Top 10 weirdest bugs & glitches in esports

Every game has its pitfalls. Even in games that have been played professionally for decades, coding errors creep in from time to time. This can be annoying for regular players, but even more frustrating when pros are confronted with it in competitions.

We’ve all noticed a bug in a video game before. But what if these mistakes also occur in esports, turning the competitive idea on its head? Today we present to you the 10 most curious bugs and glitches in esports.

10. Dupreeh Silencer Glitch

Today’s top 10 list starts with a clip from the PGL Antwerp Major 2022. In the group stage Team Vitality played against Forze in a best of 3 for the playoffs. In a 1v2 situation, Vitality player dupreeh stood in front of a door with his M4A1-S to reclaim the bomb spot. In the process, however, the silencer of his weapon slipped through the door, instantly exposing his position to his opponents. Consequently, the round went to Forze, but Vitality still won the Best of 3.

 

9. PUBG car takes off glitch

At the PUBG Global Championship in 2019, #9 on our list occurred. In Game 5 of the semifinals between Groups B and C, player CherryPoppin was driving a car to find a safe stopover for himself and his team, The Rumblers. At a compound, he took a turn too momentum-wise and drove straight into a house. Instead of exploding as usual in PUBG, the vehicle catapulted into the sky, including the driver. Upon landing, the vehicle finally exploded and CherryPoppin was knocked out and eliminated. Despite this showstopper, it was enough for the Rumblers to make it to the finals, where they finished in 8th place.

 

8. Kindred Damage Bug 

That new champions in League of Legends bring new bugs is as certain as the amen in the church. However, the fact that a bug is discovered during a competitive match is a peculiarity. At the time of the clip, the champion Kindred had only been released for 2 months when the following happened: Vitality and OG were facing off in the 2016 EU LCS Spring Split when AD Carry player Zven from OG decided to play Kindred. Just 5 minutes had passed in the game when he Shoted the opposing jungler with a simple combo and no items at half-life one. Later Riot Games explained that it was indeed a bug. The game was not replayed. Nevertheless, Vitality was able to win the game.

7. FalleN Smoke Glitch 

Rank 7 of our list contains a glitch that is a true coin flip. Sometimes it occurs, sometimes it doesn’t, you can never be sure. In the semifinals of ESL ONE New York, this glitch almost became the undoing of Brazilian IGL FalleN. The match between SK Gaming and Team Liquid went into overtime on the first of three maps. His team was down by 2 rounds, and FalleN tried to turn the tide. However, he faced some approaching Molotovs, forcing him to retreat, He tried to extinguish a Molotov on the ground by throwing Smoke at it. However, this did not extinguish the Molotov, but merely bounced off the ground and rolled on. With 2 HP, he survived the glitch, but the round and consequently the map went to Team Liquid.

6. Darshan Minion Block 

It’s not only the interaction between different champions that sometimes raises questions in League of Legends. Minions often play a role as well, like here in the 6th place match of the NA LCS Summer Split. In the match between CLG and Immortals, CLG’s top laner Darshan was busy farming when he was suddenly surrounded by several Minions. Darshan was stuck in the Minions and couldn’t move, although he tried with all his might to fight his way free. His opponent took advantage of that and hunted him down without further ado. Darshan immediately called for a break, but it was a bug that could not be prevented, so the game was continued. The game and ultimately the Best of 5 went to Immortals.

 

5. Olof Boost 2.0 

Any fan who has been following Counter-Strike for a long time will be familiar with the famous Olofmeister boost on Overpass. A remake of this glitch was presented by Team Smoke in the show match of the PGL Antwerp Major 2022. The approach was slightly different from the Olof Boost from 2014, but the principle was the same: several players jump on top of each other at one point of the map and boost each other to look into more distant areas of the map. Es3tag, who was the top of the boost, eliminated two players in this way. However, the boost did not cause as much outrage as it did in 2014; after all, this clip only happened in a show match and not in the quarterfinals of a tournament.

4. Bomb glitches through map 

Rank 4 on our list is a game-breaking glitch from the group stage of Hellcase Cup 6 between EnVyUs Academy and Nemiga Gaming from 2017. The Belarusian team Nemiga had made their way to the A-bomb spot on Cobblestone and now had to keep the rest of EnVy’s defenders in check while the bomb was to be placed. But the bomb never found its way onto the bomb spot. The reason: a player had thrown the bomb to the side on the way to A, where it slid through the ground and was thus unreachable for the attacking team. Even the casters were stunned by such a curious situation. The round and the map were won by EnVyUs Academy. With clips like this, it’s hardly surprising that Cobblestone is not currently in the active map pool.

3. Baron Reset Bug leads to Fail Smite 

This clip from the NA LCS Spring Split semi-final between Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid made it to the top of our list of the most curious bugs and glitches. In the first game of the Best of 5’s, Liquid had a small gold lead and in the next step, the Baron should be killed. This went smoothly at first and Santorin, Team Liquid’s jungler, smite the Baron at the right time. However, a brief moment before the smite, the Baron regenerated enough HP out of nowhere to survive Santorini’s smite, and as a result, an opposing player executed the Baron. This bug caused great outrage in the League community, as the same scenario had already occurred in Pro Play in 2019 as well. The semifinals and later the finals went to the Evil Geniuses.

2. Dendi Fountain Hook Exploit 

In 2nd place is a clip from Dota 2 International. This is a glitch exploit of the Ukrainian Dota player Dendi. He and his team Navi were fighting in the Upper Bracket against TongFu for a spot in the semifinals, and Navi found themselves trailing. At that moment, Dendi decided to turn the tables and with the help of a glitch exploit, he managed to pull opposing champions all over the map into his base several times, where they eventually died. Navi turned the game around and qualified for the semifinals. The fans and players of TongFu were beside themselves. Dendi, however, only countered that they had all known about the exploit, and it was their own fault for not using the trick themselves.

1. Flamie S1mple Knife Bug

Rank 1 of the most curious bugs and glitches in esports revolves once again around Team Navi. In ESL Pro League Season 10 against HellRaisers, the Ukrainian organization played its way to a comfortable lead. As a round went by, Flamie poked around in the air with his knife and suddenly killed teammate S1mple with it. The latter, however, was standing a good distance away from him and should never have taken the hit from Flamie’s knife. Even if S1mple looked a bit pissed off about it, you can’t be mad at Flamie for this bug. After all, Navi easily made the Best of 3 and the group stage of the ESL Pro League, so there shouldn’t have been any bad blood between the two.