News

League of Legends Riot speaks on Tahm Kench and Sona reworks, item balance By William Davis News Everything you need to know about FF7 Remake Intergrade By Steven Rondina News CouRage gets Warzone hacker banned on TimTheTatman Twitch stream By Olivia Richman

Counter-Strike

Ancient is changed, Trusted mode is fixed in new CSGO update Steven Rondina Ancient was added suddenly to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s active duty map rotation, and now Valve is scrambling to make it fit for formal competition. Back in 2019, Vertigo was dusted off and added to the competitive map pool. Just three days later the map was added to the professional rotation, replacing a previous mainstay in Cache. What followed was months of overhauls and redesigns to better balance for professional players. …

Counter-Strike

Could Valve titles be coming back to gaming consoles soon? Steven Rondina Valve seems to once again be ready to put its games on consoles. Gabe Newell’s staycation in New Zealand is still ongoing, but that doesn’t mean Valve has been spinning its wheels back home in Seattle. In a Q&A at a New Zealand high school, Newell fielded questions from students with one asking “will Steam be putting any games on consoles, or will it just stay on PC?” Newell gave …

Counter-Strike

Jamppi says he won’t return to CSGO despite Valve rule change Olivia Richman Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen told followers in a recent stream that he will not be returning to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.  Jamppi received a VAC ban in 2015 that didn’t allow him to compete in any of Valve’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments. The CSGO prodigy was then booted from OG due to his inability to play, severely stunting his esports career. Even though ENCE surprisingly signed him after, Jamppi had a continuous …

League of Legends

New LoL bug can unlock 900-damage Smite in just 6 minutes William Davis Smite received a big change in the most recent League of Legends patch 11.10 and a game-breaking bug hitched a ride with it.  A recent YouTube video showed how players can gain access to the 900-damage Smite after just six minutes using the Unsealed Spellbook keystone. In the recent patch Riot changed Smite to deal flat damage, starting at 450 before increasing to 900 after completing the Smite quest. The …

League of Legends NRG acquires GAM Esports re-enters League of Legends By William Davis News Kaceytron admits to cheating on Mizkif’s Twitch show By Olivia Richman News How to get Zeraora in Pokemon Sword and Shield By Steven Rondina

News

Overwatch 2 is streaming a 2 hour look at PvP and more Nina Forneloza In the first developer update given by Aaron Keller, he revealed that Overatch 2 is going to be streamed on May 20, featuring a closer look at its PvP action. Since Overwatch 2 was announced in 2019, a lot of the focus on the game has been centered around the new story, new characters, new maps, and scenarios. Fans are excited for more lore and things to do in the …

League of Legends

Phase Rush nerf puts Ryze at lowest win rate in LoL William Davis Ryze is struggling like never before in solo queue on League of Legends patch 11.10 due to the recent nerfs made to Phase Rush.  The most recent patch has already taken its toll on Ryze, even though the Rune Mage didn’t receive any direct nerfs. Instead, Riot chose to nerf the Phase Rush keystone by adding a longer early-game cooldown and decreasing the bonus movement speed from the rune. This …

League of Legends

Top amateur LoL teams to compete in Challengers Uprising Summer William Davis The next split of the North American Proving Ground Circuit is right around the corner and will once again include events for amateur teams filled with up-and-coming talent.  The League of Legends 2021 Summer Proving Grounds Circuit will kick off on May 24 with the first of three circuit events. The event is Challengers Uprising Summer Sprint, where top amateur teams will compete for a chance at challenging the LCS …

Counter-Strike

Is AI the future of CSGO’s anti-cheat? Gabe Newell says yes Steven Rondina Gabe Newell is still happily stranded in New Zealand and surprisingly, he’s much more talkative about Valve than he usually is. The Valve president recently did a question-and-answer session at a high school, which was recorded by a student in attendance. A long list of subjects were touched upon, with Counter-Strike’s anti-cheat issues being among them. Newell was vague in his response. “A lot of the work we’re going to …

MAD Lions vs. Cloud9: MSI 2021 betting analysis William Davis League of Legends The first NA versus EU brawl of the year is about to unfold at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational as MAD Lions face off against Cloud9 in the Rumble Stage.  After a nail-biting group stage from Cloud9 and a fairly convincing one from MAD Lions, the two will finally clash in a battle between the LCS and LEC. Cloud9 had a rough start to the group stage but stepped up on …

ScreaM rage quits deathmatch, hates on Valorant DM Fariha Bhatti News Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom is the new player to complain about the Valorant deathmatch being bad.  Crisp aim is the bedrock of any first-person shooter game. In Valorant, you can master your agent abilities to perfection, but you can’t ladder up unless you have good aim. For this purpose, the tactical shooter has a deathmatch mode specifically for players looking to hone up their shooting. However, most players aren’t happy with …

