Here are the top events to watch this weekend in esports

June 3, 2021

by Brian Bencomo

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.

League of Legends

Regional League of Legends action returns this weekend with Week 1 of North America’s League of Legends Championship Series (LCS). Unlike previous years, teams’ records will carry over from the spring season. The summer split kicks off Friday with a matchup between Team Liquid (12-6) and TSM (12-6). Cloud9, spring champions and NA representatives at the Mid-Season invitational, will play 100 Thieves on Saturday and Team Liquid on Sunday.

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

Friday: Starts at 6 p.m. ET
Saturday: Starts at 5 p.m. ET
Sunday: Starts at 4 p.m. ET

Call of Duty

Week 2 of Stage 4 of the Call of Duty League takes place this weekend. The Florida Mutineers are the team to watch. They’re surging, and they’ll face the New York Subliners on Saturday and Los Angeles Guerrillas on Sunday. The Atlanta FaZe continue to dominate, and they’ll take on the Seattle Surge on Friday and the Los Angeles Thieves on Sunday. A matchup between the New York Subliners and Dallas Empire closes out the weekend.

Streams on: youtube.com/CODLeague

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

Overwatch

The third and final week of June Joust qualifiers takes place this weekend. The surprising Boston Uprising (2-0) will face the Paris Eternal and Los Angeles Gladiators and are in a good spot to qualify for the West Region June Joust knockout stage. The Dallas Fuel (1-1), who won the May Melee, will need a win or two when they face the Florida Mayhem and Vancouver Titans this weekend in order to qualify.

In the East Region, the Philadelphia Fusion (0-2) will face the Guangzhou Charge and Los Angeles Valiant with little margin for error as they look to qualify for the June Joust East Region knockout round. This weekend’s East Region games are actually being played onstage in Hangzhou in front of an audience. It’ll be the first of three such offline events planned to take place in China this year. However, only the Chinese teams will be onstage, with the teams based in Korea (Philadelphia Fusion, NYXL and Seoul Dynasty) not expected to travel.

Streams on: https://www.youtube.com/overwatchleague

Thursday: West division play starts at 3 p.m. ET
Friday: East division play starts at 5 a.m. ET
Friday: West division play starts at 3 p.m. ET
Saturday: East division play starts at 5 a.m. ET
Saturday: West division play starts at 3 p.m. ET
Sunday: East division play starts at 5 a.m. ET
Sunday: West division play starts at 3 p.m. ET

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Top tier CS:GO returns this weekend with IEM Season XVI -- Summer. Sixteen teams are competing out of two groups, each with a double elimination bracket, with the top three teams from each group advancing to the playoffs next weekend. Natus Vincere, winners of DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 will not take part in the tournament. The runners-up, Gambit Esports, are in Group A and will face Sprout in the first round. Astralis, Team Vitality and G2 Esports are also in Group A. Heroic, Team Spirit and Virtus.pro highlight the teams in Group B.

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