Team Vitality have been crowned the champions of IEM Rio 2023. The org has won it big in Brazil after defeating Heroic 2-0 in a best of 3 series. How did the roster make it to the finals and how did the finals turn out? Find out more only at Gamopo!

Road To The Finals

Team Vitality started off their IEM journey at Rio in the worst possible way. Their first match was against OG who had gotten the best of them, beating them 19-17. Thus, the team was forced to be relegated to the lower bracket. In the lower bracket finals, Vitality faced MIBR who they beat 2-0. Vitality was then up against FaZe who had previously lost Furia at the upper bracket finals. To the demise of FaZe, Vitality won 2-0 again and sent them home packing. At the lower bracket finals, Vitality had to face OG yet again. But it was time for vengeance as OG conceded to them 1-2 with Vitality now qualifying for the playoffs.

Vitality’s journey at the playoffs started by facing BIG. In another best of 3 series, they won 2-0 on Nuke and Mirage. It was now time for the team’s biggest test yet as they had to face Cloud9 at the semifinals. Cloud9 were ruthless on their first map which was Inferno and one more map win would mean the end of the journey for Vitality. In their second map as well, Cloud9 was ruthlessly dominating being up by 12-1. But Vitality made the comeback of their lives and went up to 12-14 from 12-1. They eventually took advantage of their momentum and won on Vertigo and then slayed Overpass booking their ticket to the finals.

The Finals

Rosters

Team Vitality

  • Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire
  • Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut
  • Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen
  • Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif
  • Lotan ‘Spinx’ Giladi

Heroic

  • Martin ‘stavn’ Lund
  • Casper ‘cadiaN’ Møller
  • René ‘TeSeS’ Madsen
  • Rasmus ‘sjuush’ Beck
  • Jakob ‘Jabbi’ Nygaard

Map Picks & Bans

  • Vitality removed Ancient
  • Heroic removed Anubis
  • Vitality picked Vertigo
  • Heroic picked Inferno
  • Vitality removed Mirage
  • Heroic removed Nuke
  • Overpass was left over

The Series

The chosen maps for the finals of IEM Rio 2023 were Vertigo, Inferno and Overpass.

Map 1 (Vertigo)

Vitality’s pick of Vertigo came off the back of their insane comeback against Cloud9 on the map just the day before. At the start of the map, it looked like a great pick. Vitality won the first five rounds of the map with relative ease and Heroic seemed to be suffering. A rather unsettled Heroic roster seemed to have comeback way later in the first half as they equaled the score at 7-7. The first half ended 8-7 in favor of Vitality.

As the sides were reversed, it was Heroic who were now leading as they had won the first three rounds. When the going got tough, it was Magisk that stepped up for his team. Picking up multi kills every round had turned more of a hobby for this lad. A determined Vitality roster soon made a comeback. Heroic did their level best to resist by picking up a few rounds when Vitality was ahead but it wasn’t enough. Vitality had won their first map of Vertigo 16-13.

Map 2 (Inferno)

It was now time for Heroic’s map pick of Inferno. Unfortunately for them, Vitality had won the first two pistol rounds. While Heroic had shown some resistance, the first half was all Vitality. An in-form apEX and ZywOo took matter into their own hands and collectively picked up 29 kills together in the first half. Thanks to their ruthlessness, Vitality finished the first half being ahead 10-5.

With the roles reversed, it was now a fresh start for the roster of Heroic. The team recollected themselves and put on quite the performance at the start of the second half. Vitality turned nervous for a second as Heroic won 6 of the first 7 rounds to tie the score at 11-11. With few rounds remaining before a possible overtime, it was now or never for both teams. Team Vitality turned the momentum around and picked up 5 more rounds to finish off the series. And thus, Team Vitality were crowned the champions of IEM Rio 2023.

With the lion’s share of $250,000 in the bank, Team Vitality are going home not only with heavier wallets but also with tickets to Cologne. IEM Cologne 2023 begins this July and Vitality are expected to go big at the tournament.

We are done and dusted with the group stage action of IEM Rio 2023. With some top teams already making it to the playoffs, it’s misery for the fans of Fnatic and FaZe Clan as they have been eliminated from the tournament. Let’s find out how their journey went and who actually qualified from their group.

Group B Of IEM Rio 2023

The Group B of Rio this year had quite a few powerhouse teams including the likes of FaZe, Cloud9 and Team Vitality. For the rest of the teams in the group like Fnatic, it would be a challenge to make it to the playoffs.

