Table of Contents
Last updated March 12
From League of Legends to VALORANT to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) to Super Smash Bros. and everything in between, there have been many incredible esports tournaments this year and more to come. The list of events below is a snapshot of some of the biggest tournaments happening in esports in 2023. For amateur and semipro players competing in a game’s solo queue or at local tournaments like those hosted here at Nerd Street, these are the events players will aspire to compete in and watch in 2023.
To keep the list concise and to showcase tournaments where esports’ biggest stars and best organizations will shine brightest in 2023, the list includes just over 30 major international offline LAN tournaments across about a dozen esports. The list does not include online competitions, regional LAN events or offline league play like you might see in League of Legends’ regional leagues and CS:GO’s ESL Pro League.
This list will be updated throughout the year to note the winners and include new major events that are announced.
Genesis 9
Super Smash Bros. Melee and Ultimate
San Jose (California), United States
Jan. 20-22
WINNERS: Jake “Jmook” DiRado (Melee) and Leonardo “MkLeo” Lopez Perez (Ultimate)
Photo credit: Andrew Zhou
The ninth edition of Genesis saw Jmook win his first Smash Major and MkLeo win his third Genesis title in Ultimate and fifth overall including two he won competing in Smash 4 on Wii U.
For Jmook, the moment was incredibly significant. Last year, Genesis was his breakthrough tournament. He placed second at Genesis 8 and finished second at several other major tournaments later in the year and got signed by FlyQuest as he quickly rose up the ranks of the best Smash Melee players in the world. Yet, first place at a Major had eluded him until Genesis 9.
Read more: Top 10 best Smash Melee players of 2022
For MkLeo, another Genesis title was further confirmation that he is the best player in the world in Smash Ultimate. Despite not receiving a top seed entering Genesis and falling to the lower bracket, MkLeo ultimately triumphed over Antony “MuteAce” Hoo, the 39th ranked player in the world who had himself a breakout tournament at Genesis.
IEM Katowice
CS:GO
Katowice, Poland
Jan. 31 – Feb. 12
WINNER: G2 Esports
Photo credit: Helena Kristiansson / ESL
Winning IEM Katowice was a coronation for G2 Esports, who established themselves as the best CS:GO team in the world. After winning the Blast World Final in December, the organization rode a 21-map winning streak into the final, where the streak was broken by Heroic. However, G2 ultimately won the final 3-1 to lift the IEM Katowice trophy for the first time. The victory was extra sweet because the organization lost the Katowice final last year and longtime G2 player Nikola “NiKo” Kovač finally won the tournament after losing three previous Katowice finals.
CDL Major 2 — Boston
Call of Duty
Boston (Massachusetts), United States
Feb. 2-5
WINNER: Atlanta FaZe
Photo credit: Atlanta FaZe
After constantly finishing second at Majors and CDL Champs last year, the 2021 Call of Duty League champions finally broke their second-place curse and won the Boston Major. It was yet another tournament title for the tiny terrors Chris “Simp” and Tyler “AbeZy” Pharris and longtime teammate McArthur “Cellium” Jovel, who have made FaZe the most successful Call of Duty team since the inception of the Call of Duty League in 2020. COD veteran Austin “SlasheR” Liddicoat, who joined FaZe in the offseason, also added another title to his successful career.
ALGS Split 1 Playoffs
Apex Legends
London, England
Feb. 2-5
WINNER: TSM
Photo credit: Joe Brady / EA
The most successful organization in Apex Legends esports got its first international tournament win since 2019. In 2019, the duo of Phillip “ImperialHal” Dosen and Jordan “Reps” Wolfe won the EXP Invitational at the X Games and the Apex Legends Preseason Invitational to establish themselves and TSM as the ones to beat in Apex. Over the past year-and-a-half in the ALGS, ImperialHal, Reps and Evan “Verhulst” Verhulst have re-established TSM as the best team in North America, but were missing an international title until now.
Six Invitational
Rainbow Six Siege
Montreal, Canada
Feb. 7-19
WINNER: G2 Esports
Photo credit: Ubisoft
This has been the most unlikely major tournament win so far this year. Although European teams dominated the Rainbow Six esports scene throughout 2022, it was Team BDS, KOI or Wolves who were all considered favorites over fellow EU team G2, who was ranked 10th in the global standings heading into the Six Invitational. Not only that, but G2 got knocked into the playoffs lower bracket after one round by Wolves. G2 then proceeded to go on an epic lower-bracket run, winning six consecutive best-of-three elimination matches to reach the grand final, where they beat Brazil’s w7m esports 3-1. The win gave the organization its second major title of the year and has made G2 an early front-runner for esports org of the year.
