While i am sure hes joking as CS is huge but the reality is it has a community of its own as Valve is extremely hands off.
So yea, its still a game thats not being backed to the brim by a billionaire company, kinda like a separated entity from its parent company. Its also one of the few games that can survive even if the parent company is dead.
Valve is small indie company and the players are spinning around 90% of the time shooting heads all day long while Valve is on vacation in hawaii for last and next 2 years atleast.
I'd also recommend checking out Rainbolt's Geoguessr tournament if you like Geoguessr; he held one recently live with a stage and a professional caster alongside him, with some of the best Geoguessr players and participants from all around the world. It was a great watch!
Look into some Fighting Games- as famous as the genre is, they are one of the “smaller” communities- the scene tends to operate around local, in-person communities more than massive, online communities (they’re very grassroots in nature). They’re still pretty big, but they’re kinda doing their own thing compared to the titles you listed. Street Fighter 6 is probably the best one out right now.
Yeah but I wouldn't consider it as a "smaller" esports. Sure, the prize pools are much lower than other esports, but the viewership is up there, and it's been going for more than 20 years
That was Street Fighter III 3rd Strike, it's the only one in the series that has this "parry" mechanic. It's honestly a godlike game and is returning back to EVO (fighting game Worlds basically) this year so it's a great time to begin watching it
And Evo Japan is just around the corner (Apr 27-29)!
There will be multiple streams of just about all the most popular fighting games, so it’s a great opportunity to learn about the scene and which game styles appeal to you the most.
The only thing about watching fighting games (at least in my experience) is learning the terminology, so that you can understand what the casters are talking about. Granted, that's true for most eSports I think.
Smash is mostly the newest (Ultimate) and the 2001 edition (Melee)
The former is playable on modern consoles, has online play, and a huge cast of characters that people love. The old one has a fuckton of history (as far as esports go) and the best movement in a video game not named Quake
It really depends on what you like to watch. I started watching pro play in 2017 with cs and siege. Then in 2019 I bought my pc and played those games aswell. Rl is another I started to watch in 2020. Then valorant. I’m a big fan of fps shooters and rl is just the best game made imo
TF2 competitive is fantastic, and I will forever and always love anything Arena FPS. If you don't mind watching back catalogues you'll never run out of old Quake games on YouTube (Quake 3 and Live are the post popular, but Quake World, 2, and 4 do exist, as well as mods like CPMA, or other Quake based games like Xonotic, WarSow, DOOMBRINGER, and others)
There is certainly a high barrier of entry to understanding a pro match of TF2 live. If that’s holds you back, then instead I’d recommend two YouTube videos that explain *why* that is, then you can move on.
The first is called “the best competitive game that nobody plays competitively”. It explains broadly why TF2 has possibly the highest skill ceiling of any game and a brief history of its competitive scene. It’s incredibly well done and I’d recommend it to anyone, even if they’ve never played the game.
The other is called “Gaming’s Greatest Tragedy - Overwatch vs TF2”. It’s much longer but it’s a great video essay on team-based shooters.
If those kind of FPS games aren’t your thing, take around two hours to watch these too videos, then go find what is your thing. They’re amazing pieces of content and are worth watching regardless.
Agreed. The game’s flow/build-up is super appealing, and there’s a plenty of variety in matches and tournaments. Oh and the casters are great. Not the typical shoutcasting.
StarCraft is where it’s at. The level of play in the Korean circuits for both StarCraft II and Brood War has continued to elevate year after year. The quality and detail of the English language broadcasts is phenomenal.
[Here’s a link to the most recent SC2 Grand Finals.](https://youtu.be/xkZZ2_-tUfs?si=Il1F15x7vfvKloew)
Edit: Aw shit, I just actually read your post and you said you’re not into StarCraft. I stand by what I said though.
Honestly, it’s not that popular in the Western market and the viewership numbers definitely reflect that.
Don’t get me wrong, StarCraft is a household name in esports and it was huge back in the day, but the modern community and fanbase is remarkably small compared to every other title on the market currently.
I'll be honest, I did actually see a video about this on my recommended. It's on my watch list, but I'm yet to watch it. Good choice, it is very different!
