Having joined the Korean side in June 2018, Seon-Ho โxetaโ Sonโs lease term with MVP PK has finally came to an end the 22-Year old announced on his Twitter earlier today.
With 327 maps under the belt and having an average rating of 1.19, xeta now announces his departure and joins the free agency pool.
From the Korean Region under xeta, MVP PK did lay itโs reigns by capturing the eXTREMESLAND 2018 Asia Finals title held in Shanghai, China and Cobx Masters held in India earlier in 2019. Also, they did bag the third place at Hong Kong while competing for the Zotac Cup Masters title which was later won by team Mibr led by Gabriel โFalleNโ Toledo and his men.
With xetaโs exit from the starting 5, MVP PK now has:
According to Dexerto.com, Cloud9โs Ex-Pro Jordan โn0thingโ Gilbert has reportedly bashed Valveโs choices which do weigh the fact that Valve is still backing its Flagship FPS Title which goes by Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with 64 Tick Servers in their matchmaking. Whereas on the other hand famous third-party applications like ESEA and FACEIT have been delivering their player base with 128 tick servers which do reflect a lot of changes in their gameplay.
Tickrate also affects how nades work. Below video is also a good example.
Earlier when such kind of acquisitions were made by others regarding the implementation of 128 Tickrate servers in the matchmaking pool, Valve did retaliate by saying they werenโt looking to bring the claimed changed as the game was yet incapable to run higher than 100 frames per second. Also, In-Game CSGO Observer did express his thoughts alongside n0thing on his twitter, โI know I’m beating a dead horse, but it’s crazy to me that CSGO matchmaking still isn’t 128 tick rate yet. If a new player was watching a Valve Major and they watched their favourite player line up smoke and throw it and then they go try it themselves in MM, it wouldn’t land correctlyโ You can find out more in his tweet here below which does emphasize more on the same.
There are 0 other games on the market (let alone FPS games), where to get a better server experience, you have to pay a premium or download a 3rd party client.
Among many other things, such as spray and movement being completely different, it's just unacceptable.
Also, some fans did suggest countries like Russia, India and other regions like Turkey Should be provided with the servers which would only separate the player base which would thus bring light on dealing with player base splintering. Since the last decade ESEA, FACEIT and CEVO who do have 128 Tickrate servers widespread across the globe but their environment do come along with a fact, โThey are paid services.โ
With prius and n0thing having contributed on to this issue, we might see Valve bring in some changes for sure, fingers crossed.
2019 has been a good year for Indian Counter-Strike. We put the f0rsaken saga behind us and saw Indian players shine on the big stage. 2018 ended with the start of the redemption arc and we can safely say that 2019 saw us take a huge step towards legitimising the credentials of the Indian scene once again.
Old guards returned to claim the throne; new players sprung up to battle them and take their place atop the Indian CSGO ladder.
After our inaugural annual Rankings in 2018, we are back with the 2019 edition of the top CSGO players in India. Before we dive into it, let us clear out the major criteria our rankings are based on. The player must be an Indian and we will only consider their performance for the duration they were a part of the Indian CSGO scene.
Note: The statistics have been picked up from HLTV and Sostronk. There might be a few matches that did not find their place on either platform. Such matches might be overlooked.
There were many players vying for the final two-three spots, one of them being tryst’s GoFigure teammate Dibyalok ‘shrood’ Goswami.
tryst though was part of the initial GoFigure team that was formed in Bangalore, which featured Sagnik ‘hellfightR’ Roy and was overall more consistent than his current teammate. The 17-year-old recorded just 6 <0.9 IR matches during 2019 as per Sostronk while working his way right from Starters to competing in the Masters Phase for the Winter Split, beating Entity in the decider for promotion/relegation.
GoFigure also made it all the way to the Taiwan Excellence Regional LAN, securing a top-six finish. They have now been picked up by Level Zero Esports.
tryst boasts raw firepower and could be the next breakout player from the region that has already produced the likes of Sabyasachi ‘antidote’ Bose, hellfightR and to an extent, Debanjan ‘DeathMaker’ Das.
24. Varun ‘Mast3r’ Menon (2018 Ranking: N/A)
The 22-year-old is one of the fresh faces that have managed to etch their name into the top tier of Indian CSGO scene. Mast3r was one of the more consistent names in 2019 and was influential in U Mumba Esports consolidating their position as a formidable force within the scene.
