Categories
Call of Duty

Top clips from Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Alpha

The Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Alpha has finished and it’s left us with some great clips from players across the globe.

The Cold War Alpha went live from September 18-20th and was only available to play on PS4. However, it won’t be long until you can get your hands on the game again as the Open Beta goes live on October 8th.

You can pre-order a copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War to get early access to the Beta.

Whilst we wait for the Open Beta to arrive, here is a look back at the top clips from the Alpha weekend:

Scump gets his first nuke on Cold War

It didn’t take long for CoD veteran Scump to produce yet another outrageous clip. This time he earned himself one of the first nuclear medals seen in the new game.

Scump went on a 30 kill streak and made it look easy in a game of Kill Confirmed. It will be crazy to see what Scump can do when the full game is released on November 13.

Pamaj and Bloo show us why they’re in FaZe Clan

Pamaj is one of the most well-known snipers in Call of Duty. It seems he’s already getting to grips with Cold War as he hit shot after shot in this game of domination.

FaZe Bloo was another who kept producing clip after clip and is always an exciting player to watch. He is one of the best snipers in Call of Duty and this clip shows us why.

Clayster having fun on the diving board

The diving board on the Miami map has been a feature of many amusing clips during the Alpha. This one sees pro player Clayster getting a two piece whilst jumping up and down on the board.

It’s not the best of clips in regards to gunskill but hilarious nonetheless!

Crimsix goes off with a sub

This clip shows Crimsix doing what he does best – outgunning everyone in his way. This streak with the AK-74u gives us a glimpse of what Crim can do when he hits his peak form.

Did you enjoy these clips?

Let us know!

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Featured image: Treyarch

Categories
Dota 2

Valve decides to extend the TI 10 Battle Pass

The Battle Pass for TI 10 is truly different from what we’ve seen so far. Apart from the fact that it contains plenty of surprises, it’s also become the longest-lasting due to Valve’s decision to extend it. This probably doesn’t come as surprise as the Immortal Treasure III hasn’t been released yet.

The announcement also shed some light on the Arcana vote winner, alongside information about the last Immortal Treasure.

Sadly, this year has been pretty rocky. Like everything around the world, the Dota 2 scene was affected by COVID-19. As a result, Valve made the hard decision to postpone the biggest event in Dota 2 – The International. To make matters worse, we still don’t know an exact date for when will the event take place.

Despite all the negatives, we finally have some good news. Valve has officially decided to extend the Battle Pass for three more weeks. Originally, it was planned to end on the 19th of September, 2020. Now, we’ve been gifted a few extra weeks of epic action.

The TI 10 Battle Pass will end on the 9th of October. In addition to the extra days of fun, this also means that TI 10’s prize pool will have the chance to become even bigger. Right now, it’s reaching $37,000,000, which makes it the biggest prize pool in the history of the game.

We’ll also have the chance to see a new bundle. If you purchase it, you will receive 60 levels at a 30% discount, which is pretty impressive. If you want to know more information about the update, make sure you read the full update.

Feel free to follow DartFrog on TwitterFacebook, Instagram, and Twitch for the latest Dota 2 news.

Categories
League of Legends

Worlds 2020 Groups: What are the Groups after the Draw?

Worlds 2020 is just around the corner, and as of September 15 we now know the groups. In a draw broadcast which aired live on Twitch and YouTube, groups were revealed for both the play-in stage and main event.

As a result, we have some hype competitions on the way, in both the play-in stage and main stage. Rivalries between EU and NA are sparking right from the start of the tournament, while the latent LCK/LPL rivalry will be a focus in the main event.

