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Weekly esports guide (12 - 19 April): 2021 DPC Season 2 begins

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The second season of the 2021 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) has begun, as Dota teams from the six regional leagues in Europe, China, Southeast Asia, the CIS, North America, and South America begin battling for a spot in the second Major of the circuit and a direct invite to The International 10 in August.

Do note that the status of some events may have changed after publishing because of the coronavirus.

2021 Dota Pro Circuit Season 2

(Photo: Valve)
(Photo: Valve)

Date: 13 April - 23 May

Venue: Online

After its 2020 season was cancelled by the coronavirus pandemic, the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) has returned in 2021 with a new regional league system. Under the new system, the DPC will be split into six regional leagues in North America, South America, Europe, the CIS, China, and Southeast Asia, with each league having 16 participating teams split equally in an Upper and Lower Division.

Aside from introducing the regional league system, the new DPC format will also split the circuit into two seasons, with each concluding with a Major event featuring the best teams from each region, all leading up to The International 10 in August.

Following the conclusion of the ONE Esports Singapore Major, where Chinese team Invictus Gaming emerged as champions, the DPC is set to begin its second season on 13 April and will run until 23 May. The season will then be followed by the second Major event of the circuit, which is scheduled from 2-13 June.

League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational 2021

(Photo: Riot Games)
(Photo: Riot Games)

Date: 6 - 23 May

Venue: Reykjavík, Iceland

The League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) returns for its sixth edition after it was cancelled last year by the coronavirus pandemic. This year's MSI will be the first of two back-to-back tournaments hosted by Riot Games in the Laugardalshöll indoor sporting arena in Reykjavík, Iceland.

As with previous iterations of the event, the MSI will gather the top teams from the 12 LoL esports regional leagues across the world. The MSI will kick off on 6 May and will crown a new MSI champion in the grand finals on 23 May.

VCT Masters Reykjavík

(Photo: Riot Games)
(Photo: Riot Games)

Date: 24 - 30 May

Venue: Reykjavík, Iceland

Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Masters Reykjavík will be the first Valorant esports event to feature live international competition, as it will gather 10 of the best Valorant teams from around the world to fight for a spot at the Valorant Champions tournament in December.

VCT Masters Reykjavík will be the second of two back-to-back tournaments hosted by Riot Games in the Laugardalshöll indoor sporting arena in Reykjavík, Iceland, kicking off a day after the conclusion of LoL MSI 2021. The tournament itself will conclude on 30 May.

FSL Valorant Circuit

(Photo: FSL FPS Facebook)
(Photo: FSL FPS Facebook)

Date: March - October

Venue: Online

Watch live: https://yhoo.it/FSLxYahoo

FSL, the premier female competitive gaming circuit in Asia, will be hosting the 2021 FSL Valorant Circuit with approval from Riot Games and support from Intel. The circuit will run for eight months from March to October and feature a total prize pool of SGD$12,000. The FSL Valorant Circuit will be split into four stages: FSL Open, FSL Open Overtime, FSL Wildcard, and FSL Elite.

The first stage of the circuit, the FSL Open, will be held monthly from March to August, with each iteration featuring a maximum of 40 teams competing for a cut of the SG$1,000 prize pool. Teams will earn points by participating in each FSL Open and will be placed on the FSL Open Leaderboard, with the two top-ranked teams qualifying for FSL Elite.

The third to 19th-placed teams on the leaderboard will then play in the circuit's second stage, FSL Open: Overtime, in September. The winning team will take the third spot in FSL Elite.

FSL Wildcard will follow in early October, where teams that are either new to the circuit or have not yet qualified for FSL Elite will get one last shot at advancing into the final stage. FSL Wildcard will feature a SG$1,000 prize pool and a maximum of 40 participating teams, with the winners claiming the fourth and final spot in FSL Elite.

FSL Elite will be the final stage of the 2021 FSL Valorant Circuit. The four qualified teams from the previous stages will compete in an offline tournament in Singapore from 23-24 October, with US$5,000 in prize money up for grabs.

FSL Wild Rift Open

(Photo: FSL)
(Photo: FSL)

Date: 17 - 18 April

Venue: Online

FSL will be hosting its first-ever League of Legends: Wild Rift open tournament this weekend (17-18 April), featuring 28 all-female teams competing for a share of the SG$500 and 9,000 Wild Core — Wild Rift's in-game currency — prize pool.

The tournament will follow a single-elimination format with all matches being a best-of-three series. The four best teams will receive a cut of the prize pool, with the champions taking the lion's share of SG$250 and 5,000 Wild Cores. The second-placed team earn SG$125 and 3,000 Wild Cores while the third-placed team will take SG$75 and 1,500 Wild Cores. Meanwhile, the fourth-placed team will earn SG$50.

