The Boston Major wrapped up last weekend with an exciting final that saw OG defeating Ad Finem to take home the $1 million first prize. But the action didn’t stop there as the final major CS:GO tournament of 2016 saw Astralis outgun OpTic at the Esports Championship Series. The world of digital sports will be fairly quiet now until next year, but we do have a few events to look forward to. All the details on this weekend’s action can be found below. Have a great weekend!

StarCraft II: Intel Extreme Masters

The top WCS Korea players based on their placement in the 2016 WCS Global Finals will be battling it out at the Intel Extreme Masters. Only those with the best macro game will be crowned the victor and win the prize pool of $35,000. The semifinals start today at 21:55 PST and Saturday 06:55 CET, while the finals begin Saturday at 21:10 PST and Sunday 05:10 CET. The event can be watched live over on Twitch.

League of Legends: Intel Extreme Masters

The Intel Extreme Masters returns to South Korea where it’s holding its first ever Asian stadium event in Gyeonggi. It's been eight years since the IEM tournament last visited South Korea and Season 11 continues with its second event. International League of Legends teams will battle it out for their chance to win the $100,000 prize pool. The semifinals start today at 18:30 PST and Saturday 03:30 CET, while the finals start Saturday at 11:40 PST / 20:40 CET. You can check out the official stream over on lolesports.

CSGO: ELEAGUE Major 2017 offline qualifier

The Major Qualifier will be held from the ELEAGUE Arena in Atlanta today and presented live over on Twitch. It will include the eight teams eliminated in the group stage from the prior major, as well as the top eight teams identified through Regional Minor Championships. The full schedule can be found here, while the event can be watched on Twitch.  

Overwatch: Intel Extreme Masters

Six teams from Europe and Asia will come together to deliver a show full of rivalries. Korean team Afreeca Freecs Blue were finalists in the Intel Overwatch APEX League, but failed to claim success after losing to EnVyUs in a 4-0 sweep. The IEM Gyeonggi Invitational will be their second chance to defend Korea's title as they battle on home soil. Meanwhile, Misfits will have a chance to test out their new lineup after a major roster swap. The quarterfinals start today at 08:55 PST / 17:55 CET, while the semifinals begin at 23:40 PST and Saturday at 08:40 CET. The full schedule can be found here, while the stream can be found over on Twitch.   

The Dota 2 Boston Major and CS:GO Esports Championship series aim to end the year in style this weekend. Both events are set to deliver high doses of action, suspense and drama as our digital athletes duke it out. All the details on this weekend’s action can be found below. Have a great weekend!

Dota 2: The Boston Major finals

The Boston Major is well underway as the Dota 2 teams continue to fight for their chance to win their share of a $3,000,000 prize pool. Now that the group stages have finished things are heating up as we head over to the quarterfinals. Virtus.pro and Evil Geniuses are kicking things off today at 07:00 PST / 16:00 CET, followed by WG.Unity and OG. The semifinals start the same time on Saturday, while the finals start later at 15:00 PST / 00:00 CET. You can check out the official stream over on Twitch.

CSGO: Esports Championship Series season 2 finals

FACEIT’s flagship Electronic Championship Series will be taking place at the Anaheim Arena for its second offline finals. The top four teams will face off today in front of thousands of North American fans for their chance to win the $750,000 prize pool. This year’s ECS finals promises to be one of the largest CS:GO events in Southern California, holding 18,000 spectators in the venue. The playoffs kick off today at 11:15 PST / 20:15 CET, while the finals start on Sunday at 18:00 PST and Monday 03:00 CET. Tickets to the event can be bought here, while the full schedule and stream can be found over on the ECS website.

Overwatch: Winter Premiere

Blizzard has partnered with Next Generation Esports to produce the Overwatch Winter Premiere. The event is open to North American teams, and all participants must qualify through open qualifiers starting this Saturday. After the qualifiers, the top eight teams will advance for three weeks of rigorous group play. Only the best teams will have a chance to play at the Winter Premiere, which will be held in January at the NGE Studios in Burbank, California. Teams can register here.

