News

Counter-Strike Fugly’s benching from Team Envy leads to huge drama on Twitter By M Alzamora League of Legends P1noy joins G2 as substitute ADC for the 2020 LEC Spring Split By Syed Mujtaba Naqvi Dota 2 Ranked queue gets another major shakeup in latest Dota 2 update By Steven Rondina

Counter-Strike

Natus Vincere may bench GuardiaN after poor performances Olivia Richman After four months of less than desirable performances, Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovacs might be benched by Natus Vincere.  According to a report from 1pv.fr, Na’Vi Junior player Rodion “fear” Smyk has been playing in GuardiaN’s place during recent practice sessions. With Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev most likely taking back the AWP role, Na’Vi would have to find a new rifler.  This isn’t a permanent change, however, and the Ukranian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive …

News

Jeff Kaplan discusses possible 1-3-2 role lock in Overwatch 2 Olivia Richman They didn’t like dive. They hated GOATS. They don’t like 2-2-2. And now some Overwatch fans are begging Blizzard to “save the game” by changing to a 1-3-2 role lock.  One fan took to the Blizzard forums to discuss why 1-3-2 role lock would benefit the game. Their first point was that one tank, three DPS, and two support heroes would fix DPS wait times.  “People want to play DPS, …

News

Dafran stands up for Overwatch League in ongoing caster drama Olivia Richman As the Overwatch League’s global 2020 season approaches, more and more broadcast talent have announced they are leaving. This has created quite some cause for concern despite new talent taking over some of the positions.  To address the growing gossip surrounding the seemingly constant stream of departures, senior director Jon Spector told The Esports Observer that there’s nothing for fans to worry about going into 2020.  “We’re incredibly thankful for …

League of Legends

Volcanic Wukong on 99% sale for awarness of Taal Volcano’s danger Syed Mujtaba Naqvi Garena, an organization that runs League of Legends servers in Southeast Asia, is working to increase awareness of the dangers from the Taal Volcano’s activity. With the Philippines facing the activation of Taal Volcano, the game provider decided to decrease the cost of the Volcanic Wukong skin on the PH server to one Riot Point. With the sale of the skin, Garena is spreading news of safety among League players, …

Counter-Strike CSPPA announces CSGO partnership with ESL and DreamHack By M Alzamora League of Legends Nike enters into partnership with T1, includes LoL and Dota 2 teams By gabhernandez News Looking back at some of esports’ earliest historical roots By Jared Wynne

News

Fans unsure what to expect this year for Overwatch Lunar New Year Olivia Richman Overwatch’s Winter Wonderland event has just ended and fans are already discussing the game’s next event: Lunar New Year.  For 2020, Lunar New Year will be the Year of the Rat. Players are already speculating new skins for Junkrat and Wrecking Ball, for obvious reasons. While these two heroes are safe bets for legendary skins, no information on the event have been revealed or leaked as of yet.  2019’s Year …

Fortnite

Valkyrae leaves Twitch for YouTube, contract details revealed Olivia Richman One of Twitch’s most popular female streamers, Rachel “Valkyrae” Hofstetter, has signed an exclusive deal with YouTube. The 100 Thieves influencer revealed the news on her Twitter with a short video that was later uploaded to YouTube.  “You’ve watched me grow into the person I am today. And I’m so excited to keep moving forward. It’s time for the next chapter. Are you ready for something new?” she asked, alluding to …

News

Nordavind adds NaToSaphiX and HS to complete CSGO roster M Alzamora Norwegian esports organization Nordavind has completed its new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster. Nordavind adds two players that have floated from team to team over the past several months in Niels “NaToSaphiX” Sillassen and Kevin “HS” Tarn. The organization made the announcement on its official Twitter account. The announcement comes days after the release of Håkon “hallzerk” Fjærli, who was previously rumored to be joining Dignitas alongside four members of the legendary 2014 Ninjas in Pyjamas roster. Though Dignitas has …

Counter-Strike

Cloud9 early favorites at DreamHack Open Leipzig CSGO tournament M Alzamora Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s DreamHack Open Leipzig 2020 is coming, and it offers teams a chance to receive an automatic invite to DreamHack Masters Jönköping 2020. It also gives viewers the chance to see some up-and-coming teams face off ahead of IEM Katowice 2020. The list of teams competing in Leipzig includes BIG, Cloud9, North, Renegades, Virtus.pro, Heroic, MAD Lions, and Sprout. The tournament should be an interesting test for the majority …

Sneaky officially leaves Cloud9 LoL roster for 2020 LCS Spring Split Steven Rondina League of Legends Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi has been officially removed from the Cloud9 League of Legends roster. The organization announced the news that the longtime AD Carry will not be a part of its roster for the 2020 LCS Spring Split. Sneaky’s future with Cloud9 has been in doubt since the organization signed former Team SoloMid AD Carry Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen. Cloud9 stated that Sneaky will remain with Cloud9 in an ownership amd …

