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News How will VR change esports? By William Davis News Five tips to improve your skills in Valorant By William Davis News A beginner’s guide to streaming By William Davis

Counter-Strike

New CSGO ping bug lets you find enemies around corners M Alzamora Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has another ping bug to worry about. Just a week after rediscovering CSGO’s crouchwalk bug, a Reddit user uncovered another bug with Valve’s first person shooter. This time it had to do with the game’s ping feature added with Operation Broken Fang. CSGO’s player pings are incredibly useful, but they’ve also had several different issues since their release. The latest one to appear is making enemy players …

Counter-Strike

OG’s new banana nade setup can easily finish off enemies Fariha Bhatti In a match against Astralis, Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen-led OG showcased that they’ve been rehearsing their utility in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.  Astralis has eliminated OG from BLAST Premier Spring Group series in a 2-0 fashion. The losing team, however, has left some key lessons for CSGO fans.   In the second map inferno, Astralis had the lead of four rounds against struggling OG. In an effort to open B site, three …

Counter-Strike

This Mirage mid-window smoke lineup works perfectly every single round Fariha Bhatti Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s map Mirage has dozens of standard utility lineups. However, most players still struggle with middle window smoke.  Valve’s antiquated locate Mirage is easily one of the most played maps after Dust II. With its dusty themes, dull colors, and creaky windows, few maps have been able to replace Mirage’s legacy. Despite Valve’s additions of fresh locations, players continue to connect to the old map to relish the …

Counter-Strike

Cache’s new boost molotov can’t be stopped by Terrorists M Alzamora Out of all of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s maps, Cache is where players hear the words “boost me” the most. But it works and it’s hard for CTs to do anything about it. Even though Cache hasn’t returned to the competitive pool, players are still finding new grenades to defend the map’s most important area. Finally, a safe CT molotov has been found to bomb boost without revealing the defender. Instead …

News The Happy Hob suspended from Twitch after sexually charged joke By Olivia Richman Dota 2 Former paiN Gaming player 444 dead at 25 due to virus By Steven Rondina Dota 2 Dota 2 pro’s in-game racism brings up game’s larger problems By Steven Rondina

League of Legends

G2 Esports, Rekkles dealt surprise loss from Fnatic in LEC William Davis Fnatic took down G2 Esports in unexpected fashion in their first LEC clash of 2021. A lot was on the line for both teams when the G2 and Fnatic rivalry unfolded for the first time in 2021. During the offseason, the rivalry got even more intense as G2 picked up bot laner Martin “Rekkles” Larsson. This put Fnatic in a difficult spot ahead of the 2021 season, but left them …

News

This Sova arrow lineup on Icebox makes opening A Site easier Fariha Bhatti Riot Games’ recent addition to the Valorant map pool is just as tricky to master as it is unique. Sova may be to help make Icebox a bit easier to play.  The cool secret excavation site brings unique horizontal zipliners to the game. A snowy blanket coupled with tight corners is what sets this map apart from the rest. Months after its release, players are still figuring out their way …

League of Legends

Bo carries FPX to another victory, dominates Top Esports in LPL William Davis FunPlus Phoenix keeps impressing in the Chinese LPL after taking down the defending champions Top Esports. A highly anticipated matchup between the defending LPL champions Top Esports and former world champions FPX unfolded today. On paper, the match seemed extremely close but FPX managed to dominate and show why they are sitting on a big winning streak at the top of the leaderboards. FPX took the win in just two …

News

Twitch’s Purple Screen of Death is now showing up in-game Olivia Richman Twitch’s Purple Screen of Death is becoming even more invasive, and people aren’t happy about it. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds recently faced some complications due to Twitch’s newly implemented anti-adblock measure. Like many similar tournaments, the PUBG Invitational had a stream of the tournament embedded into the PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds game client. But Twitch’s Purple Screen of Death continued to pop up instead, a bad look for both the game and for Twitch.  …

Cloud9 signs top player on NA Valorant leaderboards, poiz Nicholas James News Cloud9 has added one of the top-ranked North American players on the official Valorant leaderboards, Michael “poiz” Possis, to its Cloud9 Blue roster. The organization brought him in as a sixth man, signing him to the bench for the time being. We said we were poised to make an announcement and here it is.Please welcome @poizFPS to #C9BLUE as our 6th member! #LETSGOC9 pic.twitter.com/7u9lRlFG55 — Cloud9 (@Cloud9) February 5, 2021 …

