The GCC is an economic and political council of six countries in the Middle East region, which are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman.
The tournament will be two seasons long and will feature Riot Games titles such as VALORANT, League of Legends, and League of Legends: Wild Rift. This tournament will be an opportunity for amateurs to compete in global teams and will serve as a platform for these newbies to soar.
The IAC Playground will be the official VALORANT Region Circuit and will serve as a regional qualifier to take a spot in the 2nd season of the VALORANT Regional League in MENA (Middle East and North Africa). Also, the leading two League of Legends teams will qualify for the second season of the Intel Arabian Cup open qualifiers.
Participants will play to win the prize pool, which is $30.000 for both seasons. That is the sum of $15.000 per season all across the three titles: VALORANT, League of Legends, and League of Legends: Rift. Both seasons will be aired on the Calyx website, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch.
Competitive Experience Professional at Riot Games MENA, Hakim Abu Nahel, talked on the agreement:
“The IAC Playground is a grassroots circuit designed to provide a fantastic competitive experience to our League of Legends, VALORANT and WildRift players across the MENA region.
“We are proud to announce that the Playground circuit will also act as a stepping stone for aspiring teams and players to compete for an opportunity to qualify for high-tier tournaments such as the VRL for VALORANT and IAC Prestige Division for League of Legends.
We are very excited to once again work alongside our long-term partners, Calyx to deliver this amazing journey and great opportunity for our players.”
According to Sunderesan Iyer, Vice President, Business Development of Hockwood Games:
“Our vision for Calyx is to be the home of esports in the region. Through this partnership with Riot Games once again, we are providing a professional platform to support the regional gaming community. We are proud to now offer a way for amateur gamers to compete on the global stage with Riot.”
Prior to this, Calyx, the subsidiary of Hockwood Games had partnered with Riot Games in June 2021. This alliance was as a result of hosting the first-ever League of Legends: Wild Rift tournament to be conducted in the Middle East and North Africa.
Calyx is situated in Dubai and is devoted to growing esports in the MENA region. Calyx and its affiliates are working to establish and grow the area esports business by giving local enthusiasts a platform to play, showcase, and enhance their skills. Calyx has run major and local competitions in 15 countries, such as the Regional VRL MENA League, Wizzo esports PUBG Mobile Cup, and BLAST Premier Dune Cup.
]]>The first point of active change to the tournament has been the prize pool. The IAC 2021 tournament had a prize pool of $70,000 with the Saudi Arabia esports organization Geekay Esports, walking away with the grand prize of $30,000 as the reigning champions. The IAC 2022 tournament will feature a total prize pool of $130,000.
With the games scheduled to hold in Dubai, over 2000 teams from the MENA region will compete to become the champions. There also exists the IAC Playground amateur tournament, which will be held independently in the following sub regions: the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) and Iraq, Egypt and Levant (Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Isreal and Palestine), and North Africa, with a prize fund set at $30,000. The best two teams from each region will make their way to an IAC Prestige Qualifier.
During the virtual press conference held by Intet and Riot Games to announce the partnership and commencement of the third edition of the IAC. Head of Publishing MENA at Riot Games, Karim Hachani discussed about the IAC revamp.
“As a leading gaming developer, we are fully aware that this industry is going from strength to strength and we are always exploring how to take things to the next level when it comes to gaming experiences in the MENA region. We listened to feedback from previous participating teams and with the ongoing support of Intel, we have reworked the format of this year’s Intel Arabian Cup,” he said.
He highlighted the new format put in place for the tournament that will to a good degree enhance the gaming experience. He also talked about the launch of new tournaments based on Riot Games gaming titles, including the League of Legends, VALORANT, and the League of Legends: Wilddrift.
“The new format will not only significantly enhance the experience but also launch new tournaments based on our gaming titles which will help attract more experienced and aspiring players, so they can be part of what has become one of the most popular gaming tournaments in the region,” he went on.
“This is another important step to nurture the incredible talent that we have in this region and we look forward to seeing some enthralling matches over the next few months.”
Since the inception of the Arabian Cup in 2020, the tournament has received more engagement and visibility. The past edition had over 6.1 million views for the entire tournament and the current edition promises to see that increase exponentially. With team registrations now open, the IAC 2022 promises to be a fertile ground for top talents within the region.
]]>Evil Geniuses are the natural favorites at Counter-Strike betting sites for their day three IEM New York match against the New England Whalers. They recently placed third in the ESL Pro League behind FURIA and 100 Thieves. In this campaign, they’ll face FURIA again in the group stage on day four.
The Whalers are going to be in for a challenging game against the top seed in this best-of-three match, and the odds at North American sportsbooks reflect that. They’ve had an excellent run, defeating four of their five most recent foes. However, the Whalers squad isn’t at the same level as Evil Geniuses.
Sengoku Gaming and REJECT are preparing for their quarter-final match in the Japanese Mildom Masters tournament today. Whoever wins will progress to the semi-finals against FAV Gaming later in the day.
These sides are well-matched and have played against each other on two occasions, taking one victory apiece. However, Sengoku are the favorites across VALORANT betting sites after their 13-10 success against REJECT in round six. It was so close that if REJECT can push forward and assert dominance early, the game could turn in their favor.
Tunisia’s Divine Vendetta will compete against the Fatigue Team of Iraq in their opening match of week two in the Intel Arabian Cup. The competition is tight, with some strong League of Legends rosters fighting for the title.
Fortunately for Divine Vendetta, they’ve had a better start to the campaign than their opponents, winning two of their four games in week one. After defeats at the hands of Fox Gaming, Anubis Gaming, and Summon Aery, African betting sites have the odds stacked against Fatigue in this one. They need a miracle to overturn their current 3-1 deficit.
Fox and Anubis are two of the strongest squads in the tournament, so we may see a better run from Fatigue this week against lesser opposition. Anubis of Egypt are also playing tomorrow and will face Galaxy Racer Esports of the UAE. Both are amongst the favorites to win the Intel Arabian Cup, so it’ll be an exciting game to watch.
Niels-Christian “?NaToSaphiX?” Sillassen is continuing his stand-in role at Complexity Gaming for the European region’s IEM New York campaign. He took over from Owen “?oBo?” Schlatter when the youngster decided to step away from gaming for personal reasons.
NaTo showed promise when he joined Complexity at short notice in the ESL Pro League, and he could be looking at a permanent position depending on the outcome of the IEM event. The team took a massive hit with oBo leaving. However, they’ve had some time to adjust and practice with NaTo now, so we should see consistency return to the roster. Bookmakers’ odds are changing as a result, so keep an eye out.
Complexity face Team Vitality next, with CS:GO betting sites still listing them as the underdogs. It’s worth noting that the odds are equalizing across bookmakers after their 2-0 victory over G2 Esports.
FURIA made a strong start at the IEM New York tournament, defeating Rebirth 2-0 in their opening game. If they can keep delivering, they’re in line to take the NA title and head to the IEM Global Challenge. FURIA’s next opponent is Triumph, who they’ve dominated in their three previous meetings.
FURIA are competing without their coach for this tournament after he received a ban for using a bug in previous competitions. Nicholas “guerri” Nogueira’s punishment lasts for four months, but the team can still perform without his guidance. They’ve been playing together for a long time, and the odds at South American sportsbooks show that they have a good chance.
The top two rosters in the Oceanic Esports League are both getting ready for their opening battles in week 10. Spag and Sons will take on the Power of Friendship, while cuteanimegirls will face C’s Better. SaS and cuteanimegirls are both firm favorites at Australian betting sites and head into their clashes tied in first place with identical 9-4-2 records.
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