Valve changes DPC rules after Alliance cheating allegations Steven Rondina News After a whirlwind of controversy, more information has come out in regards to cheating allegations against Alliance in DreamLeague Season 15. ESL and DreamHack released simultaneous statements noting that Alliance was not cheating by having trial coach Peter “ppd” Dager on-call with the team for its game against Brame. However, the tournament organizers noted that Valve was forcing a mid-season rule change in the Dota Pro Circuit leagues to prevent …

Amouranth lashes out at Twitch hot tub meta haters Olivia Richman News Twitch’s “hot tub meta” has been under fire for months, with streamers and viewers alike calling on the platform to better define its Terms of Service and crack down on sexually suggestive streams.  While a few streamers have received three-day suspensions for their antics during hot tub streams, Twitch has largely ignored the continued complaints. Twitch’s head of creator development, Marcus “djWHEAT” Graham, even told critics that they can simply …

EA addresses Apex Legends bug that bans innocent players Olivia Richman Apex Legends EA has swiftly addressed an Apex Legends issue that left countless innocent players banned from the game, seemingly at random.  Apex Legends’ moderation team created a thread on Reddit to organize the countless complaints from fans that were getting suddenly banned from the popular battle royale. Hundreds of players shared their story on the thread, with some saying they were banned mid-game while others were met with the alert after …

Allu takes leave from ENCE as roster breakdown continues Fariha Bhatti Counter-Strike ENCE AWPer Aleksi “allu” Jalli has announced a temporary break from competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, citing “personal reasons.”  The legendary Finnish player will be stepping back from professional play for the foreseeable future to rest and recuperate. Polish player Olek “hades” Miskiewicz will be substituted in for allu, but the timeline for his return is still unknown. The new stand-in is a young talent from Poland and has previously competed …

DWG KIA vs. RNG: MSI 2021 betting analysis William Davis League of Legends The 2021 Mid-Season Invitational will conclude with the grand final between DWG KIA and Royal Never Give Up.  Both teams have fought consistently throughout the tournament and are now ready to fight for the trophy. Prior to the tournament, DWG KIA was considered the biggest favorite, and for good reason. The defending world champions have looked scary in all stages at MSI, only struggling against RNG during the rumble stage. …

Streamer DarksydePhil resorts to begging, fans don’t like it Olivia Richman News After losing his Twitch partnership, streamer Philip “DarksydePhil” Burnell threatened to leave the platform completely. That is, unless he got extra support from his community in the form of donations.  DarksydePhil lost his partnership at the beginning of May, causing the veteran streamer to complain to his followers that he had no subscription option anymore. To continue earning money on Twitch, DarksydePhil stated that he needed viewers to use PayPal …

Who is SSSniperWolf and why has she left gaming behind? Olivia Richman News Alia “SSSniperWolf” Shelesh is a name a lot of people know, but often not for the best of reasons. This controversial YouTuber may have been voted “Favorite Gamer” in a past Kids Choice Awards, but many in the gaming community have disliked her for years. Why is that?    In 2019, SSSniperWolf was called out by Daniel “Keemstar” Keem after she was recognized as children’s “favorite gamer.” Keemstar and his …

TI10 date & location confirmed, but is the Battle Pass canceled? Steven Rondina Dota 2 UPDATE: Valve has confirmed a new date and location for The International 2021 after previous plans to host the event in Stockholm fell through. Find out everything here. Finally. More than one year removed from the indefinite postponement of The International 10, Valve has confirmed a new date for the event. Wykrhm Reddy announced the news on Twitter: The International 10 is back on the menu. Mark your calendars. #TI10 #Dota2 …

Here are some of the greatest shiny Pokemon in Pokémon GO William Davis News Since being released in 2016, Pokémon GO is still going strong with plenty of events and new Pokémon that keep players engaged.  One of the main objectives for most Pokémon GO players is catching coveted shiny Pokémon. Shiny Pokémon are rare and appear in different colors than normal, like orange Pikachus and gray Eevees. Getting shinies is usually very hard, as the chance of one appearing is minimal without special …

Alliance & ppd accused of cheating during Dota Pro Circuit match Steven Rondina Dota 2 Update: DreamHack issued a statement on cheating allegations against Alliance. Details can be found here. One of the hottest questions in Dota 2 right now is one that’s very difficult to answer. Did Alliance cheat during an official Dota Pro Circuit match? Alliance recently released a vlog that included footage of the team’s game against Brame during DreamLeague Season 15. While this isn’t unusual for Alliance, eyebrows were raised on …

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