Mad Catz is proud to be a part of the Ryan Pickett Celebrity Golf Classic and help support such a worthy cause.

A silent auction will be held, raffling off Mad Catz gear such as: Rock Band 3  instruments, TRITTON headsets, Mad Catz Arcade FightSticks and much, much more.

Celebrities expected to attend include: Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews, Sterling Sharp, BL Raji, and more.

For more information about The Ryan Pickett Foundation and the event, please visit www.theryanpickettfoundation.com.

• Evil Geniuses
• Fnatic
• Gambit Gaming
• MeetYourMakers
• Ninjas in Pyjamas (formerly Copenhagen Wolves)
• Sinners Never Sleep
• SK Gaming
• Team ALTERNATE

 
Team ALTERNATE joined a number of other teams that failed to qualify for the LCS Spring Split, only to come back with a vengeance during Summer Promotion.

And what vengeance: With an impressive performance the team now stands 5-0 and #1 in the team ranking.

ALTERNATE looked especially confident, cruising through both Lemondogs and SK Gaming. The match against Araneae’s former team was especially brutal — Twisted Fate snuck through picks and bans and fell into Forellenlord’s eminently capable hands, wreaking havoc to SK’s global presence. But the veteran team held the line well enough for most of the match.

What really broke their spirits was finding that their Malphite/Sona/Kennen “wombo combo” had a glaring weakness against a single champion: Kerp’s Vladimir not only had Sanguine Pool to dodge them, but also built Zhonya’s Hourglass to offer further avoidance. With Creaton on a slick, untouchable Ezreal, SK’s team composition was soundly outmaneuvered, and Creaton was allowed to end the game at an impressive KDA of 14-0-6.

Congratulations on a fantastic weekend! The next stop for the team will be in Moscow this weekend. Stay tuned!

All contestants that registered for the event were given a Game Hard Wear New Era 9Fifty Scratch hat. Mad Catz also threw in some amazing prizes for the top-placed riders of the contest.

• 1st place Xbox 360 Force Feedback Racing Wheel and Kunai Headset, R.A.T.^M Wireless Mouse, Halo 4  UNSC iPhone Case and Halo 4  Master Chief iPhone Case
• 2nd place TRITTON Kunai Headset, R.A.T.^M Wireless Mouse, Halo 4  UNSC iPhone Case and Halo 4  Master Chief iPhone Case
• 3rd place MCZ Print Shirt, R.A.T.^M Wireless Mouse, Halo 4  Master Chief iPhone Case

• Lower Division First Place TRITTON Kunai Stereo Headset
• Lower Division Finishers R.A.T.^M Wireless Mouse M.O.U.S.⁹ Wireless Mouse

There were also several opportunities for the crowd to get some great Mad Catz swag during the event. One lucky attendee won a TRITTON Kunai Stereo Headset and a M.O.U.S.⁹ Wireless Mouse in our raffle, and during the results period members from the Monster Army threw out Mad Catz Game Hard Wear clothing to the large crowds.

For anyone that missed this San Diego stop on the Monster Army Recon Tour, you have another chance to experience the action in Simi Valley, CA, on July 27. Mad Catz will return with great prizes and giveaways and support for the riders as they compete for top honors at the Skatelab Skatepark. Click here for more information about the event.

Be sure to check out our full E3 2013 coverage:

E3 2013

• E3 2013: M.O.J.O. Android Micro-Console Preview (Video)
• E3 2013: Street Fighter  Producer Yoshinori Ono’s Thoughts on Killer Instinct  (Video)
• E3 2013: Company of Heroes 2  & Total War: Rome II
• E3 2013: Ryan Hart Talks Pro Gaming with the BBC
• E3 2013: Katsuhiro Harada is Alive! (Video)
• E3 2013: Sights From the Floor
• E3 2013: Divekick  Tournament
• E3 2013: Killer Instinct  on Xbox One

Pre-Show

• First Look: M.O.J.O. Android-Powered Micro-Console
• E3 2013: Where To Find Us
• E3 2013: Day 0 Booth Tour (Video)

Watch the live stream here this weekend:

Watch live video from armshouse on www.twitch.tv

Schedule:
Saturday, June 15
15:00 – Group stage starts
17:00 – Double Elimination starts
23:00 – Grand Finals – Top 4 – DreamArena

Western Wolves – Mad Catz – Fighting Games

Western Wolves has decided to send out two players who are both internationally known and feared: Ryan “Prodigal Son” Hart and Femi “F-Word” Adeboye.