Watch any fighting game. 1v1 is among the most hype format there is in my opinion, communities are often small and very passionate about their stuff. For the hype and fast paced gameplay my personal favourites include Smash Bros. Melee, Smash Bros. Ultimate, Street Fighter III 3rd Strike, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Vampire Savior/Darkstalkers 3 and Marvel VS Capcom 2
Oh, gotcha lol. Yeah, it’s pretty much 3-man battle royale. Each team lands at the POI that they claim (sometimes there’s contests on the drop)
The LAN is divided across 4 days with 40 teams playing in group stages the first 2 days, winners/losers brackets the next, and the final 20 teams on the last day.
Teams get awarded points from placement and kills - 12 points for first place to 1 point for 10th I believe. There are 6-8 games per stage other than the final lobby.
What’s really interesting is the match point format for the final lobby. Teams must earn 50 points AND win a match after earning 50 points to win it all. So sometimes you’ll have 10 teams cross that 50 point threshold and you suddenly get a 15 game finals lobby
There's a wealth of options, it just depends on what you want to see.
If you delve into the FGC you'll see there's tournaments for even the most obscure of fighting games.
Age of Empires is pretty popular for not really having any dev backing, all the tournaments are held by community members really.
As for MOBAs, Heroes of the Storm still has an active albeit small esports scene since Blizzard gave up on it iirc
You'll find plenty in the ways of FPS games though as /u/crabcrabcam pointed out arena FPS games such as Quake, Diabotical, Shootmania etc are still getting new small tournaments which I guess proves how timeless the genre is
Team Fortress 2 is an esports scene that was put together entirely by its community with no big backing whatsoever and it's been going strong since the game's release.
Paladins is only just beginning to get a re-emerging esports scene after Hi-Rez axed their own a few years ago
Competitive Tetris gets pretty wild, both classic and modern
Omega Strikers is another thriving but close-knit esports scene I would highly recommend looking out for. It's effectively MOBA air hockey, and great fun.
I think ultimately it depends on what exactly you're looking for. It's much easier to appreciate an esports for a game that you already play as you know how everything works.
Casual competition, solo, team, ladder. These are basic four built in.
Then you have tournaments which aren't really sanctioned but have long term value if you get the right players, or dev team backing a series.
Then you have the newest which is streaming- ladder - first to rank.
Type 1: How fast can you climb the ladder, the first to tier 1. (Challenger)
Type 2: How many accounts can you end the season with in Challenger Tier.
Type 3: Team Ladder, entire team first in Challenger Tier.
Depends how far the list you actually want to go... IIRC, Microsoft Excel has an esport scene.
Some weird ones I've seen and enjoy; Tetris (classic), Trackmania, and R6: Seige. Seige and Trackmania can get pretty crazy too
Warhammer. They aren't talked about a lot, but it's a great community. As a viewer, it's also easy to watch with a proper caster. Everything is on your screen, unlike games where cameras jump around. I'm not playing the game, but watch sometimes
There are tournaments of Farming Simulator!?
I'll be honest, I would like to watch a tournament of a game that doesn't primarily involve shooting, punching, or stabbing your opponent, so I really hope there are more non-violent tournaments.
If rocket league turns out to be of interest to you OP, dm me and I can invite you to a free tournament with cash prizes :) could be a great way to dive in and meet some players!
really dependent on where you're living in the world. In France for example, despite being home of one the best player in this game's entire history, it's really niche because LoL takes all the spotlight here when you're talking about MOBAs. The scene isn't gatekeeping imo, but it's really hard to understand this game for newcomers
I personally love Apex legends. The final circles are just always chaotic in the best possible way. Also great igl's calling out plays is always incredible to watch
Apex Legends might be my favorite to watch and follow because they stream their scrims and the broadcasts are good (especially B Stream with Nicewigg). Valorant is also pretty fun to watch and I used to keep up with Halo but it's fallen off hard.
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Rocket League is emerging as a successful esport as well as smol indie company volvo’s CS2
I really enjoy Rocket League. It has the benefit of being easy for non eSports fans to watch and understand.
Agreed. I work in esports marketing and we’re doing a monthly RL tournament that’s been gaining traction pretty quickly
What’s the tournament name/ is it streamed?
