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Ence defeat Astralis to win BLAST Pro Series Madrid

Pranav Nalawade
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0
Ence defeat Astralis to win BLAST Pro Series Madrid

Ence beat Astralis, the Danish side, with a 2-0 scoreline in the Finals of Blast Pro Madrid. The Finns were crowned champions and took home 125,000$ in prize money.

Ence were on a roll throughout the tournament, finishing at the top of the Group Stage standings with a 4-1 record to book a ticket to the Grand Finals. Astralis followed behind with a line of 4 wins, and a loss.

GRAND FINALS

ENCE VS. ASTRALIS

  • Ence won Nuke 16-9
  • Ence won Train 16-13

The first map of the Best of 3 series was Nuke, picked by Astralis. The vetoes can be found here:

  • Astralis removed Mirage
  • ENCE removed Vertigo
  • Astralis picked Nuke
  • ENCE picked Train
  • Astralis removed Overpass
  • ENCE removed Inferno
  • Dust2 was left over

Astralis have been well known for having a 31-0 unbeatable streak on Nuke. However, it looked like Ence were here to put an end to their unbeatable run.

As the map began, Ence threw Astralis off their feet by picking up the first six rounds in a row, before Astralis was able to pick up two of their own. The first half followed the same storyline and ENCE dominated the Danes to a scoreline of 11-4 in the first half.

However, Astralis showed their magic by taking up the first 3 rounds in the second half and saved their hopes of continuing the streak on Nuke. ENCE were ready to tackle Astralis by the horns and pushed themselves to map point, with the scoreline being 15-7.

Photo via HLTV

Astralis were still fighting tooth and nail and brought back to very close rounds, pushing the score to 15-9. Allu and co. put the final nail in the coffin and broke Astralis’ streak with a scoreline of 16-9.

In the game, it looked like Astralis were not prepared for the aggression from ENCE and succumbed to the Finn’s. Aerial took charge of proceedings on the ENCE side, ending the half with 21 kills and winning 8 out of his 10 opening battles against the Danes.

The teams went to Train for Game 2, where Astralis promptly pulled ahead with an 8-7 lead before switching sides. Aerial led the way once again with 25 kills and only 19 deaths in the map, as Ence eventually sealed the deal with a 16-13 score.

Aerial bagged the tournament MVP award for his stellar performance throughout Ence’s run to the championship, marking the first time he’s won that award in his career. He posted a total of 143 kills with only 126 deaths, dishing out 86.4 average damage per round and an overall rating of 1.28 out of 2.0.

Photo via RFRSH

Ence break Astralis’ streak on Nuke at BLAST Pro Series Madrid

Malav Popat
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1
Ence break Astralis’ streak on Nuke at BLAST Pro Series Madrid

The first map of the Best of Three finals was Nuke, followed by Train and Dust2.

The vetoes of the finals can be found below:

  • Astralis removed Mirage
  • ENCE removed Vertigo
  • Astralis picked Nuke
  • ENCE picked Train
  • Astralis removed Overpass
  • ENCE removed Inferno
  • Dust2 was left over

Astralis have been well known for having a 31-0 unbeatable streak on Nuke. However, it looked like Ence were here to put an end to their unbeatable run.

As the map began, Ence threw Astralis off their feet by picking up the first six rounds in a row, before Astralis was able to pick up two of their own. The first half followed the same storyline and ENCE dominated the Danes to a scoreline of 11-4 in the first half.

However, Astralis showed their magic by taking up the first 3 rounds in the second half and saved their hopes of continuing the streak on Nuke. ENCE were ready to tackle Astralis by the horns and pushed themselves to map point, with the scoreline being 15-7.

Photo via HLTV

Astralis were still fighting tooth and nail and brought back to very close rounds, pushing the score to 15-9. Allu and co. put the final nail in the coffin and broke Astralis’ streak with a scoreline of 16-9

In the game, it looked like Astralis were not prepared for the aggression from ENCE and succumbed to the Finn’s. Aerial took charge of proceedings on the ENCE side, ending the half with 21 kills and winning 8 out of his 10 opening battles against the Danes.

