It’s been an action-packed month so far and various tournaments are nearing the finish line. The world of digital sports may be winding down a bit this weekend, but there’s still plenty of action from the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational and the Dota 2 StarLadder to enjoy. We even have the Hearthstone Global Games to look forward to. All the details on this weekend’s events can be found below.

League of Legends: Mid-Season Invitational

SK Telecom has dominated the competition so far and despite dropping a game to Flash Wolves and Team WE, they continue to rise above the competition. The South Korean team will need to stave off another defeat against the Flash Wolves in their match today, while Team WE will be looking to take the advantage in their semifinals game against G2 this Saturday. Every team will be looking to claim their spot at this year’s finals, so SKT will need to be at their best if they wish to add to their record wins. The full schedule and stream can be found on LoL Esports.

Dota 2: StarLadder i-League Invitational

The Dota 2 Starladder i-League Invitational kicked off yesterday in Shanghai and teams from around the world will battle it out for their chance to claim the $100,000 prize pool. The Group B matches began yesterday for US viewers, but those of you in Europe can catch all the action today 06:00 CEST. Liquid will face Team faceless in the first round, while Newbee and Vega will clash straight after at 09:00 CEST. The semifinals will take place the following day followed by the finals on Sunday. You can find the full schedule and stream by heading over to starladder.com.

Dota 2: Dream League Season 7

Week three of the Dota 2 Dream League wraps up this weekend and one week of regular play is all that remains before the qualifying teams head to the LAN event in Atlanta, on July 21st. EPG will face mouz today at 09:30 PDT / 18:30 CEST, while Empire will clash with mouz at 12:00 PDT / 21:00 CEST. Meanwhile, Na`Vi and VP will continue their journey the following day before Secret joins the fray on Sunday. The full schedule and stream can be found by heading over to the Dream League official site.

Hearthstone: Global Games

The Hearthstone Global Games tournament enters week six of play today and every team has been fighting hard to claim the top spot in the group stage. Group B’s round four matches concluded yesterday for US viewers, but those of you in Europe can catch all the action today at 03:00 CEST. The USA and Canada are off to the best start out of anyone in the Global Games so far, but they will need to remain focused if they wish to beat Thailand. The full schedule and stream for week four can be found here.

Hearthstone: StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 3

SL i-League StarSeries Season three is well underway and Hearthstone's best players have been busy climbing the rankings. Currently, Naiman remains on top of the Group A standings, while Rdu aims to fight off competition from both Zalae and StanCifka in the Group B bracket. The series uses the best of 5 "conquest" format and every player will be looking to secure the lion’s share of the $30,000 prize pool. Reddit has a nice viewing guide for the stream, which can be viewed over on Twitch.

Overwatch: Apex Season 3

Overwatch Apex Season three is well underway and Mighty AOD will need to take down Lunatic Hai to secure their first victory of the group stage. Mighty AOD lost 3-1 to Rogue in their previous match, but Lunatic Hai won’t be an easy adversary. The Group A match begins today at 04:30 PDT / 13:30 CEST, while the Group C match between MVP Space LW Blue start at 03:00 PDT / 12:00 CEST. Make sure to check out the full stream over on Twitch.

Heroes of the Storm: Global Championship

The Heroes of the Storm Global Championship playoff stage begins today and every team will need to be at their best if they wish to secure a place at the Mid-Season Brawl. Playoffs will see lower-seeded teams duke it out against higher-seeded teams for the chance to face North America’s Tempo storm or Europe’s Fnatic. Both these teams dominated their opponents and they will be aiming to take home the Global Championship title next month. 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.

Photo credit: Riot Games

It’s another busy weekend in the world of digital sports and lots of tournaments are heating up as they reach the final stages. There’s plenty of action from the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational to the Street Fighter V ELEAGUE. We even have plenty of Hearthstone tournaments to look forward to. All the details on this weekend’s events can be found below.

