By: Tobias Grey | January 22, 2020
If you found this article, then you probably are a gamer. But are you a winner? Those who like to win usually feel the best at competitive games, as they are the greatest choice to direct that will to fight into an entertainment and funny action. Whether you prefer to terrorize opponents on your own or with a team of friends behind your back is your call.
Mostly, modern competitive gaming projects seem to be real organisms who breath and live. They get new patches, updates and expansion packs on a regular basis, and sometimes their changes can influence the in-game experience of players drastically. The evolving and changing meta is something able to keep gamers engaged and interested in new impressions. When speaking of competitive disciplines, the regular update dynamics in an excellent indicator helping to filter games into "good" and "best" esports disciplines.
Still, there are so many competitive games nowadays, that an average gamer who finally decided to make a step beyond single player stories would be confused with a mass of titles to choose. What's the best point to begin with in the world of esports disciplines?
YesportsBet.com experts created a list of top 10 greatest esports disciplines of 2019. At the very end of the year, and before the beginning of a new decade, it is a good time to show you where to move. We tried to choose esports games of different genres, platforms and concepts. Finding the discipline suiting you the most and getting straight into the gameplay won't be a problem?
Are you ready to start your esports career? Then let's check those greatest games out immediately!
Note: all 10 esports disciplines shown in the list below weren't positioned according to any ranking system. Those are just products YesportsBet.com professionals found the most interesting and worthy esports games.
Top 10 Greatest Esports Games in 2019In this list of top 10 greatest esports disciplines of 2019 you'll find PS4, Xbox One, PC and other games. One may perceive this list as a universal 2019 esports guide.
League of Legends
The most popular esports discipline on PC
Meet the MOBA genre true king. League of Legends has been remaining the most popular game ever since 2016 when it crossed the line of 100 million unique monthly players.
The main arena for virtual 5v5 battles is Summoner's Rift. The amount of money players spent to buy skins and the number of matches they play regularly are countless. No matter what happens, millions of gamers log in to the system and go in for LoL battles. A worrying and interesting pro scene, wide choice of champions, and the skill-based gameplay are exactly among the main reasons for that. Additionally, one shouldn't forget about beautiful champion skins.
Moreover, LoL is also famous for the possibility of everyone to become a playmaker: exactly the core player of the team carrying everyone else to victory. Teammates with critics, ladder confusion, matchmaking rage, and all other competitive components are blended to add each other more power. Frequently appearing new champions, deep strategic points of the game itself and the competitive spirit are all serving the goal: to please gamers searching for fame.
League of Legends reached its release back in 2009, and this game remains among the world's most famous and popular projects. Mechanics and concepts that defined the MOBA genre combined with a superior mix of horror, fantasy and steampunk elements create a perfect esports discipline.
Here, a player plays as the champion with its style and gameplay abilities. The point is to cooperate with 4 other teammates and to destroy the other crew's main base structure – the Nexus. Action-based gameplay and balanced wonderful mechanics create an environment for everyone to become a competitive gaming professional in League of Legends.
Overwatch
Top multi-platform esports discipline
After its release in the year of 2016, Overwatch turned into one of the top team-based esports disciplines rapidly. Unite into a team of 6 players and fight with 6 rivals to protect your lands, slay opponents and provide teammates with support.
Overwatch is the esports discipline available on 3 biggest gaming platforms. Its action-packed, rapid gameplay is perfect for both short playing bursts or long-lasting sessions. Everyone can find what they need. It is also one of the most skill-based esports disciplines giving great players a real chance to climb up the ranked ladder and enter the world of pro gaming.
Fortnite
Definitely stands among top esports disciplines on PC
In 2019, Fortnite by Epic Games has actually remained among the best esports disciplines.
In this battle royale game, you are dropped into the battlefield among 99 other gamers, and your goal is to survive at all cost. There is only one winner. During the match, you need to gather new gear, collect different resources to build structures able to protect you from evil competitors. As the active game zone becomes smaller, players have to proceed further into the center to finally face each other and fight.