Natus Vincere: A Fantasy lineup that might work

Abhishek Bajaj
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3
Natus Vincere: A Fantasy lineup that might work

A team that has always been in and around the top echelon of the Counter-Strike circuit, there was a time when Natus Vincere were a shoe-in to be one of the teams to be left standing towards the business end of major events.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen since. The addition of s1mple, which was to usher them into a new era of greatness, one which started with their first major title in a long while in the form of ESL One New York 2016.

Related: How can Na’Vi topple the mighty Astralis?

Perhaps, problems started creeping in untimely and we saw Guardian leave the ship. After the paradigm shift and a few roster changes, the current Natus Vincere are a force to be reckoned with, albeit reliant too much on s1mple and electronic to produce the goods on the server.

Fans have been asking for change and there have been rumours circulating at different points in the recent past. We now attempt to build a roster that is capable of remedying the problem area, the over-reliance on s1mple and electronic.

1. Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev

Photo via StarLadder

Obviously, the 2018 HLTV Player of the Year is a must-have if Natus Vincere wants to come anywhere near to the consistency that Astralis have shown in the past year or more. The Hybrid AWPer has shown that he can still step up more compared to his audacious record and rating in 2018, which is startling for the onlookers.

What he can do on the server is much much more than just pull his own weight and perhaps, of others as well. While there are several players who are capable of deciding a game when on song, s1mple is a player that is capable of doing so even when not in the best of forms, which makes him one of the best players in the circuit.

2. Denis “electronic” Sharipov

Photo via StarLadder

Nobody thought a Natus Vincere player would be able to emulate or come close to matching s1mple on the server. But, the former Flipside Tactics star has shown he can do that and more. Electronic had his jittery moments early on in his Na’Vi career. But, once settled, he found his groove and has not looked back since.

One of the raw aimers in the Circuit and perhaps, the best CIS player apart from s1mple. Natus Vincere needs to build their roster around the s1mple-electronic duo.

3. Egor “flamie” Vasilyev

Photo via Turtle Entertainment

Flamie struggled initially after electronic joined and especially when the former Flipside Tactics star started dominating the server. But, the Russian has since found his footing and has managed to bring his HLTV Rating to 1.06, thanks to his performances at IEM Katowice 2019 and few other events.

While s1mple and electronic are the power duo at Natus Vincere, Flamie has shown he can step up to the plate when either of the aforementioned stars are not feeling it and can be one of the carries on the server on his day. On normal days, he can still pull his own weight and is currently on an upward trajectory in terms of form.

4. Abay “Hobbit” Khasenov

Photo via StarLadder

A player that has been linked with a move to Natus Vincere previously as well, Hobbit is a Major winner and will command respect from s1mple. The former Gambit star has also tried his hand at being the In-game Leader and could be a vocal player within the team in terms of mid-game calls and in certain situations.

Hobbit is currently placed on the transfer list by HellRaisers and Natus Vincere could bring Hobbit in as an upgrade on Edward, who needs to be replaced.

5. Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov

Photo via Turtle Entertainment

While this could be a gamble, the 20-year-old’s performances at the Majors have shown he can be an Elite player in the right setting. Boombl4 could also be a refreshing change compared to Zeus, who despite being hailed as a tactical IGL, does not seem to be calling with confidence.

Once we go into the fragging side of things, it becomes an obvious choice. Boombl4 can pull his own weight and more. Also, the Winstrike star can be the secondary AWPer if needed, which would then liberate electronic, who has been purchasing the second AWP currently.

The aforementioned lineup not only packs a punch on paper but results in not a big gulf in terms of experience, with Hobbit a previous Major winner and Boombl4 having considerable experience under his belt now.

Boombl4 has proven he can build a team from scratch and can instil similar values and bring a similar playstyle on the server. The 20-year-old could be tasked with the same job at Na’Vi.

United States Senator introduces bill to ban CSGO case, keys type micro-transactions

Maël Valentin
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United States Senator introduces bill to ban CSGO case, keys type micro-transactions

Representative Josh Hawley (R-MO) has declared that he is acquainting a bill with the Senate floor that will boycott plunder boxes and pay to win micro-transaction in computer games that are “played by minors.” This bill targets amusements that are played by those under 18.

The bill is designated “The Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act.”

