NEWS » hat weve never seen work in esports.

The holiday season is upon us, and that can bring thoughts of family and togetherness, but I have some things I want for Christmas going into the 2017 esports season. You can have your Christmas dinner and cozy circle around the fireplace, Ill instead ask for a North American team to make the League of Legends World Championships after a five-year hiatus. Buy your kid the newest game console; Ill do whats needed for the good of competitive gaming, and Santa Claus, wherever you might be, you best be listening.Or else...Wish 1: An NA LCS team to make the 2017 Worlds semifinalsAll right, enough is enough. Since a North American team made the semifinals of the League of Legends World Championships, weve seen the rise and fall of StarCraft II as the biggest esport in the world to becoming a footnote. South Korea and China didnt even have dedicated League of Legends servers or tournaments when the first worlds happened in what looked to be broadcasted from David Phreak Turleys basement.North America now has NBA money coursing through the LCS. We have the big South Korean names in NA starting fives, and teams are even bringing in experienced coaches from the country that has won the past four Summoners Cups. Its time to actually make good on all the investments, and after failing to get a team into the semifinals when the NA LCS appeared to be on an upswing in 2016, its now or never for North America.TSM, Immortals, CLG, whoever, it doesnt really matter. Whether the team has five Americans or none, all I want for Christmas (OK, thats a lie, I want a lot more things) is a North American team in the Final Four of the World Championships next fall. We can even get blown out by a South Korean team when we get there; at least wed get there.Wish 2: The return of Brood War in South Korea, and a Flash vs. Jaedong finalWith StarCraft IIs demise in South Korea and the closing of all its professional teams in the region, the games predecessor, StarCraft: Brood War, is on the rise. The Afreeca Starleague has been gaining in viewers in its second season, and its all because of the star power returning to the field of competitors. TaekBangLeeSsang, the nickname given to the famous quartet of Kim Bisu Taek-yong, Song Stork Byung-goo, Lee Jaedong Jae-dong and Lee Flash Young-ho, are all in the ASL second season, and all four are appearing like favorites to make deep runs into the bracket. Stork, the player with the most question marks around his return, has already qualified for the quarterfinals in first place for his Round-of-16 group, and the other three Brood War heroes should follow suit.A final with any combination of the four could mark a rebirth for the game. Thousands already watch Flash and Jaedong whenever they stream by themselves on Afreeca, and more and more fans are tuning in to watch ASL and see if Brood Wars main characters can make it further in the tournament against some other former favorites, and surprisingly, newcomers that grew up watching TaekBangLeeSsang as grade schoolers in the late 2000s. For Christmas, I want the renaissance to happen with a final between two of the quartet members. Flash vs. Bisu, Stork vs. Jaedong, Bisu vs. Stork -- and, truth be told, the final that would have the largest impact is Flash vs. Jaedong, and Id like the greatest finals rivalry in Brood War history renewed in the year 2017.Wish 3: The year of fighting gamesI want 2017 dubbed The Year of Fighting Games. The early 2010s were the years for StarCraft II and real-time strategy games, followed up by the multi-online battle arena genre explosion with League of Legends and Dota 2. And weve recently had the ascent of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to the forefront of the competitive gaming world on national television with Eleague. Now, in 2017, let the fighting game genre take over and let it have a year to succeed with a number of titles peaking at the right time.It was just announced that Smash 4 would have its own world championship with the The 2GG Championship Series, culminating in December of next year. Smash 4s brother, Melee, is going nowhere, and after a huge 2016, the game that will never die is looking to have an even better 2017 with more money hopefully being inserted into the scene. Street Fighter V is coming off the biggest fighting game tournament of all-time, the Capcom Pro Tour Final, where winner Du NuckleDu Dang took home the title of world champion and $230,000, the biggest prize purse in the genres history. Season 2 of Street Fighter V is expected to bring even more intrigue to the scene, and the introduction of Akuma and five other new characters will mean the game will be ever-changing over the course of 2017.Besides the current Big 3 of the fighting game world, we will also see the release of Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite, another title that will revitalize a scene that was seemingly on its last legs. Tekken 7 and Injustice 2 will also be hitting consoles in 2017, bringing two more fighting game titles into the limelight. All we really need is a new Soul Calibur game and Nintendo to announce a Melee world championship circuit to make it the perfect year for fighting games.While MOBAs and first-person shooters will most likely corner the viewership market, let it be known: fighting games are catching up, and may 2017 be the year where one or two make strides to join the Leagues and Counter-Strikes of the world.Wish 4: Blizzard, let Overwatch succeedI want Overwatch to succeed, for a variety of reasons. Not only does having another big esport title diversify and grow the world of competitive gaming even more, but Blizzard, for better or for worse, is thinking outside the box with Overwatch in terms of esports. The Overwatch League is expected to take shape in 2017, and that means city-based teams, player combines, and an ambitious system that weve never seen work in esports. Will Blizzard succeed where others have failed? Or are is the publishing giant biting off more than it can chew?For one, even before Overwatch League, can we please go back to drafting maps before a series begins? I know Blizzard wants to showcase its maps since everything in esports always goes back to selling the game the professionals are playing, but the drafting phase is one of the integral parts of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and why its such an in-depth, diverse game even before the teams head off into battle. Not only does drafting of maps lead to strong narratives of teams becoming kingpins in certain locations, but it makes sure that a team cant just win through a set list of maps that they excel at going into the event. It leaves teams that might not be able to beat Team Envy on all maps, a chance to prepare specifically for one map they hope to grab in draft, or it allows for a smarter team to grab the right course for victory through proper drafting.Is it boring for the general audience to watch people drafting maps? The three biggest esports in the world are Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, and Dota 2, with the latter having a drafting phase that sometimes is twice as long as the game itself. That should be your answer if Overwatch can survive a minimal drafting phase before each best-of contest.Blizzard has tried with StarCraft II and succeeded before ultimately failing due to a lack of proper care; Hearthstone, its next attempt at crafting the next big esport, has done wonders for individual streamers but only decent when it comes to esports; and Heroes of the Storm, well, Blizzard tried. Overwatch is a worldwide success as a game, and with a better spectator client coupled with Blizzard not fumbling the ball when it comes to Overwatch League and the game as a competitive title as a whole, it might be the next worldwide success in esports.If not handled correctly, like what happened eventually with StarCraft II and Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard will be finding nothing but coal in their stocking next year come the holiday season. Yeezy Wholesale Authentic . For the Wild it was their first win of the season and they now have a record of 1-1-2 while the Jets fall to 2-2. Jets start a six game home stand Friday with another divisional game, home to the Dallas Stars. Yeezy Wholesale Nz . Carey Price didnt, but he still came out on top against one of his rivals for the No. 1 job at the Sochi Games. The Anahim Lake, B.C., native was stellar in making 39 saves in his home province and Lars Eller got credit for a bizarre short-handed winner as the Canadiens defeated the Canucks 4-1. http://www.yeezysalenz.com/ . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. Yeezy Shoes Buy Online . The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth. Cheapest Yeezy Shoes Nz . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. ? PA Photos ' ' '