“What’s on this week?” is ESI’s weekly feature letting you know just what’s going on in the wonderful world of esports in the next seven days. Each week, ESI picks a selection of events and provides a brief overview of what’s going down, where it’s taking place and how you can watch it.
Another busy week in esports as we start our trip in Berlin with the first PUBG Europe League Kick-off Cup, which will see the 16 PEL teams and the top 16 Contenders teams face off in one electric week of Battle royal action. Then we head to London for the third CWL Major of the year with prize money and Pro Points on the line. Finally, we head back to the Nexus as we check in on the Heroes Lounge as it heads into its final week before the mid-season break.
PUBG Europe League – Kick-off Cup
A few weeks back we included the PUBG European League, this week we’re back with the PEL Kick-off Cup. 32 teams will be split into two groups of 16, including all PEL Phase 1 sides and the top 16 sides from the PEL Contenders Phase 1. The entire event will run from April 30th until May 5th, with the group stage ending on May 2nd before the final 16 teams head into the finals between May 2nd -5th.
Notable teams at the event include ENCE, Team Liquid, NiP, Winstrike Team and G2 who currently make up the top 5 in the PEL. On the Contenders side of the team with top-five sides AVANGAR, Desperado, UNITY, Xoekt enn Naam and Tornado Energy Battle. Teams will battle out in Berlin for a 125,000 (£95,000) prize pool.
Stream: PEL_esports – Location: Berlin, Germany – Date: 30/4 – 5/5 – Sponsors: N/A – Organiser: StarLadder PUBG Corporation – Prize pool: $125,000 (£95,000)
CWL London 2019
The Call of Duty World League heads to London for the third Major of the year in the Call of Duty calendar as CoD esports heads back to the Copper Box Arena, London. Four groups of four will face off in a Bo5 round robin, the top two sides from each pool will be placed in the Championship bracket with the bottom two sides heading to the losers bracket. Once in the Championship rounds, games move to a Bo5 double elimination.
A number of notable teams will be in attendance in London, 100 Thieves, Denial Esports, eUnited, FaZe Clan, Splyce, OpTic, Gen.G and Midnight Esports. The event will span 3 days with $325,000 (£250,000) in prize pool on the line and over 60,000 Pro Points also on the line
Stream: Call of Duty – Location: London, UK – Date: – Sponsors: ASUS, Scuf Gaming, ASTRO Gaming, Mountain Dew– Organiser: Activision, Treyarch, Gfinity – Prize pool: $325,000 (£250,000)
Heroes Lounge Season 1 Europe
Heroes of the Storm has had, to be it lightly, a pretty rough 2019. Not only did Blizzard announce plans to reduce development on the game but they also announced plans to cull the entire esports scene (which at the time, was news to teams and organisations). However, the community has done its part to fill the void left behind. Today, we highlight one such effort in the Heroes Lounge.
The European portion (which is our focus this week) features Granit Gaming, LFT for div S (who we assume need an org), Nothing Left, Team Russia, Wind and Rain, Washed Up, Go Next and Divine Vendetta. Week seven will see the league conclude its first phase, so a larger number of games will be played over the course of the next week. Matches are played in Bo5 over a 14 week period before heading into the end of season playoffs.
Stream: Heroes Lounge– Location: Europe, Online – Date: 3/4 – Sponsors: N/A– Organiser: Heroes Lounge – Prize pool: £6,000
That’s a wrap on this week’s picks, be sure to check back next week for another edition of the ESI weekly picks.
We want to feature at least one smaller event each week on the ESI weekly picks. If you want an event included in a future edition, send an email to david@esportsinsider.com.