Fnatic and FaZe Clan’s Journey At IEM Rio 2023

Both the teams walked into Rio with high hopes. With both teams being placed in group B, they had to take down some big names to have a shot at the playoffs.

Fnatic began their journey at Rio facing FURIA Esports. Unfortunately, for them, FURIA meant business and conceded the first game to them 19-15. Fnatic were then relegated to the lower bracket where they faced 9z Team. There Fnatic made a comeback of 2-1 after losing the first map to them. They then had to face OG at the lower bracket semifinal. Their dreams of winning the major came crashing down as OG thumped them 2-0.

FaZe Clan, on the other hand, started off their journey at Rio with a sleek 16-3 win over 9z team. However, their run was halted as it was FURIA yet again who this time came knocking on the door of FaZe. They lost their series 2-0 to FURIA and were forced to the lower bracket. In the lower bracket, they had to face another giant- none other than Team Vitality. A determined Vitality roster made sure FaZe couldn’t progress further as they won 2-0.

Who Qualified For The Playoffs?

Playoffs of IEM Rio 2023 begins tomorrow and we have some big names going up against each other. Here are all the playoff teams:

  • FURIA Esports
  • Heroic
  • BIG
  • Team Vitality
  • Natus Vincere
  • Cloud9

Furia will be facing Heroic and BIG is placed against Vitality at the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, NaVi and Cloud9 fans can rest a little tomorrow as their teams are already at the semifinals. We have our predictions for all of the matchups coming soon only here on Gamopo!

IEM Rio 2023 is turning hot as we turn to some of the bigger matches tonight. We are at the business end of Group A. With BIG facing NaVi and NIP going against Heroic, we have two top matchups of this tournament. With high stakes on the line, we take a look at the matches and come up with predictions for these two matchups in group A of IEM Rio 2023.

IEM Rio 2023: Group A

Group A of IEM Rio 2023 started off with some top world-class teams. The likes of Heroic, BIG, MOUZ, NIP and NaVi are all in group A. But now it’s time for the upper and lower bracket semifinals. BIG will be facing Natus Vincere in the upper bracket final first and then Heroic will be going against Ninjas In Pyjamas.

BIG vs. Natus Vincere

Rosters

BIG
  • Johannes ‘tabseN’ Wodarz
  • Josef ‘faveN’ Baumann
  • Karim ‘Krimbo’ Moussa
  • Nils ‘k1to’ Gruhne
  • Marcel ‘hyped‘ Köhn
NaVi
  • Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyljev
  • Denis ‘electroNic’ Sharipov
  • Ilya ‘Perfecto’ Zalutskiy
  • Valerij ‘b1t’ Vakhovsjkyj
  • Andrij ‘npl’ Kukharsjkyj

Our Prediction

NaVi vs BIG seems to be a bit of a straightforward matchup in our opinion. NaVi has won four of their last five competitive matches while BIG has won only two. The last time the two teams faced each other was at the IEM Rio Major 2022 where NaVi won 2-0. The NaVi team looks stronger on paper and has a better recent form heading into this match. So, we predict a win for NaVi tonight and they’ll be moving forward to the next stage of the tournament.

Ninjas in Pyjamas vs Heroic

Rosters

NIP
  • Fredrik ‘REZ’ Sterner
  • Ludvig ‘Brollan’ Brolin
  • Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen
  • Danyyl ‘headtr1ck’ Valitov
  • Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke
Heroic
  • Martin ‘stavn’ Lund
  • Casper ‘cadiaN’ Møller
  • René ‘TeSeS’ Madsen
  • Rasmus ‘sjuush’ Beck
  • Jakob ‘Jabbi’ Nygaard

Our Prediction

NIP vs Heroic is a bit of a tricky matchup in our opinion. NIP has a better form going into this match winning three of their last five matches. Heroic has a decent form as well winning four of their last six matches. The last time the two teams have faced each other was at the BLAST Premier Fall Finals 2022. Heroic won that matchup 2-1. But it’s NIP that won 3/3 series before that. While this matchup can go any way, we predict a win for Heroic.

Both NIP and NaVi would look forward to making it into the next round of IEM Rio 2023 as they had done so in their first matches. Let’s see what the night has in store for them!

You know what the best part is about competitive Counter-Strike? The fact that there’s almost always a top tier tournament going on. With the IEM Rio 2023 kicking off today, that means another tournament full of action, drama and much more! Good news for NIP & NaVi fans is that their teams started off the tournament picking up wins.

