What to watch this weekend in esports

March 18, 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.

VALORANT

Masters

The first North American Masters event in the VALORANT Champions Tour concludes this weekend. FaZe Clan and Sentinels were the most exciting teams last weekend, and they will play in the winner’s final. 100 Thieves take on Gen.G in one lower-bracket match, and Team Envy and Luminosity Gaming will face off in the other elimination match. All three of those matchups take place Friday, and there will be two more games Saturday leading up to the grand final Sunday.

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

Streams on twitch.tv/valorant_esports_na

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

VCT Game Changers

Masters isn’t the only VALORANT competition happening this weekend. Nerd Street Gamers is operating this weekend’s VCT Game Changers open qualifier, which is an all-women VALORANT tournament. It remains to be seen what teams will be competing, but earlier this week both CLG and TSM announced all-women teams. Other prominent organizations fielding all-women teams are Cloud9 and Dignitas. The top eight teams at the open qualifier will advance to the main event next weekend.

League of Legends

The Mid-Season Showdown starts this weekend, featuring the top six teams from the LCS Spring Split. TSM and Team Liquid kick things off Saturday, and Cloud9 take on 100 Thieves on Sunday. The winner of the tournament will be the North American qualifier for the Mid-Season Invitational, which will be an international LAN tournament set to take place in Iceland in May.

Streams on twitch.tv/lcs

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

Call of Duty

Stage 2 of the Call of Duty League season starts this weekend with the Stage 1 Major champs Atlanta FaZe facing the up-and-coming New York Subliners on Thursday. The 2020 defending-champion Dallas Empire play against the Seattle Surge on Saturday. Other notable games this weekend feature the Los Angeles Thieves facing the Toronto Ultra on Friday and then closing out the weekend against the Subliners on Sunday.

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

Rocket League

The first regional event of the RLCS Season X NA spring season takes place this weekend. NRG, Team Envy and Spacestation Gaming enter the spring as the top three teams in terms of circuit points. Rogue, who won the third regional event of the winter and was runner-up in the Winter Major is another team to watch. The winner of the tournament will earn 451 points and $30,000.

Streams on: twitch.tv/rocketleague