ite Wings overshadowing Newbee in the Chinese region, the TI4-winning organization still has a promising lineup for Boston. The team boasts an 81 percent win rate in the last month, with i

On the very eve of the first major of the 2017 Dota 2 season, the group stage has finally been set in stone. The 16 teams attending the $3 million Boston Major will be split into four miniaturized brackets to play several best-of-threes to determine seeding in the main bracket.Lovingly dubbed the GSL format after its most well-known proponent, this bracket system can be confusing if youre unfamiliar with it. Its best to look at it as a number of small double-elimination tournaments with four teams each: One will emerge the victor (first seed) with a 2-0, another team will go 0-2 and two teams will have to break their 1-1 tie in a final game to determine the final rankings.The first seeds get their pick of whom to face first in the round-of-16, so winning out in the group stage is a potent advantage in this single-elimination major. Who is poised to clinch the top seed, and who will struggle to determine their berth in the tournament?Group A: Wings Gaming vs. Warriors Gaming Unity, Digital Chaos vs. LGD.Forever YoungThe International 6 champion Wings Gaming gets a fairly easy matchup against the SEA qualifier WG Unity. While the scrappy Unity squad is an unknown quantity in the international scene and one that has a proven ability to upset the giants of its region, its hard to find any justification for expecting Unity to pull a similar upset on a still-formidable Wings lineup.Digital Chaos and LGD.FYs match will be more of a contest: Even though Digital Chaos came in second at TI6, the North American squad has since fallen on tough times. Its only full tournament appearance since, at The Summit 6, ended in a 2-0 loss to Wings. LGD.FY has had similar issues, struggling to regularly beat other teams in the Chinese region since qualifying for Boston. This match could go either way, but given the quality and quantity of games played pre-Boston, LGD.FY are coming in looking a little more prepared than DC.Group B: Newbee vs. MVP Phoenix, Virtus.Pro vs. Team NPAll signs point to group B being the most interesting group coming into Boston, with some very close matchups and tense situations for diehard fans of these squads. Despite Wings overshadowing Newbee in the Chinese region, the TI4-winning organization still has a promising lineup for Boston. The team boasts an 81 percent win rate in the last month, with its mid laner Song Sccc Chun putting up a 5.67 KDA in that time. Comparatively, MVP Phoenix have had some struggles after subbing Lee Forev Sang-don back onto the squad, losing 2-1 in the ESL One Genting qualifiers to Team EVOS. Never count out the MVP LAN X-factor, but recent performances put Newbee ahead in this match.That contest will be an undercard to the second matchup in Group B though, as Summit 6 champ Virtus.Pro will play its first series of the major against home-crowd favorite Team NP. The former put on quite a showing at The Summit, dropping only two games in the tournament and besting Wings and OG for the top spot. Team NP, on the other hand, never got a chance to face the CIS team in the bracket, and its particular brand of abnormal playcalling and Kurtis Aui_2000 Lings insane carry potential could be whats need to halt the momentum VP has coming into Massachusetts. The team has a fair amount of fans among the North American crowd too, so look for the crowds to give Jacky EternaLEnVy Mao their energy in hopes of an upset over the dominant Russians of Virtus.Pro.Group C: Evil Geniuses vs. Complexity, Faceless vs. LGD GamingA North American face-off will start group C, where Evil Geniuses will take on Complexity Gaming. In the time since TI6, the series has leaned EGs way, taking both prior match-ups 2-1 and 2-0. Complexity has a new tool in Jaron monkeys-forever Clinton, however, and the team will likely look to that one game at Dota Pit, alongside EGs other recent losses, to pick apart the team for weaknesses to exploit. Evil Geniuses is the favorite, but when two teams have faced off as often as these two have, anything is possible.Faceless and LGD Gaming are the more complicated match-up. LGD, who took Execrations spot in the major after visa issues prevented the teams attendance, have had some inconsistencies over the last couple of months. Beating teams like CDEC and Vici, LGD still struggles to put up impressive numbers and look like the LGD of old. Faceless, meanwhile, is a dark horse for the tournament, with Daryl iceiceice Koh Pei Xiang leading the team on and Dominik Black^ Reitmeier performing impressively in the carry role. The team did fall short at The Summit 6 though, losing two best-of-threes in a row to Digital Chaos and Evil Geniuses. Both teams will be searching for some redemption at Boston, so expect a good contest between these two.Group D: OG vs. IG Vitality, EHOME vs. Ad FinemThe start of group D sees a matchup of OG against Invictus Gamings Vitality squad, with some extra power on the side of IGV. Due to visa issues, legendary Anti-Mage player Xu BurNIng Zhilei will step in for the squad, though whether the team will draft his favorite carry for him or leave him to fill in Su super Pengs shoes at the four-role remains to be seen. OG has been on a hot streak, however, coming off a fairly strong showing at The Summit 6 and looking more and more confident since the offseason. OG is a favorite here, unless Vitality decides to throw a curveball with the substitution of Xu.Last on the list of round-one group series comes a strong one: EHOME vs. Ad Finem. Hailing