Month: August 2020

Categories
Call of Duty

CDL Playoffs 2020: Pros become frustrated as booting issue continues

Day two of the CDL Playoffs 2020 have finished and two more teams advance further in the tournament. However, the biggest talking point has been certain pro players being booted offline during the matches.

In day one of the CDL Playoffs, drama ensued after pros being hit offline during crucial points in the game. Because of the current CDL rules, the matches cannot be restarted which has caused widespread discontent among the professional community.

OpTic Gaming player, Kenny, was booted offline in yesterday’s matches which resulted in OpTic bringing in a substitute. His teammate, Slasher, was extremely vocal on social media about the issue and believes the tournament “needed to be postponed”.

London Royal Ravens player, Zer0, experienced the same issues on day two. Ravens then went on to lose the match and fall to the losers bracket.

Slasher and Zer0 are only two among many that are outraged by the current situation. Zer0 branded the league “brainless” in a rage-fuelled tweet after the series loss.

Despite the infuriating online issues, the tournament must go on. London Royal Ravens and Minnesota Rokkr were knocked into the losers bracket. Meanwhile, New York Subliners and Toronto Ultra advance in winners bracket.

Ultra clinch the win against Royal Ravens

Toronto Ultra began the series strongly and took the 1-0 lead after winning the Hardpoint. However, Royal Ravens put up a fight and took the S&D 6-3.

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1296532685419089920

Ultra then won the third map and a controversial fourth map to close out the win. Zer0 was booted offline during the second Hardpoint which undoubtedly tilted the odds in Ultra’s favour.

Toronto now move on to winners round two whilst Royal Ravens drop to losers bracket which makes their job a lot tougher.

Subliners stun the Rokkr

New York Subliners have had an extremely up and down season. They came out hot against Minnesota and put themselves 1-0 up.

Exceed and Assault then stole the show in the S&D as Minnesota levelled it at 1-1.

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1296556233550368770

The Subliners then closed out the series 3-1 and sent Minnesota down to the losers bracket.

After a shaky couple of days for the CDL, things sadly don’t look like they are going to change. With $4.6 million on the line, the players are growing evermore frustrated with the current situation.

What do you think could be done to help it?

Let us know!

Follow Dartfrog for all the latest Call of Duty news and analysis onour Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch.

Categories
CS:GO

NiP eliminate BIG from ESL One Cologne

Ninjas in Pyjamas have eliminated BIG from ESL One Cologne Online – Europe. The Swedes survive the Lower Bracker Round One, advancing further into the tournament. Meanwhile, BIG can no longer have their 2018 dream avenged as they leave the tournament losing two different matchups against Sprout and NiP.

BIG Clan are one of the biggest teams in 2020. Their journey through the online era has been great for the German side. They continuously upset some of the major teams throughout the year and even came first-place finishes by beating teams like G2 in Grand Finals. Their consistent results meant that BIG began to reign in their own era in CS:GO, becoming world number one.

Coming out of the player break, it looked like BIG was set for another great online period. BIG’s first tournament back out of the player break was in DreamHack Open Summer. BIG emerged victorious, absolutely shutting down Heroic in the finals. With that momentum, it looked like they were set to enter ESL One Cologne still on form.

However, things did not go to plan for BIG. In the first round, they were surprisingly upset 2-0 by the fellow German side, Sprout. That series was super close, with Sprout taking the first map 16:12, while the second map was only won in overtime 19:16.

How NiP eliminated BIG in the Lower Bracket

In their next series, NIP faced BIG in the Lower Bracket. BIG started off strong, winning their first map of the tournament on Vertigo 16-5. The strong BIG we expect had finally turned up. Although that was to be their last great showing of the event.

Ninjas in Pyjamas began to wake up on the second map of Nuke. The Swedes’ CT side was not a desirable showing, but their T-side began to show promise. The game became tied at 10-10, with NiP snowballing themselves to 14 before BIG caught up. With a surprise, NIP secured their 15th with an eco round. Eventually BIG settled their CT side dominance on Nuke by tying the map. The game went on for several overtimes before NiP secured the win 28-26.

syrsoN kept BIG’s dreams alive in overtime but it wasn’t enough to get the win.

