When you hear about split-second finish, what do you think? A car race? The Olympic 100m sprint? Well, we think about our favorite close calls in esports history – and there have been plenty. While sometimes matches have a clear favorite, that isn’t always the case – here are some competitions that made us hold our breath till the very last moment!
Arslan Ash vs Knee – EVO 2019 Winners Semi-Final (Tekken)
Pakistani player Arslan Ash’s and Korean player Knee’s rivalry is legendary. After years of dominating the Tekken scene, Knee found himself losing regularly to a player – Arslan Ash. The ‘god of Tekken’ was dethroned, and these two players regularly met up in competitions. In the 2019 EVO winner’s semi-final, they had one of their best showdowns ever – a true split-second finish.
After a strong match between the two, it came down to one round, to break the 1-1 tie between them. Both were low on health, and it seemed like the timer was going to run out and make the decision – right up until Arslan’s Kasumi managed to knock out Knee’s Geese in the very last second of the match, winning with a K.O.
https://youtu.be/cBZ_nbQ2TVY?t=933
NRG vs Dignitas – RLCS 2018 (Rocket League)
A mix of football and racing is guaranteed to be full of excitement – and that was definitely true in one of the greatest moments of RLCS history. It was a 2-2 setup and with just four seconds to go, Team Dignitas managed to score what looked like the winning third goal for themselves.
NRG wasn’t done yet – with 0 seconds on the clock, NRG player jstn managed to score a goal for his team, evening the score to 3-3. It was quite literally a split-second finish and one of the closest calls in esports and RLCS history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF7RycjWhME
Houston Outlaws vs Seoul Dynasty – 2016 OWL Pre-Season (Overwatch)
The Overwatch League is filled with fantastic players and talented teams – and of course, too many close calls to count. This was one of our favorites. On the map Horizon Lunar Colony, it was 1-0 for Dynasty when the Outlaws came back with a vengeance in the last few seconds of the second half of the map.
Rawkus playing Zen managed to fend off Tracer, thus securing his team a one-man advantage while also preventing Tracer from using her ultimate. The Dynasty then went on to capture both points, riding on their team advantage, and ultimately winning the map. Although they were unable to win the series, this moment was still one of our favorite close calls.
