Last fall, 24 teams from around the world competed for a near $5 million prize pool at the League of Legends World Championship. The finals were held in front of a sold-out, 20,000-person crowd at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris, France. An estimated 100 million more watched online. For reference, 98.2 million people tuned in for Super Bowl L
Coverage is bad because esports are hard to watch, not the other way around. It all stems from an inability to produce universal coverage. Too much diversity or segmented viewership may not seem like an issue on the surface, but it is. Maybe you’re simply saying “well, no one is asking you to watch every esport,” and that’s fair. Maybe communities are fine existing in their own worlds—far out of the reach of other gaming communities. But it does create a barrier for the industry to break into mainstream entertainm
To get a feel for the different types of decks, check out the three pre-made decks gifted to you following the tutorial. Here we see all of the familiar archetypes that are common to CCGs, including elements that relate to buffing characters in a deck or held in hand, zoo strategies of overwhelming the board with units, with Spiders in the premade deck’s case, or of mixing up units with spe
Back in the LEC, G2 won the Summer season before moving on to the World Championship. They advanced to the Worlds play-offs, racing past DAMWON Gaming and SKT to reach the Grand Final. Though FunPlus Phoenix took home the Worlds title, G2 Esports had a formidable year. PerkZ was a massive part of G2’s legendary run, in which they stood just one series away from a never-before-done grand slam. He fit into the AD carry role nicely, holding his own against the game’s b
This one might be a little obvious, and frankly, it’s not always an option due to scheduling conflicts. Still, the fact is that playing with a team that’s familiar offers infinitely more benefits than queuing up and crossing your fingers for a decent line
While in League the simple objective is to push to the enemy Nexus and destroy it, DOTA2 is much more strategic and cerebral in the sense that it has tons of micro-mechanisms that count towards you winning the ro
It’s unclear whether universal control over games that operate under the catch-all domain of esports will ever exist. Escalating conflict between streaming platforms that compete for viewer attention certainly isn’t helping the case for unified growth. It’s also worth questioning whether universal control is even needed. Larger titles seem to be doing just fine supporting their own leagues. A 16-year-old just took home $3 million at the first-ever _ Fortnite _ World Cup, after
Riot Games has launched a beta for its new online collectible card game (CCG), Legends of Runeterra . Players are flocking to try it for themselves, and some are wondering how best to play the game since it offers some large innovative designs over similar ga
While a challenge is always nice, a good game should be at least moderately accessible to new players. This is where League holds an advantage over DOTA2 , because how easy it is to get into it. There are less micro-mechanisms, and the gameplay is more simplif
While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, we’re going to argue that DOTA2 just has a better look in general due to its slightly less cartoon-like and pixelated graphics. The terrain is really beautiful and vibrant, and the hero details in-game just provide some extra that isn’t found in Leag
The pacing in League is much, much quicker than in DOTA2 . Even though fights do last longer, dying is a much bigger deal in the game, and allows for a team to snowball easier. This means that the rounds in League tend to be over quickly and that makes the game a lot more dynamic to p
With Apex Legends ‘ first official Ranked Series winding to a close and another fresh season looming on the horizon, competitive players are gunning for those highly coveted Ranked Points harder than ever. This means that everyone is bringing their A-game to the Ranked queues, and that you’re going to need to do the same if you’re still grinding ranks to secure those sweet exclusive rewards for the next t
Decks are made by selecting cards from up to two Regions, which include Demacia, Frejord, Ionia, Noxux, Piltover & Zuan, and Shadow Isles. There are two card types that will be used to fill out a deck, consisting of units and spells, varying in rarity from common, rare, epic, and champ
Skulltown, Singh Labs, and practically any drop site designated as a hot zone should be completely stricken from your menu as the Jumpmaster. In Ranked Mode, you’re presumably being matched with players that are every bit as good as you are, and chances are you won’t be walking out al
But it’s mostly a farce. Those who play the most popular games at the highest level get all the limelight and all the cash. For everyone else, streaming—where personality trumps skill—is the only way to make money from gaming. If the community stays as segmented and hastily constructed as it is, Giant’s Helm strategy it’s tough to imagine esports becoming anything better than what it already is. If you’re happy with the current state of esports, good for you. But for someone who wants a more entertaining and structured esports community, something has to cha