Ryan “Prodigal Son” Hart needs no introduction when it comes to fighting games. With 10+ years of experience and hundreds of titles to his name, he’s one of the few select players honored with the title of a true fighting legend.

Femi “F-Word” Adeboye has about four years of professional Street Fighter  experience under his belt. His first main was the female ninja Ikubi and he’s mostly known for his underdog attitude and fearsome, aggressive tactics.

Tournament Information

Tournament: DreamHack Energizer Ultimate Lithium Fighting Championship Summer 2013 – Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition
Format: 1 on 1. Groups to Double Elimination
Sponsor: Energizer Ultimate Lithium
Prize Purse: 50 000 SEK (25 000, 12 500, 7 500, 5 000)
Location: DreamHack Summer 2013, Hall B, Elmia, Jönköping, Sweden
Date: Saturday, June 15
No of players: 64
Game Settings: 1on1, 2/3 rounds, 2/3 games, Group Play, Double Elimination. Random stage, Versus Mode, 99 Seconds, No Handicap, Grand Final: 2/3
rounds, 3/5 games. All characters are allowed.
Platform: Xbox 360, latest available patch
Monitor: ASUS VW246H
Controllers: Please bring your own Xbox 360-compatible controller or joystick. Adapters are allowed.
Tickets / Competitor fee: All competitors need to have the Eventpass (550 SEK) or Computer seat BYOC ticket (from 929 SEK) to be able to participate in tournaments. Buy tickets at bokning.dreamhack.se.

Schedule

Saturday, June 15
13:00:00 – Tournament area opens
13:00:00 – Player Confirmation opens
14:00:00 – Player Confirmation closes
14:15:00 – Group Preparation
15:00:00 – Group Stage starts
17:00:00 – Double Elimination starts
23:00:00 – Grand Finals – Top 4 – DreamArena

Final Words on Coverage

We here at MadCatz.com will be covering the event live and give fans in-depth views on what is to be expected from the participating teams.

Related Stories:

• Read about the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive action at DreamHack Summer 2013
• Read about the StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm action at DreamHack Summer 2013

Just as last year, DreamHack decided to hold an open registration format instead of qualifiers. Among the 128 registered players we can see six very familiar names and they are none other than the members of Western Wolves StarCraft 2  division!

Watch the stream live here:
Watch live video from dreamhacksc2 on www.twitch.tv

Western Wolves’ Schedule:
June 15, 2013
Between 10:00 and 13:00 CET: Arthur in Group 5
Between 14:00 and 17:00 CET: Daisy in Group 9, SortOf in Group 14 and Sting in Group 15
Between 18:00 and 21:00 CET: StarNaN on Group 22 and MorroW in Group 23

Western Wolves – Mad Catz – SC2

Let’s start off with an introduction of the participating players representing WesternWolves:

Even though Lee “Daisy” Jong Hyuk is the newest addition to the Western Wolves squad, he is far from a newcomer to the foreign StarCraft 2  scene. Prior to joining Western Wolves, Daisy played for the German team ESC ICYBOX and lived in their gaming house, where he collected a vast amount of knowledge from the western StarCraft 2  players. Previous achievements include a first place in the EPS Germany: Summer season cup and a second place finish in ESET Summer Masters 2012.

