What's up guys, my name is Colin McNeil for theScore esports.
A great man once posed the question, what's beef?
Well to answer it, beef is when two people or organizations have an on-going, mutually
disrespectful relationship.
So for this Top 10, we scoured the esports landscape.
From Halo to League of Legends to find you the spiciest rivalries we could.
So without further ado let's get on with it.
Here are the Top 10 esports beefs.
Kicking off our list at number 10 is TSM Reginald versus CLG’s Hotshot GG
The TSM and CLG owners have fostered one of esports' premiere rivalries since 2010, when
Reginald played for CLG.
"I used to play with Regi, I used to be on a team with him.
And, it was for a short time, a very very short time."
Their individual rivalry quickly moved on to the rift.
(Casting)
After they became full time owners, the beef went public.
The rivalry would often include humiliating bets.
The beef evolved to the point where playing for either team meant beefing with the other.
"Against CLG my sodium levels kinda go out of control."
"They just have TSM's number."
"They're just FreeSM, you know?"
"As far as I know, the only NA team I'm worried about is Cloud 9. The rest are non-existent. Especially CLG."
To date TSM has won four more NA LCS Splits, but CLG routinely posts strong results.
CLG even beat TSM at Madison Square Gardens in 2015 to claim an NA LCS Championship of
their own.
A beef that started between two former players has had a rippling effect on the two teams,
a rivalry that is still felt today.
"Hello and welcome to the Shanghai Major, presented by Perfect World. "
Dota 2’s Shanghai Major was problematic for many reasons, but one controversy stands
above the rest: the firing of James “2GD” Harding, which comes it at number nine on
our list.
"So last night, I was perusing the hotel entertainment.
It turned out, censorship, the Chinese hotel had disabled pornography.
Don't get me wrong I watched it.
Mr. Wang's amazing wheelchaired antics were pretty amazing."
"You can f--k off, Winter."
For his controversial commentary, Valve CEO Gabe Newell made headlines by publicly denouncing
and firing Harding, calling him an ass in a Reddit post.
"Two things. James. We've had issues with James at previous events.
Some Valve people lobbied to bring him back for Shanghai, feeling that he deserved another chance.
That was a mistake. James is an ass, and we won't be working with him again."
Harding tried to clear his name and posted screenshots of a conversation with Dota 2
developer IceFrog telling him to be himself.
These days the infamous caster has retired from the game, and is playing professional
Quake Champions.
Coming in at number eight is Snip3down versus Lethul.
Yes, we are talking about a Halo beef.
One week before the 2016 X-Games in Aspen, Lethul left Evil Geniuses and joined rival
team CLG.
"If there is one player on EG that you feel like you need to shut down
who is that player?"
"Probably Snip3down, he's like the best player, he's just so sick.
You know, I get really worried when I see him and it's just the stuff he does is insane."
"Alright well any words here Snip3down?"
"I remember what happened the last time that exact quote was said to me
so watch your face."
That led EG team captain Snip3down to post a tell-all YouTube video that explained the
situation.
"I thought T.J. and I were friends.
I feel like it was pretty out of the blue move.
He didn't really communicate well with us at all with this.
Best of luck to him in whatever he decides to choose
I really hope that it comes to bite him in the ass."
The antics continued when the X-Games rolled around.
EG would go on to win gold after a tight seven-game series, and Snip3down did not let Lethul forget
it.
"I told him before it started the last person that said that to me lost the series
and they lost the series too.
So if you're going to talk trash you better back it up and we took that series home."
After the X-Games, CLG would win the HCS World Championship.
A roster shake-up would follow for the rest of the league, and Snip3down left EG.
Snip3down went on to join a dream team with Envyus and the rivalry continued.
Number seven goes to Doublelift and Aphromoo.
The relationship between teammates is crucial to craft a successful team.
In late-2015, CLG’s League of Legends squad underwent some massive changes as star AD
carry Doublelift left the team to join TSM, leaving his long-time support Aphromoo.
Doublelift and Aphromoo were friends, holding down CLG’s bot lane for three years together.
The duo tag-teamed many interviews together, and were widely considered one of the best
bot lanes in LCS history, calling themselves Rush Hour.
Doublelift accused Aphromoo of forcing an ultimatum on CLG.
"The truth is Aphro went to the org and he said
it's either me or him referring to me, and I'm not playing with Peter next year."
The two players continued to make comments back-and-forth on stream and in post game interviews.
"The best decision moving forward, only because Peter
brings people down more often than not."
"Me and CLG had a falling out are you and Aphro still buddies?
No. Not really.
But a falling out is one way to put it for sure."
Now, two have since made up, even bot laning again together at the League of Legends All-Star
event in 2016.
Reginald and Tryndamere didn't have the most dramatic beef, but certainly one of the
most impactful, which is why it comes in at number six on our list.
During the 2016 NA LCS Summer Split, TSM owner Reginald spoke out on how Riot’s major patches
affected the League of Legends competitive scene.
"It's really scary to own an esports team.
Because the patches change a lot.
And so when you own a team and the patches change in a really unfavorable way
for your players, then there is a higher chance that you'll do bad and you can get relegated.
How the system works if you get relegated you're done. And because the Challenger
is so weak if you get relegated you pretty much lose everything."
How did Riot respond?
Well, Riot co-founder Marc ‘Tryndamere’ Merrill took to Reddit to explain, coining
the very meme-worthy phrase, “Love me some Regi."
