It’s been an action-packed month so far and various tournaments are nearing the finish line, while others are just getting started. There’s still plenty of action from the Dota 2: International 7 Main Qualifiers to the Hearthstone: Wild Open Playoffs. We even have the CS:GO: PGL Major Kraków 2017 Offline Qualifier to look forward to. All the details on this weekend’s events can be found below.

League of Legends: NA LCS

Immortals continued to dominate the competition in week four coming out on top in their match against Counter Logic Gaming with a 2-0 sweep. The first game started out with a strong early-game from Immortals, but they struggled to turn that lead into any significant objectives. This quickly changed when CLG made several poor teamfights that resulted in IMT taking objectives. CLG struggled to defend their base as structures fell all around them and they eventually fell to the mounting pressure. Dardoch started game two with some strong early ganks that gave CLG and early lead, however, CLG suffered the same problem as the first game and they constantly engaged in unwinnable team fights. Meanwhile, IMT simply punished CLG’s over-aggression and methodically took objectives until they closed out the game. Week 5 starts today and we shall see whether anyone can contest IMT for the top spot. The full schedule and stream can found by heading over to lolesports.com.

League of Legends: EU LCS

Fnatic still remain at the top of the leaderboard and they show no signs of slowing down as we enter week five of play. The ultra-aggressive attrition approach employed by FNC has been extremely successful and ROCCAT has been the only team that has been able to punish their playstyle. However, H2K decided not to follow in ROCCAT’s footsteps, as they chose to engage Fnatic head-on. This decision proved to be extremely detrimental and FNC’s aggressive playstyle simply went unpunished. FNC constantly continued to ramp up the pressure throughout both games and secured a quick 2-0 victory, putting them firmly at the top of the leaderboard. FNC will be aiming to continue this success when they face Splyce today. The full schedule and stream can found by heading over to lolesports.com.

Dota 2: International 7 Main Qualifiers

The Dota 2 International main qualifiers wrapped up for most regions yesterday, but China will finish their qualifier matches today. For many professional teams these qualifiers are the most important steps towards a successful season. The main qualifier features a two stage format and only 60 teams (10 from each region) will eventually make it to the gruelling group stage of the tournament. The winning team will secure their share of the massive $1,600,000 prize pool and claim international glory. The full schedule and stream for each region can be found by heading over to dotabuff.com.

CS:GO: PGL Major Kraków 2017 Offline Qualifier

Sixteen teams from various regions have made their way to the PGL Studio in Bucharest, Romania where they will clash to determine the eight participants who will be joining the eight Legends in July 16th. CS:GO teams GODSENT, G2 Esports, Team Liquid and Team Dignitas are just a few of the teams that will participate in the PGL Major offline qualifier. These teams will battle their way through a best-of-one Swiss format over the course of four days. The Teams that manage qualify will be invited to participate at the LAN finals in Poland, whilst those who fail will be packing their bags for the disappointing journey home. Today’s matches begin at 00:00 PDT / 09:00 CEST and continue throughout the day. The stream can be found by heading over to Twitch.

Overwatch: Apex Season 3

Overwatch Apex Season three continues to heat up as the top teams from each group head into today’s semifinals. The finals are fast approaching and every team will be trying to claim the $177,055 prize pool. Today’s match will see AF.Blue take on Lunatic-Hai at 03:00 PDT / 12:00 CEST, while the match between KongDoo Panthera and Team EnVyUs starts July 4 at the same time. Make sure to check out the full stream over on Twitch.

Hearthstone: Global Games

The Hearthstone Global Games tournament enters week 12 of play today and every team has been fighting hard to claim the top spot in phase two. Half the teams from the original 48 have now been knocked out and the remaining players will be hoping to make it to the next stage. Group C and Group D’s matches concluded yesterday for US viewers, but those of you in Europe can catch all the action today at 03:00 CEST. It’s a long road ahead for the pros and every team will be fighting hard to secure the $300,000 prize pool in phase two of the tournament. The full schedule and stream for week four can be found here.

Hearthstone: Wild Open Playoffs

The first ever official Wild Open Hearthstone tournament will take place this weekend where 64 players from the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific will battle it out. Competition will be fierce and only the best players will have a shot at claiming the $25,000 prize pool. The Hearthstone Wild Open will be played in a best-of-five Conquest format with one ban. Online qualifiers took place June 9 and now the top two players from the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific will advance to the single elimination playoffs, where they will be joined by the top two players from China. The playoffs start Saturday at 10:00 PDT / 19:00 CEST and continue at the same time tomorrow. The full schedule and stream can be found here.

Heroes of the Storm: Global Championships Phase 2

Phase two of the HGC is well underway and teams from around the world will continue to battle it out for the $425,000 USD prize pool. Gale Force eSports still remain on top and they will be aiming to take down Tempo Storm this weekend. However, Roll20 did manage to maintain an even footing with Gale Force and while the team eventually lost, they did show some promising plays that they will be aiming to improve in week two. Each team has their eyes firmly set on the next Western Clash in August, so every victory will help increase the chance of taking the title. Make sure you head over to heroesofthestorm.com to find the schedule and stream for all the matches being played this weekend.

Dota 2 continues to headline the world of esports this week as The Summit 7 saw Virtus.pro take the title, while on the other side of the Pacific in Shenzhen, China, Newbee won Galaxy Battles.The drama doesn’t stop there, as there’s plenty of action from the Dota 2 International 7 Open Qualifiers to the League of Legends LCS. We even have the CS:GO Esports Championship Finals to look forward to. All the details on this weekend’s events can be found below.