Mirage was the final map for the two teams, and NiP tore through their opposition. NiP had a few weak rounds straight out of the gates, but they found themselves returning to form. By round 8, BIG needed a call out, but it was not enough to slow NiP down. NiP ended the half 11-4. Moving into the other half, BIG found some life, but NiP closed the map and series 16-7.

With that result, the world number one exists their home ground event tied for last place in Europe. ESL One Cologne is the tournament of upsets and it is only day three. The BIG upset is surely the biggest one so far, but no doubt there are more yet to come.

Stay tuned to Dartfrog for all the latest news and analysis on CS:GO and follow us on our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch. Image via StarLadder.

Categories
Call of Duty

CDL Playoffs 2020: Seattle Surge and Los Angeles Guerillas are eliminated

The Call of Duty League Playoffs are finally here and the first day of matches have been played. Two series have been completed and two teams have been sent packing. Here is how it all went down.

Legion make light work of Surge

Both Paris Legion and Seattle Surge haven’t had the greatest season. Both teams sit at the bottom end of the standings and never looked too impressive.

The first map of the series went the way of Paris Legion as they took the Hardpoint 250-110. Legion looked hot out the gates and this performance was a sign of things to come.

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1296166862447947776

With an impressive performance from Louqa, Legion went 2-0 up in the series after winning the S&D 6-4. The boys on Paris certainly came to play and finished things up by completing the 3-0 sweep.

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1296177565019836419

This win has secured Paris Legion a minimum of $100,00 and sends Seattle Surge home. Seattle had quite the difficult year and will definitely look to improve next season.

OpTic send Guerillas packing

The two Los Angeles based teams have had an unsurprising rivalry throughout the year. Both teams have underperformed and looked to prove their worth at playoffs.

LA Guerillas took map one of the series as OpTic’s Kenny disconnected during the Hardpoint. With the new rules in the online format, players cannot restart the map after a certain amount of time.

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1296188747436953605

OpTic fought back in the series and put themselves 2-1 up against their rivals. Guerillas then forced the fifth map as they levelled it at 2-2.

With Kenny still facing technical issues, Dashy came in as a substitute and replaced him for the final map. Dashy was anything but rusty as he put in a shift and helped OpTic to the 3-2 win.

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1296215101360529415

OpTic have now also secured $100,000 and will continue their run in the CDL Playoffs 2020. LA Guerillas are officially eliminated.

Day 2 schedule of CDL Playoffs 2020

Matches on day two will resume at 3pm ET (8pm GMT) with London, Toronto, New York and Minnesota competing. Here is a look at the full schedule:

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1296218029932646401

Are you surprised by today’s results?

Let us know! Follow Dartfrog for all the latest Call of Duty news and analysis on our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch.

Categories
Overwatch

Top moments from Overwatch League Week 28

The Overwatch League is only a week away from playoffs, and Week 28 upset a lot of power rankings. The Philadelphia Fusion fired back at the Shock, Seoul finally has begun to turn it around, and the Gladiators are on their last leg for Playoffs. These are the top moments from Week 28, and what to expect going into the last week of the normal season.

A Goose on the Loose

The Gladiators went into week 28 facing off against two low ranked teams. They began on Friday and faced the Dallas Fuel in what was a quick and clean series.  Ji-hyeok “birdring” Kim shined, putting down  Dong-ha “Doha” Kim and making his life hell. As exciting as the series was, it was the Gladiators’ second match on Saturday against the Boston Uprising that put them over the top. In a sneaky Eichenwalde bamboozle,  Min-seok “OGE” Son and  Benjamin “BigG00se” Isohanni teamed up for a four-man boop off the edge of the castle. The Boston Uprising finally stabilized and began their push onto Point A of Eichenwalde, opting to take the left-hand corridor. BigG00se had other plans, and with the Halt from OGE, he was able to send four members for a swim. The clean sweeps boosted the Gladiators’ overall standing and have put them in a do or die scenario. 

