Esports News

The iconic anime crossover is back! Blizzard has brought back the Overwatch 2 x One-Punch Man collaboration for a limited run from October 16 to 29, celebrating One-Punch Man Season 3 with new heroes, returning favorites, and fan-favorite rewards. Two New Heroes Join the Roster The second wave of this collab introduces two brand-new skins: Garou Wuyang and Hellish Blizzard Ashe. Wuyang channels the chaotic energy of Garou, the fierce Hero Hunter. His new visage enhances Wuyang’s fighting style withmore

With October 6th set as the invitation date for the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025, we now have the 32 teams that will partake in the second Valve-sponsored event of the year. As per Valve’s new rules, the Budapest Major 2025 will skip the MRQs and directly begin with Stage 1 of the tournament. To qualify, teams had to accumulate as many VRS points as possible. Over the past six months, many teams have been grinding through LAN events to ensuremore

Celebrating excellence across esports in all shapes and forms, the Esports Awards return for their tenth iteration! The Esports Awards 2025 Ceremony is set to honor several names across the industry on November 19th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The final list of nominees is out, so make sure to head to this link and vote for the esports titles, players, teams, and personalities that you think deserve to be recognized for their contributions throughout the year among categories such as "Esports Game of the Year", "Streamer of the Year", and many more. Esports Awards 2025 Nominees To give you a glimpsemore

Riot has provided a preview of what LoL Patch 25.21 will bring to the table, giving us a glimpse of life post-Worlds. The new update will bring buffs to several AD carry champions, nerfs to a couple of Junglers that have taken over the ladder recently, and a partial revert to Gwen's kit. Let's take a look at what's coming our way when League of Legends Patch 25.21 arrives on Wednesday, October 22nd! Ezreal, Kalista, and Yunara Gain Some Powermore

After an expected run at EPL S22, FaZe Clan has gone and done it again — another unexpected run, only this time it was unexpectedly short. At the CS Asia Championship 2025, they lost to a young FUT squad, exiting the tournament with just two wins. A Disappointing Show FaZe Clan’s CS Asia Championship 2025 journey started with the team blowing an 11-5 lead to lose 11-13 to FUT Esports (ex-NAVI Junior squad). Many discounted the loss, however, given theymore

The second day of action is over at the Swiss Stage of Worlds 2025. Now, some teams find themselves just one win away from making it to the playoffs, while others stand on the brink of elimination. Let's take a look at the Round 3 draw of the Swiss Stage to see what matchups await. Worlds 2025 Swiss Stage Round 3 Draw After a rough start to the tournament, it's do or die time for some teams at Worlds. But first, we will find out who will become the first two teams to qualify for the playoffs. Here's a lookmore

Erik “Maverick” Thorn is one of the most distinctive Attackers in Rainbow Six Siege. Known for his quiet precision and intelligence, he joined the game during Operation Grim Sky alongside Clash. Maverick’s story and gameplay design highlight his sharp mind, adaptability, and unmatched skill in breaching reinforced surfaces without alerting defenders. Biography of Erik “Maverick” Thorn Early Life and Military Background Maverick was born in Boston and grew up in a multilingual home. From a young age, he displayed exceptionalmore

CTBC Flying Oyster (CFO) just took down the reigning world champions T1. Although in a Best-of-one (Bo1) setting, their performance and achievement were nonetheless impressive. This now jettisons them into the 2-0 pool in the Worlds 2025 Swiss Stage and a single Best-of-three (Bo3) series away from qualification to the Knockout Stage. CFO Continues to Impress: Lifting the Standard for the Pacific Region If there remain any doubters, surely, they are silenced after this latest performance. CFO are the realmore

The Thunderpick World Championship 2025 is showcasing some elite CS2 talent. Although these pros use standard hardware provided to them by the tournament organizers for the events, this doesn’t stop them from pulling out all the stops when it comes to their own at-home setups. According to some research done by Thunderpick, these setups factor in the retail value of the mouse, monitor, mousepad, keyboard, headset, GPU, and CPU – revealing some numbers and surprises among world-class competitors. Most Expensive Setup Leader: XANTARES İsmailсan "XANTARES" Dörtkardeş from Aurora tops the chart with the highest total setup cost, valued at £3,289.more

The first day of the Swiss Stage at Worlds 2025 is over, leaving a few surprises along the way. Now, we turn our attention to Day 2 as teams start to position themselves in the standings to secure a spot in the playoffs. The heat is turning up, and the second day of matchups have been drawn, so let's take a look! Worlds 2025 Swiss Stage Day 2 Matches and Schedule With the opening round of matches out of themore

