The best recent events and tournaments at Localhost

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, gaming community gatherings, private events, youth camps, brand activations and more. Every month, we’ll be spotlighting some of the best events that have happened at Localhost in Philadelphia, Rowan and Denver. Here’s a look back at some of the fun things that happened at Localhost over the past month.

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Love and football in Philly

Photo credit: Nerd Street

February was one of the busiest months in the past year at Localhost Philadelphia with big events happening throughout the month. Valentine’s Day was a particularly special day. In what can only be described as jampacked, euphoric chaos, the Eagles celebrated their Super Bowl LIX victory with a parade up Broad Street en route to the Art Museum. This coincided with Localhost Philly's second annual Speed Gaming event at 401 N. Broad, with our own resident Cupid – Ydian Velez – serving as master of ceremonies and guiding over 70 attendees through card, video, and board games. With so many Eagles fans joyously celebrating in the streets of Philly that day, Speed Gaming attendees wearing Eagles gear got a special discount!

Photo credit: Nerd Street

Co-hosted by Wooder Ice, event attendees not only had a chance to find love and friendship through gaming, but they had the opportunity to talk with professional matchmaker Nada Rifai from Dating Practically. Attendees got to enjoy heart-shaped pizzas provided by Lamberti Pizza & Market and free drink giveaways from Topdog Cocktails as well as some sweet door prizes, including a dinner for two at Scarpetta (Rittenhouse Hotel), a night of golf and swag from Putt Shack, and gift certificates to City Winery, City Tap Logan Square and Ms. Saigon.

Photo credit: Nerd Street

Racing into the weekend

Following Speed Gaming, Localhost Philly hosted its first ever multi-day Mario Kart LAN, Catalyst 2025, that same weekend. From the team behind Broad Street Blur, Kyle MacFarland and Patrick Merklee combined their efforts to host a weekend of Mario Kart feat. 8 Deluxe, Double Dash, and Mario Kart 64 with 51 entrants from across the region. Catalyst included tournaments for Battle Mode, 2v2 Kart Showdown and even a 200cc special side event alongside Sunday's 150cc main event.

VALORANT back in Philly

Photo credit: Nerd Street

The following weekend, Valorant returned to Localhost Philly in a major way with Precision Protocol, the first Valorant LAN at 401 N. Broad in nearly two years. The event was a sellout, with 16 teams arriving to compete, including mostly collegiate teams and collegiate players. Virginia Tech's VVT Premier took the top prize with James Madison University's Varsity squad coming in second. Virginia schools were particularly well-represented at Precision Protocol. James Madison actually sent three squads to Precision Protocol, and George Mason, Northern Virginia Community College and the College of William & Mary also competed.

Welcoming back Fragadelphia

Photo credit: Nerd Street

Fragadelphia was also back at 401 N. Broad for the first time in a couple years. The legendary grassroots Counter-Strike LAN returned to Localhost Philadelphia featuring 35 teams and three days of action between the group stage, playoffs, and the storied "Big L" redemption tournament. Frag brought everything you'd come to expect from a legacy CS LAN event, including plenty of smokes, hype and insane rounds from professionals, collegiate hopefuls and old buddies looking to compete and prove their team is the best.

Netrality Conference in Philly

Photo credit: Nerd Street

Although February was packed with competitive events, Localhost Philly kicked off the month with a very different kind of event – the Netrality SKO 2025 National Sales Conference. Executive leadership, spotlight tenants and national representatives from each of Netrality Data Centers' properties nationwide took part in presentations highlighting the previous year's successes and projections and growth opportunities for 2025 and beyond.

Representatives from Chicago, Denver and Kansas City were all in the building, and attendees found themselves treated to a custom stage and venue look designed by Jumaani Haskins and Holden Correia-Fisher for the event. The decked out venue caught the attention of many attendees in what was only the first multi-day national conference in Localhost Philadelphia's operational history.

Lakewood League in Denver

Photo credit: Nerd Street

For the eighth time since 2023, Localhost Denver hosted Lakewood League, the biggest open League of Legends LAN tournament in the country. Lakewood League brought together 16 teams of all ages and ranks for a spirited competition. Alex Kalenian, aka Soul, has created one of the most unique LAN tournaments in the country, fostering an inclusive atmosphere where high school students, college players and casual competitors can get together to compete against each other.

WX Pepega Dogs won the tournament with a victory over Colorado College in the final after going 3-0 in the Swiss stage of the tournament and 2-0 in the playoffs prior to the final. The tournament included collegiate teams from Utah State, Colorado State, the University of Wyoming and the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs. There was also a family team composed of a few brothers, a cousin and a dad playing together as well as another team with three high school students plus a teacher and a recent graduate.

Quick hits from Rowan

Localhost Rowan held many exciting events last month including Nerd Street’s Dungeon Delve, a one-shot D&D experience held alongside Axe & Arrow Brewing, as well as a Beyblade tournament that brought out nearly 50 players. Fragadelphia returned to Rowan too for the fifth Frag Jersey. A team called Wanted Goons ended up winning the 11-team CS2 tournament. Additionally, esports club meetings, which are held every Friday at Localhost, continue to be very popular with two hours of free gaming provided to club members.

Lead photo credit: Nerd Street