Andrew Rush

@Blastuch Deadlock hasn't seen any larger third party circuits yet because the game is still closed invite. Much different situation once the game is in open beta with the corresponding player bump. Particularly as a game in the Valve ecosystem which TOs readily embrace.

@TempoZP Will people go to deadlock though? Doesn't look like the money is there either.

2027 Deadlock is going to be one of the biggest melting pots in esports. For the positive reasons of the game doing well / being awesome, but also for the negative reasons that word is it seems two major titles will be seeing either elimination or highly reduced investment soon

(Note: Elimination / reduced investment of the esports programs. Not the games themselves fwiw.)

Very likely to see a surge of seasoned competitive talent across all regions as a result. Particularly since it'll most likely coincide with the startup of larger circuits / leagues.

All very much on point. Also frankly, some of the other talk about wanting to change up desks is also just... wishing for magic on the end of TOs. Yes viewership goes down between games. But given the realities of downtime between games, there really isn't much better to put to fill the time than a desk.

Why Analysis Desks FAIL. This video by @Thorin is extremely accurate. I can't speak to the inner workings of CS, but almost everything i've hosted since the disappearing of SC desks has been totally cookie cutter at the full control of TO or dev. It's been extremely frustrating to have almost zero impact on the flow or state of something where talented people can inject some life between games, but we have to look at the same graphics every segment, the same sequence every segment because its "written on the rundown". Great producers like @Sam_Deans or @slmnio who listen and react to desks, give options on what you want to show, allow for some personality and unexpected moments. These are the kinds of setups that should be mandatory for any esports show, not just generic producer who want to get through a segment going A->B->C done every time. I too hear the same news that TOs think they need to cut Analysis desks in 2026. No, you've just failed for the last few years in giving us the right environment to make it entertaining and fun. youtube.com/watch?v=s8qG2w…

What an absolutely amazing day of games in Night Shift. The NA Finals was a rollercoaster from beginning to end with some of the most fun storylines we've covered. Deadlock is awesome, and very much the future.

@SSG_Incon @yungcalc He's saying your premise of saying "there's too much snowball" in Deadlock is completely wrong for what the genre is. And he's right. Deadlock has a massive abundance of comeback mechanics already. Stating confidently the game has "too much snowball" shows ignorance.

@yungcalc What?

The latest balance patch unfortunately has not changed the insane amount of snowball in Deadlock but there has been some big changes regarding who is META! Couple of heroes got some BIG buffs! Lets talk about who is loving this patch.

Also as a companion to this tweet - content creators have vastly overrated Holliday's current level of power. Her win rate is actually down post patch because her net power didn't increase nearly as much as has been stated, and she has a ton of new players playing her. We'll see how drafts go this week, but I suspect overdrafts (ie: top half) on Holliday will probably lose. Latter half picks way more likely to be viable now though.

By far the funniest statline of the new patch is how Silver's win rate drastically increased in Eternus+ when flavor of the month players stopped playing her LOL. (3.09% win rate increase, with a 7.2% pick rate decrease).

Our Tuesday team announcement will have a legendary team return from Deadlock's past. Which team? You'll just have to wait and see!

@DeathyDL The more figured out / solved a major content patch is, the more lacking things like draft is painful. Either new content or a draft mode alleviate a lot of the pain people are experiencing atm.

Just haven't had a great time with Deadlock recently, and I was talking to Wander and he felt the same, but we couldn't figure out the issue with this patch. What's been the problem for you guys if you feel the same way?

Holy shit.

@Bullskunk @aromadilea @PlayOverwatch You're trying to make a "variety is good" argument - except clearly most players disagree and prefer the game mode that's just better. Your whining on this is about as silly as Team 4 circa 2017 forcing 2CP on all of comp play because they got mad at map drafting banning it

@aromadilea @PlayOverwatch no, this was a new system that was introduced and I think it's bad because I get Escort 90% of the time, banning out 2 tanks a match is not good for the tank player pool, and I think it encourages banning a hero rather than learning how to play against them, especially in lowbob

Hey @PlayOverwatch Letting other players decide what map I play on and what heroes I can't use is NOT player agency. It's just stupidity of the masses. Can we get rid of this atrocious experiment please?

The Night Shift Open may be over, but your regularly scheduled Shift is still on schedule! EU sees the full appearance of the top 3 of the Night Shift Open. Whereas NA looks to see if Melee Creeps can defend the throne after an Urn'ed victory last week. How will it all pan out? Gotta clock in to find out! (P.S. Melee Creeps has a mystery sub for Eido...)

@Caaymus There's no future in prediction markets for sponsorships. Not with new laws coming that ban both use and advertisement. Minnesota's new law alone creates enormous obstacles because good luck stopping your sponsorship from inadvertently being broadcast in the state.

If esports wants to grow up, we can't cry every time a company we disagree with actually wants to put money in the space. We burned literal NBA teams. We burned Kraft. Beggars can't be choosers. MLB, MLS, La Liga, Serie A, MSG/Rangers are also all sponsored by Polymarket.

Hot take apparently: Big W. Huge partner in a landscape with shrinking opportunity. Esports News industry is one with very little financial upside and requires massive investment of time and money.

NEVER SHOW FEAR NO MATTER THE ODDS

Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to clock in for the Night Shift Open! 🔥 Which team's cooking tonight? 👀

In a little over 8 hours, we went from 64 teams down to our final 4 joining us in Group Stage play! Our first matches tomorrow in the Night Shift Open: Melee Creeps vs Bird With Clock Lowkey W vs Leviathan Floormen vs Get Candy FPS Lounge vs Abrahams Once again a huge thank you to the Deadlock community being one of the best ever to work with. All players regardless of experience level were a joy to work with today!

Tomorrow we're hitting the big 40 here on the Night Shift. Fresh off the heels of DSI this weekend and multiple patches, what will the teams be ready to show us? If you want to see how the game has changed on the top end, you gotta clock in tomorrow at 4 PM EDT to find out!