Hearthstone: Esport Superstars

Day two of the Hearthstone Esport Superstars event will be live in Neumünster, Germany today. Pros and YouTubers will come together to battle for the €25,000 prize pool on the world’s first mobile esports arena and roadshow truck—Big Betty. The full weekend schedule can be found here and the event can be streamed over on Twitch.

The holidays are here, as announced by CS:GO's chickens and their garish new sweaters. Please refer to the above image of a chicken wearing a sweater in CS:GO for verification that the chickens are wearing sweaters. They sure are.

Experienced CS:GO players know that the point of CS:GO is to defend chickens with your life, especially after claiming one by targeting it and pressing 'use' to make it follow you around. We must be even more vigilant when our chickens are wearing bright sweaters, as they're easier targets. Please protect the chickens this winter.

Chicken sweaters were a feature in last year's CS:GO winter update, too. Aside from the increased fowl coziness, the latest patch—which went out yesterday—adds a new audio setting, Head-Related Transfer Function, which seeks to "vastly improve 360 degree vertical and horizontal sound positioning." There are also some tweaks to public lobbies, the Nuke map, and a note that "third-person weapon angles now visibly match first-person weapon recoil." 

Players can also buy $1 gifts to give out to random players in their matches, spreading some nice holiday cheer. (I tried to give a present to a chicken but it didn't work and I accidentally shot the chicken. I'm sorry.)

Read the full patch notes here.

Counter-Strike: Classic Offensive is a remake of Counter-Strike being made inside a remake of Counter-Strike.

Yesterday the modder Z00L released a launch trailer for his curious mod, a project that aims to reproduce the look and feel of the original Counter-Strike (version '1.6' as it's more colloquially known) inside CS:GO. "The main goal of the mod is to get the gameplay from 1.6 right into CS:GO including weapons, sounds, movement, all the old stuff you've dreamed to see in CS:GO," he writes on ModDB. "As you can see, I'm pretty near."

The mod is built within CS:GO's version of Source, and it'll require CS:GO to play. At launch, planned December 25, Z00L says that retro versions of Dust2, Italy, Mirage and Inferno will be playable. Each of these maps exist in the current version of CS:GO, of course, but they've since been aesthetically and structurally reimagined in small or significant ways. 

As stated in August, Z00L's goals with the project are to make weapons that behave similarly to 1.6, remove 'GO'-specific guns, replace all sounds, and remove skins. He also outlines what he is not able to do as a result of the engine:

• Wallbangs as in 1.6 (even if I change it it won't penetrate more than 32units)
• Remake the crouching jumping bug (no I won't edit the dlls)
• Playermodel selection (a plugin could fix that though)
• See inside smoke particles (the game don't draw the world when inside, so nope..)
• Bring back the tactical shield
• Change flashes, smoke time, nade physics
• Add buying ammo

So although the project is appetizing to folks like me who grew up playing 1.6 in internet cafes, it does seem to be operating under some fundamental constraints that might make it impossible to include certain movement quirks and 'desirable' map bugs what were buffed out over Counter-Strike's different iterations. It's hard to tell from the in-game trailer exactly how well Classic Offensive captures the movement and weapon feel of old CS, but to my eyes it resembles the higher-fi Counter-Strike: Source more than anything. I guess that isn't unsurprising, considering it's the link between 1.6 and GO.

Which version of Counter-Strike was the best, the most pure, or the most tactically interesting remains a hotly debated topic by FPS players. For the year following its release in 2012, CS:GO wasn’t even the most popular version of Counter-Strike—some players were still actively arguing the merits of GO against its thirteen- and nine-year-old predecessors.

The Dota 2 Boston Major is set to dominate the headlines this weekend, while the Overwatch APEX season 1 comes to an exciting end. There’s plenty to watch besides, from CS:GO’S ELEAGUE finals to the grand finals of Rocket League’s RLCS. All the details on this weekend’s action can be found below. Have a great weekend!

Street Fighter V: The Capcom Cup

It's been a long year, but this weekend the best Street Fighter V players in the world descend on Santa Ana to crown a champion. Catch up on the players here, and check out the official site for loads more information play is ongoing, starting at 10:00 PST / 19:00 CET every day. Here's the livestream.

