fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Dota Cinema
By: Mehmet Köse
Tags: Gaming, Esports, Dota 2, YouTube

Dota Cinema

Today we are going to introduce a YouTube channel named DotaCinema. The channel features videos of Dota 2 that were submitted by players. There are some categories of videos on this channel, which we are going to talk about below.

I satisfy my lust for Dota by watching a video or two on this channel if I don’t have the time or opportunity to play.

Fails of the week

You know what a fail is. In Dota 2, a fail is when you misclick, use the wrong skill, use a skill in the most wrong way, etc. I suppose this category is my favorite, and sometimes the commentators of the category make things even funnier.

Symphony of Fails

If it’s not a single person but a whole team of players that fail one after another, making things tragic rather than funny. You can’t help yourself but facepalm often.

Rampage

If you kill two enemies in a short time duration between them, it’s a double kill. If you kill three, it’s a triple kill. 4 kills is ultra kill, and ultimately, 5 kills is rampage. This category of videos feature interesting rampages.

Symphony of Skills

People don’t always fail, occasionally they may present a good style of play. Symphony of Skills is when a team exhibits a nice team play and win an epic team fight. However, the videos seem repetitive because most of these are about heroes with AoE skills, Enigma’s Blackhole, or Tidehunter’s Ravage.

Fight to the Finish

You remember when we talked about some people never giving up even if things go bad for them? It’s called a comeback when the game seems in favor of your enemy for a long time but suddenly you change it. And these videos are about comebacks.

Headshot

Some skills have long range, like Mirana’s Sacred Arrow, or Pudge’s Meat Hook. When your vision is blocked by fog of world, and hence you can’t see the enemy, if you successfully launch one of these skills, it’s a headshot. The truth is, I would say using these skills successfully even when you can see the enemy is hard to achieve since the game is very dynamic and the enemy will have changed position by the time your skill’s effects reach him. You need to foresee the actions of your opponent most times, that’s the hard part.

This category was criticized to feature Windranger and her Powershot skill too much. Later they responded to viewer comments and stop doing so.
EsportsHunt.com Launch
By: Anton Ferraro
Tags: Esports, Gaming, League of Legends, Productivity

About a year ago I was attempting to figure out what could be a suitable improvement of Reddit for Esports. While Reddit is amazing for some things, it poses numerous problems to content creators. The weeklong project lead to a ProductHunt clone called EsportsHunt. Unfortunately there was no way I could “build” the network effects Reddit enjoys in a single weekend, so the project fell by the wayside.

In parallel with this I was making a ton of “On this day in Esports..” posts on Twitter that were getting a lot of traction. People connected with the nostalgia and for the most part seemed to enjoy it.

Over the last few days I decided to revisit both projects and merge them into one website. It’s still called EsportsHunt, but the goal is different.

The purpose of this website is to condense as much Esports History as possible into a 365 day loop. Every day the biggest esports news that happened on that day will be posted. I believe this will benefit the quality and growth rate of the space.

For one it may cause the community to revisit topics that would have otherwise been forgotten. With how much history has already been lost on servers across the world, having another place log it all will be to no one’s detriment.

The second benefit will be to educate the growing numbers of esports fans on how we got here. The space is growing exponentially, and if we can condense the key lessons of the past 10 years into 1, we will have a more educated fan base. It’s reasonable to estimate that 50% of the current esports fan base has arrived in the past 3 years. Some of them want to contribute. It’s to everyone’s benefit that when they choose to make these contributions they do so with the best possible information. Let’s help them avoid the mistakes of their predecessors.

So that’s my vision for www.EsportsHunt.com. Go check it out, contribute if you’d like. It’s an MVP, so be kind in your feedback, I already have a list of bugs I need to iron out.

It’s currently seeded with some interesting stories from October 21st. There are good ones and there are bad ones. And that’s esports.
Peacemaker becomes general manager of NRG’s CS:GO division
By: Sam Nordmark
Tags: Esports, Gaming, Counter Strike

Peacemaker becomes general manager of NRG’s CS:GO division

Photo via Fragbite

After spending the majority of 2016 as a coach, Luis “peacemaker” Tadeu has been brought on as the new general manager and coach of NRG Esports’ Counter-Strike: Global Offensive operations.

Peacemaker’s new role will, presumably, see him tasked with shaping the organization’s CS:GO team, which has performed poorly throughout all of 2016 after being announced on Jan. 22.

Aside from continuing down his path as a coach, peacemaker will now also be in charge of assembling the organization’s CS:GO roster. “ I could’ve stayed in my comfort zone and join a stable top team, but NRG’s project of completely rebuilding the CS:GO roster. I consider this project to be the biggest and most important project in my CS:GO career,” peacemaker said.

After transitioning to a coaching role in late 2015 after competing for several years, peacemaker worked with Tempo Storm (currently Immortals) and Team Liquid in 2016. While his influence on Immortals was palpable, the coach’s biggest success came when Team Liquid finished second at the ESL One Cologne major in July after an incredible run through the playoffs.

