This week’s hottest eSports news and highlights for Overwatch. Expect spoilers! Brackets from TeamLiquid.
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eSports Weekly 10/24/16
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.
The Quarterfinals have been completed in The Chicago Theater in Chicago, IL from October 13-16.
This week, the Semifinals took place in iconic Madison Square Garden in New York, NY.
Finally, the Finals are next week at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA.
In the fourth week of worlds, the Semifinals kicked off with the ROX Tigers and SK Telecom T1. As this was a rematch of last year's Worlds Finals, many anticipated this to be the most competitive series of the tournament.
Thankfully for eSports fans everywhere, the series was one of the greatest in World's history. The series delivered in all counts. It had steals, outplays, intense macro decisions, unconventional picks, and five full games. The true savior of the series was Bengi. The first game, Bengi came in and won but was subbed out for Blank for the next two games, which SKT lost. Down 2-1, SKT's coach, Kkoma, subbed Bengi back in and the team won the next to games to qualify for the finals for their third time. SKT have never been to a Worlds where they have not won; they seem poised to take the whole thing again.
On the other side of the bracket, H2k-Gaming—the hope of the West—played against Samsung Galaxy. While many placed their hopes on H2k, Samsung proved to be too much of a match for them, taking them out 3-0. H2k's Jankos had an outstanding performance which definitely made the games closer. Nevertheless, Samsung's strong macro game and great laning from Crown gave them their decisive victory.
With the Semifinals done, the Finals are finally here. SK Telecom T1 looks poised to take an unprecedented third Worlds title. While underdogs, Samsung Galaxy has won their last eight games in the tournament. Furthermore, the organization that won Season 4 lost all of their players and have raised up a team in just two years worthy to be in the Finals.
Pray Ashe Arrow
SKT vs ROX: Pray Ashe Arrow - Worlds 2016
Insta Lock MF
SKT vs ROX - Insta Lock MF - Worlds 2016
Duke gets Minion Blocked
Faker INSANE escape
Project Ashe Hitbox
SKT Faker Orianna Shockwave
SKT vs ROX: SKT Faker Orianna Shockwave - Worlds 2016
Faker Flash
Bengi Lee Sin Kick
SKT vs ROX: Bengi Lee Sin kick - Worlds 2016
Wolf Saves Peanut
ROX "Korean" Tower Dive
SKT vs ROX: ROX "korean" towerdive - Worlds 2016
First Blood
Peanut's LeeSin
Pray Ashe Flank
SKT vs ROX: Pray Ashe Flank - Worlds 2016
Sick Move by CuVee
ESL Pro League Season 4
The fourth season of the ESL Pro League has started in both Europe and North America. This premier tournament runs from August 17th to October 13th, and the Finals in Brazil from October 28-30th. The Finals will feature the top four seeds from EU and NA respectively, with a prize pool of $750,000 prize pool.
The ESL ESEA Pro League Season 4 Finals are set for next week.
ESL Pro League EU Standings & Results
The Regional Stage of the ESL Pro League has ended. The top six teams in the ladder have advanced to the Finals.
ESL Pro League NA Standings & Results
Similarly to EU, the top six teams of the NA ladder have advanced to the finals.
With the regional stage finished, twelve teams go into the Final Stage. Here are what the groups look like:
Games start on October 28.
Esports Championship Series Season 2
The ECS, or Esports Championship Series, is in its second season. Ten teams from both Europe and North America are in a round robin and playing against each other in two best-of-one series. The regional stage lasts from October 7th to November 13th. The top four teams advance to the Season 2 Finals while the bottom two teams are relegated to the Season 3 Promotion.
The Season Two Finals take place on December 9-11th at the Anaheim Arena in California. As the largest CS:GO event ever in Southern California, the top four teams from NA and EU will be competing for over $750,000.
ECS EU Standings & Results
ECS NA Standings & Results
ELEAGUE Season 2
ELEAGUE was the first CS:GO league to be streamed on broadcast television and has just started its second season. With a $1,100,000 USD prize pool, the league goes from October 21st to December 03.
Group A finished with mousesports in first, FaZe Clan in second, Cloud9 in third, and Immortals in fourth. The other groups will be playing in the subsequent weeks with the Playoffs following soon after.
EPICENTER 2016
EPICENTER is a premier tournament involving eight teams and a $500,000 USD prize pool. Going from October 17-23, the tournament involved a group stage and a single-elimination Playoff.
In the group stages, Group A had a incredibly even group with all teams tying in the best of twos. Due to the round difference, Natus Vincere was first with G2 Esports and Team Dignitas following behind. Group B was less close with Virtus.pro taking the first place with Fnatic and SK Gaming behind them.
The Playoffs were in best-of-threes with Virtus.pro meeting Team Dignitas in the finals. In an epic fashion, Team Dignitas was able to comeback from a 1-0 deficit and win 2-1. With this win, Team Dignitas won $250,000 USD and are the EPICENTER: Moscow champions.
Bot Cold
Premature celebration from HEN1
Cold 1v3 for the 16-0
Pasha 1v2 (both noscope)
Guardian 1v4 Dignitas
Seized Checking Angles that Don't Exist Anymore
Snax with an absolutely bonkers clutch
Allu 4k
chrisJ 2 noscope
Dota 2
Dota2 Professional League Season 2
The Dota2 Professional League is China's first large-scale individual eSports league. There are two leagues: the Top League and Secondary League, with ten teams in each. Each team plays in a best-of-two Round Robin. With a prize pool of $900,000 USD, the tournament runs from September 19th to December 31st.
Here are the standings for the Top League:
Here are the standings for the Secondary League:
DreamLeague Season 6 League Play
Organized by DreamHack, DreamLeague Season 6 League Play features eight teams competing to advance to the offline finals. This first part of the tournament gives $1,000 USD for each win and the top four teams have a chance to play in the Finals for a $175,000 prize. This portion of the tournament takes place from October 11th to November 8th.
Here are the current standings:
MP Dodges Glimpse
Crazy Ending Alliance
322 NP vs Imperial
Overwatch
Overwatch APEX Season 1
Overwatch APEX is Overwatch's first major tournament in Korea. With about $178,000 USD on the line, 16 teams from around the world will be competing from October 7th to December 3rd. 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.
Here are the results for the Group Stage so far:
MVP Space vs NRG eSports Highlights
MPV Space vs NRG eSports OGN Overwatch APEX Highlights
Bastion Cheese
World's First Professional Bastion Cheese ft LW Blue NoName | Overwatch APEX S1
aKm Carry Highlights
Rogue vs Lunatic-Hai ft. aKm Going Carry Mode | Overwatch APAC Premier Finals 2016 Highlights
Liquipedia Bracket Images used under CC-BY-SA
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James Hwang
My first MMOs included Ragnarok Online, Gunbound, Diablo II, and World of Warcraft. Nowadays, my wife (also a writer on MMOs) and I play League of Legends and any other MMOs we can get our hands on. I also love following eSports and attending eSports events.