Not to sound like your dad or anything, but years ago, the thought of sitting around to watch strangers play video games would’ve seemed like possibly the stupidest idea anyone’s ever had. That’s hyperbolic, but less so than you might think.
And yet, in practice, watching other people play video games can be exciting, compelling, or even relaxing. Whatever experience you’re hoping to have, Twitch can check off a lot of boxes for you; boxes that couldn’t be checked off for fans of the medium when gaming was in its infancy.
However, like your traditional streaming service of choice, it’s helpful to know where to look (especially when you’re getting started). After all, some Twitch feeds are great, some are funny, some are informative, and some are all of those—but most are dull and kind of suck. It’s also worth noting that the sheer amount of people uploading videos onto the site can be overwhelming, and that these Twitch streamers barely ever have your time in mind when they do. Come on; there are only so many Fortnite clips or League of Legends matches that you can justify watching in a given week.
With that in mind, we rounded up the most competent gamers on the platform that we could think of. This group of mostly random aliases possesses the strategic planning, reaction time, muscle memory, and quick-thinking skills to be crowned the cream of the Twitch crop.
Most streamers on the site gain fanbases due to their personalities or their propensity to interact with viewers. Whatever the attraction, here are the 10 best gamers on Twitch.tv.
Darbian
View this video on YouTube
If you tune into Darbian’s feed, you’re likely to catch him speedrunning a Mario game. In fact, up until mid-February, he held the record for the quickest sprint through the original Super Mario Bros. with a 4:56.528 jaunt that busted his own previous mark. Unfortunately for Darbian, it’s since been upstaged by a whopping .066 seconds. Will he ever get that record back? Uh, we don’t know. But you can still tune in to watch him polish off some retro game in less time than it takes for you to eat a snack.
Distortion2
View this video on YouTube
While we’re on the subject of speedruns, here’s a guy who goes for them in games that take months for many of us to complete. In this particular instance, we’re talking about the Dark Souls games, which Distortion2 has opted to dominate. His channel is full of videos that boast impressive personal bests in games ranging from Bloodborne to Bioshock: Infinite to Resident Evil 7. He makes this shit look easy.
Faker
View this video on YouTube
Faker isn’t super active on Twitch (23 videos are up at the moment), but he’s been posting with fair regularity since March. Anyway, to be as concise as possible, just think of him as the Babe Ruth/Michael Jordan of League of Legends. Also to be as concise as possible, if you’re the Babe Ruth/Michael Jordan of anything it’s probably worth watching you do that thing.
Imaqtpie
View this video on YouTube
His real name is Michael Santana, but you can call him by the name he came up with because his mom says he’s cute—whatever works for ya. We didn’t mean to double up on League of Legends players but, well, a lot of people on Twitch play League of Legends. Unfortunately we won’t triple up, so apologies to Shiphtur.
Santana/qtpie was earning a reported $2 million per year as of 2017, and though that may make you question both the choices you’ve made in your life and your own existence, his videos keep you entertained (and distracted from those questions), which is important since he can stream for up to 8-12 hours at a time.
Ninja
View this video on YouTube
As of last month, Ninja (or Tyler Blevins) boasted the most popular account on the site, with over 6 million followers. The ex-Halo pro has been blowing up of late due to his consistent Fortnite sessions. Between Twitch Prime subscribers and his massive YouTube following, he’s banking a reported $500,000 per month. For playing video games.
Shroud
View this video on YouTube
Shroud can call himself a top-tier Counter Strike player with uncanny accuracy. Whether it’s third or first person, he’s a shooting game stud. He also gives out liberal doses of advice, so if you want to up your game, and you play the same games as him, be sure to check out his feed.
Summit1G
View this video on YouTube
His birth certificate may say Jaryd Lazar, but the gaming world knows him as Summit1G. Consider him supremely dedicated to the streaming craft; he’s been doing it consistently (see: damn close to daily) since 2012, well before it became popular. Thanks to this intense commitment, he’s racked up more than 3.1 million followers. He also displays more variety in his gaming library than your typical Twitcher, and his proficiency makes it worth tuning in no matter what he’s playing.
Syndicate
View this video on YouTube
The first streamer to rack up a million followers on Twitch (which he eclipsed in August 2014), Tom Cassell, akaSyndicate, saw his audience explode as a result of both his skills and the stunts he pulls off. If you’ve tuned into him lately, you’ve probably seen him playing Far Cry 5, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, or Fortnite (no shocker there). Come for the creative gaming feats, stay for the cooking tutorials.
TeamSp00ky
View this video on YouTube
While not technically a “gamer” (singular), TeamSp00ky is the place to go to watch fighting game mastery. The channel is constantly streaming tournaments, showcasing players with speed and reaction times that would make you think they see the world like hummingbirds or something. What results are fights that can often look like they’ve come from the brain of a Hollywood choreographer. Check it out if you’re ever curious to see what fighting games must look like in the minds of the developers that create them.
TheMexicanRunner
View this video on YouTube
TheMexicanRunner completed a quest called “NESMania,” in which he beat every officially licensed game for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Better him than us because: A) That’s a lot of games (714 to be exact), and B) That’s a lot of bad games. In addition to that noble goal, which took him more than 3,400 hours to achieve, he’s also a speedrunner who puts in work on some games that take serious skill. (See: Cuphead, Dark Souls, Battletoads, etc.) If you like mastery of difficult games, or pine for nostalgia via the titles of yester-century, well, just put his damn name in the search bar.