On Oct. 22, however, peacemaker and Team Liquid amicably parted ways, citing undisclosed “disagreements about business principles” as the primary reason for the split. Team Liquid have since then acquired the services of former SK Gaming and Immortals in-game leader Wilton “zews” Prado.

In a statement, peacemaker outlined his feelings surrounding the new opportunity and his own thoughts on how CS:GO had changed in the past few months, particularly Valve changing how much access coaches have during live games.
10-ban system reportedly implemented for Singapore’s League of Legends circuit
By: Nicole Carpenter
Tags: Esports, Gaming, League of Legends

10-ban system reportedly implemented for Singapore’s League of Legends circuit

Image via Riot Games

There are a lot of champions in League of Legends — more than 100 of them, in fact. That makes developer Riot Games’ three-per-side (so six bans in total) banning system sort of outdated. It looks like that could soon change.

Singapore’s League of Legends circuit, managed by publisher Garena, has reportedly released a new pick-and-ban format for 2017. Team Vestigial co-owner Nelson Sng posted an image depicting the tentative 10-ban system for the country’s drafting process.

The new drafting phase will break the process into separate sections, with each team banning one champion at a time until six champions have been banned, picking three champions (1–2–2–1), banning two champions (1–1–1–1), and, finally, picking the last two champions.

This format won’t come as a surprise to League of Legends players. Earlier this year, Riot expressed interest in looking into a 10-ban system for the new League of Legends client. At that time, a spokesperson for Riot suggested that many different variations were being considered — from bans “all up front,” “bans mixed in with picks,” “bans selected before even getting into a game,” and “everyone [banning] at the same time.”

It’s unclear at this time whether this format, should it be the final one, will span global circuits.

H/T PVP Live
Hauntzer and Svenskeren to stay with TSM for 2017
By: Xing Li
Tags: Esports, League of Legends

Hauntzer and Svenskeren to stay with TSM for 2017

Bringing back their top lane and jungle duo always felt like the most optimal move, and TSM made it official today.

Hauntzer and Svenskeren get ready to compete at the NA LCS Summer Finals | Photo via Riot Games

Team SoloMid had a great year. World’s disappointment aside, TSM showed that they could rebuild around star mid laner Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg and become major threats on the international stage.

Key to that success was the integration of two strong players in top laner Kevin “Hauntzer” Yarnell and jungler Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen. Bringing that duo back for 2017 seemed like the obvious choice. Today, team owner Andy “Reginald” Dinh announced the official re-signing of the two players in a tweet:

TSM should feel excited that the team will see some consistency in the lineup heading into next year. The start of 2016 was a bit rough as the team acclimated to four new personalities around Bjergsen, but both of these players have major roles to play in the team’s next step.

What they bring to the table for 2017

Running back four parts of a roster that lost in the Worlds group stage feels somewhat counter-intuitive in esports, where change is somewhat expected. But TSM already showed that they can ignore convention, bringing back former ADC Jason “WildTurtle” Tran to compete with them at IEM. And both Hauntzer and Svenskeren bring unique aspects to the team that would be extremely difficult to replace.

Hauntzer’s champion pool is one of those key aspects. Hauntzer’s pool allows the team to draft away from him and give priority to other positions. At the same time, his ability to learn new champions gives the team the option to pick obviously broken champions that he can punish on. He’s a consistent performer on all sorts of champions and moves well with the team.

The criticism of his play at Worlds was that he wasn’t able to play the map correctly, sacrificing farm and getting pulled by the enemy team. But that’s more of a team weakness since only the most stubborn top laners ignore other lanes to split push. If anything, he can work on being an even more aggressive initiator. TSM’s Worlds opponents seem to understand how the team wanted to play fights and Hauntzer wasn’t able to make the difference he needed to.

These two players still give the team the best chance to win in 2017.

Svenskeren on the other hand is one of those fearless initiators. His mechanics on Lee Sin almost won TSM their first game against Royal Never Give Up, which would have sent TSM to the quarterfinals. Most importantly, Svenskeren has shown good synergy around Bjergsen, having learned how to play around Bjergsen’s pressure. Svenskeren will need to improve at controlling the enemy jungler and consistently laying down vision. He prefers a carry style of jungling, but can improve at the supportive aspects.

Some TSM fans may have wanted to see change after the Worlds exit. But these two players still give the team the best chance to win in 2017 and more importantly, a stable foundation to build from.
The Journey — Our Journey
Tags: Esports, Gaming

We are almost here(finally). We have our tweaks made, our bugs squashed and our concept nailed. Now it’s time to share this idea with everyone so it can reach it’s full potential. We won’t lie, it is long overdue and there were a few unexpected setbacks out of our hands. Like most companies starting out you are advised to set goals and deadlines and the rest will work itself out. What they don’t tell you about is the bumps and curveballs they throw at you along the way, and we have received our fair share. But we are confident that now the old phrase will come to light. “It was worth the wait”.

