Coronavirus won’t win – which tournaments will we watch during quarantine?

March 16 Valve canceled EPICENTER Major 2023 – The tournament was already the second major affected by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. But if it seems to you that e-sports – like football, hockey and basketball – disappeared from our screens before the summer, then this is absolutely not so. Championships in Dota 2, CS: GO, Warcraft III and other games can easily be transferred to online, which has already been done by many tournament operators. In this article we will tell you what events the e-sports industry will be able to offer us until June.

Battle of two leagues

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is the first eSports discipline to be affected by coronavirus. February IEM Katowice 2023 took place on a schedule, but his playoffs went without fans, because the arena was closed for visiting by order of the Polish authorities: Natus vincere I had to raise the cup in front of the empty stands. In order to avoid a repetition of the situation, ESL and other operators quickly switched to the format of online tournaments.

So, March 16th began ESL Pro League Season 11, in which 24 teams are fighting for $ 750 thousand. Among the participants are regulars in the top ten of the world ranking: Team vitality, Astralis, Ninjas in pajamas, Faze clan, Og, G2 esports, NAVI and Virtus.pro and others. In fact, the EPL has gathered all the best teams in the professional scene, and going online should not prevent the league from becoming the highlight of the spring in CS: GO. You can follow the schedule and all broadcasts of the event on this page.

At the same time, another league began, which also has something to see – FLASHPOINT from FACEIT. To get into it, clubs (according to rumors) had to pay $ 2 million each – a similar franchise format in CS: GO had not been used before. The composition of the participants in this league is more modest than in the EPL – among large clubs, only MIBR, Team dignitas and Cloud9. However, the organizers have already said that they hired a former screenwriter of the largest wrestling show in the world to help e-sportsmen create more charismatic images. This means that even if the FLASHPOINT matches themselves turn out to be one-sided, after them, viewers can expect some surprises on the broadcasts. League grid and schedule available here.

Four minors are due to start in Brazil on April 26th, and participants will play slots on the ESL One Rio 2023 major. It is highly likely that these tournaments will also be transferred online – in the near future, the organizers should talk about the future of these championships.

Back to daughter roots

Fans of Dota 2 also should not be discouraged: the vacuum that arose after the cancellation of the majors began to quickly fill various online tournaments. The largest of them, at least for now, is WeSave! Charity playwhose prize fund will be given to organizations fighting against coronavirus. The organizers allocated $ 120 thousand for charity, but everyone can replenish the fund – from tournament participants to spectators.

Almost all the best teams in the world will take part in the competition: Team secret, Og, Nigma, Team liquid, TNC Predator, Virtus.pro other. Even Chinese teams decided to join Ehome and Invictus gamingdespite the difference in time zones. The composition of the analytics is also impressive: they will work in an English-language studio Kyle Kyle Friedman, Owen ODPixel Davis and Jorin Sheever van der Hayden, and Russian-speaking viewers will be able to listen Ilya Lil Ilyyuk, Andrey Ghostik Kadik, Andrey Mag Chipenko and even Danila Dendi Ishutina. Games will be held from March 20 to 26. Event news can be monitored on this page.

Playoffs kick off the day after Charity Play finals Parimatch Dota 2 League Season 2. This tournament is actually a prototype of the regional leagues that Valve has planned to introduce from the 2023/2023 season for qualifying for majors and The International. In the decisive stage, the competition will play Virtus.pro, Winstrike team, FlyToMoon and Hellraisers – The tournament prize pool will be $ 100 thousand.

Fans of the South American “Dota” will also not be left without a tournament – there the organizers will arrange a championship No Major No Problem, in which the strongest squads of the region will take part. FURIA, Infamous, Thunder predator, paiN gaming and other teams will play $ 10 thousand – a modest amount, but this is unlikely to affect the quality of the games. It seems that the slogan “No major – no problem!” quite justified.

Everything is calm in Warcraft

The most loyal audience of Warcraft III may not notice the epidemic, because many tournaments on this game have previously been held online. So, no changes are expected in the professional scene: Dmitry Happy Kostin will be able to continue the winning streak.

On March 20, the DuSt League Season 3 starts for players from America and Oceania, and on April 3 the Huya Super League will take place, in which they will participate Ja Sok Ho Wook, Happy and other stars. The discipline also planned to hold a number of offline tournaments, which now are also likely to go into the traditional Warcraft III format: this fate will probably befall Masters Clash 2023, ESL Meisterschaft and other events.

Adventure Time

Quarantine can also be a good reason to get acquainted with new disciplines. Statistics confirms: Viewers have become more likely to watch live streaming on Twitch across a wide variety of games.

For example, at the end of March, the organizers plan to resume matches of the regular season of LCK – the Korean League of Legends championship, in which the leader Gen.G – only three points ahead of two pursuers at once. Tense ending of the season is planned! This discipline is much inferior to Dota 2 in popularity in the CIS, but it is very successful in other regions – perhaps it is time to find out why?

If you prefer shooters, then in quarantine you can take a closer look at the Overwatch League. The league changed the format of the season and moved the matches online to ensure the safety of players, and also introduced a new system of hero bans. Now the characters will be less likely to be in the match if they were involved more often than others the previous week. Such measures will clearly help to combat the stagnation of meta, which means that the championship will become even more interesting. You can always find out the game schedule and the position of teams on the league page.

If in an epidemic you do not want to follow intense competitive gaming, you can pay attention to more casual tournaments. For example, the Leighton Orient football club has launched the FIFA league, in which representatives from teams from all over Europe will play – from Manchester City and Roma to Benfica and Marseille. The championship will be charitable: all proceeds will go to the fight against coronavirus.

Recently, Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois participated in the virtual F1 race, and now other motorsports enthusiasts are considering a similar format. In addition, many stars who were under house arrest began to actively develop Twitch. Check out your favorite athlete’s twitter – he’s probably conquering Fortnite right now!