The groups are as follows:

Worlds 2020 Play-In Groups

Group A

  • Team Liquid (NA)
  • MAD Lions (EU)
  • Legacy Esports (OCE)
  • SuperMassive (Turkey)
  • INTZ e-Sports (Brazil)

Group B

  • LGD Gaming (China)
  • PSG Talon (Hong Kong)
  • V3 Esports (Japan)
  • Unicorns of Love (CIS)
  • Rainbow7 (Latin America)

Worlds 2020 Main Event Groups

Group A

  • G2 Esports (EU)
  • Suning Gaming (China)
  • Machi Esports (Hong Kong)
  • Play-In Winner

Group B

  • Damwon Gaming (Korea)
  • JD Gaming (China)
  • Rogue (EU)
  • Play-In Winner

Group C

  • Team SoloMid (NA)
  • Fnatic (Europe)
  • Gen.G (Korea)
  • Play-In Winner

Group D

  • Top Esports (China)
  • DRX (Korea)
  • FlyQuest (NA)
  • Play-In Winner

Initial analysis projects some great games, and some unfortunate starts for many popular teams. The LECā€™s Rogue has pulled the group of death in Group B, while G2 seemingly has a free escape from Group A. FlyQuest are in a similar situation in Group D, while TSM will have to battle past Fnatic for a chance.  Overall, there definitely seem to be some big winners and losers before the event has started.

Regardless of the groups though, anything can happen when the matches kick off. And keep your eyes peeled on Dart Frog on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for all the latest League of Legends news and analysis.

Categories
CS:GO League of Legends

Origen rebrands as Astralis ahead of 2021

Storied EU LCS and LEC organisation Origen has revealed a dramatic name change as it rebrands as Astralis. The team, originally founded by legendary mid laner Enrique “xPeke” CedeƱo MartĆ­nez, revealed the rebranding on Twitter on the morning of September 15.

With the change in name, the squad takes on the branding of its sister team within parent company RFRSH Entertainment. In 2019, Origen was acquired by RFRSH to become part of the Astralis Group. Astralisā€™ most notable contributions to esports have been in the form of its CS:GO roster.

As part of the announcement, it was also revealed that general manager Martin “Deficio” Lynge and founder xPeke would be stepping away from the organisation. Both veterans of the European League of Legends Scene, Deficio has since seen multiple roles from broadcaster to manager. Meanwhile, xPeke has primarily been known for his ownership of Origen. Both will now move on to new opportunities.

New Name, New Opportunities?

However, the name change isnā€™t all good. As Origen rebrands as Astralis, the team leaves behind a plethora of hashtags, nicknames, and memes which have energised their player base. But as some are quick to point out, Origenā€™s brand is one that has drastically fallen in stock during its six years of existence. 

Astralis, on the other hand, is one of the biggest names in CS:GO. They’re also a rising star within the esports scene as a whole. Since their rise to prominence, the team has had its fair share of controversies and scandals. But overall remains a strong brand. The revitalised team will enter the next scene with a new identity and perhaps a chance for a fresh start. 

Keep your eyes peeled on Dart Frog on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for all the latest League of Legends news and analysis

Categories
CS:GO

ESL Pro League Season 12 Week 2 Europe – Complexity undefeated

The second week of ESL Pro League 12 is over and Complexity is on top of the world. The masters of Group B gained another two series victories in ESL Pro League Europe Week 2. Furthermore, Group A sees ENCE and Na’Vi at the top, but three key victories from Heroic has seen them get into a strong position heading into Week 3 of the Groups.

Group A

In Group A, ENCE and Na’Vi remain in as the top two teams in the group, each with a 4-1 scoreline. ENCE lost their first match this week against last-place GODSENT, bringing them back in line with Natus Vincere. On the other hand, Na’Vi earned two victories in Week 2, one against AGO and the other against OG. Although, Na’Vi had to earn their victory against OG, as the series went to the third map and they only won the decider on Nuke 16-14.

The more interesting narrative in Group A comes from the middle of the pack. Heroic, BIG, G2 Esports, and OG are 3-2 or 2-3, showing how competitive the third week is likely to be. Heroic’s 3-0 score in Week two comes after they had a great three-game series against G2 Esports, a close three-game series against BIG, and another close series against GODSENT. Two of these three victories are clutch results for Heroic as they took down two teams they are in direct contest with. The best thing is this makes them third in the group standings as they hold the head-to-head against BIG. Out of the mid-table, the ESL One Cologne Champions, Heroic, seem the likeliest candidate for advancing into the quarter-finals.

