Top five esports events of 2019

2019 was a huge year for esports. From record-breaking prize pools and viewership to historic moments stemming from incredible skill, there was a lot to see.

It's unlikely you managed to catch every single tournament, so here are the top five esports events that defined the year in one way or another.

Fortnite World Cup - Battle royale royalty

Whatever your personal opinion might be of Fortnite and Epic Games, the Fortnite World Cup was one of the biggest events of the year.

Helping further push Fortnite and competitive gaming as a whole into the mainstream, 16-year-old Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf was the winner of the solo event and $3,000,000 while Emil "Nyhrox" Bergquist Pedersen and David "Aqua" Wang split $3 million for their duos victory.

The $30 million total prize pool and the low average age of competitors saw many view professional Fortnite in a different light as well as show the world that esports is here to stay.

EVO 2019 - FGC history was made

Fighting games are rarely in the spotlight and it takes the biggest event in the FGC calendar to get the attention the titles often deserves for historic moments in the scene.

Pakistani Tekken superstar Arslan "Arslan Ash" Siddique, ranked 16th in his home nation, became a two-time EVO winner after winning EVO Japan earlier in the year.

Dominique "SonicFox" McLean made the grand final of two games and they were crowned the Mortal Kombat 11 champion, marking their fifth EVO title.

Beating out 3,534 other competitors, Leonardo "MKLeo" Lopez Perez became the one to beat in the world of Smash Ultimate at just 18 years old.

The International 2019 - OG win back-to-back TIs

Winning The International is a momentous task for any Dota 2 team. The marathon from the Dota Pro Circuit and various qualifiers to nine teams battling it out in a round robin group stage all before the main event playoffs make it one of the

The faithful shall be rewarded however as each TI boasts a community-funded prize pool that dwarfs all others. TI9's $34,330,068 prize pool broke records as the largest in esports history.

TI9 saw another record broken with OG claiming their second Aegis after victory in 2018 saw them win their first with the same lineup.

2019 World Championship - Fly, Phoenix, fly

Worlds 2019 saw 24 of the best League of Legends teams battle it out across three European cities with record-breaking viewership.

A partnership with Louis Vuitton saw the trophy carry case for the Summoner's Cup fittingly premium for a premium event and two songs, the theme song Phoenix and a single by the virtual band True Damage, were released for the occasion.

The hopes of the West fell on the shoulders of one team that made the grand final by taking down the legendary SK Telecom T1 and Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok in the semifinal.

G2 Esports had won both Spring and Summer Splits in the LEC as well as Midseason Invitational champions, uniting people across the breadth of esports hoping for the first EU Worlds victory in almost a decade.

FunPlus Phoenix, the best LPL team in attendance, ready to replicate what Invictus Gaming achieved against Fnatic in 2018.

The two teams met on the biggest stage in competitive League of Legends and it was FPX that came out on top in dominant 3-0 fashion.

Overwatch League Season 2 Grand Finals - Shock stun the scene

The culmination a solid year of strong and consistent showings saw the San Francisco Shock win the second-ever Overwatch League season.

With regular season MVP Jay "Sinatraa" Won on their roster, San Francisco Shock went into the Grand Finals as favourites and delivered a dominant 4-0 over the Vancouver Titans side.

For those who don't follow Overwatch, the success of the team might have easily gone unnoticed.

As the 2-2-2 role lock was forced upon competitive OW matches from Stage 4, many feared that rosters such as the Shock's might struggle but instead the team was able to maintain a high level of performance and appeared in the stage playoffs for a third time in the season.

In front of a crowd of over 11,000 fans, the performance there and those that led up to the trophy saw them awarded third place for Esports Team of the Year at the Esports Awards 2019 and first place in ESPN's own awards for the year.