While being called โHeadshot Machineโ was fully justified, there was no stat to back up that Adil โScreaMโ Benrlitom really was a headshot master. Until now.
A video posted by Youtuber CliperinoPP shows a timeline of the number of headshots hit by professional players over the years and as of today, it is topped by the Belgian ace.
With 17,539 shots to the head, ScreaM is more than 2000 ahead of his next competitor, the legend Patrick โf0restโ Lindberg himself. Following him are Wiktor โTaZโ Wojtas, Nathan โNBK-โ Schmitt and Christopher โGeT_RiGhTโ Alesund to round off the top 5.
The most amazing part is that after ScreaM took the lead in 2016, he has not looked back since, being the king of headshots. As of today, he has been at the top for almost 1200 days, the most for any player. This, at a time when he has not been at the best of forms and is struggling to make an impact with top tier teams which has led him to play in lesser known organisations.
The other names on the list are not surprising too, with veterans like TaZ, GeT_RiGhT and f0rest stamping their marks as the best in the business. The only slight surprise is NBK, who is known as a support player but has beaten many legends and skilled players to cement number 5. It will be interesting to see how the newer players find their way in the list in the years to come.
North American esports giant Complexity Gaming has entered in a strategic partnership with MillerCoors, the brewing company famous for their alcoholic beverage brand Miller. As a part of the deal, Miller Lite will be the exclusive alcoholic beverage of Complexity Gaming.
This will be a first significant move for
MillerCoors to enter in the Esports industry. The brand is already looking
forward to increase its reach in the budding market and wants to solidify
themselves with like of other beverage brands that are already in Esports industry
(i.e. Redbull, Sting, etc).
Furthermore, MillerCoors will be sponsoring
a room called Miller Lite Player Lounge in Complexity Gamingโs headquarters,
the GameStop Performance Centre. The
player lounge will be equipped with Miller Lite beverages and a video wall
where players can watch their gameplay and matches. MillerCoors will also host
watch parties at the headquarters and work with Complexity Gaming to produce a
series of original content where the players from the team will be sharing
their favourite gaming moments and stories.
Anup Shah, Vice President, Miller Family of
Brands at MillerCoors said:
We have spent the last year and half learning as much as possible about the gaming space and introducing ourselves to the community through influencer activations and live-stream media partners. While the reception we have received to this point has been nothing but positive, we want to extend our presence in an authentic way and believe that Complexity is the right partner to help us do that.
MillerCoors is the 2ndsponsorjoining
Complexity Gaming in the GameStop Performance Centre with MSI gaming being the
first and official hardware sponsor.
Daniel Herz, Chief Revenue Officer at
Complexity Gaming said in a release:
We couldnโt be more excited to welcome MillerCoors to the Complexity family. The companyโs desire to dig-in and learn fansโ wants and needs makes MillerCoors an ideal partner. Together, we will take the time to truly invest in the gaming community and culture, so we can better support and enhance gamersโ experiences, rather than change behaviours.
Further details of the deal werenโt
disclosed at the moment, but MillerCoors are set to announce further plans in upcoming
months with this sponsorship being a test for them to learn about the esports
industry.
Proving Grounds is one of the largest and prominent community driven event in the Indian esport circuit. The organizers have announced it’s the second season as the 2018 variant was indeed a success. The tournament was held on May 19-20, 2018, with international appeal at the heart of Bengaluru, Koramangala. The event had 173 participants a previous year and the number is expected to substantially rise this weekend.
Proving Grounds Round 2 will feature five titles namely:
Tekken 7 (PlayStation 4)
PUBG (PC – Online)
Smash Ultimate (Nintendo Switch)
FIFA 19 (PlayStation 4)
Round two of Proving Grounds will be held on May 17-19, i.e. this weekend, with a whopping prize pool worth โน3,00,000 INR. The Tekken 7 tournament is a part of Tekken World Tour while this will be the next prominent Smash Ultimate event in India after the DreamHack: Mumbai 2018. Sudhanshu Sharma, a veteran Street Fighter player and the person behind Proving Grounds exchanged a few words with TalkEsport.