We have done the graft with the late nights, the 100 hour weeks all to bring Double-R-Quits to where it needs to be, and we have big plans. We are going to be the biggest and best eSports platform in Ireland, where you will be able to pit your skills and your ego’s against each other for cash prizes. From quick head to head to bigger featured tournaments, to tournaments you can create between friends.

FIFA 17 will prove, and has proven to be one of our main titles on offer. Now anyone who plays knows how it works. You could lose 10 games in a row to your mate and still be convinced that you are still the best player there is and them 10 wins were somehow just a once off. Sound familiar? That’s probably because you’re useless……

Jokes aside(and a bad one at that), FIFA 17 has released a cool new feature called ‘The Journey’, something that hasn’t featured in any of the games before that. And it’s ironic in a weird way to the same journey we have taken as a company. For those of you who are unfamiliar this is the games summary of the feature:

“A touted prospect, Alex Hunter is on a journey to make his mark in the Premier League. Emerging as one of the best young prospects in the academy, the expectations are high and the opportunity is there for Alex to perform on the world’s biggest stage.”

A bit of a wild comparison but you catch my drift… I hope. Let me explain. We now are like a young Alex Hunter with more than enough potential. Not only do we feel we can perform on the biggest stage but we also believe we can be the very best on the biggest stage.

So make sure you join this mass movement that is the DRQ nation and make sure you get involved and get what you deserve from gaming. Maybe you too can make your own Alex Hunter story, because I can assure you at some stage in the near future, we will be the biggest stage to perform on.

Sign up today at www.doublerquits.com.

Double-R-Quits
Febiven reportedly rejoins H2K in their quest to dominate all the lanes
By: Xing Li
Tags: Esports, League of Legends

Febiven reportedly rejoins H2K in their quest to dominate all the lanes

Febiven | Photo via Riot Games

Over the past two years, Fabian “Febiven” Diepstraten has become the face of European LCS team Fnatic. A fine mid laner before he joined the team, he turned into a star in 2015 and hasn’t looked back. Other star players have come, gone, and come back. But Febiven and ADC Martin “Rekkles” Larsson could be counted on to carry. Then came news that, coming off their worst split together, Febiven will leave Fnatic and rejoin H2K this offseason, as reported by ESPN.

His first turn with H2K was certainly successful. After dominating the European Challenger Series on a combination of assassins and control mages, Febiven led the charge as H2K qualified for the 2015 League Championship Series. He went a combined 24/6/33 in the finals of the LCS expansion tournament with disgusting creep score numbers to boot.

But right as they made it, Febiven jumped to a new Fnatic team that would feature a couple of unproven Korean imports. That move paid off tremendously. Alongside Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon and Kim “Reignover” Yeu-jin, Fnatic won the 2015 Spring Split, taking Europe’s seed to the Mid-Season Invitational.

It was at that tournament that Febiven truly arrived. In the semifinals, he went toe-to-toe with Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok in a close 2–3 series loss. The highlights included Febiven’s two solo kills on Faker’s Azir, something that had never been done to the “Unkillable Demon King” before.

Over the next year and a half, Febiven established himself as a true star, not only in Europe, but globally as well. Meanwhile, H2K retooled around the strong lanes of Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu, Korean import Ryu “Ryu” Sang-ook, and Konstantinos “FORG1VEN” Tzortziou. But unlike Febiven’s run with Fnatic, their high-pressure style rarely translated to tournament success.

Then Worlds 2016 happened. H2K rode those strong lanes and a favorable bracket stage draw all the way to the semifinals. That run and Fnatic’s retooling was apparently enough to convince their former mid laner to return. H2K will benefit from a mostly stable roster compared to the one they took to Worlds. Odoamne, jungler Marcin “Jankos” Jankowskit, and support Oskar “Vander” Bogdan all remain, and all are among the best at their positions in Europe. Integrating a star like Febiven shouldn’t be an issue as long as they can give him the resources he needs to carry.

It remains to be seen what H2K decides to do with their ADC spot, especially with a couple import slots open. But in terms of sheer star power, they’ve assembled one of the most well-regarded teams in all of Europe.
SOAZ, Amazing to spearhead new Fnatic squad
By: Sam Nordmark
Tags: Esports, League of Legends

SOAZ, Amazing to spearhead new Fnatic squad

A familiar face is reportedly making a return to Fnatic’s League roster.

Photo via Riot Esports

The most successful European team in League of Legends history is looking to bring back one of its former players ahead of the 2017 season.

Paul “sOAZ” Boyer appears to be returning to Fnatic, after departing from the team in 2014 to compete with former teammate Enrique “xPeke” Cedeño Martínez on Origen. Along with the French top laner, former Origen jungler Maurice “Amazing” Stückenschneider is also believed to have signed with Fnatic, ESPN reports.

Remaining as the sole player from the previous split will be Martin “Rekkles” Larsson. ESPN’s report also claims that the remainder of the roster will be made up of former Dark Passage mid laner Rasmus “Caps” Winther, as well as former SK Gaming mid laner Jesse “Jesiz” Le on support.

