This weekend sees one of the biggest eSports companies in the world, DreamHack, host their first event in the UK bringing with them some of the best Counter Strike: Global Offensive teams ever and a whole host of top Call of Duty, Street Fighter and Smash Bros talent. The action is set to take place at The Copper Box arena in the Olympic Park with thousands of eSports fans expected to be in attendance to watch some top quality matches and explore the sizeable expo.
Being one of very few major eSports events held in the UK, the DreamHack team have tried to make it as friendly as possible to local players, by selecting games that the UK has traditionally done quite well in. If we go back a few years to the early days of eSports the UK was one of the top Counter Strike countries, and while there aren’t many top tier teams any more we are still decent at CS:GO. That being said the only local team to be taking part in the event is EZskins who made it through the UK only qualifier. Unfortunately the chances of them winning the event are incredibly slim thanks to other top tier teams also taking part.
Team SoloMid at the last DreamHack event
One of the favourites heading into the event has to be Team SoloMid, who just last weekend made it to the final of the ESL ESEA Pro League Dubai Invitational, narrowly losing out to Virtus.Pro in the final. TSM have only lost four of their last 12 matches, and have seemingly found a good run of form after just missing out on a place in the final of ESL One Cologne last month. The team that denied them that final appearance, and the team responsible for one of TSM’s recent defeats is EnVyUs, who are also competing this weekend at DreamHack. EnVyUs have had a strong year; despite switching a few players a couple of months ago, with multiple top 3 finishes in major competitions. They finished second at the last CS Major, but didn’t have the greatest time in Dubai last weekend, only picking up one win. The team will surely be looking to bounce back from that disappointment and with the talent on the squad the team can easily be backed for a top 2 finish.
TSM and EnVy may go in as the favourites but the rest of the field is also packed with talent, with teams such as G2.Kinguin, Team Dignitas and the Australian squad Renegades all taking part. Team Dignitas’ Danish roster have surprised many over the last few months to cement themselves as a top team and could easily be the dark horse of this event. G2.Kinguin are a last minute replacement for mousesports who dropped out earlier in the week. Kinguin are somewhat of a super team with an incredibly strong roster that have somewhat underperformed. Their individual talent however is not to be underestimated and with a good run they could easily take the DreamHack crown. SK Gaming and Copenhagen Wolves round out the event, although a top two finish for either side would be classed as a surprise.
You will be able to watch the entire CS:GO event below. It starts at noon UK time today.
Of course it wouldn’t be a DreamHack event if there was just one game on offer. Call of Duty Advanced Warfare will also have a solid showing in the form of an open tournament, which is open to any team that buys a ticket. Because of the open format no teams have been officially announced, but with $20,000 in prize money up for grabs you can expect to see many of Europe’s best CoD players across both days.
The crowd at DreamHack Valencia
Call of Duty is a bit of a new frontier for DreamHack who have only hosted one significant CoD event before. Due to the games popularity and strong competitive scene in the UK they have decided to step out of their comfort zone and host the open event, which is set to be presented and casted by the incredible trio of Alan “Bricey” Brice, Philip “Momo” Whitfield and Oliver “Rel” Whitfield. Even if CoD isn’t quite your thing these three are sure to keep you entertained.
You can watch the entire Call of Duty open tournament below:
If fighting games are more your kind of thing then you are also in luck as both Ultra Street Fighter IV and Super Smash Bros. Melee will be present. The Smash tournament features a massive $20,000 prize pool up for grabs with quite a few high level pro players such as EVO champion Adam ‘Armada’ Lindgren fighting it out. Other top competitors such as Professor Pro and Ice will be fighting against those who buy a completion pass to grab a share of the prize pool, although a HTC event in the US means many big names will unfortunately be missing out on DreamHack London.
The Smash Bros. Melee tournament can be viewed below:
Joining Smash in the fighting game area will be Ultra Street Fighter IV, perhaps the biggest fighting game out there. $5,000 will be up for grabs in the open tournament that is set to be casted by Logan Sama, Femi “F-Word” Adeboye and Zade Ramzi and should show off some serious talent. However that isn’t the only Street Fighter action taking place at DreamHack this weekend as Capcom will have a booth in the expo area where they will have Street Fighter V on display and playable for all attendees.
You can check out the Street Fighter event right here.
For those attending in person the expo is set to feature booths from companies such as SteelSeries, HyperX and Intel who will be showing off their latest products while Scan will be in attendance to sell you whatever hardware you can think of. Of course there will also be chances to meet with pro players and casters and experience the thrill of live eSports first hand. Tickets are still available and can be purchased here.