NIP & NaVi Wins Their Opening Matches

NIP vs Imperial Esports

Rosters

NIP
  • Fredrik ‘REZ’ Sterner
  • Ludvig ‘Brollan’ Brolin
  • Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen
  • Danyyl ‘headtr1ck’ Valitov
  • Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke
Imperial Esports
  • Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo
  • Ricardo ‘boltz’ Prass
  • Vinicius ‘VINI’ Figueiredo
  • Marcelo ‘chelo’ Cespedes
  • Jhonatan ‘JOTA’ Wilian

Map Picks & Bans

  1. Imperial removed Vertigo
  2. Ninjas in Pyjamas removed Overpass
  3. Ninjas in Pyjamas removed Inferno
  4. Imperial removed Nuke
  5. Imperial removed Anubis
  6. Ninjas in Pyjamas removed Ancient
  7. Mirage was left over

The Match

It was Mongolia vs the rest of Europe in the first match of IEM Rio 2023. With Mirage being the battleground, both teams looked to move to the upper bracket semifinals from group A.

The Ninjas started off the map winning the first two pistol rounds. But Imperial responded right after picking up the next 3 rounds without flinching. It was then NIP’s turn to pick up consecutive rounds as they won the next 4. For the rest of the first half, it was pretty much NIP domination. The first half ended 11-4 in favor of Ninjas in Pyjamas. In the second half, there was little to show from the side of Imperial Esports. They won only one round in the second half as NIP finished off the map 16-5. It was Brollan that really stood out on NIP’s first match of the tournament.

NaVi vs The Mongolz

Rosters

NaVi
  • Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyljev
  • Denis ‘electroNic’ Sharipov
  • Ilya ‘Perfecto’ Zalutskiy
  • Valerij ‘b1t’ Vakhovsjkyj
  • Andrij ‘npl’ Kukharsjkyj
The Mongolz
  • Garidmagnai ‘bLitz’ Byambasuren
  • Sodbayar ‘Techno4K’ Munkhbold
  • Baatarkhuu ‘Bart4k’ Batbold
  • Tuvshintugs ‘ANNIHILATION’ Nyamdorj
  • Chinguun ‘hasteka’ Bayarmaa

Map Picks & Bans

  1. TheMongolz removed Ancient
  2. Natus Vincere removed Anubis
  3. Natus Vincere removed Inferno
  4. TheMongolz removed Vertigo
  5. TheMongolz removed Overpass
  6. Natus Vincere removed Nuke
  7. Mirage was left over

The Match

For NaVi vs The Mongolz, Mirage was the playground once again. NaVi started off their IEM Rio 2023 run winning the pistol rounds against Mongolz. They followed it up by winning three more rounds at a stretch. But it was now time for Mongolz to respond. For the rest of the first half, it was total domination from the Mongolian side. Their aggression and tactics outshined the entire NaVi roster. The first half ended 8-7 in favor of the NaVi side. NaVi were looking at an imminent upset if they were to let this continue. However, they did turn things around in the beginning of the second half. They consecutively picked up the first four rounds in the second half regaining their lead over their opponents. The Mongolz could do very little after as NaVi soon picked up the map. The match ended with NaVi winning on Mirage 16-9. Gotta feel bad for bLitz who put up an impressive show for the Mongolz.

The two victors of the opening matches, NIP & NaVi will be facing each other tonight later on. The winner of that matchup will be moving onto the upper bracket finals from group A.

It was FaZe Clan vs Cloud9 at the BLAST.tv Major Europe RMR. FaZe has beaten Cloud9 2-0 in a best of 3 series to qualify for the Blast.TV Paris Major which is due next month. Thanks to the Last Chance Qualifiers, they will be showing up the Blast.TV Paris Major.

FaZe Clan vs Cloud9

Rosters

FaZe Clan

  • Håvard ‘rain‘ Nygaard
  • Helvijs ‘broky‘ Saukants
  • Russel ‘Twistzz‘ Van Dulken
  • Finn ‘karrigan‘ Andersen
  • Robin ‘ropz‘ Kool

Cloud9

  • Vladislav ‘nafany’ Gorshkov
  • Dmitriy ‘sh1ro’ Sokolov
  • Sergey ‘Ax1Le’ Rykhtorov
  • Abai ‘HObbit’ Hasenov
  • Timur ‘buster‘ Tulepov

