After a slow couple of weeks, it all kicks off this weekend. The best League of Legends players in the world have arrived in the US for Worlds, a reshuffled Dota 2 scene is going to war in China, and there's top-flight CS:GO, StarCraft II, and Overwatch too: not to mention Rocket League, Hearthstone, or the Capcom Pro Tour.
League of Legends: World Championship 2016 Group Stage
The biggest event in the League of Legends calendar is underway. The Worlds group stage began yesterday in Chicago and continues through the weekend, starting at 16:00 PDT/01:00 PDT each day. Be sure to catch the first game on Saturday, when champs SK Telecom T1 take on Cloud9. Find more information and the livestream on LoLesports.
Dota 2: Mars TV 2016 Autumn Playoffs
A great tournament so far, this Mars TV league has been an opportunity to see the freshly-reshuffled Dota 2 scene in action. EG, Newbee, OG and Secret have emerged as the hottest picks coming out of the group stage and will continue to fight for a share of the $250,000 grand prize over the weekend. Play takes place on China Standard Time, so prepare for a few late nights. Saturday's games begin at 19:00 Friday night Pacific time/04:00 CEST. Sunday's games begin at 21:00 Saturday Pacific time/06:00 CEST. Here's the English language stream.
Come for the Dota, stay for the inexplicable ukuleles.
CSGO: ESL One New York 2016
It's finally time for some high-stakes, top-tier CS:GO as the best teams in the world compete for a share of $250,000 in New York. Games start at 10:00 EDT/07:00 PDT/16:00 CEST on both Saturday and Sunday with the semi-finals beginning on the latter. Find the livestream here.
Hearthstone: Asia Pacific Summer Championship
There's another coveted ticket to the 2016 Hearthstone World Championships on the line, with play running today and tomorrow. Games begin at 05:00 CEST each day, which is 20:00 PDT the evening before. HearthPwn has a rundown of the decklists here: surprise surprise, there's a lot of Shaman. Here's the official stream.
StarCraft II: 2016 KeSPA Cup
This week long ontest of world-class StarCraft II concludes with the bracket stage this weekend. Games should start around 17:00 local time on both Sunday and Monday, which is 09:00 CEST/01:00 PDT. The English steam is available via this YouTube channel.
Overwatch: Overwatch Open Grand Final
The biggest prize pot in Overwatch to date—$300,000—is on the line tonight as the Overwatch Open reaches its final stages in Atlanta. Play begins at 19.00 PDT this evening, which is 04:00 Saturday morning in Europe. Expect a close-fought match as EnVyUs take on Misfits for the top spot. Here's the livestream.
Rocket League: League Play
There's another weekend of Rocket League ahead as teams in Europe and North America compete at a shot at the prizes on offer in the game's second competitive season, including the $10,000 Mid-Season Classic next weekend. Games run all day in NA on Saturday, followed by Europe on Sunday. The official Rocket League Twitch channel has the livestream.
Capcom Pro Tour: Events in Poland, Indonesia, Brazil
Loads more fighting games this weekend, from Fighting Games Challenge in Poland on Saturday to Abuget Cup in Jakarta and TRETA 2016 in Curitiba both running until Sunday. These are all Ranking events—no Premier action this weekend—but expect fierce competition as competitors scramble to claim the scant remaining points. Given the geographically dispersed nature of the events you're best off keeping an eye on the Street Fighter V section on Twitch for specific livestreams.