Mast3r averaged 1.07 IR over 2 LAN events – Taiwan Excellence LAN Cup and AMD Gameon as U Mumba grabbed both the events. The 22-year-old represented the region at the Taiwan Excellence LAN Finals. With new reinforcements being brought in by U Mumba, Mast3r is gunning to step up even further in 2020.
23. Harsh ‘HArsH’ Arora (2018 Ranking: N/A)
JHS have been knocking on the door for a long long time in the Indian CSGO scene. But, in 2019, they came through it, joined the big leagues and also showed they are not your flash-in-the-pan kind of team, keeping their spot in Masters.
One of the proponents of their success was Harsh ‘HArsH’ Arora. The 18-year-old showed his skills on the server as JHS qualified for the LAN finals of the Winter Split in ESL Premiership. Over 2019, JHS came close to qualifying for the Taiwan Excellence Finals, losing to eventual qualifiers U Mumba Esports and reached the Quarters of DreamHack Delhi Open Online Qualifiers, losing to U Mumba again.
HArsH averaged an IR of 1.17 in the Winter Split for JHS and an overall IR of 1.21 on LAN in big events in 2019. The 18-year-old is definitely one to watch out for in 2020.
22. Chinmay ‘Pok1’ Mehta (2018 Ranking: 14)
Pok1 has had a very disappointing 2019 that started off bright, with the former 2ez man reaching the Grand Final of the Winter Split in ESL Premiership, ultimately losing to Entity. But, what has transpired after has been a myriad of shuffles, inconsistent results and unfortunate circumstances.
Pok1 is now a part of Entity after the latest roster shuffle and has shown good form on the server, with the new lineup winning Challenger #1 of the Winter Split.
21. Sahil ‘pashasahil’ Pasha (2018 Ranking: 13)
The 19-year-old, unfortunately, could not continue the momentum gained from 2018 after a brilliant spell in Invictus. pashasahil joined Mammoth Gaming and while the team did struggle to an extent, they did reach the finals of AMD Gameon LAN event, ultimately losing to U Mumba Esports in the Grand Final.
After a brief hiatus, the 19-year-old has teamed up with the former 2ez trio Rahul ‘t1to’ Sridhar, Saharyar ‘BadMan’ Sheikh and Tejas ‘Rex’ Kotian under the banner of Phoenix Esports. The lineup has already earned their promotion to the Challengers and have won the Lower Bracket Finals of Challenger #1 as we write this.
A brilliant rifler that has proven he can be the star player in any team. 2020 could see pashasahil return to the upper echelons of the Indian CSGO scene.
20. Rohit ‘BondF’ Latke (2018 Ranking: N/A)
mast3r-astaRR-acrid(Dota2)-BondF-Kappa; Photo via Umumba Esports
BondF finally got a chance to represent a big banner, with U Mumba Esports providing him the opportunity. And the 26-year-old grabbed it with both hands, proving to be a consistent performer on the server.
U Mumba Esports won the AMD Gameon LAN event in 2019 and the Taiwan Excellence LAN Cup, qualifying to represent the country at the Taiwan Excellence Finals in the process.
BondF averaged 1.05 over the two LAN events in India, with his team performances earning him the #21 spot.
19. Kiran ‘Rossi’ R. (2018 Ranking: N/A)
Sting-superkid-Rossi-marzil
w1ngs took everyone by surprise and the core of the roster later joined BL4ZE Esports. Rossi was one of the players from the w1ngs lineup that caught everyone’s attention with his performances on the server.
Rossi has played the pseudo-support role well for BL4ZE and has stepped up when it matters. One of the highlights of 2019 for BL4ZE has been their qualification for WESG APAC Finals, with Rossi playing an important part, averaging 1.1 IR over 5 maps against the likes of Gaming Hub and Entity.
The 21-year-old will now be looking forward to a bigger and brighter 2020.
The 21-year-old had a breakout year in 2019 and has solidified his place in the upper echelons of Indian CSGO scene towards the end of the calendar year. Over the year, superk1d has shown improvement in his form and performances, proving perhaps, that it is taking him time to find his comfort level. But, his performance in WESG South Asia Qualifiers were an ominous sign that he is beginning to find his footing, with 1.31 IR over 5 maps as BL4ZE beat Entity and Gaming Hub to grab the first of two spots at WESG APAC Finals.
As far as his LAN performances are concerned, superk1d averaged 1.07 IR in 2019, a statistic we are sure will see an improvement going into the new year.