Rickard “SortOf” Bergman joined as one of the founding members of the Western Wolves StarCraft 2  division and since then has seen some of the best results of his career. The Swedish Zerg is certainly no stranger to the atmosphere of offline events, having previously played in the 2012 World Championship Series: Sweden Nationals, North American Star League Season 4 and a few other tournaments. Throughout his colorful career, The Direwolf netted himself a total of $18,340, and he will be surely looking to increase the amount during this DreamHack.

Yoon “Arthur” Myung Hyuk was added to the Western Wolves lineup after the fall of Korean giants SlayerS. Not much is known about Arthur to the average StarCraft 2  fan, but he is definitely looking forward to getting his name out there in his first offline event outside of Korea.

If you asked people to describe Stefan “MorroW” Andersson in one word, you’d most certainly get replies such as “dynamic” and “unpredictable.” Having played both Terran and Zerg throughout the major part of his career, MorroW finally made the big decision and decided to play only Terran once Blizzard released their newest StarCraft 2  expansion, Heart of the Swarm. Along with his new play-style came impressive results. Just last month MorroW managed to secure a first place finish in the Birdie 23 LAN tournament as well as a second place in the Svenska E-sportcupen 2013.

Ju “Sting” Hoon, known to some as “Hoon,” made his big breakthrough just a few days after joining the Western Wolves banner. After beating the Dutch WarCraft 3  legend Manuel “Grubby” Schenkhuizen, Sting managed to take home first place and $6,500 at IEM Singapore. The stint of good results didn’t end with IEM Singapore, as just a few months later our Korean Terran had a second place finish in ESET UK Masters 2013: Season 1.

FLTR: SortOf and StarNaN and this winter's DreamHack event

The list of attending Western Wolves players is completed by none other than the Protoss player from Sweden, Daniel “StarNaN” Ohlsson. Every DreamHack is special for Daniel, as it is the tournament in which he made his first professional appearance. In last year’s DreamHack: Summer StarNaN managed to make it to the round of 64.

Notable Participants

Of course the Wolves aren’t the only ones participating in this SC2 franchise, so we’ve decided to list some of the more known and feared opponents.

Grzegorz “MaNa” Komincz. A man who is certainly not a stranger to the stage in Jönköping. Last year MaNa had to take down DIMAGA in the DreamHack: Summer to secure himself the gold medal.

Lee “Jaedong” Jae Dong. Even though he has not played to his full potential in StarCraft 2, Jaedong is regarded as one of the best StarCraft: Brood War  players of all time. The player recently signed with the North American powerhouse Evil Geniuses.

Park “DongRaeGu” Soo Ho. Having absolutely dominated the non-Korean StarCraft 2  events throughout the entire 2011 and 2012, DongRaeGu is certainly one of the most fearsome names on the list. The last few months have been frustrating for the Korean Zerg as multiple times he was inches away from securing a first place finish, but failed to do so. During the upcoming DreamHack, DongRaeGu will surely be looking for redemption.

Johan “NaNiwa” Lucchesi. Believed to be the best foreign player by many, NaNiwa is a competitor to look out for. In the last DreamHack of the 2013 circuit, the Swedish Protoss secured himself a second place finish. One of his greatest achievements include a top 5 GSL Code S finish, the highest placing to date for a foreigner in GSL Code S.

The Format

128 participants were seeded into 32 groups, with two players advancing from each group. After the first group stage will end, the remaining 64 players will then be seeded into 16 new groups.

Once the second group stage is finished, yet another group stage will be played to determine the 16 players who will advance to a single elimination bracket. Every game up until the finals will be played in a best of three series, whereas the finals will be best of five.

The Prizepool

The cash prizes will be distributed as following:

1^st – $9,240
2^nd – $5,390
3^rd/4^th – $3,080
5^th-8^th – $1,540

Related Stories:

• Read about the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive action at DreamHack Summer 2013
• Read about the Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition ver. 2012 action at DreamHack Summer 2013

There will be a total of six official DreamHack tournaments held alongside five partner events. As usual, you can follow some intense live coverage here on this website during the tournament.

