The best pro gaming to watch this weekend

This weekend is extremely busy, with both the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational and the many attractions of DreamHack Austin vying for your time. You'll find esports of almost every stripe ahead, with only Dota 2 taking a break in the immediate aftermath of the Manila Major qualifiers. GL HF!

MSI is the talk of the League of Legends world at the moment, and expect that to continue for the next week or so as the action rages on in Shanghai. We're currently in the middle of the group stages, which will continue throughout the weekend—play starts at 06:30 BST/22:30 PDT on Saturday and at 04:30 BST/20:30 PDT on Sunday. As ever, you can find loads more information, and the livestream, at LoLesports.

CSGO: DreamHack ZOWIE Open

A cross-section of American CS:GO go to war with a grand prize of $50,000 on the line as part of the ongoing DreamHack ZOWIE Open series. This is a chance to check in on MLG Columbus surprise hit Luminosity Gaming as well as CLG, Cloud9, Liquid and more. Play starts on Saturday at 21:00 BST/13:00 PDT and you can watch the games on DreamHack's CS stream.

StarCraft II: DreamHack ZOWIE Open/WCS Spring Circuit Championship

Talented StarCraft II players compete for a share of $50,000 and, perhaps more importantly, 5000 WCS points. It opens with a massive 96-player group stage, so there are plenty of opportunities for unknown players to shine (or fail horribly.) Even so, you might want to tune in later in the day to see the highest standard of play. The games began today and continue throughout the weekend, starting at 17:45 BST/09:45 PDT on Saturday and 18:30 BST/10:30 PDT on Sunday. Here's the stream.

Hearthstone: DreamHack Grand Prix Series

Another open event at DreamHack Austin, this time with a relatively modest prize pool of $27,500. They only plan to livestream the best of the Swiss round followed by the top 8 bracket, so Sunday's probably the day to tune in—expect the stream to start around 17:00 BST/09:00 PDT. You'll be able to find the stream link through dreamhack.tv.

Heroes of the Storm: NA Summer Regional

There's $100,000 on the line at the HotS Summer Regional at Dreamhack Austin, along with a spot at the Summer Global Championship in June. NA is one of the most dynamic regions for Heroes of the Storm, making this a good place to jump in if you've not tuned in before. Play began today, but you can watch the second day (including the finals) on Saturday from 17:00 BST/09:00 PDT. Find the livestream here.

Smite: Spring Split

There's another weekend of top-level European and North American Smite ahead. On Saturday, Hungry For More—formed from the ashes of Titan—will take on both Paradigm and Team Dignitas. They've had a spotty record so far, and will be looking to turn that around. In NA on Sunday, Enemy's new(est) roster will take on Team EnVyUs and SoaR G2A. Games start at 18:00 BST/10:00 PDT on both days, and you can watch them here.

Street Fighter V: Capcom Pro Tour NA Ranking Event

The latest stop on the Capcom Pro Tour rounds out the packed Dreamhack Austin event. There are a lot of incredible players in attendance, including Justin Wong, PR Balrog, Brenttiscool, Julio Fuentes and others. It's an open event, so if you're planning on tuning in then the best time is at 21:00 BST/13:00 on Sunday—that's when the top 8 begins. Here's the livestream.

PRODUCTS

Joining in 2011, Chris made his start with PC Gamer turning beautiful trees into magazines, first as a writer and later as deputy editor. Once PCG's reluctant MMO champion , his discovery of Dota 2 in 2012 led him to much darker, stranger places. In 2015, Chris became the editor of PC Gamer Pro, overseeing our online coverage of competitive gaming and esports. He left in 2017, and can be now found making games and recording the Crate & Crowbar podcast.