Surprisingly The Mongolz took out GamerLegion which many didn't expect and certainly not in a 2:0 result.
They are making their mark in this tournament as a force not to be reckoned with.

Both Eternal Fire and Faze Clan took out their opponents so to move on to the next stage of the tournament.
Which is beginning to come down to the wire.
I had placed a bet on Team Spirit but donk got donked on his head and they ended up losing in OT on the last map of their series with Navi.

Who do you think will win in today's matches with Eternal Fire vs Faze?

^^
Not so sure @summonerrk about those comments inregards to dota2 tournaments.
They have alot of bets coming in for ones which are being played as we speak.
BLAST Slam II has been quite entertaining to watch and Xtreme Gaming vs Nigma Galaxy has been a very close one just for an example about the interest from their fans.
I believe you are talking about The International tournament and I would have to agree with you there, it was a really nice tournament since Riyadh Seasons sponsored that event if I am not mistaken.
They had alot of money and backing to bring that tournament together and make it look as polished as it was.

Turning to CounterStrike discussion towards the current major of the Intel Extreme Masters tournament:
Just watching Eternal Fire and they are up 7-1 against Faze Clan.
The odds were just about 50/50 for who would win this match and the Turkish squad has been making massive strides during the past six months in making a huge name for themselves in CS2.

There is no ban in there but only disqualification and I think that the ESL management handled it properly. While for Valve, they have already fixed that bug.

They know it when a bug is all of a sudden but some of them have understood it and took chances of abusing it. The problem there isn't really the bug.

But the abuse that has been initiated and after conducting investigations, those that have abused it found guilty and still good for them that it's only disqualification and not a ban.

All the teams I had bets on won their matches in solid fashion!
That is a first for me and I profited so much that I 5x folded my bankroll for these IEM playoffs in CS2.

Eternal Fire blanked Faze yesterday and that was just the start.
Team Spirit won both their matches taking out Team Liquid and GamerLegion and Navi beating The MongolZ was icing on the cake for winning over $250 just on my bets in Katowice.

That's right, competition in SEA is getting tougher in global tournaments and the organizers are only giving mostly one spot for each qualifiers and luckier if there's two.

Man, many of us just like to play and watch. But I cannot deny that watching these games as we understand them how it goes is more enjoyable. Looking at how they are skilled mechanical really wishes us to be younger back then and become good as how they are nowadays because there is so much opportunity in the competitive scene and with more money and brand deals.

I've watched Rainbow 6 yesterday and tried a 3$ bet on Secret vs Shopify Rebellion and it ended up poorly for me because 2 out of 3 maps were OT and the 3rd map ended up with 7-1 for SR  . Now , I do not understand a lot Rainbow 6 but when it comes to tactical shooter,  I have 3k hours in Escape From Tarkov and I thought I will somehow be able to read the tactics ....which of course it didn't work.

However , I got a taste of the game on pro scene and I will watch tonight Secret vs Faze , hopefully Secret will be able to win 1 map. Also , does someone really know what is happening with Secret overall ? this org is not doing great at all in all esports departments right now .

After that grueling series against Faze, i'm also putting my money on Eternal Fire.

The MongolZ had an easier route to the playoffs only beating GamerLegion and Liquid while Eternal Fire fought their way through a long series against 3dmax plus a close series against FaZe for that third playoff spot.

The other series should be a walk in the park for Team Spirit since one of VP's players can't make it to the playoffs and they'll play with one of their former teammates that's been inactive for quite a while.

Surprisingly, that win from the MongolZ yesterday puts them at #2 in the Valve Rankings only behind Team Spirit.

I agree with you on the NaVi vs. Team Spirit rematch, it's the series to look forward to today as this series could decide the team to win it all. Their series during the group stage was pure entertainment and there's no doubt we'll get another banger from these two teams.

I have to side with Team Spirit too because their firepower is on another level after getting their revenge against NaVi yesterday. Still, we could have a close series if Vitality takes a gamble on picking Nuke and Train. These maps have been dicey from Team Spirit specifically Nuke where they had some close wins against weaker teams.

Even though Gaimin Gladiator made some improvements, Tundra is still their kryptonite. We'll see if Gaimin Gladiators has something in store to counter their drafts.