Eric Van Allen

Dragon Ball FighterZ, One Month Later

Dragon Ball FighterZ had a rough launch, but in the time since has become a truly unique fighting game, capturing the interest of players from many different backgrounds. It’s rare to find a game that plays so well competitively and still nails a good kamehameha. Here’s a rundown of the last month (or so) for…

Counter-Strike Match Goes To Four Overtimes

The third-place decider match at today’s StarSeries i-League Season 4 finals went a little long. A simple best-of-three, Team Liquid and FaZe had a meeting on Inferno that went well past regulation and into multiple overtimes, almost to the length of two regular matches. After tying 15-15 in regular rounds, overtime began. Overtime in Counter-Strike:…

Dragon Ball FighterZ Match Ends In Dual Vanishing Act

Are you watching closely? At Winter Brawl in Pennsylvania today, Echo Fox’s Theo and EMP KDZ were dueling to see who would head into the Dragon Ball FighterZ top 8 on the winner’s side. Down to a sliver of health on both sides, KDZ went for a vanish attack, and in a split-second reaction, Theo…

Philly’s Secret Weapon Shines In Overwatch League Debut

Many teams debuted their fresh new players during kickoff weekend for stage two of the Overwatch League, but the one that made arguably the biggest impact had been on the roster for a while. It just wasn’t until these last few days that he got to show why he earned a spot on the Philly…

Long-Running Smash Bros. Weekly Hosts One Last Tournament This Weekend [Update]

Smash @ Xanadu has been one of the Super Smash Bros. most notable weeklies for years, but this weekend will be the end of an era. Xanadu will be closing its doors after its last hurrah: one more Smash Bros. tournament. Dubbed Xanadu: End Of An Era, both the Smash 4 and Melee events this…

The Circle Acts A Bit Differently In Competitive Battlegrounds

This weekend, 16 squads face off in competitive battle royale in Katowice, Poland. But while their version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds isn’t too different from the one you might have at home, there have been some slight modifications. During a lull in the action, the commentators broke down the settings for the PUBG Invitational. Specifically, the…

A Rookie Player Is Helping His League of Legends Team Win Again

SK Telecom T1 was on a slippery slope after the 2017 Worlds. But in a matter of weeks, the South Korean League of Legends squad has improved from 1-5 to 4-5, working its way back up the standings thanks to the help of a talented-as-hell rookie jungler. The slump of SKT at the start of…

Florida Overwatch League Team Honors Parkland Shooting Victims

The Florida Mayhem are known for, among other things, their elaborate entrances each week of the Overwatch League. After the shooting in Parkland last week, the team chose to make a different kind of entrance for their first match of stage two—a tribute to the victims, survivors, and community in Florida. The team entered in…

The Best Players In Fighting Games Are Meeting In Dragon Ball FighterZ

The so-called “fighting game community” is really a blanket term for an archipelago of dozens of games and scenes of wildly varying size and content. Each has its champions, but they rarely get a chance to cross lines and challenge one another. But that’s exactly what’s happening with Dragon Ball FighterZ The game, created by…

Rainbow Six: Siege Invitationals End In Tense Overtime

The 2018 Rainbow Six: Siege Invitational came to a close today, with Evil Geniuses and Penta Sports vying for the title of world champion. EG got off to an early 2-0 lead, but a resilient Penta turned the tables, going back and forth until the teams found themselves in the final rounds of overtime. Though…

Overwatch Team Has Some Jukes

One team in the Philadelphia Hometown Heroes showcase had some pretty slick moves ready for the tournament. The Philadelphia Fusion hosted an event in Philly yesterday where average players could audition for a spot on the Fusion’s contenders team. Basically Invincible, but with Overwatch The DM Warriors, which included former Renegades player Douglas “PrimoDulce” Perks,…

Weird Dragon Ball FighterZ Tournament Rule Sets Up Incredible Comeback

The top players in Dragon Ball FighterZ are still discovering new tech and strategies, but last night’s tournament showed the potential the game has for competition. In a set between two players with two quite different backgrounds, Kizzie Kay and Chris G. put on an anime-as-hell bout. Kizzie hails from the anime fighting game scene,…

The Next Two Rainbow Six: Siege Operators Are Packing Some Powerful Gadgets

Finka and Lion will be the next two operators joining the Rainbow Six: Siege roster, as part of the game’s third year of post-launch support. The two biohazard specialists will bring some chemicals and tech to the game alongside the Operation Chimera update on March 6 After a teaser revealed their names and look earlier…

The Smash Bros. Community Is Arguing About Bayonetta

One of Super Smash Bros. For Wii U’s more controversial characters is in the spotlight again. Pros and casuals alike are debating whether to ban Bayonetta. The gun-heeled domme star of some pretty good spectacle fighter games, Bayonetta’s presence in Smash has been a sore spot for the competitive Smash community for a while. She…

I’m Enjoying A Mystery Game That Lets Me Get It Wrong

I have a vice for mystery games. Since I first played The 7th Guest at a much-too-young age, I’ve loved solving virtual crimes and puzzles. Most of these games focus on the drive toward a correct solution. You have to get the puzzle right to proceed. I adore games like Danganronpa and Phoenix Wright, but…

Blizzard has announced changes for the Overwatch League’s schedule heading into the second stage of its inaugural season. The stage playoffs will move to their own day on Sunday, while weekday matches will consistently start at 7 p.m. EST and weekends at 3 p.m. EST.

Compete Discusses: Is Overwatch League Any Good, Or What

After a full year of hype, we now have a decent idea of what the Overwatch League looks like in practice. With the season a quarter over—“Stage 1″ just ended—Compete staff checks in on how things are going. Eric Van Allen: So the first real question, I guess, is do we feel like the league…

Commentator Just Straight Up Drops Smash Player’s First Trophy

Last night, Brian “Cosmos” Kalu won his first-ever trophy for Super Smash Bros. For Wii U, and then almost lost it. Kalu and his doubles partner Rei “komorikiri” Furukawa won the two-on-two bracket last night at Frostbite 2018. In the post-game interview, commentator Richard “Keitaro” King Jr. almost gave new meaning to the term “Smash…

London Win Overwatch Stage 1 Playoffs In Reverse Sweep

After a long, almost 12-hour day of competition, the London Spitfire emerged victorious last night in the first stage playoffs of the Overwatch League. After dropping two maps to the New York Excelsior, the Spitfire surged back and took three straight to reverse-sweep the finals and win the playoff bonus. Though the stage playoffs have…

Houston Makes Overwatch Stage 1 Playoffs After Do-Or-Die Final Round

The second of today’s matches would determine who would continue on to tonight’s playoffs, so of course, it went the distance. The Houston Outlaws and the Boston Uprising seemed to match each other blow-for-blow, all the way to map five, round three, each determined to shape the playoffs to come. Because of tiebreaker rules, Boston…