This past Friday, fans packed into the massive Verizon Wireless Sesame Street Arena for the eSports battle of the century. Hometown favorites went head-to-head in an epic battle that gamers will no doubt be talking about for years to come. Ultimately, the top prize went to Oscar the Grouch, though it was far from a surefire victory from the word go.

Speaking with Guy Smiley – leading eSports analyst and enthusiast – following his live stream last week, he originally anticipated that the top award would most likely go to either Bert or Ernie.

“They’re in a unique position as they’re constantly practicing together and we’ve seen some of the most intense skirmishes of the season between those guys as a result.”

In fact, heading into the competition on Friday, Bert and Ernie held the top two spots on both the North American and international leaderboards. Many fans, however, noted that they simply couldn’t get behind a guy who looks like a banana with a monobrow or a perceived sidekick who looks like Stewie Griffin in the throes of alcoholism and intermittent meth binges.

Favoritism amongst eSports fans is indeed a strange beast.

The top pick in reader polls leading up to Friday’s showdown was actually Snuffleupagus, even though there was a high chance of a no-show as seen countless times in the past. Manager Big Bird issued an announcement earlier in the week stating, “There have been a lot of rumors to the contrary, but Snuffleupagus does, in fact, exist, and is in top form heading into the championship this weekend.”

This ignited a massive discussion on social media channels, no doubt feeding directly into the spikes seen in the final poll results.

As the final matchup began, it was readily apparent to everyone in attendance and watching the official stream on Twitch that Oscar the Grouch would walk away victorious. While he wasn't in top form throughout the day, by the end he was tossing his opponents aside one after the other with little to no effort.

Be on the lookout later this week for our exclusive interview with Oscar the Grouch where we discuss his recent victory, his plans for the future, and what he intends to do with his impressive earnings to date. The answers will no doubt shock and surprise, so if you consider yourself an eSports enthusiast this is one interview you simply won’t want to miss!