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There have been a few occasions where the final of the League of Legends World Championships has underwhelmed, and after the incredible all-Korean semi-final between ST Telecom T1 and ROX Tigers, many assumed that would be the case again at the Staples Center in LA at the weekend. The two …
Read More »League of Legends: How one video game is on its way to becoming the next major worldwide sport
They showed up hours early, the young people did, dressed in the uniforms of their favorite athletes. (They called them athletes, too, and one day so will you.) The names on the back of the uniforms were unfamiliar and strange, words plucked from the ether – Faker, Wolf, Smeb, GorillA, …
Read More »Unkillable: By Faker
My name is Lee Sang-hyeok. My American fans call me God.” My Korean fans know me as the Unkillable Demon King.” I actually prefer God, because it feels just a little bit higher. In game, I’m simply Faker. I’m 20 years old, and I’m the best League of Legends player …
Read More »2016 Canada Cup: A Street Fighter V bloodbath
This weekend is the Canada Cup 2016 in Toronto, and it is the last Capcom Pro Tour Premier Event that will reward points. The player list is enormous, and a number of tournament-killers line each and every pool. This will be a bloodbath of an event. Read more on ESPN …
Read More »Nintendo’s Esports Switch: How and why Nintendo can use Smashers to save itself
This week’s Nintendo Switch announcement spawned dizzying fanfare thanks to the inclusion of a short clip that featured the visual language of esports: players in jerseys marching into a packed stadium to compete in a competitive Splatoon match. The fact of the matter is that Nintendo, a company that has …
Read More »Stop looking for the logic to Valve’s invites to the Boston Major; there isn’t any
With the announcement of direct invites to the next Dota 2 Major (in Boston, Valve’s first East Coast event) comes frustrations both new and familiar. In the past, there have been many complaints about the direct invite system, most notably from the triumvirate of Dota 2 statisticians, Ben Noxville” Steenhuisen, …
Read More »Karrigan: ‘I actually have a team again where I feel reborn as an in-game leader’
It’s the second day of ELeague and two teams face elimination: Immortals, the second best team from Brazil, and Europe’s FaZe Clan, a team that just replaced Fabien "kioShiMa" Fiey with former Astralis in-game leader Finn "karrigan" Andersen. Read more on ESPN >>>
Read More »SSG Cuvee talks H2K win, final vs. SKT, top lane matchups
One of the standout performers at the 2016 League of Legends World Championship has been Samsung Galaxy top laner Seong-jin Cuvee” Lee. Playing in his first-ever Worlds, he helped lead Samsung to a surprising 5-1 group stage record and back-to-back knockout stage sweeps against Albus NoX Luna and H2K. Read …
Read More »What does another Korean win mean for Worlds?
Hold on a minute, haven’t we been here before? With just the grand final to go, the 2016 League of Legends World Championship knockout stage is looking remarkably similar to the previous year. Read more on Red Bull >>>
Read More »Live by the dagger: a euology for support Phantom Assassin
It is with great sadness that I share with you today the end of the strange and wonderful life of support Phantom Assassin. The Dota 2 professional scene is no stranger to odd shifts in meta. From the rotating position of Naga Siren, to the the Rat” Furion of TI3 …
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