Esports

Rocket League Needs To Be The Next Big eSport

You may have seen a flood of highlight reels and slow motion GIFs of Rocket League cars smashing into each other and scoring unbelievable goals lately. There’s a reason for that. Rocket League is insanely fun to watch and play. The world of eSports is currently on the rise and there are plenty of popular…

The Best Smash Bros. Player In The World Is Feeling Burnt Out

Playing video games professionally is such a strenuous and time-consuming job that pro gamers regularly run into the problem of burnout. The latest person to succumb to this unfortunate trend is Gonzalo “Zero” Barrios, the reigning champion of the Smash Bros.’ eSports scene. Ever since the Wii U version of Smash came out and tournaments…

The most powerful brand in sports journalism is officially diving into eSports. Today ESPN put out a job listing for an “eSports editor.” This comes after the ESPN magazine published its first ever eSports issue, which included an excellent profile of the League of Legends god player Faker. Art/story via The Daily Dot

Sports Vs. eSports, According To A Lawyer

“You can do lots of things with a law degree,” the saying goes—though, lately, law students are more famous for searching in vain for jobs and accumulating crippling debt than saving the world. Somewhere in between these extremes is Bryce Blum, who may be planet Earth’s most dedicated eSports attorney. Worldwide, eSports are massively popular—by…

League Of Legends Pro Almost Quit Before Winning The U.S. Finals 

“It’s just really satisfying, it’s the most satisfying feeling I’ve ever had in my life. As I said in the post-game interview, it’s the best day of my life, because…everyone in the community makes a joke, makes a mockery of CLG, and mockery of me, and tells me I can’t do it.” Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng…

The U.S. League Of Legends Finals Games Were Over Before They Even Began

The North American League of Legends Championship Finals (NA LCS) that went down this past weekend at Madison Square Garden was a mostly epic affair. There was one major exception: the actual finals match that took place on Sunday night. Playing in the standard best of 5 playoff format, Counter-Logic Gaming (CLG) dominated its first…

Pics Of A Massive Weekend In eSports

One weekend. Two events. Three countries, three stadiums. While the LCS Summer Finals were going on in both New York and Stockholm, the biggest Counter-Strike event of the year, ESL One, was also being held in Cologne Millions watched the events from home, but what makes for a more impressive visual are the thousands who…

The broadcast of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive ESL One Finals match between Fnatic and Team EnVyUs is underway. You can watch it live on Twitch or in the embed below.

The final match of the League of Legends LCS Summer Playoffs is today at 4pm ET at Madison Square Garden in New York. The scene yesterday for the third place match was wild (photo by Ben Gilbert for Tech Insider), with about 20,000 11,000 fans (a sellout) packing the place out as well as the…

The League of Legends LCS Summer Playoffs 3rd place match is tonight at 6pm ET. Get excited! It’ll be streamed live on Riot Games’ Twitch, which I’ve embedded below.

Today is day two (of three) of the Pokemon World Championships, which include both video game and TCG Pokemon, and you can watch all of what is sure to be madness right there on your electronic internet device via Twitch. I’ve got the stream embedded in this post as well.

Rocket League’s MLG Final Ended In The Most Exciting Way Possible

This morning, for the first time, Major League Gaming ran a Rocket League tournament. The stakes were relatively low. The prize pool was meagre. At stake — not much really. Bragging rights. No-one could have predicted how insane the final outcome would be. Rocket League, as an eSport, is in its infancy. This was really…

Smash Bros. Can Be A Gateway Drug For eSports

Can’t get into eSports? Maybe you’re looking in the wrong place. Many of the scene’s bigger draws are laden with technical jargon that can be off-putting to newcomers, so you might be better off starting with something like Smash Bros. That’s what Ian Danskin did, and he makes a pretty compelling argument for it in…

Oh, They’re Just Defusing A Bomb Through The Floor

This isn’t a new trick (it’s almost a decade old!), but it’s still a good, clean look at a tactic that, while often outlawed competitively, is still awesome considering the teamwork and timing required. (Below is a gfycat, so if you’re on mobile and it’s not auto-playing, just tap on the thumb and it’ll take…

Does Australian eSports Have A Drug Problem?

“We were all on Adderall,” Kory “SEMPHIS” Friesen said. That was the moment when the latest eSports scandal kicked off in earnest. The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player, who is still featured on the official CS:GO tips and tricks video page, had lit the fuse: it was time to talk about drugs again. This post originally…

League Of Legends Pro Pulls Off Amazing Baron Steal

Earlier this year, the pro League of Legends team Team SoloMid (TSM) was sorely embarrassed when one of their opponents stole a baron right out from under them—with a blind shot, no less—during a tournament game. Now, they’ve finally had their revenge. Sort of. During the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) semifinals this weekend,…

The first woman to make it into the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) is going to keep playing after all, she said on Twitter (via Reddit). Maria “Remilia” Creveling originally said that she was planning to step down from her position on team Renegades after winning the LCS qualifying game last week.

The League Of Legends Championship Series Has Its First Woman Player

On Wednesday night, the pro League of Legends team Renegadeswon a victory against Team Coast, securing themselves a spot in the next League of Legends Championship Series (LCS). Making it into the big leagues is normally routine news, but RNG’s win was special. It was the first time a woman made it into the LCS.…

The Mainstreaming of Esports Is Slow, Sure, and Not Over Yet

As a good American I was filled with a jingoistic fervor after the triumph of the Evil Geniuses at The International, the world championship for Dota 2, this past weekend. I like video games. I like sports. But I’ve never watched esports, not a single match of Starcraft 2, Dota 2, League of Legends, Heroes…

No More Smoking Weed During Pro Video Game Tournaments

Are you a professional Counter-Strike or Heroes of the Storm player who likes to, as the kids say, indulge in the reefer? You’ll have to hold off during professional ESL tournaments, according to new rules posted last night by a representative for the eSport organization. In a post on Reddit yesterday, ESL’s PR boss Anna…