Map Picks & Bans

  • Cloud9 removed Nuke
  • FaZe removed Vertigo
  • Cloud9 picked Mirage
  • FaZe picked Inferno
  • FaZe removed Anubis
  • Cloud9 removed Overpass
  • Ancient was left over

The Series

Map 1 (Mirage)

Cloud9 started their map pick of Mirage on defense first. And the team had started it off just the way they wanted! C9 easily picked up the first five rounds getting down a few defuses. While FaZe did show some resistance, they couldn’t for long. Cloud9 started to dominate the first half yet again. The first half ended 11-4 in favor of Cloud9. In the second half, the sides were reversed but C9 again won the first two pistol rounds. However, when they were just inches away from picking up the map, FaZe made an insane comeback. When the scoreline was 14-5 in favor of Cloud9, FaZe stepped up and kept picking up round after round barely flinching. Winning six straight rounds at the end meant it was now overtime. In overtime, FaZe won all of their four rounds to pick up the first map.

Map 2 (Inferno)

Cloud9 started on FaZe’s map pick winning the pistol rounds again. But FaZe seemed determined to see out the series on the second map. They won 8 rounds straight with some deadly frags coming from rain. The first half ended 11-4 in favor of FaZe and they were just a few rounds away from Paris Major qualification. The roles were reversed in the second half. But this time it was  FaZe that finally won a pistol round. Even though things were neck and neck in the second half, it was too little, too late for C9. FaZe picked up the series soon winning Inferno 16-9.

FaZe At Blast Paris Major 2023

FaZe Clan is off to the Blast Paris Major 2023. The tournament will begin on May 8th and end on 11th. The champion of the tournament will directly qualify for both the BLAST Premier World Final and IEM Cologne 2023. So, there’s no chance in hell that FaZe will pass up this opportunity to pick up another title.

But keeping Paris Major 2023 aside, there’s the IEM Rio Major starting from tomorrow as well. We’ll come back to you soon with action from Rio!

T1 faced Gen. G at the upper bracket finals of LCK Spring 2023. With both teams having set their eyes on the grand finals, who won the series? Lets find out!

T1 vs Gen. G At LCK Spring 2023

Rosters

T1

  • Choi ‘Zeus’ Woo-je
  • Moon ‘Oner’ Hyeon-joon
  • Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok
  • Lee ‘Gumayusi’ Min-hyeong
  • Ryu ‘Keria’ Min-seok

Gen. G

  • Choi ‘Doran’ Hyeon-joon
  • Han ‘Peanut’ Wang-ho
  • Jeong ‘Chovy’ Ji-hoon
  • Kim ‘Peyz’ Su-hwan
  • Yoo ‘Delight’ Hwan-joong

The Series

Match 1

Match 1 saw Gen. G starting on the red side and T1 starting on blue. It didn’t take long for the action to get started as 4 minutes in, the lives of Peyz and Gumayusi were traded in the bot lane. In the next minute, T1 made their first move of the match as their botlane took down Peyz and Delight with some help from Oner. T1 picked up their first dragon of the match, the Cloud Drake 8 minutes in. Gen. G soon picked up the kill of Keria on the 10th minute. The number of kills were leveled soon as Peanut picked up the kill of Oner on the 12th minute. We witnessed the first teamfight of the match on the 13th minute as the battle for Infernal Dragon saw Peanut and Peyz being slayed. An unsuccessful turret dive on Zeus resulted in the death of Peanut. However, Faker’s death right after sort of made up for it.

In the 19th minute, another team fight took place with Delight, Doran and Chovy falling prey to T1. T1 followed up with their domination by picking up their third dragon of the match. Peanut’s death in the 23rd minute gave T1 a window of opportunity to get the Baron but they faced resistance from Gen. G. The 26th minute saw T1 pretty much confirm their win of the match as they picked up the Chemtech Drake along with the lives of Peanut, Doran and Delight. T1 followed it up by finally picking up the Baron that they had wanted so bad. Doing so, T1 had established a 7k gold lead over their opponents. The 30th minute saw T1 picking up their first inhibitor of the match. Another teamfight win for T1 came on the 32nd minute. They picked up their second baron on the 35th minute. With three more lives of Gen. G secured, T1 close out their first match right on the cusp of the 38th minute.

