FACEIT to shut down ECS and focus on B-SITE League


FACEIT will pull the plug on the Esports Championship Series (ECS) to produce the 'B Site' league, DBLTAP reports. The decision will mark the end of one of the most important competitions on the tournament circuit since 2016, when the ECS came to life following a partnership between FACEIT and Twitch. The report comes at a time when the organisers of the B Site league - a temporary name - and ESL, who run the ESL Pro League, are engaged in a tug-of-war for some of the best teams in the game. Since the two leagues will run concurrently, teams will have to commit to just one of the competitions, with Cloud9, MIBR, Gen.G, Dignitas and MAD Lions having all...

Dreamhack reveals Anaheim closed qualifier invites


DreamHack has revealed the eight teams who have received direct invites to the closed qualifiers for the Anaheim event. Among the European invitees are Heroic, who recently came through the qualifier for DreamHack Open Leipzig, and the CR4ZY squad, who are on the brink of completing a transfer to another organisation. The North American qualifier will see Gen.G debut their full lineup after Hansel "BnTeT" Ferdinand played his final match with TYLOO, finally claiming the spot that was temporarily filled by Hunter "SicK" Mims. Both qualifiers will take place on Sunday, January 19, with a total of three LAN slots on offer, two of which will be going to the home region. The LAN finals of the $100,000 tournament will take place at the Anaheim Convention Center on February 21-23, with MIBR, ENCE and FURIA being the standout invitees. Below...

71 returns to coaching seat with Keen Gaming


Following Zhang ‘LaNm’ Zhicheng’s departure to Team Sirius from earlier this week, Keen Gaming refresh their ranks with the veteran coach Tang “71” Wenyi. As one of the most experienced coaches in the professional scene, 71’s experience dates back from DotA 1 days and the very first The International, where he was behind EHOME’s roster that placed second with a 3-1 loss to Na’Vi. He is also the man behind the successful days of Team DK back in 2013-2014. More recently, 71 was Mineski’s coach when they lifted the DAC 2018 trophy, and wrote history for the Southeast Asia region by becoming the first team to win a Dota 2 Major for the region. A couple of months before TI9,...

Nordavind confirm hallzerk departure


Nordavind have confirmed that Håkon "hallzerk" Fjærli will continue his career elsewhere after almost two years with the organisation. In a video posted on Twitter, Nordavind thanked the player for his service and wished him luck on his future endeavors, without confirming, however, the report linking him with a move to Dignitas to play alongside four of the players who were part of the iconic NiP squad that went 87-0 at the beginning of CS:GO and won the ESL One Cologne 2014 Major. hallzerk had been the longest standing member of Nordavind prior to his benching on Wednesday, when the organisation confirmed the double signing of Niels-Christian "NaToSaphiX" Sillassen and Kevin "HS" Tarn. He averaged a 1.15 rating during the 22 months he spent on Nordavind, helping the team to win the LOOT.BET Smack My Beach Cup and the ESEA Advanced league in Season...

North bench JUGi to make way for MSL


North have removed Jakob "JUGi" Hansen from the starting five as Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen will AWP for the Danish squad. North released a video earlier today unveiling the organization's new kit, with the final scene showing MSL wearing the team's new outfit, although no accompanying information was given. Amid speculation, the Danish organization has now announced that it is benching AWPer JUGi to make way for the new signing. JUGi struggled to find good form ever since stepping into the North roster and ended his tenure on the team with a 1.01 LAN rating, the same he had in his last event with North when they won DreamHack Open Sevilla late last year. The 22-year-old will remain under contract with the Danish organization, which he joined in May of 2019 when he stepped into the shoes of former IGL and...

GIANTS ANNOUNCE NEW ROSTER WITH FORMER EXPLOIT TRIO


Giants have announced their roster for 2020, which includes Ricardo "fox" Pacheco, Claudio "Cunha" Cunha, and three former eXploit players. Early reports by Fraglíder in December of 2019 hinted fox and Cunha could be out of the Portuguese superteam formed under the umbrella of Giants, but a twist in the plot led to the Spanish organization keeping the 33-year-old AWPer and letting go of the other two players that had formed the team's core since its inception, Ricardo "rmn" Oliveira and Christopher "MUTiRiS" Fernandes. Omar "arki" Chakkor migrated with rmn and MUTiRiS, as well as coach Ricardo "AIm" Almeida and analyst Arlindo Torres. Together they created sAw, a new organization that will play the upcoming Orange Unity League, a rebrand of LVP's Superliga Orange. The rift in the team's old core left Cunha's future up in the air, and although the 23-year-old had been a part of the last iteration of Giants, it was unknown if he...

MSL RETURNS TO NORTH


In a jersey reveal video, North have unveiled Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen as their new signing. The announcement gives little insight about the change in North, only showing the in-game leader in a new North jersey, leaving the question of who he is replacing unanswered. MSL was a part of North since the organization's inception, joining from dignitas at the start of 2017. His removal happened a year and a half later, after the team's first Big event win at DreamHack Masters Stockholm was followed by an unsuccessful FACEIT Major. Since then, MSL represented Rogue and OpTic, and has been open to offers since the Danish OpTic roster was disbanded. With it currently being unclear who is departing the roster, North now have six players:  Philip "aizy" Aistrup  Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye  Nicklas "gade" Gade  Jakob "JUGi" Hansen  René "cajunb" Borg  Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen  Torbjørn "mithR" Nyborg (coach) Source : hltv.org

VALVE TO REPLACE DIRECT INVITATIONS WITH RANKING SYSTEM FOR FALL MAJOR


In an email sent to the main tournament organisers, Valve has expressed its plans to replace the current Major invitation format with a ranking system, which will utilize two extra tournaments leading up to the Fall Major. The system explained by Valve in the email revolves around a combination of points earned from the spring Major — ESL One Rio, taking place in May — and from two other events leading up to the second Major of the year (November 2-15). The three events will determine a ranking, according to which the top-eight teams will be invited to the Fall Major as Legends and the next eight as Challengers, with the remaining eight teams coming from the already existing Minor...

