Welcome to the Weekly Recap, where we gather the top stories that happened in the past week to help you catch up with the busy world of eSports!
General News
Singapore to establish Esports Academy
Singapore’s Cybersports and Online Gaming Association (SCOGA) is in the early stages of establishing the Esports Academy, an organization that will train esports athletes, trainers, and commentators.
According to its press release, SCOGA has signed three agreements which will help them train 2000 esports enthusiasts and engage over 50,000 more through their events in the future.
“We hope that this [Esports Academy] prepares them for the jobs of the future and help them achieve their aspirations,” said SCOGA founder and president Kelvin Tan.
NBA Esports League takes next step, announces Donohue as managing director
National Basketball Association and its esports partner Take-Two Interactive Software has taken the next step in establishing the NBA 2K Esports League, naming senior vice president Brendan Donohue as the gaming league’s managing director.
Donohue will step down from his post in the league to concentrate on the esports division, which aims to replicate the NBA’s structure and format.
“We are thrilled that we already have in place a seasoned sports executive to lead this new league,” said NBA commissioner Adam Silver of Donohue, who has been with the NBA since 2009 and has handled the association’s marketing and business operations.
Dota 2
Secret, VP take top seeds in Kiev
After finishing the swiss-format group stage undefeated, Secret and Virtus.Pro have secured the top two seeds in the single-elimination playoffs of the Kiev Major.
Secret swept VG.J, Digital Chaos and Invictus Gaming to earn the top seed, while VP earned the second seed as they dropped one map to Team Random in Round 2. VP defeated Faceless, Team Random and TNC Pro team.
League of Legends
SKT thrashes KT in LCK final
SKT Telecom mercilessly owned KT Rolster 3-0 in the 2017 LCK Spring Split final behind the performances of its talented powerhouse team.
Three-time world champion SKT defeated KT in just 36 minutes in Game 1, with SKT Faker compiling a 10/4/5 and a 17k networth on Fizz.
Game 2 was even more one-sided as SKT finished the match in just 32 minutes with a 19-8 lead on the killscore and almost 11k advantage in gold.
When many were expecting KT to make it a competitive series, SKT stepped on their rivals’ necks and finished the third game in 29:33 with a 25-7 killscore and around 20k advantage in net worth.
Faker just had 3/2/12 on Lulu but SKT Peanut dominated that last game as he had an 11/1/9 slashline on his Graves.
TSM outlasts C9, claims NA LCS Spring Split title
Team SoloMid survived Cloud9’s late rally to win the NA LCS 2017 Spring Split final 3-2.
TSM raced to the quickest 2-0 lead in NA LCS finals history after it punished C9 for going too far in their dives, but the latter got more patient in Games 3 and 4 and bled through their eyes to force a decider.
C9 pulled ahead early in the last game but a two-tower push by TSM in the mid-fight brought the match back to balance, until TSM brought down 2 C9 champions in a clash on the Elder Dragon pit and made the necessary push to win the championship.
In the battle for third, Phoenix1 defeated FlyQuest esports in a thrilling classic that went the distance 3-2.
G2 beats UoL to win 3rd straight split
G2 displayed its dominance in the EU LCS anew, this time handily beating Unicorns of Love 3-1 in the 2017 Spring Split finals to win their third straight split championship.
The three-time split champions opened the series with a thundering win in Game 1 after they dominated UoL 22-7 in the kill count and had a 22k lead in gold held.
UoL showed some fight in the 30-minute Game 2 but G2 Zven worked his way to an 8/1/7 line on Caitlyn and led G2 to victory.
Game 3 proved to be the closest game in the series, with UoL prevailing and forcing another match after they eked out a 17-14 lead in the kill score and around 3k lead in net worth.
But G2 returned to its winning ways in Game 4, with G2 Expect’s 8/2/5 on Camille and G2 mithy’s 13 assists on Braum proved enough to push G2 to the championship.
CS:GO
SK Gaming outlasts Gambit to win cs_summit final
SK Gaming shrugged off its poor start and rediscovered its winning form just in time to defeat Gambit 3-1 in the cs_summit championship match.
The Brazilians, entered the finale from the upper bracket and held a one-map advantage even before the series began, struggled in the first map and lost in the Inferno 10-16 to the European side.
But SK rebounded well in the second map and won 13 of the first 15 rounds, then won three straight rounds after the map break to take Cache 16-2 make it 2-1 in the series.
The Train proved to be toughest clash in the ultimate series, with the Brazilians leading by just three rounds before the break. Gambit tied the score after taking the first three rounds at the restart, but SK once again was able to regained lost composure and slug it out for the win 16-13.
The Mongolz, Spotnet takes spot in Krakow qualifier
Two squads have earned their tickets to the minor qualifiers of the 2017 PGL Major Krakow.
The Mongolz climbed out of the East Asia qualifier, while Spotnet fought its way out of the Middle East qualifier.
The two teams will join six others in the fight for a ticket to the Major in Krakow, Poland. The winner of this last qualifier will also win $50,000.
Overwatch
China, holder South Korea lead World Cup list
The qualification period has ended, and now the list of 32 teams competing at the 2017 Overwatch World Cup is completed.
South Korea, who swept Russia 4-0 to lift the inaugural world title last year, is only second in the list of qualified teams, which are all ranked using Blizzard’s skill rating for nations.
China leads the list with 4,550 in SR, followed by the holders with 4,522. USA is third, while Sweden is fourth and Finland is fifth.
UK, Canada, France, Denmark, and Russia round out the top 10, though Germany, Japan and Australia are not far behind.
