DreamHack Summer: Quick Hits
Hearthstone
Hearthstone pro Dima “Rdu” Radu became the only Hearthstone professional player to win multiple DreamHack tournaments. With his recent struggles, Rdu is thrilled by the first place finish that has been eluding all this year.
Using a combination of Shaman, Hunter, Warlock and Mage decks, Rdu was able to defeat “Fr0zen” Frank Zhang 3-1 in the grand finals and walk away with $8,000.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
William “Leffen” Hjelte continues his hot streak since his reentry into the Melee competitive scene. With the benefit of competing in his home country of Sweden, Leffen made quick work of his competitors.
Renowned Fox player Adam “Armada” Lindgren unfortunately missed this year’s tournament due to the flu. His presence would have given Leffen a run for his money as he was the only “anointed God” to be in attendance at DreamHack Summer.
Leffen cruised through the tournament by using MewTwo, only switching to his signature Fox when he dropped a game to Mustafa “Ice” Akcakaya, ultimately beating him 3-2.
The next Smash tournament of note takes place July 1st-3rd in Memphis, Tennessee.
Street Fighter V
Norwegian Arman “Phenom” Hanjani made history during the Street Fighter V portion of DreamHack Summer when he became the first European SFV player to win a major tournament. Phenom did so in style by beating Ai “Fuudo” Keita 3-2 in the winner’s final and then once again in the grand finals 3-1.
What makes Phenom’s run even more impressive is the talent that he defeated on his climb towards to top, taking down Daigo “The Beast” Umehara, Kenryo “Mago” Hayashi and Reiketsu.
The next stop for the Street Fighter V circuit is the highly anticipated EVO 2016 which will boast a record number of entrants for a Street Fighter title this year.
You can watch EVO from July 15th-17th on Twitch.
Other News
Cloud 9 Disbands HotS Squad
In a shocking announcement, Cloud 9 has decided to exit the competitive world of Heroes of the Storm and has no future plans of returning.
While the Cloud 9 squad’s performance of late has been lackluster, the team has been one of the most successful in the short time that HotS has been an esport — winning several premier tournaments since creating a team in 2014.
What’s more troubling, rumors that the top Korean HotS squad MVP Black is considering walking away from the scene and Tempo Storm recently announced they would be dropping the current roster of their HotS squad.
With the introduction of the competitive Overwatch and it’s surging popularity in Korea, the future of competitive HotS may be bleak.
Call of Duty Championship Dates Announced
Typically held in the Spring, the Call of Duty championships were pushed back until the fall this year and it looks like it was worth the wait.
The tournament launches September 2-4th in Los Angeles. Dubbed CODXP, the three-day event will feature a plethora of interactive exhibits and activities — Nuketown paintball arena, debut of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, and Call of Duty VR. Tickets for admissions range from $50-200.
This year’s championship will be its largest prize pool to date, boasting a total purse of a little over 3.5 million smackers. Stay tuned for more information as the tournament draws near.
The International Starts to Take Shape
Dota 2’s annual championship is on the horizon and all but two teams have been confirmed for the tournament. The Four runner-up teams in the regional qualifiers will fight for the remaining two slots in the year’s biggest tournament.
The prizepool has already ballooned to over 14.2 million dollars with over a month left to bring in more money. Last year’s figure of 18.4 million is on pace to be broken and Valve might even reach the 20 million dollar mark.
The International 6 takes place once again in Seattle, Washington starting August 3.
ESL New York to Host Street Fighter V
ESL will officially host the Brooklyn Beatdown for Street Fighter V this fall. ESL is putting up a $75k prize pool and will organize an online tournament before the Brooklyn Beatdown begins. Depending on your performance do during the online tournament, you can win an assortment of prizes, including airfare and lodging to attend ESL One New York.
The live tournament itself will feature a 1,024 player bracket. During the duration of ESL New York, there will be officially sanctioned Capcom Pro tournaments happening in Jakarta and Lodz. It’s nice to see ESL pick up the slack here and host a Street Fighter tournament for all the NA players who couldn’t attend the other events across the globe.
ESL One New York will primarily be a Counter Strike: Global Offensive tournament and run from October 1st-2nd.
This will be the last written esports digest for now. Instead, you can find more daily esports coverage, as it happens, right here on fandom.com!