Esports Weekly News – Stories you may have missed!

 

The Summit 5 kicked off this week, providing fans with an early look at how the teams are shaping up before the The International 6

MTN DEW® and ESEA have created the Mountain Dew League to give thousands of amateur gaming teams the opportunity to qualify into the next season of ESL’s CS:GO Pro League.

Supercell’s Clash Royale has added a tournament feature very recently but does this mean it will soon be an esport?

SK Gaming may have taken the trophy at ESL One Cologne, however we saw some great emotion from TaZ and Heaton.

 

 

MTN DEW® and ESEA provide a path to the ESL CS:GO Pro League with the MDL!

MTN DEW® and ESEA have created the Mountain Dew League to give thousands of amateur gaming teams the opportunity to qualify into the next season of ESL’s CS:GO Pro League. MDL teams will battle for eight weeks and the top teams will face off at the Mountain Dew Championship in the hopes of joining the ranks of the CS:GO pros.

“MDL provides a unique opportunity for aspiring professional gamers to realize their dreams on a global stage” said Craig Levine, CEO of ESL America. “With the popularity of esports exploding, we’re excited to partner with MTN DEW and find the next generation of Counter-Strike superstars.”

MDL kick’s off with the Last Chance Qualifier on August 27/28 where over 7,400 amateur players will compete in ranked matchmaking. The top 24 teams from the Mountain Dew Last Chance Qualifier will then play each other once a week over the course of eight weeks in the Mountain Dew League Season.

Read the full story here

 

The Summit 5: Format, Schedule and Teams

The Summit 5 kicked off this week, providing fans with an early look at how the teams are shaping up before the The International 6. As one of the final LAN events before the Dota 2’s most prestigious event, fans and teams alike will be watching every match very, very closely.

Summit 5 LAN preview teams

Three teams were directly invited to participate in the event. One team from each region qualified for the event. One team earned their spot through the community Redemption Vote.

• OG – Direct Invite
• Na’Vi – Direct Invite
• Team Liquid – Direct Invite
• Wings Gaming – Chinese qualifier
• Ad Finem – European qualifier*
• Digital Chaos – American qualifier
• Fnatic – SEA qualifier
• FDL – Redemption Vote

*Added after Virtus.Pro admitted to cheating.

 

Why Are Sports Teams Getting Into eSports?

eSports is unique when compared to traditional sports. Look at it this way: football, tennis, basketball or what have you all have individual rules, ways of playing, high profile players and sport-specific governing organisations.

eSports is the same, too, but despite the differences between games – just compare competitive League Of Legends to FIFA. They still all fall under this one banner of ‘eSports’.

The result is well known and recognisable teams that span a wide range of games. Fnatic, Cloud9, Evil Geniuses, SK Gaming, Counter Logic Gaming and many more all have squads dedicated to many different titles.

You wouldn’t see the name Manchester United plastered onto another other than associated with football. Tennis players represent themselves, their sponsors arranged through agents not as part of a wider team.

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After creating a competitive mobile hits like Clash of Clans and Clash Royale, and being valued at roughly $10 billion after the Tencent buy, we think Supercell has a pretty good chance of making quite a splash into the esports industry. And, as we said already, Clash Royale has the potential to be a great esports title.

Last week, Supercell went one step closer toward that goal with the addition of a “tournament feature” to its game. But while it brings an easy way to compete on an equal playground against others, it is more a promotional tool than an effort to actually build an esports scene.

To create a tournament, players can spend from 500 gems (roughly $5) for a 100-player tournament granting a first-place reward of 30 cards. 250,000 gems (roughly $1785) for a 1000-player tournament granting a first-place reward of 15,000 cards.

Read the full story here