Venomancer, also known as Lesale the Deathbringer, is a Dota 2 hero defined by his toxic attacks and relentless ability to deal damage over time. He infects enemies with venom, slows their movement, and surrounds himself with Plague Wards that spit poison at anything that moves. His playstyle revolves around gradual, unstoppable damage—forcing enemies to retreat or succumb to decay. The Origins of Lesale the Deathbringer Lesale was once an herbalist who journeyed to the Acid Jungles of Jidi Islemore

Valve has rolled out a substantial Counter-Strike 2 update on October 15, 2025, bringing a mix of engine optimizations, gameplay tweaks, and expanded scripting capabilities for developers. The patch focuses on improving CPU efficiency, enhancing gameplay fluidity, and giving map creators more scripting depth. Most of these changes were carried over from the October 14 Pre-Release Build 1.41.1.3-rc1, so some of these changes might be familiar to a few of you. Engine Improvements and Performance Gains At the core of this update is a major Source 2 engine refresh. Valve has updated the engine code to the latest Source 2more

Another week brings another wave on the Dota 2 roster shuffle across the professional landscape. Since our last recap, a lot has changed: Aydin "Insania" Sarkohi has retired, Team Liquid secured a strong offlane and support, and Maroun "GH" Merhej announced he’d be taking a break. On top of that, Chan "Oli" Chon Kien changed teams once again, Ivan "Pure" Moskalenko was benched and then picked up shortly after, Nikita "panto" Balaganin found a temporary new home, and Rodrigo "Lelis"more

League of Legends Patch 25.20 may have focused on setting the stage for Worlds 2025, but that doesn't mean it had no effect on Solo Queue. The latest update brought several important buffs and nerfs to champions, meaning it's time to adjust! If you're looking to rank up, then look no further. Here's our breakdown of the best champions to climb ranked in LoL Patch 25.20. Top Lane Sett During the laning phase, Sett can use a well-timed [W] Haymaker tomore

There's no doubt about it, Gen.G are the biggest favorites to win it all at Worlds 2025. The team is in an incredible run of form after winning MSI and the Esports World Cup earlier in the year, none of which would have been possible without their rock in the Mid Lane: Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon. Ahead of Gen.G's first game of the Swiss Stage, Strafe Esports had the chance to sit down with Chovy for an exclusive interview. During the conversation, the South Korean star was able to discuss Fearless Draft, his legacy, and the team's newest rising star. [Strafe] Gen.Gmore

Riot Games has rolled out its end-of-year balancing update with VALORANT Patch 11.08, introducing sweeping adjustments across agents, weapons, and maps. This patch marks a major step toward the developers’ long-term vision of maintaining VALORANT’s core tactical shooter identity while refining the balance between gunplay and abilities. According to the team, these changes aim to encourage “competitive dialogue,” creating more opportunities for adaptation and counterplay from round to round. Reinforcing Competitive Dialogue Over recent months, utility spam and aggressive abilitymore

VALORANT will see one of the biggest overhauls since its release with the upcoming Patch 11.08 scheduled for Wednesday, October 15th. The patch will introduce a plethora of agent changes, along with changes to two maps: Abyss and Pearl and major changes to SMGs and Rifles. We have covered the Agent changes in a different article. You can read it here. Map Changes The VALORANT Patch 11.08 map changes aim to “encourage more on-site play” on Abyss and Pearl. These changes rework covers within the site itself allowing for more active defense on both sides. Abyss Changes mainly focus onmore

In a Worlds Play-In Series like no other before, two titans – T1 and Invictus Gaming – clashed to kickstart Worlds 2025. While both teams qualified for the tournament, only one could continue their journey to the Swiss Stage and beyond. After a lengthy series, T1 succeeded in defeating IG in an electrifying Game 4 to close out the win, securing themselves a berth in the Swiss Stage. The Bo5 match was highly anticipated and delivered in all aspects. Whichmore

With their win over Invictus Gaming, T1 became the final team to qualify for the Swiss Stage of Worlds 2025. Immediately after their game, it was time for the draw, giving as some exciting clashes to kick off the first round of games. The race for the World Championship starts here: 16 teams arrive at the Swiss Stage, but only 8 will make it on to the playoffs for a shot at the trophy. Worlds 2025 Swiss Stage Draw Revealed The stage is set as the best League of Legends teams from all over the globe battle in Beijing, Chinamore

The League Awards are officially returning for their 2025 edition, once again hosted by Caedrel and Sjokz, the beloved duo who launched the groundbreaking inaugural event in 2024. This year’s ceremony will take place at the same venue as the Red Bull League of Its Own, held at Munich’s SAP Garden, but in a more intimate setting within the VIP area. This promises an exclusive atmosphere while continuing to celebrate the best of League of Legends esports and content. Bringingmore