The Roar
The Roar

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eSports: Unconventional, but also completely thrilling

Shaun Glover new author
Roar Rookie
13th September, 2016
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Evil against Rapha and QuakeCon (Photo: Shaun Glover)
Shaun Glover new author
Roar Rookie
13th September, 2016
0

This year I witnessed one of the most captivating moments of sporting competition I’ve ever seen, and it took place on an entirely digital playing field.

The moment occurred during the Quake Live tournament grand final, at QuakeCon 2016 in Dallas, Texas.

Playing in the grand final were two pro Quake players, Rapha (USA) and Evil (Russia). The grand final was best of five with a $25,000-cash prize for the winner.

Rapha started strong, winning the first two matches. If he could win the third, he’d win the tournament. But by the end of the third match, Rapha and Evil were tied at two kills each. This meant overtime.

Rapha and Evil continued to fight for what felt like an eternity, and while there were a tonne of close calls, neither could get a final kill on the other. The overtime had to be extended. Then it had to be extended some more. And more…

Just after going into a seventh overtime, Rapha scored a kill on Evil. This forced Evil to play recklessly to try to cause another tie before overtime ran out. Rapha took advantage of Evil’s cavalier attacks, and scored a second kill on the suddenly desperate Russian, surely sealing his fate.

So with less than a minute left, it appeared the grand QuakeCon tournament of 2016 was over. If it had just taken seven overtimes for one kill to be landed, there was no way in hell Evil could land two in return on a visibly dominant, and now totally defensive Rapha in one minute. The American had it in the bag.

Sensibly, Rapha nursed his lead in the dying moments of overtime #7 by sneaking around the map for over half of the final minute… and then this happened:

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The palacial ballroom serving as the tournament’s venue erupted with a roar that was part excitement, part disbelief. Not one person in the room saw that coming.

Here’s Evil’s perspective of the miracle play:

Evil ended up winning the third match, and the next match, in an incredible comeback, to tie the grand final up at 2-2 and force a 5th and final match.

While Evil continued to play at the edge of his ability, so did Rapha, and in the end it was Rapha who won the deciding fifth match, the tournament, and the $25,000 on home soil.

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Evil won the right to say that he put up one of the greatest fights in the tournament’s history.

The crowd, myself included, won a treasured memory of one of the greatest Quake matches ever played.

eSports is here to stay, and that is only a good thing for the world of sport.

Take back what’s yours as a supernatural assassin in Dishonored 2, the follow up to Arkane Studios’ first-person action blockbuster and winner of more than 100 ‘Game of the Year’ awards. Check it out now.

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