League of Legends: Mid-Season Invitational

The best teams from around the world have been busy battling it out at this year’s MSI in Brazil, but this week we saw the return of the defending champions. SK Telecom has dominated the competition so far and they continue to be on top form. The South Korean team has only lost six best-of-one matches at international tournaments over the last four years, but three of those losses were inflicted by Flash Wolves. Day three of the MSI Group Stage begins today and Flash Wolves will need to be at their best if they wish to add to their record wins. The full schedule and stream can be found on LoL Esports.

Dota 2: Dream League Season 7

The StarLadder i-League Invitational and Manila Masters are just around the corner, but this weekend we have the Dream League to look forward to. Mouz will face Vega today at 09:30 PDT / 18:30 CEST, while Liquid will clash with Secret 12:00 PDT / 21:00 CEST. Meanwhile, EPG and Empire will continue their journey the following day. The LAN event will take place in Atlanta, on July 21st and 22nd where teams will be competing for a slice of the $175,000 prize pool. The full schedule and stream can be found by heading over to the Dream League official site.

Overwatch: Apex Season 3

Overwatch Apex Season 3 is well underway and Rogue will need to take down KongDoo Panthera if they wish to increase their chances of making it out of the group stage. They beat Mighty AOD 3-1 last week but KongDoo Panthera is out for revenge. The Group A match begins today at 04:30 PDT / 13:30 CEST, while the Group B match between X6 Gaming and Afreeca Freecs Blue start at 03:00 PDT / 12:00 CEST. Meanwhile, EnVyUs will start their journey on May 16th where they will battle it out against Meta Athena and BK Stars. Make sure to check out the full stream over on Twitch.

Hearthstone: Global Games

The Hearthstone Global Games tournament enters week five of play today and every team has been fighting hard to claim the top spot in the group stage. Group A’s round three match concluded yesterday for US viewers, but those of you in Europe can catch all the action today at 03:00 CEST. Both the USA and Canada are off to the best start out of anyone in the Global Games so far, but 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: Japan Major

The very first Hearthstone Major event is coming to Tokyo this weekend where eight players will square off against each other in the live playoffs. Competition is expected to be fierce as every player will be vying for coveted Hearthstone Competitive Points and a share of the 1,000,000 Japanese Yen prize pool. The playoffs begin Saturday at 21:00 PDT / 06:00 CEST and can be watched by heading over to battle.net.

Hearthstone: China vs. Europe

The quarterfinals for the Hearthstone vs. China tournament begin today and every player will be looking to claim a spot in Sunday’s final. OmegaZero will face XHope in the first semifinal match at 03:00 PDT / 12:00 CEST, while StanCifika will clash with Orange an hour later. Europe was undefeated for three years straight before China retorted with a championship win last year, but every player will need to be at their best if they wish to claim the Ferrari, or $200,000 prize pool. Make sure you check out the stream over on Twitch.

Hearthstone: StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 3

SL i-League StarSeries Season 3 is currently underway, with matchups between some of Hearthstone's best going through the weekend, including DrHippi, BunnyHoppor, Fr0zen, and Neirea. Series use the best of 5 "conquest" format, with games cast by Firebat, Lothar, DTwo, and Noxious. Reddit has a nice viewing guide for the stream, which is happening over on Twitch.

Heroes of the Storm: Global Championship

The Heroes of the Storm Global Championship continues this weekend and the lower seeded teams from EU and NA aim to climb the ladder ahead of next week’s playoffs. Team 8 will need to secure a decisive win over No Tomorrow this weekend if they want to make a claim for top spot. Meanwhile, Dignitas will be looking to snag a win over Tricked after they were 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.

Street Fighter V: ELEAGUE

Group D of the Street Fighter V ELEAGUE is kicking off tonight’s actions and with three major groups already completed, there’s a lot on the line. The group is filled with talent from all over the world, including the 2016 Capcom Cup champion, Nuckledu. However, it has been over a month since all the competitors fought for the top spots, so anything could happen in this final bracket. Phenom has been the only player to beat Nuckledu and his consistent performance make him a serious threat to the players in this group. The full schedule and stream can be found by heading over to www.eleague.com.

