Author: G7R

G2 Esports stunned the CS2 community by winning IEM Dallas 2024 with a stand-in, Stewie2K. The organization is now eyeing a North American Counter-Strike 2 star, but it’s not the Smoke Criminal. G2 is reportedly in talks with a Guatemalan CS2 prodigy from M80, Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa, according to Dust2.us. But, at the time of writing, it’s unclear who the player would be replacing on the European roster. Historically speaking, G2 hasn’t acquired many North American players in CS2. In fact, Stewie2K was the first one from the region to wear the black and white jersey. Nevertheless, malbsMd recent stats…

While fans of competitive Apex Legends and the Guild Esports organization should be excited about signing the Australian roster from Serenity, the obvious and subpar use of AI imagery in the team’s announcement has fans distracted. In the post itself, fans were immediately distracted by and drawn to what appear to be AI-generated images of Apex Legends characters Bangalore, Wattson, and Horizon, who look nothing like their in-game appearances. Many think the character that’s supposed to be Horizon looks more like Tracer from Overwatch. I’ve never seen these people in my life. Image via @GuildEsports on X. The announcement drew…

Shopify Rebellion’s star carry Arteezy will miss Dota 2’s The International for the first time in his career after failing to qualify through the North American qualifiers. While the writing was on the wall after Riyadh Masters quals, this marked a significant low point in Arteezy’s career. Throughout the year, the North American qualifiers served as an unguarded gateway to global Dota 2 tournaments for SR, but the tables turned quickly in June. Captained by Arteezy’s former teammate Fly, nouns steadily improved throughout the season while SR struggled with stabilizing its roster. It’s no longer easy for Arteezy. Photo via…

The last tier one CS2 events of the first half of 2024 are set to take place in June before competitive players and teams head over for a month-long summer break. The biggest and (deservedly) the most-anticipated tournament is BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2024. Eight teams are gathering in London to fight for a lion’s share of the $425,000 prize pool. But the money isn’t the only reward, since the winners will be directly invited to an event that concludes the Counter-Strike competitive year: BLAST Premier World Final 2024. Two squads have already secured their place—Spirit and Natus Vincere. The…

On June 7, Faker finally got his Hall of Legends trophy and was officially revealed as the first player to be inducted into the League of Legends group. But it was already visibly damaged, and understandably, fans are mad. The video of Faker accepting and celebrating the trophy in Seoul was shared by numerous news outlets. Some took closer shots at the award itself, and it looks like it has a crack-like scratch on the side. Furthermore, one side looks a bit damaged, like it fell during transport. These flaws quickly made it to social media platforms like Reddit, where…

At the end of May, Pokémon Go‘s Shared Skies update introduced many Battle League changes, including potentially its biggest ever for competitive play. Scald, a move that frustrated players at EUIC 2024, was finally nerfed. Scald can lower the opposing Pokémon’s attack in Pokémon Go. Before the nerf, the ability activated pretty consistently, making it annoying to play against. But since the change, the chance of it happening has dropped to 30 percent, making it a less viable and risky strategy in matches. The change was well received but meant the meta was turned on its head ahead of NAIC,…

North America’s Pokémon International Championship is the final chance to qualify for the World Championship. For many, the event can make or break an entire season’s worth of effort. Every year, players have the possibility of dropping out of top spots in their region—denying them a travel stipend that can mean everything for those who can’t afford to make the long trip to Hawaii—or they can completely miss out on a Worlds invite altogether. This year’s NAIC, which ran from June 7 to 9, marked the chance for players to prove how they’re best and deserve to have a stake…

The Pokémon North America International Championships (NAIC) wrapped up this past weekend, and the Scarlet and Violet VGC metagame was full of diverse and unexpected ‘mons, as seen in the top cut lists. While it was no surprise to see the popular Fire/Water/Grass core in Incineroar, Urshifu, and Rillaboom used by top players, there were also 15 Pokémon that only made a single appearance across the top teams. If you’re someone who doesn’t like seeing the same lineups dominating the meta, NAIC was an absolute treat to watch. So many unusual ‘mons found success at NAIC. Screenshot via The Official…

With Pokémon NAIC over since June 9, Pokémon Go players have two months to prepare for Worlds, which means anything can happen between now and August 15 that could dramatically change the meta. Two potential meta-defining changes could shake the game at its core. We could either see a new Battle League patch released, such as the one released at the end of May that drastically reduced Scal’s effectiveness, or get a brand new Pokémon that turns the game on its head. And out of all the Pokémon that could be released over the next couple of months, there is…

G2’s incredible eight-event playoff streak in Counter-Strike 2 is in jeopardy as the IEM Dallas champions enter this week’s BLAST Premier Spring Final without star AWPer m0NESY, who can’t make the trip to the U.K. due to a visa issue. The organization announced coach TaZ will enter the server with the team in a June 10 post on X (formerly Twitter), replacing the star AWPer for BLAST Spring Finals. The team will once more need to defy the odds with a stand-in if they hope to keep their playoff streak alive, with G2 making the finals of every offline CS2…