League of Legends: NA LCS

Immortals continued to dominate the competition in week three and the introduction of Xmithie has only heightened their performance on the Rift. Team Liquid didn’t stand a chance as they were quickly crushed in a 2-0 sweep, which gave Immortals the confidence to reverse sweep Cloud9. Immortals aim to continue their dominance during their week four matches against Counter Logic Gaming and Team Dignitas. With their solid teamwork and excellent macro play, Immortals are ready for the challenges that lay ahead, but we shall have to see whether they can claim the top spot. The full schedule and stream can found by heading over to lolesports.com.

League of Legends: EU LCS

Misfits shed its underdog status last weekend when they managed to secure a 2-1 victory against G2 Esports in their week three series. Jungler Nubar "Maxlore" Sarafian got Misfits ahead as Lee Sin, giving first blood over to mid laner Tristan "PowerOfEvil" Schrage's Orianna during the first three minutes. Maxlore continued to ramp up the pressure throughout the first game and Misfits finished game one off with a powerful teamfight from PowerOfEvil. Misfits eventually took the series in game three thanks to another dominant showing from Maxlore’s Lee Sin. Misfits now find themselves at the top of the Group A standings and they will be aiming to continue this success when they face Team Vitality today. The full schedule and stream can found by heading over to lolesports.com.

Dota 2: International 7 Open Qualifiers

The Dota 2 International open qualifiers started yesterday and for many professional teams these qualifiers are the most important step towards a successful season. The winners of each open qualifier will then advance to the main qualifier, which will run from the 26th to 30th of June in a two stage format. Competition is expected to be extremely fierce and 60 teams (10 from each region) will eventually make it to the gruelling group stage. The winning team will secure their share of the massive $1,600,000 prize pool and claim international glory. The full schedule and stream for each region can be found by heading over to dotabuff.com

CS:GO: Esports Championship Finals

The esports championship series season three finals are taking place at Wembley Arena today, where eight teams from around the globe will duke it out for the $660,000 prize pool and the champions' title. The event will see a double-elimination group stage, followed by single-elimination, best-of-three play-offs stage. The group stage matches will be best-of-one match-ups, whilst elimination and decider matches will be best-of-three. FaZe Clan and OpTic Gaming are kicking off the group stage today at 04:15 PDT / 13:15 CEST, while the elimination and deciders start tomorrow at 03:15 PDT / 12:15 CEST. The tournament will be streamed live on www.youtube.com/faceit.

Overwatch: Apex Season 3

Overwatch Apex Season three continues to heat up as the qualified teams from each group continue to battle it out against one another. The finals are fast approaching and every team will be trying to claim the $177,055 prize pool. Today’s match will see X6-Gaming take on Team EnVyUs at 03:00 PDT / 12:00 CEST, while the Group B match between LW Blue and Lunatic Hai starts at 04:30 PDT / 13:30 CEST. Make sure to check out the full stream over on Twitch.

Hearthstone: Global Games

The Hearthstone Global Games tournament enters week 11 of play today and every team has been fighting hard to claim the top spot in the group stage. Half the teams from the original 48 have now been knocked out and the groups have been reseeded ready for the round robin stage. Group C’s round five match concluded yesterday for US viewers, but those of you in Europe can catch all the action today at 03:00 CEST. It’s a long road ahead for the pros and every team will be fighting hard to secure the $300,000 prize pool in phase two of the tournament. The full schedule and stream for week four can be found here.

Hearthstone: SeatStory Cup VII

Hearthstone’s seatstory cup begins today and 32 of the best Hearthstone players will gather at Krefeld, Germany to participate in the tournament. Hearthstone pros Frodan, Impact, Maverick and RDU will be present at this year’s tournament, but only the strongest will have a chance to claim the $20,000 prize pool and the seatstory cup. Today’s match will see Ostkaka and Reckful kick off the Group E bracket at 04:05 PDT/ 13:05 CEST, followed by RDU vs. Pavel at 05:20 PDT / 14:20 CEST. The full schedule and stream can be found by heading over to seatstorycup.com.

Heroes of the Storm: Global Championships Phase 2

Phase two of the HGC is well underway and teams from around the world will continue to battle it out for the $425,000 USD prize pool. Fnatic will be aiming to continue their Mid-Season Brawl success and claim a top spot in phase two of the tournament. Every team will have their eyes firmly set on the next Western Clash in August, but only those who can remain focused and remain strong under the pressure will have a chance at taking the title. Make sure you head over to heroesofthestorm.com to find the schedule and stream for all the matches being played this weekend.

Street Fighter V: The Fight 2017

The next stop in the 2017 Capcom Pro Tour season takes us to Bogotá, Colombia for The Fight 2017. Top players like Brazil's Brolynho and Dominican Republic's MenaRD will be in attendance as well as other top regional players. Flash from the USA will also be competing, so be sure to tune in to the live stream over on Twitch to watch all the combo chaos. The matches start tomorrow at 12:00 PDT / 21:00 CEST and continue throughout the day.

It’s another busy weekend in the world of digital sports as tournaments continue to gear up for summer finals. There’s plenty of action from the League of Legends LCS to the CS:GO Clash for Cash. We even have the various events from this year’s DreamHack to look forward to. All the details on this weekend’s events can be found below.

