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Esports
Smash Bros. Player Shuts Down Heckler, Goes On To Win Tournament
On an autumn Sunday before a Patriots game, you won’t find Tom Brady coming through the front entrance to get onto the field. You won’t find him in any of Gillette Stadium’s public restrooms taking a leak at half time. In fact, unless you are part of a very small and select cadre of people,…
By Ethan Gach Published September 25, 2016 -
Esports
Overwatch Pro Rips Through The Other Team As Tracer
Tracer is probably one of Overwatch’s most fun heroes to play. The way she can manipulate time and zip around maps, darting behind enemy lines and catching the other team off-guard, is a perfect example of what makes Blizzard’s game a different kind of competitive shooter. Kevin “AZK” Larivière demonstrated this perfectly in Team Liquid’s…
By Ethan Gach Published September 25, 2016 -
Esports
The Weekend In Esports: Smash Bros. And Cruise Ships
It’s finally fall, and as if there weren’t already enough games coming out to play, there’s plenty of big things going on in competitive gaming to watch. This weekend, Europe will crown a Hearthstone champion to send to BlizzCon later this season, and a slew of Chinese Dota 2 teams will compete to see who…
By Ethan Gach Published September 24, 2016 -
Esports
After Backlash, Riot Is Changing How Pros Are Paid
League of Legends publisher Riot Games announced major changes to their revenue structure today, addressing concerns waged against Riot by esports figureheads last month. In an open letter, Directors of Esports Whalen Rozelle and Jarred Kennedy describe steps Riot is taking to ensure stability for esports players and teams. Riot is actively soliciting long-term investment…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published September 22, 2016 -
Esports
Last Man Standing In Counter-Strike Somehow Wins The Game
Virtus.pro went on to win the entire tournament, but before they could do that, Filip “NEO” Kubski had to help get his team through the semi-finals against Team Dignitas. Despite his age, the 29 year old Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro has really come into his own these last few years, helping VP take first place…
By Ethan Gach Published September 18, 2016 -
Esports
Crowd Shouts, Throws Things At Counter-Strike Tournament
Today, Virtus.pro swept a two game series against Cloud9 to win the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive finals at the DreamHack Open in Bucharest. The all-Polish team appeared all but unstoppable, defeating the Americans 16-9 on both the first map, Train, and the second, Cobblestone. However, during the finals, some people in the crowd began holding up…
By Ethan Gach Published September 18, 2016 -
EsportsStruggling Halo Team Replaces Players With Last Year’s Champions
Imagine it’s the end of the month. The new NBA season is about to start just days later, but right before that, a majority of the Los Angeles Lakers’ owners decided to cut their losses with the team and sign a new one. With a once proud legacy firmly in the rear-view mirror, they’d had…
By Ethan Gach Published September 17, 2016 -
Esports
The Weekend In Esports: Hearthstone Summer Championships
It feels like only yesterday I was sitting down to embark on Hearthstone’s latest adventure, One Night in Karazhan. Just over a month later and the scene is completely lit. Blizzard announced it would remove 45 cards from the game’s arena mode to try and restore some semblance of balance to the otherwise rigged casino,…
By Ethan Gach Published September 17, 2016 -
Esports
After Getting Kicked Off His Team, Counter-Strike Pro Returns To Help Them Win
In Kiev, Ninjas in Pyjamas are victorious after beating G2 Gaming in a swift, 2-0 series. The Swedes went 16-7 on the first map, Cache, followed by a much closer, 22-18 nail-biter on Overpass which found the Frenchmen unable to stop the bleeding. NiP’s commanding finish was helped in no small part due to Mikail…
By Ethan Gach Published September 11, 2016 -
EsportsSmash Player Wins Tournament, Is Awarded Bag Of Rice
Kamemushi, who came in second place at EVO 2016’s tournament for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (Smash 4 for short), swept through the 25th Umebura tournament in Tokyo yesterday thanks to his lightning speed and brutal combos. His prize? One pair of headphones and a 66 pound bag of rice. After some 25 matches…