Are you strong enough to become the only survivor? Jump into the game and try it out!
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
One of the most popular esports disciplines of the decade
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is the part of the legendary multiplayer FPS game series about the eternal battle of counter-terrorists and terrorists. During the match, each team has its goal clear, for instance to save the hostage, to plant and explode the bomb, or to trivially kill all enemies on the map. They get the point after the goal is successfully achieved every round.
A year ago, on December 6, 2018, the cult esports discipline of CS:GO received a significant update. Valve added the Battle Royale mode into it ("Danger Zone"), and gave the project a free-to-play status.
Nowadays, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is the esports discipline having a stable and growing active base of fans and players, and the exciting esports scene. Throughout the history of CS:GO, countless events had been held, and almost 90 million dollars were played as prize pools (according to esportsearnings.com). Taking the Valve company and its gaming industry position into account, one might understand why exactly CS GO became the game to begin esports gaming and the title inspiring hundreds of likely games released after.
Dota 2
The most commercially successful esports discipline ever
DotA 2 was the Valve's reaction to the rising demand for MOBA projects back in the beginning of the decade. For the player and four other teammates, there is the arena to fight the opponents. Two teams need to protect their territories while trying to reach the enemy base and devastate it at the same time.
DotA 2 is an involving esports discipline perfectly mixing team-based features with individual skills of every player. In this game, each hero a player can pick has different abilities to bring into the current match, that is why every separate game is able to give new experiences.
DotA 2 is definitely one of the top esports disciplines of all times. Additionally, it is the most commercially successful and rewarding project for pro gamers: since 2010, almost 220 million of prize pool money were played during hundreds of official competitive events.
Hearthstone
One of the best esports card game disciplines (additionally available on Android and iOS)
Hearthstone is the top-class foray by Blizzard into the market of mobile devices, and this hit is definitely not a disappointment. A card game of turn-based gameplay, it wants you to destroy the rival player's toon using the abilities of your deck and the selected character.
Blizzard have been polishing Hearthstone patiently, creating great arts for every card, and at the same time, they didn't forget to create challenging gameplay. That all allowed Hearthstone stand among top esports disciplines of our times.
It was the first time Blizzard tried to create CCG, and the fact that they reached over 100 million player accounts registered in Hearthstone tells their developers did everything correctly.
One of the coolest features making Hearthstone that great is the fact it is able to function perfectly on almost any digital device. Collecting a deck on the screen of your smartphone won't be as comfortable as on the 4K 32-inch PC display, but at least you CAN do that.
The additional advantage is the length of the game sessions: matches are short enough to sling some cards while using a public transport or waiting for a train at the railway station.
The turn-based gameplay lets people who love to think over their moves deeply planning their turns carefully. According to the critics, the Rise of Shadows, the last expansion pack for Hearthstone so far is the best DLC. It altered the meta profoundly and was the tide-changing event for the world of Hearthstone in general, and for the competitive esports scene in particular.
Every character a player can pick has featured abilities and special gear adding both defensive and offensive bonuses. Combine it with specials, mana crystals and strategic thinking to overcome your opponent and reach the summit.
Street Fighter
Probably the best esports discipline on PS4
Originally, Street Fighter was an arcade franchise. It appeared in 1987 and gathered a wide audience of faithful fans and regular players. Most recent projects, Street Fighter V and Street Fighter: Arcade Edition, satisfied the demand of the fan base and turned into an esports discipline pretty rapidly.
What's the point of the game? Well, everything seems to be simple. There are two rival players who need to pick their characters and then fight each other till one of them wins. The game has huge impact on strategy, because every single hero available to pick has different strengths, weaknesses, moves and combos. Use the abilities of your character to outmaneuver the enemy, add a bit of luck, and here it is – probably the best fighting esports discipline for PS.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Potentially the top esports discipline for Xbox One
The freshest iteration of the world-famous FPS franchise, Modern Warfare still remains the game everyone knows and loves, even despite some controversial mechanics and community feedback. Despite having the single-player campaign, MW is much more focused on multiplayer.