“When a game is designed for kids, game developers shouldn’t be allowed to monetize addiction,” Hawley said. “And when kids play games designed for adults, they should be walled off from compulsive microtransactions. Game developers who knowingly exploit children should face legal consequences.”

The main goals of this bill are as follows, per Senator Hawley’s release:

  • Games targeted at those under the age of 18.
  • This would be determined by subject matter, visual content, and other indicators similar to those used to determine applicability of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
  • Games with wider audiences whose developers knowingly allow minor players to engage in micro-transactions.

In a press release, Senator Hawley gave an example of Candy Crush’s microtransactions, a game owned by Activision Blizzard.

“Social media and video games prey on user addiction, siphoning our kids’ attention from the real world and extracting profits from fostering compulsive habits,” Hawley said. “No matter this business model’s advantages to the tech industry, one thing is clear: there is no excuse for exploiting children through such practices.”

The Entertainment Software Association sent the following statement in regards to the US Senator’s new bill:

“Numerous countries, including Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, determined that loot boxes do not constitute gambling. We look forward to sharing with the senator the tools and information the industry already provides that keeps the control of in-game spending in parents’ hands. Parents already have the ability to limit or prohibit in-game purchases with easy to use parental controls.” – Stanley Pierre-Louis, Acting President and CEO, Entertainment Software Association.

The ESA has been agreeing with distributors on this since the beginning of the debate expressing that guardians ought to have extra data to settle on the choices for what amusements their children play as opposed to changing the business itself to have the US government intercede. Numerous individuals are reluctant to enable the administration to manage it, as it could prompt extreme changes for the business.

The FTC even opened an examination concerning plunder boxes and plans to have a meeting in August with network individuals, designers, and more to talk about the plunder box issues and approaches to push ahead.

Call of Duty Mobile surpasses 10 million preregistration

Raja Pratap Singh
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3
Call of Duty Mobile surpasses 10 million preregistration

Activision expressed amid their ongoing meeting financial specialist call that the Call of Duty Mobile amusement worldwide has outperformed 10 million pre-enlistments on Google Play Store.

The iOS App Store does not have a pre-register choice for the diversion, until further notice. Activision intends to bring pre-dispatch betas of the Mobile diversion this late spring with full dispatch of the amusement anticipated not long from now.

Activision declared the new Call of Duty Mobile diversion at GDC in March and said it would include components from Black Ops and Modern Warfare arrangement, close by new substance that breathes life into the Call of Duty world on portable.

The new Call of Duty Mobile game is coming from TIMI, a Tencent owned studio, and will publish the game in partnership with Activision worldwide, not just in China.

Activision plans to bring pre-launch betas of the Mobile game this summer with full launch of the game expected later this year.

The International 2019 prize pool has already reached $8 million

Prateek Sahoo
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0
The International 2019 prize pool has already reached $8 million

It was only yesterday that the long-awaited “The International” Battle Pass and compendium were released with a host of old and new features and cosmetics. As usual,25% of all proceeds from the battle pass are added to the prize pool of The International DOTA 2 tournament. Just like all recent years, the prize pool began at its usual 1.6 million $ put up by Valve Corporation.

Within an hour of its release, the prize pool had already crossed $2 million.

Just over 6 hours later, the dota community’s contributions pushed the prize pool past $4 million.

With around 8 hours left in the day, the prize pool inched past $6 million.

By the end of the day, the prize pool was touching $8 million.

Prize pool in previous years after 24 hours:

  • 2018: $5,669,282
  • 2017: $4,782,066
  • 2016: $4,204,753
  • 2015: $3,527,102
  • 2014: $2,682,056

Chaos Esports Club releases two players, to announce new players soon

Prateek Sahoo
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0
Chaos Esports Club releases two players, to announce new players soon

Following their last place exit at the ongoing MDL Disneyland Paris major, after losing against fellow Brazilians paiN Gaming, Chaos Esports Club have announced that they have released two players from their DOTA 2 roster.

The two unfortunate players are Otavio “tavo” Gabriel, who played the role of offlaner for the team and Danylo “Kingrd” Nascimento, who was the position 5 support for this roster.

Image credits: KINGRD

Their disastrous last-place finish at the ongoing major was the main reason for the release among other reasons, which can be read in the statement provided by Chaos Esports Club in their official statement.

