MLG Anaheim Championship Preview

The world of professional gaming is taking off in a big way, and it seems there is no end in sight. It was only a couple of days ago that the first ever Major League Gaming (MLG) eSports competition took place at X Games Austin.

More from News

• Heroes of the Storm North America Spring Regional Recap
• No Man’s Sky Pre-orders Up Thursday…Or Not?
• MLB The Show 16 Highlights 40 Assorted Improvements
• Rock Band 4 May Come To PC Via Fig Campaign
• Play As Quiet In New Metal Gear Solid V DLC

This was a great event to watch your favorite team’s battle for actual X Games medals. The team that came out on top was OpTic Gaming, as they earned the first X Games gold medal awarded to a video game team.

The next stop in this growing phenomenon is Anaheim, CA this weekend. There will be an MLG Championship at the Anaheim Convention Center from June 20-22.

The event in Anaheim will feature 1,000 of the world’s best gamers competing for $150,000 in prizes in front of a live audience of thousands of people and millions more watching via MLG.tv on the web.

The games and prizes include:

Call of Duty: Ghosts – $80,000 in prizes, 10,000 MLG Pro Points and placement in Season 3 of the MLG Call of Duty League.

After months of competing online, the top eight teams from Season 2 of the MLG Call of Duty League, the top two teams from Season 1 of the Gfinity Call of Duty League and the second place team from ACL Brisbane will compete for $70,000 in prizes in the International League Playoffs on Xbox One.

The teams include Curse Australia, Curse Black, Epsilon, Evil Geniuses, FaZe Black, FaZe Red, OpTic Gaming, TCM Gaming, Team EnVyUs and more.

In addition to the prize money involved, all players will be awarded 10,000 MLG Pro Points. Separately, 192 teams including Curse Orange, JusTus, OpTic Nation, Strictly Business and more will compete in the Season 3 Play In Tournament (Open Bracket) for $10,000 in prizes.

The Play In Tournament will also serve as a 10,000 Series Pro Points Tournament and the top four teams will qualify for Season 3 of the MLG Call of Duty League.

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm – $40,000 in prizes, including 4,000 WCS points toward qualifying for Blizzcon.

After months of playing online, 12 qualifier winners (Violet, Major, Huk, Polt, Illusion, Puck, TLO, Scarlett, Petraeus, Trap, Hendralisk and Miniraser) have earned a starting spot in the Championship Pool Play.

They will battle against four players from the open bracket that includes top players like desRow, Catz,  Vibe, Xenocider, Suppy, Thorzain, Nestea, Liquid Hero, Alicia, Heart, Ragnarok, Bomber, Seed, Maker, Hyun, Revival, Jaedong, iNcontroL, Keen, DongRaeGu, Nony, Suppy, Puck, State, Select, qxc, Caliber, Apocalypse, Stardust, Harstem, Iaguz, and more.

Ultimately, 20 players will compete in the Championship Bracket for $40,000 in prizes and 4,000 World Championship Series (WCS) points toward their global ranking. The points earned will impact the year-long chase for seeds at the WCS Global Finals at Blizzcon this fall.

Super Smash Bros. Melee – $15,000 in prizes.

Super Smash Bros. Melee returns to MLG for the first time since 2006.  After months of qualifiers, 12 qualifier winners including Mang0, Hungrybox, Mew2King, Remen, Leffen and more have earned a starting spot in the Championship Pool Play where they will compete against four players from an open bracket. Ultimately, 20 players will compete in the Championship Bracket for $15,000 in prizes.

Injustice: Gods Among Us on Xbox 360 – $7,500 in Prizes and Killer Instinct on Xbox One – $7,500 in Prizes.

From Friday, June 20 at 2:30pm PT through Saturday, June 21 at 5pm PT, players will compete in an Injustice open bracket tournament for $7,500 in prizes. From Saturday, June 21 at 5pm PT through Sunday, June 22 at 8pm PT, players will compete in a Killer Instinct open bracket tournament for $7,500 in prizes. Players to watch include Filthie Rich, PR Balrog, Filipino Champ, Justin Wong, Chris G, PerfectLegend, GGA16Bit, pig of the hut and more.

The competition will be broadcast live beginning Friday, June 20 at 2:30pm PT, and continues on Saturday, June 21^st starting at 10am PT and Sunday, June 22 starting at 10am PT through the finals.

There are 10 channels of action for your viewing pleasure on MLG.tv, or you can download the MLG.tv app on iOS, Android, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Check out the broadcast schedule by clicking this link here and be sure to follow @MLG on twitter for updates!

This will be the 66^th MLG event to date, and it’s shaping up to be the best one yet.

[H/T: MLG]