Gwent: Challenger Finals

The Gwent Challenger tournament finals take place this Saturday at 06:00 PDT / 15:00 CEST, where the winners of the community qualifiers will compete alongside Jeffrey “Trump” Shih, Adrian “Lifecoach” Koy, Peter “ppd” Dager, and Kacem “Noxious” Khilaji for a chance to win the $100,000 prize pool. The event will be hosted by Maude Garret and ESL’s Joshua Gray with match commentary from community favorites, MegaMogwai and McBeard. Make sure to check out the live finals over on CD PROJEKT RED’s Twitch channel. 

Valve has just launched the Battle Pass for Dota 2's The International 2017, and if you've got the game installed it should be available right now or after an update. As usual, those who buy into it will get a bunch of goodies or access to goodies, chief among them this year being the Siltbreaker multiplayer campaign.

Dubbed "a cooperative adventure into the blackest depths of Dark Reef", Siltbreaker won't be available until later this month, but it's a campaign which will task players with battling through "a diverse landscape of loathsome monsters, cunning traps and other lethal terrors". As the general theme over on the Battle Pass page suggests, it'll have a subaquatic theme. Siltbreaker will boast two acts, with the first due "later this month" and the second in July.

There's tonnes more, naturally. This year's Team Quests will usher in a new type of mission, where players complete single- and multi-game goals together. Meanwhile, you'll now be able to play a trivia mini-game will waiting in the queue, and there are Prestige Towers, which combine the Battle Level totals of any given team and replace the game's normal defensive pillars. I'm not sure whether this is just cosmetic, but either way, the more points your team has the better it will look.

There's a huge amount of stuff to wade through over on the website, so you'd be well advised to pore through it if you're hoping to partake. As usual, 25 percent of all Battle Pass sales go into the prize pool for The International 2017, and the pool is currently sitting on $1,977,396 (and rising, naturally).

China recently passed a law requiring games which offer randomized loot for money—like Hearthstone's card packs—to publish drop rates so that players know exactly how likely (or unlikely) they are to get rare items or cards.

Yesterday, Dota 2's publisher in China, Perfect World, published the drop rates for the rare items available in the Treasure of the Dota 2 Asia Championships 2017. That's the only Treasure currently available to purchase in China as Valve and Perfect World have taken the others off sale for now.

Regarding the Dota 2 Asia Championships Treasure, Eyes of the King has a 6 percent drop rate, and the Armor of the Shattered Vanguard has a 2 percent drop rate, if Google Translate can be trusted to get numbers right. (I especially love how Armor of the Shattered Vanguard becomes "disillusioned pioneer armor" by Google's estimation.)

These rates for rare items may only apply to this particular Treasure, and may not be the same everywhere outside of China—for all we know Perfect World has its own rates that differ from Valve's. But as more Treasures are added to the Chinese Dota 2 store and have their drop rates published, we may be able to make some deductions about how these items are handled outside of China.

Earlier this week, Riot published drop rates for League of Legends.

With a $1 million grand prize on the line, Dota 2’s Kiev Major was an event for the history books. It was the fourth Valve event won by European power squad OG, who swept the last games away from CIS team Virtus Pro in an intense back-and-forth series.

The event couldn’t have ended more explosively than a hometown CIS-region team taking on the defending champion of the Majors series. In fact, the event went into a full five matches for the first time since TI3. Each team demonstrated its strength and tact in draft and play every single game, and some drafts even seemed impossible to pull off, especially the tournament’s final game. In the end, OG managed to outplay their opponents through both strategy and skill.

Each team had a clean and strong run. While OG didn’t have quite as neat of a group stage, with a 6-5 record, they fought through their bracket well. Namely, they took out top American team Evil Geniuses in the semi-finals, plus Team Faceless and former TI6 squad Team Random along the way.

VP’s bracket run was much trickier. They started off by winning over iG.Vitality, but they eventually met VG.J, likely one of the top four squads in China right now. If defeating VG.J wasn’t enough to prove their worth, they eventually met tournament favorites Invictus Gaming in the semis, who took the grand prize against OG at the Dota 2 Asian Championships. This match was a surprising 2-0 sweep into the grand finals.