The excellent shooting system, fast-paced dynamic gameplay and epic graphics make this game incredibly engaging and immersive. If you like first-person shooters (especially those by Activision), you should try the newest Call of Duty obligatory. It hasn't become the top esports discipline ever, but it has all that is needed to climb up to the summit soon.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Top competitive project for Nintendo Switch
Smash Bros is something everyone should've heard about. It is one of the core franchises for Nintendo, and the high-class fighting series at a time. The Smash Ultimate for Switch is the latest franchise iteration that entered the esports scene soon after they released it in the end of 2018. For now, new heroes, DLCs and other kinds of support from developers lets the game stay relevant and popular.
What's the point of Smash Ultimate? The player picks one of the in-game characters to serve as an avatar. Then, players choose a stage and rules, and finally begin the countdown. Then the lighting appears on the screen and focuses your attention on the arena.
Every hero has some unique skills for a player to use in order to knock out all opponents. At the same time, there are weapons, items and super-abilities appearing randomly (or according to the timing) on the map. The last player standing is the winner!
Rocket League
Probably the funniest esports discipline
Here are just some of the features expecting you in Rocket League: great scores, funny misses, and wonderful saves. It is the project which is easy to learn but hard to master. What? Do you think a 5-minute-long match is not enough to make you stay here for long? Well, that's the other unique quality of Rocket League that makes it the brilliant. Think about it – you don't need to rage or cry for long even after opponents destroyed your team. There's another match waiting for you!
If to take the scope and size of Rocket League into account, the impact this game had made just can't be compared to any project of the same caliber. Would someone think that virtual soccer rules mixed with cars to be funny? We thought no. But the developers added excellent physics and controls to their game, and that was the necessary condition for players to get involved into the team-based gameplay.
We won't lie if say that the ability to predict the ball's bouncing is 50% of the fight. After you understand that mechanics, passes, shots and saves come along. Then, you'll learn air maneuvers and start understanding that mechanical mastery is the solid reason for this simple game to be difficult to master it perfectly.
The player controls a vehicle with the rocket engine in it, and their goal is to deliver the ball into the goal of the rival team. Each goal brings you score points able to get you to victory. The difficulty is in your opponents who drive everywhere, and in finding the proper balance between attacking and defensive moves.
Cross-platform gameplay is available for Rocket League which is a great feature for both casual gamers and tryhard esports professionals at a time.
Honorably Mentioned Top Esports DisciplinesHere are some more competitive games worth your attention. These projects are not the biggest esports projects, but still they are good.
Starcraft II
The best (and currently the only one) RTS esports discipline
It was the game to begin everything. Originally, the first part of StarCraft became the force that drove the popularity of LoL, DotA and more. StarCraft 2 was the expansion, the better-developed concept that used the superb basement to create the true saga that became eternal gaming legacy. While growing, StarCraft 2 became the core of the challenging esports discipline (back in time it used to be the biggest one on the planet). SC2 was the pioneer that showed the real potential of esports and allowed it to blossom.
StarCraft 2 is a real-time strategy game spinning around the battle between aliens and humans. What's the goal? The player needs to gain control over the game map through collecting and distributing resources to build outposts and create units able to outplay enemies. The player who is able to dominate the entire map becomes the winner.
As the esports discipline, StarCraft 2 concentrates of 1v1 matches between players. Still, casual game mods allow playing against more opponents on one map. The competitive community is still alive and active, even despite the game exists for over a decade.
In case you like real-time strategies, esports or both, you shouldn't miss StarCraft 2.
Splatoon 2
Another cool competitive game for Switch
Beyond the greatness of Smash Bros, there are no other Nintendo games having big scenes in esports. Despite the fact that Splatoon 2 can't have the largest esports fan base, it has worthy competitive elements.
