Top 5 games to watch this weekend in esports

Don’t know what to watch this weekend? We’ve got you covered. This weekend is Challengers Playoffs in the North American VALORANT Champions Tour, the LCS Championship continues, and it’s the last week of the regular season in the Overwatch League.

Florida Mayhem vs. Houston Outlaws -- Friday, 4:30 p.m. ET

Overwatch League Countdown Cup

Both Florida and Houston are 1-1 and need wins in order to advance to the West Region knockout round, which takes place Sunday. The Mayhem successfully made it past the knockout stage in the May Melee, but have yet to have the same success in subsequent tournaments. The Outlaws have been one of the best teams in the West all season but have yet to make it to Hawaii. Whoever wins this matchup will likely be in the knockout stage with a chance to go to Hawaii.

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OWL schedule:

• Thursday: West Region -- 3 p.m. ET
• Thursday: East Region -- 5 a.m. ET
• Friday: West Region -- 3 p.m. ET
• Saturday: East Region -- 5 a.m. ET
• Saturday: West Region -- 3 p.m. ET
• Sunday: East Region -- 5 a.m. ET
• Sunday: West Region -- 3 p.m. ET

Streams on youtube.com/overwatchleague

TBD vs. TBD -- Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET

NA VALORANT Champions Tour Challengers Playoffs

There will be two Challengers Playoffs games Friday: the upper bracket final and the third round of the lower bracket. Both upper bracket finalists -- Sentinels and 100 Thieves -- have already qualified for Masters: Berlin, so it’s the third round lower bracket matchup that you should watch. The winner of that match will be NA’s third representative in Berlin.

Read more: How Overwatch background distinguishes FaZe’s VALORANT team, for better or worse

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

VCT schedule:

• Thursday: Starts at 5 p.m. ET
• Friday: Starts at 5 p.m. ET
• Saturday: Starts at 3 p.m. ET
• Sunday: Starts at 3 p.m. ET

100 Thieves vs. Evil Geniuses -- Saturday, 5 p.m. ET

LCS Championship

The winner of this match will not only advance to the LCS Championship upper bracket final, but will also claim the first of North America’s three spots at the 2021 League of Legends World Championship. 100 Thieves have made one Worlds appearance in 2018, but Evil Geniuses have never qualified for Worlds. Both teams went 18-9 during the summer split, and EG went 3-2 against 100T.

Read more: A long way from home, Oceania players find opportunity in the LCS

LCS schedule:

• Thursday: Immortals vs. Dignitas --6 p.m. ET
• Friday: Golden Guardians vs. Cloud9 -- 6 p.m. ET
• Saturday: 100 Thieves vs. Evil Geniuses -- 5 p.m. ET
• Sunday: TSM vs. Team Liquid -- 4 p.m. ET

Streams on twitch.tv/lcs

TSM vs. Team Liquid -- Sunday, 4 p.m. ET

LCS Championship

Like the Evil Geniuses-100 Thieves matchup on Saturday, this matchup will determine another one of North America’s representatives at Worlds. Both TSM and Team Liquid have been to Worlds multiple times. Team Liquid have gone three straight years, while TSM have gone eight times, including just last year. During the summer, TSM went 5-0 against Team Liquid.

Streams on twitch.tv/lcs

San Francisco Shock vs. Toronto Defiant -- Sunday, 6 p.m. ET

Overwatch League Countdown Cup

This is the last game of the Overwatch League 2021 regular season. The Shock are 1-1 during Countdown Cup qualifiers and will likely need to win this match to qualify for the tournament’s knockout round on Sunday. A win should also help them maintain the third spot overall in the West Region standings. Being top three in the west would secure a playoff spot and they’ll avoid play-ins. Toronto might also need a win to secure their spot in the knockouts given how things shake out this weekend, although at 2-0 they enter the weekend in a better position than San Francisco.

Streams on youtube.com/overwatchleague

Lead image credit: Riot Games via ESPAT