Aside from the finals, there was match-driven drama that kept fans, casters and even players on the edges of their seats. The continued use of single-elimination format meant that every match was life-or-death for every team. It was especially dire for teams that placed lower in group stages, as they were met with the team of the inverse seed (1-16, 2-15, etc.). In the past, group stage performances were often good predictors of how teams would do on the main stages. Many predictions were turned on their heads in Kiev.

For these reasons and others, the format was was met with some controversy at all stages. Still, given this was the second Valve tournament to use this format, teams needed to adapt. It also made for an excellent main event with unexpected storylines. After all, every team has their good and bad days.

The biggest surprise upset was when Brazilian team SG E-sports upset the top seed of the group stage, European favorites Team Secret. The latter had blasted their way through the qualifiers and the group stage, hitting an intimidating 19-0 win streak up to the main event. However, both Secret and Dota 2 fans were shocked when SG took the series and knocked the European squad out of the event. Prior, the community had generally negative outlook on South American teams, but this will likely give the region a breath of new life. Unfortunately, SG did fall in a hard-fought quarterfinal match to continental rivals Evil Geniuses, but not before taking a game off the TI5 champions.

Also predicted by many was event domination by Invictus Gaming, the Chinese favorites going into the tournament. However, Virtus Pro met them in the semifinals, overcoming the expected champions 2-0 and moving onto the finals. While TNC Pro Gaming had solid performance in the group stages, placing in the top three, the team was also overtaken by regional rivals Team Faceless in a tough match.

Team Liquid, which looked strong going into DAC and Kiev, met some unfortunate circumstances in each tournament. At Kiev, their group stage was fairly decent, and they had a main bracket run to match, beating the Chinese squad Newbee. However, they unfortunately met iG in the quarter-finals, who managed to defeat them.

The Jeremy Lin-endorsed squad VG.J, considered one of the top four in China, started off their run reasonably well, taking down American fan favorites Digital Chaos (formerly the Team Onyx squad). In the next round, though, they met VP and were taken down in the quarter finals.

Other fan favorites also met unfortunate doom in the round of sixteen. Mousesports, the former Ad Finem squad acquired before Kiev, was taken down by iG. Thunderbirds, the ex-Digital Chaos squad, was also knocked out in a regional rivalry match against Evil Geniuses. In a nutshell, it was a difficult tournament for many teams, which means tough times ahead for a number of players.

What happens next? 

The dilemma comes from Valve’s roster lock system, if the rules from last year apply. Valve prioritizes squad composition over team banner or organization. For that reason, they heavily consider player swaps leading into their official tournaments, especially if there’s a major swap and very few third-party events the team attended to show for it. Fortunately, there are five tournaments between now and The International, with many regions (especially China) using in-house leagues to fill the spaces.

Teams that didn’t place in the top four (and even some that did) have difficult questions to ask. Is it worth risking a new squad to create an optimal team that can fight to the top from square one? Is it worth investing in the current team—does it have potential?

It’s easier to answer this question for many of the bottom eight teams. While they may be able to grab regional invites, other teams are always sharpening their blades, and regionals may become more cutthroat than expected. Therefore, it may be worth it for many teams to swap out certain players and go for a shot at regionals. Valve may even give them a direct invite if they can pull off a smooth circuit between their main events.

If Kiev demonstrated one thing, it’s that anything goes in Dota 2. The same will likely apply into the shuffle period, whether through surprise disbands or surprise team coherence. There hasn’t been a more exciting time for the competitive Dota 2 scene in a while. 

The Kiev Major and DreamHack Open are well underway: it’s going to be another busy weekend across the world of digital sports. There’s plenty of action from the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational to the StarCraft 2 World Championship Series. We even have the Overwatch Apex Season 3 to look forward to. All the details on this weekend’s events can be found below.

League of Legends: Mid-Season Invitational

The 2017 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) is kicking off its international tournament at the CBLoL Studio in Brazil. This year, all 13 regions will participate by sending their split champion (Spring Split or Split 1) to face off against other regional champions. However, only three teams from the Play-In Stage will advance to take on the champions from Europe, China, and Korea. The format remains the same as last year with the six teams competing in a best of one double round robin, which means every team will play each other twice. Oceania’s Dire Wolves will face Brazil’s Red Canids today at 11:00 PDT / 20:00 CEST, while the remaining Play-In teams will duke it out over the course of the weekend. The full schedule and stream can be found on LoL Esports.