HCS Kickoff Major Charlotte
Halo Infinite
Charlotte (North Carolina), United States
Feb. 24-26
WINNER: OpTic Gaming
Photo credit: 343 Industries
OpTic Gaming continued to prove that they’re the best Halo team in the world, and it’s not really close right now. OpTic won the Orlando Major in September, won the Halo World Championship in October and have now won the first international event of the 2023 season. Matthew “FormaL” Piper continues to add to his legacy as one of the best two-game esports pros with titles in Call of Duty and Halo.
Read more: Why OpTic Gaming was the best esports organization in 2022
Capcom Cup IX
Street Fighter V
Los Angeles (California), United States
Feb. 14-19
WINNER: Saul Leonardo “MenaRD” Mena II
Photo credit: Robert Paul / Capcom
After a disappointing performance at Evo last year, MenarRD is back on top in a big way. He’s the first player to win two Capcom Cup titles. MenaRD previously won the Capcom Pro Tour’s season-ending championship tournament in 2017. He beat up-and-coming player Zhen “Rou” Kuang in both the winners final and grand final. With Street Fighter 6 set to release this summer, this was one of the last major tournaments featuring Street Fighter V.
VALORANT LOCK//IN
VALORANT
São Paulo, Brazil
Feb. 13 – March 4
WINNER: Fnatic
Photo credit: Riot Games
This was the biggest VALORANT tournament to date and the first of the new VCT partnership era including all 30 partnered teams plus two from China. Fnatic beat LOUD in a thrilling five-map final to finally get their first international title after finishing second at the first-ever global VALORANT tournament in 2021. LOUD were denied a chance to become the first team to win multiple international VALORANT titles, to win back-to-back tournaments, and to win in front of a home crowd in Brazil.
Lima Major
Dota 2
Lima, Peru
Feb. 22 – March 5
WINNER: Gaimin Gladiators
Photo credit: Adela Sznajder / ESL
European teams stood out at the first Dota Major of the year as Gaimin Gladiators beat Team Liquid twice, in the upper bracket final and the grand final to win the Lima Major. Gaimin Gladiators finished second to Team Liquid in Tour 1 of the Western European Dota Pro Circuit, but had a perfect run in the Lima Major playoffs as they didn’t drop any maps. Evil Geniuses’ Peruvian roster finished in the top six at the first-ever Dota Major held in South America.
CDL Major 3 — Dallas
Call of Duty
Dallas (Texas), United States
March 9-12
WINNER: Toronto Ultra
Photo credit: Toronto Ultra
OpTic Texas went on quite a run in front of their fans, but the Toronto Ultra ultimately triumphed 4-2 in the grand final. Although Call of Duty is typically dominated by North American teams and players, this win was a triumph for European talent as three of the four players on the Ultra roster hail from across the pond. The lone American on the squad, Thomas “Scrappy” Ernst, is a talented rookie who won his first Major and was named MVP of the tournament. Fellow rookie and teammate Charlie “Hicksy” Hicks, who was moved to the starting roster ahead of Major 3 qualifiers, became the first player since the legendary Seth “Scump” Abner to win the first Major he competed in. Across the stage, OpTic featured a rookie on their roster too, Daniel “Ghosty” Rothe, who coincidentally joined OpTic shortly after Scump retired earlier this season.
Smash Ultimate Summit 6
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Los Angeles (California), United States
March 23-26
Photo credit: Beyond The Summit
Beyond The Summit’s tournaments have become beloved by fans for their unique approach to high-level tournaments as they use intimate and casual settings to showcase the personalities of some of the brightest stars in esports. BTS recently announced they will be shutting down, and Smash Ultimate Summit 6 will be the last Smash Summit and last tournament organized by BTS. With this news and the fact 16 of the best Smash Ultimate players in the world will be competing, this is a must-watch tournament. MkLeo, Sparg0, Gavin “Tweek” Dempsey, Mashita “acola” Hayato, William “Glutonny” Belaid and Paris “Light” Ramirez Garcia have all qualified or been invited, and even legendary Melee player Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma is set to compete. One more spot is up for grabs, and that will be determined at Collision 2023, which takes place earlier in March.