By Ethan Gach Published September 11, 2016 -
Esports
Focus Wins Over Flair In This Morning’s StarCraft II Tournament
“ByuN” Hyun Woo took home just under $35,000 after winning the GSL (Global StarCraft League) Season 2 finals earlier today in South Korea. You can watch him almost completely dominate his hot-shot opponent, Kim “sOs” Yoo Jin, across five separate matches below. The technologically advanced Protoss, helmed by sOs, took on ByuN’s brutish space marine…
By Ethan Gach Published September 10, 2016 -
EsportsEsports Team Caught In Controversy Over Undelivered Game [UPDATE]
Celebrity esports team FaZe Clan is taking heat for co-producing a video game that, over a year after its targeted launch date, remains unreleased. Backers donated nearly $20,000 to first-person shooter Starnet Eclipse, which critics are now calling a scam, an allegation FaZe Clan denies. In January of 2015, FaZe Clan announced they were co-producing…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published September 8, 2016 -
Esports
Riot Games Co-Founder And League Of Legends Team Owner Clash Over Cash [UPDATE]
League of Legends earned publisher Riot Games $1.6 billion in revenue last year, but a public debate between community leaders is shedding light on how the game’s competitive players are financially vulnerable. Arguing over who deserves blame, Riot Games’ co-founder and a prominent League of Legends team owner are duking it out on public forums…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published August 24, 2016 -
EsportsThese Are Your 2016 Pokémon World Champions
Each year the very best Pokémon video and trading card game players meet at the World Championships to determine who the top trainers are, and each year the Masters (oldest) Division looks really awkward on stage. This year did not disappoint. I am so used to working on the weekends that I completely missed this…
By Mike Fahey Published August 22, 2016 -
EsportsOverwatch’s First Big Tournament Gives Out $100,000 In Prize Money
Overwatch’s first major international tournament was held over the weekend in Cologne, Germany. Hosted at Gamescom, Europe’s largest games trade show, the ESL Overwatch Atlanta Showdown saw competition from eight pro teams. With a prize pool of $100,000 in the balance, professional players busted out their best Tracers and most bad ass Genjis and fought…
By Heather Alexandra Published August 22, 2016 -
Esports
Watch The Counter-Strike ELeague Championship Final Right Here
If you’re not sitting at home on a lovely Saturday afternoon watching TBS, at least you can watch the observer feed of ELeague Counter-Strike: Global Offensive championship showdown between Fnatic and Virtus.pro online. Welcome to the less-than-stellar side of esports on television, the television exclusive. Or perhaps its the best side. No muss, no fuss.…
By Mike Fahey Published July 30, 2016 -
Esports
Watch Nintendo’s Adorably Brutal 12-And-Under Smash Bros. Tournament [Update: All Done]
Nintendo is at San Diego Comic-Con, where they’ve gathered 64 young children to battle for your amusement in the most kid-friendly competitive game possible. It’s basically My First Smash Bros. Tournament, and it’s darling. (Autoplay warning.) If you’ve watched a Smash Bros. Wii U tournament and had trouble following the action, this is the event…
By Mike Fahey Published July 23, 2016 -
EsportsInfiltration Takes Out EVO’s First Ever Street Fighter V Tournament
Well, that’s EVO 2016 in the books. Infiltrationjust took out the biggest (and final) event, the tournament’s first ever Street Fighter V showdown. He was the last fighter standing from a field of 5000 entrants. Here’s a cool video from DopeDojo, who was in the crowd, showing the moment he took the title over his…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 18, 2016 -
Esports
Report: Manchester United Want To Sign An Overwatch Esports Team
There’s a rumour going around that Manchester United, a name even our dear American readers will recognise, are interested in signing an Overwatch esports team. Do not let this news surprise you. Esports News UK report that United are among the bidders (along with Fnatic and another third party, rumoured to be German football club…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 10, 2016