Yannick LeJacq

Why League Of Legends Won’t Add ‘Two For One’ Characters Like Dota 2’s

One odd thing that sets League of Legends apart from Dota 2 and Heroes of the Storm is the fact that the other games have “characters” who aren’t actually a single character. Rather, they’re a cluster of individual units controlled RTS-style. A Riot designer now says we shouldn’t expect anything like that for League The…

A Glimpse At League Of Legends’ New System For Reforming Toxic Players

Earlier this year, Riot Games announced a promising-but-still-kinda-vague “report card” system they’d developed to better address toxic in-game behavior by League of Legends players. Now they’ve finally given a sneak peek at how this new type of instant feedback will work. The new reform cards went live on League of Legends’ public beta environment last…

Heroes Of The Storm’s Rexxar/Misha Combo Is A New Kind Of MOBA Character

Heroes of the Storm added the Warcraft duo Rexxar and his pet bear Misha to its character roster yesterday. Like all new MOBA characters, the Manbearpig team feels pretty, well, new! But they feel new for a better reason than most heroes do. Rexxar and Misha are a unique, novel addition to the whole genre.…

Dota 2 is officially reborn. Starting now, you’ll only be able to play Valve’s popular MOBA in its revamped form, complete with the sexy new game client. The game is also adding a new achievement system called “Dota Levels,” which you can read about here.

League Of Legends YouTube Jokester Gets Banned

The acclaimed YouTuber Dunkey has a special place in the League of Legends universe for consistently producing some of the best, and definitely the funniest, material in the game’s massive community. But he might stop making League videos, because Riot banned him from the game for “toxic behavior.” Dunkey first made his ban public on…

Heroes Of The Storm Nerfs Overpowered Monster Mage Kael’Thas…Again

Last month, Heroes of the Storm finally got around to nerfing the monstrosity known as Kael’thas—a pyromaniac mage from Warcraft. But the nerf was merely a setback. In the new patch that came out last night, Blizzard had to dial down his abilities once again. As I wrote back in August, Kael’Thas has been considered…

Watch Me Test Out Rexxar, Heroes of The Storm’s Newest Character

Now that the Diablo-themed campaign “The Eternal Conflict” is over, Heroes of the Storm has turned its gaze back to Warcraft. Today, HOTS released the half-ogre, half-orc character Rexxar. Does the guy who helped find a home for the wandering orc hordes so many years ago make a good MOBA hero? Let’s find out! I…

A Faster Way To Get Back To Your Lane In League Of Legends

Teleporting to base and then trudging all the way back to your position in a particular lane is one of the most tedious elements of League of Legends. The League player and YouTuber ScrapComputer offers a handy way to shave time off this process. Posted on the League of Legends forums yesterday, ScrapComputer’s trick to…

Heroes Of The Storm Is Adding More Ways To Punish And Report Toxic Players

Blizzard hasn’t said much about in-game toxicity in Heroes of the Storm since before the game had launched, leading the MOBA’s current systems to feel somewhat outdated for its growing audience. Today the developer finally revealed some promising new initiatives on the dealing-with-jerks-online front. Writing in a post on the Battle.net blog, Blizzard said that…

The Best Smash Bros. Player In The World Is Feeling Burnt Out

Playing video games professionally is such a strenuous and time-consuming job that pro gamers regularly run into the problem of burnout. The latest person to succumb to this unfortunate trend is Gonzalo “Zero” Barrios, the reigning champion of the Smash Bros.’ eSports scene. Ever since the Wii U version of Smash came out and tournaments…

Heroes of the Storm just put out a spotlight for the upcoming Warcraft character Manbearpig Rexxar. I love the idea of adding a beastmaster—I mean, there’s already onein Dota 2. Allowing you to manage a bunch of different animals seems like a logical next step from all the summoning-heavy specialists already in HOTS.

Track: Blank Space | Artist: Taylor Swift | Album: 1989 Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Fan Version Of League Of Legends’ Bard Is Really Spoooooooky

League of Legends fan art is so fucking good. The latest amazing skin concept for the rotund and mostly adorable support champion Bard comes from League of Legends player and forum-goer Glow: He even made the little “meep” minions that travel around with Bard into ghosts that remind me of the halloween costumes from Peanuts.…

League Of Legends Bug Doesn’t Let Champion Stop Being A Bird

“Sometimes I swear that bird is just showing off,” Quinn will often say in League of Legends. I don’t think she meant it like this Quinn is a ranged champion in League of Legends who fights with a mechanic crossbow and a big fearsome-looking eagle on her shoulder. Except for when she triggers her ultimate…

The most powerful brand in sports journalism is officially diving into eSports. Today ESPN put out a job listing for an “eSports editor.” This comes after the ESPN magazine published its first ever eSports issue, which included an excellent profile of the League of Legends god player Faker. Art/story via The Daily Dot

Sgt. Doomhammer Orcs Up Heroes Of The Storm’s Siege Tank

Sgt. Hammer has always been one of the best specialists in Heroes of the Storm. But the MOBA-fied version of StarCraft’s iconic siege tank unit didn’t have any great skins to match—likely because it’s hard to dress up a tank in anything more more imaginative in a WWII-era guide. Blizzard’s finally changed that. “Sgt. Doomhammer”…

League Of Legends’ Most Annoying Samurai Gets Some Hot New Dance Moves

Buried in League of Legends’ characteristically dense patch notes last night, developer Riot Games revealed a seemingly small, but ultimately very important detail: they were going to make Master Yi’s dance scale with his movement speed. Yi is a famously quick-footed assassin in League who’s probably best known for the way he can blink into…

Heroes of the Storm is changing its ranked structure, Blizzard announced today. Players will only be able to queue up for ranked games with one other person instead of two or three like they can now. Hopefully this will lead to improved (read: more fair) matchmaking, though I’m certainly not bitter about that. Contact the…

These New Robo Skins For League Of Legends Are Super Cool

One of the most popular skins last year in League of Legends was PROJECT: Yasuo, a special outfit that made the samurai warrior look like an extra from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Shocking as it might sound, Riot saw how much fans liked this new robo-Yasuo and decided to make five more PROJECT skins this…

I Did My Best In Heroes of the Storm And Still Got Last Place

Late last night, Heroes of the Storm reached into my chest, tore out my heart, and began to vigorously stomp on it. It cackled maniacally while doing this. And all I could do was sit back and watch in a daze. A few weeks ago, Blizzard’s new-ish MOBA reset the rankings for its highly competitive…