League of Legends: NA LCS

The NA LCS Summer season is well underway and Cloud9 bounced back from their poor first week to take down Phoenix1 in week two. Cloud9 dominated the early game and methodically fought their way to P1’s base taking the Nexus in just 29 minutes. However, Phoenix1 managed to secure an early gold lead in game two, but they never managed to convert this into objectives.  Eventually, Cloud9 was able to pull off a few strong engages and P1’s lead quickly crumbled as C9 took their final win. Meanwhile, Team SoloMid managed to take down their previously undefeated rival Counter Logic Gaming, bringing TSM into fifth place, with CLG claiming top spot. The full schedule and stream can found by heading over to lolesports.com.

League of Legends: EU LCS

G2 continued their dominant run in week two when they faced the underdogs of the EU LCS. NiP showed glimpses of individual player skill and brilliance, but it wasn’t enough to stop the reigning champions. In the first game, NiP managed to secure a lead in kills and gold, but they couldn’t maintain this momentum and after 30 minutes G2 began tightening the noose. It was clear that G2’s experience and teamplay was on another level and NiP eventually crumbled. The second game was all about Zven who secured 14 out of 20 total kills with his dominant Twitch plays. Meanwhile, Misfits will be aiming to build upon their week two victories when they take on G2 in today’s matchup. The full schedule and stream can found by heading over to lolesports.com.

Dota 2: Summit 7

The Beyond the Summit house has opened its doors for the seventh edition of the Dota Summit and every team will aiming to get their hands on the $100,000 prize pool. Virtus Pro secured a direct invite position to defend their Summit 6 title, but they fell to LGD Gaming in the semifinals. This defeat comes after their disappointing sixth finish position at EPICENTER, but the competition is far from over for the remaining teams. LGD aims to continue their dominant run in today winner’s final, with the match kicking off at 16:00 PDT / 01:00 CEST. The full schedule and stream can be found by heading over to beyondthesummit.tv.

Dota 2: Galaxy Battles

NEOTV’s Dota Galaxy Battles tournament kicked off yesterday and this weekend teams will battle it out in a gruelling double elimination bracket. The first round of the lower brackets will be an unforgiving best-of-one elimination series which will end with two teams being sent home. Meanwhile, the remaining matches in the bracket will be a best-of-three series that will determine the placements of the grand finals showdown. With a $150,000 prize pool up for grabs and national pride on the line anything could happen. Make sure you head over to www.galaxybattles.cn to check out the updated schedule and stream.  

CS:GO: Clash for Cash

CS:GO: Clash for Cash will be giving ELEAGUE Major finalist Virtus.pro the chance to get revenge after their runner up finish in January’s ELEAGUE Major Grand Final. The Grand Final saw Astralis outgun Virtus.pro with a late-game comeback that saw them take the title. However, Virtus.pro now has the perfect opportunity to beat their rivals and claim the $250,000 prize pool. If the grand final of the ELEAGUE Major was anything to go by, this rematch will likely be see some of the best CS:GO action to date. Matches will be broadcast at 19:00 PDT / 04:00 CEST on TBS, Twitch, YouTube and ELEAGUE Live Game Command.

CS:GO: DreamHack Summer 2017

DreamHack Summer begins this weekend and we will see eight teams battle it out in the group stage of the tournament. In Group A, SK Gaming will be looking to make amends for their disappointing finish at the Pro League finals, while Gambit will be hoping to continue their strong performance in group B. The teams will be fighting for their share of the $100,000 prize pool and the DreamHack title, so expect plenty of frenzied firefights. SK Gaming will face Team Singularity this Saturday at 04:00 PDT / 13:00 CEST, while mouz will clash with Immortals at 07:00 PDT / 16:00 CEST. The live stream can be found by heading over to Twitch.  

StarCraft II: 2017 WCS Jönköping

StarCraft’s 2017 WCS group stages are continuing this weekend and only the best players will advance to the grand finals on Monday. The first group stage saw 64 players enter and now only 32 remain as they advance to the second group stage. Matches begin tomorrow at 10:15 PDT / 19:15 CEST and continue on Sunday at 03:15 PDT / 12:15 CEST. There’s certainly a lot on the line and anything could happen at this stage of the tournament. The matches can be watched over on Twitch.

Overwatch: Apex Season 3

Overwatch Apex Season three continues to heat up as the qualified teams from each group continue to battle it out against one another. The finals are fast approaching and every team will be trying to claim the $177,055 prize pool. Today’s match will see X6-Gaming take on AF.Blue at 03:00 PDT / 12:00 CEST in a match that will decide which team will take the lead in Group A. Meanwhile, the Group B match between LW Blue and KD Panthera starts at 04:30 PDT / 13:30 CEST. Make sure to check out the full stream over on Twitch.

Hearthstone: Global Games

The Hearthstone Global Games tournament enters week ten of play today and every team has been fighting hard to claim the top spot in the group stage. Group G’s round five match concluded yesterday for US viewers, but those of you in Europe can catch all the action today at 03:00 CEST. Ukraine are off to the best start in Group H with 14 total wins  and only seven losses, however, it’s a long road ahead for the pros and every team will be fighting hard to secure the $300,000 prize pool. The full schedule and stream for week four can be found here.

Hearthstone: DreamHack Grand Prix

The Hearthstone Grand Prix takes place this weekend and will feature a major open Swiss tournament for everyone willing to compete. However, only the best 16 players will advance to the playoffs, where they will duke it out in the single-elimination bracket. With 200 competitors taking part, players will need to have their wits about them if they wish to take home the $25,000 prize pool. Meanwhile, special prizes and a $1,500 prize pool are at stake for players who don’t make it through the tense Swiss stages of the main tournament. The full weekend schedule and stream can be found here.