L.A. Valiant Reverse Sweep

The L.A. Valiant sat on the edge of eligibility for the Playoffs, and their match against the Florida Mayhem was jaw-dropping. Up two maps, the Florida Mayhem were having a heyday, and  Jun-ki “Yaki” Kim spent most of Busan and Numbani uncontested. After the half, something switched in the Valiant, and the deadly duo of  Kai “KSP” Collins and  Kyle “KSF” Frandanisa popped off, securing map after map. KSP plays Ashe at an exceptional level and uses her dynamite to weaken the enemy, only enabled by  Jae-ho “RaiN” Park and  Jung-won “Lastro” Mun. Lastro is a top tier Ana player, sleeping B.O.Bs, Primal Rage Winstons, and Nano-Blades with ease. An anti-nade paired with dynamite is devastating and opens the door for Winston to jump in and clean up.

Seoul Turning It Around

The Seoul Dynasty has had a rough time at the end of this season, with many fans, including myself, becoming accustomed to disappointment. This weekend, however, the Dynasty was able to win three back to back reverse sweeps against the bottom two teams in the APAC Division. Twice the Dynasty were able to clean sweep the London Spitfire, once on Friday, and once on Sunday.  Dong-eon “FITS” Kim is legendary with the Widowmaker, but what truly has made the Seoul squad unstoppable, is Fits and  Joon-yeong “Profit” Park’s ability to play most heroes at the highest level. The two interchanged between Sombra and Ashe flawlessly. On some maps, Profit would choose Mei, Pharah, or Echo to complement Fits.

I have hope for the Seoul Dynasty, as do many other fans. Going into week 29, they will be facing the Hangzhou Spark and the London Spitfire once again. Considering that the upcoming weekend matches are taking place with the same hero pool, Seoul is expected to win over London once again. If the Dynasty wants to be taken seriously and have a chance in the Playoffs, they need to defeat the Hangzhou Spark.

Philly Power

In the Countdown Cup, both the Philadelphia Fusion and the San Francisco Shock made it to the finals. After a close 4-2 win over the Fusion, a few members of the Shock decided to flaunt their newfound victory. A week later, the Shock was sent home 3-0 by the Fusion in a massive upset. The Shock came out and performed to the best of their abilities it seemed. The Fusion just played better. After another Championship title was ripped from their hands, the Philadelphia squad came back with a vengeance. The team is on a bye-week, and in this time, they’d be wise to analyze the Shock’s upcoming matches.

Week 29 of the Overwatch League will be tense, bated breath, the last chance for teams to raise their ranking. Week 28 showed that some teams, like the Seoul Dynasty, have a fighting chance. It also showed that teams like the Shock can fall as easily as they rose.

Categories
League of Legends

TSM Stunned by Golden Guardians in LCS Summer Playoffs

It’s been a rocky season for TSM, and it’s only getting worse, as Golden Guardians stunned the storied North American teams with a surprise sweep victory. The series last night saw GG defeat Team Solo Mid 3-0, with the latter advancing to the second round, and TSM falling to the losers bracket.

The matchup started off reasonably enough, Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng breaking out his signature Caitlyn to handle the upstart Guardians, amassing a quick early lead. However, things went wrong for TSM after a disastrous team fight mid which led to GG grabbing Baron and rushing the mid lane. After a protracted siege, GG were game one victors.

Not deterred by the initial loss, TSM came out swinging in game two. But team fighting would again let the side down, as GG were able to consistently come out of skirmishes with more players and take more objectives. 

By the third game things were looking dire, and some very poor play by Doublelift, perhaps tilted by his earlier performances, allowed GG to wrap things up. 

Ian Victor “FBI” Huang in particular was a standout for Golden Guardians. The Australian ADC had been one of the most talked about signings of the previous off season. After rising to prominence in his home region, FBI has now taken NA by storm, humbling the veteran Doublelift and securing his rightful spot as a top carry in the LCS.

