News

League of Legends Preseason patch 9.23 changes the map, dragons, runes, and more By William Davis League of Legends Origen reveals 2020 roster featuring Upset, Xerxe and Destiny By William Davis League of Legends JD Gaming bot laner and former world champ Imp announces retirement By Syed Mujtaba Naqvi

Dota 2

ESL announces Dota 2 major in Los Angeles for March 2020 Steven Rondina The United States is now set to host its first Dota 2 major since 2016. ESL has announced that it will be running the third Dota Pro Circuit major of the 2019-2020 season. The tournament will take place in Los Angeles, California and will be part of the ESL One event series. The news was revealed in a humorous trailer that highlighted the city’s memorable locales. The event will run …

League of Legends

New League of Legends champion Aphelios announced Syed Mujtaba Naqvi Riot Games has revealed a new League of Legends champion. Aphelios is a new marksman with lore surrounding his protection of the Lunari. He is a trained assassin that channels the magics of his twin sister, Alune. Their powers converged “like the moon of stone and its spiritual reflection” when the Solari attacked. Aphelios now protects his people as the conduit for Alune, using her powers in the world while she …

League of Legends

SK Telecom T1 extends Faker’s contract through 2021 Olivia Richman As the majority of SK Telecom T1’s roster face expiring contracts, the Korean team has extended Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok’s contract to 2021.  While Faker’s new salary with the contract hasn’t been made public, it’s been rumored that his base salary last year was $2.5 million, making him one of the highest paid esports players of all time.  League of Legends fans speculated that Faker would be leaving SKT during last …

News

Universities of Staffordshire, Chichester have esports programs gabhernandez Higher education institutions are increasingly seeing the value of esports programs. Today, colleges and universities are building courses and programs centered on esports. These schools are in the process of creating the formal educational backgrounds that will eventually become standard requirements in the industry.  Additionally, collegiate esports programs are also becoming more and more popular and could become a proper source of talent for pro teams in the future. With …

News Valve to reveal details on the new Half-Life: Alyx VR game By Olivia Richman Counter-Strike Chaos Dominates as WINNERS League passes halfway point By M Alzamora Dota 2 Evil Geniuses bests IG, as China struggles at MDL Chengdu Major By Steven Rondina

Counter-Strike

100 Thieves wins round in just 16 seconds in pro CSGO match Olivia Richman 100 Thieves snagged the record for fastest round of the ESL Pro League this season after they took a round from Isurus Gaming in just16 seconds.  So how is it even possible to win a round that quickly?  100 Thieves took a round on Inferno in that few seconds by throwing grenades toward middle after gathering that the CTs would be on an eco buy round. But Isurus Gaming had …

League of Legends

Riot Games announces new Dutch and Belgian leagues for 2020 Syed Mujtaba Naqvi Riot Games has introduced two new leagues to the European Masters. The Benelux region is getting richer as Dutch and Belgian Leagues will be starting in the 2020 competitive season. Riot’s head of esports for France and Benelux, Damien “Damzee” Ricci, shared on November 18 that the organization has partnered with Belgian digital marketing agency 4Entertainment to build a stronger local League of Legends scene in the Benelux region. The Benelux Premier …

Counter-Strike

While Galil and Famas are buffed, is the Krief nerf enough? M Alzamora In the new Operation Shattered Web update, Valve has increased the price of the terrorist Krieg weapon and buffed the Famas and Galil. With the arrival of a new operation, Valve also made adjustments to three weapons in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The update increased the price of the rifle from $2750 to $3000. While only an increase of $250, the adjustment makes the weapon that much more difficult for the …

League of Legends

Broxah splits from Fnatic, replaces Xmithie on Team Liquid Steven Rondina Team Liquid had a solid 2019 season, but that didn’t keep the team from making changes for 2020. According to Jacob Wolf on the ESPN League of Legends Free Agency Show, Liquid has added Fnatic jungler Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen. He is set to replace Jake “Xmithie” Puchero. Broxah leaves Fnatic after more than three years. He first joined the organization in 2016 with Fnatic Academy but was promoted to the …

Cloud9 adds ex-TSM carry Zven, Dignitas’ Vulcan as new bot lane duo William Davis League of Legends According to ESPN’s Jacob Wolf, Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen and Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme are the new bottom lane duo for Cloud9. Cloud9 is reportedly about to close a deal with the former Team SoloMid AD Carry. The Danish player revealed on November 12 that he had decided against renewing his contract with TSM and that he would enter free agency. The news didn’t surprise LCS fans considering the poor results Zven has …

T1 loses Khan and Clid to free agency, locks down Effort William Davis League of Legends T1, formerly known as SK Telecom T1, has been at the center of a surprising amount of news regarding League of Legends free agency. The organization has extended its contract with Lee “Effort” Sang-ho. The support player will return next spring and will remain a part of the organization that gave him his start thanks a two-year extension.  Before this, T1 extended its contract with Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, which will see …