"Love me some Regi, but if he’s so concerned about the financial health of his players
maybe he should spend some more of the millions he has made / makes
from League of Legends on paying them instead of investing in other eSports where he is losing money?
Regi is one of the generally “good guy” team owners
But when owners don’t want to shell out for top talent, that’s a tricky problem.
We intentionally prioritized game health and viewer experience
Over the ability for teams / coaches to field 'safer' comps by lane swapping."
The back-and-forth sparked a bigger conversation within the league, arguably paving the way
for NA LCS franchising.
Coming in at number five, Sonic Fox vs Perfect Legend.
Summer Jam 9 featured a Mortal Kombat X grudge match between Sonic Fox and Perfect Legend.
It started over a Twitter beef, and ended with Sonic Fox mopping the floor with Perfect
Legend, beating him 10-0.
Perfect Legend followed up his 10-0 loss by downplaying Sonic Fox’s win, claiming the
original Twitter beef centred around Fox’s Erron Black versus his Kung Lao.
"What I did say, I would destroy his Erron Black, as you saw, that character was not on screen."
Tournament organizer Eric ‘Big E’ Small quickly grabbed the mic from PL, and well,
you can see what happened next.
"So do we have a three-to-five with the Erron Black?
three-out-of-five with the Erron Black? Three-out-of-five with the Erron Black?"
That’s right.
Immediately after the loss Big E made them play again.
Sonic Fox’s Erron Black versus Perfect Legend’s Kung Lao.
And well, this one ended in similar fashion to the games before it, a three round sweep,
and a 13-0 final score.
Coming in at number four, StarCraft 2 pros HuK and IdrA.
The two players had a history.
HuK was an up-and-comer at the time, just beginning his career in StarCraft 2.
While IdrA was a veteran in the scene, starting his career early in StarCraft: Brood War.
There developed a hatred between the two.
"He's a piece of trash who wouldn't win any games if he didn't play Protoss."
The beef peaked at MLG Dallas 2011, where their rivalry was perfectly summarized by
one play.
"IdrA....left the game?"
HuK used hallucinated void rays to overwhelm IdrA, who left the game thinking he'd lost.
Of course, the hallucinations never dealt any actual damage to IdrA.
HuK was sure to bring it up in the next game.
The two would continue to battle until August of 2011, when Evil Geniuses announced HuK
was joining their team, finally putting the rest this esports beef.
Leffen and Hungrybox’s relentless hate for each other comes in at number three on this
list.
Leffen and Hungrybox are both Super Smash Bros. Melee players at the top of their esport.
They also really hate each other.
Hungrybox famously claims he only attended Genesis 5 to kick Leffen’s ass.
"It was the only reason I came to this tournament. I want to kick that guy's ass."
The two have beefed in-game and of course over Twitter
HBox also went on stream to gloat about beating Leffen at Smash Summit 5.
"I three-oned his ass, three-oned him. Get f--ked. All your sh-t talk, get f--ked Leffen."
Leffen published a video to his YouTube, from his stream, called “One of the Many Reasons
to Dislike Hbox”.
"The saying, there are two kind's of people in this world. HBox fans, and people who've met him."
One of the most infamous rivalries in the FGC, KBrad and Wolfkrone do not hold back,
and that's why they are second on this list of esports beefs.
Their particular beef began in 2016, when Wolfkrone wiped his hands of KBrad after beating
him in Street Fighter V at Frosty Faustings 9.
The beef escalated online, with tweets and Facebook posts running rampant.
KBrad got his revenge, and at the Capcom Pro Tour, he slammed Wolfkrone in a 2-0 series.
No respect has been shown in this beef and the hatred between the two is high.
"Will this beef ever end or is this everlasting now?"
"I think there's something wrong with him. I legit think there's something wrong with his head."
The culmination of their beef thus far is undoubtedly their run-in at
ELEAGUE’s Street Fighter V Invitational.
"He's telling every excuse, 'I just can't deal with it, I just don't know how.' Every excuse is coming out the book now."
"As a player, I used to always fist-bump him I used to always shake his hand
until he started talking trash.
But as a person, I just don't like him."
"Straight up, what are your thoughts on that man?"
"Who gives a f-ck."
"What did you do to change things here this tournament?"
"I mean I really didn't do anything, it's kinda felt a point for me
after we beat OpTic at Columbus. I don't want to say anything got boring but I was just kinda focusing on
other things."
OpTic gaming versus FaZe, a tale of two Call of Duty giants, tops our list of esports beefs.
The two teams would battle for online turf, both producing similar YouTube content in
the early days of their respective orgs.
OpTic would be the first to take on esports, braving the rocky shores of the early scene.
FaZe would eventually make their debut in esports, bringing their large fanbase with
them.
Two giants, coming from the same place, now had an arena to duke it out in.
While OpTic had a huge head start, FaZe was hot on their tail.
"FaZe takes UMG."
In the early days, OpTic and FaZe ran the YouTube community online, and you either liked
OpTic or FaZe.
Never both.
While the Faze and Optic rivalry has calmed down since, the impact of this esports beef
can still be felt today.
Well guys if that wasn't some USDA Approved Choice cut Prime beef, I don't know what is.
But if you think there is an esports beef that should have been in our top ten list
and wasn't.
Well I got some bad news for you, you're just wrong.