Welcome to super esports weekend

February 11, 2022

by Brian Bencomo

Are you ready for some football … er, esports? Whether you’re looking for something to watch other than the Super Bowl or want an appetizer before the big game, there’s plenty to watch this weekend. In fact, this is the most packed weekend for major esports tournaments so far this year and one of the busiest in all of 2022. Here’s everything you need to know to keep you glued to your couch this weekend.

VALORANT Champions Tour -- NA and EMEA

After two weeks of qualifiers in Europe and North American, the VCT Stage 1 Challengers main event begins in both regions this weekend. The top 12 teams in each region will be in action with two games in each region every day from Friday through Sunday.

The two best matchups to watch in Europe both take place Friday. At 10 a.m. ET, Team Liquid will face Gambit Esports, followed by G2 Esports vs. Fnatic. Team Liquid and Gambit finished in the top four at Champions last year and once again look to be among the best teams in the world. G2 vs. Fnatic are two of the most popular orgs in Europe, and their matchup should be a fun one both in the server and on social media.

In North America, the action kicks off Friday at 4 p.m. ET with a matchup between 100 Thieves and Cloud9. 100 Thieves were one of the best NA teams last year, but C9 beat them in the NA Last Chance Qualifier, preventing 100T from reaching Champions and ultimately leading to C9 qualifying for Champions. This is sure to be an intense matchup.

If you’re rooting for the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl, you may also want to root for The Guard this weekend. Stan Kroenke is the owner of both teams, and The Guard is one of the most exciting up-and-coming NA teams. They’ll face Luminosity Gaming on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.

Photo credit: Riot Games

League of Legends -- LEC and LCS

In Europe, League of Legends European Championship spring season is past the midway point with Week 5 of 9 taking place this weekend. Rogue are currently 9-0, the only undefeated team in the league. They should knock off 0-9 Astralis on Friday, but might get challenged a bit more Saturday when they face a 5-4 Misfits team. Another matchup to keep an eye on is Team Vitality vs. Fnatic on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET. Vitality were a very hyped superteam entering the season, but Fnatic beat them in Week 1 as Vitality started the season 0-3. Since then, Vitality have gone 5-1 to improve their record to 5-4. This should be a much closer matchup with a chance for Vitality to potentially tie Fnatic in the standings.

In North America, the weekend’s LCS action kicks off with Evil Geniuses facing Dignitas on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET. EG have a roster filled with young NA talent, in particular second-year player Kyle "Danny" Sakamaki and rookie Joseph "jojopyun" Joon Pyun, and expectations are high for them. Dignitas had low expectations entering the season, but have started 2-0 and signed an underrated Korean jungler in the offseason in Kim "River" Dong-woo. Later Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET, Cloud9 will face Team Liquid in a classic LCS matchup. C9 have started 2-0 after a rebuild in which the team brought in a couple talented Korean players, while Team Liquid built a superteam with European talent that won the preseason Lock In tournament.

Photo credit: Call of Duty League

Call of Duty League

The second week of online qualifiers for the CDL’s Major I takes place this weekend, and the two matchups to watch are both going off on Friday. At 4:30 p.m. ET, the Minnesota ROKKR face the surprising Seattle Surge. The Surge have been at the bottom of the CDL standings for the past couple years, but after an offseason rebuild, they reached the final of the Kickoff Classic and went 2-0 last weekend with victories over the New York Subliners and Toronto Ultra. The ROKKR have followed up their strong finish to last season with a good start in 2022, including a victory over OpTic Texas last week.

Then, in a match that was originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon, the New York Subliners will take on the Los Angeles Thieves on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET. The match was moved for obvious reasons, and it’ll be a chance for more fans to see two of the best COD players of all time (James “Clayster” Eubanks and Ian “C6” Porter) on the Subliners take on a revamped and seemingly improved LA Thieves squad.

And if you are inclined to support Kroenke Sports & Entertainment teams this weekend, the Los Angeles Guerrillas face the Toronto Ultra on Friday at 6 p.m. ET and the London Royal Ravens on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.

Photo credit: HCS

HCS Anaheim - North American Regionals

The next big Halo Championship Series LAN tournament is going down this weekend in Anaheim, where the top eight North American teams from the Raleigh Kickoff Major as well as eight more qualifiers will compete. The most exciting aspect of the tournament will be bracket play on Saturday and the grand final on Sunday, which unfortunately might be competing against the Super Bowl. As far as group play, that takes place Friday, and we know exactly which matchups we’ll get.

The most top-heavy pool is probably Group A, with Cloud9 and Sentinels there and set to face off Friday at 8 p.m. ET. Cloud9 won the Kickoff Major and have been the best team in Halo esports since the release of Halo Infinite and the return of the HCS. They’ve won their last three matches against Sentinels during the recent Pro Series, though Sentinels did beat C9 back in December. In fact, Sentinels are one of only four teams that have beaten C9.

The other game to watch during group play is the one between eUnited and Pioneers on Friday at 9:15 p.m. ET. EUnited finished second in Raleigh and the Pioneers came in 5th-6th. The Pioneers have gone 2-3 against eUnited, with eUnited winning their last three meetings.

Photo credit: Ubisoft

Rainbow Six Siege -- Six Invitational

The Six Invitational is like the Super Bowl of Rainbow Six esports. The organizers wisely decided not to schedule any matches on Super Bowl Sunday, and the grand final won’t be until next Sunday. What fans can look forward to Friday and Saturday is the conclusion of group play. One game to follow is between FaZe Clan and Team Liquid on Friday at 10 a.m. ET. FaZe are one of the best teams in the world and winners of one of the major last year, but they lost their opening matchup in OT at the Six Invitational. Meanwhile, Team Liquid have started the tournament with two wins and no map losses so far.

If you’re looking for a little NA vs. EU action, you should check out Spacestation Gaming vs. Rogue on Saturday at 10 a.m. ET. Rogue have started the tournament with a win and a loss, while Spacestation have an OT win and a loss, and both sit in the middle of their group with Team Liquid likely to finish first. This matchup could help the winner avoid starting the playoffs in the lower bracket.

Lead photo credit: Riot Games