Though OG didn’t find consistent Dota 2 success throughout 2019, one player among their ranks powered them to victory at the biggest tournament of the year. Then-19-year-old Anathan “ana” Pham returned to OG in March after an extended hiatus. With ana back on the roster, OG began their climb back to peak form. They qualified for the MDL Disneyland Paris Major, and placed 5-6th at the main event. They then competed in ESL One Birmingham and the EPICENTER Major, placing 7-8th at both tournaments. The International 2019 arrived, and OG immediately exerted their dominance over their group stage opponents. To much surprise, ana played Io, traditionally a support hero, in the carry position. With that out-of-the-box pick, OG were able to top the group stage and secure a play-offs upper bracket berth. OG then took down Evil Geniuses, PSG.LGD, and Team Liquid to become the first team to ever win The International tw
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
For a Jungler, a global ultimate is very valuable, and Karthus can easily use his to secure kills. The rework of Nunu has put him in an incredibly good spot, especially in the jungle. He can secure objectives, provide tons of utility, has great teamfight abilities, and is a tank. Nunu has become the Jungler’s dr
League of Legends has entered its ninth season and is still as popular as ever. With the season officially underway, everyone is looking to climb the ladder and advance their rank. While everyone wants to carry every game, it can be hard to follow the meta and know which champions are going to offer you the best chance to dominate. While every champion can be played to perfection, there are definitely some top tier picks that will give you an e
Instead of the 4 standard abilities that most champions have, Aphelios has 5 weapons that he equips throughout the game. He holds a main weapon and an off-hand weapon which alter his basic attack and abilities. While his kit can be extremely confusing, his versatility can give players the opportunity to outplay their opponents in any situation. This moba Roles Guide will help players learn all of the basics that Aphelios needs to dominate the R
These are the standard runes for Marksmen. In the Precision Tree, Press the Attack gives solid burst damage in short skirmishes, Triumph and Bloodline provide sustainability in teamfights, and Coup de Grace allows Aphelios to secure kills and get further ahead. Then taking Magical Footwear and Biscuit Delivery in the Inspiration Tree gives Aphelios sustainability and survivabil
With Junglers seeing nerfs to the amount of experience gained from every monster camp, they are under increased pressure to play what is strong. Fortunately, even though there were nerfs to jungle overall, there are still champions that can be incredibly strong in the r
Still, esports is often treated like one entity. In reality, individual games play out more like anthologies—unconnected by the umbrella term that defines them. Like a thin layer of algae on the surface of an abandoned pool, esports as a title masks the diverse ecosystem that exists beneath the surface, suffocating its variety and preventing outsiders from getting in the water. Even if you are a huge fan of one title, other games remain largely uninteresting and impossible to watch. As a result, can anyone really call themselves a fan of espo
With studios scrambling to keep up with light-speed growth, a reactive wait-and-see attitude seems like the industry-wide solution.”I think it has all the tools to really go the distance and become something powerful,” says Peter Guber, CEO of Mandalay Entertainment, to CNBC about the future of esports. This roughly translates to, “it looks cool, but no ones’s really thought about it too hard yet.” Until it becomes something more powerful, you can find me playing games instead of watching t
The top of the tier list are Karthus, Kha’Zix , Lee Sin, Kayn, Shyvana, Xin Zhao, and Nunu. While champions like Lee Sin have been strong for quite some time, Nunu and Karthus really stand out at the time. Karthus allows for a more carry type of Jungler who is capable of dealing a lot of damage. His ultimate makes sure that no matter what, he will have an impact across the