Welcome to the Weekly Recap, where we gather the top stories that happened in the past week to help you catch up with the busy world of eSports!
General News
IEM Katowice Most Viewed Esports Event Ever
IEM Season XI Katowice became the most watched esports event ever after it saw 46 million unique people view the event online.
The record beat out the 2016 League of Legends World Championships, which recorded 43 million viewers.
Also, Katowice saw more than 50% increase in live audience at the stadium, with 173,000 fans attending over the course of the event.
DreamHack, Twitch renew deal for 2017
Esports event organizer DreamHack and streaming giant Twitch have extended their long-term partnership for another year this 2017.
“It’s not every day in this space you renew a partnership entering its ninth year,” said DreamHack CEO Marcus Lindmark.
The Swedish organizer is set to host 11 big events this year, with over $2 million in prize pool for Hearthstone, CS:GO, Dota 2 events.
Dota 2
Mineski reforms lineup with Mushi
After failing to qualify for the Kiev Major, Mineski has boosted its lineup, including the acquisition of veteran free agent Chai “Mushi” Yee Fung.
Mushi, who left Fnatic last month, will now captain the squad, whose only holdovers from the Kiev Major qualifiers are Michael ‘ninjaboogie’ Ross Jr. and Ryan ‘Bimbo’ Jay Qui.
The new team will see the reunion of Mushi with his former Fnatic teammate Nico ‘eyyou’ Barcelon and former Team Orange teammate Lee ‘kYxY’ Kong Yang.
PENTA Sports sign Ad Finem with young German roster
German esports organization PENTA Sports has acquired Ad Finem’s Dota 2 team and employed a young roster to help it enter the competitive scene.
The new roster, which was named Going In before signing with PENTA Sports, will compete under the Ad Finem banner but will train at #ELZ, PS’s famed center in Berlin.
Oliver “Skiter” Lepko will be the team’s carry, while Jamal “Blazemon” Sohail will play mid. Max “Mikey” Barko will handle the offlane, while Dino “dnz” Savuk and Mathis “Jabbz” Friesel will be the supports.
EPICENTER: Moscow to host 2nd Dota 2 event
Tournament organizer EPICENTER has announced that a second edition of last year’s Dota 2 event in Moscow will be held in the same city this summer.
EPICENTER: Moscow 2 will have 10 teams compared to last year’s eight, but will have the same $500,000 prize pool.
Qualifiers in the regions of Europe, CIS, North America and China will begin In May.
League of Legends
NicoThePico leaves Fnatic
Fnatic has announced that coach Nicholas “NicoThePico” Korsgard has left his post following the team’s poor performance in the 2017 EU LCS Spring Split.
“I feel that someone else with an outside perspective on the team and its issues in both draft and gameplay might be a better solution than what I was able to provide,” said Nico in the statement. “I’ve decided to step down as head coach of FNC effective immediately.”
Fnatic are 3rd in Group A, but only have four wins in 10 series and are 1-4 in their last five matches.
G2 CEO wants domestic win run to end
G2 Esports are on another incredible run, winning their first 11 games to start the 2017 EU LCS Spring Split and extend the unbeaten streak that began February last year.
CEO Carlos “Ocelote” Rodriguez wants his team to lose now before the pressure gets bigger for his players, according to an interview with the Score eSports.
“Every game we don’t lose is one game less until we do lose,” said Ocelote. “We will end up losing. To some degree, I kind of want to break this win streak, but in a harmless moment. This streak just builds up more pressure to live up to the expectations again. Of course, we are doing our best effort to kill those expectations that we have to ignore in-game, but of course, if we keep adding pressure by not losing, it is going to be a problem.
Spring Split Update
LCK leader SKT T1 face another rival it will likely bring down when it faces Samsung Galaxy, which has leaped over struggling KT Rolster in the Spring Split table. SKT T1 is still miles away at 14-1, while SG is at 11-4 and KT is 10-5.
LPL saw one of the biggest upsets this Spring Split after Group B leader Team WE outclassed Group A Royal Never Give Up in Week 6. WE now leads the overall standings with eight wins in 10 series, while RNG only lost for the second time in nine matches.
Team SoloMid stretched its lead in the NA LCS after sweeping its schedule in Week 8, now two wins ahead of Cloud 9, who split its games.
With another two wins, G2 eSports remained the only unbeaten side in the EU LCS, and now lead its group by four wins. Group B is led by Unicorns of Love, who is a win ahead of H2k Gaming.
Counter Strike: Global Offensive
NiP completes cs_summit list
The list of competing teams in cs_summit is now complete with the announcement of the invite to Ninjas in Pajamas.
This competition is Beyond the Summit’s first CS:GO tournament, which will be held at the BTS house from April 19 to 23 with a $100,000 prize pool.
NiP will join SK Gaming, OpTic Gaming, Cloud9, Gambit Esports, Team Liquid and GODSENT at the event.
Stand-in Hiko leaves OpTic Gaming
Spencer “Hiko” Martin will stop standing in for OpTic Gaming in future events, according to a tweet from the player himself.
The former Team Liquid player suited up for OG at DreamHack Las Vegas and IEM Katowice but the player and team struggled in both events, finishing 9th-12th in the former and 12th in the latter.
OpTic is now a man short in the roster, though Luis “peacemaker” Tadeu has stood in for the team in the past.
PGL to host the Krakow Major
Event organizer PGL has won the rights to host the next CS:GO Major, which will be held at the Tauron Arena in Krakow Poland this July.
The Major is the fourth edition of Valve CS:Go events, following the Columbus Major and Cologne Major in 2016 and the Atlanta Major in 2017.
It will also have a $1,000,000 prize pool, and its qualifiers will being in June.
Overwatch
Former Misfits GM creates new OW team
Ali “Alicus” Saba formed a new Overwatch team named Laser Kittenz, according to ESPN’s Jacob Wolf.
The Kittenz are composed of former Bench Boys players Finley “Kyb” Adisi, Sergi “Winghaven” Torras, Luis “Greyy” Perestrelo and Carl “crems” Aspehult. Also in the team are Nikolaj “Zaprey” Moses and Herman “Nesh” Kobrin.
Chris “spazzo” Infante will be the coach of the Kittenz, who will have its debut in the European leg of the Overwatch PIT Championship.
Orisa goes live
Nearly a month after Blizzard announced the arrival of its latest Overwatch champion Orisa, the tanky robot gunner is now among the 24 playable heroes in the game.
The robot’s primary attack is the Fusion Driver, which is a machine gun that impedes Orisa’s movement whenever she fires it. She also has Halt, a graviton charge that pulls opponents like a magnet.
Her best features are her defensive skills – Protective Barrier and Fortify. The Barrier blocks most incoming damage but allows Orisa to fire through it, while Fortify strengthens her armor that reduces damage taken for five seconds and also prevents crowd control while active.
Orisa is currently only available to play in Quick Play, Arcade, and Play vs AI modes, to give time for players to get used to the robot’s skillset before launching her in ranked matches and pro games.