Evo: Japan 2023
Street Fighter V, Tekken 7 and other fighting games
Tokyo, Japan
March 31 – April 2
It’s not quite Evo — the biggest fighting game event of the year — but Evo: Japan is a small preview of the bigger event usually held in the summer in Las Vegas. It’s the first edition of this tournament since 2020. Seven different fighting games will be contested, including major titles like Street Fighter V, Tekken 7 and Guilty Gear Strive. In Street Fighter, Capcom Cup champion MenaRD is not registered to compete, but the runner-up, Zhen “Rou” Kuang, will be competing. Many other contenders such as Derek “iDom” Ruffin, Sim “NL” Gun, Nathan “Mister Crimson” Massol, Tsunehiro “gachikun” Kanamori and Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi will be vying for the title too. IDom is also an entrant in Guilty Gear Strive, as are other big names like William “Leffen” Hjelte, Vineeth “ApologyMan” Meka and Julian “Hotashi” Harris.
RLCS Winter Major
Rocket League
San Diego (California), United States
April 6-9
Photo credit: Psyonix
After the first Rocket League international tournament of the RLCS 2022-23 season was in Europe, the second global event of the year will be in North America. North America’s Gen.G are the defending Major champs and should be contenders if they qualify for the 16-team field. Fellow NA teams G2, FaZe, Version1 and Spacestation Gaming should be in the mix. As far as European teams, Karmine Corp, Team Liquid, Team BDS and Oxygen Esports are strong candidates to qualify, especially Oxygen after their big pickup of Finlay “rise” Ferguson.
CDL Major 4 – Columbus
Call of Duty
Columbus (Ohio), United States
April 13-16
We’ll have a better sense of the favorites for the Columbus Major after the results of the Dallas Major, but with so much parity so far this season, more than half of the CDL teams could be contenders.
Blast Copenhagen Major
Rainbow Six Siege
Copenhagen, Denmark
May TBD
This will be the first Major of the 2023-24 season in Rainbow Six. With European teams dominating the 2022-23 season and this event happening in Denmark, European teams like G2, KOI, Wolves and BDS could be among the favorites to win this Major. However, there will be roster shuffles in the offseason and meta changes that will become evident once regional play kicks off, so other European teams could emerge as contenders, and contending teams from other typically strong regions like North America and Brazil also will rise up. At least one high-performing North American roster from 2022-23, Astralis (who finished fourth at the Six Invitational), will be looking for a home with a new org this season.
League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational
League of Legends
London, England
May 2-21
Photo credit: Riot Games
Riot Games’ midseason international League of Legends tournament will be returning to Europe for the first time since 2018 and London for the first time ever. This year’s tournament will look a little different from previous years with more teams and a double-elimination play-in and bracket stage. There will be 13 teams that qualify for this tournament, including the spring champs from all nine LoL esports regions and a second team from North America, Europe, China and Korea. The defending MSI champ is China’s Royal Never Give Up. Korea’s T1 is expected to be a contender if they qualify given that they finished second at both MSI and Worlds last year. T1 and their legendary player Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok are running it back with the same roster this year and have been one of the best teams in Korea’s LCK. The first team that has qualified is Europe’s G2 Esports who won the LEC winter championship.
Blast Paris Major
CS:GO
Paris, France
May 8-21
There usually are two CS:GO Majors every year, and the first of 2023 is set to take place in Paris for the first time. The $1.25 million prize pool is the largest for any CS:GO tournament that has been announced for 2023 so far. France’s Team Vitality will have the crowd behind them and should be a contender after winning the second ESL Pro League of 2022. We’ll have a better sense of all the contenders after IEM Katowice, with teams like FaZe Clan, Natus Vincere, Heroic, Outsiders, G2 Esports and Team Liquid all likely to be in the mix amid the 24-team field. Qualifiers are set to begin in April.
CDL Major 5 – Toronto
Call of Duty
Toronto, Canada
May 25-28
The Toronto Ultra previously hosted a Call of Duty League Major in June 2022. Canada’s only CDL team has a vibrant fan base, and the team has been one of the stronger ones in the league over the past couple years.
Overwatch League Midseason Madness
Overwatch 2
Location TBD
June TBD
We have an outline of what the 2023 Overwatch League season schedule will look like but few details on dates thus far. Activision Blizzard has announced the Midseason Madness tournament will happen sometime in June and will bring together teams from the East and West divisions of the league for an international LAN tournament. It will be the only time prior to the playoffs that teams from Asia and North America will compete against each other in an offline setting. The Dallas Fuel were the 2022 Overwatch League champions.
Two logistical things to know for this season are that the Philadelphia Fusion have made their stay in South Korea permanent and have rebranded to the Seoul Infernal, and the Los Angeles Valiant have moved back to LA from China and will compete in the West division this year.