Match 2

It was now Gen. G on blue side and T1 starting on red. The first blood of the match was picked up by Keria as he slayed Gumayusi. 8 minutes into the match, T1 picked up the Mountain Drake. T1 got their second kill of the match as Oner picked up the life of Chovy. Soon, T1 picked up the Infernal Drake as well. The two teams were neck and neck in terms of gold lead, however. The first teamfight of the match took place on the 17th minute as the teams contested for the Rift Herald. Gen. G picked up the objective and Oner’s life but Gumayusi responded by getting a double kill. Chovy picked up the kill of Zeus moving into the 19th minute. A well-timed Maokai ultimate on the 25th minute saw T1 conceding the lives of Oner and Keria. Gen. G thus got the confidence to soon pick up the Baron.

Gen. G kept rolling down the defense of T1 as they picked up the first inhibitor on the 27th minute. Gen. G managed to gain a 5k gold lead in the meantime. An all-out teamfight on the 32nd minute saw both teams conceding two of their players each. However, the tides of the battle were turned as T1 scored a sweet little ace and a dragon on the 34th minute. T1 went straight in for the nexus taking down their inhibitor and the final turrets but overstayed a little as they had to retreat. Zeus did try to take down the nexus infiltrating their defense on the 37th minute but died even though he was really close. A successful teamfight for T1 on the cusp of the 40th minute saw T1 finally taking down the Nexus.

Match 3

T1 started on the red side again on match number 3. 5 minutes into the match, T1 picked up the Chemtech Drake. The first blood came on the 8th minute when Keria took down Delight in the bot lane. Delight got caught again right after as this time Oner made a visit to the bot lane. But it was Peanut who avenged his teammate by taking down Oner in jungle. Zeus saw his life being conceded to Doran walking into the 11th minute. T1 got the Infernal Drake despite the absence of Zeus. The 16th minute saw Doran picking up the kill of Zeus right under his turret. Meanwhile, Gen. G set their eyes on picking up objectives as they slayed the Mountain Drake. They then followed it up by picking up the Rift Herald.

23 minutes into the match, as Gen. G picked up their second dragon, T1 was preparing to take down Baron. Despite facing some heavy resistance from Gen. G, they managed to take it unscathed. Things surely went in favor of T1 in the 28th minute as they not only picked up the Mountain Drake but the life of Peanut as well. T1 tried to fight for Baron again on the 31st minute but a teamfight resulted in the deaths of Zeus and Delight. Eventually, it was Gen. G who not only got the Baron but two free kills along with it. A teamfight on the cusp of the 34th minute saw Gen. G continue to gain the upper hand as they killed Faker and Zeus. They then followed it up by taking down the Mountain Drake. A successful chase down the midlane by T1 saw them getting two kills and destroy the first inhibitor of Gen. G. T1 successfully got Baron on the 38th minute. Gen. G responded by taking their fourth dragon of the game. It was Faker that got caught on the wrong foot walking into the 40th minute. But Gen. G came knocking down the walls of T1 as they scored an ace on the 45th minute and took down their Nexus without wasting any time whatsoever.

Match 4

Will T1 move onto the grand finals of LCK Spring 2023 or will Gen. G stand in their way? A gank by Oner on the 3rd minute saw Chovy being sent back to the base. T1 took down the first dragon of the game 6 minutes in. It was soon Peanut’s turn too as Gumayusi picked up the kill of Peanut. The first good news of the game for Gen. G was Peanut picking up the first Rift Herald. 9 minutes into the match, the first teamfight broke out with the lives of Peanut and Zeus being traded in. On the 11th minute, Chovy and Peanut teamed up to take down Faker in the top lane. Meanwhile, the Chemtech Drake was picked up by T1. The next teamfight went in favor of T1 as they killed both Delight and Peanut. T1 then picked up the Rift Herald. Keria found himself in an awkward position as he had to return to the base from the midlane. Zeus had to join him right after thanks to some team co-ordination from the Gen. G roster in the midlane.

T1 continued to pick up objectives nonetheless as they got their third dragon in the 18th minute. Doran and Chovy then took down Zeus but this time in the bottom lane. The 23rd minute came bearing the best news yet for the side of T1 as Zeus picked up a triple kill and they gained their fourth dragon. With Chovy and Peanut’s death in the 24th minute, there was a window of opportunity for picking up the Baron and they sealed it. T1 infiltrated into the base in the 27th minute taking down Gen. G’s inhibitor. T1 then shifted their focus and went for the turrets of the mid and top lanes. A fight around dragon side then sealed the deal for T1 as they picked up three kills and went straight for the base of Gen. G. And with that, the fourth match was over and it was a well-deserved series win for T1.