For TSM all there is to look for answers… and with a short time to find them – The team face Dignitas in the losers bracket on Saturday, August 15, with elimination from the playoffs on the line. A loss there would also see TSM miss out on Worlds 2020, an unthinkable result for one of the most popular teams on both the NA and international stage.

Golden Guardians, on the other hand, are flying high. The team looks super dangerous heading into the second round of the playoffs, and will certainly pose a challenge to the occasionally inconsistent Cloud9, who are yet to compete in the playoffs.

Will TSM miss out on Worlds? Will Golden Guardians defeat C9. Stay tuned to Dartfrog for all the latest news and analysis on the LCS and League of Legends, and follow us on our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch.

Categories
Valorant

Japan Debuts Mildom Masters, The World’s First Valorant League

Riot Games has already conquered the world of esports, with League of Legends played competitively around the globe. But now the company looks poised to start another phenomenon as Valorant, the company’s tactical FPS, starts it’s first league.

The Mildom Masters will be the world’s first Valorant league. It is based in Japan and pits a handful of local teams against each other. The competition will be one of the first major events for the game held in the country. Japan has developed a small but dedicated Valorant community. With the announcement of this league, it has now elevated itself to a more concrete position.

It has been only two months since the official release of Valorant and the game has exploded in popularity. But the competitive scene has lagged behind that of the games larger siblings, such as League of Legends and Team Fight Tactics. Perhaps due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, or out of a desire to let the scene grow organically, Riot Games has been decidedly hands off with the initial development of the competitive scene.

Numerous huge esports organisations have signed Valorant talent. The most recent names to jump into the game are G2 Esports and Team Liquid.

But despite these orgs taking the plunge, tournaments have been thin on the ground. There’s been only a limited number of invitationals and Twitch Rivals events making up the majority of the scene. The Mildom Masters, as initially reported by sponsor TheSpike.gg marks the league-format competition for the game.

Set to begin on August 20, the round-robin format league will see eight teams, including Absolute JUPITER (current favorites to win the league), SCARZ, REJECT, CYCLOPS, Sengoku Gaming, FAV gaming, SunSister Rapid, and ConnectGaming, compete for a ¥2,500,000 (£18,000) prize pool. After the league stage is concluded, the top four teams will advance to the playoffs. The Grand Finals will then commence on October 15. 

In a statement released by TheSpike.gg, Keisuke Shimizu, Mildom’s Esports Director described the motivation behind the league: “I am very glad that we could announce VALORANT Mildom Masters. Mildom is a brand-new platform. We would like to contribute to making a basis for Japanese players by our platform so that they can achieve success worldwide. It is just a beginning. Please support us to make a dream come true.”


The event will be streamed live on Mildom, a japanese streaming platform, and co-streamed on Twitch.

Make sure to follow Dartfrog for all the latest gaming and esports news on our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch.

Categories
Call of Duty

Call of Duty League Championship 2020: Format, schedule & more

The 2020 Call of Duty League season is nearly over. We’ve detailed everything you need to know ahead of the final event of the year.

After a turbulent inaugural season, the Call of Duty League is ready to award its first champions. All 12 teams will compete in playoffs for a chance to play at the Championship Weekend where the winners will be crowned.

Despite the event being played online, all teams will be giving it their all under the fairest circumstances possible.

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1292868312788021248

How to watch Call of Duty League Championship 2020

The much-anticipated finale of the CDL season will begin with playoffs on August 19th. These matches will be played through to August 23rd with the best teams advancing to the Championship Weekend.

All four teams that make it to the Championship Weekend will play on August 29th and 30th.

Matches will be available to watch as usual on the official CDL YouTube channel. All streams are scheduled on the channel so make sure to set reminders for each day of the tournament.

Format & schedule

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, CoD Champs will be played online for the first time in its history. Teams already have experience of this as the rule was imposed midway through this season.

The CDL points accrued by the teams play a big part in their playoffs advantage. The higher seeded the team is, the less games they will need to win to make it to the finals.

