Community

I recently sat down with the founder of Desoladies, Ashley "Ashnichrist" Christenson. If you haven't heard of Desoladies yet, it's one of more tightly-knit esports communities on the internet. In their own words, the group is "a supportive, female-focused organization designed to...

Kory "SEMPHIS" Friesen is a well-known, albeit occasionally polarizing, North American CS:GO player. Although winning a large international tournament continues to elude him, there's no denying that SEMPHIS has an impressive competitive resume. He's been a staple of the NA Counter-Strike scene since...

If you want to make it out of Counter-Strike's semi-professional scene and qualify for ESL Pro League, then your team has to start from the bottom, which means competing in ESEA's Open division. After a successful season in Open,...

Walking around arcades as a child, I remember always thinking to myself, "how ridiculous are those capsule vending machines? Who in the world would want a tiny plastic Pokémon figurine?" As it turns out, I couldn't have been more...

The sale of Dota cosmetics is an essential part of Valve's free-to-play business model. Unlike League and Heroes of the Storm, Dota doesn't require any money to unlock characters, and unlike Overwatch, the game is free to install. At...

With almost unanimous critical approval, Overwatch was 2016's Game of the Year, and rightfully so. It's fast, and it's fun. But as far as becoming a relevant esports title, it's still about two years away from being two years away....

I love "crossover" media, especially the hilariously illustrated recap comics. Here's a list of four great Dota comics to read during the downtime between drama  tournaments. Dota Comics: Esports During DAC 2015, a Chinese fan drew comics depicting the events of each...

Is there anything more frustrating in Dota than sitting in your base trying to repel and endless army of illusions from whittling down your towers? For the past year, give or take, Shadow Demon strats have been a cornerstone of...

While certain topics in esports draw considerable controversy--substance abuse, collusion, infighting--few are more taboo than the concept of 'fansleeping.' It's rarely talked about, and remains almost completely uncovered. Before talking about why it's overlooked, however, let's talk about what...

Enough shenanigans, Valve. TI6 was seven months ago, and there's still no Juggernaut Arcana. If you're new to Dota, an Arcana is a special cosmetic item that's 'fancier' than the regular hats players can buy on the Steam market or open in...

After a series of poor performances during his last two tournaments with OpTic Gaming, it looks like Spencer "Hiko" Martin is going to be removed from the lineup. Perhaps the nicest way to describe his performance over the past...

Blizzard have quietly announced that they will be increasing the price of Hearthstone's digital card packs in Europe. How much more should players expect to shell out for new cards? For the EU, Blizzard have made an 11% price increase...