The Australian CS shuffle is just starting. ]]>Australian esports organization Order has acquired CS:GO veteran Karlo “Ustilo” Pivac to replace the departing Joshua “Ins” Potter. Ustilo most recently played for FaZe Clan at IEM Sydney as a substitute, but he’s also been a part of Tainted Minds and Renegades in the past.
Order has long played second fiddle in Australian CS:GO to the Chiefs and Grayhound. The organization has gone through a slow phase of rebuilding recently, replacing Charlie “zeph” Dodd with Matthew “Valiance” Hartrick and now Ins with Ustilo.
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Can Order run the gauntlet two seasons in a row? ]]>
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Order have been in this position before in 2019. After finishing in fifth of split one of the Oceanic Pro League, they ran the gauntlet to secure a spot in the grand final. While they fell down to the Bombers in the final, it was one of the most successful gauntlet runs in OCE history.
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The OWL has done a pretty good job of trying to avoid player burnout and jetlag. ]]>
This article is brought to you by StatBanana, the best Overwatch strategy tool.
The Overwatch League is moving to a complete home-and-away model in 2020, with all 20 teams flying around the world to play in each other’s cities. With games running every week for 27 weeks, there were some understandable concerns about player health.
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These are the first arrests made for esports match fixing in Australia.]]>Six people across Australia have been arrested over fixing Counter-Strike games in Australia, according to a Victorian Police statement. It’s the first major match-fixing case in Australian esports history.
A betting agency tipped off officers about activity linked to a CS:GO tournament in March, according to Victorian Police. They allege that “players were arranging to throw matches and subsequently placing bets on those matches.” At this stage, at least five matches have been impacted, with over 20 bets being placed.
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Unter talked about qualifying for LAN once again, making the World Cup roster, and playing in Korea.]]>This article is brought to you by StatBanana, the best Overwatch strategy tool.
Even if you don’t follow Overwatch Contenders, you’ve probably heard of Max “Unter” Unterwurzacher. The Order main support’s personality has given him more than his fair share of viral tweets to bring light to the Australian Overwatch scene, as well as a few front-page Reddit posts.
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Both teams have set records in their respective esports for all the wrong reasons. ]]>Jin Air’s disastrous 2019 season is coming to a close. Their 2019 Summer Split ended up being the worst in LCK history, going winless across 18 series and only managing to scrape together four game wins.
On top of a miserable Spring Split, a poor showing at the KeSPA Cup, and barely making it into the Summer Split in the first place, Jin Air’s year has been one of the worst performances in esports history.
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The LCS team will be participating in an exhibition match with some of the best players in the OPL.]]>The Golden Guardians will be attending the Melbourne Esports Open later this month.
The LCS team will play in an exhibition League of Legends match before the OPL finals and will do meet and greets with fans during the event.
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Out with the old, in with the new. ]]>SK Telecom T1 have climbed out of one of the organization’s deepest ruts in the last few weeks. After a horrible 1-5 showing in the first three weeks of LCK Summer 2019 saw them sitting in the relegation zone, the storied League of Legends team went on a nine-game rampage, taking down everyone in their path on their way back up to playoffs.
SKT’s rise to the top hasn’t been off the back of usual suspects though. They’ve innovated their draft strategies off the back of MSI and Rift Rivals, where regions like Europe and China have heavily experimented in the new meta. Veterans Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and Kim “Khan” Dong-ha have also been performing exceptionally well.
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Contenders Worlds is coming up. ]]>This article is brought to you by StatBanana, the best Overwatch strategy tool.
The inaugural Overwatch Contenders Gauntlet is coming up, bringing together tier-two teams from all around the world to decide who is the best. It’ll be a big tournament for prospective Overwatch League players to make their mark, with a healthy dose of regional pride on the line.
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Will this season be the third time lucky for Griffin? ]]>Griffin are jumping into the LCK Summer Split 2019 playoffs with momentum, taking a dominant 2-0 sweep against Hanwha Life Esports on the final day of the regular season. Griffin have now locked away a spot at Worlds, and have their eyes set on winning their first LCK title.
Hanwha Life looked unsettled compared to their recent series of dominance against the likes of SK Telecom T1 and Damwon Gaming, and Griffin took full advantage of that. With Choi “Doran” Hyeon-joon settling in as the starting top laner for Griffin, he showed his stripes in game one with a flawless Mordekaiser performance.
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