Esports

The Coolest Techniques From Arms‘ First Major Tournament

Nintendo’s shiny new Switch fighter had its first major outing this weekend at 2GGC’s Arms Saga, where 50 entrants showed up to throw hands (or controllers, depending on your preferred playstyle). The top eight play was tense and diverse, with many different approaches and fighters. Two Byte & Barq players made the playoffs, and Spring…

Man Carrying Stack Of Beers Is The Unofficial Winner Of This Weekend’s Counter-Strike Tournament 

There have been a number of great matches at the event, and Cloud9’s push to the grand finals has fans hyped, but nothing will top this guy’s bold decision to carry a shitload of beers back to his seat all at once. Taking place in Germany, the ESL One Cologne Counter-Strike tournament has a ton…

The Counter To Doomfist? Take A Seat

As players flood into the public test servers of Overwatch to find uses and counters for the new villain Doomfist, one player has found a rather interesting one: sitting down. In a highlight posted on the Overwatch subreddit, after popping off a four-kill ultimate, McCree player “Quesogard,”decides to walk onto the point and take a seat…

The Weekend In Esports: ESL One Cologne, Dota 2, And ARMS

Evo 2017 hasn’t even started, DreamHack Atlanta is weeks away, and Dota 2‘s TI7 is next month, and yet this post-4th of July weekend is still packed. North America’s Cloud9 have done the unthinkable and won a spot in the ESL One Cologne grand finals, a premier, $250,000 Counter-Strike tournament that’s usually dominated by European…

This 8-Hour Run Of Final Fantasy VII Is A Masterwork Of Planning

Most runs at Games Done Quick events fall in the one to three-hour range. Last night, Final Fantasy speedrunner “Ajneb174,” or Ben, put on an almost eight-hour speedrun of Final Fantasy VII, an endurance run of memorization, routing and insane game knowledge. Joined on the couch by fellow Final Fantasy runners Davesterio and J2_JATWo, the…

Looking Back On A 2013 Tournament Featuring Tekken‘s Bowling Mini-Game

When Tekken Tag Tournament came out in 2000, the game included a bowling mini-game called Tekken Bowl that became a cult favorite among Tekken players. Unlike Tekken, the bowling mini-game isn’t deep or complicated. You just choose a Tekken character and aim your bowling ball down the lane. But it’s still a competitive game… albeit…

Small Change Impacts How Players Approach Cars In Battlegrounds

Entering a town is a defining moment in any Battlegrounds match. In open fields, you’re safe. You can see for miles, and shots are difficult to track over long distances. Enter a village or town, it’s different. Sixty alive. A car sits vacant in the street. Any other day a gamble, but today, it’s facing…

Top Pro Dominates Tournament With Street Fighter V’s Newest Character

Justin Wong is one of the greatest fighting game players of all time, and he proved that yet again by using a brand new character for the entirety of a Street Fighter V tournament in Canada this past weekend. Whileopinions have been mixed concerning Ed, who was introduced to the Street Fighter V roster on…

15 Years Later, Here’s Why A Gamer Was Duct-Taped To A Ceiling

Few photos from the forum ages of online gaming live in greater infamy than one of what appears to be a human duct taped to the ceiling of a dimly lit basement, his arms reaching out to lightly graze the keys of a Dell mechanical keyboard. Many have laid claim to this image. “I was…

Medieval fighting game For Honor is launching a weekly 1 vs. 1 tournament called the Hero Series with the Electronic Sports League. It begins July 8th and culminates in a live event in Burbank, California.

Valve Announces Big Changes To Dota 2‘s Tournament Structure Going Forward

The biggest Dota 2 event of the year is next month, but that hasn’t stopped Valve from announcing a major overhaul of the esport’s competitive scene to take place after the $20+ million tournament is concluded in August. “For the next year we will be taking a more organic approach to growing the competitive ecosystem,…

Valve Tinkers With Dota 2 Ahead Of TI7 In Latest Patch

Last night, Valve pushed out a small update for Dota 2. Patch 7.06etweaks a slew of heroes ahead of the game’s biggest tournament of the year in August, including Alchemist, whose base agility jumped nearly 50%. Here’s the full list of changes: Neutral small camps: gold bounty increased by 10% Veil of Discord: Recipe cost…

15-Year-Old’s Reaction To Winning Her First Street Fighter V Tournament Is Everything

Last week, a local Street Fighter V event in Ontario, Canada saw 15-year-old “Toffee” take a major step in her competitive career as she sailed past a handful of her fellow competitors en route to tournament gold. Her celebration, a pop-off that was more elation than disrespect, has spread across the fighting game community like…

Sneaky Triple Saves The Round In Counter-Strike Qualifiers

Patience is a virtue, as Miikka “suNny” Kemppi showed in today’s qualifier matches for the PGL Major in Bucharest. His team, Penta Sports, was falling to the offensive push of Mouseports onto the B bombsite, so Kemppi patiently waited in the wings. As one player set up the bomb and two fanned out to cover,…

The Weekend In Esports: Pokémon Championships And Overwatch Contenders

With the Dota 2 TI7 qualifiers behind us and ESL One Cologne yet to begin, this weekend belongs to some of pro gaming’s other scenes. Most notably Pokémon with the North American Championships pitting the best trainers across the continent against each other. Who’s ready for the parade of Arcanine? Below you’ll find where and…

The Conflict Over Custom Loadouts In Arms Tournaments

Arms has been a surprise hit on the Switch, but the competitive-minded players who have latched onto it are having difficulty establishing a standard format for high-level Arms matches. Each fighters in Arms has three default choices for each of their arms. Helix has his Blorb, Ice Dragon and Guardian, while Min Min has Ramrams, Megawatts…

The Fifth Fan-Run Mario Kart World Cup Starts Today

The Mario Kart World Cup kicks off today, featuring teams from 10 nations competing in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Nintendo Switch, as well as Mario Kart Wii, a 2008 classic that remains a touchstone for the Mario Kart competitive scene. Both games feature twelve-player races, so each nation will put forward its six…

Inside The Growing Coaching Industry Supporting League Of Legends Teams

Competitive League of Legends has grown past just the five-player line-up. Coaching staff and more people in charge of training, guiding, and managing players are becoming necessary for a successful team eyeing a spot at the top of the League Championship Series. Or so says the coaching staff for the Immortals, who spoke to me…

This Year’s Dota 2 International Will Be The First Without A Defending Champion

For the first time in Dota 2 history, there will be no defending champion at this year’s International (barring the very first). As the dust clears from this week’s regional qualifiers for the biggest tournament in Dota 2, the Chinese bracket has ended in defeat for all five defending champions of last year’s International 6.…

Bikes Are Making A Comeback In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

In my search for the best kart in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, I paid almost no attention to the bikes. Neither did any of the build recommendation websites that I cited. That’s because a lot of the bikes in Mario Kart 8 didn’t used to be viable in competitive play. Turns out, I shouldn’t have…