The Summer Split of the 2016 European League Championship Series was the worst in Fnatic’s history, as the team failed to impress both during the regular season as well as the playoffs. In the regional qualifier for the League World Championship Fnatic were eliminated in the first round of competition, making 2016 the first time in three years that the organization failed to make it to Worlds.
Finest Guide to be able to Clash Royale for of Gems tool
Tags: Gaming, Esports, Games

Finest Guide to be able to Clash Royale for of Gems tool clashroyaleihack Oct 13, 2016·2 min read

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Key Takeaways from the BRaVe-NYU Esports Panel
By: Jonathan Pan
Tags: Esports, Gaming, Sports, Overwatch, Brands

Key Takeaways from the BRaVe-NYU Esports Panel

Last week, I had the opportunity to moderate a lively esports panel the day after a historic election. This panel wrapped up a three-day speaker series that BRaVe hosted in Los Angeles, Berkeley, and New York City. Special thanks to the Entertainment, Media and Technology Association for hosting us.

Key takeaway:

Brands shouldn’t dip their toe in, they should go all in. For example, when Arby’s got into esports, they created CSGO specific ads for CSGO fans. Their authentic, all-in approach resulted in double digit increases in brand likability, brand awareness, and purchase intent.

Key takeaway:

Like all businesses, it’s important to have the right idea at the right time. No one company woke up one day and decided to make esports happen. The esports community grew organically and it will continue to grow bottom up through the decentralized community.

Key takeaway:

I think in 2017, we will continue to see more US and European sports, media, and entertainment companies enter the esports space — whether it’s via teams, events, or other esports businesses.

Key takeaway:

I don’t give a fuck about what’s going to happen in the next 12 months because I care about the next 12 years. Esports is here and I’m thinking about the long term businesses that will win in this space.

Key takeaway:
How to Set taking place Your Own Counter Strike Dedicated Server
Tags: Gaming, Esports

Counter strike is the most flourishing game in the world. Many of the extra multiplayer, three dimensional, shooting games today are modeled from its success. The game offers a first person game experience. The strong graphics and the variety of maps are the highlights of this game.

Game Play

You can take action as a terrorist or the counter force. The terrorists will tree-plant the bomb at a particular site and the role of the counter force is to defuse the bomb — at a answer get older limit. If the bomb is not defused at the unconditional time, it will explode, and victory is for the terrorist force. upon the supplementary hand, if you acquire to execute them all. next you will win.

The game is quick paced consequently you will infatuation skills to exterminate people upon LAN. Yes, traditionally counter-strike is played through LAN, and it can be run through a console. You can in addition to perform upon your own and make bots as max as 1000. Bots can furthermore be assigned once definite cs and talent levels.

Counter Strike Online

Yes, you can piece of legislation it not only subsequently Local area Network connection, but moreover upon the cloud. You just infatuation to make a counter strike dedicated server for your associates and other people to meet up. Counter strike runs on Steam, suitably there is a dependence to install one. You will after that habit to download the Amxmod metamod plug-in in order to do its stuff the game. You can download it from their website — just search amxmod to locate one.

Here are some of the requirements:

Of course, you will obsession some basic networking stuff to create this work. You will craving a router, and reach harbor warding. Your host computer must have the needed requirements to host the game. You will in addition to need to fiddle with maps and supplementary stuff on your server — for people to enjoy it. But set aside all the small matters, Steam, the plug-in, a router, and a stable internet membership is the backbone of creating a game server upon steam.

How is it vary from Playing LAN?

Yes, you can law upon LAN. However, an online game gives you mobility and your contacts can use their laptops in playing. This is then good later you have an total internet membership at home. Also, it provides opportunities to go head-to-head subsequent to substitute players worldwide. You will as well as acquire to host and recreate your own game, customize maps, and further stuff.
Boston Major Visa Issues
Tags: Esports, Gaming, Dota 2

Boston Major Visa Issues

The Boston Major 2016 is only a few days away but Visa issues are requiring last minute changes for some teams. Anthony Follow Nov 29, 2016 · 2 min read

Courtesy of Valve Corporation

LGD.Forever Young and iG Vitality unfortunately had issues securing Visas for a couple of their players. For LGD.FY, Du ‘Monet’ Peng and Luo ‘lpc’ Puchao failed to get a Visa in time. As a result, LGD.FY will have Yang ‘END’ Pu and Leong ‘DDC’ Fat-meng playing as stand-ins. DDC and END are normally officially on the Vici Gaming roster.

iG Vitality had similar issues, with Su ‘super’ Peng and Gao ‘dogf1ghts’ Tianpeng not getting their Visa’s on time as well. For iG.V, they will end up having Xu ‘BurNIng’ Zhilei and Fu ‘Q’ Bin as substitutes from the main Invictus Gaming team.

Since Vici Gaming and Invictus Gaming are not competing in The Boston Major 2016, Valve has granted permission for these players to compete in the tournament.

