NEWS
Korea's Phoenix Armada is the first world champion
of mobile MOBA Vainglory to take home the six-figure prize pool. They beat
SoloMid, a North American team, 4-2 in a best-of-seven. The tournament took
place at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California.
Phoenix
Armada amassed a perfect Group Stage record — never dropping a game — before
sweeping their quarterfinal opponent, popular Chinese team Hunters. From there,
they bested an accomplished North American team in GankStars Sirius in the
semifinals before taking on what many people thought would be their biggest
challenge, Team SoloMid. The reigning North American champions could not stem
the rising tide of Phoenix Armada, who took home the crown and the lionshare of
the $120,000 prize pool.
Vainglory is no joke, and exemplifies the growing
popularity of mobile titles in the eSports arena. If you want evidence, look to
China, where 24 of the top 100 mobile titles are considered eSports, according
to Newzoo. The market will inevitably grow. Whether or not mobile titles while
eventually usurp their PC cousins remains an interesting question.
In other Vainglory news, the developers highlighted
update 2.0 in a video you can watch below.