Esports

Major Fighting Game Tournament Completes Its Final Round

In a lengthy announcement, Final Round tournament organizer Larry “Shin Blanka” Dixon revealed that the flagship event series will come to an end. After two decades, the fighting game community has lost one of its most prominent competitive arenas. When Dixon took to Facebook after wrapping up the twentieth installment of Final Round this past…

How Esports Gambling Works

The first few months of Overwatch League’s inaugural season have already resulted in unexpected upsets, emerging tactics, and drama between players that has resulted in pros getting fined, benched, or released from teams. That stuff isn’t just fun to follow and grist for the content mines: it’s moving betting lines. Overwatch is the newest league…

An Overwatch Pro Is Turning The Game’s Zen Monk Into A Vicious Killer

Overwatch’s healer-monk Zenyatta floats cross-legged while delivering voice lines like “embrace tranquility” and “be one with the universe.” He was a frail, peace-loving healer, it seemed—until Sung-hyeon “JJonak” Bang’s January debut in the Overwatch League. Four days after the League launched, JJonak’s Zenyatta exacted an absolutely bonkers 10,764 damage, 24% of his entire team’s output…

Dragon Ball FighterZ Titans Collide Again In Extraordinary Finals

It was only fitting that Dominique “SonicFox” McLean and Goichi “Go1″ Kishida meet again in this weekend’s Dragon Ball FighterZ tournament. Avoiding each other all the way until the grand finals, it was the anime legend Goichi who managed to edge out the young prodigy and cement his status at the top of the FighterZ…

Pokkén Player Invades Broadcast, Cuts Fire Promo, Loses Every Match

During pool play at Final Round 2018 yesterday, one Pokkén Tournament player took the opportunity to take the mic and deliver some choice words for his next opponent. Whether a work or a genuine mic-grab, Franke “2PlayRough” Sisto delivers a WWE-caliber promo about determination and proving his mother wrong. “I’m put up against an opponent…

The Texas Overwatch League Teams Are Having A Rough Go Of Stage 2

The Dallas Fuel and Houston Outlaws both had matches to play last night. Both teams needed a win, and neither found one. It was a tough evening for Texas fans that highlighted both teams’ ongoing issues in the second stage of the Overwatch League. The Houston Outlaws had an incredible showing in stage one, surging…

Two Dragon Ball FighterZ Pros Finally Settle The Score

After a few public call-outs, two fighters finally clashed last night in Atlanta, Georgia. Dominique “SonicFox” McLean and Goichi “Go1″ Kishida met in the ring at Final Round 2018 for a first-to-10 wins exhibition. The result was electric. McLean has been dominant in the western Dragon Ball FighterZ, and after a win at Winter Brawl…

The Weekend In Esports: Another Season, Another Reason To Love Blanka

It’s the start of a new season for the Street Fighter V pro tour. Players have been (mostly) taking a breather since MenaRD took the Capcom Cup title. But the leaping green monster has returned, heralding the start of a new season of competitive Street Fighter. Some big names are heading to Atlanta to carve…

Overwatch Coach Issues Apology For Being Kind Of Clumsy

David “dpei” Pei, head coach for the LA Gladiators Overwatch League team, bumped into two Houston Outlaws players backstage last night and issued a real head-scratcher of an apology for it: “Yesterday during the Outlaws match, I inadvertently bumped into two of the Outlaws players. I hadn’t been watching where I was going. I was…

Hearthstone’s Randomness Can Be Tough For Pros To Swallow

Hearthstone is a game for haters. It’s expensive; its metagame stands still for months; no matter how well you play, you will drop games to bad players with good luck. Read the comments on pretty much any article about Blizzard Entertainment’s wildly successful collectible card game, and you’ll find a glut of testimonials from disgruntled…

StarCraft: Remastered Pro Arrested For Match-Fixing

The StarCraft scene just got rocked by a match-fixing scandal that feels like a blast from the past, given that it involves a tournament for StarCraft: Remastered, the remake of StarCraft: Brood War. Although StarCraft II has had a few match-fixing scandals of its own, SC’s most notable match-fixing scandal happened in 2010 in the…

Pro Gamers Are Getting Serious About Unionizing

Former Overwatch pro and coach Thomas “Morte” Kerbusch has partnered with sports labor attorney Ellen Zavian to push towards unionizing, according to a report from Liz Mullen in Sports Business Journal. Meanwhile, the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro scene is also forming a players association, thanks to the efforts of Scott “SirScoots” Smith, a longtime esports…

The Rock Climbing Walls In Overwatch, Reviewed

When Overwatch unveiled new map Horizon Lunar Colony last summer, players were quick to catalog its every feature and develop strategies for how best to defend or attack the moon base. There are airlocks that lead to the surface of the moon, a single mega health pack right next to the first point, stacks of…

Overwatch Pros Introduce Themselves By Singing Frozen In Korean

Overwatch League’s minor league, Contenders, kicked off with a bang over the weekend. Also, karaoke. Overwatch Contenders tournaments will be running for the next couple months in seven regions, one of which is Korea. As part of an official segment showcasing the competitors, two players from a team called Foxes belted a stirring rendition of…

Weak Pokémon Evolves Thanks To Possible Pokkén Tournament Bug

Croagunk is the closest thing the Pokémon fighting game Pokkén Tournament has to the prototypical fighting game joke character, but the character’s stock rose dramatically over the weekend when a player discovered something new about its Gunk Shot. Some of Croagunk’s most important skills involve randomness: its most versatile attack throws out several beneficial items, but…

Valve is rolling out a subscription service for Dota 2, called Dota Plus. An extension of the battle passes, Plus users can earn cosmetics and non-gameplay goodies, as well as gain access to a coaching system called Plus Assistant, for $3.99 a month.

Dallas Fuel Release Félix “xQc” Lengyel

Overwatch League team Dallas Fuel announced today that the organization and tank player Félix “xQc” Lengyel have mutually agreed to part ways. Lengyel’s contract was set to last through the entirety of the league’s inaugural season. “There are few players out there who have achieved as much success in as short a time as Félix…

Rocket League Player Sinks Goal Over Sick Double Bump

In today’s European play-in qualifiers for the Rocket League Rival Series, team Triple Trouble showcased some beautiful coordination in setting up a clean shot on the goal by bumping out the defenders. As Ronaky sailed through the air towards the ball, his teammates seized the opportunity to bump the opponent Zebra Nose’s cars with their…

Florida Mayhem Scores First Win Of The Overwatch League’s Second Stage

The Florida Mayhem have heart, but the yellow-and-red has also been struggling to break out from the bottom of the standings. Last night, with its back against the wall, the team started to turn things around with a solid reverse sweep of the Dallas Fuel. Despite early signs of life for the Mayhem, the Fuel…

Virtus Pro Look Unstoppable In Dota Bucharest Major Finals

Just making the grand finals ensured Virtus.Pro would punch a ticket to this year’s Dota 2 International. But in the grand finals of today’s Bucharest Major, VP reminded everyone why they’re at the top of the Dota pro circuit, in a 3-0 sweep of Vici Gaming J Thunder. Analysis for a win like this is…