17. Ayush ‘astaRRR’ Deora (2018 Ranking: 17)
Another rather disappointing year for someone who was once regarded as the face of Indian Counter-Strike. astaRRR started the year well under Mammoth Gaming with a strong lineup to boot. But, results failed to transpire and frequent roster changes led to their demise.
The highlights of the year came during his stint at U Mumba Esports. astaRRR averaged a rating of 1.21 as U Mumba won the Taiwan Excellence LAN Cup to qualify for the finals. Their only other LAN appearance resulted in a win at AMD Gameon, with astaRRR again leading the way with 1.23 IR over 5 maps.
astaRRR has gone inactive now, with U Mumba Esports boasting a fresh lineup after the pickup of Ishpreet ‘HuNtR’ Singh and Vishal ‘haiVaan’ Sharma.
Honestly, the only reason this Delhi rising star is ranked so low is because of the lack of team accolades or ‘achievements’ in 2019. One of the most skilled players in India and one of the highest-rated players as well, _KnightRider knows how to cause destruction on the server all too well.
His overall official IR on Sostronk may have dipped from 1.39 to 1.35 in 2019. But, it can be attributed to facing the bigwigs of the Indian CSGO scene on a regular basis this year. Still, one of the best performing players in India, Abhay had a very good 2019.
_KnightRider qualified for the ZOWIE eXTREMESLAND South Asian Regional Finals with District 9 and had a consistent presence in the ESL Masters, also qualifying for Taiwan Excellence LAN Cup in the process. Towards the end of 2019, Abhay decided to rebuild the God Particles roster, which means beginning from scratch in the Starters. It is still a surprise to see _KnightRider still not being picked up by a big organization, given his consistently impressive performances irrespective of the opposition.
15. Sagnik ‘hellfightR’ Roy (2018 Ranking: N/A)
Photo via ESL INDIA
Another kid from the block story from Kolkata, hellfightR has been in and around the scene from 2018, when he joined Ate gaming. The 21-year-old returned to Kolkata for a brief while only to be recruited by GoFigure. Things didn’t quite work out for the lineup but hellfightR did enough to get picked up by Global Esports.
Once at Global Esports, there was no looking back for the Kolkata rifler. hellfightR played almost every big LAN that there was, including the ILG Major. There is room for improvement in terms of his performances at LAN events but he will get there. For now, the role he is playing seems to be the need of the hour in his lineup and it seems to be producing the desired results.
14. Vishal ‘haiVaan’ Sharma (2018 Ranking: 18)
After Optic India ceased to exist, haiVaan was immediately picked up by Ate gaming and the 26-year-old started the year well, reaching the LAN Finals of the Winter Split of ESL Premiership. In what was a brief period for him at Global Esports, haiVaan attended the ESL Masters Summer LAN Finals before finally winning the ESL Masters Lan Finals in the Fall Season with the Orgless Five stack.
haiVaan was also a part of the Orgless Five lineup that won the PGX One Plus LAN. The 26-year-old though, had a below-average year individually judging by the standards he had set in 2018, with an IR of 0.89 on LAN in 2019.
haiVaan has joined U Mumba Esports and it will be interesting to see whether he can regain his form going into 2020.
13. Jayanth ‘skillZ’ Ramesh (2018 Ranking: N/A)
It’s never easy to swap roles coming into a new team. But, skillZ sacrificed his own role to let the others play their game and take on the support role, which is often a thankless one, especially in the Indian Esports scene.
The team though, seem to appreciate his sacrifice and ability to adjust to the role, with Simar ‘psy’ Sethi praising the former w1ngs star for his willingness to help the team.
One could write about fairytale stories all they want. But, skillZ is one for the ages. Having entered the competitive CSGO scene in India in 2018 itself, skillZ made sure he grabbed eyeballs with his performances with the w1ngs roster before being picked up by Entity.
At Entity, skillZ reached heights budding players in India would envy. Not only did Entity bag the Mountain Dew Arena LAN and the ZOWIE eXTREMESLAND South Asia Regional Finals, but also conjured up good runs in the Open Qualifiers for IEM Beijing 2019 and MSI MGA 2019.
skillZ averaged an IR of 1.04 in 2019 on LAN while going toe-to-toe with the best in India and Asia, to an extent. Jayanth is now inactive for the foreseeable future, with psy revealing that the player wanted to take a break.