Dota 2: The Boston Major

The Boston Major is finally debuting this weekend at the Wang Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Sixteen teams will battle through a single-elimination playoff bracket in best-of-three matches, with a best-of-five Grand Finals to determine the winner of the $3,000,000 prize pool. The seeding for the Main Event bracket will be determined by the results of Group Stage which starts tomorrow. You can check out the official stream over on Twitch.

CS:GO: ELEAGUE Season 2 Semifinals and Finals

The CS:Go ELEAGUE season 2 semifinals kick off today with SK Gaming and Astralis fighting it to try secure their place in the finals. The match starts at 14:00 PST / 23:00 CET, while the finals start the following day at 13:00 PST / 22:00 CET. Turner’s ELEAGUE project has been a resounding success, broadcasting Counter-Strike on a weekly basis to television sets worldwide. But for those of you who don’t have TBS can check out all the latest action over on Twitch.

Overwatch APEX Season 1 Final

Overwatch APEX Season 1 is set to come to a climatic end in South Korea this Saturday, with the winner set to take home $90,000. It’s down to Team EnVyUs and AF.Blue, who will contest the final matches. The semifinals saw AF Blue gunning their way to a 3-1 victory over BK Stars, and EnVyUs stole the win over Kongdoo Uncia 3-2 with the help of stand-in Pongphop ‘Mickie’ Rattanasangohod. The finals starts at 00:00 PST / 09:00 CET and can be watched here.

Rocket League: RLCS Grand Finals

More than ten thousand teams signed up for the second season of the Rocket League Championship Series, and it has all come down to the final eight. Four teams from each region will be competing for the grand prize of $50,000. Players will be revving their engines this Saturday at 04:00 PST / 13:00 CET, while the matches continue Sunday at 05:00 / 14:00 CET. The stream can be watched in its entirety here.

Heroes of the Storm: Gold Club World Championship

The Heroes of the Storm Gold Club World Championship is now well underway in Beijing, with $300,000 to be won. The final stages of the tournament will be played at the Water Cube—also known as the National Aquatics Center, which was originally built for the 2008 Olympics. The winners’ finals take place this Saturday, with Ballistix and MVP Miracle kicking things off at 02:30 / 11:30 CET. The grand final starts the following day at 03:30 PST / 12:30 CET. Make sure to catch all the action here.

After four years of war-torn terrorising and counter-terrorising, CS:GO has been modified to include interchangeable weather patterns—each designed to alter fighter playstyles. 

Courtesy of modders Lewis Palfrey and Luke Millanta, de_dust2_w introduces "varying weather patterns" to one the game's most popular maps, dust2, and also extends to its Cache, Mirage and Overpass arenas. "There is a pool of ten different weather patterns," reads the mod's Steam Workshop description. "At the start of each round one of these weather patterns is selected."

Speaking to Eurogamer, Millanta explains that he came up with the idea for manipulable weather in CS:GO in August, however required the support of someone better versed in map making. Known for his work within the CS:GO and GoldenEye: Source communities, Palfrey obliged and set about helping Millanta realise his idea.

"When raining it is harder to both hear enemies approaching and to see without the aid of a sniper rifle," Millanta tells EG. "This means that while your enemy may have an advantage while AWPing [aka while using the Arctic Warfare Magnum sniper rifle, famous for one-hit kills], it is easier for those stealthy players to sneak up on said AWPers. The feedback thus far has been quite good."

If you're a Counter Striker, I'd love to know your thoughts on this in the comments below. Here's a gallery of Millanta and Palfrey's work in action. 

In its latest update, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive moves closer to becoming a full-pelt military catwalk sim with the introduction of new cosmetic gloves. Now you needn't flaunt your impeccable taste in fatigues via the medium of gun alone: now your gloves can be nice-looking, too. I dare say it'll also prove a lucrative new microtransaction beat for Valve.

