Valve

The road to TI8 will be long and full of Majors, Minors, and other tournaments.

Major Changes: Evaluating Valve’s New Tournament Structure

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The International 2017 is only weeks away, and Valve has treated us to an entire overhaul of the Majors, with the new system launching right after TI7 ends. The 2017 - 2018 competitive season will be unlike anything we've...
What should Overwatch investigators look for when they're reviewing a case?

No Cheaters Allowed: How to Be a Good Overwatch Investigator

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Overwatch, CS:GO's crowd-sourced anti-griefing and cheating detection system, is often taken for granted. While some believe the service does nothing to rid the game of hackers or that Overwatch investigators should get some sort of reward for their efforts, Valve's creation...
What's the best way to learn new CS:GO maps?

Guide: The Best Way to Learn New CS:GO Maps

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When there isn't an Operation going on, the roster of popular CS:GO maps is fairly small. But when a new Operation launches, players have access to a new collection of maps. The appeal of new maps seems to fade quickly, and...
CS:GO

Why Ex-Pros Make the Best CS:GO Analysts

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Retiring from professional CS:GO isn't easy. Breaking up with the game you've spent thousands of hours mastering is, understandably, challenging. For some pros, however, retiring from competitive play is an opportunity to take on a new role in the esports industry....
CS:GO

The Benefits of Taking a Break from CS:GO

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There was a time when I would play CS:GO for hours at a time on a daily basis. At one point, I even had aspirations of becoming a professional player. Recently, however, I noticed that I usually ended up playing...
Operation Hydra is the latest CS:GO Operation, courtesy of Valve, but it leaves folks asking whether it was worth the wait.

Operation Hydra: Was It Worth the Wait?

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The first CS:GO operation, dubbed Operation Payback, launched in 2013, and since then, Valve have mostly stuck to a predictable formula for these optional pieces of paid DLC. We've got community-made weapon skins, and, in Operation Vanguard, Valve introduced campaigns --...
Valve's Dota 2 Majors are some of the most highly anticipated LAN events of the year, but these tournaments are making life--and business--increasingly difficult for third-party tournament organizers.

Valve Majors Are Killing Third Party Dota Tournaments

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The unfortunate repercussions of Valve's Dota 2 Major system on the livelihood of third-party tournaments isn't a new topic. In fact, we wrote an article about it last year. But lots of things have changed since we commented on it in...
SG e-sports pulled off an upset victory against Team Secret at the Kiev Major that reminded the world to never underestimate smaller teams.

The Underdog Story: SG e-sports at the Kiev Major

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The Kiev Major, like every Major that preceded it, taught us another valuable lesson about underdogs in esports. At the Boston Major, Ad Finem fought their way to the Grand Finals in a feat of passion and skill that reminded...
Canals, the latest CS:GO map, has some issues with timing, but overall, the map is a pleasant addition to the game.

Canals: How Bad Is CS:GO’s New Map?

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With the introduction of every new CS:GO operation, it’s customary for Valve to add a few fan-made maps along with the different varieties of new skins. More often than not, these maps accumulate hate from the community for their...
TF2 has a lot in common with Overwatch. Blizzard's game is clearly the heir to TF2's throne, but both games have an important place in the video game history books.

TF2 vs. Overwatch: The Test of Time

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Team-based objective-driven role-heavy shooters. You love 'em, I love 'em. Who doesn't love 'em? But when you apply that many filters to your search query, it's going to boil down to two and only two games. Fine, two games that...
Valve's updates to CS:GO have started to look more and more out of touch over the past year.

Esports Ain’t Easy: What Valve Can Learn from Riot Games

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Over the past year, Valve's updates to CS:GO have been few and far between, but while these patches lack in frequency, they've almost always been significant. In the time that's passed since the release of the R8 Revolver, Valve have...
Recent updates to the Negev and R8 Revolver have left casual players and pros unsure of each gun's future role in CS:GO's historically stagnant weapon metagame.

The New Negev and R8 Revolver: Why, Valve?

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Valve’s most recent update to CS:GO on April 12th, 2017 was quite the doozy. After removing the R8 Revolver and Negev from competitive play for a while in order to rework the weapons, Valve have re-added tweaked versions of...