One of the most decorated IGLs of India in recent times, HellRanger attended almost every big LAN event in India, barring DreamHack Delhi, wherein Global Esports lost in the final of the Online Open Qualifiers to Lucid Dream.
HellRanger led Global Esports to success in the Winter Split at ESL Premiership to begin 2019 with a bang. Global Esports narrowly lost out to Orgless Five in the final of PGX One Plus LAN Finals and the Fall Finale of ESL Premiership. It was a year of narrow misses for Global Esports under HellRanger, with the team losing out to Entity in the Grand Finals of ZOWIE eXTREMESLAND South Asia Regionals.
HellRanger did manage to lead Global Esports to the Conquerors Insignia LAN, with a somewhat credible showing against ViCi Gaming.
11. Anuj ‘Amaterasu’ Sharma (2018 Ranking: 4)
Photo via ESL INDIA
Taking over the IGL reins from HellRanger towards the end of 2018, Amaterasu had a lot on his plate. But, come 2019, he has silenced all his doubters, maintaining his individual firepower while comfortably handling the IGL duties at Entity.
The Entity IGL averaged 0.96 IR over 2019 on LAN but his contribution towards Entity’s wins overshadowed the somewhat lacklustre individual rating. Entity won the Winter Split, qualified for ZOWIE eXTREMESLAND Asia 2019 LAN Finals and overall, had a dominant 2019 under Amaterasu.
Entity have become a very adaptable team as far as strategies and counters are concerned and a major part of it is down to Amaterasu.
10. Rahul ‘t1to’ Savage (2018 Ranking: 11)
Photo via ESL INDIA
Another strong year for the former 2ez man. 2019 started well for t1to, with Global Esports qualifying for the LAN Finals of Cobx Masters and the Winter Split. Roster changes came into effect after the two events, with the new lineup continuing the tradition of qualifying for the LAN Finale of ESL Masters each split.
You name a LAN Finals and t1to was present. t1to represented the country with the Global Esports roster at Conquerors Insignia in what was his final event with the organisation. Now a part of the Phoenix Esports lineup, t1to would look to improve upon his LAN form going into 2020, having averaged an IR of 0.93 over the year.
9. Tejas ‘Rexy’ Kotian (2018 Ranking: 9)
Photo via ESL INDIA
Rexy had an identical year, overall results and achievements wise compared to his long-term teammate t1to. The only difference between the two was that Rexy had a better record on LAN, boasting an average IR of 0.97 in 2019.
The Impact Rating, although in the sub1.00 region, is impressive considering his role in the lineups he was part of and the teams that he went up against in 2019. The Rexy-t1to brotherhood now continues at Phoenix Esports and it will be exciting to see just how far they can take this lineup.
8. Karan ‘Excali’ Mhaswadkar (2018 Ranking: 5)
Photo via ESL INDIA
Excali has petered off quite a bit from his Invictus days, becoming more of a role player at Entity. But, the Maharashtrian star was consistent enough for his team to dominate the scene for a good period in 2019.
While Excali averaged only 1.04 on LAN in 2019, he won the Mountain Dew Arena LAN and ZOWIE eXTREMESLAND South Asia Regional Finals. WESG was a disappointing affair for Entity and Excali both, with the former Invictus star averaging just 0.89 as Entity finished last in the South Asian Qualifiers.
With a new lineup, Entity will be hoping Excali can step up and bring his old form back in 2020.
7. Agneya ‘Marzil’ Koushik (2018 Ranking: 1)
2019 was a mixed bag for Marzil. On one hand, the former Signify star became the go-to stand-in for big teams at events and on the other, Marzil joined a BL4ZE lineup that has only shown an upward trajectory in terms of their results.
Marzil has had quite a role reversal, going from the Nurtured to now becoming the Teacher or the leader figure in BL4ZE Esports for the likes of Rossi and superk1d, who will hope to follow in his footsteps.
Averaging a rating of 1.04 on LAN in 2019, the year was one of rebuild for Marzil, with the player winning ESL Masters Summer Phase with Signify before choosing not to stick with the stack after the organization pulled out. Instead, Marzil chose to team up with up-and-coming stars at BL4ZE Esports and by the end of the year, Marzil has established a lineup that have already shown their prowess in the Indian region and is set to test the Asian waters at WESG APAC Finals.
