Preview of WESG 2018
Anton Pashencev24 national teams have gathered together in the Chinese city Chongqing for World Electronic Sports Games 2018 to define the champion and to divide a prize pool of $900,000. We should mark that the competition does not belong in Valve rating system.
Holding format:
Twenty four collectives will be taking part in the tournament. Direct invitations were received by only four of them. The teams were divided into four groups where they will play by Round Robin. The matches will be held in the bo2 format. Two best rosters from each of the groups will get to the playoff, and the other collectives will leave the competition.
Group division of the teams:
Group А Aster | Group В Keen Gaming | Group С Room310 | Group D PotM Bottom |
The playoff stage will be held in the single-elimination bracket with matches up to two wins including the grand final.
Competition organization:
The organization of the championship is done by the company Alisports, that specializes in only tournaments of World Electronic Sports Games series. The organizers have had a lot of problems at the holding place, but we should remember that their events will have approximately 52 CS:GO and Dota 2 teams performed, and also about 100 players in individual disciplines, so it is quite difficult to please everybody.
Teams’ chance to make it out of the group:
Group А:
It is difficult to define a clear favorite in this group, as Team Aster and EHOME perform at approximately the same level, but the last had two changes. We should also pay attention to Team Ukraine Yellow. The team is represented by rather experienced and famous players that now play for the best teams from the CIS. The other participants look weaker and they are unlikely to get to the playoff.
Group В:
In this list of the teams Keen Gaming just have to take one of the slots at the final stage while Team Australia, Nemiga Gaming and Deutschlando will be fighting for the second place. In our opinion. the guys from Australia have more chances to get to the next stage as there are more eminent players that have won major championships before.
Group С:
Group С can be named as a death group for sure as it is very difficult to find a couple of strong teams and each of the collectives can make it to the playoff. And if the first position must be taken by the representatives of Team Russia, the second slot will be fought for by four collectives - TNC Predator, Team Team, Room310 and The Final Tribe. At the beginning of this year a Philippine team could outdo all players from the quartet, but the representative of TNC Predator couldn’t do anything to get to any of Minors or Majors, which makes us think of their lost shape.
Group D:
This group is one of the most predictable and their slot to the next stage should be taken by Mr Game Boy and NoLifer5. The Chinese collective takes part in different local competitions all the time and shows good results, opposing such teams as Vici Gaming, CDEC and Mineski. Meanwhile, the players from NoLifer5, even if they don’t play constantly, have great individual results in the CIS and are qualified to Minor and Major tournaments.
Chances to win the competition:
The biggest chances to win the competition is now for the representatives of Virtus.Pro — Team Russia. The coefficient of their triumph equals 3. The collectives that also have to perform well are TNC Predator, Keen Gaming and Team Aster. Bookmakers offer coefficients of their wins equal 10, 7 and 11, correspondingly. The other participants are unlikely to pass further than the quarter final stage.