“Following disappointing results at the MDL Paris Major, we are releasing Kingrd and tavo as the first step of our roster rebuild. Both players brought a lot skill, passion, and levity to the team. Unfortunately, the team is at an impasse in terms of results and a change is required. We still love our South American fans, but the logistics of operating in Brazil were more difficult than we anticipated, regardless of the situation within the squad. We will be revealing our full squad in the coming days.”

Chaos Esports released a video explaining the decision as well, on their twitter handle.

The Twitter video provides some more details about the reason for the change, about how difficult it was to support a team in Brazil, the rules regarding housing and selling merchandise are not flexible and supportive.

Image credits: TAVO

As a result, the team will be relocating to Europe and will take part in the European qualifiers of the next Minor/Major.

The new players will be announced soon.

The current incomplete Chaos Esports Club roster is as follows:

  • William ‘hFn’ Medeiros
  • Aliwi ‘w33’ Omar
  • Rasmus ‘Misery’ Berth Filipsen

MDL Paris Major Day 4 Recap: EG & NIP win, Chaos Esports and Fnatic eliminated

Prateek Sahoo
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0
MDL Paris Major Day 4 Recap: EG & NIP win, Chaos Esports and Fnatic eliminated

After an exciting day three, the MDL Paris Major action resumed on Tuesday, 7th May 2019 at Disney’s Newport Bay Club, Disneyland, Paris.

Let’s recap yesterday’s events. At the end of day two, the playoffs bracket looked like:

The schedule for the day included the following games:

Upper Bracket Games:

The first game of the day was the matchup between two TI winning organisations, Evil Geniuses vs Team Liquid. Off late Team Liquid seem to have EG’s number,the first game of the best of 3 series began in the same fashion with Liquid winning the game comfortably.

But a clutch alchemist pick and excellent performance on the earth shaker by Cr1t- won EG game 2, tying the series 1-1.

The third game went in EG’s favour as well, who took the series 2-1, thus advancing to round 2 of the upper bracket, while Team Liquid were pushed to the lower bracket.

Game 2 of the day was between Vici Gaming and Ninjas in Pyjamas.

Vici Gaming were the heavy favourites coming into this matchup, but NIP had a surprise for them, who won game 1 of the series in just 32 minutes to lead the series 1-0.

After talking among themselves and after drafting a stable draft, Vici won the 2nd game in convincing fashion to tie the series 1-1.

Game 3 involved a stellar performance from all NIP players, especially Saksa on the enigma, who helped NIP clinch the series 2-1 and complete a HUGE UPSET over the dreamleague major winners Vici Gaming.

With this win, NIP advance to round 3 of the Upper Bracket while Vici Gaming are pushed down to the lower bracket to await their opponent.

Upper Bracket now looks the following:

Lower Bracket Elimination Games:

First lower bracket game of the day was an All Brazilian affair between Chaos Esports and Pain gaming. Although Chaos has been the more dominating team in the South American region for a while now, Tuesday was no their day. Pain gaming tried their hardest and pulled off an upset, thus eliminating Chaos Esports from the MDL Paris major, while setting up a lower bracket round 2 games against Team Liquid.

Second lower bracket game of the day was the last game of the off-stage portion of the event before the action moves to the Disney Events Arena.

Team Fnatic took on Keen Gaming in a best of one elimination game. Fnatic looked completely out of sorts and lost quite easily against a formidable Keen Gaming line-up, and thus lost and ended the MDL major with a surprising 13th-16th place finish.

Keen Gaming secured themselves a spot in the next round of the lower bracket, against Vici Gaming.

Lower Bracket:

The action moves to the DISNEY EVENTS ARENA , Paris on 9th May 2019.

Four Best of 3 games will be played on the first day on the main stage.

Schedule:

Brollan: The Swedish front runner doing the magic for Fnatic

Pranav Nalawade
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1
Brollan: The Swedish front runner doing the magic for Fnatic

The newest name on every fnatic fan’s chattering, Ludvig ‘Brollan’ Brolin has been doing well to prove his talent on the big stage and for a big organization. Perhaps, the prodigy started his career with an all Swedish project called passions, wherein he surprised everyone.