6. Norbu ‘Karam1L’ Tsering (2018 Ranking: N/A)
Karam1L & HellrangeR
Karam1L has also had quite a rise from his Pune Five days, coming to Ate gaming and then finally joining Global Esports as the Primary AWPer of the side. Under the captaincy and leadership of HellRanger, Karam1L has blossomed from the streaky yet effective styled AWPer to a consistent and deadly one.
The 21-year-old was the star for Global Esports at PGX One Plus LAN, averaging 1.18 IR over 8 maps. In fact, Karam1L has had a very good year on LAN in 2019, boasting an IR of 1.1 over 3 LAN appearances in India. Karam1L also represented the country well at the Conquerors Insignia LAN Finals, with 1.07 IR over two maps against Chinese heavyweights and eventual winners ViCi Gaming.
The highlight of 2019 for Karam1L was his performance in a narrow losing cause at ZOWIE eXTREMESLAND South Asia Regionals, with the AWPer averaging an IR of 1.35 over 7 maps.
While he was a tad bit inactive in the beginning of 2019, his performances and overall results over the rest of the year more than makes up for it. One to watch in 2020 definitely.
5. Ishpreet ‘HuNtR’ Singh (2018 Ranking: 2)
Ideally, HuNtR would have been ranked way higher. But, the hybrid star returned to the scene after a brief period on the sidelines, making Snooker his main focus for a while.
Once he returned though, there was no looking past the abundance of talent the 22-year-old possesses. HuNtR is one of the very few Indian players who make it all look a tad bit too easy and it’s no wonder he is hailed as one of the most mechanically gifted players of the country.
HuNtR averaged a rating of 1.13 on LAN in 2019, with his best coming at ZOWIE eXTREMESLAND South Asia Regional Qualifiers wherein he boasted an IR of 1.40 through the event.
HuNtR won PGX One Plus, ESL Masters Fall Season and represented the region with the Orgless Five stack at DreamHack Delhi. The 23-year-old is currently playing under the banner of U Mumba Esports.
4. Simar ‘psy’ Sethi (2018 Ranking: 12)
The quintessential Delhi boy returned to his old form in 2019, much thanks to the surgery for RSI and the rest that followed. A rejuvenated Psy took to the server hungrier than ever and the results followed.
psy had an IR of 1.17 at LAN events in 2019 and was the star for Entity as the organization retained their Mountain Dew LAN trophy while adding another feather to their cap by becoming the first Indian CSGO team to take a Bo3 series against a foreign team on Foreign land.
Entity won the Winter Split of ESL Premiership, retained the Mountain Dew Arena and ran Signify and Orgless Five close at PGX One Plus and ESL Masters Summer Phase. Their failure to qualify for the LAN finals of the Fall season, their last-placed finish at WESG South Asian Qualifiers and their subsequent relegation from the Masters perhaps had an affect on psy’s overall rating and hence, the ranking here.
To return from a career-threatening injury in such a style and with such swagger is something that embodies psy’s grit and spirit. On to an even better 2020?
3. Tejas ‘Ace’ Sawant (2018 Ranking: 8)
Ace returned to the Indian competitive Esports scene with Signify and then continued to stick with the stack under Orgless Five. Ace was not a part of the Winter Split Masters but the rest of 2019 saw him impose himself on the server and on the Indian CSGO scene like never before.
Ace won the ESL Masters Summer Season with Signify and continued to stick with the stack, winning PGX One Plus LAN and the ESL Masters Fall Season as well. Ace averaged a rating of 1.18 on LAN over 2019. The 26-year-old has recently joined Entity and it will be interesting to see just how well the new Entity lineup fares in 2020.
2. Sabyasachi ‘antidote’ Bose (2018 Ranking: 3)
antidote has maintained his top 3 ranking from 2018 and with good reason. The Primary AWPer earned accolades for his performances post-Optic India, with Global Esports before moving to dominate with the Orgless Five stack. Now, back at Global Esports, antidote has already qualified to represent the country at WESG APAC Finals while also sitting atop the ESL INDIA Premiership Winter Split Masters Leaderboard.
The rifler-turned-Primary AWPer from Kolkata had an average IR of 1.17 on LAN in 2019. But, the achievements made sure he retained his top 3 ranking. antidote made it to the Cobx Masters LAN Finals and represented the region at DreamHack Delhi. Apart from that, the triumph at PGX One Plus LAN, the conquest of ESL Masters Summer and Fall Seasons along with the fact that he qualified for WESG APAC finals with Global Esports made sure he finished the year strong and in the top 3.
