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    Opinion: Blizzard pulls plug on HGC, killing more than just Heroes esports

    It’s been five days since Activision-Blizzard made the announcement that the Heroes of the Storm Global Championship (HGC) circuit would be discontinued and developers from the title moved to other, unannounced projects. Although “announcement” is too generous a word. Maybe “slap-in-the-face” is more appropriate considering the disingenuous manner the message was delivered, via an unfeeling press release. The content of the statement itself felt more corporate than personable. To many, it was insulting.

    · Dec 19, 2018
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    The Importance of Esports Coaches in League of Legends: Their Role within a Team

    What is a League of Legends esports coach? A coach's role within a team may seem almost trivial on the surface. They don't directly play the game themselves, and what they do behind the scenes is almost always veiled.

    · Dec 13, 2018
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    Epic games knows how to make Fortnite a serious esport -- they just don't want to.

    "In hindsight, I could never have guessed that Epic's casual tone was actually hinting at their full-blown rejection of past esports practices."

    · Dec 12, 2018
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    OGN Just Unveiled Its New BR Arena, Marking Beginning of Company's Era in NA

    You may not have noticed it, but just this Saturday in an unassuming media district nestled within Manhattan Beach, California, the esports industry marked an important milestone: legendary Korean pro

    · Dec 10, 2018
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    My experience with MTG Arena - How to get started

    Magic was not a cheap hobby for a kid, but it is definitely a very rich one. Magic always felt like the closest to chess of all of the card games that are popular. Despite all the qualities Magic give

    · Dec 9, 2018
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    [Column] Head Coach kkOma; the Final Piece for the SKT Dream Team

    Following in the footsteps of the “super-team” kt Rolster, SKT T1 has successfully signed on some big names for their 2019 roster. On the 22nd of November (KST), 5 players including Khan,

    · Nov 30, 2018
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    Blizzard’s HGC silence speaks volumes

    As December approaches, professional Heroes of the Storm players are unsure if they will have a job in 2019. Since 2016, Blizzard Entertainment has run the Heroes Global Championship (HGC) circuit each year, pitting the best of the best from around the world against one another over the course of a calendar year with the finale being the World Championship event held at BlizzCon. With nearly $5 million awarded in prizes during the 2017 year and a lot of mouths to feed in the process, the survival of HGC, in its current format or otherwise, is paramount for those that rely on it for steady income. As it stands, HGC has not been announced to return in 2019 yet. No statements, press releases or announcements have been issued suggesting its existence going forward.

    · Nov 27, 2018
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    A Scoreboard is Long Overdue for Overwatch's Lambasted Ranked System

    “We designed Overwatch from the ground up to excel as a competitive game,” said Mike Morhaime, then-president of Blizzard Entertainment, at BlizzCon 2016 before revealing the year's main a

    · Nov 24, 2018
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    A Response to Seagull's "The State of Overwatch"

    Recently, former pro Overwatch player and current full-time streamer Brandon "Seagull" Larned vented some of his frustrations with Overwatch on his YouTube channel. His main issue is that "good games

    · Nov 24, 2018
  10. Column

    Why Srkenji Deserves a Spot on an Academy Roster

    The Scouting Grounds participants are chosen through a point system that notes where players are in the challenger ladder every couple weeks and assigns points relative to their position. All those in

    · Nov 19, 2018
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    The Artifact Preview Tournament aimed high, but hit the ground hard

    "You only get one chance at a first impression" -- words to live by, especially in an era in which people's attention spans are growing ever shorter.

    · Nov 15, 2018
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    South Korea Needs Faker to Reclaim Regional Glory

    South Korea's performance at the 2018 League of Legends World Championship was the worst in the region's history. The vision-centric, controlled style of Korean League of Legends is no longer the

    · Nov 7, 2018
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    [Column] “Fnatic are going to win Worlds.”

    “Fnatic are going to win Worlds.”When Bwipo and YoungBuck first said those words during August 2018, I sat there, wondering if I had somehow ended in a parallel universe where Western play

    · Nov 2, 2018
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    How the meta forged Fnatic and Europe’s success at Worlds

    As we watched our dreams of an all EU world finals collapse when G2's magical worlds run came to an end, we saw, how far Europe advanced as a region this year.G2 might have been outclassed in the semi

    · Nov 1, 2018