eSports Weekly 10/17/16

2016 League of Legends World Championship

The biggest international tournament for the biggest eSport is finally here: the 2016 League of Legends World Championship. With over $4 million on the line and eternal glory, six different regions and sixteen teams will come together across the United States.

The first event was the Group Stage which finished last week in the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, CA from September 29 - October 2 and October 6-9.

This week, the Quarterfinals have been completed in The Chicago Theater in Chicago, IL from October 13-16.

Next week, the Semifinals take place in iconic Madison Square Garden in New York, NY.

Finally, the Finals are set to come back to the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. Notably, the same location as the 2013 Worlds Finals.

The third week and the Quarterfinals have come to a close.

The first match was between Samsung Galaxy and Cloud9. Bearing the hope of North America, Cloud9 valiantly competed against Samsung Galaxy but ultimately fell short. Thanks to their strong early game performances from Ambition and CoreJJ, Samsung swept Cloud9 3-0.

The second day featured SK Telecom T1 vs Royal Never Give Up. In the first game, RNG beat SKT thanks to a strong performance from Looper in the top lane. Starting in the second match, Blank subbed in for Bengi and SKT won the next three games with greater decisiveness.

The third match was between the ROX Tigers and Edward Gaming. With the winner of this match playing SKT for the Semifinals, both teams looked motivated to advance to meet the defending world champions. Despite their shaky performance in Groups, the ROX Tigers looked like the number 1 seed once again thanks to Peanut's dominating performance.

Many onlookers were disappointed by Clearlove's performance as he is often heralded as one of, if not the best, junglers in the world. The ROX Tigers won two decisive games before losing the third because of their risky and showboating Fiora pick. After dropping this game, the Tigers turned it on once again to win 3-1.

The fourth match was between H2k-Gaming and Albus Nox Luna. Despite Albus Nox's historic group run, their were quickly dispatched by the European squad 3-0. While their inferior teamwork and mechanics were exposed, Albus Nox's biggest weakness of weak drafts and adaptations were exposed. Nevertheless, they have made their mark as the first Wild Card team to reach the Quarterfinals at Worlds.

Next week, the Semifinals begin in New York.

The first match is between the ROX Tigers and SK Telecom T1. A rematch of last year's finals, this is the most anticipated match up of the tournament. Despite winning the first seed in the LCK, the ROX Tigers have never won a best of five series against SKT. In fact, some may argue that ROX cannot truly be labeled the best team in Korea as they did not beat SKT directly as SKT dropped out in the Semifinals of the Summer Split. With two strong performances in the Quarterfinals, this Semifinals will be one you will not want to miss.

The second match is between Samsung Galaxy and H2k. Despite H2k's dominating performance against Albus Nox, they are undoubtedly the underdogs in this match. Samsung Galaxy looks to be in top form and another 3-0 victory is a possibility. An upset by H2k would be incredible as they would be the first Western team to reach the Finals since Korean teams have been attending Worlds.

Overwatch APEX Season 1

Overwatch APEX is Overwatch's first major tournament in Korea. With about $178,000 USD on the line, sixteen teams from around the world will be competing from October 7th to December 3. The format involves a Round Robin where all matches are best-of-five with the top two teams advancing to the Playoffs. The Playoffs have best-of-five Quarterfinals and Semifinals and a best-of-seven Final.