LGD.Forever Young’s roster for The Boston Major is as follows:

Yang ‘END’ Pu 🇨🇳 Xie ‘Super’ Junhao 🇨🇳 Yao ‘Yao’ Zhengzheng 🇨🇳 Zhang ‘xiao8’ Ning 🇨🇳 Leong ‘DDC’ Fat-meng 🇲🇴

iG Vitality’s roster for the major is:
Fnatic looking to construct fully European roster for next LCS split
By: Sam Nordmark
Tags: Esports, League of Legends

Fnatic looking to construct fully European roster for next LCS split

Photo via Riot Esports

After its worst League of Legends Championship Series performance in three years, one of the game’s most successful franchises is going back to basics.

Since failing to qualify for the 2016 League World Championship, only two players remain on the Fnatic roster: Fabian “Febiven” Diepstraten and Martin “Rekkles” Larsson, and it now appears the two will be making the foundation of the next Fnatic roster. This time, however, the team will not be looking for help abroad, marking the first time in roughly two years the team won’t be using any Korean players.

Fnatic, easily the most successful teams in the history of European League, ended the 2016 summer split in dire fashion. Following a season of lackluster play which put them in 5–6th in the regular season, Fnatic’s dreams of making it to the League World Championship were dashed after a crushing defeat to Unicorns of Love in the European regional qualifiers.

One of the biggest stories surrounding Fnatic in 2016 was what the team would look like following the departure of their 2015 MVPs Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon and Kim “ReignOver” Yeu-jin.

To remedy this Fnatic brought in highly touted Korean jungler Lee “Spirit” Da-yun as well as Noh “Gamsu” Yeong-Jin. The team began performing gradually worse throughout the year, however.

Eventually, it cut Gamsu from the roster, and and subsequently brought in Mateusz “Kikis” Szkudlarek and Jorge “werlyb” Casanovas to fill in the toplane position.
Pro Player Picks Sombra for the First Time in Competition, Stealths, and Immediately Dies
By: Sam Lee
Tags: Gaming, Overwatch, Blizzard Entertainment, Esports

Pro Player Picks Sombra for the First Time in Competition, Stealths, and Immediately Dies

Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment

EscA’s Sombra pick against Mighty Storm at OGN’s Overwatch Apex tournament last night marks the first time the latest hacker hero has ever been played in a professional competition. The map was Temple of Anubis and EscA managed to stealthily infiltrate the enemy’s defenses until he took a sleep dart to the face, courtesy of SIP on Ana. With less than 30 seconds into the game, Sombra had stealthed, tanked a sleep dart, and proceeded to die. You can tell by EscA’s reaction that he’s just having fun and knows he’s being silly. See his reaction for yourself in the clip below:

Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment/OGNGlobal

However, EscA is not a quitter. He was determined to play Sombra and refused to switch off to another hero. Unfortunately, he ate another sleep dart to the face later in the match and died again. But to be fair, he was able to at least survive the entire duration of the sleep dart this time so progress!

Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment/OGNGlobal

EscA a.k.a .Kim In-Jae was a member of the South Korean Team that won the first Overwatch World Cup a few a weeks ago so we know he’s no slouch. However, that doesn’t mean he knows how to play a brand new hero within a day of her official addition to the game. Lesson learned: Don’t pick a new hero in a competitive setting before you’ve practiced with them. A lesson that no one in Competitive Mode is following right now.
Bengi and Duke leave SK Telecom T1 — Faker remains
By: Sam Nordmark
Tags: Esports, League of Legends

Bengi and Duke leave SK Telecom T1 — Faker remains

Little more than a month after winning the world championship, the Korean roster sees two players depart. Sam Nordmark Nov 29, 2016·2 min read

Photo via Riot Games/Flickr

The roster that won the 2016 League of Legends world championship has broken up.

Toplaner Lee “Duke” Ho-seong, or its veteran jungler Bae “Bengi” Seong-woong in 2017 have left SK Telecom T1. The announcement comes roughly one month after the squad took home the 2016 League world championship, marking the third world championship title for SK Telecom T1 in four years.

Despite these rather substantial changes to the roster, the South Korean team also made it clear that the majority of the team would still continue playing under the SK Telecom T1 banner. This includes League’s all-time greatest player Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, whose new offer from the organization was described as “unprecedented” by South Korean sports site Naver Sports.

Faker and Bengi in particular have competed on the same roster since early 2013 and won the world championship the very same year. While Bengi’s form has been questioned in the years since SK Telecom T1’s first triumph, which is in steep contrast to Faker who has consistently been contending for the title of world’s best player, the jungler is still a fan-favorite.

The implications of this move may prove to be one of the defining moments of competitive League in 2017. Former KT Rolster toplaner Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho may be taking Duke’s former spot in SK Telecom T1. KT Rolster’s recent addition of former ROX Tigers star toplaner Song “Smeb” Kyeong-ho and former EDward Gaming midlaner Heo “PawN” Won-seok would see the creation of two super teams in Korea.
MLG leaves out big name from its first major Overwatch tournament
By: Nicole Carpenter
Tags: Esports, Gaming

MLG leaves out big name from its first major Overwatch tournament

Major League Gaming’s first major Overwatch tournament will feature some of the best teams in North America, but with one major organization missing.