On May 19-20, 2018, we hosted the round one at REX eSport in Bengaluru. The key feature of this tournament was that there were no restrictions as such for international participants and it was absolutely free which grabbed the attention of our well-known neighbours โ The Bangladeshi FGC.
With the advent of 2019, we are geared up and excited for round two of Proving Grounds to be held on May 17-19, 2019. Deepak Thomas and REX eSport have successively helped us throughout our journey.
PUBG will be played online in squad only mode with โน50,000 INR on the line, to be divided amongst the top three. The registration is open to 40 teams on first come first serve basis. The qualifier will be a best of two while the finale being best of four encounter.
Continuing on our TalkEsportโs Interact series, where we feature talent from the esports circuit. Our featurette for the day is Rahul “t1to” Sridhar. Tito is currently playing for Global Esports after having played on 2ez Gaming, the team he joined in June 2017. Tito does not only play the game professionally, but he also streams the game frequently and has an entertaining personality while streaming.
Malav: How did your journey to play CSGO professionally begin?
t1to: It all started when Tejas โRexโ Kotian approached me in June 2017 to join them in 2EZ. I was a big fan of rex, so for me, it was a no-brainer and I decided to hop on-board the opportunity without hesitating. This was one of the best decisions of my life ๐
We wanted to work with a professional organization that could take us to the next step and aim higher for us. When we did our research it seemed like a no-brainer that Global eSports was the right fit for where we wanted to go. We also wanted to show our parents that we can have a great career in esports and showing the presence and growth of Global eSports internationally and their faith in us really helped that. Weโre really happy to be part of an organization like GE where they truly put โPlayers Firstโ
Malav: How do you see the Indian CSGO scene 10 years down the line?
t1to: I canโt really comment on that since I truly do not know where CS will go in the coming years. I know that Indian Esports will peak a lot, weโll be a Tier 1 Esports Nation.
Malav: What is your main goal regarding CSGO in the next 5 years?
t1to: I want my team to set benchmarks in the Indian esports scene. I want to achieve and experience much greater goals and I want to leave a strong and successful legacy behind for the people who follow in our footstep. Itโs time to put India on the map.
Malav: Can you expand a bit about what happened in Global Esports? Why did Antidote leave the team and what about Kamil and Zorineq?
t1to: Kamil and Zorineq had only come down for COBX and we all knew that was the deal going in. They had other commitments which held them back for a long term stint. We got to learn a great deal from both of them and hope we can play together again sometime soon. Antidote was benched earlier last month and is now loaned out to signify. He is a close friend and Iโm looking forward to seeing what comes up in his career next and wish him all the best regardless of where the journey takes him.
Malav: What was the situation with 2ez? Why did you decide to leave the organization?
t1to: We wanted to work with an organisation that could take us to the next step and aim higher for us. We also wanted to show our parents that we can have a great career in esports. So we approached Global Esports during Dreamhack Mumbai after that things went upwards and Iโm delighted to be part of an organisation like GE ๐
Malav: Recently, Global Esports added Haivaan, Badman, and HellRanger, why did you pick them?
t1to: Yes, during the shuffle, we were looking at all aspect and possibilities of how we wanted to shape our roster. Rex and I had Haivaan, Badman, Hellranger, and Falken as our ideal picks for the roster. We spoke with management and decided to move forward with our choices.
Malav: How do you keep yourself calm before a game?
t1to: Iโm always calm before our matches, I donโt really do anything special to make myself calm. But yeah, during the games, sometimes you lose your focus and your nerves start to get to you. Iโve learned to not let these things affect me from my past experience. Iโve grown a lot as a player, in-game and outside the game.
Malav: What is your warmup routine before a game?
t1to: I donโt have a specific routine, but at the GE boot camp, we do have a schedule designed for us that we follow. Our coach prioritizes warm-up drills and sessions before we start our day. It helps us prepare for the upcoming scrims and matches.