Looking ahead to Week 3, G2 and OG have some difficult games as they both have to take on ENCE and Natus Vincere – the top two of the group. G2 and OG need to put on a stellar show because their chances at advancing into the top four of the groups are slimming based on current results in this group.

Plays like this are what got Heroic a juicy 3-0 score.

Group B

On the other side of the European event, Complexity is dominating their opponents in Group B. Complexity had yet another fantastic week, taking down the likes of Team Spirit and Fnatic. However, Complexity went from two 2-0 victories in Week 1 to two 2-1 victories in Week two. Complexity’s grasp may be slipping after their star performance against Astralis and NiP in the ESL Pro League Europe Week 2. In Week 3, Complexity has three series to play against teams like mousesports, Vitality, and FaZe. The likes of mousesports and Vitality may give Complexity a proper good go since both teams are performing in ESL Pro League Season 12.

Complexity had to put in the work to take the series victory against Fnatic.

Another important aspect of Group B is the ability for any team to miss the quarters. As it stands, mousesports and Fnatic are the two mid-table teams in position to escape Group B. Although, almost every team outside the top two are 2-2, with the exceptions of NiP’s 1-3 score and FaZe’s 0-4 score. Also, every team has to play three games in Week 3, so whoever escapes Group B is the better team.

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 BLAST.

Categories
Call of Duty

Cellium wins All-Star Pro Skills tournament as CDL 2021 season begins

The conclusion of the All-Star Pro Skills tournament marked the end of the 2020 CDL season and the beginning of a new chapter.

Fans voted for 32 players across all 12 CDL teams to compete in a 1v1 tournament. All games were played on the Gunfight game mode on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

Each match was a best of three series played in a single elimination format. A whopping $100,000 was up for grabs in the two day tournament and it was all streamed live on the Call of Duty League YouTube channel.

Big names from Chicago Huntsmen’s Seth “Scump” Abner to OpTic Gaming’s Austin “Slasher” Liddicoat all fought it out to claim the huge cash prize.

However, it was young-gun McArthur “Cellium” Jovel who took the crown representing Atlanta FaZe.

The grand final was a Champs rematch between FaZe and Dallas with Cellium facing James “Clayster” Eubanks. Cellium swept the series 2-0 and earned himself $15,000.

CDL 2021 season is underway

September 14 marks the beginning of the second Call of Duty League season. Many exciting changes for the new season have already been made.

Activision recently announced the revert to a 4v4 format which caused widespread upset in the community. This change has led to many players and even entire teams being dropped from their franchises in the biggest rostermania to date.

Now, Activision have revealed even more changes to be put in place this year. An announcement on the CDL website stated: ” Today, the League is announcing it will move pro team competition to PC + Controller beginning with the 2021 season.

“This means that all pro matches will be played on PC and all pro players must use a League-approved controller of their choice.”

This change to PC and controller was an expected change that had been rumoured for some time. Alongside this, CDL Challengers competitors will be able to play cross-platform on online Challengers events. All LAN events, however, will be played on PC.

The CDL have stated that more information regarding changes to the league will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Are you surprised by these changes?

Let us know!

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Categories
League of Legends

T1 Head Coach steps down after Worlds 2020 disappointment

Kim “Kim” Jung-su, the Head Coach of SK telecom T1, has resigned from his position as per a post on social media today. The announcement broke early on August 13, heralding the end of his one season coaching the top Korean team.

The departure comes as T1 fell in the LCK gauntlet just four days ago on Wednesday, September 9. After a dramatic three-game series, the normally dominant T1, led by the legendary Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, fell to Gen.G.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WgkFlEkmwQ

As a result, T1 were eliminated from Worlds 2020 contention, despite winning the LCK Spring 2020 split. T1 were far less impressive during the summer LCK season, falling to fifth place overall. 

