Esports

Report: Philly’s Overwatch Contenders Jerseys Banned Because Of ‘FU’

The Philadelphia Fusion’s Overwatch Contenders team, University, is playing without jerseys in today’s season one finals, not due to a laundry mishap or lost luggage but apparently the giant “FU” emblazoned on their game wear. The University, which competes in Contenders—essentially the Overwatch League’s minor league—announced on Twitter that their “FU jerseys” had been banned…

Team Secret are the third team to qualify for The International 2018, a multi-million dollar Dota 2 world championship. The team joins the Virtus.Pro and Team Liquid in having secured a direct invite to the event, thanks to their placing in this weekend’s GESC Thailand tournament.

Overwatch Pro’s Husband-And-Wife Streams Are A Bright Light In A Dim World

2018 is not a grand year. Every day there’s some new catastrophe. Fans are rioting, Kanye is tweeting, and we’re all drinking shitty cocktails. But there is one beacon of hope: an Overwatch pro and his wife, and their too-wholesome-for-this-world streams. Park “Saebyeolbe” Jong-yeol is a member of the New York Excelsior, the current top…

Dragon Ball FighterZ‘s Best Player Keeps Getting Better

Fighters are gearing up for the coming season of major Dragon Ball FighterZ events, and few look as fearsome as Goichi “Go1″ Kishida. The season of fighting game majors is almost upon us, and FighterZ competitors will go through the gauntlet, from Combo Breaker and the Summit of Power through to CEO and Evo 2018.…

The Weekend In Esports: Midseason Madness

The group stage for the League of Legends Midseason Invitational is underway, and the international showcase of talent is already heating up. MSI, as it’s called, is always an interesting test of mettle between regions to see who might be looking for a possible world championship run. And while European hopeful Fnatic has had varying…

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Character Provides Bootleg Training Mode In Limited Beta

The fighting game community is currently exploring BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle via a beta test to uncover its secrets before the official May 31 release date. But as is often the case, this demo is limited to a handful of modes and doesn’t include a built-in place to practice solo, forcing players to use one…

Apparently You Can Just Murder Pitchers In This Baseball Video Game

Look. Pitchers getting hit in the head by batted balls happens all the time, and is no joke. But I dare you to watch this Super Mega Baseball 2 clip from Giant Bomb producer and Mario Maker nightmare creator Dan Ryckert and not laugh: The pitcher’s apparent death is incredibly satisfying, from the ball hitting…

Nintendo Doesn’t Want The Best Smash Bros. Melee Player In The World At Its Big Tournament

Nintendo didn’t invite the top player of its longest-running esports title, Super Smash Bros. Melee, to its biggest (and likely only) tournament of the year. Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma isn’t exactly salty that he won’t be playing at the E3 Invitational next month; he’s more disbelieving. “It’s not as outlandish as flat earth,” said Debiedma over…

Shanghai Dragons just lost their second coach this season. Wang “RUI” Xingrui, who came aboard after Chen Congshan stepped down last March, will exit due to “health issues.” Shanghai remains Overwatch League’s only winless team

Overwatch League’s Next Stage Won’t Have New Hanzo Or Nerfed Brigitte

There’s a push and pull between pro players and “regular folks” underlying every major esports game, a delicate dance of priorities. And when that balance gets knocked askew as it’s been in the case of Overwatch League Stage 4? Then nobody’s happy. After last weekend’s stage-closing showdown between Boston Uprising and New York Excelsior, Overwatch…

After spending the entire regular season in the 450-seat Blizzard Arena in Los Angeles, the Overwatch League grand finals will be in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in July. The playoffs through the semifinals will be in L.A., and the two finalists meet in Brooklyn on July 27-28.

Overwatch Pro Gets Two Reinhardt Ults In Six Seconds

HAMMER. DOWN. In case you needed any more evidence that LA Gladiators player Chan-hyung “Fissure” Baek is one of the best Overwatch tanks in the world, here he is playing Whac-A-Mole with an enemy team, then getting into an 18-wheeler and running over the Whac-A-Mole machine. Fissure approaches the other team’s frontline with his shield…

‘C9ing’ Is The Bottom Of The Overwatch Toilet

A few weeks ago, at the end of a hard-fought game of Overwatch, my team was diligently wrecking the enemy team outside their spawn point when we suddenly realized that nobody was actually playing the objective. It was completely uncontested. In a moment, the words “DEFEAT” appeared on screen. Fuck. Chat exploded: “C9 nooo” “C99999”…

Coach Crusty Switches Overwatch League Teams After Ten-Match Winning Streak

Head coach Da-hee “Crusty” Park just left the Boston Uprising for the same job with the San Francisco Shock, one day after the team narrowly missed out on winning every single game in the Overwatch League’s third stage. Yesterday, New York Excelsior won the title and put a stop to Boston’s undefeated streak. Even with…

Mew2King Wins Smash Invitational, Can’t Believe It

Jason “Mew2King” is a legendary Super Smash Bros. Melee player with not one but two eras of dominance. His competitive results in 2007-2008 and 2013-2014 are a litany of first-place finishes, with some streaks stretching for months at a time. And while he has continued to be a regular sight in tournament play, these kinds…

New York Claims Overwatch League Stage 3 Title, Ends Boston’s Undefeated Streak

After dancing around each other as the two top teams of stage 3, the New York Excelsior and Boston Uprising finally settled the score in the grand finals of the stage’s playoffs. New York emerged victorious in a 3-0 win, securing back-to-back stage titles in the Overwatch League. The two teams had played before in…

PSG.LGD Wins Its First Dota Major And Also An Infinity Gauntlet

Fresh off a sponsorship from football club Paris Saint-Germain, LGD Gaming—now PSG.LGD—won this weekend’s Dota 2 Epicenter XL major, getting some prize money, circuit points, and a sweet Infinity Gauntlet. PSG.LGD got its first big points grab in the Dota pro circuit in last month’s Dota Asia Championships 2018, where the team came in 2nd.…

Soulcalibur VI Player Accidentally Goes For A Swim

That’s one way to wake up, I guess. An exhibition was held at Texas Showdown last night for the unreleased Soulcalibur VI. As an unreleased game, that might explain why one move didn’t go exactly as planned. It happens to the best of us. Party Wolf went on to win the exhibition in the next…

Japan’s Yoshi Specialist Beats Top Melee Player

Masaya “aMSa” Chikamoto has been on a tear at this weekend’s Smash Summit 6, and yesterday he pulled off an upset on one of Melee’s best players. Chikamoto is considered the best Yoshi player in the Super Smash Bros. Melee scene, and he hails from Japan, a region that can be tough on the players…

Boston Uprising Closes Out Perfect Stage In Overwatch League

Boston’s 3-1 win last night against the Los Angeles Gladitaors secured a new record in the Overwatch League. Across five weeks and 10 games, the Boston Uprising won every single one and claimed the league’s first perfect stage, weathering some big storms in the process. Prior to stage 3, Boston sat squarely in the middle…