The best events and tournaments at Localhost in August

September 1, 2023

by Brian Bencomo

Nerd Street’s owned and operated gaming venues, known as Localhosts, are not only places where you can stop by to play your favorite games on high-quality gaming PCs and consoles. Localhosts also are the site of LAN tournaments, private events, camps, activations and watch parties. Every month, we’ll be spotlighting some of the best events that have happened at Localhosts around the country, from Philadelphia to Fullerton and everywhere in between. Here’s a look back at some of the fun things that happened at Localhost over the past month.

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LAN tournaments everywhere

August was a busy month for LAN tournaments across Nerd Street’s venues. We kicked off the month with the VALORANT Lockdown 2 finals in Philadelphia. Several teams earned qualification for the tournament after accruing points through months of qualifiers, and a few more teams joined via a Last Chance Qualifier to round out the field of 16.

A hard-fought group stage was followed by an eight-team playoff bracket to determine a winner, and a Resurrection bracket as a consolation tournament. Lobster Fishers, a team consisting of players from popular Tier 2 VALORANT teams Moist Moguls and Shopify Rebellion, were crowned champions of Lockdown 2. Version1, the best Game Changers team in North America, also competed in the Lockdown 2 finals. Dating back to last year, Nerd Street’s VALORANT Lockdown tournament series has been one of the best places to see up-and-coming VALORANT talent in North America.

Later in the month, Philadelphia hosted an Omega Strikers tournament. Core Mechanics: Omega Strikers brought in nearly 20 teams and 60 players for the tournament with Finesse coming out on top.

That same weekend of Aug. 19-20, The Sendoff -- a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament -- took place in North Brunswick. Tsunami Esports came out on top in the nine-team tournament. With Counter-Strike 2 set to release at some point this fall, The Sendoff was likely the last CS:GO tournament held at Localhost.

Nerd Street held yet another LAN tournament that same weekend, but this one happened across the country in California. Held at Localhost in Fullerton, Calculated Loss was the first in-person TFT tournament held by a local group that had been planning the event since spring. Rippleoverdrive finished atop the 40-person field. The organizers behind Calculated Loss had a custom trophy made as well as custom shirts, shot glasses, swag bags and a banner for photos.

A busy month in Philly

LFG Philly were back at Localhost this month for their second Queer Gaming Night. LFG Philly hosted their inaugural Queer Gaming Night at Localhost in June. The meetup brought together members of the LGBTQ+ community in Philadelphia for a night to connect and play games together.

Temple University is no stranger to Localhost. Temple’s esports teams practice and compete at Localhost, and have hosted events at our venue before like the NBA 2K tournament in partnership with Alex’s Lemonade. Last month, Temple was back in the building to support the local community. As part of Temple’s ongoing partnership with Nerd Street, the university sponsored the Norris Day Camp to come to Localhost for a day of console and PC gaming. The day followed a similar structure to our existing Philly Parks & Rec field trip setup with campers playing Fortnite, NBA 2K, Madden, Roblox and Smash Bros. and getting a chance to see how we set the stage up for our tournaments.

In collaboration with the Philadelphia Department of Commerce and the City of Philadelphia's Strategic Tech Initiatives, Localhost hosted a Tech Talk which consisted of a panel discussion about tech startups and investments followed by networking. Startups, founders and technology industry experts were invited to learn more about how to acquire and build relationships with investors, grow their business and what trends are catching eyes in the industry for both professionals and shareholders alike.

Some of the businesses and fields represented among the attendees included e-commerce, boutique merchandising, web hosting, IT staffing and online banking. Panelists included partners from the Angel Capital Association, Innovate Capital Growth Fund, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation and University Sciences Medical Center. Facilitated by Tempest Carter, this was the first of a series of industry highlight panels and networking events to improve current and prospective businesses in the city.

Mindset of Champions returned to Localhost Philly to run another NBA 2K tournament; this time it was a four-team invitational which featured a round-robin group stage followed by playoffs. Previously known as Pro-AM Live, Edward Kinnibrew rebranded his organization to Mindset of Champions, a non-profit organization serving to enrich the lives of youth in the city of Philadelphia by engaging with esports, sports and STEM education.

Photo credit: Nerd Street

With youth advocacy and initiative groups from around the Greater Philadelphia Area and West Baltimore participating, team Unique Dreams brought home the 2023 championship. In addition to the tournament, youth from all of the programs served by Mindset of Champions were able to enjoy console and PC gaming throughout the day at Localhost. Participants included Unique Dreams, Concilio Youth Empowerment, and Greenmount West Community Center from Maryland.

Quick hits from across the country

Fullerton Fights keeps punching up. On the heels of a record-setting July Fullerton Fights that saw over 150 competitors, the August edition of the FGC monthly once again featured a large field of competitors. Over 100 people showed up to compete in Tekken 7, Street Fighter 6, Guilty Gear Strive, Melty Blood: Type Lumina and Under Night In-Birth. NBNHMR, fresh off placing second in Guilty Gear at Evo earlier in the month, finished first in the Street Fighter and Guilty Gear brackets.

Tsunami Esports’ CS:GO team, who won the Jersey SCHWAR tournament in North Brunswick earlier in the month, have been bootcamping at Localhost in St. Louis. The team has been competing in an ESEA tournament.

Denver’s Smash weekly Elite Smash Fridays (ESF) held strong throughout August with over 50 participants each week. The latest edition of ESF brought in 60 competitors. Top local Smash Melee players Shoe and Chronos were both in attendance after competing at SmashCon earlier in the month. Chronos took first at ESF #139, while Shoe finished third.

Also last month, the Denver School of Innovation and Sustainable Design (DSISD), dropped by Localhost to learn more about starting an esports program. The Denver-area high school is looking to start an esports program and wanted a peek behind the curtain at Localhost.

Lead photo credit: Nerd Street