Less than two weeks away is one of the biggest season yet for the world’s largest eSports gaming league. Major League Gaming (MLG) is about to kick off there 10th annual season in Dallas, Texas (March 15-17). The Winter Championships will take place in the Dallas Convention Center and it will include some of the largest eSports franchises up to date: League of Legends, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 on Xbox 360. Here at ESG, we wanted to give insight on the weekend and a preview of what the weekend has to offer!
The event will allow for general admission spectating, a new VIP experience, and online streaming. The spectator passes for the weekend will cost $35 in advance and $50 dollars at the door. This year MLG has came up with a new concept called VIPs, which essentially is what it means. You will get earliest access to the event, with the most exclusive experience. Such as, a pre-event reception with players, behind the scenes tour with MLG Co-Founder Sundance DiGiovanni, and front row seating to your game of choice! But it will cost you $250 from your wallet for this once in a life time eSports experience, which seems reasonable. Since this is the equivalent of eSports court-side seats of an NBA game, which would cost your wallet a lot more. If eSports is your passion, then this is for you.
The online streaming experience for those not attending will broadcast LIVE the whole event and FREE in HD quality at 720p, with an option to upgrade to 1080p. Each game with have it’s exclusive set of caster as following:
Call of Duty: Black Ops II: Puckett, Fwiz, Hastro, Revan, and floor reporter – Bee.
League of Legends: Riot Rivington, Riot Phreak, Kobe24, Optimus Tom, EGADorFEED, and floor reporter – Jade.
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm: Day[9], DJ Wheat, Husky, Total Biscuit, Incontrol, Axslav, Axeltoss, and floor reporter – Anna Prosser Robinson.
Each game has their own unique prize pools and qualifiers for each game as following:
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 – $50,000 in prizes and $20,000 to the first place team.
This franchise is once again making another experience on eSports big stage. There will be 12 teams that qualify online through their qualifiers, and four teams that will fight through their open bracket to make it into the Championship Bracket. An addition the top 8 teams from the Championship Bracket will be invited to play in the CODXP $1Million Call of Duty Championships in April. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for many call of duty professionals players and amateurs alike.
(Link to detailed Winter Season qualifications for Black Ops 2 teams)
League of Legends – Three seperate events with $45,000 in prizes total for North American Summoner Promotion Qualifier and International Exhibition
- The North American Summoner Promotion Qualifer – $30,000 in prizes
The top four North American teams who qualify online will get a full expenses paid trip to compete. The first place team will walk away with $20,000 and a spot in the May Promotion Tournament into the LCS.
- International Exhibition Tournament – $15,000 in prizes
Four top teams from around the globe will compete for a first place prize of $10,000.
- Season Three North American League Championship Series (LCS) matches
The LCS features all eight teams from the North American LCS playing LIVE in person. During the event, each team will play three thrilling matches.
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm – $75,000 in prizes and $25,000 to first place
32 of the world’s best will compete in a StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm exhibition tournament just a couple of days after the game will be released. 28 players who win their Winter Season Showdowns taking place online will join the top four from the MLG 2012 Fall Championship (Life, Leenock, Flash, Bomber). These four big StarCraft names will also compete in a single elimination bracket for $75,000 and a first place prize of $25,000.
This year MLG has also prepared a new completely redesigned viewing experience for fans called “The Spectator Experience”. The image below showcase a representation of MLG’s new concept venue:
This concept is supposed to feature three distinctive stages, with a theater styled stage for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. There will also be large viewing screens that will allow spectators to be in the action and see their favorite players like never before. Casters are centered on an elevated stage for fans to see in real-time speed. There will be more hands on booths with activities to engage in and a variety of game-play stations.
My Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Predictions
I felt it would only be appropriate that I give my opinion of the game I follow (like a sports analyst does on ESPN) before the event.
Dallas Champions: UNiTE.Gaming
2nd Place: Team FeaR
3rd Place: vVv Gaming (aDversity)
My Dark Horse in Championship Bracket: Team Storm
My Dark Horses from Open Bracket: OpTic, Complexity, SoaR, EnVyUs
My Impressions of Dallas
As you can see guys MLG is working hard to give spectators the most exclusive experience this year from years past with their VIP experiences. You can expect this year to be bigger than ever with each game receiving their own unique stages. Making each game stand out from each other than them all clashing together as one big venue. It also seems like MLG wants to add more than just the eSports with more effort to include booths and activities outside of the live game-play. They are also offering up a lot of big money to the players this year, which in the end is better for everyone. Giving players more of an incentive to practice harder and give fans higher level gameplay on the biggest stages. Myself as a Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 fan will look forward to see the new theater styled seating they have prepared. As I will be attending the event with other possible ESG staff members. I also plan on giving a conclusion of the event with full details of what happened and my impression of the event throughout the weekend.
Link for full MLG Dallas details: http://www.majorleaguegaming.com/competitions/55
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