Esports Archives


More on Playing Lame and the Art of Defense

Winky Wright, Admiral Yi Sun-sin, and Hungrybox

This is a follow-up to one of my favorite blog posts I’ve ever written. It’s understandable why defense is seen as lame and boring, while self-sacrificial offense is seen as valiant and entertaining. We can have idiots who deliberately put themselves in harm’s way and get people cheering their lungs off while downing gallons of Bud Light, then not be given even an ounce of shit about when they can barely remember their own names years down the line. That’s especially true for combat sports, but we can also look at other fields as well and see how the fundamentally sound are also given the short end of the stick, even in hindsight. (more…)

Role Queue is an Interesting Way to Balance Overwatch

Overwatch Role Queue

Overwatch is still a fairly important game to me, even if I tend to hurl verbal trash at it these days. I still play it with my friends whenever I can. Competitive play doesn’t really make me as salty as it does other people, but all the big changes it goes through over the years did make me uncomfortable. This planned change is perhaps the biggest one to date and it can change how the game is played, for better and for worse. (more…)

Abandon Ship, Overwatch is Sinking

Overwatch: Ellie and the Gay Soldier 76

Overwatch is a sinking ship. I start this blog post with that statement as I’ve seen this before with another Blizzard game I used to be obsessed with. StarCraft II peaked in 2012, then floundered in the following years due to numerous issues. I’m seeing the same patterns now with Overwatch, but there’s a lot more going on with this one due to what is both its biggest strength and weakness—its expanding lore. (more…)

The State of Overwatch in Late 2018

Overwatch: Gremlin D.Va

Overwatch was my 2016 Game of the Year due to its engaging team gameplay and how it helped me bond with friends. Two and a half years since its release, while it’s still fun to play with others, the gameplay itself has become what many describe as both stale and frustrating (at least from what I’m seeing). This is from the perspective of players who take their competitive rank with some degree of seriousness. (more…)

4 Great Geek Documentaries on Netflix You Should Watch

Netflix

If you’ve ever wanted an insider’s look at the gaming industry, there are plenty of films that take you behind the scenes. Thanks to some fantastic geek-centric documentaries on Netflix, you can learn more about how indie games are made, find out what it takes to become an e-sports champion, and take a closer look at some of the most important events in gaming history. (more…)

Best Matches of EVO 2015

Evolution Championship Series

It’s that time of the year once again, and this one looks to be quite different from previous iterations. EVO 2015 seems to be the changing of the guard, with prominent players getting eliminated to make way for newer generations of players (except in Smash Melee). If you’re one of those who didn’t get to watch it live or just want to watch the great matches again, then this list might help you with your viewing pleasure. Even if it’s over now, these high-level matches will live on in memory and on the Internet for all to watch. (more…)

Real-Life Stimpack: PEDs in Pro Gaming

Adderall

This news on professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players taking Adderall for performance enhancement came as no real surprise. There has always been the talk regarding steroids and other performance enhancing drugs in sports, and it wasn’t long before it became a topic in eSports. But while the dynamic is more obvious with athletic sports, there’s less that’s known about how performance enhancement affects eSports and other competitions centered more on the mind. (more…)

Playing “Lame”: On Hitting and Not Getting Hit

Floyd Mayweather

Since the fallout of the so-called “Fight of the Century” between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather due to how the latter won, which drew minimal amount of excitement in the actual match compared to how much hype it created, I had to finish writing this post sooner than planned. I had planned to talk about cheese and unpredictable play first, but it seems that lame play is more in vogue at this moment, so here’s a look into it from different angles. (more…)

Criticals and No Scopes: Breaking Down the Lucky Shot

This has been on my checklist for a long time now, even before I posted “The Apparent Dichotomy of Skill and Luck in Games” that tackles the topic of how different games are affected by different levels of skill and luck. This time, it’s all about luck, or more of the false perception of luck in various instances when victory comes from a seemingly unlikely instance. Most people would call them “lucky shots” — many of which are not as lucky as they would like to think. This may be a new flash to some people, but they can be practiced. (more…)

EVO Hype Intro Videos

Evolution Championship Series

It has taken me a long while, but I’ve finally put my thoughts down on this little piece of fascination. Let me share something from EVO other than the games that I look forward to each year. Before every Top 8 Final for each game on the main stream, they play an intro video to get viewers hyped up. I personally am into these videos because I’m both a fan of fighting games and videography, so I would like to share my enthusiasm for this little part of EVO with you. (more…)

Best Matches of EVO 2014

Evolution Championship Series

I’ve been watching EVO every year since 2011 when I started to seriously follow competitive gaming, which was also the time when livestreaming became viable through Twitch. EVO has become one of my most awaited times of the year, even more so than Christmas or my birthday (which happens to be on the same month). This year, I’ve compiled some of the best moments that I had been able to catch, whether they’re surprising upsets, absolute blow-ups, or just straight-up hype matches. (more…)