T1 are now the first team to make it to the grand finals of LCK Spring 2023. Gen. G has been relegated to the lower bracket and will face either of KT Rolster or Hanwha Life. Which among these teams will meet T1 at the grand finals of LCK Spring 2023? Guess only time will tell!

It was day 5 of week 1 at the VCT EMEA 2023. The mighty Fnatic faced BBL Esports and Karmine Corp went up against Team Heretics at VCT EMEA. Which teams came out on top and how did the action pan out? Find out more only at Gamopo!

Fnatic & Team Heretics Winning At VCT EMEA

With Champions & Masters qualifications on the line, the teams can only hope of picking up wins. With Fnatic facing BBL Esports and Karmine Corp vs Team Heretics, things can go any direction on the night. Let’s check out all the action!

Fnatic vs BBL Esports

Rosters

Fnatic
  • Jake ‘Boaster’ Howlett
  • Nikita ‘Derke’ Sirmitev
  • Leo ‘Leo’ Jannesson
  • Timofey ‘Chronicle’ Khromov
  • Maks ‘kamyk’ Rychlewski
BBL Esports
  • Ali ‘AsLanM4shadoW’ Osman Balta
  • Doğukan ‘QutionerX’ Dural
  • Mehmet ‘Turko’ Özen
  • Eren ‘Brave’ Kasırga
  • İbrahim ‘SouhcNi’ Sağır

Map Picks & Bans

  • BBL ban Fracture
  • FNC ban Pearl
  • BBL pick Ascent
  • FNC pick Haven
  • BBL ban Icebox
  • FNC ban Lotus
  • Split remains

The Series

Ascent

Fnatic started off their first map winning the first two pistol rounds. However, what followed after was ruthless destruction by BBL. They won nine rounds straight without flinching and the first half ended 9-3 in favor of BBL Esports. A 9-3 curse loading? With four rounds away from a map win, there wasn’t a lot that Fnatic could do. BBL Esports picked up their map pick winning it 13-6. It was now time for Fnatic to make a comeback to their VCT EMEA 2023 run.

Haven

Haven was Fnatic’s map pick and they sincerely hoped they could turn the tide in their favor. They started on defense on their own map pick. From the get go, Fnatic looked pretty solid while defending their sites. They won the two pistol rounds but conceded the bonus round. In the following rounds, Fnatic had to give up the site for BBL to plant but they soon got their defuses down. The first half ende 8-4 in favor of Fnatic. BBL started the second half winning two pistol rounds but failed to follow up. It was neck and neck after that but Fnatic was always one step ahead. They won the second map 13-9.

Split

It was now time for the decider. Fnatic started off the map on attack and won the first two pistol rounds. The first half of the map was absolutely level pegging. Both the teams showed immense levels of promise as they saw out rounds. The first half ended with the scoreline levelled at 6-6. Fnatic started off the second half on the strong foot. They picked up the first four rounds at a stretch. BBL tried their level best to make a comeback but was an inch or two short. Fnatic won their second map 13-11 and thus won the series.

Karmine Corp vs Team Heretics

Rosters

Karmine Corp
  • Ryad ‘Shin’ Ensaad
  • Alexis ‘Newzera’ Humbert
  • Adil ‘ScreaM’ Benrlitom
  • Nabil ‘Nivera’ Benrlitom
  • Alexandre ‘xms’ Forté
Team Heretic
  • Wassim ‘keloqz’ Cista
  • Óscar ‘mixwell’ Cañellas Colocho
  • Aleksander ‘zeek’ Zygmunt
  • Ričardas ‘Boo’ Lukaševičius
  • Auni ‘AvovA’ Chahade

Map Picks & Bans

  • TH ban Fracture
  • KC ban Ascent
  • TH pick Icebox
  • KC pick Split
  • TH ban Haven
  • KC ban Pearl
  • Lotus remains

The Series

Icebox

The series started off with the Icebox pick of Team Heretics. As they should, Heretics won the first two pistol rounds of the first map. Karmine Corp did win the bonus round thought but Heretics continued to dominate the first half. Heretics was determined to get the plant down and made sure it exploded. The first half ended 9-3 in favor of Heretics. The roles were reversed and it was Karmine Corp on attack now. They started off well winning the first two rounds on attack but that did not stop Team Heretics. They picked up four more rounds straight and thus finished off the first map 13-5.

Split

It was now time to play on the map pick of Karmine Corp. Team Heretics won the pistol rounds this time as well. While they did concede their bonus round, they outshined their opponents in the following rounds. Karmine Corp could barely pick up two rounds in the first half as it ended 10-2 in favor of their opponents. In the second half, all Heretics needed to do was win three more rounds. And they just took three rounds to do that. They won Split 13-2 and thus picked up the series win against Karmine Corp.