Faker’s stream interrupted by bugs in League of Legends client William Davis League of Legends The faulty League of Legends client doesn’t discriminate between professional players and the casual solo queue enthusiast. T1 mid laner and League of Legends’ internationa star Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok was a victim of a client bug. Faker, who streams frequently on his personal Twitch account, encountered a curious bug on recently. As he jumped into the game, a bug message appeared on the screen. Faker tried multiple times to close …

Gamer saves friend’s life after hearing his seizure online Olivia Richman News While playing a game with her friend from the UK, 20-year-old Texan Dia Lathora could tell something was wrong from 5,000 miles away. She soon realized that 17-year-old Aidan Jackson was having a seizure. That’s when she called the Cheshire Police, ultimately saving his life.  “I’m calling from the US,” Lathora said in a call to dispatchers. “I’m curently in a call with my friend. He had a siezure and …

Everything you need to know about the DreamLeague Leipzig Major Steven Rondina News The DreamLeague Leipzig Major is almost here. The second major of the 2019-2020 Dota Pro Circuit season kicks off this weekend, bringing together 16 top Dota 2 teams for a tournament that carries enormous stakes. The winner will likely lock up a direct invitation to The International 2020, while other teams that performed well in the first major of the season will be able to move into even stronger positions …

Riot Games launches Mecha Kingdoms event, shares more 2020 plans William Davis League of Legends The first set of skins of 2020 is now available, so get ready for Mecha Kingdoms. League of Legends is starting the year with a new skin thematic. Mecha Kingdoms was revealed back in 2019 and the set of skins is finally available on the store. Garen, Leona, Draven, Sett, and Jax are the champions getting mecha skins. The Mecha Kingdoms set is the first one of many that will …

Ninja Fortnite skin revealed, release date announced on Mixer Steven Rondina Fortnite Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has been immortalized in Fortnite in a surprising way. Ninja revealed the skin on his Mixer channel, which was followed by Fortnite data miners unearthing the details on social media. Ninja stated the skin will be made available on Fortnite’s in-game shop on January 16. Fans can see the skin in action by sifting through clips from Ninja’s latest stream. “I’ve always dreamt of having a skin …

OG return to Dota 2 for ESL One Los Angeles Major qualifiers Steven Rondina Dota 2 OG are returning to the competitive Dota 2 scene. The reigning champions announced their plans to return for the qualifiers for the upcoming ESL One Los Angeles Major. No further details or specifics were given, including the team’s roster and whether the team would play in any other events beforehand to practice. OG reassembled its roster from The International 2018 and successfully won The International 2019, becoming the first two-time …

Bdosin signs with Seoul Dynasty for OWL season 3, and fans are mad gabhernandez News Flex support Seung-tae “Bdosin” Choi has split from the London Spitfire and signed with the Seoul Dynasty. This expands the Dynasty’s roster to nine players, including the following: Jinmo “tobi” Yang Minhyuk “Michelle” Choi Minseo “Marve1” Hwang Dongeon “FITS” Kim Jaemin “ILLICIT” Park Junyoung “Profit” Park Jaehui “Gesture” Hong Youngwan “Creative” Kim Seungtae “Bdosin” Choi The reaction from fans has been mixed. In 2017, Bdosin became embroiled in controversy when …

Riot Games drops in with League of Legends Season 2020 merch Olivia Richman League of Legends You’re climbing the League of Legends ladder this season, sure. But are you doing it in style?  To celebrate the 2020 season, Riot has dropped some League of Legends merch for fans looking to stay stylish in solo queue. All of the clothing items feature the League of Legends logo, a simple one on the front right pocket and an elaborate and ornate Summoner’s Rift design on the back.  The …

Shattered Web Week 9 missions release, require some skilled play M Alzamora Counter-Strike Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s week nine challenges are here and are asking players to have a pretty good day in order to finish them all. Week nine’s “…Just Having a Good Day” is all about precision and ending up on top of the competition. If players just want to earn their six stars for their rewards and move on, it’s an easy week to do so. There are two three-star challenges …

Latest CSGO patch updates Studio, fixes Shattered Web bugs M Alzamora Counter-Strike Big changes came to Studio in yesterday’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive update and the developers decided to take a shot at some bugs that have been around since the start of Operation Shattered Web.   Yesterday’s CSGO update brought major changes to Defusal Group Sigma map Studio. Valve has updated the game to the current workshop version, leading to a vastly different take on middle than players are used to. Both spawns, …

Semmler and Malik leave OWL as fans wonder about S3 casters gabhernandez News Two Overwatch League casting staples have revealed their intentions for 2020, and neither is staying.  Malik Forté and Auguste “Semmler” Massonnat are not returning to the OWL broadcast talent team, they have announced on Twitter.  The reaction has been worrisome among some segments of the Overwatch League community. A lot of fans had expected some of the talent to leave, but Forté was one that fans weren’t expecting. While most …

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