This week’s hottest eSports news and highlights for League of Legends, CS:GO, Dota 2, and Overwatch. Expect spoilers! Brackets from TeamLiquid.
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eSports Weekly 08/29/16
NA LCS Finals
The last two days of the NA LCS Summer Split included the third place match between Immortals and Counter Logic Gaming and the Finals between TSM and Cloud9. Taking place in Toronto for the first time in LCS history, the event was met with much anticipation.
Despite being a third place match, the series between Immortals and Counter Logic Gaming was tense and close. The two teams went back and forth with outstanding performances. Nevertheless, CLG's weaknesses were exposed as their draft in the decisive game 5 lead to their crushing defeat. Despite this loss, CLG only needs TSM to win the Finals to qualify for Worlds because of their first place finish last split.
The Finals for the NA LCS came with its fair share of hype. With a surging C9 Impact, Cloud9 looked stronger than ever and many speculators said they could see C9 giving an upset. These speculations seemed prophetic as Cloud9 handily won the first game. Nevertheless, TSM bounced back with standout performances from Svenskeren, Bjergsen, and Doublelift. With this win, TSM has won the first seed for Worlds and many look at them with hopeful eyes to bring home NA's first World's Championship.
EU LCS Finals
The third place match between H2k and the Unicorns of Love and the finals between G2 Esports and Splyce took place in the TAURON Arena at Kraków, Poland.
For the third place match, H2k was able to handily beat the Unicorns of Love 3-1 thanks to the strong performances of Jankos and Vander. With this win, H2k depended on G2 to win the finals for them to qualify for Worlds by having the second most championship points.
The Finals between G2 Esports and Splyce was heavily favored towards G2 who have the best players in every position. Game 1 demonstrated this with a solid win thanks to Trick and Perkz. However, Splyce refused to go down without a fight with a Game 2 win thanks to a carry performance by Wunder. Nevertheless, G2 was able to bounce back and dominate the next two games to take the series. With this win, G2 and H2k have both qualified for Worlds. Given their poor performance at MSI, G2 and all of EU will be looking to redeem themselves in this upcoming Worlds Championship.
LCK Recap and Standings
With the ROX Tigers winning the Finals, both the ROX Tigers and SKTelecom T1 have qualified to return to Worlds. This week, LCK had their promotion tournament to see which of the bottom teams in the standings will be able to keep their spot. ESC Ever and CJ ENTUS competed against SBENU SONICBOOM and Kongdoo Monster. Kongdoo Monster was able to qualify by beating both CJ ENTUS and ESC Ever. For the final spot, CJ played ESC Ever and lost 3-0. With this loss, CJ ENTUS has been relegated, which is a historic moment as it likely spells the retirement of iconic veterans like Madlife and Shy.
LPL Recap and Standings
This week Edward Gaming and Royal Never Give Up faced each other in the LPL Finals. These top two teams have been at the top together for the entire year and have met once again in the finals. Thanks to a strong performance by EDG's Clearlove, EDG swept RNG and took the series and championship 3-0. With this win, EDG has qualified in the first seed for Worlds with RNG in the second seed. Furthermore, IMAY has also qualified which is a significant achievement given that they are a new team created from EDG's substitutes.
Insane Kiting by Doublelift
Ridiculous Trundle Pillar
Huhi Solo Play
Jensen Solo Kill
Sneaky in Lane
StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 2
The StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 2 is a tournament organized by SLTV that involves a NA, EU, and CN qualifier. With a prize pool of $300,000, the main tournament takes place from September 7-11th.
The NA and EU Qualifiers have finished with OpTic Gaming defeating Cloud9 2-1 and Immortals beating Renegades 2-0 to both qualify. For EU, Team Dignitas, Team X, and Team EnVyUs have all qualified for the main tournament.
These are the participants:
- Astralis
- GODSENT
- G2 Esports
- HellRaisers
- Natus Vincere
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- Virtus.pro
- TyLoo (China #1-2)
- Vg.CyberZen (China #1-2)
- MVP Project (China #3)
- Team Dignitas (Europe #1-2)
- Heroic (Europe #1-2, formerly players of Team X)
- Team EnVyUs (Europe #3)
- Optic Gaming (North America #1-2)
- Immortals (North America #1-2)
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 17 to October 13 to the finals in Brazil from October 28-30. The Finals involves a $750,000 USD prize pool and the top four seeds from EU and NA respectively.
ESL Pro League EU Standings & Results
ESL Pro League NA Standings & Results
Shazam Ace
Olof Incredible Play
Stewie gets CSGO'd
Koosta 1v3 against Cloud9
Subroza VAC Play
tarik HUGE Ace
stewie2k 1v3
The World Cyber Arena is a major tournament that will take place in Yinchuan, China from December 12-18th. The EU Main Qualifiers are currently going on with a prize pool of $54,500 and two seeds in the main event on the line.
The current teams playing for qualification are:
- Alliance
- Vega Squadron
- Team Empire
- Elements One
- Escape Gaming
- Fantastic Five
- Ad Finem
- Kaipi
Eternal Envy Base Race
Overwatch
The Overwatch Open
ELEAGUE and FACEIT partnered together to organize the biggest Overwatch tournament in history. Taking place at Turner Studios' ELEAGUE arena in Atlanta, competitors will be playing for a massive $300,000 USD prize pool. Notably, the Grand Finals will also be broadcast live on TBS.
With the qualifiers finished, the tournament now moves into the regionals with eighteen teams from both regions competing against each other for a $84,000 prize pool. The winner of each region will play in the main event for the Grand Finals. The regionals involve a group stage with four groups and the Playoffs.
For NA, Team EnVyUs is ahead of Group A with Splyce close behind. Cloud9 leads Group B with Sodipop in second. In Group C, Fnatic and Team Liquid finish first and second and NRG eSports and Method win Group D.
In EU, ANOX and Misfits finish out of Group A. Group B has FaZe Clan and Rogue finish first and second. Group C has REUNITED and Ninjas in Pyjamas and Group D has Luminosity Gaming and Team Dignitas.
Insane TviQ airshot
TviQ as Pharah on Eichenwalde
The Helicopter by Agilities
Overwatch Atlantic Showdown Day 2 Highlights
Overwatch Atlantic Showdown Day 2 Highlights | gamescom 2016
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.