 

Fnatic are now top of the table with two wins out of two. Team Heretics are now on joint fifth place along with Natus Vincere.

For those who have missed it, Bind is coming back to Valorant’s competitive queue. Patch 6.08 will bring back the map along with a few changes here and there. The patch is set to release in April on April 25.

About Bind

Bind was one of the first maps on Valorant that has been available since the closed beta. Set in a Moroccan desert town, the map features two bomb sites: A and B. The map heavily favors aggressive gameplay as map control is crucial here to win rounds.

However, it’s also important for players to be cautious and aware of their surroundings, as there are plenty of areas for enemies to hide and ambush from. The most unique aspect of Bind is the presence of teleporters. Using and taking control of these teleporters is crucial as well. If you can control the teleporters, you’ll have a major advantage in terms of map control and the ability to surprise your opponents. These teleporters can be utilized to quickly rotate and plant on another site as well before the defenders can relocate. Thanks to the teleporters, there’s a lot of room for creative gameplay and players can utilize multiple strategies to outsmart opponents.

On that note, teleporters will see a slight change in the coming update. Let’s find out all the changes coming to Bind

Bind’s Return To Competitive Queue

Bind is returning to the competitive queue with some changes coming.

The first change is of the teleporter which is now placed closer to the bath entrance.

The bath now comes with bigger doors as well on both sides. A wall and back wall of the A site will be seeing changes as well.

We’re not even done with the A site yet. The A site Radianite crates have been changed in terms of shape. Changes are coming to the B site as well.

With Bind returning to the competitive queue soon, do you think these are welcome changes? Let us know in the comments!

 

We are done with day 5 action of BLAST R6 NA League Stage 1. Day 5 witnessed two teams take up the last two spots of the upper bracket semifinals while two other have been relegated to the seeds. Find out all of the events that took place on day 5!

Day 5 Action

There were two upper bracket quarterfinals matches on the day. Soniqs face M80 and Oxygen Esports went up against beastcoast.

Soniqs vs M80

Third on the leaderboard, Soniqs faced M80 who placed sixth on the table. The two teams last faced each other a week ago where M80 won the match.

Rosters

Soniqs
  • Pablo ‘Gryxr‘ Rebeil
  • Richie ‘Rexen‘ Coronado
  • Emilio ‘Geometrics‘ Leynez
  • Shaun ‘Gunnar‘ Pottorff
  • Ben ‘CTZN‘ McMillan
M80
  • Lucas ‘DiasLucasBr‘ Dias
  • Arthur ‘GMZ‘ Oliveira
  • Leonardo ‘Kyno‘ Figueiredo
  • David ‘iconic‘ Ifidon
  • William ‘Spoit‘ Löfstedt

Map Picks & Bans

  • M80 bans Kafe
  • SQ bans Bank
  • M80 bans Clubhouse
  • SQ bans Theme Park
  • M80 picks Border
  • SQ picks Skyscraper
  • M80 bans Oregon
  • SQ bans Chalet
  • Villa remains

The Series

The first map was Border where M80 started on defense. M80 won five of the seven defensive rounds and gained an early advantage on Soniqs. As the second half started, Soniqs tried to reduce the gap but failed to do so. M80 won the first map 8-6.

M80 started on defense again on Skyscraper. But it was Soniqs that looked solid on attack. M80 did catch up soon leveling the round score at 2-2. As the roles were reversed, Soniqs looked even before on defense as they managed a hefty lead on their opponent. Soniqs won 7-3. on Skyscraper.

Third time might be the charm as M80 started to defend on Villa. M80 consecutive rounds on defense only conceding one round to Soniqs. Winning two rounds on attack wasn’t enough for Soniqs as M80 were just one round away from winning the series. And so, they did as they won 7-3 on Villa. M80 will be facing SpaceStation today at the upper bracket semifinals of BLAST R6 NA Stage 1.

