News

League of Legends Ruin, Kirei depart from 1907 Fenerbahce after washing out of MSI By Steven Rondina League of Legends Flash Wolves roar past Vega Squadron, qualify for MSI main event By William Davis League of Legends Rogue drops Kikis, Excel finds a new coach prior to LEC summer split By William Davis

News

San Francisco Shock finish historic run with win over Shanghai Steven Rondina The San Francisco Shock have pulled off something truly impressive. After taking a 4-0 win over the Shanghai Dragons, the Shock notched a perfect 7-0 record in stage two of the Overwatch League regular season. Far more impressively, the victory capped an immaculate 28-0-0 run for the team in which they didn’t lose a single map. This is even more impressive given that stage two saw a major transition for …

Dota 2

EternalEnVy and Beastcoast are first eliminations at Disneyland Major Steven Rondina Jacky “EternalEnVy” Mao and Beastcoast had a chance to shut people up at the MDL Disneyland Paris Major, but they couldn’t do it. The rebranded and retooled Team Team made their debut at the major and flopped mightily. The team came in last place without winning a single series. The elimination came on the first day of the playoffs with a loss to CompLexity Gaming. Playing in an elimination match …

League of Legends

Team Liquid sweep Phong Vu Buffalo, advance at Mid-Season Invitational William Davis Team Liquid qualified for the Mid-Season Invitational’s main event after a scrappy win against local representative Phong Vũ Buffalo. TL is moving to the next phase at MSI, as the North American team took down PVB in three straight games. It wasn’t necessarily easy for TL as PVB put the LCS champions in some difficult situations, but Liquid was rarely threatened past the early game. The Vietnam representatives failed to …

Dota 2

The International 2019 Battle Pass release date has been announced Steven Rondina The International 2019 Battle Pass will be arriving soon. Valve has officially announced the release date for the TI9 Battle Pass on the official Dota 2 Twitter account. According to a short tweet, the long awaited feature will arrive “tomorrow,” May 7. The tweet also features a GIF showing the Aegis of Champions adorned with flowers on a purple background. This seems to confirm previous leaks that suggested the theme for …

League of Legends Immortals raises $30 million, acquires Gamers Club, looks to LCS By William Davis News Team Liquid win PEL Kick-off Cup, but amateur teams upend pros By Steven Rondina Fortnite Fortnite volcano erupts destructively, wipes out Tilted Towers By Olivia Richman

Counter-Strike

Team Liquid comes through in a final and wins IEM Sydney Steven Rondina Team Liquid is has finally broken its finals curse at one of the biggest Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments of the year. North America’s finest took first place at Intel Extreme Masters XIV Sydney. The team captured gold by last defeating Fnatic, capping an almost perfect run through the event. The grand finals kicked off on Cache with a huge win for Fnatic. Spurred on by strong efforts from Ludvig “Brollan” …

League of Legends

Fnatic secures $19 million in funding round, appoints news CEO William Davis European esports organization Fnatic has raised $19 million in a recent Series A funding, the team announced through its official website. Entrepreneur Lev Leviev of LVL1 Group, Beringea, Blackpine, Unbound, and Joi Ito are some of the new investors in the Fnatic brand. This is the first funding round held by Fnatic since April 2017 when the team secured a round of $7 million. “Esports is the future of entertainment, …

Counter-Strike

ATK crush, Virtus.pro come up clutch in Winners League Season 2 Steven Rondina Winners League Season 2’s group stage is officially past the halfway point and we’re starting to see teams make a push for a spot in the playoffs. Both divisions have an intriguing mix of recognizable names and fresh blood topping their groups, but few of them are topped by those teams that were expected to dominate. A lot of intriguing new teams have been flexing their muscles throughout the season, …

News

Jeff Kaplan wishes he could retire Total Mayhem from OW Arcade mode Olivia Richman Overwatch lead designer Jeff Kaplan is ashamed of his creation.  A few days ago, one player took to the Overwatch forums to ask, “What does Jeff Kaplan have against Mayhem and No Limits?”  The Overwatch fan said he usually plays arcade mode to “avoid losing friends in comp.” But he’s noticed that 1v1 Elimination is an arcade option “three to four times in on week” despite his observation that no …

First five slots in franchised Call of Duty league sold to OWL owners Steven Rondina News The first permanent franchises for the upcoming Call of Duty league have been announced. According to a statement by Activision-Blizzard, franchises for the cities of New York, Paris, Atlanta, Dallas, and Toronto have been sold. The slots have been awarded to the ownership groups of corresponding Overwatch League teams. “The upcoming launch of our new Call of Duty esports league reaffirms our leadership role in the development of professional esports,” …