1. Debanjan ‘DeathMaker’ Das (2018 Ranking: 6)
What a period it has been for the hybrid star from Silchar, Assam. Undoubtedly one of the surprise packages of 2018 thanks to his performance under Signify, DeathMaker saw his stocks soar in 2019. Now regarded as one of the snappiest aimers in India, DeathMaker was part of the Orgless Five that managed to dominate the scene. But, he wasn’t Orgless for long, with Entity picking him up.
With Entity, DeathMaker retained the Mountain Dew Championship, which was his maiden Big LAN triumph in 2018. The 22-year-old represented India along with his Entity teammates at ZOWIE eXTREMESLAND Asia 2019, becoming the first Indian lineup in CSGO to win a Bo3 LAN series against a ‘foreign’ team away from home.
There was no catching DeathMaker in 2019, who finished the year with a whopping 1.33 IR on LAN in 2019. The rating included his performance at DreamHack Delhi, ZOWIE eXTREMESLAND Asia LAN Finals, Cobx Masters LAN Finals and more.
DeathMaker got his hand on almost every trophy there was in the Indian CSGO scene in 2019, winning the ESL Masters Summer and Fall Season, PGX One Plus LAN, Mountain Dew Arena, ILG Finals and ZOWIE eXTREMESLAND 2019 South Asia Qualifiers. The North-East Indian star finished DreamHack Delhi as the fourth highest rated player at the event, according to HLTV and was instrumental in Global Esports qualifying for WESG APAC finals.
It has been a jolly good year for DeathMaker, who only truly burst onto the scene towards the end of 2018, with his powerful performances for Signify at DreamHack Mumbai.
That concludes our rankings for 2019. We hope 2020 brings the Indian scene even more success and exposure. Here’s to a redemptive 2019 and a hopefully momentous 2020.
Twitch has been at the apex of the streaming platforms ever since its launch. The platform gathers a massive user base due to its unique set of features that made life better for streamers and the viewers. Twitch was unharmed in its position as the top streaming platform but lately, Microsoft’s Mixer is giving them a run for their money.
Ever since Ninja left Twitch for Mixer, a wrangle generated in the community about which one of the two platforms has an edge over the other. While the debate is still in full swing some community members are taking extreme measures.
Maverikz a well known Fortnite streamer got into a match with a random player and greeted him with a “Hello” before asking if he streams on Mixer. Upon confirming his partner’s streaming platform, he left the game. His partner quickly realized the reason behind such an act and labelled it as “Huge doucher move!”
Maverikz, upon leaving the game realized his mistake and asked for it be clipped so that he can make amends with the person he ditched in an eccentric manner.
Sports apparel giant Adidas is set to launch a pair joggers in collaboration with Fortnite star Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins. The sales will commence on 31st December at 9AM GMT. This collaboration will mark on of his biggest foray for Ninja outside the gaming industry and will act as a measure for brand expansion.
Ninja explained earlier that his move to Mixer was aimed at globalizing his brand and his wife gave a deeper insight on the matter to Business Insider, she unraveled that the deal offered by Twitch would hold them back from stepping into other industries which went against Ninja’s ambition of expanding his brand. Launching a pair of shoes at such scale is the most notable step to be taken towards his dream by Tyler after joining Mixer.
The shoe is based on regular joggers but with Ninja’s blue theme all over it. The quarter panel and the heel counter is filled in blue with “NINJA” written on them in classic yellow Ninja font. White heels with yellow accents on the out sole which matches the inside of the shoe. “TIME IN” has been written on one of the pair on the inside edge to add to its uniqueness. The outer edge has the Adidas’s signature triple stripes besides their branding on the tongue.
The shoes are marked at $150 and $120 for adults and kids respectively in the US and it sells for ยฃ129.95 and ยฃ84.95 in UK.
Although letting fans wait to get their hands on such merchandise has been a classic move by brands to build the hype and rightfully so its paying off for Ninja. Prominent personalities have got their’s and nothing but positive review is coming out from them with Keemstar publicly praising the shoes in his YouTube show Drama Alert.
2019 was quite a year for Esports, it is been getting recognition, becoming more mainstream and Germany introducing a dedicated visa for esports recently looks like we are ending this year on good terms.
We are in that time of the year again looking back who stood out above them all in terms of financial results.
