceb might have thought that it is not enough for just one tournament. He really misses professional DOTA, I think that is why he is back to OG. OG did not perform that well in Riyadh so Ceb has to log in serious grind hours to catch up with the current META. It is just a short time before the TI qualifiers start.

---

Speaking of The Internation, DOTA has released the new format for the Group Stage of TI 2023.


Source: https://www.dota2.com/newsentry/3674426239851301040

I like this new Group stage format since every game will be important. Unlike in the old format where most of the team's goal was just to win 1 map to get a good place in the group, this time, every map is important. There are only 5 teams in each group and 1 is sure to be eliminated. Every map and every win is important to be sure not to get eliminated during the group stage. We are ensure that we will see exciting games as early as the group stage.

Intel Extreme Masters Sydney makes a return from four years ago due to the tournaments not being able to travel during that time.
https://pro.eslgaming.com/tour/csgo/sydney

But they are about to commence with the qualifiers with some new teams in the mix this time around:
BetBoom to make their first appearance at the IEM Sydney Open Qualifiers
https://www.hltv.org/news/36847/betboom-to-make-first-appearance-in-iem-sydney-open-qualifier

Furia, BIG among teams to make IEM Sydney EU Open Qualifier 1 round 16
https://www.hltv.org/news/36850/furia-big-among-teams-to-make-iem-sydney-eu-open-qualifier-1-ro16

Still alot of time for them to get themselves back in form since it starts on October 20th-22nd.