One of the coolest things about esports is the fast action, the tension, the rapid series of events that leave fans struggling to even follow along – at least, that's the case usually. Sometimes, things drag out a little longer than expected. Sure, often one party has a clear advantage over their opponent, but with evenly-matched players and teams, things can drag on a bit. Here are some of the longest-lasting esports matches in history.
Rocket League – Vitality vs. Dignitas
Rocket League matches are (in theory) short and sweet. They only take a few minutes – except when they don’t. Players are probably familiar with long overtimes, but for a game that only takes five minutes, long overtimes usually mean a few more minutes.
In a match between Vitality and Dignitas at the 2018 Semifinals of "The Play", overtime got a whole new meaning. Both teams played for a total of 18 minutes and 9 seconds – that is, 18 minutes and 9 seconds of overtime. The total match time was just over 23 minutes!
After fighting through one of the longest-lasting games in Rocket League history, Team Dignitas managed to reign victorious, and move on into the finals. Despite their Herculean effort (and after a normal match length), they lost to Triple Trouble 4-1 in the finals.
CS:GO – Team XENEX vs. exceL eSports
The CS:GO format is pretty self-explanatory – best to 16 our of 30 rounds, with one swap of T and CT halfway through. At least, that’s the idea. Most of the time, teams can secure the necessary number of wins within the 30 intended rounds… but not always.
In 2015, two teams – XENEX and exceL were up against each other in the ESL Premiership UK 2015. Both teams were playing well, and they seemed evenly matched – the regular game ended 15-15, resulting in a tiebreaker. Well, technically, nine tiebreakers. That’s right – both teams slogged through nine full overtime periods before XENEX managed to beat exceL with the remarkable 46-42 score.
This single map game took the teams almost three hours to complete – definitely one of the longest-lasting games of CS:GO.
Dota 2 – Cloud9 vs. SFZ
MOBA title Dota 2 has a pretty standard format as well – two sides, competing to defeat the other side’s base and Ancients. The fact that it’s a relatively small map both sides are competing on doesn’t stop matches from running on, though – and in one case, so long that it started to break the game.
Cloud9 were competing against SFZ in March 2015 and their game took a whole 3 hours and 20 minutes to come to a conclusion. The match ended 106 to 43 for SFZ – however, because it dragged on so long, the game began to struggle. Too many items on the map caused various glitches and errors, including spawning macropyres, and players simply catching on fire. The added difficulty made this match – one of the longest-lasting games in Dota 2 history – truly wild to watch!
Have you ever played a particularly long match? Let us know about it!
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