Blast Spring Final
CS:GO
Washington (D.C.), United States
June 7-11
Photo credit: Blast Premier
The United States will get a double dose of top tier CS:GO this year, with the Blast Spring Finals taking place just a few days after IEM Dallas, a slightly less significant competition than the culmination of Blast’s Spring CS:GO circuit. One North American team will get to showcase itself in the US capital, but the other seven squads in the eight-team field will be European. FaZe, G2 and Heroic are currently scheduled to compete in both Dallas and D.C.
ALGS Split 2 Playoffs
Apex Legends
London, England
June 8-11
London is getting a lot of love this year when it comes to major esports events. Like the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs, the Split 2 Playoffs will be held in London too. This tournament will come on the heels of League of Legends MSI also being held in the British capital. The qualifiers for this tournament will be the top teams during Split 2 of the ALGS season.
VCT Masters: Tokyo
VALORANT
Tokyo, Japan
June 11-25
The VALORANT Champions Tour’s one and only Masters tournament this year is heading to Tokyo. It’ll be the first time Japan will host an international VCT event. The tournament will follow the conclusion of the 2023 seasons in the VCT America, EMEA and Pacific regions. The top three teams from each league will qualify plus an additional team from EMEA due to Fnatic winning the LOCK//IN tournament. Fnatic, LOUD, NAVI, NRG and DRX are early favorites to qualify for this tournament and contend for the title.
HCS Arlington Major
Halo Infinite
Arlington (Texas), United States
June 30 – July 2
Until another team beats them at a Major tournament or the team undergoes a roster change, OpTic Gaming will be the favorites. FaZe Clan, who signed the roster that previously played for Sentinels, finished second to OpTic at the Charlotte Major and are the leading contenders to take down The Green Wall.
RLCS Spring Major
Rocket League
Location TBD
July 6-9
With the Winter Major being held in North America, it’s likely Psyonix goes back to Europe for the Spring Major. Last year, Psyonix alternated between Europe and North America for the RLCS Majors and World Championship. However, the company could obviously mix things up this year and maybe hold back-to-back tournaments in North America or even go to Brazil or some other region for a Major. The dates are set, but the location and contenders for this Major both remain to be determined.
IEM Cologne
CS:GO
Cologne, Germany
July 25 – Aug. 6
Next to the Majors and IEM Katowice, IEM Cologne is one of the most prestigious CS:GO tournaments of the year. It’s affectionately known as the “Cathedral of CS:GO.” The IEM Katowice and Paris Major winners automatically qualify for this tournament, and the top teams in the ESL World Rankings also will get invites to this 24-team, $1 million tournament.
Evolution Championship Series (Evo)
Street Fighter 6, Tekken 7 and other fighting games
Las Vegas (Nevada), United States
Aug. 4-6
Photo credit: Li Xiu Hoang / Red Bull content pool
The Evolution Championship Series, colloquially known as Evo, is the biggest annual fighting games tournament of the year. More than just a tournament, it’s a weekend-long celebration of the FGC, with showmatches and other friendly competitions and events taking place alongside the main competition. Last year’s winners in the most popular games were UMISHO (Guilty Gear Strive), Kawano (Street Fighter V) and Jae-Min “Knee” Bae (Tekken 7). This year’s Evo Street Fighter tournament will feature Street Fighter 6, which releases in June.
RLCS World Championship
Rocket League
Location TBD
Aug. 4-13
The 2022 RLCS World Championship was held in North America, so it’s likely Psyonix would go to Europe for this year’s edition. The defending world champs are Europe’s Team BDS.
HCS Fort Worth Major
Halo Infinite
Fort Worth (Texas), United States
Sept. 1-3
After seeing the results of the Arlington Major, we’ll get a better sense of who the contenders in the HCS are this year. OpTic figures to be the favorite, with FaZe Clan and Spacestation Gaming also contending.
Halo World Championship
Halo Infinite
Seattle (Washington), United States
Oct. 12-15
OpTic Gaming are the defending champions, and after winning the first Major of the year are favored to go back-to-back.
League of Legends World Championship
League of Legends
South Korea
Likely October-November TBD
Photo credit: Riot Games
The League of Legends World Championship, also just known as Worlds, is one of the largest and most popular annual esports tournaments in the world. Last year’s Worlds final filled the Chase Center in San Francisco and set a new League of Legends peak viewership record on Twitch. Riot Games announced a revamped format for this year’s 22-team tournament, with a double-elimination play-in stage and a Swiss style format for the main stage of the tournament rather than the traditional group stage.
Blast USA Major
Rainbow Six Siege
United States TBD
November TBD
We’ll get a better sense of who the favorites and contenders are after the results of the Copenhagen Major in May.