Summer is the absolute best time for esports, if you can keep that damned sun glare off your screen long enough to enjoy the games. If you’re not out chasing balls in the park, or virtual animals on your mobile device, then you have made the correct choice as there’s a plethora of competitive gaming at the highest level all weekend.
Dota, StarCraft, Hearthstone and even Street Fighter V (especially Street Fighter V) have some huge tournaments, so you may want to adjust your curtains accordingly. Here’s the best pro gaming to watch this weekend.
EVO Chamionship Series
Probably the biggest event this weekend is a fighting game tournament. Well, more like nine fighting game tournaments at the Mecca of fighting game tournaments. EVO returns to Las Vegas this weekend for some truly monstrously sized pools of Street Fighter V and Mortal Kombat XL. More than 5,000 SFV entrants will be fighting their way to a top 8 showdown in the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Sunday, in the game’s first EVO appearance. Catch that top 8 on the CapcomFighters Twitch from 7pm Sunday PDT / 3am Monday BST.
DreamHack Valencia StarCraft II
Most of Europe’s finest Terran, Protoss, and Zerg players are locked in an all out brawl until Saturday evening at DreamHack’s Valencia Open. Those still in with a chance include France’s surprise WCS contender David “Lilbow” Moschetto, and Norway’s Jens “Snute” Asgaard. There’s 1,000 WCS circuit points for top place which is nothing to sniff at in the new tournament format as well as $16,000, with a total of $29,000 on the podium. You can watch all the matches on the DreamHack SC2 Twitch and the Grand Finals begin Saturday from 7:30pm BST / 11:30am PDT.
DreamHack Valencia Hearthstone Grand Prix
Also in Valencia this weekend are Europe’s hottest Hearthstone players at the Grand Prix. Orange and Pavel obviously are in attendance, along with newer star BoarControl and cadre of other Brits including GreenSheep, Cipher, and Ness. Amazingly only one (Cipher) has survived through to the top 16, and there are a few new faces to spot among the others. You can see all of the remaining matches until Saturday’s finals on the DreamHack Hearthstone stream, and the round-of-8, semis and grand finals begin at 12:15pm BST / 4:15am PDT.
The Summit 5
Dota’s bi-annual LAN in a house tournament returns this week to put many of the best teams on the international circuit into one house with all the production values you could ask for. This year, defending champs of December’s Summit Evil Geniuses are nowhere to be seen, though Manila Major winners OG will be fending off several others as the hot favourites. The real draw is the out-of-game activities, including special roaming camera reporter for The Summit 5, Barry the dog. Come for the high-class Dota, stay for the memes. All broadcast on BeyondTheSummit’s Twitch channel, with Loser’s Round 2 matches beginning Saturday form 10am PDT / 6pm BST, and the grand finals on Sunday 1:30pm PDT / 9:30pm BST (after the loser’s final at 10am/6pm).