Watch all of the action here this weekend:
Watch live video from DreamHack Summer 2011 – CS1.6 PRO on www.twitch.tv

Western Wolves’ Schedule:
Group A – Saturday, June 15 (Western Wolves, NiP, Team X, Refuse)
19.00 Western Wolves vs. TeamX
20.00 Group A: Match #3: Winner Match #1 vs. Winner Match #2 – Winner advance to Playoffs with Seed #1
21.00 Group A: Match #4: Looser Match #1 vs. Looser Match #2
22.00 Group A: Match #5: Winner Match #4 vs. Looser Match #3 – Winner advance to Playoffs with Seed #2

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 

This upcoming CS:GO  tournament will go down in history as the first big LAN where all cards are open. Before, you’d be certain of NiP placing first, but after their recent losses in offline tournaments (unseen for over a year!) the entire Counter-Strike  scene is hoping for underdogs to pull out some huge upsets.

WW.MCZ CS:GO

Let’s start off by once more introducing Western Wolves’ CS:GO  squad:

• Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander
• Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen
• Nicolaj “Nico” Jensen
• Jacob “Pimp” Winneche
• Nichlas “Nille” Busk

These five players, alongside their manager Kevin, will represent the blue and white colours at the event. After going through some lineup changes, the team decided to stick together anyway, and it seemed to pay off. Only two days after the announcement, they managed to secure a first place finish in the ESL: Major Series where they dominated NiP, ESC-Gaming, and last but not least fnatic in the big finals.

On May 26, the wolves managed to qualify themselves for this DreamHack Summer event after finishing first in the Danish Online Qualifier.

Tournament Information

Some general information about the prize pool, etc.,  is on DreamHack’s website. A quick overview can be found below:

Tournament: DreamHack SteelSeries CS:GO  Championship
Head Sponsor: SteelSeries
Sponsor: TBA
Location: DreamHack Summer 2013, Tournament Area in Hall B, Elmia, Jönköping, Sweden
Date: 15-17 June 2013
No of teams: 16
Tournament format: Group stage 4 teams in 4 groups Double Elimination BO1 play. Top-2 advance. Single elimination BO3 playoffs.
Platform: PC, Latest available patch
Rules: TBA
Prize Purse: Total – 200 000 SEK
1. 70 000 SEK
2. 40 000 SEK
3-4. 25 000 SEK
3-4. 25 000 SEK
5-8. 10 000 SEK
5-8. 10 000 SEK
5-8. 10 000 SEK
5-8. 10 000 SEK
Schedule in short:
Saturday, June 15 – BYOC Qualifier + Group A/B
Sunday,  June 16 – Group C/D
Monday, June 17– Playoffs RO8 + RO4 + Grand Finals

Rundown of Participants

A total of seven spots are reserved for invited teams, while nine others will be filled through various qualifiers. As mentioned above already, our Wolves managed to snipe the Danish Online Qualifier spot, and a few more teams have been added to the list already:

1. Ninjas in Pyjamas – Invited
2. Curse – Invited
3. ESC Gaming  - Invited
4. fnatic - Invited
5. Copenhagen Wolves - Invited
6. Virtus.pro - Invited
7. LDLC.com - Invited
8. /10/ - LAN Qualifier Belarus
9. ESG! - LAN Qualifier Sweden
10. Western Wolves - Online Qualifier Denmark
11. myDGB.net – Online Qualifier Finland
12. Online Qualifier – RaidCall EMS One Summer 2013
13. Online Qualifier – RaidCall EMS One Summer 2013
14. Online Qualifier – Fnatic FragOut League
15. BYOC Qualifier – Sign up
16. BYOC Qualifier – Sign up

Invited Teams

Let’s take a closer look at the invited teams first. The Swedes of Ninjas in Pyjamas are no strangers to the scene. After literally dominating every offline tournament for an entire year, other teams have finally caught up with their skill level. Nonetheless, they are still considered one of the big fan-favourites and are looking to regain last winter’s title.