Heroes of the Storm: Mid-Season Brawl

Heroes of the Storm’s Mid-Season Brawl will see teams from around the world battle it out for the championship title and the $100,000 prize pool. Sweden will once again play host to the top 12 Heroes Global Championship teams, with a stage dedicated to the tournament. The Phoenix Bracket starts tomorrow and the team that advances to the Grand Finals from the upper bracket will be granted a one game advantage. EStar Gaming are currently the North American favourites after they took first place with only one two defeats. Meanwhile, MVP Black followed in similar footsteps after they dominated the European scene, securing nine wins and only one loss. Make sure you head over to heroesofthestorm.com to find the schedule and stream for all the matches being played this weekend.

Rocket League: DreamHack Championship

DreamHack will be hosting the Rocket League Championship tournament this weekend where players can take to the pitch and battle it out with the pros. Fans of Rocket League will get a chance to see who has what it takes to bring home the trophy and the $50,000 prize pool. All matches will be played in a standard 3v3 and players can expect to see notable appearances from Mockit eSports, Flipsid3 Tactics, Gale Force eSports and Rogue. The round one matches begin tomorrow at 09:15 PDT / 18:15 CEST and can be watched by heading over to Twitch.

Intel and ESL announced a "landmark deal" during Intel's presentation at E3 today that will see Intel become the Global Technical Partner of ESL, a move they said will "further advance the worldwide growth and development of esports." It also saw the reveal of a new, $1 million Intel Grand Slam prize, which will awarded to the first team that wins four qualifying CS:GO tournaments in a 12-month period. 

"We have been one of the very first companies to believe in esports and have supported it for over 15 years. This year, we have decided to take our commitment to the next level," Intel CEO Steven Fund said in a statement. "We are excited to level-up our partnership with ESL, invest into the development of future esports stars, and create premier events like the Intel Grand Slam." 

The Grand Slam is a $1 million prize awarded on top of the regular tournament prizes to the first team that can win four out of the last ten $200,000 CS:GO events held between Dreamhack and ESL. Qualifying events include the Intel Extreme Masters, ESL One, ESL Pro League and DreamHack Masters series. 

As an added bonus, any team that's able to keep a potential Grand Slam winner—that is, a team with three wins under its belt—from claiming the fourth and final victory will earn a bonus $100,000 for doing so. Once the prize has been awarded, everything will reset and the race to four will begin again. Qualifying events include the Intel Extreme Masters, ESL One, ESL Pro League and DreamHack Masters series.

We'll see more from Intel during the PC Gaming Show.  You can watch the show live on Twitch, and catch up on all the news from this year's show right here.

Update: The post originally indicated that G2 Esports had claimed the first Intel Grand Slam prize by winning the ESL Pro League Season Finals. Intel has since clarified that the VR Challenge League won't begin until ESL One Cologne in July.

It’s another busy weekend in the world of digital sports as lots of tournaments are gearing up for the summer finals. There’s plenty of action from the League of Legends LCS to the CS:GO ESL Pro League. We even have the Rocket League: Championship Series to look forward to. All the details on this weekend’s events can be found below.

League of Legends: NA LCS

The NA LCS Summer season will be kicking off with a highly anticipated showdown between Cloud9 and Counter Logic Gaming. Cloud9 will be aiming to put their spring playoffs loss behind them after Team SoloMid took the trophy. However, TSM’s disappointing MSI performance showed clear weaknesses, but they hope to defend their dynasty with help of Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng in the bottom lane. Meanwhile, Team Liquid and Team Envy survived the promotion tournament, which marks the first time in the history of the NA LCS that the same group of teams will be competing two splits in a row. The full schedule and stream can be found by heading over to lolesports.com.

League of Legends: EU LCS

It’s been a hectic midseason for G2 and the team has barely had time to rest since they took down Unicorns of Love in the EU LCS spring playoffs. G2’s MSI journey painted a picture of confidence, but it wasn’t enough to stop SKT from blowing open their Nexus in the final. However, the defending EU LCS champions will face ROCCAT in first game of the summer split. G2 did lose to ROCCAT at the end of the last regular split, but it wasn’t enough to stop G2 from claiming the title. The full schedule and stream can be found by heading over to lolesports.com.

Dota 2: EPICENTRE 

Ten teams will battle it out in a deadly group stage that will kick off this year’s EPICENTER tournament. Only three teams from each group will advance to the playoff stage, so it expected to be a tense weekend for those participating. Group A will see OG and Team Liquid compete against each other along with the EU qualifier winner Team Secret. Na'Vi will also join the group, alongside the Chinese Regional Winners LGD Forever Young. Meanwhile, Group B has a diverse mix of regions where Evil Geniuses, Virtus.Pro and Invictus Gaming will be battling it out along with the NA Regional winners Thunderbirds and SEA Regional winners Clutch Gamers. The full schedule can be found over on epicenter.gg, while the stream is available on Twitch.

Dota 2: ZOTAC Cup Masters

This weekend the ZOTAC Cup Masters takes place in Taipei where four teams will battle it out for their chance to win the $100,000 prize pool. Danish Bears and Digital Chaos were eliminated from the tournament in the first round of playoffs, while Fnatic and iG Vitality will advance to face Newbee and NP. The semifinals concluded yesterday for US viewers, but those of you in Europe can catch all the action today at 03:50 CEST. Finals begin today at 17:50 PDT, while Europe can catch the action on Saturday at 02:50 CEST. The full schedule and stream can be found by heading over to zotac.com.

