Eric Van Allen's discussions

It might seem like a crazy pipe dream, but consider that Dota, League, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress and other esports games are all built out from or inspired by mods to other games. It isn’t strange to see the artists and designers who built these try to establish themselves with the mod work they love doing. Read more

Updated for clarity, I went with nicknames for this one due to the players in question being known more for their stream names / personas, and the quotations often referring to each other by nicknames. Read more

Trash-talking certainly has its merits, and we’ve discussed it on here before in a positive light. Read more

Hey, no worries on nit-picky things. I want to present the subject matter in the best terminology. Clarifying it right now! Read more

Oh, I see. Different articles for the rankings, I’ll adjust in the body text then. Thanks for pointing that out! Read more

That’s a good question, I’ve seen a lot of Melee and Wii U but not sure if there’s a competitive N64 scene. From what I’ve read, looks like the competitive Smash community didn’t fully start up until Melee. Read more

Hey, I was using the Panda global rankings, which have him at #5 right now. Read more

The variety it brings to matches is so significant. Love watching people really shine and do crazy stuff, like the Link bomb recovery. Gets the crowd hype too, which just makes the whole tournament that much better. Read more

Yes, it isn’t as common in those games you mentioned, but several popular esports have matches where players will “GG” out. StarCraft, Hearthstone, and Dota immediately come to mind. Usually it’s only when the outcome is a foregone conclusion. Read more

Oh wow, I missed that news. Taking a route away from competitive then, or at least that’s what that reads like. Read more

Hey! Yeah, Firebat was doing really well back in 2014-2015, but started falling off in 2016. He hasn’t shown up to too much in 2017 either. I imagine his name still has some clout attached to it, but he’s yet to reach the heights he was at a while back. Still signed with Cloud9 though, so who knows? Read more

I’ve been really enjoying the new rollers, the vertical slash you get out of jumps adds a lot to the playstyle. Read more

My first thought was Nujabes as well, but I wasn’t certain which one.

Yes and no. VAC bans are automated, usually a VAC ban relates to the detection of third-party software. Read more

I’ve seen this one come up a few times, so I’ll try and lay it out.

He’s entering the Compete hall of fame, right alongside Surprised Bystander.

Both of them certainly have enough pull to get some potential investors watching. And yeah, TwoEasy seems to have taken off from Bench Boys earlier this month, with HAL and Kryw not far behind. Read more

The co-op Tavern Brawl was definitely a nice start though. I think StarCraft II’s Archon mode sets some level of precedent for Blizzard to add a two-player mode, so who knows? Read more

A really cool tidbit from Purge’s interview was him discussing feeling. Read more