It’s none other than the Dota 2 team of OG who won the second International in a row. They bagged in the largest chunk of the record $34 million prize pool, with about $15.6 million going home with them.
Not forgetting they had won TI8 and combining wins of 2019 season. All of OGโs five players will rank top on the leaderboards of the most earned players of the year as per Esport Earnings. There’s not much of a difference between them, but the ranking came in as a 3-way tie to the top spot taking a few missed tournaments and scenarios under consideration.
Player
Total Earnings (2019)
Total Earnings (Career)
Jesse โJerAxโ Vainikka
$3,163,536.20
$6,470,000.02
Sรฉbastien โCebโ Debs
$3,163,536.20
$5,489,233.01
Topias โTopsonโ Taavitsainen
$3,163,536.20
$5,414,446.17
Johan โN0tailโ Sundstein
$3,155,536.20
$6,890,591.79
Anathan โanaโ Pham
$3,146,536.20
$6,000,411.96
Each tournament that has been played by OG, call it Dota Pro Circuit or not, Jerax, Ceb and Topson have the same number in their name after TI9 victory.
The teamโs coach โSockshkaโ, substituted Notail due to health problems at the EPICENTRE MAJOR. Despite the change, OG made it to the top eight and won a corporation bonus of $40,000. With Notailโs almost $6.9 million career earnings, he is also crowned as the best paying sports competition in history.
โAnaโ has also missed several events because after his TI8 win he decided to take a long time break from the team and competitive Dota.
OG has participated only in a single tournament after their TI9 victory. It was the entertaining one but less meta-driven, Midas Mode 2.0. The team called it quits with just $5000 at the event. OG are still on a long vacation heading into 2020 and also to the second DPC major of the season.
OG earned the top five places with TI9, which essentially makes overall career earnings even impressive. There has been no word yet when the team will return to the competitive scene but the accomplishments of each player in the past year are already significant.
Having steered Mousesports to their Cs_summit title, Niels-Christian “NaToSaphiX” Sillassen did prove himself to be still lethal in the player pool before he was asked to replace รzgรผr “woxic” Eker as the later had to resolve some Visa Issues.
CHAMPIONS OF CS_SUMMIT 5
mousesports gave me a unique opportunity to help them out in LA for CS_Summit 5
Our IGL (tactician) had to catch a plane after the first map, so for 2/3rds of the match we were playing withโฆ https://t.co/FRSwbupPBE
Having ended his California tour with Mousesports with an Average rating of 0.95, the 23-year-old Danish professional is now seeking a new home as earlier reported by Dexerto.com. Before standing in for Woxic, NaToSaphix was out there still looking for a team as we see him stepping in 2020 with the same status. But after his Cs_summit 5 victory, the chances of signing him must have been weighing profoundly as he did come out to be a beast on the server with a scarce preparation. Even though Mousesportsโs plans were backfired when coach Allan โRejinโ Petersenforced had to stand in for Finn โKarriganโ Anderson the tactician, NaToSaphix left no flaw in their team tactics as the later did step in with his guns blazing along with their coach thus enabling Mousesports to grab a whopping victory over G2 led by Nemanja “nexa” Isakoviฤโ and his men.
The US Navy is set to reallocate its television and Super Bowl advertising budget for advertising in Esports from the following year.
Vice Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Robert Burke said during the Military Reporters and Editors annual conference that they are focusing their primary advertising budget into Esports as they turn their eyes away from conventional Television advertisements.
In a report by USNI News, the Navy will spend 97% of their annual advertising budget of $33 Million for online advertising which mostly involves YouTube adds and the sponsorships in the Esports industry. $1 Million is set aside which is to be utilized in Billboards and Radio Stations.
So far, the advertisements in television and during Super Bowl and various other platforms with huge viewership consisted of a wider spectrum of audience of different age groups. According to a study by Syracuse University, the Esports spectators will reach the mark of 84 million by the next year, which is more than most of the traditional sports league and the cherry on the icing being that 64% of this figure will be under the age of 25, thereby making it idyllic for promoting The Naval Force.
By such blurbs the United States Of America would like to motivate Teenagers and recruit Millennials for the force in order to fortify their Naval defense with increasing the number of personnel on active duty. They are gradually taking steps to involve the youth into their mission as much as possible by partnering up with Esport teams and organizers and even boasting their own Esports Team.
The debate war between MOBA fans of these games has raged for almost a decade now.