KT Rolster still in negotiations with its current roster William Davis League of Legends KT Rolster has terminated its contracts with its League of Legends roster, but it might not be done with the players just yet. The organization barely avoided relegations in the summer and that has the brand ready to change its approach for the next season. That shift started when the team released support No “SnowFlower” Hoi-jong before the free agency period officially started. Now, the team has nixed its contracts …

Team SoloMid adds ex-Splyce carry Kobbe for 2020 LCS Spring Split Olivia Richman League of Legends The free agency period of League of Legends is in full swing and one of the biggest moves thus far is Team SoloMid adding Kasper “Kobbe” Kobberup. The move was reported on ESPN’s League of Legends Free Agent Live Show.  The former Splyce AD carry will most likely be replacing Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen, who announced his departure from the team last week.  Kobbe is a big pickup for TSM. The Danish player has …

Norskeren and Patrik join Excel, Fnatic replaces YoungBuck with Mithy William Davis League of Legends Patrik “Patrik” Jírů and Tore “Norskeren” Hoel Eilertsen are Excel Esports’ new bottom lane duo. The former Origen bot laner and ex-Splyce support will be the team’s starters for the 2020 LEC Spring Split. The roster also includes top laner Ki “Expect” Dae-han and jungler Marc Robert “Caedrel” Lamont. The team is yet to reveal its starting mid laner. The duo represent an influx of both young talent and veteran …

Hans Sama joins Rogue, extends Vander’s contract two years Syed Mujtaba Naqvi League of Legends Former Misfits Gaming bot laner Steven “Hans Sama” Liv is joining Rogue for the 2020 season. The organization has also secured the services of Oskar “Vander” Bogdan’s for the next two years. ESPN’s Jacob Wolf shared the news regarding Rogue’s 2020 League of Legends European Championship roster. Rogue quickly confirmed the news on Twitter, sharing a video announcing Vander’s re-signing and teasing Han Sama as the new addition towards the …

Reports say 2020 CSGO Major will be ESL Rio, Brazil’s first M Alzamora Counter-Strike Reports indicate that ESL will host the first Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major of 2020 in Brazil. According to both a comment from s1mple and a report from DBLTAP, ESL will host the next CSGO Major in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in May 2020. This would be the first Major to take place in the country. ESL last hosted a Major earlier this year at the IEM Katowice tournament in Poland. …

4 teams eliminated on day 1 of MDL Chengdu Major playoffs Steven Rondina Dota 2 With the first day of the MDL Chengdu Major’s playoffs complete, four teams have been eliminated from the event. Gambit Esports, Team Spirit, Team Adroit, and Team Unknown share a 13th-place finish. That earns each team a $12,500 prize alongside 100 Dota Pro Circuit qualifying points. For Team Adroit and Team Unknown, the outcome isn’t surprising. The Southeast Asian and South American squads qualified for the event despite having a …

Massive CSGO update brings new Operation, Krieg Nerf, more M Alzamora Counter-Strike Valve has officially launched Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s next operation, Shattered Web. The release marks the first operation for CSGO in over two years. Shattered Web adds an in-game reward system that gives players rewards ranging from stickers and sprays to new character models. Alongside these, Operation Shattered Web brings new cooperative Guardian missions and an all-new “Strike Mission,” according to the official CSGO blog. Shattered Web is available now on …

Team SoloMid trades Smoothie to CLG for Biofrost Syed Mujtaba Naqvi League of Legends Team SoloMid and Counter Logic Gaming will reportedly be swapping their supports. According to ESPN’s Jacob Wolf, Vincent “Biofrost” Wang and Andy “Smoothie” Ta will be switching teams for the upcoming LCS season. This comes as both organizations look to retool their rosters after failing to qualify for the 2019 League of Legends World Championship. The news will likely be confirmed once free agency announcements begin on November 18. Biofrost played for TSM during …

Gen.G drops most of its LoL team to rebuild around Ruler and Life William Davis League of Legends Gen.G Esports extended the contracts of bottom lane duo Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk and Kim “Life” Jeong-min and released the rest of its roster. Top laners Lee “CuVee” Seong-jin and Kim “Roach” Kang-hui, jungler Han “Peanut” Wang-ho, and mid laners Song “Fly” Yong-jun and Lee “Kuzan” Seong-hyeok now find themselves as free agents. “We are sad to announce players’ departures as we enter the offseason. We thank them for everything they’ve …

Faker extends contract with T1, staying with team through 2021 Nina Forneloza League of Legends Legendary mid laner and three-time World Champion Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok has confirmed he will remain with SK Telecom’s League of Legends team T1 until at least the end of 2021. While many fans would assume that there would be no reason for Faker to leave an organization that he has won so many titles with, there has been a fair bit of speculation that he’s ready for a change of …

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