This game is the development of a successful Splatoon project. They sold about 11 000 000 copies of the entire series. The best point here is that Nintendo took a risk to try new concepts and they became profitable for the company. The new Nintendo shooter created the new setting, style, mechanics and catchy soundtracks.
The art style of the game is based on cartoons and paints to make it friendly for kids, but at the same time, adults can enjoy playing it, too. When playing Splatoon 2, gamers should remind themselves the main goal of gaming is to get pleasure.
Lots of funny game modes are available here for players. Currently, developers go on supporting the project with regular free patches and updates adding maps, events, weapons, etc.
The entire series of Splatoon is the successful try to add new concepts to the shooter genre that is stuck in stagnation nowadays.
Destiny 2
Just another worthy competitive project
The suddenlt blended cocktail of RPG and FPS genres, Destiny is the competitive game you should try in case you are an explorer and adventurer. There is a choice: to fight versus other players in the dynamic PVP, or to stand against evil aliens and to explore the open world of the game.
Endless hours of involving gameplay expect you here: gather new weapons, get new abilities and do whatever it takes to survive in the cruel world. Halo or CoD fans will feel themselves like home here, as the gameplay and mechanics are likely between three settings. Are you ready for the challenge? Destiny awaits.
Halo 5: Guardians
One more competitive project for Xbox One
Similarly to Splatoon 2, Halo 5 doesn't have its large competitive scene at the moment, but this game has the right to stand among top competitive disciplines on Xbox. Additionally, it is just a funny game to play together with friends.
Millions of gamers around the world grew up playing Halo campaigns and multiplayer matches. Every time the Halo released approached, it was met up with big expectations. Halo 5: Guardians was not an exception. It became one of the top and fastest sold Xbox One releases at that time. And it still is among the best ways to satisfy your competitive thirst when you're an Xbox player.
The fifth franchise iteration was not an epic win for everyone. At least, developers were able to correctly recover from a crime they committed through the release of Halo 4 multiplayer. Like in many titles mentioned in this article, Halo 5 didn't really offer something new to the industry.
Halo 4 was an attempt to combine the franchise with overwhelmingly popular Call of Duty trends (weapon progression system, kill streak bonuses, etc.). Oppositely, Halo 5 was the lucky and well-counted comeback to the time-tested original Halo concept.
The arcade fast action shooter went back and appeared on public with the additional bonus shaped as that epic "quick dash" button. The ground-and-pound, along with other newly introduced mechanics, have a thin tradeoff between the risk taken and the reward received, so it is better to use them carefully. Viable and well-balanced guns are the other great feature showing that 343 implemented the best elements of previous Halo parts and other popular multiplayer projects to create Halo 5 – the game that is worth your attention.
Of course, Halo 5 won't be able to bring your childhood back. Nevertheless, it guarantees you months of fun and enjoyment from multiplayer and single-player campaign modes. Moreover, there are players and criticists stating that the Guardians multiplayer is the best experience they had in Halo so far. Probably everyone expects 343 to bring even better things with Halo Infinite during 2020.
Esports Discipline: What's That?An esports discipline is obligatory a competitive videogame. That means, it's the game making players compete with each other or the environment to win. Tournament infrastructures and relevant esports scenes are two other features turning the competitive video game into the esports discipline.
The list above shows both great esports games getting tens of millions of dollars as prize pools yearly, and funny competitive projects for you to hang out with friends.
Esports gaming reached new horizons throughout the past decade because of the growth of Internet connection quality and coverage, and the development of streaming services (YouTube, Twitch, etc.). Actually, competing other players to climb up the ranked ladder of any game has never been easier.
Projects mentioned in this list offer you top existing competitive games to let you choose from action titles and esports disciplines. Try them one by one and choose that suiting you the most. Then, have fun or make your first step towards becoming a skilled and glorious pro player!
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