News

Counter-Strike Tarik joins NRG after major disappointment By William Davis Dota 2 Team Secret crush all comers at ESL One Katowice By Steven Rondina Counter-Strike FaZe Clan boots Cloud9 from major, next faces Natus Vincere By Steven Rondina

News

Boston Uprising owner accused of soliciting prostitution Olivia Richman Boston Uprising’s billionaire owner Robert Kraft was charged with soliciting another to commit prostitution as part of the Martin County Sheriff Department’s major human trafficking investigation. Kraft faces two charges after visiting the Orchids of Asia day spa twice, according to Detective Andrew Sharp. This was one of five day spas targeted as part of the investigation, which resulted in the arrest of 100 men. The allegations are supported by …

Counter-Strike

Ninjas in Pyjamas return to CS:GO major playoffs Steven Rondina Ninjas in Pyjamas are headed to the playoffs of a major once again. Facing Vitality in the fifth round of the 2019 Katowice Major, the team earned a place in the Champions Stage playoffs with a 2-1 win. This is the organization’s first time in a major’s playoffs in three years. NiP opened the series strong on Cache. Led by a monster performance by Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg, the team bullied …

News

Shanghai Dragons break losing streak, get first OWL win Olivia Richman The longest losing streak in Overwatch’s history is finally over. The Shanghai Dragons defeated Boston Uprising in a one-sided 3-1 match, breaking the team’s infamous 0-42 losing streak record. It was an emotional victory for the Dragons, and Se-yeon “Geguri” Kim could be seen crying tears of joy soon after leaving the stage. Despite a shaky start to the season, former Boston Uprising tank Young-jin “Gamsu” Noh appeared to become …

News

Gamers start petition to ban PewDiePie from Apex Legends Olivia Richman Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg’s Meme Review series is where memes go to die, but does the Swedish YouTuber have the power to kill games, too? Many gamers think so, and they have created a petition to ban PewDiePie from the increasingly popular Apex Legends. The free-to-play battle royale game was downloaded 25 million times in its first week, crushing Fortnite’s 10 million downloads record after its own launch in 2017. Some …

Counter-Strike Cloud9 run over HellRaisers, set up showdown with FaZe Clan By Steven Rondina Counter-Strike NiKo carries FaZe Clan past CompLexity in Katowice By Steven Rondina News Google may be the next big player in gaming By William Davis

League of Legends

G2 get back on track with quick triumph over Schalke William Davis G2 Esports kicked off the sixth week of the LEC Spring Split with a dominant victory over Schalke 04. After a small setback in taking their season’s first loss against Origen last week, G2 continues to rule the LEC. Schalke could not contain Rasmus “Caps” Winther and the rest of the G2 squad, as G2 was able to claim the victory after just 23 minutes. In the laning phase, Schalke …

League of Legends

Riot Games launches new official LCS store William Davis Riot Games’ official LCS store is now live, coinciding with the ongoing 2019 LCS Spring Split. The store was developed by esports merchandising company We Are Nations, who first partnered with the LCS in 2018. The shop’s stock includes LCS-branded shirts and hoodies as well as team jerseys. Customers can choose from either a team’s general jersey, a specific player’s jersey, or a custom lettered jersey with the purchaser’s chosen …

News

Blizzard art contest brings wild new Overwatch skin designs Olivia Richman Blizzard is celebrating Overwatch fan art with an SEA Fan Art Contest. After calling all content creators to come up with skin concept art for their favorite heroes, submissions were shared on Facebook for people to vote on. Ending March 8, the fan vote makes up 20% of each design’s final score. Judged creativity accounts for another 35%, visual presentation for 25%, and the remaining 20% of the score is …

Dota 2

Valve considers official involvement with Dota Auto Chess Olivia Richman The success of Dota Auto Chess has gained Valve’s attention. The developer has begun contemplating making the successful Dota 2 mod into an official Valve title. Valve is currently brainstorming how it can offer support and development to Drodo Studio. Dota Auto Chess has been gaining popularity at an exponential rate. The game currently has more than 4.4 million subscribers, 400,000 of those gained in just four days. Esports pros …

Epic to contribute $100 million to Fortnite esports in 2019 Steven Rondina Fortnite Epic Games is set to invest a whole lot of money into the competitive Fortnite scene. The publisher has revealed its plans for the 2019 competitive season, outlining a series of weekly events and formally announcing the Fortnite World Cup. What’s more, it revealed that there will be $100 million on the line for pro players who compete, with $30 million up for grabs at the World Cup. The build …

