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!
Dota 2
DeMoN re-joins DC
Digital Chaos has let go of David “Moonmeander” Tan and will once again tap the services of veteran Jimmy “DeMoN” Ho.
DeMoN played for DC last April but was kicked after less than a month, leaving him to join complexity Gaming in a quest to reach The International 2017 but left after the team failed to secure qualification.
Moonmeander was signed as support and captain but was relieved in less than a month, after DC struggled in all qualifiers for Minor or Major tournaments.
Alliance did not lock a roster for this season
Jonathan “Loda” Berg, organization head of Alliance, says the team will not lock its roster for the season because he wants “to spend more time tryouts as planned”.
In his official twitter page, the 29-year-old also said The International 2012 winner will “have a team in weeks rather than months”.
Months earlier, Loda has already said he does not want to hasten his search for a new team to avoid regrets.
“Rest assured I am extremely hungry to play some officials, but everything in its own time,” said Loda two months ago. “I might switch to a very uncharacteristic role in order to better lead the team.”
Seeding at StarLadder iLeague Minor released
The International 2017 winner Team Liquid and the runner-up NewBee will get to test the mettle of the new-look Mineski and complexity Gaming, respectively, in the StarLadder iLeague Invitational 3 at CyberSport Arena in Kiev, Ukraine.
Liquid, one of two invitees to the first Minor of the season, is set to face Mineski, the team that has been making waves in the Southeast Asia region thanks to the arrivals of iceiceice, NaNa, and Jabz.
While Liquid has been enjoying the perk of being the TI champion and getting automatic invites, Mineski has been winning qualifiers left and right. Aside from SL iLeague, Mineski will also play in the Dota Pit League and the Perfect World Masters, though they lost in the qualifiers for the first Major of the season, ESL One Hamburg.
compLexity, too, is enjoying the addition of veterans in Chessie and Limmp and has won the qualifiers of the SL iLeague and Perfect World, but only reached the semi-final of other qualifiers.
PlayerUnknown’s Battle Grounds
PUBG to hold $200K invitational in Oakland
PlayerUnknown’s Battle Grounds is getting closer to becoming a real e-sport after announcing it will hold an invitational tournament at the Intel Extreme Masters Oakland.
The PUBG tournament at IEM Oakland will feature a $200,000 prizepool, and will be the game’s first foray into the competitive gaming scene since Gamescom.
“Everyone’s been waiting for the title that will come in and be a game change for esports and it seems like PUBG could be it,” said Michael Blicharz, Vice President of Pro Gaming at ESL, which handles the IEM series.
According to reports, the IEM Oakland will feature 10 teams each from North America and Europe, and another 10 teams from the global qualifiers.
League of Legends
SKT, EDG clash in Worlds Day 2
Defending world champion SK Telecom T1 looks for back-to-back wins in Group A of the 2017 World Championship Series as it plays EDward Gaming in Day 2.
SKT once again displayed it is still the team to fear after it easily crushed Cloud 9, who was coming off an unbeaten run in the Play-in stage.
ED on the other hand suffered an unexpected upset by play-in team AHQ e-Sports on the first day as the Chinese first seed failed to convert its gold advantage into pushing victories, losing the game despite having superior items at the end.
SKT is favoured in Dafa Sports, where a win for the Korean giant is priced 1.28, while a win by the Chinese Summer Split champion is backed at 3.56.