News

League of Legends Kingzone DragonX upsets FunPlus Phoenix at Rift Rivals, LCK starts 4-0 By William Davis League of Legends SK Telecom T1 start Rift Rivals 2019 with win over Flash Wolves By William Davis News Walking Zenyatta in the Workshop is the stuff of nightmares By Olivia Richman

League of Legends

Immortals CEO Ari Segal discusses imminent return to the LCS Olivia Richman Since Immortals Gaming Club announced the acquisition of Infinite Esports, the parent company of OpTic Gaming and the Houston Outlaws, League of Legends fans have been wondering about the return of Immortals to the LCS.  According to Immortals CEO Ari Segal, OpTic Gaming will retain its branding for the remainder of the 2019 LCS season. Then the team will rebrand in 2020, marking Immortals’ first time in the LCS since …

Counter-Strike

CSGO meta shifts hard at ESL One Cologne after Anniversary Update Steven Rondina Counter-Strike: Global Offensive professionals are dialing back their use of the AUG. The CT-side scoped assault rifle has experienced a steep drop in usage at the ESL One Cologne tournament. This suggests that the recent nerfs to the gun have had a serious impact on its viability in pro play. The AUG has only been chosen around 20% of the time when it comes to CT assault rifle purchases, with …

Counter-Strike

Lazarus Esports beats New Identity in debut WINNERS League NA final Jared Wynne Lazarus Esports has been crowned the inaugural champion of WINNERS League’s debut North American invitational tournament after a thrilling grand finals victory. Lazarus defeated New Identity in the final series by a 2-1 margin. The finals included overtime, comebacks, and big individual performances from some of America’s best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive talent. New Identity got off to a promising start on Overpass. The team played Lazaraus to a standstill, trading …

News

Rainbow Six Pilot Program creates controversy as excluded teams leave William Davis Big things are happening in the Rainbow Six Siege community, as two EU Pro League rosters were abruptly dropped from their parent organizations over the past two days.  LeStream and Mousesports have decided to pull their support from Pro League rosters after not making it into Rainbow Six Siege developer Ubisoft’s lucrative revenue sharing Pilot Program.  Currently, the ex-LeStream roster has the number one spot in EU Pro League, with …

Counter-Strike s1mple knife fail allows Team Liquid to come back at ESL One Cologne By Steven Rondina Counter-Strike Virtus.pro CSGO team benches OKOLICIOUZ, announce phr as stand-in By Olivia Richman Fortnite Latest Fortnite update includes Drum Shotgun and July 4th heroes By Olivia Richman

Counter-Strike

Cloud9 reveals new CSGO roster after Americas Minor qualifier flop Steven Rondina To the surprise of no one, Cloud9’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster has undergone a major shakeup. Following its failure to reach the closed qualifiers of the StarLadder Berlin Major Americas Minor Championship, the organization unveiled a heavily overhauled roster. The new lineup will debut at BLAST Pro Series: Los Angeles. Joining Cloud9 star Timothy “Autimatic” Ta are former NRG Esports captain Damian “daps” Steele, Ghost Gaming’s Kenneth “Koosta” Suen, Tyson …

League of Legends

Tarzaned banned, receives two-week suspension for boosting Olivia Richman Famed League of Legends streamer Tarzaned just received a two-week ban for account boosting.  During a live stream, Riot Games issued Tarzaned the ban for allegedly boosting another account after a solo queue game. Tarzaned appeared suprised by the ban on stream and didn’t seem to know why it was happening at first, though he also seemed to recognize the reason for the ban after reading the notification. “It doesn’t …

League of Legends

Twitch subscriber streams could violate TOS in popular games Nina Forneloza A new feature from Twitch, subscriber streams, will allow content creators to stream exclusively to those users who have paid a subscription to their channel. Users currently can watch any channel’s content for free, or can choose to subscribe to channels in order to access a small number of privileges. The decision has been met with mixed reactions. Some feel that subscription-only streams will reduce toxicity and unpleasant messages in …

News

Overwatch quietly adds new protection for matchmaking with cheaters Fariha Bhatti Overwatch players have noticed that a new anti-cheat system is in place on live servers.  The update comes as a surprise to many, though it seems to have been included in a patch made at the end of June. Multiple players have taken to social media in recent days to share their discovery found within Overwatch. After being a part of a match that had suddenly ended for reasons they …

Dota 2 Battle Pass: The International 2019 compendium qualifier picks Steven Rondina Dota 2 The International 2019 will feature 18 top Dota 2 teams. 12 of them were decided through the Dota Pro Circuit, with elites like Virtus.pro and Team Secret locking up spots early, while Keen Gaming and Alliance squeaked their way more recently. The remaining teams will be decided through qualifiers, with each of the six regions sending a single qualifying representative to Shanghai. To raise awareness and to give fans an …