Oxygen Esports vs beastcoast

Rosters

Oxygen Esports
  • Davide ‘FoxA‘ Bucci
  • Ethan ‘Nuers‘ James
  • Mitch ‘Dream‘ Malson
  • Jacob ‘Sweater‘ Bravico
  • Evan ‘Yoggah‘ Nelson
beastcoast
  • Collin ‘Doq’ Cox
  • Paul ‘Hyper’ Kontopanagiotis
  • Lachlan ‘MrB’
  • Franklyn ‘VertcL‘ Cordero
  • ‘Hat’

Map Picks & Bans

  • BC bans Clubhouse
  • OXG bans Skyscraper
  • BC bans Border
  • OXG bans Theme Park
  • BC picks Villa
  • OXG picks Chalet
  • BC bans Oregon
  • OXG bans Bank
  • Kafe remains

The Series

The second series of the night of BLAST R6 NA Stage 1 was between beastcoast and Oxygen Esports. The first map of the series was Villa. With beastcoast on attack, they looked ruthless. They won every single attacking round as they shrugged Oxygen off with ease. They were just one round away and that didn’t take long. Beastcoast won the first map 7-1.

On Chalet, Beastcoast started on attack and the first half was fully controlled by them. Oxygen Esports managed to only pick up only two rounds on defense. They couldn’t manage to do a lot on attack and beastcoast picked up the series winning 7-3.

M80 will be facing SpaceStation Gaming tonight at the first upper bracket semifinals. On the other match, beastcoast will be facing DarkZero.

EDG faced ThunderTalk Gaming as we entered into week 5, day 10 of LPL Spring 2023. With both teams placed in the top half of the group leaderboards, it’s bound to be a formidable matchup. Find out how the series turned out between EDG and ThunderTalk Gaming.

EDG vs ThunderTalk

Rosters

EDG

  • Hu ‘Ale‘ Jiale
  • Zhao ‘Jiejie‘ Lijie
  • Chu ‘FoFo‘ Chun-lan
  • Tian ‘Meiko‘ Ye
  • Hu ‘Leave‘ Hongchao

ThunderTalk

  • Yoon ‘Hoya‘ Yong-ho
  • Son ‘Ucal‘ Woo-hyeon
  • Tang ‘huanfeng‘ Huanfeng
  • Yang ‘Beichuan‘ Ling
  • Bi “yaoyao” Haotian

The Series

Game 1

With EDG starting on the red side, ThunderTalk walked in with the hopes of upsetting them. In the 7th minute, it was EDG that picked up their first dragon of the match. In the 10th minute, EDG picked up their first kill taking down Beichuan. FoFo soon followed it up with a kill of his own slaying Ucal. ThunderTalk responded by picking up the kill of Hoya but Jiejie picked up Beichuan again. EDG continued taking objectives with their second dragon in the 13th minute. They also took down the first tower of the game in the 15th minute. It was consolation for ThunderTalk as they took their first tower as well the next minute. In the 19th minute, a huge teamfight broke out while EDG was pursuing their third dragon. Both teams lost one member each and it was EDG that came out on top securing the dragon. The 24th minute saw Ale picking up the kill of yaoyao.

EDG kept up their momentum getting their fourth dragon and following it up with baron. EDG took the first inhibitor of ThunderTalk. In form Jiejie was caught in a sticky situation as TT picked up his kill in the 28th minute. The 31st minute saw EDG further concrete their position in the game taking another dragon and baron after defeating TT in a teamfight. Finally, EDG took down their nexus with an ace against the opposition.

Game 2

It was now ThunderTalk starting on the red side. EDG got their first objective down taking the first dragon in the 7th minute. ThunderTalk got first blood by taking down Meiko in the 10th minute. In the next minute, they got their second kill by taking down Ale. EDG got their first kill after a fight broke out in the 13th minute but so did TT. They followed it up right after picking up the kills of Meiko and Leave. TT got their first objective of the game in the 14th minute. In the 20th minute, EDG got their second dragon but at the cost of Meiko and Leave. ThunderTalk kept dominating teamfights picking up another kill in the 24th minute. In the meantime, EDG slayed their third dragon of the match.

EDG for the first time in the match took the gold lead around the 28th minute. Despite being behind in terms of kills, EDG was ahead in terms of objectives and gold lead. Leave got himself a sweet double kill on the cusp of the 33rd minute although huanfeng soon got the best of him. TT put quite the dent on EDG’s chances of winning the game with a baron steal by Beichuan. When things started to look brighter for ThunderTalk, disaster struck as they failed to take advantage of a teamfight on the 38th minute thanks to Leave. He picked up two kills there reviving EDG’s chances of winning the series. EDG win another teamfight the next minute as well as the next dragon. With that, it was game over as EDG took down the nexus of ThunderTalk for the second time of the night.

With today’s result, EDG have finished their regular split with 13 wins and 3 losses.