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EsportsCompetitive Matchmaking May Rescue Team Fortress 2 From Esports Oblivion
At first glance, Team Fortress 2 has a lot of the things that make a successful competitive game. Tons of people play it, consistently making it one of the top games on Steam going on a decade. It’s got a distinctive and charming art style that sets it apart from most other major FPS games.…
By Rob Zacny -
EsportsPro Player Tries To Play StarCraft And Hearthstone At The Same Time
For most players handling one high-ranked StarCraft match would be hard enough, but StarCraft II veteran CranK managed to do all this while constantly alt-tabbing to Hearthstone Both games require quick reactions. StarCraft is extremely fast on its own (especially when you control Zerg) and Hearthstone turns have a time limit, so you can’t chill…
By Gergo Vas -
EsportsWhen Someone Plays Smash Bros. On A Twitch Chat-Controlled Couch
Twitch had a Smash Bros. competition with an unusual challenge as an extra addition. People had to sit on a couch-shaped mechanical bull which was controlled by Twitch chat. There’s no way something like this would end well. It’s still possible to win, as Jericho’s video shows, but also pretty sure we have hit peak…
By Gergo Vas -
EsportsInside The Longest Overtime In Pro Counter-Strike History
On the face of it, you wouldn’t pick DenDD vs. PixelFire to be a classic Counter-Strike match. They’re minor professional teams, far below the level of the Fnatics or Na’Vis of the world. But last weekend, they ended up making history: the first map of their best-of-three went into triple, then quadruple, and finally quintuple…
By Rob Zacny -
EsportsAt 7-0, North America’s Best League Of Legends Team Has Nothing To Prove
The rise of a team like the undefeated Immortals might explain why some League of Legends fans feel that the pro game is getting boring. On Saturday night, Immortals crushed a gutsy, tied-for-second Counter Logic Gaming team with ruthless discipline and skill… and showed why discipline is so hard to love. Immortals have been one…
By Rob Zacny -
EsportsRidiculous Counter-Strike Comeback Breaks Opposing Team’s Spirit
In a single moment, you can see G2 Esports’ Counter-Strike squad realize they’re going to lose. One of the best things about Counter-Strike is that a round or even an entire match can turn on a dime.The in-game economy does create momentum and can make it challenging for a losing team to mount a comeback,…
By Rob Zacny -
Esports
Fan Pays Tribute To StarCraft Pro In the Best Way Possible
This is the work of a modern-day Van Gogh. StarCraft player Sanglune used his crazy skills to build a map, dedicated to TLO, one of the most successful non-Korean players of the StarCraft II scene, with a painting of TLO himself. And the result couldn’t be funnier. Good job! The large open area in the…
By Gergo Vas -
Esports
2014 StarCraft World Champion Taken Into Custody In South Korea
The Korean e-Sports Association (KeSPA) announced this morning that 2014 StarCraft 2 World Champion and 2015 runner-up Lee “Life” Seung Hyun, has been taken into custody by authorities at the Changwon District Prosecutor’s Office in the South Gyeongsang province of South Korea. There is no official word as to the cause of the investigation, or…
By Rob Zacny -
Esports
Pro Counter-Strike Gets A Terrible TV Time Slot
Turner Broadcasting may be giving esports some of their biggest televised exposure yet, but it seems the media juggernaut still doesn’t think competitive gaming is ready for prime time. Turner’s upcoming ELEAGUE Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament, with a $1.2 million prize pool, will be running games four nights each week starting on May 24th. Only…
By Rob Zacny -
EsportsDiablo III‘s Wizard Joins Heroes of the Storm
All the playable classes of Diablo III have already got a Heroes of the Storm version, except the Wizard. But those days are over. The Wizard, called Li-Ming, is the next hero joining the ever-growing roster of Heroes of the Storm. It’s not just her appearance that remained somewhat similar to Diablo III. Some fan…
By Gergo Vas -
Esports
StarCraft: Brood War Remains Great In 2016
StarCraft and longtime esports fans got a rare treat this weekend: an English-language cast of a major StarCraft: Brood War final between two of the game’s biggest stars. In its heyday, Brood War was practically a Korean national pastime, with finals selling-out huge arenas and major corporations sponsoring some of the best esports teams and…
By Rob Zacny -
Esports
Halo Still Isn’t The Esport It Could Be, But ESPN Might Help
The “mainstreaming of esports” is continuing, with ESPN saying this week that they will broadcast parts of the Halo Championship Tour event at the X Games in Aspen on the main network at the end of the month, while streaming it on WatchESPN. It’s a move that will give the surprisingly low-profile Halo competitive scene…
By Rob Zacny -
Esports
The Complicated, Messy Future Of Esports
It’s hard to recognize a tipping-point until it’s come and gone. This year, like every other year since 2011 or 2012, esports are poised to break through into the mainstream. But with companies like Turner set to broadcast a Counter-Strike league on TBS (the unfortunately-named ELEAGUE), and ESPN getting into esports coverage, esports have already…
By Rob Zacny -
Esports
Your 2016 Smite World Champions Are Not These Guys
These five gentlemen, collectively known as team Enemy, clawed their way into the 2016 Smite World Championship grand finals only to lose three straight games to Europe’s Epsilon, letting all of North America down. As punishment, they only get $230,000. I blame myself. Enemy (spelled all cleverly on their fancy shirts) were my favorite to…
By Mike Fahey -
Esports
Watch The Grand Finals Of The 2016 Smite World Championship Right Here
It’s Europe’s Epsilon versus North America’s evil Enemy in a best of five fight to the finish, with the winner getting more money than the loser. Let’s watch people play Smite in front of a live audience! The whirlwind four-day eventall comes down to this. Will Enemy beat Epsilon by a whole lot, or will…
By Mike Fahey -
Esports
It’s Europe Versus North America In The 2016 Smite World Championship Grand Finals
After North America’s Enemy secured a spotin the Smite grand finals over Europe’s Paradigm, all eyes went to returning champions Cloud9. Then those eyes got really sad. My own personal set of eyes were actually rather happy, as the increasingly evil, decreasingly underdog North American team—my pick to win the whole shebang—achieved victory over Europe’s…
By Mike Fahey -
Esports
Day Two Of The 2016 Smite World Championship Packed With Good, Evil And Mild Pouting
The quarterfinals of the 2016 Smite World Championship passed in a flash of four swept best-of-three matches, including the brutal but not unexpected elimination of both Chinese teams and the boys from Brazil. There’s not much I can say about the first match of the semifinals between European first seed Paradigm and China champions OMG,…
By Mike Fahey