Six Invitational sets new records for Rainbow Six Siege viewership William Davis News Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege has been surging in popularity among competitive gamers, and the latest indication of that trend came from Six Invitational 2019. Over the week-long major event that culminated in a showdown between Team Empire and G2 Esports, viewers watched 6.02 million hours of content, up from 5.65 million hours during last year’s Six Invitational. The game’s esports scene is credited with doubling the title’s total viewership …

Natus Vincere rebound to advance to Katowice playoffs Steven Rondina Counter-Strike If Natus Vincere has some interpersonal drama going on, it isn’t yet affecting the team’s play. The Ukrainian squad took a strong win over Avangar on day three of the Katowice Major’s Legends Stage, exploiting the Kazakhstani team’s timidity to seal up a 2-0 series win. The victory was a much-needed return to form after Na`Vi struggling against Team Liquid on day two. Na’Vi sent a powerful message to its …

Blizzard hints at the 30th hero coming to Overwatch gabhernandez News Overwatch hero 30 was hinted at via the Overwatch Twitter account, which linked to a short letter giving some context to the new character’s identity. A string of commands run across the screen in a video supplied by Overwatch as if Sombra were hacking into Talon to retrieve documents. Those documents include a letter with a subject of “Cuerva Strike Team – Log Recovered”. An analyst named Trung Le Nguyen …

Renegades take big step forward, qualify for major playoff Steven Rondina Counter-Strike The Cinderella story of Renegades is continuing on. Opening day three of the Katowice Major’s Legends Stage, the Australian team secured a spot in the top eight with a dramatic win over Vitality. The victory represents the best performance in a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive major by an Australian squad, and a major milestone for both the region and the organization. The series opened on Dust 2 with a dominant showing …

NRG Esports wash out of Katowice 0-3 in major shocker Steven Rondina Counter-Strike NRG Esports is going home way ahead of schedule. Following a devastating day that saw the team drop maps to Ninjas in Pyjamas and Avangar, NRG was bested 2-0 by CompLexity Gaming in round three of the Legends Stage. That dropped the team’s record to 0-3, knocking them out of the Katowice Major. Both games between NRG and CompLexity went to overtime, with the first being a double overtime marathon …

Faker quadra kill keys SKT win over rival KT Rolster William Davis League of Legends SK Telecom T1 came out victorious in the first telecom war of 2019, one of the oldest esports rivalries in esports. Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok reminded fans why he is considered among the best players in the world. The mid laner secured a quadra kill 30 minutes into the second game to secure the clean 2-0 sweep for SKT. The telecom war is one of the most anticipated events in the …

Ninja has lost 90% of his Twitch subscribers Olivia Richman Fortnite Fortnite streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is no longer the most-subscribed broadcaster on Twitch. Over the past 10 months, Ninja has lost 90 percent of his subscribers, going from a record-breaking 263,000 to just over 26,000. He is now the 11th most-subscribed person on Twitch, falling behind such personalities as Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek and Felix “xQc” Lengyel. Not to be confused with followers, Twitch subscribers make a monthly payment to a …

Dupreeh finds success at Katowice Major despite loss of father Olivia Richman Counter-Strike Astralis’ Peter “Dupreeh” Rasmussen opened up to his fans on Twitter, announcing that his father had passed away after battling cancer for eight years. “Yesterday marked the loss of my role model and the best father one could ever wish for. My father is finally at peace. You’ll forever stay with me, and I’m happy I got to show you my world. I love you forever,” Dupreeh said. The Counter-Strike: …

Team Liquid advance to major playoffs after sweeping Na`Vi Steven Rondina Counter-Strike Team Liquid has a real chance to win its first major. The North American organization proved as much in its Legends Stage showdown with Natus Vincere, posting a convincing 2-0 win. By overcoming Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, Liquid advanced its record to 3-0 and punched a ticket to the Champions Stage playoff. The match initially seemed destined to be the most competitive of the Katowice Major. Facing off on Mirage, Na’Vi …

RP in League of Legends is going up in price for most of the world Olivia Richman League of Legends Riot has announced some changes to its Riot Points system, which will go into effect in March. The main in-game currency for League of Legends will have its price increased in several regions to account for new tax laws and inflation. According to Riot, the company reviews global pricing annually, but this year they’ve seen more changes than usual in the affected regions. The United States has recently added a …

Astralis earns first spot in Katowice Major playoff Steven Rondina News Astralis is living up to its favorite status at the 2019 Katowice Major. On Day 2 of the New Legends Stage, Astralis scored a 2-1 victory over Renegades. That win advanced the team’s record to 3-0 and establishes it as the first to qualify for the Champions Stage playoffs. The opening contest on Mirage was shaping up to be a squash. Despite dropping both pistol rounds, Astralis managed to rack …

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