A 15-year-old dominating everyone on the server against people well above his age is nothing new in CSGO. But, to do that in a competitive setting is something that is not easily seen in the circuit. So naturally, when Brollan played for passions in online events, he caught everyone’s attention.

Passions though, was not the best platform for him, with Brollan only playing against Tier 3 teams and not being able to perform well on LAN either. The 15-year-old then received a golden chance with Godsent taking the youngster in.

The Swedish prodigy found a comfortable environment and seemed to learn from the established pros alongside him. Brollan posted just three sub-1.00 rated events among 17 events while representing the player-owned organization that was formed by pronax.

After a brief stint with Red Reserve, Brollan was part of the Swedish shuffle again. The Fnatic chance was always going to come. But, to receive it at such an early age was a surprise, especially alongside Major winners like JW, Krimz and Xizt, who are all considered legends of the Swedish scene.

With an IGL like Xizt to guide him and players like JW and Krimz to learn from, Brollan’s current trajectory was almost expected. But, the immediateness of his progress has caught everyone by surprise, pleasantly so for Fnatic.

Photo: HLTV

His very first tournament saw him being jump straight into action. Fnatic managed a top four finish at IEM Chicago 2018, with a bo3 win over Liquid and a closely fought 3-map series defeat to Astralis in the semi-finals.

Brollan then went on to lift his first trophy, with Fnatic winning the PLG Grand Slam 2018. Since the win, the Swedish giants have sealed three more decent results, with the latest a second place at IEM Sydney 2019, losing in five maps to Liquid in the Grand Finals.

The event saw one of the best 3-map series in a while, with Ninjas in Pyjamas and Fnatic renewing their local rivalry in Australia. Brollan, along with Rez, were the stars of the series, with the youngster showing that he is ready to step up when Fnatic need him to.

Photo: HLTV

Brollan is the second-highest rated player within the current Fnatic lineup with an average HLTV Rating of 1.08 in all events. But, what has been particularly refreshing is to see the youngster cope with the big stage and big moments on the server, with Fnatic also showing signs of returning to their former glory with this lineup after disappointing results with recent iterations.

The Counter-Strike world is Brollan’s oyster and it seems Fnatic is finally helping him break out from his shell and shape him into the pearl he can be.

IGZ announces PUBG PC Tournament for India with 60,000 INR

Bhavya Shah
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IGZ announces PUBG PC Tournament for India with 60,000 INR

IGZ is coming up with second season of it’s PUBG PC FPP tournament. First tournament was held in late February earlier this year with ₹30,000 on the stake. Inaugural season was a success and it received applauds from the community for efficient functioning and time management. Now, the organizers have revealed information for second season which will he held in June 2019 with double the prize pool.

The second season will feature 40 teams divided into two lobbies. Both lobbies will have 20 teams each and they will play six matches (3 on Miramar & Erangel each) in qualifiers stage. Best eight teams from each lobby will advance to next stage. Finale stage will consist of twelve matches. Qualifier stage and grand finale will be held on June 08-09 and June 15-16 respectively. A couple of weekends are sealed with action packed PUBG matchups for the Indian community.

Registration is restricted to forty teams on first come first serve basis and the registration process is already live. It ends on May 15. Click here to register your team. Additional information about blue zone settings, scoring system, drops settings can be found in this rule book.

“With the success of first IGZ PUBG tournament still fresh in our heads, I look forward to hosting another tournament for the community.”

“We, at IGZ along with TalkEsport have set high standards for ourselves every day, and we hope that you, as a community will work with us in achieving the set goals for a fair and smooth tournament.”

“I also expect a display of professionalism from the players. I urge you to go through the rules properly to avoid confusion and delay,” said Harshit Singh, Chief Tournament Organizer, IGZ.

Prize Pool Distribution:

  • 1st Place – ₹30,000 INR
  • 2nd Place – ₹18,000 INR
  • 3rd Place – ₹12,000 INR

Like the previous season, Archisman ‘Fett’ Pradhan would also be casting the second season. However, he was solely casting the previous season, this time Gitansh ‘Teck’ Arora would also make his presence heard.

For further inquiries, contact:-

This tournament is brought to you by IGZ in association with Goutfits and TalkEsport.

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