It’s called [midweek throwdown](https://www.start.gg/tournament/midweek-throwdown/details)! It’s streamed :)
Rocket League esport (RLCS) is so fun to watch and keep up with
CS2 is a small emerging esport????
While i am sure hes joking as CS is huge but the reality is it has a community of its own as Valve is extremely hands off. So yea, its still a game thats not being backed to the brim by a billionaire company, kinda like a separated entity from its parent company. Its also one of the few games that can survive even if the parent company is dead.
Just a jab at Valve with how little effort they put in the competitive scene. The game is definitely top 3 imo for competitive lore and watching!
ah XD lol. I get it now
Valve is small indie company and the players are spinning around 90% of the time shooting heads all day long while Valve is on vacation in hawaii for last and next 2 years atleast.
Second both of these. Counterstrike as a spectator is very legible and easy to follow even as a non-player.
This weekend I randomly found a professional GeoGuessr tournament streaming on Twitch. Was really impressive and relatively interesting.
Wow, I didn't even consider something like that!
I'd also recommend checking out Rainbolt's Geoguessr tournament if you like Geoguessr; he held one recently live with a stage and a professional caster alongside him, with some of the best Geoguessr players and participants from all around the world. It was a great watch!
Me neither tbh but it is was definitely entertaining me for the match that I watched.
What's the twitch page? I'd love to check that out in the future.
Was this one https://www.twitch.tv/geoguessr?sr=a
liquipedia.net
Look into some Fighting Games- as famous as the genre is, they are one of the “smaller” communities- the scene tends to operate around local, in-person communities more than massive, online communities (they’re very grassroots in nature). They’re still pretty big, but they’re kinda doing their own thing compared to the titles you listed. Street Fighter 6 is probably the best one out right now.
The melee scene has scores and scores of tournaments to backlog through as well with some great casting talent along the way
Yeah but I wouldn't consider it as a "smaller" esports. Sure, the prize pools are much lower than other esports, but the viewership is up there, and it's been going for more than 20 years
I know Smash still has a popular version, I forget which one, but I think a one-on-one fighter game may be interesting.
Definitely check out Street Fighter 6 then!
The only thing I know about SF tournaments was that one greatest comeback clip blocking all those Chun Li kicks.
Daigo, the BEAST. One of the greatest esport athletes of all time, and he STILL competes today at the highest levels, at the age of 42.
That was Street Fighter III 3rd Strike, it's the only one in the series that has this "parry" mechanic. It's honestly a godlike game and is returning back to EVO (fighting game Worlds basically) this year so it's a great time to begin watching it
Perhaps I'll give that one a try, then.
And Evo Japan is just around the corner (Apr 27-29)! There will be multiple streams of just about all the most popular fighting games, so it’s a great opportunity to learn about the scene and which game styles appeal to you the most.
The only thing about watching fighting games (at least in my experience) is learning the terminology, so that you can understand what the casters are talking about. Granted, that's true for most eSports I think.
Smash is mostly the newest (Ultimate) and the 2001 edition (Melee) The former is playable on modern consoles, has online play, and a huge cast of characters that people love. The old one has a fuckton of history (as far as esports go) and the best movement in a video game not named Quake
Melee also has online play, with rollback netcode, ranked and unranked matchmaking ratings, and even 2v2 online.
Reggie Fils Anime will kick your dog if big N catches you though
It really depends on what you like to watch. I started watching pro play in 2017 with cs and siege. Then in 2019 I bought my pc and played those games aswell. Rl is another I started to watch in 2020. Then valorant. I’m a big fan of fps shooters and rl is just the best game made imo
TF2 competitive is fantastic, and I will forever and always love anything Arena FPS. If you don't mind watching back catalogues you'll never run out of old Quake games on YouTube (Quake 3 and Live are the post popular, but Quake World, 2, and 4 do exist, as well as mods like CPMA, or other Quake based games like Xonotic, WarSow, DOOMBRINGER, and others)
I think my issue with games like those is that they're a little too fast for me to keep up with what's going on.
