Handshakes can be messy, awkward things. First, there’s the problem of whether or not to shake hands. Then, there’s the problem of what to do if the person whose hand you try to shake isn’t on your wavelength. Finally, there’s the fleshing fumbling that comes with actually trying to lock hands in anything resembling a normal handshake. Hence the ubiquity of the high-five: why attempt to graciously dock your mitten in someone else’s when you can simply slap them together instead?




So I had complete empathy for Brandon “Seagull” Larned when, earlier this week, he desperately caressed Malik Forté’s hand as he sought to consummate what he thought had been a gesture inviting a handshake. Seagull and his team, NRG eSports, lost to fnatic earlier this week in the North America semifinals. On Thursday night, host Jimmy Fallon took to his Tonight Show to lampoon the pro Overwatch player for the poorly timed play.

Many came to Seagull’s defense, saying instead that the blame lay with Forté, the MC host for the ELEAGUE Overwatch Open, for “baiting” the player into it. At the same time, Forté was clearly gesturing with his left hand, and who in their right mind would ever try to shake on the left?


During last night’s broadcast of the Overwatch Open grand finals on TBS, in which Misfits went on to beat Team EnVyUs 4-1 for a prize of $100,000, Forté fired back at Fallon with a clip of his own.

Like my grandmother always said, people in glass houses shouldn’t shake hands. You can watch the grand finals of the Overwatch Open here.