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
NRG Esports nabs Events D.C. as sponsor
North American esports organization NRG Esports has signed a sponsorship deal with Events D.C., the city’s official convention and sports authority.
The deal will allow the city of Washington to have their logos on NRG’s uniforms and other merchandise. Also, the city is set to host NRG’s future bootcamps.
In the deal is a plan to build an esports arena capable of seating 4,200 fans and is set to open in 2019.
StarCraft’s HD Remaster to come this year
The StarCraft’s HD Remaster can be released as early as the second quarter of this year, according to reports from Sports Seoul and translated by Esports Observer.
According to the report, the game will retain its old campaign and mechanics but will have its graphics updated to the level of StarCraft 2, including the Battle.net service and other custom game features.
Gamemakers hope the HD remaster can help ignite SC’s place in the esports scene, as the game has been dwarfed by other games such as Dota 2, LoL and CS:GO.
Esports Arena to have mobile extension called Drive
To help the esports scene grow in United States, Esports Arena has decided to plan to create Drive, a mobile extension of the esports stadium in Orange County in California.
Drive is a trailer-truck that will have everything that an esports event needs – consoles, gaming computers, large screens for audiences, and even a desk for casters.
This project is based on Big Betty, the mobile esports truck and studio that debuted at Gamescom in Europe last year.
Dota 2
Onyx, Secret and 6 others complete Kiev Major list
The Kiev Major regional qualifiers have been concluded, with Team Secret and Team Onyx standing out from the crop of the competitions.
Secret came out of the European qualifiers after outlasting notable teams like Alliance and B)ears, while Onyx went through the lower bracket to qualify over strong sides like Team NP and Complexity Gaming in the North American qualifiers.
Virtus.Pro grabbed the CIS spot after ending Natus Vincere’s Cinderella run through the lower bracket, while SG e-Sports lived up to the banner and took the South America slot.
Team Faceless continued their dominance in the SEA region, winning the qualifiers after outclassing Mineski.GG in the winner’s bracket. TNC Pro Team booked SEA’s second spot after upsetting Mski.GG in the lower bracket final.
In China, the teams of Invictus Gaming are now represented in Kiev Major after its junior side iG Vitality won the winner’s bracket and its senior team iG won the lower bracket.
Manila Masters invite Secret
Manila Masters named Team Secret as its fourth invited team, following the invites to Evil Geniuses, OG and Newbee.
The Manila Masters will be held at the SM Mall of Asia Arena from May 26 to May 28 and will have a $250,000 prize pool.
Team Secret owner, captain and support player Clement “Puppey” Ivanov has been to two Manila events but has been unsuccessful in both trips finishing last in Manila Major and finishing 5th-6th in ESL One Manila.
Juggernaut Arcana released
Dota 2’s latest patch saw the release of the Bladeform Legacy set, the Arcana set for carry hero Juggernaut.
The Arcana’s lore says that after Yurnero’s mask got snapped, the ancient souls inside it got free and is now giving Juggernaut a new ethereal form and a sidekick dragon to call in need. Included in the Arcana are new loadout, alternate run, teleport, victory and other custom effects.
The patch also includes nerfs and buffs to heroes, and a remodel of the two-headed dragon Jakiro.
League of Legends
Spring Split Update
As of writing, LCK leaders SKT T1 is two series win ahead of KT Rolster with a series in hand. The defending world champion is at 12-1, while KT is at 10-4 after losing to Samsung Galaxy.
This week, Team Solo Mid rose to the top of NA LCS standings after Cloud9 lost to Counter Logic Gaming 1-2 in its last series. TSM is now at 12-2, while C9 is at 11-3 and Phoenix at 9-5.
In the EU LCS, G2 Esports is still compiling wins above wins with and extended its unbeaten start to nine series in Group A, while Group B will see a clear leader after the match between H2K and Unicorns of Love this week.
Royal Never Give Up stretched its win run to seven and now is three series win ahead of Invictus Gaming in LPL Group A, while Edward Gaming slipped to second in Group B after it lost to OMG and Team WE beat LGD Gaming.
CS:GO
PGL Major Krakow announced
Esports tournament organizer PGL announced it will host the next Valve CS:GO Major in Krakow, Poland on July 16 to 23 this year.
The tournament will have a $1 million prize pool and will be held at the TAURON Arena.
Astralis, Virtus.Pro, Natus Vincere, Gambit Esports, North, Fnatic, SK Gaming, FaZe Clan are invited to Krakow, while regional qualifiers will start from June 1 to 18.
NiP signs Epsilon’s draken, moves pyth to sub
Ninjas in Pyjamas relegated Jacob “pyth” Mourojarvi to a substitute role after acquiring William “draken” Sundin from Epsilon Esports.
NiP’s Bjorn “THREAT” Pers cited the team’s subpar performance as reason for the move, and that the team has been lacking good AWPer play.
draken is one of the most outstanding players in 2016, finishing with a +792 kill-death differential as AWPer for Epsilon.