Coaching Woes for Kim

The fall off in performance was partially blamed on coach Kim. His decision to play up-and-coming mid talent Lee “Clozer” Ju-hyeon over veteran Faker was highly scrutinised. 

Kim is not the first T1 coach to choose not to play Faker, nominally regarded as one of the best players ever. T1ā€™s former head coach Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun gained notoriety for choosing to start other talents, including Lee “Easyhoon” Ji-hoon, over Faker in what was widely regarded as the latterā€™s peak. 

The departure marks the start of a shakeup for an organisation on the verge of massive change. T1 will be part of the new franchised LCK, which will see the entire makeup of the storied league change. Whatā€™s more, speculation swirls around the future of Faker, who this year signed a historic deal with the organisation. This security and the lack of playtime could inspire one of the greatest players ever to call it a day once and for all. 

For all the latest news and analysis on League of Legends follow us on our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch.

Categories
League of Legends

LEC reveals record viewership ahead of Worlds 2020

Worlds 2020 is less than a month away, and for one region in particular thereā€™s already plenty to celebrate. Namely Europe, where the League of Legends European Championship has had one of it’s best ever seasons for viewership.

In a detailed post on reviewing the 2020 LEC Summer viewership, the Rioter Alberto ā€œTirolessā€ Guerrero revealed the record-setting figures. Overall the LECā€™s peak concurrent viewers hit close to one million, reaching a height of 952,339, an increase of 16.7 percent. However, this wasnā€™t some kind of outlier with the average viewership not far off that mark at 819,415.

That number, which would put it ahead of many TV shows on traditional media for live viewing figures, represents a 70% increase since last year for the Summer Split. The report also states that this was the highest viewed season ever in Europe.


The news comes as the LEC has received universal praise for it’s revitalised broadcast. The European League of Legends scene was revitalised in 2019 with the rebrand from EU LCS to LEC. Since then the broadcast team has striven to create a unique identity, and the record viewership seems to imply that theyā€™ve been successful in engaging with the audience.

The New Kings

This is a far cry from the dismal years past in which Europe, despite often better individual talent, struggled against the individual personalities and brand recognition in the LCS. Since then, problems with production, and a failure to adapt quickly during the coronavirus pandemic, has seen the LCS loose pace with the LEC.

During both Leagueā€™s respective finals, the LEC hit its peak viewership. Meanwhile, the LCS struggled to beat over half of that, peaking at 545,571, but floundering to a 205,750 on average. This would in part have been down to the five-match war between Team SoloMid and FlyQuest dragging on for so long, while the quick pace of the LEC finals would have kept viewers excited. 

Regardless, it’s a dramatic shift in fortunes for both leagues, and a wake-up call for the LCS, who must now attempt to regain their dominance of the platform in the wake of the LEC’s record viewership.

For all the latest news and analysis on League of Legends follow us on our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch.

Categories
Dota 2

33 and Fata join mudgolems

The OMEGA League has ended, but the big Dota 2 roster shuffles have only just started. Although the Chinese region is definitely more active, we’ve already started to see big changes in Europe.

We’ve recently learned that there will be a BTS Pro Series Season 3: Europe/CIS. As a result, many of the players that didn’t have a team quickly decided to give it a try. That’s why Adrian “Fata” Trinks and Neta “33” Shapira are creating a team named “mudgolems”.

BTS Pro Series 3: EU/CIS

The event will take place just a few days from now, and by the looks of it, it’s going to be amazing. We’ll get to see nine of the best teams across two regions. They’ll be going head to head for a $50,000 prize pool. This is significantly less than the OMEGA League, but it’s still a decent amount of money for an online event.

After the community found out about Fata and 33, mudgolems received the final invitation. Although this was surprising, we think that it was the right decision as the team will definitely make the event more interesting to watch.