LPL Spring 2021

(Photo: Riot Games)
(Photo: Riot Games)

Date: 9 January - 18 April

Venue: Shanghai, China

League of Legends (LoL) esports is on again, as the game’s competitive circuit in China has already kicked off the Spring split of its 2021 season. LPL Spring 2021 begins with its single round robin group stage, from 9 January to 28 March, to determine the seeding for its 17 participating teams in the playoffs, which is set for 1-18 April.

LPL Spring 2021 will have a CN¥4,200,000 (around US$650,000) prize pool, with the winner of the split taking the lion’s share of CN¥2,000,000 (over US$300,000) as well as a spot in this year’s Mid Season Invitational.

LEC Spring 2021

(Photo: Riot Games)
(Photo: Riot Games)

Date: 22 January - 11 May

Venue: Berlin, Germany

LoL’s competitive circuit in Europe is the game’s third major esports league to commence its 2021 season. The LEC’s Spring Split will begin on 22 January and will run until 14 March. The competition will begin with a double round robin group stage to determine the six teams out of the 10 in the league will make it to the playoffs.

LEC Spring 2021 will have a EU€200,000 (over US$240,000) prize pool, with the winner of the split taking the lion’s share of EU€80,000 (over US$96,000) as well as a spot in this year’s Mid Season Invitational.

PCS Spring 2021

LoL Pacific Championship Series (Photo: Riot Games)
LoL Pacific Championship Series (Photo: Riot Games)

Date: 19 February - TBD

Venue: Online

The Pacific Championship Series (PCS), LoL’s competitive circuit for Southeast Asia, will be kicking off its second season on 19 February after its initial start date of 5 February was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic last month.

The PCS is also welcoming three new teams for its Spring Split this year, Impunity Esports from Singapore and Beyond Gaming from Taipei as well as BOOM Esports from Indonesia. The three teams from the inaugural PCS season were missing from the current lineup are ahq Esports Club, Nova Esports and Resurgence (now known as RSG).

The 2021 PCS Spring Split will begin with a double round robin group stage from 19 February to 20 March, with the playoffs schedule still to be determined. Details on the league’s prize pool has also not yet been released.

League of Legends: Wild Rift 2021 SEA Icon Series: Summer Season

(Photo: Riot Games)
(Photo: Riot Games)

Date: 3 April - TBD

Venue: Online

League of Legends: Wild Rift esports will officially kick off with the 2021 SEA Icon Series: Summer Season, which starts on 3 April following the conclusion of the five weekend-long preseason event.

The Wild Rift SEA Icon Series will be the first tournament produced by Riot Games Southeast Asia in partnership with regional partners, and the publisher says it "will be an important foundational step" to strengthening the legacy of Southeast Asian players and teams in the mobile esports scene.

The Summer Season features eight week-long tournaments in the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore, with competition culminating at the Summer Super Cup where the champions for each country will be crowned. Registration for the qualifiers for each country will open this month, with the qualifiers themselves set to begin next month.

2021 Free Fire World Series Singapore

(Photo: Garena)
(Photo: Garena)

Date: 22, 29 May

Venue: Singapore

The 2021 Free Fire World Series (FFWS) will be held in Singapore in May and feature a US$2 million prize pool, the largest-ever in the history of the mobile battle royale.

The event will gather 22 of the best Free Fire teams from across 14 countries and regions, namely: Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Taiwan, Singapore, Bangladesh, Europe, Pakistan, Brazil, Latin America, Russia and the CIS, Malaysia, Cambodia and the Philippines (MCP), and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

12 teams will start the tournament from the Play-Ins on 22 May while 10 others have been directly seeded to the Finals stage on 29 May.

ESL Mobile 2021

(Photo: ESL)
(Photo: ESL)

Date: 12 April - 23 July

Venue: Online

ESL has expanded its mobile esports ecosystem this year to include the Asia-Pacific region alongside North America as well as Europe and the Middle-East and North Africa. ESL will host two full seasons of action in 2021 with the ESL Mobile Spring 2021 season kicking off in April. Each season will consist of two competitive tiers, ESL Mobile Open and the all-new ESL Mobile Challenge.

ESL Mobile will feature competitions in Asphalt 9: Legends, Brawl Stars, Clash of Clans, Clash Royale, PUBG Mobile and League of Legends: Wild Rift, and Legends of Runeterra as well as a total prize pool of US$650,000.

E1 Championship Season 1

(Photo: eGG Network)
(Photo: eGG Network)

Date: 7 April - 2 June

Venue: Online

E1 Championship Season One, Asia Pacific's premier sim racing championship, flags off in RaceRoom at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, featuring 28 of the best sim-racers from around the region competing for a share of US$15,000. The circuit will be streamed live on eGG Network’s TV channel available in eight countries, or on E1 Championship’s Facebook livestream every Wednesday from 7 Apr - 2 June at 9PM (GMT+8).

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