Here are a few examples from the Glove Case, which boasts 24 all-new gloves, as well as 17 new weapon skins:

One thing's for sure: they are both glove skins. The update ushers in a few other new additions as well, such as Steam Group Lobbies. These allow you to join lobbies based on the Steam Groups you follow. Meanwhile, there is new Music Kit too, from the likes of Hundredth, Beartooth, Blitz Kids and the delicately named Skog.

The full update notes are over here, though that's about the gist of it.

Photo credit: Abraham Engelmark for Dreamhack. Click here for the full version.

Although Dota 2's Boston Major and the World Cyber Arena are just around the corner, there’s still plenty to watch, from top-tier CS:GO to the semi-finals of Overwatch’s Challenger Season. We even have further action from this year’s Dota 2 Dream League. All the details on this weekend’s action can be found below. Have a great weekend!

Heroes of the Storm: Gold Club World Championship – European qualifiers

The 2016 Heroes of the Storm Gold Club World Championship, is a premier international invitational tournament jointly hosted by NetEase and Blizzard Entertainment. Between now and December 3rd, battles will be waged by the top Heroes of the Storm teams from around the world as they battle it out for the GCWC title and a share of the $300,000 prize pool.

The Heroes of the Storm GCWC European qualifiers kick off this Saturday at 05:00 PST / 14:00 CET and will continue at the same time on Sunday. The qualifiers serve to determine the second two teams that will qualify for the HGC League starting in January of 2017. Be sure to watch the live broadcast over on Twitch.

Overwatch: DreamHack Winter 2016

Eight teams will compete for the DreamHack Winter trophy in Sweden. Two qualified European teams, two qualified American teams and four teams from the BYOC qualifiers will battle it out to claim glory. There will be a bunch of familiar faces as panel host Soe will be joined by Jason Kaplan, Ubershouts, ZP, MrX and Hexagrams as casters. It’s sure to be an exciting experience that Overwatch fans won’t want to miss. All times and streams can be found over on DreamHack’s official site.

Overwatch: APEX Challengers Season 1

Currently living and competing in South Korea for OGN’s APEX Season 1, EnVyUs are headed to the semi-finals after they created an upset by defeating Rogue on November 21st. The American team is now the only non-Korean group still standing in the tournament and will face KD Uncia today at 02:00 PST / 11:00 CET. You can check out all the action over on Twitch.

Dota 2: Dream League Season 2

Dota 2 fans will be pleased to know that the Dream League Season 2 Winners’ Final is kicking off this Friday. A double-elimination affair will determine who is worthy enough to walk away with the trophy for Season 6. Each match will be best of three, with a best of five grand final. Matches start today at 02:00 / 11:00 CET, while the grand final will be broadcast this Sunday at 07:00 PST / 16:00 CET. All the latest information and links to the streams can be found here.

CSGO: DreamHack ZOWIE Open Winter 2016

Eight CS:GO teams from across the globe will compete at DreamHack Winter in Jönköping, Sweden for their share of a $100,000 prize pool. Both Cloud9 and OpTic Gaming could again mark another big tournament win for North America, but the Swedish team GODSENT are looking to prove they can perform well despite no longer holding a spot in the ELeague Major. More information about the event and its schedule can be found here.  

It s looking to be a quiet weekend as we begin to ready ourselves for the various major events waiting just around the corner. Last weekend saw the lively finals of five of Blizzard s games Hearthstone, Overwatch, StarCraft II, World of Warcraft and Heroes of the Storm. We even had frenzied punch-up at the American Finals in Street Fighter V. However, like all good things, they must come to an end. Don t feel too bad, mind, as we still have a few exciting events to kick-start your weekend.

Rocket League: Championship Series Season 2, North America and Europe

The Rocket League Championship series will come to an exciting end this weekend as both the North American and European teams battle it out. The North American RLCS competition will be broadcast this Saturday from 12:00 PDT / 20:00 PM CET, while the European competition will take place on Sunday from 9:00 PDT / 17:00 CET. On the North American side the top team is currently Orbit, who formed from Team Exodus after the organisation bought them out following the close of RLCS season one. For Europe, Northern Gaming is currently the favourite to win, but last year the team failed to make it to the grand finals last year. Be sure to check out both streams over on Twitch.

