Another great week for esports fans as a diverse range of games provided something for everyone. Aussie and Kiwi esports fans had a lot to like about the weekend too, as our teams performed beautifully around the world. From the League of Origin, through the Hearthstone HCT APAC Championships and on to the RLCS World Championships, there's a great array of highlights from this week in esports.
We're still keeping our esports calendar updated, and we're loving your tips. Remember you can email them to me esportsau@ign.com or you can just click to send me an email. If you want, you can tweet suggestions at me as well, my twitter is down the bottom of this article. Make sure you check out the rest of the esports hub, as well!
League of Legends: League of Origin
A new initiative from Riot Oceania, League of Legends: League of Origin saw teams from Queensland, New Zealand, New South Wales and Victoria battle it out for the right to declare themselves the best state in Australia… at League of Legends, anyway. It was a rough weekend if you're a Queenslander; we're just used to watching our team win, what can I say? The competition was fantastic though, and the players were all having a good time. Held live out at the ESL Studios in Sydney, the crowd was well into the action as well — lots of fans bought jerseys for their state as they cheered on live.
Queensland were knocked out on the first day, forced as they were to play many of their players out of position. They relied pretty heavily on surprise tactics, which scored them some cheeky kills but couldn't earn them a victory. On day two Victoria faced off against New Zealand in a cracking showdown as the Kiwis did their best to hold on. Victoria was too strong, however, and they headed to the Best of 5 against New South Wales.
New South Wales did its best, but it too fell before the might of the Victorian line-up. VicLol is just too strong, I'm afraid. As someone who wanted to see anyone at all apart from Victoria win (they're all really nice guys, but they were basically the Golden State Warriors of the Origin) I've clipped out my favourite moment from the last game of the event for you below.
Counter-Strike: Krakow Asia Minor Championship
The Krakow Asia Minor Championships took place in China this weekend and two Aussie teams did their best to earn a place at the subsequent PGL Major Qualifiers in Krakow later this month. Aussie ex-pat team The Renegades were looking like their new look team was on its way back to form with a dominant performance — they earned first place and a spot at the Qualifiers. Team Immunity earned third place, just barely missing out on a position at the qualifier thanks to a Loser's Bracket loss to home side TyLoo. Watch the Renegades' nexa pick up a beautiful ace against Immunity in the Upper Bracket finals.
Rocket League: RLCS Season 3 World Championships
Los Angeles played host to the Rocket League RLCS Season 3 World Championships this weekend. The best teams from around the world converged on California to see who was the best at smashing a car into a giant ball. The action was epic, and two Aussie teams — JAM Gaming and Alpha Sydney — did their best to represent Oceania at the event. JAM Gaming's first game was against eventual World Champions Northern Gaming, and it was a rough matchup for the team. They undoubtedly took quite a bit away from the showdown though — playing the best in the world is always good, even if it is a smashing.
Alpha Sydney won their first round against locals Denial Esports, but found themselves in the Losers' bracket after a showdown with the EU Champions Mock-It in Round 2. EU hopefuls The Leftovers would eventually knock out both JAM Gaming and Alpha Sydney in the Losers' Bracket. In the larger scheme of the event, Northern Gaming battled its way out of the Losers' Bracket and into the Grand Final, where they had to beat Mock-It Esports twice to earn the title of Rocket League World Champions. Watch the winning (and only) goal in Game 7 of the Grand Final below.
Overwatch: Pacific Championships Week 9
Blank Esports had a double header this week in the Overwatch Pacific Championship, playing back-to-back games with ahq e-Sports Club (the spelling of esports there is literally a war crime) and Machi esports, both Taiwanese teams. The Aussies smashed them both, winning all six maps and all but locking in a playoffs spot in a few weeks time. Watch Blank hold onto a 2.22m defend to secure a win on Numbani against ahq.
Hearthstone: HCT APAC Spring Championships
The Hearthstone Championship Tours APAC Championships wrapped up this weekend with players from across APAC competing for a share in a $25,000USD Prize Pool and a place at the upcoming Spring Championship in Shanghai. Aussie card shark CitizenNappa snaked it through to the Top 8 Playoffs alongside Kiwi Mage, and both players made the cut. Japanese player Tredsred knocked CitizenNappa out in the Semis, but Mage managed to get a little ANZ revenge in the Grand Finals. Mage won the full event and looked dominant as he did so — it will be interesting to see how he goes in Shanghai. Watch below for the moment he wins the Finals, but if you want some insight into how good Mage is, it's well worth watching the full Finals match-up, as he reads Tredsred's Counter-Spell plays like they're in 100 point bold font.
If there are any kick-ass highlights we missed above, drop me a line on twitter or tell us in the comments below. We'll keep an eye on the good stuff though, so make sure you come back next week to see more!
Joab Gilroy is an Australian-based freelancer that specialises in competitive online games and esports. You can tweet at him here.
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