Esports day-by-day: IEM Cologne begins in Germany

From Cologne to Riyadh, there are major tournaments taking place across a range of Esports this week.

Here is a look at the week ahead with key tournaments in League of Legends, Counter Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 on the cards.

Monday

League of Legends: G2 Esports kick of LEC Summer Playoffs

Following the conclusion of its regular season and subsequent group stage, the EMEA region's LEC Summer moves on to the playoffs on Monday with only four teams still in contention for the title.

The playoffs are in a double-elimination bracket format and the first match takes place on Monday as -1200 G2 Esports take on Excel Esports, who are +600 to pull off a surprise win.

While the winner of that contest will progress to the Grand Final, the loser will drop into the lower part of the bracket and face the winner of Tuesday's match between Team Heretics and Fnatic, the other two teams remaining in the contest.

Tuesday

Dota 2: Riyadh Masters reaches playoff phase

In the world of Dota 2, there is a Tier One event with a $15 million prize pool still ongoing and the Riyadh Masters in Saudi Arabia continue on Tuesday with the start of the playoff phase.

The initial 20 teams competing were whittled down to 16 in the tournament's group stage and 12 will compete in the playoffs, which are in a double-elimination bracket format with matches played as a best-of-three.

Wednesday

CS:GO: Focus on Cologne for latest Intel Extreme Masters event

On Wednesday it is time for the latest major CS:GO event of the season as the IEM Cologne begins in Germany.

The S-Tier tournament begins with 24 teams and offers a prize pool of $1 million.

Team Vitality, who won the IEM Rio and the BLAST Paris Major in April and May, are +300 favourites to win the event with Heroic next in the betting at +333.

FaZe Clan, meanwhile, are +500, as are G2 Esports, while Cloud9 can be backed at +600 to go the distance.

Thursday

League of Legends: T1 feature in South Korea's LCK Summer

The penultimate week of the LCK Summer regular season begins on Wednesday this week as teams look to forge a late push for the playoffs and among them are T1, who play against DRX on Thursday.

With seven wins and seven defeats from 14 matches, T1, who were runners-up at this year's LCK Spring Playoffs, are on the cusp of the playoffs for the summer split.

It has been an underwhelming regular season but they should soon get over the line and they are -275 to beat DRX, who are +200 shots to win.

In the other match on Thursday, Hanwha Life Esports are -1000 to beat Nongshim RedForce, who are +550 to prevail.

Friday

League of Legends: Team Liquid clash with NRG in LCS Summer Playoffs

This week also marks the start of the LCS Summer Playoffs and on day two on Friday, Team Liquid are up against NRG.

Little separated the teams in the regular season with Team Liquid posting a 10-8 record and NRG finishing on a 9-9 record and their clash in the LCS Summer Championship should not disappoint.

Liquid are -225 to win, while NRG are +163.

Saturday

CS:GO: IEM Cologne group stage gets underway

Things get serious in the IEM Cologne at the weekend with the start of the tournament's group stage.

Teams will compete in two sections - Group A and Group B - with both in a double-elimination format and among the teams already through to the group phase are Heroic, Cloud9, Vitality and Natus Vincere.

Sunday

Dota 2: Riyadh Masters reaches its conclusion

After a hectic week across all Esports, the action concludes on Sunday with the Grand Final of the Dota 2 Riyadh Masters.

The winners will take home $5 million in prize money after batting through the double-elimination bracket playoffs.

Among the teams already qualified for the Riyadh Masters playoffs as of the start of the week are Quest Esports, Team Spirit, Gaimin Gladiators, BetBoom Team and Talon Esports.