A villainous esports team owner.
A horde of teenagers Naruto-running through a convention centre.
Even as a keen viewer of Leverage: Redemption, I was leery of the heist-o-rama tackling esports.
We must talk about the game.
In the short clips of mocked-up action, I’m not sure I see MOBA or fighting game.
Fights seem to unfold in a short sequence of moves which lock characters into long animations.
Perhaps there’s a rock-paper-scissors element of picking the right move.
Or perhaps there’s a lot of invisible high-APM skill in either continuing or breaking out from attacks?
Lad’s a wrong’un.
I do not recommend the Fury Victory Program.
Even if Tam didn’t have a heart condition, it’s wildly unhealthy.
But what are they to do?
Kyle Fury is a delightfully loathsome composite of gaming-adjacent influencers, scammers, and pricks.
As he says, “The only winner that matters is me.”
The scenario is wildly exaggerated but it works because enough parts feel woefully familiar.
Of course Kyle did crypto.
Of course he’s using players' dreams against them.
Of course he’s a “clean living warrior”.
Of course he sells his own supplements.
Of course his mouth is full of influencer wank.
“Illumatrons, it’s not just a game,” Kyle explains at one point.
“Samurai Midnight, it’s not just a team.
It’s a lifestyle.
It’s a philosophy that allows you to control your own destiny.
That’s what I’m giving these kids.
I’m creating winners.”
The whole episode succeeds this way: it’s silly yet rooted in enough familiar elements to work.
I thought about that reference a lot.
You might not know the name, but you likely know the clip.
The crowd go wild, and grow wilder as the parries keep coming.
Daigo then turns it around and tears through Justin in four seconds to take the round.
The room explodes and the camera turns to face the screaming spectators now on their feet.
That clip has spread far beyond fighting game fanatics.
All esports face the problem of being indecipherable to outsiders, and I think MOBAs can be especially obtuse.
A single teamfight can be an incomprehensible flurry of spells and special effects wrapping up decisively in seven seconds.
Illumatrons really did need its own Evo Moment #37, for all our sakes.
Oh, and what happens with Kyle Fury and Samurai Midnight?
I’ll not recap the episode, but the Leverage crew plan to take him down with Illumatrons entrapment.
But does any con go off without hitches and twists?