CS:GO: ESL Pro League Season 5 Finals

The ESL Pro League is well underway and both G2 and North have taken control of groups A and B respectively. The quarterfinals saw mousesports take on SK, while Team EnVyUs battled it out with Team Liquid. Both North and G2 aim to land a decisive semifinals victory that will lead them to the ESL Pro League crown and the $750,000 prize pool. The semifinals begin today at 21:50 PDT / 06:50 CEST.  All the action can be viewed by heading over to ESL’s official YouTube channel.

StarCraft II: 2017 WCS Europe Qualifier

The 2017 WCS Europe Qualifier will give four of the best StarCraft II players the chance to win travel, accommodation and entrance fully paid to 2017 WCS Valencia. Players have been battling through the gruelling open qualifiers and only the strongest have made it to double-elimination bracket. Matches begin today at 09:00 PDT / 18:00 CEST and continue the same time tomorrow. There’s certainly a lot on the line and anything could happen at this stage of the tournament. The matches can be watched over on Twitch.

Overwatch: Apex Season 3

Overwatch Apex Season three continues to heat up as the group stages enter the final rounds. Today’s match will see two Korean giants clash as KD Panthera aim to settle the score with their rivals Lunatic-Hai. KD Panthera lost their opening match against Lunatic-Hai, but the team has not let this defeat impact their overall dominance in the arena. However, Lunatic-Hai has yet to lose a single match, so KD Panthera will need to be at their best if they’re to dismantle the current leaders. The Group A match begins today at 03:00 PDT / 12:00 CEST, while the Group B match between MVP.S and CB Spirit starts at 04:30 PDT / 13:30 CEST. Make sure to check out the full stream over on Twitch.

Rocket League: Championship Series

Denial and Alpha Sydney are kicking off season three of the Rocket League world championship in Los Angeles today. The Canadian roster of CorruptedG, Lethamyr, and Sadjunior have been on top form and in week five they  dispatched Rogue Esports  to claim their regional championship spot. However, Alpha Sydney has dominated the Oceanic Region with their strong defensive plays and accurate cross-map goals. Drippay, Jake, and Torsos pose a threat to Denial’s claim to the RLCS throne, so they will need to remain focussed if they wish to advance. The full schedule and stream can be found by heading over to rlcs.gg.

Valve has just announced its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 'Operation Hydra' event, which will take place on a weekly basis until September. These events will feature "twists on the classic game rules", and will play out on new maps across both casual and competitive.

These events will mostly involve the aforementioned "twists". For example, Wingman, is a 2v2 best-of-16 format, while Weapons Expert is a 5v5 best-of-30 match where the player can only purchase a weapon once. Other varieties come in the form of War Games, which includes Heavy Assault Suit – a bomb defusal round with the added twist that one player is wearing heavy armor. 

Meanwhile, Headshots Only is a War Game which does what it says on the tin; Hunters-Gatherers is a mode where each player drops a dogtag on death, which can be collected to win the game, and Stab Stab Zap involves only a knife, a recharging Zeus and grenades. There are more War Games, detailed over here.

Of course, you can buy an "all access" pass for $5.99 (US), which boosts the XP you earn, while also adding a new Guardian campaign where you and a friend play through a series of missions where, at a hunch, enemies will need to be shot. There are also the usual range of new weapon skins, cases and more. The full rundown can be read over here.

The Dota 2 Kiev Major wrapped up last weekend with OG defeating Virtus.pro 3-2 to take home their fourth Major crown and the $1 million prize pool. However, there’s still plenty of action to come from the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational to the CS:GO Intel Extreme Masters. We even have the Hearthstone China vs. Europe tournament to look forward to. All the details on this weekend’s events can be found below.

League of Legends: Mid-Season Invitational

The Mid-Season Invitational kicked off with eight teams battling for the chance to advance to the main event in Rio de Janeiro. GIGABYTE Marines will play this Saturday against the loser of the round two series between Flash Wolves and Supermassive. Meanwhile, the winner of Saturday’s match will advance to the MSI Group Stage, so both teams will need to be at their best. GIGABYTE surprised many fans this week when they managed to take two wins away from TSM, but they failed to take the series. Jungler Levi will be aiming to use his creative pathing once again this weekend, so expect plenty of jungle antics in round three of the Play-In stage. The full schedule and stream can be found on LoL Esports.

Rocket League: RLCS Regional Championships

The Rocket League RLCS Championships return this weekend and players will be fighting for their share of $25,000 prize pool and a spot in the Season 3 World Championship. The top two teams from NA and EU will also get guaranteed spots next season, which puts even more pressure on the teams this weekend. The action kicks off in North America this Saturday at 12:00 PDT / 21:00 CEST, while Europe closes out the weekend this Sunday at 09:00 PDT / 18:00 CEST. Tune into all the latest action over on Twitch to find out which team will punch their ticket to Los Angeles.

CS:GO: Intel Extreme Masters XII—Sydney

Day one of Intel Extreme Masters Sydney 2017 concluded with SK Gaming and Astralis taking the lead. SK Gaming lived up to expectations as they quickly dismantled ViCi by consistently outgunning them. ViCi struggled to produce a positive result against the competition favourites and SK closed out the series 16:6. Meanwhile, Astralis notched a victory over IEM’s local representatives, Chiefs Esports. Chiefs did find some success in securing bomb plants, but this was fairly short-lived, as Astralis started winning consecutive rounds. Astralis were on top form and they crushed the Chiefs in a dominant 16:5 victory. This weekend’s full schedule and stream can be found by heading over to IEM’s official site.

