STACK #145 Nov 2016

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GAMES FEATURE

Each month, STACK takes a brief look at what’s happening in eSports, both locally and overseas. eSports Round-Up Junglist with

T hree groups of Australians recently flew to Jakarta, Indonesia, for the International eSports Federation’s flagship finals series -- one of the notable few eSports competitions with anti- doping measures. Australia was represented in Counter-Strike: GO, League of Legends , and… Well, despite being gaming’s most elaborate method of flipping a coin, some competitions still insist on including Hearthstone -- but with 50 million registered players, we understand why. It’s also a lot easier to share a $71k prize pool with one person than a team of five. It was the climax of a competition that saw SBS2 broadcast the first competitive Counter-Strike match on Australian

understand more eSports content is being considered. The actual final in Jakarta had less luck -- after the entire district’s internet failed, live streaming was temporarily halted. As is the Australian

tradition, our Counter- Strike team was in a group with eventual champions Finland. That didn’t stop them making it out of the group with victories against Italy, Tunisia, and the

them up to the global level, but with the World Quarter Finals being held in Chicago, its attention was elsewhere. Good thing, then, independent competitions like the IeSF in Jakarta and the recent $10,000 tournament in Canberra at Reload Bar were around to offer our teams more experience.

quarter finals. It was Team Philippines who finally found a solution to the hyper-aggressive style that has emerged on our isolated shores, but we’re still ninth in the competition’s overall top ten. Take that, Russia. Riot’s ultimate goal with salarying players locally is to bring

Phillipines, but China halted our progress in the first knockout round. Meanwhile, all that money Riot is investing locally is paying off, as our League of Legends players scored revenge against the Chinese to top their group undefeated and make it to the

free-to-air TV, and as SBS2 becomes SBS Viceland, we

Looking for a new keyboard to cater to all your gaming and office needs?The Logitech G810 is as good a place as any to start.

LOGITECH G810

L ogitech’s G810 is a beautiful accessory. An RGB backlit keyboard with mechanical Romer-G keys built to withstand 70 million presses, it’s made to last and looks sleek to boot. The keyboard’s RGB lighting allows for customisation of 16.8 million different colour combinations, and the keyboard even comes preloaded with a bunch of profiles for games like DOTA 2 , League of Legends , and Overwatch , so you can find the keys you need with ease. The Romer-G mechanical keys, though loud and annoying to some, provide some of the most responsive keystrokes on the market, and can withstand the aforementioned 70 million presses – that’s a lot of Counter Strike: Global Offensive wins. Despite being pitched as a gaming keyboard, the G810s are fine for home or office use. Though they may annoy your comrades if they aren’t particularly fond of mechanical keys, the additional volume controls make for a home-friendly set-up.

Logitech’s G810 is a safe bet whether you’re a gamer looking for a keyboard offering great bang for buck, or just in the market for a new set of keys.

NOVEMBER 2016

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