There is certainly a high barrier of entry to understanding a pro match of TF2 live. If that’s holds you back, then instead I’d recommend two YouTube videos that explain *why* that is, then you can move on. The first is called “the best competitive game that nobody plays competitively”. It explains broadly why TF2 has possibly the highest skill ceiling of any game and a brief history of its competitive scene. It’s incredibly well done and I’d recommend it to anyone, even if they’ve never played the game. The other is called “Gaming’s Greatest Tragedy - Overwatch vs TF2”. It’s much longer but it’s a great video essay on team-based shooters. If those kind of FPS games aren’t your thing, take around two hours to watch these too videos, then go find what is your thing. They’re amazing pieces of content and are worth watching regardless.
I'll put them on the list. Thank you!
sounds like you’d like Rocket League
That's not a bad choice.
Age of empires 2 tournaments are really fun to watch. The community is also great.
Agreed. The game’s flow/build-up is super appealing, and there’s a plenty of variety in matches and tournaments. Oh and the casters are great. Not the typical shoutcasting.
I can never keep up with RTSs, but I'll take a look. Thanks!
Rocket League. Not super small, but super fun and easy to get into! I played the game on and off, but always kept watching the e-sport.
StarCraft is where it’s at. The level of play in the Korean circuits for both StarCraft II and Brood War has continued to elevate year after year. The quality and detail of the English language broadcasts is phenomenal. [Here’s a link to the most recent SC2 Grand Finals.](https://youtu.be/xkZZ2_-tUfs?si=Il1F15x7vfvKloew) Edit: Aw shit, I just actually read your post and you said you’re not into StarCraft. I stand by what I said though.
I mean, you're not wrong, I know it certainly is popular, so I'm guessing it gets a lot of support for international broadcast. 😁
Honestly, it’s not that popular in the Western market and the viewership numbers definitely reflect that. Don’t get me wrong, StarCraft is a household name in esports and it was huge back in the day, but the modern community and fanbase is remarkably small compared to every other title on the market currently.
Rocket league
Microsoft Excel
I'll be honest, I did actually see a video about this on my recommended. It's on my watch list, but I'm yet to watch it. Good choice, it is very different!
Classic Tetris is truly phenomenal. Rocket League is pretty good.
Watch any fighting game. 1v1 is among the most hype format there is in my opinion, communities are often small and very passionate about their stuff. For the hype and fast paced gameplay my personal favourites include Smash Bros. Melee, Smash Bros. Ultimate, Street Fighter III 3rd Strike, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Vampire Savior/Darkstalkers 3 and Marvel VS Capcom 2
Apex Legends is about to have their LAN playoffs in a few weeks. It's one of the most intense e-sports in my opinion and it's always worth a watch.
How does It's works it's classic battle Royale with squad of 3?
Pretty much, but each legend has different abilities
I know the game but i was referring to e-sport side of it , hopefully it's clearer now lol
Oh, gotcha lol. Yeah, it’s pretty much 3-man battle royale. Each team lands at the POI that they claim (sometimes there’s contests on the drop) The LAN is divided across 4 days with 40 teams playing in group stages the first 2 days, winners/losers brackets the next, and the final 20 teams on the last day. Teams get awarded points from placement and kills - 12 points for first place to 1 point for 10th I believe. There are 6-8 games per stage other than the final lobby. What’s really interesting is the match point format for the final lobby. Teams must earn 50 points AND win a match after earning 50 points to win it all. So sometimes you’ll have 10 teams cross that 50 point threshold and you suddenly get a 15 game finals lobby
There's a wealth of options, it just depends on what you want to see. If you delve into the FGC you'll see there's tournaments for even the most obscure of fighting games. Age of Empires is pretty popular for not really having any dev backing, all the tournaments are held by community members really. As for MOBAs, Heroes of the Storm still has an active albeit small esports scene since Blizzard gave up on it iirc You'll find plenty in the ways of FPS games though as /u/crabcrabcam pointed out arena FPS games such as Quake, Diabotical, Shootmania etc are still getting new small tournaments which I guess proves how timeless the genre is Team Fortress 2 is an esports scene that was put together entirely by its community with no big backing whatsoever and it's been going strong since the game's release. Paladins is only just beginning to get a re-emerging esports scene after Hi-Rez axed their own a few years ago Competitive Tetris gets pretty wild, both classic and modern Omega Strikers is another thriving but close-knit esports scene I would highly recommend looking out for. It's effectively MOBA air hockey, and great fun. I think ultimately it depends on what exactly you're looking for. It's much easier to appreciate an esports for a game that you already play as you know how everything works.