Riot bans four people in alleged LoL roster poaching scandal Steven Rondina League of Legends Riot Games has instituted significant sanctions against a team competing in the 2021 NA Amateur circuit.  ANEW Esports, an organization that has enjoyed success in LCS Scouting Grounds events since forming in 2019, has seen several individuals slapped with heavy penalties over the signing of jungler William “Trixter” Benoit. Riot claims that the organization was approached by Trixter while he was signed to Wildcard Gaming and “poached” him from the …

Riot is planning jungle nerfs for LoL patch 11.4 William Davis League of Legends Riot has given the first sneak peek at the upcoming League of Legends Patch 11.4 and it includes nerfs to the jungle.  The jungle position has been very strong so far in Season 11, but Riot is looking to tone down its strength in Patch 11.4. In the recent patches, several jungle champions have been sitting at the top of the win-rate charts and there is a good reason for …

Japanese Pokémon hacker arrested after selling Sobble Nina Forneloza News Japan outlawed hacking video games back in 2018 and one Pokémon hacker is now feeling the consequences when he was arrested following the sale of hacked Pokémon.  A 23-year-old Japanese man was arrested for allegedly selling a hacked Sobble, which was sold for 4400 yen (about $41 USD). The man also is said to have made almost 1.1 million yen (about $10,000 USD) total from selling hacked Pokemon. The unemployed …

ONE Esports Singapore Major confirmed as next Dota 2 major Steven Rondina Dota 2 The ONE Esports Singapore Major will become a reality in 2021. Following a huge leak last week, PGL and ONE Esports have confirmed that they will be hosting the first major of the 2021 Dota Pro Circuit season. The event will feature teams from around the world and is positioned to be the game’s first inter-regional LAN event since Dota Summit 12 in March 2020, and the first Dota 2 …

Astralis planning to open theme park gaming center exhibit Olivia Richman Counter-Strike Astralis is opening a new facility and it’s in a pretty unexpected location.  The Danish esports organization is planning a fun-filled facility in Tivoli Gardens, an amusement park in Copenhagen. Though it’s not an ideal time for theme parks, fans of the top CSGO brand can look forward to this opening in June.  The new facility is being described as Astralis’ “first-ever flagship store.” There will be gaming setups for …

Nuguri takes top spot from ShowMaker in LoL player rankings William Davis League of Legends The League of Legends player rankings are back for the second update of 2021. A lot has changed in just two weeks, so here’s how the best players in the world rank. The first player ranking of the year had DWG KIA mid laner Heo “ShowMaker” Su at the top, but he has since then been dethroned by his former teammate, Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon. Further down the list are some …

DWG KIA defends top spot in LoL team ranking, LPL closes in William Davis League of Legends The second League of Legends team ranking of 2021 is here and a lot has changed in the last two weeks.  Defending world champion DWG KIA is still sitting at the top of the ranking, but several teams from the LPL are closing in on them. The same goes for Gen.G who has surpassed Cloud9 and is now placed as the second-best team in the world according to the rankings. …

FaZe Clan’s coldzera claims olofmeister is retiring from CSGO Fariha Bhatti Counter-Strike FaZe Clan’s in-game leader Marcelo “coldzera” David has revealed that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive veteran Olof “olofmeister” Gustafsson will soon be stepping down from competitive play.  FaZe Clan’s CSGO division has recently been in state of flux. Nikola “NiKo“ Kovac’s departure triggered various roster swaps, which have negatively impacted the team performance. olofmeister recently interrupted an extended break from CSGO to fill in for NiKo, but that was not the part …

Esports organization North closes, most players’ fates unknown Fariha Bhatti Counter-Strike The joint project of Parken Sport & Entertainment and Nordisk Film North has officially ended. The unexpected announcement will see most of its rosters liquidated.  North is the latest esports organization with a focus on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to undergo serious changes over the last year. The press releases cited financial hurdles as the chief cause behind the exit.  Today is a sad day. North Esports is no more. Ty …

IWillDominate to co-stream LCS after League Partner ban lifted Olivia Richman League of Legends League of Legends streamer and former pro player Christian “IWillDominate” Rivera is allowed to co-stream the LCS again.  “Really thankful that I can resume the co-streams and excited to move forward together with Riot and the LCS into the 2021 season,” IWillDominate tweeted to his excited fans.  IWillDominate noted that he will resume co-streaming the LCS on Friday.  Happy to announce that I have been given permission by Riot to …

What is the MoonStaff meta and how do you play it? William Davis League of Legends  Ahead of Season 11, League of Legends completely changed its item system, introducing a new tier, the mythical items. These are powerful items and players can only pick one per game. The new item system created opportunities for creative build paths, like the strategy known as “MoonStaff.”  MoonStaff consists of two items, Moonstone Renewer and the Staff of Flowing Water. Moonstone Renewer is a mythic item that, according to the …

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