What to watch this weekend in esports

March 11, 2021

by Olivia Schaller--Updated

Don’t know what to watch this weekend? We’ve got you covered. Here’s a rundown of some of the most intriguing games and tournaments happening this weekend.

VALORANT

The first North American Masters event in the VALORANT Champions Tour, operated by Nerd Street Gamers, starts this weekend. The eight qualified teams competing are: Sentinels, Envy, Immortals, XSET, FaZe Clan, 100 Thieves, Luminosity Gaming and Gen.G. The double-elimination tournament to determine the best team in North America begins Thursday.

Envy against Gen.G kicks things off Thursday, followed by XSET vs. FaZe Clan. Sentinels face Luminosity to start things off Friday, and then 100 Thieves take on Immortals. Sentinels will be playing with a sub instead of Jay “sinatraa” Won following Riot Games’ decision to suspend him while they investigate allegations made against him by his ex-girlfriend.

Masters events are taking place in other regions around the world too, including Europe, Brazil, Turkey, Korea, Japan, Latin America and the CIS region.

Streams on https://www.twitch.tv/valorant_esports_na

Thursday: Starts at 3 p.m. ET
Friday: Starts at 3 p.m. ET
Saturday: Starts at 3 p.m. ET
Sunday: Starts at 4 p.m. ET

League of Legends

This is the final week of the LCS Spring Split. Cloud9 (11-4) will try to hold on to first place as they face Counter-Logic Gaming (4-11), Dignitas (10-5) and Immortals (7-8) this weekend. Their game against Dignitas, who are tied for second place, is the matchup to circle this weekend. The top six teams in the league will qualify for the Mid Season Showdown, and thus far only C9 have locked up their spot. The teams that sit on the edge of qualifying are Evil Geniuses (8-7) and Immortals, with 100 Thieves (9-6) and Team Liquid (9-6) just above them. Dignitas and TSM (10-5) will likely qualify, but either of them could potentially fall out if they go 0-3 this weekend.

Streams on https://www.twitch.tv/lcs

Friday: Starts at 6 p.m. ET
Saturday: Starts at 4 p.m. ET
Sunday: Starts at 4 p.m. ET

Rainbow6 Siege

Nerd Street Gamers is partnering with DarkZero to put on a Rainbow6 pro-am this weekend. The tournament brings together 20 of the best pro and amateur R6 teams in North America, including TSM, Spacestation Gaming, Oxygen Esports and XSET. The teams have all been placed in one of five groups and will be competing for a prize pool of $50,000. TSM is coming off winning the North American League finals in January, and XSET will be competing in R6 for the first time since assembling their roster last month.

NBA 2K League

The NBA 2K League returns to action this weekend with their draft, which takes place Saturday. The 23 NBA 2K teams will participate to draft 62 players from a pool of more than 250 players. Lakers Gaming have the first overall pick, followed by Pacers Gaming and then the Gen.G Tigers of Shanghai. Among the more interesting stories to come out ahead of the draft is the possibility that Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma’s brother, SpaceJamDre, could get drafted, making them the first pair of brothers in which one is competing in the NBA and the other in the 2K League.

Streams on https://www.twitch.tv/nba2kleague