As you probably know, Fata and 33 have been playing together for a few years now. They’ve started in Ninjas in Pyjamas and even went on in Alliance. However, the Swedish powerhouse decided it was time for a change, which is why it removed the two players from its roster.

After their removal, neither Fata nor 33 played on the big stage. 33 tried to help OG in the ESL One Los Angeles Online: EU & CIS, but that’s pretty much it. Now that both players are back in action, anything could happen.

This is mudgolem’s current roster:

  • Oliver “skiter” Lepko
  • Dusko “BoraNija” Boranijasevic
  • Neta “33” Shapira
  • Milan “MiLaN” Kozomara
  • Adrian “Fata” Trinks

The BTS Pro Series Season 3: EU/CIS begins on the 12th of September. The first challenge ahead of Fata’s new squad will be against Khan. They are a fairly new team as well, so the clash will surely be exciting to watch.

Feel free to follow DartFrog on TwitterFacebook, Instagram, and Twitch for the latest Dota 2 news. We will let you know whenever there is something new.

Categories
Call of Duty

CDL Rostermania 2020: All confirmed roster changes so far

Rostermania is in full swing as multiple franchises are choosing to release players from their squad. With some entire rosters being dropped, this has become the most interesting rostermania to date.

Players and fans alike were on a high after the Call of Duty League season came to a fitting end. However, it was merely a couple of days before reality kicked in.

The recent announcement of a revert to 4v4 rosters shocked the community. When CDL 2020 champions Dallas Empire dropped Clayster, it marked the beginning of the biggest reshuffling in Call of Duty history.

Franchises have been ruthless in their decision making and more players seem to be getting dropped every day.

From entire CDL rosters to world champions, let’s take a look at all of the official changes that have happened so far.

Clayster and Jurd are the first to go

On September 1, Empire’s Clayster and Royal Ravens’ Jurd were both made free agents.

Clayster, just days before, had won the CDL Championship and the news of his release annoyed not only the fans but of course Clayster himself.

It seems that Clayster’s luck with rosters continues to haunt him as he often draws the short straw. However, with a stock as high as his he should have no trouble finding a new home.

Seattle and Toronto make big moves

Seattle Surge dropped six players from their roster on September 4. Toronto Ultra then followed suit and dropped six of their own. It will be interesting to see who they pick up for next season.

Guerillas and Rokkr release more players

Los Angeles Guerillas released six players on September 6. Minnesota Rokkr then release all seven of their players from the franchise.

This came as a shock to many and made the community question the reasoning behind all of these drastic changes.

Rostermania hits its peak on September 8

A huge total of 24 players were dropped from their franchises on September 8. The exciting announcements kept rolling in but these players were sadly left out of a job.

Here is a full list of all 24 players that were released on Wednesday:

  • Accuracy: New York Subliners
  • Censor: New York Subliners
  • Happy: New York Subliners
  • Thomas ‘Tommey’ Trewren: Dallas Empire
  • Dashy: LA OpTic
  • Goonjar: LA OpTic
  • Chino: LA OpTic
  • Hollow: LA OpTic
  • Arcitys: Chicago Huntsmen
  • Prestinni: Chicago Huntsmen
  • Skrapz: London Royal Ravens
  • Zer0: London Royal Ravens
  • Dylan: London Royal Ravens
  • Rated: London Royal Ravens
  • wuskin: London Royal Ravens
  • Nastie: London Royal Ravens
  • MadCat: London Royal Ravens
  • Denz: Paris Legion
  • Louqa: Paris Legion
  • Shockz: Paris Legion
  • Zed: Paris Legion
  • Breszy: Paris Legion
  • Phantoms: Paris Legion
  • 2Pac_ThuGLorD: Chicago Huntsmen (Analyst)

The free agency window opens on Septmeber 13 so expect some big announcements coming soon.

What are YOUR new roster predictions?

Let us know!

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