Esports

The Weirdest Patch Notes Of 2017

Patches are one of the best parts of gaming; you get to play Calvinball in real time, over the span of years. When developers announce their patches, though, they can sound ridiculous whether they’re describing what’s being fixed or introduced. I’ve been monitoring patch notes all year. Here are my favorites, listed by game. Yandere…

The argument against the ever-controversial Bayonetta in Super Smash Bros. popped up during WWE’s Clash of Champions event last night. The same person with that sign also pushed the idea that it’s time King Dedede received some improvements Ian Walker loves fighting games and writing about them. You can find him on Twitter at @iantothemax

Russian Player Retires After Riot Suspends Him For Saying League Teams Don’t Make Money There

Kirill “Likkrit” Malofeyev received a six-month ban from all League of Legends tournaments after comments he made on-stream about the Russian branch of Riot Games. In response, he announced his retirement on the Russian social media service VKontakte. In the ban announcement, League’s Continental League ruled that on Dec. 1, Likkrit made statements during a…

What’s Your Multiplayer Moment Of Glory?

It feels really good to be the game-winner on your team. In single-player games, you’re beating a system, but in multiplayer games you’re conquering the crowd. Whether it’s one-on-one or one-against-100, rising to the top and seizing the crown is one of the best feelings in competitive games. I was recently playing some Battlerite, an…

Dragon Ball FighterZ Recreates Series’ Most Dramatic Moments

The more we’ve seen of the upcoming Dragon Ball FighterZ, the more incredible it is how faithful Arc System Works has been to both the original anime and manga in portraying some of its biggest moments. In a new trailer, ASW showed they intend to, in some cases, literally reproduce the most dramatic moments in…

BlazBlue Player Explains Why He Writes In A Notebook During Matches 

During yesterday’s BlazBlue matches at the Northeast Championships, after a hard-earned win, one player decided to keep some thoughts on his mind the old-fashioned way: with pen and paper. TCr Dolfy, a Valkenhayn R. Hellsing player, started scribbling immediately after he went up 1-0 on Serpent in their pools set. Some online speculated as to…

Smash Pro Demonstrates Incredible Skill Before Accidentally Self-Destructing

At this weekend’s Holiday Bash Smash Invitational, some of the best in Super Smash Bros. Melee are coming together to play the last bit of competitive Melee before 2018. One player already has a moment he would probably like to leave behind come New Year’s. Weston “Westballz” Dennis is considered among the top players outside…

When Dota 2 Does Love Actually Memes

This weekend’s The Summit tournament is the eighth iteration of a Real World-meets-esports event, and it’s been delivering on the comedy front. One video, a play on the Christmas rom-com Love Actually, has Sam “BuLba” Sosale dropping some cards for former teammate Artour “Arteezy” Babaev. The gags center on Sosale’s tendency to hop teams frequently…

The Weekend In Esports: Counter-Strike, Pokémon, and Sunshine 

Packed between a major Counter-Strike tournament and Pokémon regionals, there’s a lot of other great tournaments to catch up with this Saturday and Sunday. Tekken 7 might be the year’s best fighting game, and there’s no better way to get an appreciation for it than by watching top players knock the pudding out of each…

Splatoon Player Becomes A Ninja Squid

In last night’s Splatoon 2 exhibition match between Eclipse and Saikai on InkTV, one squid decided to hide and wait in ink, until the perfect moment came to spring their trap. Saikai was pushing up on Eclipse’s turf with the Rainmaker when, as their teammates fell, Eclipse player “10sion” dove into the safety of their…

The State Of Esports In 2017

2017 was the year that esports became harder to ignore than ever, even for the sports blog readers who are desperate to do so. TBS has been broadcasting its Eleague Counter-Strike: Global Offensive competitions since 2016, and in 2017, the show expanded into broadcasts of Street Fighter, Injustice 2 and Rocket League, with each event…

What We Liked And Hated About Overwatch League Preseason

Blizzard’s Overwatch League is maybe the most ambitious American esports league ever, and its preseason wrapped up this weekend. The Compete staff, with an assist from our one blogparent that we’re still on speaking terms with, breaks down what went well last weekend and what can be improved for the regular season. The real matches…

I Owned My Childhood Self By Beating This One Tough Jak II Mission

“Mission failed.” The text pops up on the screen over and over. I had seen it so many times I was ready to pull my hair out. It was the fall of 2003, and I had found my white whale, my Everest. I had three minutes to make it to the garage in Jak II,…

The StarCraft Foot Heel Won’t Be Cowed By Angry Brands

Lim “Larva” Hong Gyu won the finals of last week’s Zotac Cup Masters Showmatch while playing StarCraft: Remastered with his foot and pretending to take a nap during the match. Zotac, the hardware company sponsoring the tournament, put out a statement in Chinese threatening to “officially ban Korean player Larva from attending any Zotac Cup…

Smash 4‘s Top Bayonetta Player Shortcircuited The Weekend’s Tournament

Saleem “Salem” Young, who plays the controversial Smash 4 fighter Bayonetta, clinically tore through the game’s top brawn at this weekend’s Boot Camp tournament like, as one commentator put it, a “a shark in the water.” Young rocketed into Smash 4’s top 10 rankings over the last year after achieving mastery of Bayonetta, a characterwidely…

Saul Mena Takes Down Evo Champ To Win $250K Capcom Cup

Saul “MenaRD” Mena ran through Street Fighter studs like Xian, Kazunoko, Daigo Umehara, and Itabashi Zangief to make it to this weekend’s Capcom Cup finals. But to win it all, he’d have to beat the man who beat him earlier—Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi, who also is the 2017 Evo champion. Early on in the finals, Tokido…

Some Familiar Faces Are Coming To Street Fighter V

The third season of Street Fighter V characters was announced after the conclusion of this year’s Capcom Cup, and there’s a slew of old faces finally returning to the fight. Sakura, Blanka, Cody, and Sagat will return to the ring, alongside newcomers G and Falke. All were shown in a fancy new story trailer, as…

Marvel Pro’s Reaction To Winning Tournament Is Fantastic

Jonathan “Cloud805″ Morales emerged victorious in today’s Battle For The Stones grand finals. After winning, he took not just the trophy and prize money, but the on-stage host, too. After beating fellow Marvel vs. Capcom veteran Christopher “NYChrisG” Gonzalez 3-2, Morales ended Infinite’s first capstone tournament by hoisting commentator Steve Scott, also known as “TastySteve,”…

Minions Win The Game In League of Legends All-Star Match

In game 2 of last night’s All-Star match between Korea and China, it seemed the latter had just secured a 2-0 sweep of their opponent, downing all five opposing team members. But the Chinese all-star team forgot about the sixth man: the minions. While champions, the player-controlled avatars in each match of League of Legends,…

Dota 2 Team Mounts Incredible Last-Ditch Comeback

In the first game of last night’s ROG Masters grand finals, Team Empire was playing back from a huge deficit. Their barracks and towers were down, and their all-important ancient was wide open. How did they come back? By going straight for the enemy’s ancient. Barracks in Dota 2 are vital structures—destroying them boosts your…