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EsportsClassic Rivals In A “Best Of The Rest” Battle In North American League of Legends
With Cloud9 and Counter Logic Gaming tied and Team SoloMid just one game behind them, this would be a dream season of League of Legends, if only it were still 2014. In 2016, it’s still pretty great, but it’s also bittersweet watching the big three of NA LCS playing their guts out for a (very)…
By Rob Zacny Published February 22, 2016 -
EsportsWhy Fnatic Are The Best Counter-Strike Team
Fnatic are the greatest Counter-Strike team in the world right now. Just look at this crushing defeat they inflicted on Astralis in their final match today at the Barcelona CS:GO Invitational. Astralis were putting up an heroic fight against a heavily-favored Fnatic on the Inferno map. Astralis had tied the match after starting from a…
By Rob Zacny Published February 21, 2016 -
EsportsTwo Top League Of Legends Players Duel With The Game On The Line
In a League of Legends match full of moments that were both ridiculous and amazing, Cloud9’s Hai and Team SoloMid’s Bjergsen may have taken the cake with this incredible nail-biter of a brawl. I’ll have lots more to say about this second-place match between TSM and Cloud9, which was the League of Legends equivalent of…
By Rob Zacny Published February 20, 2016 -
Esports
New Rules for Pro StarCraft Drive Legendary Player Off Team Liquid
Song “HerO” Hyeon Deok and Team Liquid announced today that HerO would no longer be a part of the Liquid organization after almost five years together. Since late 2011, HerO was one of the most prominent members of a team that has been at the heart of StarCraft in the English-speaking world. What’s important about…
By Rob Zacny Published February 14, 2016 -
Esports
Rick Fox’s Terrible League of Legends Team Has Five Weeks To Save Its Season
The visa problems that cropped-up in Riot’s League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) derailed a lot of teams’ best-laid plans, but no team suffered more damage than North America’s Echo Fox. They got a lot of attention when they were formed due to the glamor attached to their owner, former NBA star Rick Fox, and…
By Rob Zacny Published February 13, 2016 -
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 Published February 12, 2016 -
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 Published February 11, 2016 -
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 Published February 10, 2016 -
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 Published February 8, 2016 -
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 Published February 7, 2016 -
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 Published February 5, 2016 -
Esports
Proper German Soccer Team Hires FIFA Players
VfL Wolfsburg, one of the best football teams in one of the best leagues on the planet, is branching out from actual team sports into the world of esports. So they’ve gone and hired two pro FIFA players, who are on the club’s books as actual employees, and who will wear Wolfsburg’s kit while playing.…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 4, 2016 -
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 Published February 3, 2016 -
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 Published January 29, 2016 -
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 Published January 28, 2016 -
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 Published January 26, 2016 -
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 Published January 25, 2016 -
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 Published January 22, 2016 -
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 Published January 21, 2016 -
Esports
ESPN Is Getting Into Esports
Earlier this month, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick declared that he wants to build the “ESPN of video games.” Turns out ESPN wants to do that too. Today, the sports conglomerate and Deadspin nemesis launched ESPN Esports, a vertical dedicated to competitive gaming. They haven’t gotten too specific about their plans, but they’ve got segments dedicated…
By Jason Schreier Published January 14, 2016