Dota 2: Kiev Major

The Group Stage for this year’s Kiev Major has finished and the main event is starting today with the remaining brackets. Invictus Gaming is the third seed of the Kiev main event, and arguably the strongest team in the world given their recent results. They beat mousesports 2-1 yesterday and the team will be looking to continue their winning streak this weekend. TNC Pro Team will be looking to continue their climb when they clash with Team faceless today at 00:00 PDT / 09:00 CEST. Matches will be played throughout the day, so make sure you check out the schedule and stream over on the official Kiev Major site. 

StarCraft 2: World Championship Series

This weekend, 80 of the world’s best StarCraft II players are heading to Austin, Texas, for the World Championship Series and a chance to win the $100,000 prize pool. Last year’s DreamHack saw Hydra clinch a 4-2 win over Neeb in a tense final. This year Neeb will be hoping to climb the ladder to claim their seat at the the global championship finals. The group stages start today at 17:00 PDT / 02:00 CEST, while the quarter finals start the following day at 14:35 PDT / 23:35 CEST. Make sure to check out the full stream over on Twitch.

CS:GO: DreamHack Open 2017

The DreamHack Open returns this weekend and on this occasion the tournament will be held in Austin, Texas, United States. Eight teams from Europe and the Americas will fight it out for the lion's share of $100,000 at the LAN finals event. Last year's tournament saw Luminosity Gaming take first place after defeating fellow Brazilians, Tempo Storm for the champions’ title. You can check out the full weekend schedule and stream over on DreamHack’s official site. 

Street Fighter V: DreamHack 2017

The fourth Premier Event of the 2017 Capcom Pro Tour season will also be at this year’s DreamHack event. Players from around the globe will square-up in Street Fighter V at the Austin Convention Center today for a chance to win their share of the $15,000 prize pool. The winner of the last premier event will also be making a return and PG Punk will be looking to combo his way to victory once again. However, Capcom Cup 2016 champion Liquid NuckleDu will be looking to take revenge after PG Punk delivered a critical blow at the NorCal Regionals. The event could see these two giants clash once again, so be sure to tune it to the live stream on Saturday at 08:00 PDT / 17:00 CEST.

Hearthstone: Grand Prix

The DreamHack Hearthstone Grand Prix will see 200 competitors clash this weekend and only 16 players will advance to the single-elimination stage. Notable participants include GreenSheep, Chakki, amnesiac and Rdu. The winner will receive $25,000, while $1,500 prize pool is at stake for those who don’t make it through the grueling Swiss stages of the main tournament. The full schedule and stream can be found by heading over to battle.net.

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. The USA are off to the best start out of anyone in the Global Games so far – securing two match wins and only dropping one game. Edwin ‘HotMEOWTH’ Cook and 2014 World Champion James ‘Firebat’ Kostesich have given the team the power they need to climb the rankings and beat their opponents. 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 three can be found here.

Overwatch: Apex Season 3

The Overwatch Apex Season 3 begins in Korea today and we finally know the two Western teams that have been invited. Rogue has been placed in Group A alongside Lunatic Hai who are expected to be the group winner, thanks to their recent Season 2 victory. Meanwhile, EnVyUs has been placed in Group D where they will battle it out against the likes of MetaAthena and BK Stars. EnVyUs have a significantly easier group stage, but the team will need to be at their best if they wish to make it to playoffs. Lunatic Hai will face KongDoo Panthera today at 03:00 PDT / 12:00 CEST, while RunAway will clash with Afreeca Freecs at 04:30 PDT / 13:30 CEST. Make sure to check out the full stream over on Twitch.

Heroes of the Storm: Global Championship

The Heroes of the Storm Global Championship is wrapping up week nine 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. However, Gale force and Fnatic are creeping up the rankings and they’ll be looking to snag another victory this weekend. 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.