Malav: One teammate, that you miss playing with?
t1to: Thereโs two actually, Shinchan and Poki. Poki and I were very close in-game and outside the game. Itโs sad that weโre not teammates now, but thatโs just how life is. Iโm super happy with my new teammates. Initially, I thought itโll take time for me to mix in with everyone but itโs been a super smooth transition. All of us have gelled really well together and have a strong bond ^_^
Malav: Can you tell us the story behind UMP: Pranav Nalawade?
t1to: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA itโs no big deal. And itโs a funny inside joke and I would like to keep it that way:D
Malav: What would you be doing if you werenโt playing CSGO right now?
t1to: Honestly, not a clue. I canโt imagine life without CS. Itโs pretty much the only thing I think about. I wouldnโt know what I would be doing, only that I wouldnโt be as happy as I am now.
Thank you t1to for generous responses. We wish you all the best for your endeavours with Global Esports!
Jarosลaw โpashaBicepsโ Jarzฤ bkowski, the veteran AWPer from Vitrus.Pro, has returned to the professional CSGO scene with a team called Youngsters.
The team, Youngsters, will see Pasha mark his return to the scene after being teamless since Vitrus.Pro ceased competition due to a string of lacklustre performances. Pasha has taken 4 new players under his wing to help grow the Polish scene and help the players improve.
Earlier, it was reported that Pasha and Neo would be a part of the new Codewise Unicorn team according to Robert Gryn. However, that move seems to have fallen through as Neo is currently playing on FaZe as a substitute and has taken over the IGL role from Niko in the European super team.
The newly formed team are currently playing in the UCC SummerClash. The team have already played two games in the 30,000$ online tournament and have suffered losses in both their matches 2-0 and 2-1 against Epsilon and Vega Squadron. However, there are still a lot of matches to come in the tournament and Youngsters will look to show their potential in the upcoming games.
The latest CSGO Update has brought major changes to Danger Zone as well as some economy changes which will impact competitive play.
With respect to the economy, the round loss bonus has been capped at 5 rounds. This means that if a team wins a round after losing more than 5 successive rounds and immediately lose the one after that, they will receive $2900 instead of $3400.
Release Notes for today are up! Loss bonus now caps at 5 rounds, new Danger Zone items have been unlocked, a "looking to play" feature has been added, and a "CS:GO events" feature with @HLTVorg schedule info has been added to the WATCH tab. Full notes: https://t.co/DCMg50ntf6pic.twitter.com/mDYQpU791I
Other changes have brought some neat features in the UI, with a โLooking to Playโ feature that allows the player to make themselves available to play. The watch tab also contains upcoming events which is provided by HLTV with a notification feature.
Lastly, Danger Zone has received a significant update with some new starting options like Armour and Helmet, as well as a purchasable Drone Pilot upgrade.
The full update is as follows:
Danger Zone
Unlocked Drone Pilot Tablet, Bonus Wave Money, Bonus Explore Money, and Armor+Helmet as starting item options.
Drone Pilot upgrade is now available for purchase in the Tablet Buy Menu.
Tasers will now always open the crate they are fired at; they no longer sometimes do partial crate damage.
Shields dropped from death have a slight delay before being automatically picked by nearby players.
Fixed some instances of safe models spawning in midair.
Fixed item outline colors on dropped grenades.
Map collision fixes and stuck spot removals, and a few visual bugs squashed too.
Gameplay
Loss bonus money will now always step down to $2,900 after a team with a $3,400 max loss bonus streak wins a round.
UI
Introducing the โLooking to Playโ feature: players can now advertise themselves as available for party invites, can be invited by other parties from the โLooking to Playโ tab of their CS:GO friends list, and can accept party invites from the CS:GO main menu.
Introducing CS:GO Events: players can now see an HLTV-provided schedule of professional LAN events in the Watch tab. Favorite your preferred community tournaments and get notified about professional live matches on the CS:GO main menu.
Misc
Friends and other players can no longer join lobbies that already entered matchmaking queue.
Fixed exploits related to vote commands.
Maps
Latest updates to community maps Ruby and Workout.