The event — set to take place Dec. 16–18 at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Convention Center — will feature Cloud9, CompLexity, EnVyUs, FaZe Clan, Fnatic, Team Liquid, NRG Esports, and Rise Nation. Noticeably missing from the lineup, however, is Las Vegas–based esports organization Rogue, one of the top performing active Overwatch teams. A miscommunication regarding Rogue’s location appears to be cause for the team not receiving an invitation.

“We did not know that Rogue had moved [its players] to Vegas until after the eight invites to NA teams were distributed,” Major League Gaming’s Adam Apicella said on Reddit. “ I was informed at BlizzCon by their owner that they had moved but by that point all eight teams had accepted.”

Rogue CEO Frank Villarreal took to Twitter to express his disappointment in the announcement. “Denying the Vegas-based organization with multiple championships is a pretty big oversight,” he tweeted. “We’re living in Vegas. Just because we’re competing in Korea doesn’t mean we aren’t from Vegas.”

Teams invited — many of which have not competed against each other thus far — will face off for their share of the $100,000 prize pool. MLG Vegas’ major prize pool places the event within the top five Overwatch tournaments in regards to prize pool.

General admission for MLG Vegas begins at $50; VIP admission will cost $150. Those who purchase tickets to the event will have access to all three days, including the Overwatch Invitation, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament, and all fan events and activities.

Major League Gaming will use its Enhanced Viewing Experience (EVE) technology to parse information from the matches in real time for its livestream audience. It’s a feature desperately needed in a game as chaotic as Overwatch, which lacks an easily accessible spectator experience. EVE’s extra information — including statistics for players and teams — won’t fix everything, but it’s a step in the right direction.
GAMURS presents Stronghold.gg
Tags: Esports, Gaming, Cosplay, Comics

GAMURS presents Stronghold.gg

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.

GAMURS is excited to announce the newest member of its family — Stronghold. Stronghold was designed and built from the ground up with the intention of giving the best environment for up-and-coming content creators and artists to show off their work (and improve). This includes cosplays, illustrations, comics, and more.

Stronghold’s mission, led by Managing Editor Guilherme Arten-Meyer, is to become the central hub for freelancers looking to make a name for themselves in a growing industry. Anyone interested in displaying their work is welcomed to join and learn from our expanding team of journalists and artists — and even receive a share of the advertisement revenue as compensation.

Riad Chikhani, the CEO and founder of GAMURS, believes that Stronghold is a great addition to the GAMURS network. “Stronghold provides a great platform for content creators with many different backgrounds and styles,” Chikhani said. “Stronghold is yet another way for us to continue on our path of connecting the global gaming community.”

Arten-Meyer is excited about Stronghold’s future as a part of the GAMURS network. “A stronghold, by definition, is a place where people and/or beliefs are strongly protected or defended,” Arten-Meyer said. “Our website aims to do just that, by giving gaming content creators across the globe a place to build a foundation for their work.”

From its launch, GAMURS has held high expectations for the growth of esports and the gaming industry. Stronghold will look to help accomplish these goals for the industry by helping to usher in a new era of journalism and creativity in esports.

If you are interested in joining our growing family, make sure to check out the “Join the Team” section, and send your application to jointheteam@stronghold.gg. Writers and artists of all skill levels are welcomed. Together, we can create a name for Stronghold.gg and you.

Stronghold: fortifying gaming journalists everywhere.

Website: stronghold.gg

Twitter: @ggstronghold

Facebook: facebook.com/ggstronghold
How Trump hurts eSports
By: Tj Huckabee
Tags: Politics, Esports

President-elect Trump’s stunning upset in Tuesday’s presidential race came on the backs of the Rust Belt’s working-class. His promise to them? End free trade, renegotiate or kill trade agreements, and pull away from globalization.

If Trump delivers on his campaign pledge to increase tariffs on Chinese exports by 45%, the Chinese government will fight back by, among other things, hamstringing American companies operating within their borders. Either by law or by economics, you can expect to see companies like Valve and Blizzard unable to operate as they do today.

To say nothing of potential anti-US sentiment from a Trump-led retreat from international affairs, a trade war with China is not simply some intangible mess for economists to fret over. And what of trade resolutions with Japan and South Korea? If part of Trump tough-dealing with either country over military spending means slashing trade deals and imposing tariffs, you can expect the same frigid ties in Tokyo and Seoul. Increasing consumer and league operating costs will put an end to a flourishing international eSports ecosystem.

