Esports

Basketball Injury Takes Out Top League Of Legends Player

Oh, the irony. Professional League of Legends player Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng has been sidelined from his position on the North American team Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) due to an IRL sports injury. Peng gashed his pinky finger playing basketball recently, deep enough that he needed to get stitches: DoubleLift told The Daily Dot that he’s…

StarCraft II Legend “MC” Retires

Korean Jang Min-chul (a.k.a. MC) is one of the most consistent pro players in StarCraft II. Make that was, because he announced on Twitter that he’s retiring. He’s not just skilled, but has been a very entertaining personality (a rare thing to have in esports). So, this announcement is a quite the shock. MC rightfully…

League Of Legends Team Booted From Challenger Series For Shady Activity

Not having enough players on a team might seem like a pretty fundamental problem for any sports team, be it electronic sports or…the analog kind. Not so for North American League of Legends Challenger Team Fusion The Challenger Series, for those who might not be familiar with the intricacies of League of Legends’ burgeoning professional…

League Of Legends Commentator Suspended For ‘Tampering’ With Pro Teams

The high profile European League of Legends broadcaster Martin “Deficio” Lynge was suspended from commentating on upcoming League Championship Series (LCS) games this week. His suspension is punishment for not telling Riot he was negotiating for a job on one of the pro teams that falls under his purview of coverage. Like all the major…

Hearthstone Player Gives Up Pro Dreams Because Of Parents

Sometimes parents really don’t understand. This serious bummer of a tale comes from Marcus “BOXception” Kwak (via the Daily Dot), a college student who qualified for the ESL Legendary Series season two finals. The next stop on his sweet ride? California, where he’d have the chance to vie for his cut of a $25,000 prize…

Heroes Of The Storm Pro Team Loses To…A Computer

Well this is embarrassing. Earlier this week, Cloud9 Maelstrom and compLexity—two of the top teams in Heroes of the Storm’s nascent eSports scene—faced off as part of Blizzard’s ongoing “Road To Blizzcon” tournament. As The Daily Dot reported, compLexity was “hungry for a win” as they’d only just barely secured themselves a spot in the…

The Score has compiled a helpful database of all the roster changes for League of Legends pro teams taking place in-between the spring and summer splits. Give it a read if you’re having trouble keeping track of everything.

League of Legends Pro Quits, Burns Every Bridge On His Way Out

Burnt out and tired of playing for a losing team, professional League of Legends player Austin “Link” Shin announced last night that he was leaving the game. He did so in a bombastic way: writing an 18-page screed that called out nearly all his former teammates, coaches, and ultimately the game itself. Link retired from…

Heroes of the Storm’ first international tournament, “The Road To Blizzcon,” is kicking off later this month, Blizzard announced this morning. Regional tournaments starting in late May will decide which 8 Heroes teams will make it to the finals held at Blizzcon this November. Prize pool is $1.2 million. Contact the author at [email protected]

The Mid-Season Invitational, one of League of Legends’ biggest annual eSports events, is getting started today. As in: right now. You can follow along on Riot’s Twitch channel. Woo! Contact the author at [email protected]

Top League Player Returns To Old Team After Losing Badly With New One

The Daily Dot revealed yesterday that rockstar Swedish League of Legends player Martin “Rekkles” Larsson is joining the European pro team Fnatic. Transers happen all the time in eSports, of course. What made this one interesting was that Rekkles had just left Fnatic last November. The prodigal son returns! Rekkles transferred from Fnatic in November…

League Of Legends Gets Skins Modeled After Championship Players

In case winning $1 million wasn’t enough to properly reward Korean League of Legends team Samsung Galaxy White for their victory at the 2014 World Championship, Riot has come up with another way to keep the players’ glory days going a bit longer. A lot longer, actually. The snazzy “Samsung White Championship Skins” that were…

Halo: MCC eSports Event Canceled Because The Game Wouldn’t Work

Holding an online tournament requiring teams form parties to play against each other only works if the teams can form parties, and so the first round of ESL’s Halo Championship Series Open bracket was canceled over the weekend. Excitement was high for Saturday’s tournament, in which Halo: The Master Chief Collection teams from across North…

Smash Bros Pro Is Getting Sponsored By A Hentai Site

Hentai, for those not in the know, is anime and manga-themed porn. It might not seem like the greatest fit for eSports, but equally strange things have happened If it sounds like a joke, you’re not actually far off. Turns out, it began as one. Smash Bros pro Adam “Coastward” Hermosa explained his strange relationship…

Top League Of Legends Player Retires Following Persistent Wrist Injury

Hai Lam, the team captain and accomplished player for the North American League of Legends eSports team Cloud9, has been pushed into retirement due to a longstanding wrist injury. While Hai said that he’ll stay on in C9 as its “Chief Gaming Officer,” his departure comes at a critical time for his beleaguered team. Just…

High School Teachers Coaching League Of Legends Teams Is A Great Idea

Yes, there is a high school history teacher who moonlights as a popular League of Legends player. He’s known by his very apt in-game handle “HISTORY TEACHER.” Now, like so many of people his students’ age, the guy has bigger dreams of going pro in his favorite video game. History Teacher posted a YouTube video…

Watch The World’s Best Pikachu Player Defeat Smash Bros. Gods

Wanna see a Pikachu in a party hat wreck some Fox McClouds? Of course you do. It’s not often that we see Pikachu make it super far in a top Smash Bros. competition—the character isn’t particularly high on the Melee tier list, and many of the players flock to more traditional characters like Fox and…

One Of The Closest Heroes of the Storm Matches

This is a match between two pro teams NaVi and Team Kick playing on Sky Temple during the Monthly Final of the Go4Heroes Tournament. It was shared by esports veteran Khaldor. And it’s intense. NaVi’s early game pressure is awesome and full of close calls. But it gets really ugly later on with a lot…

Competitive Call Of Duty‘s Biggest Star Steps Down

“I felt like I was playing to not lose…I wasn’t really playing to win.” Following a seventh-place finish in last weekend’s Call of Duty Championship, Matthew “NaDeSHoT” Haag has stepped down as captain of OpTic Gaming and away from competitive play. “I’m kinda tired of being the scapegoat for the team,” said Haag in a…

The grand finals of the 2015 Call of Duty Championships are happening today. Which of the 32 competing teams is going to walk away with $400,000? Head over to the Major League Gaming event site to watch live and see which 29 teams are definitely not winning.