Overwatch: Apex Season 3

The Overwatch Apex Season 3 kicked off in Korea last week and Lunatic Hai are currently in the lead in the Group A bracket after they beat Team KongDoo Panthera 3-2. Rogue will need to land a critical blow to Mighty AOD if they wish to rival Lunatic Hai for first place. Team KongDoo Uncia will face X-6 Gaming at 03:00 PDT / 12:00 CEST, while Rogue will clash with Mighty AOD at 04:30 PDT / 13:30 CEST. Meanwhile, EnVyUs will start their journey on May 16th where they will battle it out against the likes of Meta Athena and BK Stars. Make sure to check out the full stream over on Twitch.

Hearthstone: Global Games

The Hearthstone Global Games tournament is well underway, and a few teams have begun to establish themselves in the early stages of the tournament. Group C’s round three matches concluded yesterday for US viewers,  but those of you in Europe can catch all the action today at 03:00 CEST. The USA are off to the best start out of anyone in the Global Games so far—securing seven wins in total and only dropping one game. It’s a long road ahead for the pros and every team will be fighting hard to secure the $300,000 prize pool. The full schedule and stream for week four can be found here.

Hearthstone: China vs. Europe

The fourth Hearthstone vs. China tournament began its group stage yesterday and will continue until May 10th. Europe was undefeated for three years straight before China retorted with a championship win last year. Bohan “Lovelychook” Zhang dethroned former champion Aleksandr “Kolento” Malsh and drove home his Ferrari sports car prize. This year’s CN vs. EU has made the Ferrari winnable by all, so every player will need to be at their best if they wish to drive home in style. A mix of invites and tournament winners will represent the host nation, most notably Blizzcon semi-finalist Jason “JazonZhou” Zhou and reigning champion Lovelychook. Group play resumes today at 03:00 PDT / 15:00 CEST, so make sure you check out the stream over on Twitch.

Heroes of the Storm: Global Championship

The Heroes of the Storm Global Championship begins week ten of play this weekend and the top teams from EU and NA aim to continue their dominance. Gale Force will need to secure a decisive win over Tempo Storm and B-Step this weekend if they want to make a claim for top spot. Meanwhile, Dignitas will be looking to snag a win over Fnatic after being knocked down to second place. You can check out the standings for each region and view the tournament schedule for your area over on the Heroes of the Storm’s official site. 

French professional team Vexed announced in a blog post this morning that they were hiring Hovik "KQLY" Tovmassian, a one-time staple of CS:GO’s upper echelons of professional competition. In his heyday, KQLY played for some of the game’s best teams, winning a couple sizeable tournaments and placing well in some massive events as part of French teams LDLC and Titan.

One problem: KQLY was banned for cheating back in 2014, prohibiting him from participating in official Valve-sponsored tournaments, the highest tier of competition in CS:GO. Due to recent rule changes made by ESL, one of CS:GO’s biggest tournament organizers, Vexed will be able to participate in some decent-sized tournaments with KQLY in their roster, but the game’s players and spectators have reacted negatively to the announcement.

KQLY is likely the highest-profile player to ever receive a ban for cheating in CS:GO. At the height of his success, shortly after finishing in the top four at ESL One: Cologne as part of Titan, his team seemed poised for greatness in the latter half of 2014. But his squadmates’ hopes were crushed that November when KQLY was banned, and Valve announced that the whole Titan team would not be allowed to compete at Dreamhack Winter 2014. Eventually, KQLY was replaced and Titan carried on, but they were never able to achieve the success that had seemed inevitable before the ban, and eventually dissolved in 2016. In a farewell letter from the CEO, Titan alluded to KQLY’s misconduct as a large part of their inability to keep the team operational.

The controversy damaged CS:GO’s reputation as an esport and made KQLY an unpopular figure, so Vexed’s hiring of KQLY to play for them in the upcoming ESL Championnat National tournament was bound to be poorly received by the community. But surprisingly, that negative reception extended to the team itself: two of Vexed’s existing players stated that they had not been informed of the potential roster change before it happened, and that they refused to play with KQLY in upcoming events. Vexed has now updated their roster at the bottom of the original announcement, removing all mention of the two dissenting players.

Other CS:GO professionals weighed in on the announcement as well. Veteran player and current LDLC member Ex6TenZ tweeted a sarcastic one-liner that implied Vexed would have a much harder time finding sponsors for their team now that they had a former cheater in their employ. Former Team Liquid player Hiko expressed similar derision on his Twitch stream upon hearing the news, exclaiming “KQLY’s back on a team again - gets VAC banned, but can join a team? Interesting. My boy [Braxton ‘swag’ Pierce, of iBuyPower] throws a match and he’s banned for life, but KQLY literally cheats in the game and comes back?”

In the latter half of his remarks, Hiko alludes to an old wound that the CS:GO community has been nursing for years now; he mentions that while the recent ESL rule changes allow anyone banned for cheating to play in ESL tournaments once two years have passed, the iBuyPower players who were banned for match fixing in early 2015 are still banned indefinitely. Much of the community believes cheating in the actual game to be as heinous of a crime as throwing a match for financial compensation, and that Valve’s failure to address this disparity in punishment has festered for an inordinately long time.

