By Ginx
The weekend approaches, but while the masses get time away from the office, the esports professionals get down to business. Here’s what to look out for this weekend.
Call of Duty World League Birmingham
A slew of UK Call of Duty teams will take to the NEC Arena in Birmingham this weekend to battle it out for their share of $50,000 and 38,000 Call of Duty World League points.
The action kicks off on Friday, and features 12 invited teams, though up to 96 squads will be present for the open bracket portion of the event, attempting to qualify into the group play and test themselves against the experienced professional sides. Splyce will be looking to secure a good result after placing well in Dallas and Paris, while Millenium will be hoping their their acquisition of the Infused lineup gets off to a good start with a trophy in Birmingham.
Overwatch PIT Play-offs
The play-offs are calling for the North American and European sides in the Overwatch PIT league. There haven’t been any major surprises thus far, but that could all change as we get serious in the competition.
French side Rogue continue to lead the way in North America, winning every single game so far. They face U.S based Selfless in the winner’s bracket final. The winner will head to the grand finals of the competition. In the lower bracket. Counter Logic Gaming go up against FaZe Clan, while Team Liquid face off against Luminosity Gaming Evil.
In Europe, Movistar Riders and Eunited have given the big names a knock as they go head-to-head in the winner’s bracket. Ninjas in Pyjamas and Misfits fall down to the lower bracket, facing Team Dignitas and Team Singularity Ninjas respectively.
European League Championship play-offs
Fnatic shocked the League of Legends world after they demolished heavy favourites H2K Gaming in the European League Championship Series quarter-finals last weekend. Now they have to do it all again, against the side that lost just one series throughout the entire regular season. G2 Esports will be wise to show Fnatic the respect they deserve, especially after the arrival of jungler Mads “Broxah” Mads-Pedersen, and the incredible play-off performances of AD Carry Martin “Rekkles” Larssen.
On the other side of the bracket, Unicorns of Love take on a Misfits side that clawed their way back from 0-2 down to win 3-2 over Splyce in the quarter-finals. Both sides have exceeded expectations so far this season, and calling a winner for this one is nearly impossible. A spot in the finals awaits for one of them though, which will certainly be a huge accomplishment for either of these sides.
North American League Championship Play-offs
Across the pond, the North American LCS playoffs have also reached the semi-final stage. Cloud9 look to be in good shape as they meet a Phoenix1 side off the back of a 3-0 stomping over Team Dignitas in the quarter-finals. Fan favourites Cloud9 will be favourites for the clash, but P1’s rise in form cannot be underestimated. The mid lane battle between Ryu “Ryu” Sang-wook and Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen is always an entertaining prospect.
The legacy Cloud9 members who broke off to form Flyquest will be competing on the other side of the bracket against tournament favourites, TSM. Most of the players involved in this clash are very familiar with each other, and could make for an exciting clash, though don’t get mistaken, TSM are certainly the favourites.
Starleague season 2 Regular Season
The regular season rolls on for Starleague Season two, but there are some marquee matches this weekend to keep things exciting. Stacraft legend Lee “Innovation” Shin-hyung faces off against Jo “Patience” Ji-hyun, with both players boasting 3-1 records in regular play so far.
Kang “Solar” Min-soo will look to keep his unbeaten streak alive when he meets a Cho “Maru” Seong-ju currently sitting on 1-3. It may be early on in the season, but setting the pace early will be important many of these players.
Copenhagen Games
The landmark Counter-Strike LAN event in Denmark will open it’s doors for the seventh time this weekend, as Copenhagen Games welcomes talent from all over the world to compete in the Danish capital.
North American side, NRG Esports, are perhaps the biggest name in attendance, though not exactly the favourites to win. A mix team of three Godsent members, former Ninjas in Pyjamas player Jacob “Pyth” Mourujarvi, and former VAC banned Joel “Emilio” Mako could look to contest the title, along with BIG from Germany.
In the Female bracket, Team Secret will be looking to take the trophy, though they will face challenges from a wide variety of teams, including two from China, and Atheltico, attending all the way from Australia.