CSGO: Northern Arena 2016, Montreal

Eight of the world s best CS:GO teams are headed to Montreal, Quebec in Canada to compete at the Northern Arena CS:GO Montreal LAN Finals presented by Bell for a prize pool of $100,000. The finals will kick off on November 13th at the Bell Centre where fans will get to meet their favourite players and teams. Tickets for the Sunday final can be bought here, or you can watch the stream over on Twitch. To see the event time and schedule click here.

CSGO: iBUYPOWER Masters 2016

iBUYPOWER Masters (Formerly known as iBUYPOWER Cup) is a premier Counter-Strike:Global Offensive tournament located in Southern California, where the best teams from all over the world will battle for a chance at securing their portion of the $400,000 combined prize pool. Cloud 9, Team SoloMid and FaZeClan are just a few of the eight teams competing at the event this weekend. Doors will open this Saturday at 9:00 PDT / 18:00 CET and entry is completely free. Find out more about the event here.

StarCraft II: World Cyber Arena StarCraft 2016 American Qualifiers

The online three day tournament organised by the Brazilian eSports National League (LNEe) will be taking place this weekend. The goal of the qualifiers is to send the two of the best players to the World Cyber Arena 2016 StarCraft Finals in China. The eight players will compete for $13,900 Prize Pool, and the top two players will be invited to the offline finals in China. More information about the event can be found over on the official website.

There s plenty to watch this weekend from the explosive action of CSGO to the exciting finals of four of Blizzard s games Hearthstone, Overwatch, World of Warcraft and Heroes of The Storm. Meanwhile, the Capcom Pro Tour: North American Finals stand to pack a punch as players gear up to unleash some deadly combos in Street Fighter V.

CSGO: ELEAGUE Season 2

CSGO s Friday night league will bring more explosive action to our screens as teams from each group try to secure a place within the elimination playoffs. Group B including Virtus.pro, Ninjas in Pyjamas, G2 Esports and Echo Fox will play tonight from 18:00 PDT / 23:00 CET. If you don't have TBS, you can also catch the games on Twitch.

Hearthstone: World Championship Global Finals

The finals of the Hearthstone World Championship take place at BlizzCon November 5th with $250,000 going to winner. Four groups of four players will compete in a dual-tournament format until only eight remain, at which point the competition will shift to a single-elimination bracket. The quarterfinals start 4th November at 12:15 PDT / 20:15 CET, while the semi-finals commence the following day at 10:30 PDT / 18:30 CET, ending with the finals at 14:00 PDT / 22:00 CET. Catch all the action on the PlayHearthstone Twitch channel.

Overwatch: World Cup 2016

Overwatch s first ever World Cup concludes this Saturday with the top eight countries in the world duking it out to claim worldwide recognition. There's no prize pool for this exhibition, but the top teams competing at BlizzCon will receive an appearance bonus and a free trip to BlizzCon. The quarterfinals kick off today at 12:15 PDT / 20:15 CET and the finals will begin at 11:30 PDT / 19:30 CET. You can watch the stream here when it s live.

World of Warcraft: Arena World Championship group stage

The Group Eliminations are taking place today at BlizzCon 2016, but the finals are taking place tomorrow at 10:00 PDT / 18:00 CET. Watch Blizzard s esports streams here.

Heroes of the Storm Fall Global Championship

The HoTS Fall Championship will conclude this Saturday as four teams battle it out to win the $1,000,000 prize pool. You can watch the elimination rounds today at 16:00 PDT and midnight CET. The South Korean lineups MVP Black and Ballistix are considered to be the favourites of the competition, with the edge going to MVP Black. The semifinals will start the following day at 12:00 PDT / 20:00 CET, while the finals begin at 16:00 PDT / midnight CET. You can watch the livestream over on Twitch.

StarCraft II: WCS Global Finals

The StarCraft II: WCS quarterfinals start today at 12:00 PDT / 20:00 CET, while the semifinals and grand finals start tomorrow at 12:30 PDT / 20:30 CET. Find the live streams here.

Capcom Pro Tour: North American Finals

The North American Regional Final event takes place at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall today. Be sure to check out the full weekend schedule and find the livestreams here.