Vexed still won’t be able to play in the Valve-sponsored “Majors,” CS:GO’s most lucrative tournaments, since Valve maintains that no cheater will ever be allowed back into its good graces. In reality, that doesn’t affect a team like Vexed much; they’re not at the level where they would qualify for Majors, and since ESL has changed its rules, Vexed can still play all of the tournaments that exist at their skill level without incident. This stands in contrast to the fate of iBuyPower’s players, who are still banned by Valve, ESL, and any other tournament organizer who wishes to maintain their relationship with Valve.

It’s a sticky situation that once again has players questioning Valve’s philosophy regarding banned players, and has the potential to deal another blow to CS:GO’s reputation with sponsors and organizing bodies.

Last week didn't get off to a great start for Adam 'LoOp' Bahriz. The 17-year-old Counter-Strike player hopped onto the competitive Global Offensive ESEA league to play a few rounds while broadcasting to a tiny audience on Twitch only to be bullied and kicked from the match shortly after. Then, after Bahriz's story got shared on Reddit, the community banded together to donate thousands of dollars to pay for medical procedures and college while also boosting his follower count from under 5,000 to nearly 100,000. He's even been offered contracts with Twitch and some of CS:GO's biggest esports teams.

"I'm still absolutely mesmerized this is incredible," Bahriz wrote on Reddit.It's one of the most dramatic stories of how internet communities can often be toxic one second and heart-warmingly generous the next. And it all started because of a simple misunderstanding due to Bahriz's disability.

Bahriz was born with a condition that has left him legally blind, deaf, and unable to feel pain. It's known as hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy type 2, or simply HSAN 2. Despite his disability, he is still an incredible CS player and currently sits at Rank B on ESEA—a pretty damn good spot to hold for even able-bodied players. But his condition also led to needing his teeth and part of his nose removed. Understandably, this makes verbal communication a little trickier for him. That's why he graciously explained his condition at the beginning of the ESEA match.

"Sup guys I got a lot of teeth removed due to a genetic disease so I can't speak that properly, I can still call but be nice," Bahriz wrote in text chat at the beginning of the round. Bahriz then began using the voice channel to talk strategy with his team, but they didn't take him seriously. 

"Dude, we know you're trolling. Just stop," one player said back while the rest of the team trash talked Bahriz's speech impediment and began muting him. A few rounds later, they voted to kick him from the game entirely. Understandably, Bahriz was upset. His team was up 5-1 and Bahriz was trying to recover from a losing streak from previous games.

"At that point all I could think about was all the bullshit I’ve had to deal with on ESEA for the longest time, not because of a completely lacking of ability to talk, or mechanical skill, or anything like that, but just because of a small speech problem that is caused by something I have no control over," Bahriz told Kotaku.

The whole incident, including Bahriz's frustration following being kicked, was broadcast to his handful of viewers. One of them decided to take action. "This honestly broke my heart man," a user by the name of ch0med wrote on the ESEA forums, linking to Twitch clips of Bahriz being muted and kicked from the game. "This is absolutely disgusting how some people can be towards others without even getting a glimpse of some of the struggles people face. And they turn to gaming to get away from the real world, but still people just feel the need to ruin other people." 

Meanwhile, another viewer posted to the CS:GO subreddit, asking the community to "show him some love" because of what happened. And boy, did they.

Both posts immediately exploded, with the Reddit thread becoming the most popular on the subreddit within hours. Meanwhile, Twitch shared an incredible clip of Bahriz securing a clutch win for his team alone against five enemies. Because of this, Bahriz's popularity immediately exploded and by the end of the day his Twitch stream had upwards of 5,000 active viewers. 

Things get even better. With HSAN 2, Bahriz understandably requires a lot of medical care. As he told Kotaku, he needed eye surgery that his insurance wouldn't be able to cover. But thanks to an outpouring of donations that day, he's able to get the operation done and pay for it out of pocket. What's more, in a Ask Me Anything thread he created on the CS:GO subreddit, Bahriz explains he'll likely be able to pay for college and a trip home to Algeria.

Shortly after Bahriz's story exploded, two of his teammates came out on the ESEA forums to explain their side of the story and apologize. "We thought he was a troll…" wrote Adviko. "What would you think if someone came in with a bind text like that, people troll like that all the time. Instead he should tell the people to check out his Twitch. After I checked his Twitch I realized he was for real. I apologize but it was an honest misunderstanding. Lots of people troll in ESEA."

While their position is somewhat understandable, people didn't have too much sympathy considering how quick they were to judge Bahriz, even after he apologized and said he wouldn't talk. According to Bahriz, each teammate received a three day ban from the third-party league.

The community outreach around Bahriz since the initial flurry of attention has been heartwarming. Team EnVyUs, one of the largest esports teams who most recently took home $800,000 in the World Electronic Sports Games 2016, reached out to offer Bahriz a streaming contract. Bahriz has also since signed a Twitch partner contract. 

Bahriz now has over 97,000 followers on Twitch after everything that has happened, and his audience continues to grow. While he is stunned by the community's response, he also hints that things might've been taken out of proportion. "I couldn't give a single fuck that I randomly got kicked, 20 [minutes] of not pugging is no big deal," he wrote. "[In] other situations I would've probably not muted them and linked my Twitch but I was just tired of that shit at that point."

Still, it's a good reminder to always be mindful that people we meet online might have their own struggles we're not aware of. 

It’s another jam-packed weekend in the world of digital sports and lots of tournaments are reaching the finals stages. There’s plenty of action from the League of Legends LCS Spring Split Finals to the CS:GO cs_summit. We even have the Hearthstone Collegiate National Championship to look forward to. All the details on this weekend’s events can be found below.