from two different regions, EHOME can put even top-tier teams on upset watch, having taken series off EG, LGD, Vici and CDEC. The team is also a little inconsistent and struggles against lineups like Newbee and Wings, which could leave room for the Greek squad of Ad Finem to take the series. The five players of Ad Finem hail from a region not particularly known for Dota 2, and have stuck it through several failed qualifier runs for Valve events; now theyre in a major, and carry Omar Madara Dabasas looks to lead his team on its first-ever run at a Valve tournament. Given qualifier results, where AF upset teams like Liquid and Secret to clinch a berth, its not out of the question to see Ad Finem going places. These two will likely put on a strong series to close out the first round of group D matches.Keep up-to-date on the Boston Major with the ESPN esports website, Facebook, Twitter and the ESPN App. http://www.saintsrookiestore.com/Saints-Marshon-Lattimore-Jersey/ . SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. http://www.saintsrookiestore.com/Saints-Mark-Ingram-Jersey/ . - The Oakland Raiders re-signed offensive lineman Khalif Barnes on Friday. http://www.saintsrookiestore.com/Saints-John-Kuhn-Jersey/ . But the quarterback hopes to stay involved in football after officially calling it quits Tuesday. "Id love to look at those opportunities as they arise," Pierce said in an interview from his Winnipeg eatery. http://www.saintsrookiestore.com/Saints-Tommylee-Lewis-Jersey/ . Still, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke thought taking him out before the fifth inning was an unusual move. "Im looking up at the board and hes got two hits given up and one run, and Im taking him out after the fourth inning," Roenicke said. http://www.saintsrookiestore.com/Customized/ . PAUL, Minn. HOUSTON -- Houstons Doug Fister struggled with command on Saturday and it led to his second straight loss.Fister allowed nine hits and five runs while walking five in 4 2/3 innings of a 7-6 loss to the Chicago White Sox.He ran into a couple of things. He had a high pitch count early, manager A.J. Hinch said. They made him work. He wasnt very sharp. The five walks hurt him and the home run.Fister (8-4) said things werent feeling right from the start on Saturday.It was one of those days where I was fighting myself mechanically and not able to execute as well as Id like, he said.The White Sox got a season-high four RBI from Dioner Navarro, and Chris Sale settled down after a shaky start to pitch seven-plus innings and become this seasons first 14-game winner.Navarro drove in a pair with a triple in the second inning to put Chicago up 2-1. The White Sox were trailing in the fifth when his two-run single made it 5-4.J.B. Shuck hit a solo homer in the fourth and had an RBI triple in Chicagos two-run eighth inning.Sale (14-2) allowed four runs in the first three innings before settling in to yield just two hits and an unearned run the rest of the way. He allowed six hits and tied a season high by fanning nine.Rookie A.J. Reed hit his first career homer off David Robertson to make it 7-6 with two outs in the ninth before Robertson struck out Colby Rasmus for his 22nd save.Jose Altuve homered and drove in three runs for the Astros, who had a five-game winning streak snapped.Altuve gave Houston a 1-0 lead with his home run to the seats in right field with two outs in the first.Chicago took the lead with Navarros one-out triple. Avisail Garcia walked after that, but Navarro was tagged out at home on a fielders choice before Fister retired Timm Anderson to limit the damage.ddddddddddddhe White Sox had a chance to pad their lead in the third, but Adam Eaton couldnt beat the throw home on a two-out single by Brett Lawrie. Eaton leaped over the head of catcher Evan Gattis on the play, but Gattis was still able to apply the tag.Danny Worth drew a walk to start Houstons third before a bunt single by Jake Marisnick. Houston tied it at 2-2 when Worth scored on a sacrifice bunt by Marwin Gonzalez and took the lead on an RBI single by Altuve.After a short coaching visit to the mound, Carlos Correa pushed the lead to 4-2 on a run-scoring single.We did a lot right that inning, Hinch said. We had to manufacture some runs.Sale settled down after that, retiring 13 of the next 14 batters he faced, until George Springer singled to start the eighth. Gonzalez reached on an error by Todd Frazier after that to end Sales day.Sale, who tossed a complete game against Houston on May 19, improved to 5-1 with a 1.31 ERA and 65 strikeouts in six career starts against the Astros.Shucks two-out home run to the seats in right field got Chicago within 4-3 in the fourth.TRAINERS ROOMAstros: RHP Lance McCullers will start for Houston on Monday after missing his last start with a blister on his right index finger.UP NEXTWhite Sox: Jose Quintana (5-3, 3.18) will start for Chicago on Sunday. Quintana looks to get back on track after going 0-7 with a 4.58 ERA in his last nine starts.Astros: Collin McHugh (5-5, 4.58) is scheduled to pitch for Houston on Sunday. McHugh is searching for his first win since May 30 after getting one loss and four no-decisions in his last five starts. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Stitched Jerseys China Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Store Youth NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Discount NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys Wholesale NFL White Jerseys Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys White NFL Jerseys Cheap Camo China NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Jerseys NFL China ' ' '