Esports

The Philadelphia Fusion Are Real Frisky Now

Coming into last night’s matchup, the Houston Outlaws and Philadelphia Fusion were both undefeated in the Overwatch League’s second stage, and the Outlaws were particularly hot, going from an 0-2 start to a 9-3 record. But Philadelphia can’t be beaten in seemingly anything right now. When the Fusion took the stage, star newcomer Eqo wasn’t…

Dragon Ball FighterZ‘s Magical Wish-Granting Dragon Actually Made A Tournament Appearance

A recent Dragon Ball FighterZ event saw one competitor summon Shenron, the manga and anime series’ wish-granting dragon deity, during a tournament match. Despite being right there in the game’s name, the Dragon Ball orbs aren’t a common sight in competition. The mechanic required to activate them is complicated—Dragon Ball FighterZ players can acquire these…

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…

Star-Studded Tournament Can’t Transcend PUBG’s Esports Problem

The relative entertainment value of all sports can, believe it or not, be boiled down to a single question: are competitors playing to win, or are they only playing to not lose? PUBG’s tournament rule set, unfortunately, leaves a lot of room for the latter, which put a damper on a recent tournament full of…

Fired League Of Legends Coach: The Story I Told “Wasn’t Sexually Explicit,” But Could Be “Construed Or Interpreted As Sexual Harassment”

Three weeks after Golden State Warriors-owned League of Legends team Golden Guardians fired head coach Yoonsup “Locodoco” Choi, the former coach broke his silence. Choi, who was fired just four games into the team’s season, said tonight that his firing was a result of him telling a “personal story” which was not “sexually explicit,” but…

Someone Finally Beat SonicFox In Dragon Ball FighterZ, But He Won The Tournament Anyway

Dominique “SonicFox” McLean is the greatest fighting game player of the modern era, and was at the height of his powers in Philadelphia this past weekend. The twelfth and final installment of the Winter Brawl event series attracted over 700 competitors, 316 of which made the trip to compete in Dragon Ball FighterZ. SonicFox was…

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:…

Virtus Pro Seizes Top Spot In Dota 2 Pro Circuit

After a week of upsets, ESL One Katowice ended in a one-sided rout. It was only last fall that Russia’s storied Virtus.pro side finally won its first Major. Just four months later they’ve somehow managed to continue that streak and become back-to-back ESL One winners. While the Group A finals earlier in the week saw…

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…

The Weekend In Esports: Battlegrounds Goes To Poland

The biggest names in esports are in Poland this weekend for, among other things, the biggest PUBG tournament yet held. The game originally debuted with an invitational at IEM Oakland last year and has now moved on to having a world championship tournament at this year’s Katowice event. Dota 2, CS:GO, and StarCraft II will…

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…

Overwatch Pro Embraces Tranquility, Miraculously Avoids Certain Doom

Other Zenyatta players might be stronger, faster, and/or literally Seoul Dynasty’s Ryujehong, but this is, without a doubt, The One True Zenyatta. As part of Blizzard’s Overwatch Contenders Trials series, a player from Thailand named Tae found himself smack in the middle of a veritable ult sandwich and decided to just go with it. Instead…

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…

Fans Have Spent Over $150,000 Cheering Overwatch League Teams On Twitch

Yesterday, Twitch introduced “cheering” functionality to its Overwatch League streams, allowing viewers to express team loyalty with actual money. Oddly, however, none of that money is going directly to teams. In order to use Twitch’s cheering functionality, you have to acquire “bits,” which you can buy in bundles that come out to around a $0.014…

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…

Blizzard has announced that it’s hosting a Warcraft III invitational tournament at the end of the month. Yes, Warcraft III, the one with strategy and sheep that explode if you click on them enough. Veteran pros like Madfrog and Tak3r will participate in the event, which will be accompanied by balance changes and widescreen support…

The Overwatch League Hosts Clearly Need Our Fashion Advice

Overwatch League has a talent desk crowded with men who can’t seem to find a button-up shirt that fits them. But every now and then, the hosts step out of the box and show off a look that catches the eye, one way or another. I sat down with Kotaku’s seasoned fashion writer Gita Jackson…