Below you can find the official schedule for CDL Playoffs as well as the full bracket showing each teams starting point.

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1289283503448821761

CDL teams competing

Here is a list of all 12 teams in order of seeding for CDL Playoffs:

– Atlanta FaZe (#1)

– Dallas Empire (#2)

– Florida Mutineers (#3)

– Chicago Huntsmen (#4)

– New York Subliners (#5)

– Toronto Ultra (#6)

– London Royal Ravens (#7)

– OpTic Gaming LA (#8)

– Paris Legion (#9)

– Minnesota Rokkr (#10)

– Seattle Surge (#11)

– LA Guerillas (#12)

Prize pool distribution

The CDL is offering the highest prize pool in Call of Duty history – $4.6 million. Here is how the pot will be shared out between the best teams:

– 1st place ($1.5 million)

– 2nd place ($900k)

– 3rd place ($600k)

– 4th place ($450k)

– 5/6th ($300k)

– 7/8th (175k)

– 9/10th ($100k)

– 11/12th ($0)

As well as the huge sum of cash, players will be competing for the brand new Call of Duty League trophy.

https://twitter.com/CODLeague/status/1291781292648849410

Will you be watching Call of Duty League Championship 2020?

Let us know! Follow Dartfrog for all the latest Call of Duty news and analysis on our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch.

Categories
FIFA

EA release official pitch notes for FIFA 21 Pro Clubs

EA SPORTS has revealed important details regarding the FIFA 21 Pro Clubs game mode.

This comes after the release of the FIFA 21 Ultimate Team pitch notes and official trailer earlier today.

With changes to things like AI customisation and goal celebrations, let’s take a closer look at what Pro Clubs will have in store for us next year.

AI customisation in FIFA 21 Pro Clubs

FIFA 21 Pro Clubs AI customisation menu

As can be seen above, Club Managers will be able to customise the appearance of all AI players in their club. All club members will have access to the tile but can only view the players being customised by the manager.

Club Managers will be able to customise the following:

– Name (including kit and commentary)

– Kit number

– Birth date, nationality, region

– Preferred foot

– Face, skin tone, eyes, mouth etc.

– Hair, facial hair

– Kit fit, accessories

– Animations

This makes a change from previous years where the same AI players would be on your team every time. The new feature adds a bit of creativity and personalisation to the game mode.

Managers can customise preset tactics

Another new tile under the “Manage” section is your club tactics. Club Managers can customise up to five preset tactics which can include all five game plans (ultra defensive, defensive, balanced, attacking, ultra attacking).

EA stated the following: “A Club Manager can select 1 of the 5 tactics from the tactics page to begin customization. Select and customize each game plan to fit your team’s custom or unique play style.

“The newly customized AI Players will also appear on the tactic menus. Club Managers can provide instructions to their AI Players to ensure they match your play style.”

Club Tactics feature in FIFA 21 Pro Clubs

After a Club Manager has customised their preset tactics, they can find their created presets in the Pro Clubs Match Lobby.

This allows players to vary their strategies against different clubs and cater towards different teammates.

The ability to just change your clubs formation is still there as normal, however, the tactics option could give you that little edge over your opponents.

Formation customisation in FIFA 21 Pro Clubs

FIFA 21 Pro Clubs celebrations

FIFA celebrations are always fun, creative and often mimic real life goal celebrations seen in professional football.

Here is a list of the first batch of celebrations that have been revealed which are set to be included in FIFA 21 Pro Clubs:

– One Eye

– Point to Sky

– Ice Skating

– Golf Swing

– Matador

– Dance 2

– Dance 3

– Chest Thump

– The Salute

– Elbow

– Show Respect

– Big Man

– Baby Girl

More information is set to follow regarding Pro Clubs. However, so far so good as these two big changes have already been set in stone.

What do you think about these changes?

