Once again from Dallas, TX – Major League Gaming is set to kick off what is sure to be an amazing weekend of competition both in their own circuit, and within Riot's LCS. Let's go over a quick run down of what you can expect to see this weekend in League of Legends, Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm and Call of Duty Black Ops II. 

League of Legends

Surely the highlight of this weekend's competition with no less than 3 seperate competitions being held here this weekend. 

·       The North American Summer Promotion Qualifier – $30,000 in prizes

Four top North American teams who qualified online will receive all expenses paid trips to compete for $30,000 in prizes. The first place team will receive $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 including KT Rolster B, Gambit Gaming, Dignitas and Curse will compete in an International Exhibition Tournament for $15,000 in prizes and a first place prize of $10,000. 

·       Season Three North American League Championship Series (LCS) matches

The LCS matches will feature all eight teams from the North American LCS – and with the season pressing on, its beginning to be do or die time for the teams at the bottom of the bracket. See if Vulcan, MRN, Good Game University and Complexity are able to break into the upper echelon of League of Legends teams on the North American side. Or if the past will repeat itself and let TSM, Curse, Dignitas and CLG run away with the competition. 

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm – 32 players, $75,000 prize pool

All last month the best StarCraft II pros in the world squared off in the Winter Showdowns, where they had to win one match against their peers to qualify for the Winter Championships – these pros will be competing for the glory of being the first MLG champions in this new expansion and only the second major champion of any tournament since the game has released (being preceded only by the IEM World Championships, won by YoDa). 

Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Call of Duty makes its return to MLG, replacing the fan favorite Halo 4. Not only that, but this game is notable in being the only game in which on site open brackets will be held (the other two having had online qulifiers, or are invitational). Over 200 teams will square off this wekeend for their shot at a $20,000 first place prize, with the top eight teams qualifying for Activision's Million Dollar tournament in Los Angeles in early April. Which teams will reign supreme? Will Optic Gaming again claim the crown they won at the last Call of Duty tournament MLG held, in Orlando 2012? Or will a new team rise to the occasion? Only one way to find out.

How to Watch?

The MLG Winter Championship will be broadcast over four streams (two StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, one Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and one League of Legends). To watch the streams, just head over to majorleaguegaming.com. The streams will be featured front and center on the home page. To switch between streams, click on the tabs at the top of the video player.

VOD will be available shortly after each match. You can access the spoiler-free archive by clicking the “VOD” button above the video player. In addition, the streams will be rebroadcast starting immediately after each day’s conclusion.

Dustin Steiner is GameZone's eSports Editor! Follow him on Twitter @GZSteiner and check out his work at ESFI World as a contributor to the world leader in unbiased eSports coverage.