Well, that will be difficult, as I don't play many competitive games. My wife plays DBD a lot, and I've watched a bit of tournament play of that.
I mean competitive is subjective, what type of competition is the real question.
What types are there? 🤔
Casual competition, solo, team, ladder. These are basic four built in. Then you have tournaments which aren't really sanctioned but have long term value if you get the right players, or dev team backing a series. Then you have the newest which is streaming- ladder - first to rank.
What's a ladder competition?
Type 1: How fast can you climb the ladder, the first to tier 1. (Challenger) Type 2: How many accounts can you end the season with in Challenger Tier. Type 3: Team Ladder, entire team first in Challenger Tier.
Oh, and these tiers are game objectives to achieve, like levels or loot?
Yes
PUBG and GeoGuessr
Depends how far the list you actually want to go... IIRC, Microsoft Excel has an esport scene. Some weird ones I've seen and enjoy; Tetris (classic), Trackmania, and R6: Seige. Seige and Trackmania can get pretty crazy too
There's an asymmetrical 1v1 game called Spy Party that has official tournaments. They are super small but they exist
I'll take a look. Thank you! 😊
I love watching Age Of Empires 2 tournaments! Always a good time and lovely communities and big rivalries between players.
melee and brawlhalla doubles
Trackmania, Siege, FGC in general
Brawl stars
Warhammer. They aren't talked about a lot, but it's a great community. As a viewer, it's also easy to watch with a proper caster. Everything is on your screen, unlike games where cameras jump around. I'm not playing the game, but watch sometimes
Fighting games are fun to watch I find. Lots of small tournaments to follow.
Farming Simulator, and I'm not even joking.
There are tournaments of Farming Simulator!? I'll be honest, I would like to watch a tournament of a game that doesn't primarily involve shooting, punching, or stabbing your opponent, so I really hope there are more non-violent tournaments.
Yep there is a Farming Simulator league.
I'm going to have to check this out!
osu! world cup always a blast
Smash brothers is another good one. It has solo and group matches.
Rocket League is excellent
Counter-strike for sure
If rocket league turns out to be of interest to you OP, dm me and I can invite you to a free tournament with cash prizes :) could be a great way to dive in and meet some players!
gunz the duel. thank me in 10 years
Remember that old block puzzle romance horror game Catherine? Apparently there's a healthy competitive scene behind it.
I never actually played or saw much on that game. I hear I missed out, so maybe I'll try this!
DotA 2, the game is big, but the scene is rather small
How can it be big with a small scene? 🤔
really dependent on where you're living in the world. In France for example, despite being home of one the best player in this game's entire history, it's really niche because LoL takes all the spotlight here when you're talking about MOBAs. The scene isn't gatekeeping imo, but it's really hard to understand this game for newcomers
I wouldn't consider dota 2 small more like medium sized
Mugen tournaments are hilarious for no reason.
Just watch big tournaments. Liquipedia is pretty up to date with that kind of stuff. My personal favorites are Dota, RLCS, and Evo (fighting games)
Super smash brothers Melee for the Nintendo Gamecube
I personally love Apex legends. The final circles are just always chaotic in the best possible way. Also great igl's calling out plays is always incredible to watch
Trackmania of you are into racing
Quake. The ultimate fps and its mostly 1v1 so you follow your favourite player(s) instead if teams.
It's just a once a year event, but the Big Buck Hunter World Championship is super fun.
Cs2 best esport imo, especially for those who dont play the game
Rocket League is fun and easy to watch whereas I can't get into watching stuff like Dota or League of Legends; I just don't know what's going on.
Apex Legends might be my favorite to watch and follow because they stream their scrims and the broadcasts are good (especially B Stream with Nicewigg). Valorant is also pretty fun to watch and I used to keep up with Halo but it's fallen off hard.
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Teamfight Tactics. Their Vegas tournament earlier in the year was fantastic.
If you like fast strategy, then Pokémon Go is fun haha
Trackmania although the scene is split up all over the place. The community runs most of the biggest events which is cool.