SMITE: Masters

The SMITE LAN Masters continue this weekend and North America, Europe, Latin America, Oceania and Brazil will be battling for the Masters title, as well as the $120,000 prize pool. The quarterfinals start today at 08:00 PDT / 17:00 CEST, while the semifinals start tomorrow at the same time. Hi-Rez will be randomly dropping skins of each team’s choosing whenever they win a game, so make sure you link your Twitch and Hi-Rez accounts in order to have a chance of receiving a skin while you watch. The Masters format, stream and Twitch drops can be found by heading over to SMITE Esports.

Thanks to Valve, Dota 2 players that take their rank seriously have a chance to stop seeing blue. They’ve finally added an authentication system to ranked play, which involves registering a phone number to any accounts wishing to queue in the game’s ranked mode (and no, you can’t use numbers from VOIPs such as Skype.) 

According to the devs, it’s a response to a longstanding issue of duplicate accounts, or smurfs, used by players to enter matches outside of their assigned skill rank. The rank disparity seems to go both ways: high-skill players smurf in lower matches for entertainment or education, and low-skill players buy higher-level accounts. There’s no single reason for the latter, though accounts in the 6000s and higher can likely play with celebrity pro players. Even players using smurfs in lower accounts can feel accomplished if their higher-level team carries them to victory. Either way, it creates imbalance in the match  for the other nine players (provided that they’re not smurfs too).

The phone registration system has been frequently requested of late due to Valve’s implementation of a similar system in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Known as “prime matchmaking”, the system certainly hasn’t reduced the number of bitter players in each match, but it’s reduced the number of smurfs that serious players encounter. Dota 2 players are hoping for the same results. 

Already, though, criticism has arisen about the obstacles that the system creates for aspiring professional players. Some are concerned that the phone system isolates players in much poorer regions. The game is certainly popular in LAN cafes in regions such as South America, the Philippines and rural Russia. However, there’s also the case that mobile ownership, and even smartphone ownership, is booming in such regions. Since the Dota 2 authentication system only requires a basic telephone, most players will likely avoid this issue. 

Even age may not be an issue. In America, at least, the average age of initial smartphone ownership was estimated at about 10 years old, which may not be too far off for other countries as parents rush to keep their kids caught up with their peers. Even then, younger players can borrow a parent’s phone, or use the house phone. In that case, no issues should arise—unless there are multiple Dota 2 players in the house. 

For most players, the new system has no real consequences besides a temporary inconvenience. After all, it’s part of the long and complicated history of Dota 2 matchmaking, which is certainly neater than it used to be.

The original DotA actually didn’t have a matchmaking system. Warcraft 3 custom maps such as DotA lacked the perks of default multiplayer, which included regional and ping-based matching. For the most part, players could technically just jump into any public games, but this didn’t necessarily make for a better game. Community leaders stepped in to help alleviate some of this trouble, forming in-house leagues with their own rankings and hierarchies. This was how most DotA players socialized and played. 

Then, Dota 2’s beta was released, hoping to improve on many things that were limited in the Warcraft 3 mod. Sometime during this beta, Valve quietly added an unlisted matchmaking rating. Dotabuff, the stat aggregation site, was able to group players into normal, high or very high rankings. Still, the lack of a formal matchmaking system meant that players were free to play with others of any rank, though that wasn’t a major concern in the beta days. 

The matchmaking system as we know it today came about in late 2013, after the game came out of beta. It introduced the numerical matchmaking rank, with no upper ceiling but a floor of, of course, zero. Players needed at least 150 games, a fair 85-100 hours for most players, and a series of calibration matches needed to be played for placement. The only major change since then is that the requirement to queue in ranked was changed to a level 13 profile with the summer 2015 Reborn update (and the phone number, of course). 

For the most part, it’s remained a pretty acceptable system, and even Overwatch has taken a similar approach with its Competitive Mode matchmaking by using a numerical system plus period calibration. However, that’s generally where Dota 2’s general similarity to other games’ matchmaking ends, and some of the criticism it warrants begins. 

While there’s been mostly positive feedback over the general ranking system, some have argued that Dota 2 should have a decaying MMR—that is, if a player is absent for a while, their MMR should go down. In many games, such as League of Legends, this system has a floor, meaning that it only applies above a certain rank so that lower-level players don’t need to worry about keeping up. It also means that players coming in after a long hiatus are essentially re-tested in order to prove their rank. 

