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League of Legends
League of Legends
League of Legends
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WIN.gg gathers news and guides from around the world covering every point of the modern gaming industry in all of its many forms.
League of Legends
Return of the Legends 2018
Steven Rondina
Return of the Legends is coming back around for another year. The tournament started in 2017 and looks to be an recurring annual event. Return of the Legends 2018 features retired professional players from both the eastern and western parts of the world. Old fans of Cloud9 will see familiar faces in Hai “Hai” Lam and Derek “LemonNation” Hart. TSM’s Marcus “Dyrus” Hill will also be on Team West, along …
League of Legends
Cloud9 continue epic comeback with playoff bye
Steven Rondina
Cloud9 has done what seemed impossible. After sitting in 10th place in the standings just four weeks ago, Cloud9 is now guaranteed a top two finish in the 2018 NA LCS Summer Split. They will qualify for the 2018 NA LCS Summer Playoffs with a quarterfinals bye. A win over Golden Guardians secured a playoff seed for Cloud9, and a subsequent victory over FlyQuest secured the bye — not bad …
League of Legends
Wildturtle and FlyQuest are headed to LCS playoffs
Steven Rondina
A week 9 victory over Golden Guardians resulted in FlyQuest punching its first ticket to the playoffs in two years. The seeding will be determined in the remaining games of the regular season. FlyQuest has been a pleasant surprise in the summer split, rising to fan favorite status after a slew of backdoor victories. In an interview with InvenGlobal, AD Carry Jason “WILDTURTLE” Tran attributed FlyQuest’s rise to his teammates’ …
News
Team Spain coach announces withdrawal from Overwatch World Cup
gabhernandez
Jonathan “HarryHook” Tejedor Rua has announced via Twitter that Team Spain will have to brave the Overwatch World Cup without a coach. HarryHook expressed his disappointment in Blizzard’s decision against letting the team bring in a replacement coach, noting that if it were Team USA making the request he was sure that they would be able to get a substitute. Shortly after, Sergi “Paranoidxz” Carrasco Marsiñach posted his explanation for …
News
Overwatch pro to throw first pitch at Oakland Athletics game
Steven Rondina
Esports and baseball will collide this week when the San Francisco Shock attend an Oakland Athletics game at the Oakland Coliseum. The Shock’s star DPS player Jay “sinatraa” Won will be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch of the game. The San Francisco Shock franchise is owned by NRG Esports, an esports organization based in California. The Bay Area ties run even deeper for the organization — NRG’s primary owners …
News
neptuNo withdraws from Spanish World Cup team
gabhernandez
Alberto “neptuNo” González Molinillo has announced on Twitter that he will not be playing for Spain in the Overwatch World Cup in September. NeptuNo stated that he would be taking a break from professional Overwatch because he wanted time to see friends and focus on becoming a better player for the Overwatch League in Season 2. Originally, neptuNo was announced as one of the starting support players for team Spain. …
Dota 2
Fnatic Partners with Rivalry
gabhernandez
Fnatic have announced a new partnership with betting website Rivalry. The video announcement focused on the organization’s goals to enhance esports. The deal also promotes responsible esports betting practices through the education of bettors. Rivalry is a new betting website established earlier in 2018. The website is an esports sportsbook licensed by the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission. Instead of Dota 2 items or in-game skins, betting in Rivalry.gg …
News
Valve tells Dota 2 teams not to take betting site sponsorships
Steven Rondina
The Dota 2 sponsorship scene is going to look quite a bit different in 2019 if Valve has anything to say about it. According to multiple reports, during a pre-event meeting with teams the publisher discouraged organizations participating at The International 2018 from accepting sponsorships from betting sites. Though Valve did not outright ban betting site sponsorships, this is a massive shakeup for the Dota 2 scene. Over recent years, …
Dota Pro Circuit changes coming in 2019
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
The Dota Pro Circuit for the 2018-2019 season is going to look quite different compared to this year’s version, in more ways than anyone was expecting. Valve officials met with players and staff from the 18 teams in attendance at The International and revealed another new set of changes to the DPC, including a massive change in how teams will qualify for TI9. As with this year, the 2018-2019 Dota …
JAKE to cast the Overwatch World Cup
gabhernandez
News
Jake “JAKE” Lyon announced on Twitter that he would be joining Andrew “ZP” Rush in casting the second Overwatch World Cup. In a follow-up tweet, JAKE said that he was not retiring from professional play, but that he just wanted to try something new. He is paired with veteran Overwatch caster ZP who casted the first World Cup and has been casting games for various tournaments and competitions, including Contenders …