Batangas Players’ National Team Call-up


ANGELES, PAMPANGA -- Earning a national team pool call-up, Batangas-Tanduay teammates Rey Suerte and Jaydee Tungcab plan to hone their skills and prove their worth to the squad in the on-going 2019-20 Chooks-to-Go MPBL Lakan Season. Suerte, one of the first five to enter the pool via a PBA special Gilas Pilipinas draft alongside Isaac Go, Allyn Bulanadi, Mike Nieto and Matt Nieto, vows to be the player what the national team needs him to be. "Gagawin ko lahat ng makakaya ko, magiging role player ako, defensive stopper or kahit ano, basta laging puso lang sa laro," said the University of the East standout, who averaged 17.69 points and 6.79 rebounds in his one and only year with the Red Warriors....

Team Singularity CS:GO Female Roster Announced


Matilde “Mattye” Wiik Anne “Lowlita” Starke Marita Siljan “Minnie” Sørensen Aurora “Aurora” Lyngdal Esmee “Psycho” Jasmine Pauw “We are super excited to join Team Singularity as one of their CS:GO teams. We have a lineup full of potential and cannot wait to show it in all upcoming leagues, tournaments and qualifiers. I am really confident that it’s going to be a great cooperation with Team Singularity and that we will make 2020 a successful year for all of us!” Anne “Lowlita” Starke “Last year was rough with so many changes and uncertainty in terms of the team but I am super happy to start this year off by representing Singularity with a great lineup! We are very motivated and cannot...

Winning or losing a ranked match in Dota 2 will now make you gain or lose the same amount of MMR.


Valve has released a small update to Dota 2 that aims to improve the game’s matchmaking experience by removing the variance in Matchmaking Rating (MMR) gained or lost for wins and losses in ranked matches. Since the introduction of ranked matchmaking in Dota 2 back in December 2013, there has been a hidden MMR variance mechanic in place for players with high MMR that only gave marginal gains for wins but huge reductions for losses. For example, a player at around the 6,000 MMR range would, more often than not, gain 10 MMR for winning a ranked match but have 40 MMR shaved off after a loss. With the latest matchmaking update, winning a ranked match will now give players...

Team Secret and Ninjas in Pyjamas to attend WePlay! Dota 2 Tug of War: Mad Moon


WePlay! just got done with hosting the biggest Minor tournament in Dota Pro Circuit history and is looking to continue that success with its next event, the WePlay! Dota 2 Tug of War: Mad Moon. This is the culmination of four different Tug of War tournaments, bringing the four winning teams together along with four direct invites to battle it out for $300,000 and the title of Dota 2 Tug of War Champion. With the winners from previous tournaments already locked in to compete, WePlay! announced the first of the four direct invites joining the roster. Team Secret will be coming in right off of the team’s training camp for the ESL One Los Angeles Qualifiers and are going to be one of the early favorites....

NBA trade grades: Hawks send Allen Crabbe to Timberwolves for Jeff Teague and Treveon Graham, per report


Trades have been sparse in the NBA lately. Since July's blockbuster swap of Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook, there has been only one deal: the Utah Jazz acquiring Jordan Clarkson for Dante Exum. But with the trade deadline now only three weeks away, things may soon be heating up around the league. On Thursday, the Atlanta Hawks and Minnesota Timberwolves have just made the season's second trade. The Hawks have traded sharpshooter Allen Crabbe to the Timberwolves in exchange for Jeff Teague and Treveon Graham, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The move reunites the Hawks with Teague, their former All-Star point guard whom they traded prior to the 2016-17 season. Teague spent a year playing for the Indiana Pacers, but has been with the Timberwolves ever since. Crabbe, meanwhile, has spent only the past several months with Atlanta...

Can LeBron James Beat Kareem’s All-Time Scoring Record?


LeBron James just reached 9,000 assists in the NBA like he’s a point guard or something. Just a few of the names he passed: Gary Payton, Andre Miller, Rod Strickland. These are pass-first point guards. And he will definitely pass Isiah Thomas, Chris Paul and Oscar Robertson in the future if he stays healthy. But the most curious thing is that can he pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and become the league’s best scorer? He’s so close to achieving that if he plays 2-3 years more. 1 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387 2 Karl Malone 36,928 3 Kobe Bryant 33,643 4 LeBron JAMES 33,347 LeBron always scores 2,000+ points in a season. So, that means he needs two and a half years to pass...

Scottie Pippen: “Bulls Front office kept Michael Jordan & Myself from winning more titles”


June 14, 1998 was the last time Michael Jordan made a field goal for the Bulls. And it was the famous “Last Shot” in game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz. By his own will, Jordan literally stopped playing basketball at top of his game. Because he wanted no part of a rebuilding process in absence of Phil Jackson and Scottie Pippen who both had their contract expired that summer. “Who knows what will unfold in the next several months. But that may have been the last shot Michael Jordan ever take in the NBA.” Bob Costas right after the shot during live commentary Then January 13, 1999. It’s been 21 years since Michael Jordan retired...

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