League of Legends: 2017 EU LCS Spring Split Finals

Two-time defending EU LCS champions G2 Esports secured three straight wins against Fnatic in the semifinals last Saturday, winning the series and taking a spot in this weekend’s finals. Fnatic didn’t go down without a fight and they caught G2 off-guard in game one with aggressive roaming and early lane swaps, but G2 played safe and punished Fnatic’s over-aggressive plays. Meanwhile, Unicorns of Love took down Misfits in a tense 3-1 series. The final game saw UOL secure an early lead thanks to an explosive play in the bot lane, which gave them a 3-1 lead. UOL used this power advantage to quickly barrage Misfits’ bot-lane and secure a quick 23-minute victory. This weekend’s final schedule and stream can be found over on LoL Esports.

League of Legends: 2017 NA LCS Spring Split Finals

Team SoloMid made short work of FlyQuest in last weekend’s semifinals with a clean 3-0 sweep. Both teams will play in Vancouver this Saturday and TSM will face Cloud9, while FlyQuest will play in the third place match against Phoenix1 in the finals. The series saw both teams pick strong team fighting compositions, but TSM had a better frontline which they used to tank FlyQuest’s damage and snag objectives for a decisive sweep. The semifinal series for Cloud9 was also a one-sided affair as they dominated Phoenix1 in a quick 3-0 series. Cloud9 matched P1 point for point, but they always had the advantage in every skirmish. Phoenix1 desperately tried to make a comeback, but Cloud9’s superiority was shown in game three when they only gave up one tower and three kills. This weekend’s final schedule and stream can be found over on LoL Esports.

Dota 2: StarLadder i-League Invitational European Qualifier

The European qualifiers for the LAN finals of SL i-League Dota 2 Invitational are under way and eight teams will compete in the final playoffs. Cloud9 is kicking the quarterfinals off today when they face Team Spirit at 08:00 PDT / 17:00 CEST, while Natus Vincere tackle Effect later at 11:00 PDT / 20:00 CEST. The semifinals and finals will be broadcast over the course of the weekend, so make sure you head over to the official Dota 2 StarLadder site to find latest schedule and stream.

CS:GO: cs_summit

Eight teams will clash this weekend in a bid to secure the lion’s share of the $150,000 prize pool. Cs_summit offers an informal, relaxed atmosphere for participating players and is designed as a behind-the-scenes style event. Players will be able to take a more active role in the broadcast than what is normally seen at traditional live events, so expect to hear some top quality pro analysis. The semifinals kick off today at 15:30 PDT / 00:30 CEST, while the finals start same time tomorrow. You can check out the full weekend schedule and stream over on Beyond the Summit.

Overwatch: Rumble

The Spring Overwatch Rumble is back once again and the weekend tournament will see eight of the best North American teams clash. However, the pros will also be will be joined by eight qualifying teams, so anything could happen. The format for the tournament will be a round robin and only the top two teams from each group will advance into Sunday's double elimination bracket. The invited teams for this tournament are: EnVyUs, Immortals, Rogue, LG Evil, Cloud9, Splyce, compLexity, and Selfless Gaming.  You can check out the full schedule and stream by visiting Rivalcade's Overwatch Rumble page.

Hearthstone: Collegiate National Championship

After seven weeks of grueling group play, regional playoffs, and an elimination championship bracket, the Hearthstone Collegiate National Championship is coming to an exciting end this weekend. Live finals will be broadcast from the Esports Arena in Santa Ana, California where the remaining teams will battle it out for the lion’s share of the $160,000 prize pool. The Collegiate National Championship is one of the first Blizzard-sanctioned Hearthstone competitions to use the new standard rotation with Journey to Un’Goro in play, so expect plenty of primordial decks. The event will be kicking off tomorrow at 09:00 PDT / 18:00 CEST and will continue at the same time tomorrow. You can check out the full stream by heading over to Twitch.

Heroes of the Storm: Global Championship

The Heroes of the Storm Global Championship is wrapping up week seven of play this weekend and the tension continues to build up. Teams from around the world will be aiming to continue their journey towards the Mid-Season Brawl and secure a top spot in the regular season. Tempo Storm still remains at the top of leaderboard in North America, while Team Liquid are the team to beat in Europe. You can check out the standings for each region and view the tournament schedule for your area over on the Heroes of the Storm’s official site.

Rocket League: Championship Series

The Rocket League Championship Series returns this weekend and things are heating up at the top of the European and North American brackets. NRG have looked extremely strong so far, but G2 will be looking to secure a lead this weekend when they face their rivals tomorrow at 03:20 PDT / 12:20 CEST. Meanwhile, over in Europe Northern Gaming have taken third place and will be looking to take the top spot from Gale Force when they face Pocket Aces Sunday at 13:30 PDT / 10:30 CEST.  Make sure you check out the full schedule and stream over on the official Rocket League: Championship Series website.

StarCraft 2: GSL Super Tournament 2017

The three Global StarCraft League seasons are the pinnacle of competitive StarCraft II play in the Korean scene. This year’s tournament winner will receive $150,000 and a guaranteed spot at the WCS Global Finals, so the competition is expected to be extremely fierce. GSL matches are the defining journeys in many StarCraft II pro players’ careers and it’s likely that we’ll see some new talent shining through. The full schedule and stream can be found by heading over to the WCS StarCraft 2 site.