Boston Uprising owner Robert Kraft ordered to appear in court Olivia Richman News Boston Uprising’s owner Robert Kraft is not getting special treatment in his sex solicitation case.  A Florida judge has ordered the billionaire to appear at a May 21 hearing that will conclude three days of deliberation over the admissibility of the videos that captured Kraft allegedly receiving sexual favors from sex trafficking victims at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa.    Kraft’s arrest was part of a months-long investigation by …

Players get a better look at new League support champion Yuumi Fariha Bhatti League of Legends The 144th Champion of League of Legends, Yuumi the Magical Cat, is now available on Public Beta Environment servers. Players have now been able to get their first look at where she might fit into games and have a clearer idea of the new champion’s abilities. The official trailer for Yuumi’s release was unveiled last week, providing additional insight into the champion’s skill set and potential roles. The Magical Cat …

Immortals looking to buy OpTic Gaming after $30 million investment Steven Rondina League of Legends Immortals is looking to get back into the League of Legends business. According to a report by ESPN’s Jacob Wolf, Immortals is looking to purchase OpTic Gaming. OpTic has reportedly been talking with prospective buyers since February. Immortals is one of the largest organizations in esports, fielding teams in multiple games with a variety of brands including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s MiBR and the Overwatch League’s Los Angeles Valiant. From 2015 …

Ninja weighs in on XXiF cheating in Fortnite World Cup Qualifier Olivia Richman Fortnite The Fortnite World Cup’s immense prize pool has already caused a lot of competitors to give in to their greed.  Fortnite pro Damion “XXiF” Cook was recently accused of colluding with his friends during a World Cup open qualifer match. He took second place, earning $4,000 in prize money and, more importantly, a spot in the finals.  XXiF has denied any illegal activity, but it seems like the Fortnite community …

Epic Games adds new item to Fortnite before World Cup qualifiers Steven Rondina Fortnite Anyone that was still hoping that Epic Games would hold back on game updates over the next few weeks has been left disappointed. Just two days ahead of the next set of Fortnite World Cup qualifiers, the version 8.51 update has dropped. Though it is a relatively small one, the patch introduces a new item that pros will need to familiarize themselves with in the next 48 hours. Version 8.51 …

Pro PUBG player proposes to girlfriend and opponent during tournament Steven Rondina News Digital Athletics may have finished eighth in its group for the Kick-off Cup, but one of its players still managed to come away as the biggest winner of the day. After finishing his sets on day three of the event, Mert “ABeautfulDeath” Ozturk brought girlfriend Zeynep “ritalel” Sualp on stage. Though the couple had been playing against each other earlier in the day, with Ritalel repping We Need a Home …

Virtus.pro signs another new player after veteran byali steps down Olivia Richman News Virtus.pro has announced that Michal “OKOLICIOUZ” Glowaty will be joining its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster. The Polish-German player has been a part of Virtus.pro as a stand-in before. This included taking on Izako Boars in the Polish Championship. Now, he is joining Virtus.pro for active competition in both ESEA MDL Season 31 Europe and Kalashnikov Cup Season 2. Before coming back to Virtus.pro, OKOLICIOUZ has been playing for EURONICS since the …

Overwatch League Grand Finals headed to Philadelphia in 2019 Steven Rondina News The Overwatch League grand finals are once again headed to the northeastern United States. According to a report by ESPN’s Rod Breslau, the grand finals of the second Overwatch League season will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The news reportedly comes as a surprise to both fans and to those within the Overwatch League. The Overwatch League 2019 Grand Finals will be hosted at the Wells Fargo Center, home to …

Overwatch League players discuss travel and wild fans in Dallas William Davis News The Dallas Homestand Weekend was a success in the minds of many Overwatch League players who were grateful for the experience heading into next year’s plan to see each team play a full slate of home games. Shane “Rawkus” Flaherty of the Houston Outlaws offered that the experience was a good one, but that the required travel arrangements cut into the team’s practice time, something that would have to be …

LOL reddit: Garena fires employee who was betting during official MSI broadcast Olivia Richman League of Legends When Garena Taiwan was first caught betting on the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational, Twitch viewers were immediately enraged by the digital entertainment platform’s illegal activities. Now, it looks like the League of Legends community is getting at least part of its wish. The LMS region’s official MSI broadcaster and official Riot partner has announced that the person in charge of the stream has been terminated. Many on Reddit had demanded for …

PUBG hosts Reddit AMA with the official Weapon Mastery team Olivia Richman News Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds’ Weapon Mastery team recently took to Reddit for an AMA about the new progression system they’ve developed.  Weapons Mastery is a brand new progression system that rewards players for becoming experts with their favorite weaponry. Dealing damage and defeating opponents will help players progress through ranked levels with their gun of choice. In the lobby, PUBG players can check out the Mastery tab to keep track of …

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