Up next is Curse Gaming, home to their five-men all-American lineup. These guys are probably the strongest team around oversees, and have been given the number two seed for a reason. Their solid performance in the ESEA environment alongside over 10 years of experience in the competitive Counter-Strike  scene make them another force to be reckoned with.

Third invited team is ESC-Gaming from Poland. These guys are part of the elite 10 best teams in Europe, and have given many worthy opponents a rough time with their fast comeback tactics. Whether you’re in a big lead or not, their ability to throw you off your game is what makes them another big name at the DHS event.

In the fourth seed we see the Danes from Fnatic. Despite some rough online results lately, the guys are still considered to be part of the top-five best teams in Europe. Their LAN experience alongside tons of second and third place finishes at several events has granted them an invite to the event.

The fifth team we see invited are the CopenHagen Wolves, also from Denmark. Their performance has always been with huge ups and downs. One day they take down teams like NiP with ease, the next day they lose to a semi-professional B team. Whether they will be able to pull out of their recent slump is yet to be determined and DreamHack Summer will be an excellent time to prove themselves once more.

In the sixth seed the one and only Virtus.Pro has been invited, known from way back in the 1.6 era. These Russians were the first to beat NiP offline a few weeks ago, and have since been rated top-three in Europe. Whether their recent online slack will have a big influence on their DHS performance is yet to be decided, but we’re expecting some intense gameplay from their side either way.

The last invited team is LDLC.com, one of the few remaining French powerhouses in the Counter-Strike  scene. Their most recent pickup KennyS will carry a lot of weight on his shoulders during this event, as this last-minute lineup change gave the squad a lot of media attention.

Qualified Teams

Let’s move on to the teams that qualified through several online and offline tournaments.

Number 8 is the German powerhouse from /10/, known for their excellent EPS plays and past experience in all the Counter-Strike  titles. These guys use very aggressive tactics to blow their opponents off balance. A force to be reckoned with!

Seed number 9 has been given away last weekend at the Inferno Online Qualifier in Stockholm, where ESG! managed to come out on top after winning to big names such as Lemondogs and Absolute Legends. They’re an upcoming team and are one of the underdogs for this tournament. We’ll have to see how they perform at a huge event before drawing any conclusions.

At the 10th seed we see, as mentioned earlier, Western Wolves.

The 11th seed has been given to myDGB.net, who were recently removed off the curse.finland lineup due to a lack of results. Their former performance at DH under the Hawks banner was nothing above mediocre, so we’ll have to fit them under the “underdogs” banner.

The rest of the spots are to be filled within the following two weeks.

Related Stories:

• Read about the StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm action at DreamHack Summer 2013
• Read about the Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition ver. 2012 action at DreamHack Summer 2013

For more information on The Recon Tour, visit the official site.

View Larger Map

While the first iteration focused on the Western European front of World War II, Company of Heroes 2  places you in the midst of the frigid Eastern front, where the fighting between Germany and Russia was furious and brutal. While series developer Relic Entertainment has kept many of the features that made the first CoH  one of the highest rated real-time strategy games of all time, they have added new features such as a dynamic weather system that can actually affect gameplay (snow has depth and will alter unit speed, ice bridges can be formed or collapse under the weight of your tanks), and new Commander Abilities that allow you to implement and alter strategies on a moment-to-moment basis. Company of Heroes 2  will be available on PCs everywhere on June 25, 2013.

On the other side of the Sega booth we met up with the lads from Creative Assembly who showed off their latest entry in the Total War  series, Total War: Rome II. While the game is technically a sequel to 2004′s Rome: Total War, CA has spent time exploring multiple corners of history since that game, and now return to Rome incorporating all that they have learned along the way! The Total War  series has always put equal emphasis on the turn-based and real-time strategy elements, and Rome II  is no different. The turn-based campaign mode allow players to deal with all of the conspiracies and political treachery that come with being a Roman senator, while the real-time battles allow you to direct your army as they stand toe-to-toe with barbarian hordes, all rendered in jaw-dropping detail. Total War: Rome II  will be available worldwide on September 3, 2013.