Ruby:
Minor bug fixes
Clean Up
Added setdressing
Added boost in Alley
Added boost spot in mid for Ts
Overall gameplay tweaks
Trimmed excessive areas
Improved overall gameplay flow
Large changes to mid to improve flow
Rerouted alley from a main to mid
Removed ladder bug
Removed pixel walk
Workout:
Fixed boosting into the hole in Kids Zone
Deleted a rougue spawn point
Fixed some shadow issues in the court area
Brightened the shower area slightly
SDK
VBSP: Fixed a rare bug in displacement physics hull generation during map compilation that could result in large gaps near the edges of completely flat displacement surfaces.
Filip โNEOโ Kubski, who was tipped to join Faze clan by multiple insiders and reports, has finally confirmed his move to the European Organization via Facebook.
Earlier we had reported that the Polish legend will be joining Faze, in a bid to replace Finn โkarriganโ Andersen as the In Game Leader to ease the pressure on Niko.
#FaZeCSGO: Today we welcome Filip โNeoโ Kubski, who begins his role as a substitute effective immediately. Weโre proud to have such a legend join our roster. @neo_fkubski will be representing us in upcoming tournaments as an IGL, starting today vs @virtuspro. #FaZeUP
While this post does confirm his presence in the team, it is still unclear what role he would be playing and how he will fit in, as well as who will replace.
According to a report by Cybersport.pl, Filip โNEOโ Kubski could make a move to Faze Clan after being spotted playing alongside other members of the squad in a private server.
The reports suggest that he could make way for Dauren โAdreNโ Kystaubayev, who was not seen playing, as evidenced by this screenshot.
Photo via Cybersport.pl
While only a screenshot in itself is not conclusive, a tweet by famous Esports journalist DeKay suggests that there is substance to this rumour. Another user by the handle DonHaci also claimed to have credible sources telling him that this rumour was indeed true.
I can't confirm this for 100% and you could consider it a high-probability rumor but a very credible source close to the team has told me @FaZeClan is looking to add @neo_fkubski to the team as their in-game leader.
The move can be seen as a way of replacing the IGL void left by Finn โkarriganโ Andersen and free up the role of NiKo, while at the same time providing the structure and the vast experience that Neo brings which the team desperately needs.
Valve on Saturday announced that its Battle Pass for The International 2019, to be held in Shanghai, has reached record numbers in 3 days which has caused the prize pool to reach a whopping $10 million.
This beats the previous record held by TI 18 by $2.2 million at the same time. On the first day alone, the prize pool reached $5 million, with each TI outperforming the previous one.
If the projections are to be believed, the prize pool is set to cross $30 million, which is $5 million more than the $25.5 million prize pool last year.
With this, TI 19 is set to be the biggest prize pool in esports history, beating its own record from last year, and solidifying itself as one of the biggest esport. TI 19 begins on the 15th of August, at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai.
Tencent the owner and maker of every so popular mobile battle royale game PlayerUnknownโs Battlegrounds: Mobile failed to secure a license from the Chinese government to collect revenues (i.e. monetize through microtransactions) from the game. Due to this Tencent has decided to shut-down the game PUBGM in China and replace it with a new game called Elite Force for Peace.
Tencent will allow users of PUBG:M to
migrate their characters to the new game. The game Elite Force for Peace has
already received approval from the Chinese government to be monetized.
Some reports suggested that the new game is incredibly similar to PUBG:M, but with censorship towards the โviolentโ parts. In Elite Force for Peace, players wonโt bleed blood and die, rather a green smoke will come off from the character while doing a surrendering pose ( down on knees and hands in air) and offer all the loot in a bag. Elite Force for Peace is an overly patriotic game with some describing it as โpatriotism overturnedโ. The game will be age restricted to players above 16.
This comes amid the tension and competition
from every company trying to grab a percent of market share in China. As China
is home to biggest gaming market, every company is looking to enter even if
they have to compromise on many of the game elements to gain license from
Chinese government.
Over the past few months the Chinese
government have put forward many rules and regulations to censor games while
also limiting many studios from outright releasing games. The government has
become particularly hostile to video games that are perceived as violent or
addictive by local media and actively try to censor them.
Although Tencent was fast to react to this,
but many other studios might not be so lucky and may have to either remove
their games or bow down to Chinese regulations and heavily censor them.