Furia Esports and Nike partner up for major esports sponsorshipship Steven Rondina Counter-Strike Furia Esports has officially hit the big leagues of the esports world. The Brazilian organization best known of its surging Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad has secured a sponsorship with athletic apparel juggernaut Nike. The sponsorship is Nike’s second foray into esports. “This contract with Nike is something pioneer in esports’ world and adds credibility and sustainability to our project,” Furia CEO Jaime Pádua F. Filho said. “With Nike’s support, we’ll …

Apex Legends ranked matchmaking details, release date revealed Steven Rondina Apex Legends Top Apex Legends players will finally have something to fight for. In a lengthy post on the game’s official website, developer Respawn Entertainment detailed its plans for a ranked mode for the popular battle royale title. The update sheds light on how the ranked system will work and when players will be able to start climbing the ladder. Respawn opened the discussion by stating that the ranked system will be …

Shroud gives advice for anyone to reach his level Nina Forneloza Counter-Strike In a recent stream, former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro and popular streamer Michael “shroud” Grzesiek dismissed suggestions he was a “gaming god,” insisting anyone could reach his level of play and revealing his keys to success. In a discussion regarding shroud’s ability to advance to the top rank in any first-person shooter he plays, a fan on stream asked the question whether he considered himself a “gaming god.” Shroud dismissed …

The International 2019 prize pool breaks new records Steven Rondina Dota 2 The International 2019 is officially set to be the largest event in Dota 2 history. The prize pool has surpassed the $25,532,177 record set by The International 2018. As of this writing, the tally stands at $25,601,298. Perhaps even more impressively, there are still more than 50 days left for fans to add to inject cash and make The International the most lucrative event in esports once again. To say …

CSGO VAC bans in 2019 have already surpassed 4 million Jared Wynne Counter-Strike The Counter Strike: Global Offensive community has been desperate for anti-cheating improvements since the dawn of the franchise 20 years ago. Valve has now issued 500,000 account bans in May alone to help combat the prevalence of cheating in the game.The Valve Anti-Cheat system that has been present on the platform for years, and was recently made able to recognise a few popular free-to-use cheating softwares that have led to …

Respawn Entertainment CEO discusses Apex Legends and future games Olivia Richman Apex Legends Respawn Entertainment’s CEO Vince Zampella admits that Apex Legends grew a little too fast for his company to keep up with.  In a candid interview with Game Informer, Zampella discussed Apex Legends success and what it means for the future of Titanfall.  “Apex took off beyond our wildest imagination. It’s a good problem to have, but we’re struggling to keep up with demand. With servicing that many millions of players, it’s …

Teamfight Tactics celebrates ranked mode with Showdown tournament Olivia Richman League of Legends The first-ever Teamfight Tactics tournament has just been announced. Riot Games released an official press release for the first Teamfight Tactics event. Sixty-four Twitch streamers will battle for “bragging rights” in the game’s first competitive tournament on July 17 and 18.  The two-day Twitch Rivals event has a $125,000 prize pool.  The first day will feature two groups of 32 players, compting for a spot in the second day’s top …

Battle Pass bug lets users to purchase multiple weekend sale bundles gabhernandez Dota 2 The latest Battle Level and Treasure Bundle weekend sale has come with a new bug that was exploited by some Battle Pass owners. Valve restricted the Battle Level and Treasure bundle to only one purchase per customer. However, some community members discovered different ways through which they could purchase more than one bundle. A step-by-step guide was initially popularized on Reddit. Numerous accounts claimed that the guide was effective and …

TI9 closed qualifier invitees list headlined by Natus Vincere, Gambit Steven Rondina Dota 2 The Epicenter Major is over and with that, the 12 direct invitees to The International 2019 are officially locked. Teams still have the opportunity to work their way in through qualifiers, but some will have an easier path than others. The open qualifiers begin on July 3, but several teams have been given the chance to cut the line and jump directly into the closed qualifiers. The full list of …

Team Liquid is charting a path to global esports domination Jared Wynne League of Legends   Team Liquid deposed the mighty Astralis and stormed to the top of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive rankings this month following emphatic victories at IEM Sydney and DreamHack Masters Dallas. This sustained brilliance drew plaudits from competitive gaming fans and signalled the dawn of a new era in CS:GO. Yet it was just the latest in a long list of triumphs for Liquid, which is officially the most successful esports …

Toronto Defiant Mangachu talks about being a Torbjorn main in the OWL Olivia Richman News Toronto Defiant hasn’t been having good results in Week 4. First they lost to the Los Angeles Gladiators. Then they fell to the Houston Outlaws. But that didn’t stop Liam “Mangachu” Campbell from having a good time.  The recently signed DPS star has finally reached his goal of being in the Overwatch League, and a few bad games won’t get him down. Hailing from Oakville, Ontario, just from Toronto, Mangachu is …

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