Games like LoL or Overwatch are more active in maintaining an up-to-date hierarchy of players. They also have a seasonal reset and give out vanity rewards for end-of-season success, including a custom real-life jacket for Challenger players in LoL. Players with such high rankings, then, can’t just sit in the lowest Challenger rank and expect a jacket: they need to remain active and competitive. Meanwhile, Dota 2 doesn’t reward high MMR with anything other than pride.

So does Dota 2’s ranked matchmaking have anywhere to go from here? The answer isn’t clear, as ranked MMR is a controversial subject for many players. It’s clear, though, that the community has tried to push Valve to make sure everyone has a good competitive experience, whether in the trench or at the top. Prime matchmaking is a step in that direction.

Do you enjoy playing ranked matches in Dota 2? Well, you better have a phone number ready because you're not going to be able to do that for much longer without one. Valve has announced in a blog post that it's now requiring all players to register a unique phone number if they want to play in ranked matches.

Valve is adding this requirement to reduce the number of players who use multiple accounts in ranked, saying it creates "a negative matchmaking experience at all skill brackets." Requiring a unique phone number for each ranked account will ideally prevent a noticeable number of players from doing this, resulting in a positive effect from players using their primary accounts.

If you're upset by this news and refuse to adhere to Valve's new rule, then you have until May 4 to enjoy all the ranked matchmaking you possibly can. After that, accounts without a unique phone number will not be eligible to participate in ranked matches. 

This is similar to what Valve has done with CS:GO's Prime Matchmaking, which offers higher quality matchmaking if you've registered a phone number. However, in that game, regular ranked play is still available without a phone.

Removing a number from your Dota 2 account after registration brings about a couple things. You can add a new number right away, but the number that was removed will not be usable for three months. Valve says this is to prevent someone from removing a number and immediately registering it with their alternate account. On top of that, Valve is not allowing numbers from online services to be registered. That means you likely won't be able to use your Google Voice number.

You can read the full blog post here, which goes into a number of other changes, including party changes, the return of ranked solo queue, and improved handling of nefarious behavior.

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.

A lot of people watch other people play games. According to the industry researchers at SuperData, the "worldwide gaming video content audience" includes 665 million people. And it's growing: The company predicts a 21 percent viewer increase between now and 2021.

According to SuperData, there's now a bigger audience for gaming video than the combined audiences of HBO, Netflix, ESPN, and Hulu. For reference, Netflix's subscriber count is somewhere near 100 million, while Hulu maintains about 12 million. For better or for worse, PewDiePie alone has over 54 million YouTube subscribers. 

It's not a shocking conclusion: Netflix, for instance, is not currently available in China, so it's no wonder that it would be dwarfed by a category of typically free, streaming video around the world. But if there was still any doubt that the YouTubes and Twitches of the world have made gaming video as mainstream as any primetime TV show, it ought to have vanished long ago.

The report also concludes that men make up 54 percent of the audience for gaming streams and videos and women account for 46 percent. Additionally, gamers who watch streams and videos have a higher average income than other gamers, and like to spend it. "PC and console players who watch [gaming video content] spend over $70 a month on digital games and in-game content, 56 percent more than their non-viewer counterparts," reads SuperData's press release.

We watched "nearly 100 million hours" of League of Legends in February alone, according to the report, with CS:GO coming in second at 40 million hours on Twitch. Twitch is one of the biggest earners in the scene, despite not holding the majority of the eyeballs. SuperData finds that it only captures 16 percent of the audience, but earns 37 percent of 'gaming video content's' revenue thanks in large part to direct spending through subscriptions.

And through advertising and direct spending (subscriptions and donations), SuperData predicts $4.6 billion in revenue from gaming video and streams this year. That probably has something to do with why over half the audience for livestreams wants to try livestreaming themselves.

SuperData's full report will set interested companies back $2,499. Surely there are some interesting insights inside, but here's the too expensive, didn't read version: a lot of people like to watch videogames on the computer.