Let us know! For all the latest competitive FIFA news and analysis follow Dart Frog on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Featured Image: EA SPORTS

Categories
General

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout takes the gaming world by storm

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is the talk of the town in the gaming universe. Millions worldwide are addicted to this newly-released party game and it’s not hard to see why.

With its bizarre characters, bright colours and surprisingly simple controls, Fall Guys brings a whole new meaning to the battle royale genre.

The game is extremely popular on streaming services such as Twitch. What’s more, it has already racked up over two million sales on PC alone.

Fall Guys is available on PS4 and Steam and is currently free for PlayStation Plus members this month only.

https://twitter.com/FallGuysGame/status/1291010160153042944

How to play Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout

In this game show-style battle royale, up to 60 players compete in various obstacle courses with the aim of being the last one standing.

Each level or course has a different method of completion. Whether it’s balancing on a spinning beam, avoiding huge swinging balls or racing to the finish line, you must do it better than the other players or you’ll be eliminated.

To control your character, all you need to do is jump, dive and grab. Although the controls are simple, winning is anything but easy which makes the game so addictive.

The best way to improve in Fall Guys is simply to keep practising. Take your time and work with others to get as far as possible in this chaotic and compelling party game.

Collaborations are on the cards

Fall Guys developers, Mediatonic, have already collaborated with Dennaton Games’ Hotline Miami with an exclusive costume based on the game.

Due to the sheer popularity and love of Fall Guys, many gaming companies and studios have publicly stated their openness for collaboration with the hit game.

KFC Gaming, Cyberpunk 2077 and Hitman are just three of many that have indicated a possibility for collaboration.

Cheaters have been exposed

To become victorious in Fall Guys takes both a mixture of luck and skill. Sadly, some players have discovered hacks which give themselves a distinct advantage over others.

These hacks have seen people speed through the map and warp through objects which is no fun for anyone.

Mediatonic have acknowledged these hackers and say that they are “working on it”.

There’s always some that spoil the fun for the rest of us!

Some streamers have caught these hackers red-handed and exposed them on stream. Popular streamer, FaZe Cizzorz, encountered this hacker who made it plainly obvious why these people need to cheat to win:

Despite some server issues that occurred due to the games’ unexpected popularity, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout has truly taken over the gaming world.

What are you waiting for? Grab a drink, call some friends and hop on Fall Guys for some inevitable laughing fits and light-hearted fun.

Let us know what you think. Follow Dartfrog for all the latest gaming and esports news on our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch.

Featured Image: PlayStation

Categories
Dota 2

Artstyle is back with Virtus.Pro

If you are an old-school Dota 2 player, you probably remember Ivan “Artstyle” Antonov. He is one of the oldest and most reputable CIS pro players that used to be the best in the world. Now, after a few months of being inactive, he decided to come back to Virtus.Pro.

Artstyle in VP

After TI 9 came to an end, Virtus.Pro went through many changes. As a result, the team suffered a lot in the first couple of months. However, after they’ve added a few new players, the CIS powerhouse now looks to be stronger than ever.

In their most recent matches, VP has proved that they are one of the leading Dota 2 forces at the moment. They’ve absolutely ripped through the competition in the Parimatch League Season 3. Nonetheless, it seems like they need just a little bit extra in order to go toe to toe with Team Secret and the other European titans.

Some expected to see a roster change, but it turns out that VP decided to bring back Artstyle. The Dota 2 veteran will take over the coaching role, which is extremely important nowadays. In case you’ve forgotten, he used to be the VP’s coach in 2017 and 2018, which were arguably the best years in Virtus.Pro’s history.

As a player, Artstyle took part in numerous teams, including the legendary Natus Vincere squad that won the first-ever T1. However, he hasn’t been an active player for a long time, deciding to focus on coaching instead. Needless to say, he’s pretty good at it, so we can’t wait to see what will happen with VP.

The next challenge ahead of the CIS powerhouse is the OMEGA League: Europe Immortal Division. The group stage of this incredible event will begin in just four days. If you want to learn more about it, feel free to read our preview.

Don’t forget to follow DartFrog on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch for the latest Dota 2 news.