Globalization is here. Turning away from the economic reality to soothe a small part of our burned electorate isn’t simply foolhardy, it’s a disservice to a generation prepared for a global economy. If Trump’s tough talk wasn’t just lip-service, you might just look back on region-locking with grit teeth.
Chapter Assignment pg. 169- Red Bull
By: Daniel Roldan
Tags: Esports, Gaming

The organization I chose to create online content for is Red Bull. More specifically, I will create content that is relevant with Red Bull’s eSports section of their website, which is where they display stories regarding competitive video gaming. The audience of my content will be Red Bull enthusiasts as well as people who enjoy playing, watching, or commentating on competitive video games. Therefore, whoever has access to a computer will be able to read my digital content. The purpose of this publication is for entertainment and news. Many consumers who follow certain video game competitions look online for articles or posts about whatever game they are investigating. The entertainment comes from watching different recordings of popular competitions for games such as Super Smash Bros., League of Legends, and Street Fighter. The news will stem from interviews of players who explain their play styles and their own opinions of what happened in a game. New content would be posted whenever there is a video game competition that is sponsored by Red Bull or has players competing who are supported by Red Bull. Additionally, popular game play will be updated weekly in order to emphasize the entertainment aspect of my content. There will be a few competitors for the same audience, such as Monster Energy. Their website also has a similar page dedicated to showing clips of video game competitions and player interviews. Twitch.tv will also be considered a competitor, since they are a website that live streams video game tournaments and events. Besides these official websites bringing competition, there are also many blog sites and social media platforms that will include coverage of the same video game tournaments and player interviews, such as Tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter. These are hot spots for competitive video game enthusiasts to come together and talk about their favorite competitions or game play. Gaming magazines could pose a threat, but I feel that the accessibility of my online content will work in my favor. I do not see any style issues, so I will maintain the current style guide that Red Bull has already implemented. Their page layout already has the most popular news story already at the top of the site, while more relevant articles and posts are located beneath it. I see no problems with the editorial style guide that Red Bull already uses for their eSports page. The audience needs to know that Red Bull will provide digital content on the most recent video game competitions, as well as insightful interviews with the players. Red Bull needs to broadcast their online content on their social media cites, so that their fans know when new posts are up on the website. I will work with Red Bull to make sure my content matches the current style guide displayed on Red Bull’s website, which is also the only barrier I see, which will be easy to overcome.
Splyce retains its full League roster for 2017
By: Sam Nordmark
Tags: Esports, League of Legends

Splyce retains its full League roster for 2017

Photo via Riot Esports

Following a less-than-stellar performance at the 2016 League of Legends World Championship, Splyce has successfully retained its full roster ahead of the coming LCS season.

Ten days ago Splyce’s top laner Martin “Wunder” Hansen, mid laner Chres “Sencux” Laursen, support Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle, and AD carry Kasper “Kobbe” Kobberup entered into a period of free agency. This left only jungler Jonas “Trashy” Andersen on the roster in an official capacity.

However, throughout the past week the players have one by one announced that they have re-signed with the organization ahead of the 2017 season.

Wunder’s announcement today means Splyce will retain its full roster from the 2016 Summer Split, where the team succeeded in taking second place in the playoffs. This was a dramatic improvement from the previous split, in which the team narrowly avoided relegation.

Splyce also successfully retained its League coach Jakob “YamatoCannon” Mebdi, announcing the signing on Nov. 22. YamatoCannon came to be known as one of the driving forces behind the team’s improvement during the Summer Split of 2016, which earned him the EU “Coach of the split” award after receiving the majority of votes from pros, third-party journalists, and the EU LCS on-air broadcast team.

Heading into 2017, Splyce will be one of the few rosters to not make a single change to its line-up. Now, it’s up to the team to improve upon its poor run at the League World Championship.
Shout Out to Whispers!
Tags: Gaming, Esports, Mobile, iOS, Android

Starting today, Mobcrush allows private messaging through our new Whispers feature in our latest update on iOS, Android and Web.

You can message your friends by simply typing /w username followed by your message, then voila! You’ve just sent a private message that only you and your friend can see. Replying is even simpler. To reply, just type /r and BOOM you’re typing a message to the last person who contacted you.

The messages will follow you in chat wherever you go, so don’t be afraid to take a look around at the other streams, because your conversation will travel with you!

Whispers only works if the other person is online, so meet up on Mobcrush and start Whispering away!

For more details on Whispers check out our FAQ HERE, and make sure you update to the latest version of Mobcrush to start Whispering.

But Whispers aren’t the only thing we’ve been working on…

It’s been a busy Fall here at Mobcrush HQ, so here’s a quick recap on the 5 latest features that are available in Mobcrush now.

ReplayKit Live launched with iOS 10. Woah. Streaming right from an iPhone or iPad is now only one touch away. New games are adding live broadcasting daily, like Asphalt 8: Airborne, Modern Combat 5: Blackout and Vainglory. Plus, more huge games are right around the corner.

Donations. Are. Live! You can now donate to your favorite broadcasters on Mobcrush. Look for the gift icon and show the #mobfam some love.

Mobcrush Bot exists?? Not much is known about Mobcrush Bot, but we were recently able to capture this rare footage below. Watch carefully and get your own Mobcrush Bot here for further study.