Doublelift take:
just before Christmas, Team Liquidโs League Of Legends player Yiliang โDoubleliftโ Peng stated some interesting claims on stream. When asked about to give his opinion on which game is more difficult. โIโd say Dota has more to learn than League when it comes to building diversity, champion pool diversity, [and] map plays,โ Doublelift said in a stream. โBut mechanically, no. Thereโs a zero per cent chance Dota has more mechanical skill ceiling than League.โ
To add more to that, he even said DOTA2 has unusual turn speed, build-in lag, lack of skillshots, lack of dashes and abilities.
This was enough to spark debate and caused a storm between two communities.
N0tail talks:
Even though Doublelift didnโt called-out anybody personally.
The only captain to ever win TI two times and that too consecutively I.e Johan “N0tail” Sundstein refuted in a tweet.
I too went into my first and only league games and shitstomped them ๐๐คท
Realtalk though, If on average pro games have 4-5 kills in 30 minutes, what are the critical objectives? Is it like a mega extended laning phase where it's all about last hits / harras?
N0tailโs tweet started with saying he also played some League of Legends games and dominated them.
Followed it up with a few questions, mainly questioning LOLโs low kill counts and lack of critical objectives.
โWhat are the vital targets, if 4-5 kills in an average of pro games in 30 minutes?โ, โIs it a mega-extended landing stage where the last hits and harassment are all concerned?โ he said.
N0tail has a point since the League and Dota are extremely different in the early game. League has a very slow laning level, which is targeted at not losing and scaling before the item breaks down.
An idea:
@Ceb_dota and I meet up with two achieved and well spoken LoL players, discuss the pros and cons of each our respective scenes.
Follow-up that with an in depth discussion on our games differences.
Obviously both games are great, curious to which aspects are harder๐ฏโ๏ธ
A follow-up tweet from N0tail declares thatย Notail and Ceb will be taking this opportunity to hold a chat with achieved and well-spoken LOL players. According to Notail, Ceb and himself will meet up with two LOL players to discuss the pros and cons of each respective scenes.
Sรฉbastien Debs better known asย Ceb is a professional DOTA 2 player for Team OG and also one of the outspoken faces of DOTA alongside Notail. Ceb joins the debate as Notail’s wingman.
Just post Christmas, 26th December on the Boxing Day Ceb posted a minute-long video in which Ceb compared the two games to vehicles. Dota is a tricycle, โbuilt with passionโ with anybody on it knowing they are โdriving a piece of artโ while on the other side LOL is a finely-tuned โbikeโ geared to the teeth.
Ceb, likely referring to Doubleliftโs comments, said that the Leauge bike โbeats the tricycle in a six-meter race, which nobody gives a f*** aboutโ.
At the very end, Ceb ends with his personal conclusion about the two games. While there are โpeople for bothโ, he prefers the โcomplexityโ of the Dota 2 tricycle as compared to the โsafety and comfortโ of the Leagueย bike, asking League fans to โkeep that crappy-ass boring toy for yourselfโ.
We are unsure when this cold rivalry is going to end. When about oneself, it boils to personal preferences and what you enjoy the most at the end of the day.
In an interview with HLTV,ย Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut revealed the player that he thinks will put forward the ‘biggest competition’ against him for the No. 1 position. Fans usually tend to choose Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev along with the French AWPer for the position of the best in the world due to obvious reasons but ZywOo’s thought doesn’t align with the climate of opinion.
Photo Via Epicenter
I think that device is my biggest opponent for the No.1 spot, Despite s1mple’s impressive stats, device had another very impressive year with Astralis, and I think he deserves to be No.1. He is the most complete player I have ever seen and faced.
Said ZywOo to HLTV.org
Nicolai ‘dev1ce Reedtz is definitely a player worthy enough for the honor. ZywOo might statistically best the Danish sniper but he lacks the silverware that dev1ce can boast. dev1ce is best defined by the quote ‘simplicity is the best sophistication’ as we see those quick flicks or flashy plays less often but he has perfected his own unique style of AWPing that is fairly simple but delivers consistent results for Astralis. The consistent results include 6 trophies, 2 of which being Major Tournaments and 3 Personal MVP accolades for 2019.
In the interview, ZywOo further explains that he has accomplished his target for the year and Vitality’s current results satisfy their desires for 2019. He further added that being the number 1 player in the world was never a target for him, he expects himself to placed in top 20 but that is only a bonus achievement, besides what they have already accomplished.