Philadelphia Fusion open tryouts to new players
gabhernandez
News
The Philadelphia Fusion have announced through their official Twitter that they will be holding open tryouts for the Overwatch League team entering next season. Any player with a peak Skill Rating over 4300 can try out for the team by filling out a provided form. Submission of the form does not guarantee an in-game tryout, and it is up to the coaching staff to pick players who have a real …
Rubick receives latest Dota 2 Arcana
gabhernandez
Dota 2
After a near miss during the TI7 Arcana Vote, the Grand Magus Rubick claimed it this year. It’s been a tradition that each year Battle Pass owners cast votes for the next hero to receive an Arcana. The Arcana voting system split heroes into four single elimination brackets. Higher level Battle Pass owners can cast more votes. Since The International 2014, Valve took to Compendium or Battle Pass Arcana votes …
TI8 All-Star Teams Clash in Mutation Mode
gabhernandez
Dota 2
One of the highlights of The International 2018 was an all-star match featuring the new Mutation mode. Since Danil “Dendi” Ishutin’s taunts in The International 2013 All-Star match, the hype for the show match has grown along with the community. What makes this year’s All-Star game thrilling is seeing new game mutations on the main stage. The TI8 All-Star players were Song “Sccc” Chun, Per Anders Olsson “Pajkatt” Lille, Amer …
Breaking Down the NA LCS Coach of the Split Candidates
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
The NA LCS Coach of the Split award is highly contested, as it’s often difficult to recognize a coach’s direct impact on a team. But certain coaches in the NA LCS are clearly doing more with less. OpTic Gaming is currently in the NA LCS playoff picture after a ninth-place finish in the Spring Split. Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage has been an absolute monster, and head coach Thomas “Zaboutine” Si-Hassen deserves …
AdmiralBulldog’s visa denied, robbing TI8 of memes
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
While all of the players scheduled to compete at The International successfully arrived in Vancouver, without issue, one notable caster did not. A year removed from being denied entry into the United States ahead of The International 2017, former Alliance player Henrik “AdmiralBulldog” Ahnberg was unable to enter Canada to attend TI8. He broke the news over social media, but didn’t offer many specifics. “I just want to be completely …
These are the groups at The International 2018
Steven Rondina
Dota 2
With The International 2018 kicking off in less than 48 hours, details on the tournament’s group stages have finally emerged. Wykhrm Reddy made the reveal on Twitter, announcing the groups and format for the first leg of the event. https://twitter.com/wykrhm/status/1029044785233842177Similar to last year, TI8 will feature two groups of nine teams playing in a round robin format with best-of-two series play. Teams placing first through fourth in each group will …
OpTic Gaming steals a win from Echo Fox with surprise Fizz
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
If OpTic Gaming’s playoff hopes are dashed, the team certainly missed the memo. The boys behind the Green Wall continue to challenge top teams in their last ditch effort towards playoff qualification. Facing off against a talented Echo Fox roster, OpTic Gaming threw several curveballs during the draft phase. Noh “Arrow” Dong-Tak was given his signature Draven, and was paired with an enabler in Terry “Big” Chuong’s support Zilean. The …
Team Liquid secures NA LCS Summer Playoffs slot
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
Team Liquid has qualified for the 2018 NA LCS Summer Playoffs after a win over OpTic Gaming secured the team a bye in the playoffs. Team Liquid has stayed ahead of the pack in the NA LCS, but this is the first time they’ve solidified themselves in the summer as the clear favorite in the North American region. A 2018 Spring Championship had Team Liquid firing on all cylinders, but …
Virtus.pro’s Dota 2 Roster is sticking together through 2019
gabhernandez
Dota 2
As The International 2018 gets closer, fan favorites Virtus Pro commit to play with the same roster until the end of 2019. The top Dota Pro Circuit points earner remains a consistent and stable roster. With four major titles garnered during their DPC run, it is not a surprise that management for Virtus Pro fully trust their roster to conquer the competitive scene. The community will be seeing more …
Misfits bench MikyX in favor of Jesiz
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
After a second half dip in performance in the 2018 EU LCS Summer Split, Misfits are shaking things up. Misfits have announced that strategic coach Jesse “Jesiz” Le will be starting at support, leaving Mihael “MikyX” Mehle on the bench for the first time this season. Misfits began the Summer Split with an undefeated first half of play. Since then, the team has struggled to adapt to the new and …
WIN.gg gathers news and guides from around the world covering every point of the modern gaming industry in all of its many forms.