Tournament Time. Go head-to-head in our new mobile tournament series, powered by our friends at ESL. Glory and prizes are up for grabs each week, so make sure to sign up, compete and stream Vainglory, Hearthstone, Modern Combat 5 and Clash Royale.

Who doesn’t love stickers? Especially when they’re this adorable. Meet Mobcat, Crushwolf, Fat Dragon and Dedcat inside our new sticker pack for iMessage in iOS 10.

That’s a wrap! Look for more exciting updates out of Mobcrush HQ coming your way soon.

❤ The Mobcrush Team

P.S. #StreamVainglory all month and tag @Vainglory and @Mobcrush on Twitter for a chance to win an iPhone 7 Plus!
Introducing URL Team Invites & Updated Search
Tags: New Features, Esports

ASSEMBLE TEAM!

We are filled with excitement to release our upgraded and URL-inspired new team invite functionality.

For captains, follow these steps to join your team:

Click “Select or Create Team”

2. Select your pre-made team or get new friends! (create a new team)

3. Fill in your team name and in game name (you can jazz up your team’s logo too, if you’d like)

4. Copy your invite URL and send it to your teammates

5. Once your team has enough players, join your team

Click the “Join” button

Additionally, you can add or subtract players off your tournament roster via the roster sub menu on the tournament navigation bar:

What’s that Steven?

Oh fine, I’ll tell them about the other features in this release. Here they are:

You can now invite members to your team outside of a tournament via the same URL process (first team to 500 players wins a box of Count Chocula)

The Battlefy gate keeper has decided it was time to… well, open the gates. You can now search for any tournament or organizer you know the name for, past, present, and future.

So that’s it! Let us know your feedback by commenting below, hitting us up on Twitter (@Battlefy) or emailing us at: support@battlefy.com

Check out upcoming tournaments for the game of your choice at www.battlefy.com/discovery. We hope to see you soon :)
Weekend Highlights of 10/21/2016
By: Leah D.
Tags: Esports, Highlight, Mortal Kombat, Clash Royale

Last weekend was the debut of two new online circuits on smashgg, the Kombat Cup and the Clash Royale North American Open. Additionally, Eclipse 2 was held in Norway, showcasing Europe’s top Melee players.

Mortal Kombat

The Kombat Cup is a 12 week competitive Mortal Kombat XL circuit with a $10,000 prize pool funded by Stream.me. Points are awarded each week based on placement. After 12 weeks, the 8 players to accumulate the most circuit points will receive a copy of Injustice 2 and play in a double elimination Top 8 bracket for a chance to win an all inclusive trip to EVO 2017.

The cup began their competitive circuit with 333 entrants for Week 1. Each week starts with an open online bracket Sunday night at 6PM EDT, and plays out Top 8 the following Wednesday at 8pm EDT for a prize pool of $450. This week’s bracket includes three top 10 ranked players: cR SonicFox, PG Scar and EVB Dragon. Catch the Top 8 stream tomorrow night at 8pm!

Clash Royale

This weekend was the premier of Clash Royale on smashgg, as well as the game’s first official NA open competition. In order to participate, players must be registered on ClashRoyaleOpen.com and place top 20 in an in-app tournament qualifier to receive a ticket to join a Coronation Day tournaments on smashgg.

There are 16 Coronation Day tournaments, all of which are single elimination brackets. The winner of each Coronation Day will compete in The Crown Duel, a 16 man final bracket to claim the $100K+ combined prize pool! More information to compete can be found here.

Melee

In Norway, with 400 entrants at Eclipse 2, Alliance Armada took Grand Finals over Ice without dropping a set. However, Luminosity’s recent pickup, Ice, had a strong showing, taking Armada to game 4 and double eliminating his teammate RB|TSM Leffen in order to get there.
End of an Era: SKT re-signs Faker but Bengi, Duke, and Poohmandu Leave
By: Sam Lee
Tags: League of Legends, Esports, Faker, Gaming

End of an Era: SKT re-signs Faker but Bengi, Duke, and Poohmandu Leave

SKT announced on their Twitter that they have re-signed godlike Mid laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and Coach Kim “kkOma” Jung-gyun. It comes as no surprise that SKT would do everything in their power to keep Faker, the Michael Jordan of eSports, on their team.

However, veteran SKT Jungler Bae “Bengi” Seong-woong, Top laner Lee “Duke” Ho-seong, and Coach Lee “PoohManDu” Jeong-hyeon have parted ways with SKT and will not be rejoining them for the 2017 season. This roster change marks the end of an era as Bengi and Faker have a long history with SKT and are the only two League of Legends players to ever win the World Championships three times.

But who will replace Bengi and Duke on SKT? Word around the campfire is that SKT’s new Jungler is likely to Yoon “Peanut” Wang-ho from ROX Tigers considering his team recently disbanded. As for their Top laner, perhaps we’ll see Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho formerly of KT Rolster join the fray? Who do you think will fill out the SKT roster?