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Blog entry by Rodney Dahms

The Five Best Esports Players of 2019

The Five Best Esports Players of 2019

DOTA was an overnight success after its introduction, and soon DOTA became as much a reason to play competitive Warcraft III as the base game itself. DOTA became a fixture of several international eSports tournaments, and their designers would go from being mere hobbyists to professional game developers. One key player named "IceFrog" would get hired by Valve to develop Dota2 , while Steve "Guinsoo" Feak and Steve "Pendragon" Mescon would move to create Riot Games and their breakout title, League of Legen

At the end of the day, esports is still relatively new. In the current state of things, most games are simply not worth watching. However, that may change. The most popular games will likely develop more polished ways of conducting business, acting as their own miniature industries. As a result, better coverage for games will take some time to arrive, with bigger titles leading the

Canadian cosplayer, Mel Colley , is a phenomenal armor builder who was able to construct the hawk-like armor of Azir. Mel masterfully detailed every element of Azir’s costume, complete with his floating staff and helmet. Mel’s original Pharah and Symmetra from Overwatch designs are some of her most impressive cosplay wo

Like Marvel, DC only has two films coming in 2020: Bird of Prey (and the Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) and Wonder Woman 1984 . 2021 will see Robert Pattinson become the next actor to bring the Caped Crusader to the big screen in Matt Reeves' The Batman . Also coming to theaters in 2021 from DC Films is Black Adam , with Dwayne Johnson as the titular hero, and James Gunn's The Suicide Squad sequel. DC's plans for 2022 include DC Super Pets and Aquaman

The obvious answer is because they want a new experience. That’s why new games keep getting made and why pretty much every game has a limited lifespan. Once their player has had their fill, they move on to the next big th

During his unprecedented rise to fame, Arslan battled obstacles outside of Tekken . Coming from Pakistan, travel restrictions made his journeys to international tournaments even more difficult, and certain religious dietary guidelines resulted in stomach upset while traveling and during tournaments. Coming out victorious at every turn, Arslan Ash brought Pakistan to the forefront of _ Tekken _ espo

San Francisco Shock star Jay "sinatraa" Won took over the _ Overwatch _ League in 2019. Remaining consistent through meta and rule changes, the 19-year-old damage player earned his spot on everyone’s _ Overwatch _ radar. The San Francisco Shock reached the Grand Final of each Overwatch League stage in Season 2, and won stage 2 over the Vancouver Titans. Once in the postseason play-offs, the Shock suffered an unexpected early loss to Atlanta Reign. Led by sinatraa, the team went on an incredible lower bracket run to the Grand Final. Their dominance continued in the Final, where Shock came out victorious with a 4-0 scoreline. Along with the _ Overwatch _ League, sinatraa aided Team USA in a victory at the _ Overwatch _ World Cup. Sinatraa was named the MVP of both the _ Overwatch _ League and the _ Overwatch _ World Cup. The standards the 19-year-old set this year will live on in _ Overwatch _ ’s esports hist

There is one more element that further complicates climbing through the ranks, and that is ranked match cost. Once you've climbed out of Bronze, each ranked match you play will cost RP to enter. While in Silver, every game you play will cost 1 RP. Gold matches cost 2 RP, Platinum matches cost 3 RP, Diamond Matches cost 4 RP, and Apex Predator zeri Guide matches cost 5

It’s more than a semantic concern, however. Unlike traditional sports, it’s nearly impossible to tune in to games that you don’t play personally. For instance, I’ve never been into Overwatch , and although I understand how the gameplay works, Overwatch League is completely unenjoyable to watch. You can’t appreciate the level of difficulty that certain moves take to execute unless you’ve attempted them yourself. This rule is almost universally applied across all of esports. Unlike traditional sports, where pure athleticism can be appreciated void of any tactical or technical knowledge, esports requires a higher degree of familiarity. At best, this means that viewership rarely crosses between games. At worst, this means esports isn't viewer-friendly and may never have what it takes to reach wider audien

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League represented several of DC's problems, but fortunately it didn't take too long for DC to fix them. With both movies, it felt like DC was trying to copy the formula of The Avengers , but not in a good way. DC's team-ups didn't feel earned in the same way as Marvel's. Marvel took its time, while DC rushed toward throwing its biggest heroes together — and it showed. DC didn't make the same mistakes with Aquaman and Shazam!, which feel unique from anything made by Marvel. Since Justice League , DC has showed a willingness to dabble in various genres, tones, and styles. What DC has on the horizon is a sign that the studio is doubling-down on this appro

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