Author: Michael Hassall

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 LEC’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” Cedeño Martínez, 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. Astralis’ 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 isn’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, Origen’s brand is one that has drastically fallen in stock during its six years of existence. 

https://twitter.com/Froskurinn/status/1305791153728520192

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
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. T1’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 latter’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. What’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 there’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 “Tiroless” Guerrero revealed the record-setting figures. Overall the LEC’s peak concurrent viewers hit close to one million, reaching a height of 952,339, an increase of 16.7 percent. However, this wasn’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 they’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 League’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
League of Legends

G2 is the LEC 2020 Summer Champion, defeating Fnatic 3-0

G2 Esports has claimed victory in the LEC Summer Finals 2020, collecting their eighth championship, and their fourth consecutive title. The victory came over rivals Fnatic, who were also looking for their eighth title. In three dramatic games, G2 were able to capitalise on mistakes in order to become the LEC 2020 Summer Champion.

Things started well for Fnatic. A closely fought game saw both teams misplay, but eventually the raw scaling of Rasmus “Caps” Borregaard Winther would wrap things up.

Game two initially fared better with Oskar “Selfmade” Boderekon on Hecarim. Combined with the rare and unorthodox Zilean top, the spectral centaur could speed his way into ganks and team fights, causing havoc the G2. However, like death and taxes, Caps getting fed is inevitable. After a pair of misplays which saw members of Fnatic caught out of position, G2 were able to take an elder drake and secure the second victory.

Game three started disastrously for Fnatic as Caps zoned Fnatic’s Corki mid, and attempts to stabilize nemesis just let G2 snowball even further. The choice by selfmade to run Ignite/Smite rather than flash robbed the already short ranged graves of a vital piece of mobility, but allowed him to claw back the lead for Fnatic. Some questionable decisions by Mikyx who seemed to try and make up for missing Nautilus hooks by forcing engagements.

A dramatic fight at the Infernal Drake would seem to close things as Caps’ Syndra demolished Fnatic, and the team would attempt to wrap things up from there. But a series of incredible holds from Fnatic delayed G2, until eventually an incredible back door play from Caps would wrap things up.

Taking home the title, G2 must now prepare to head to Worlds 2020. Last year, the squad were the runners up of the entire event. Expectations for the team are another return to the final.

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

Categories
League of Legends Uncategorized

CoreJJ Wins LCS Summer MVP After First-Place Finish to Regular Season

Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in has been crowned the LCS 2020 Summer MVP, securing his second season MVP award in two years. The Team Liquid Support player was announced as the winner on the afternoon of September 4th across the LCS’s official social media.

The award comes after a landmark season for the veteran support and one of the best showings for him following his return to the North American Region. Team Liquid rocketed from a dismal ninth-place finish in the LCS 2020 Spring Season, to a dominant first-place next split in Summer 2020 – Thanks in part to the impressive place of CoreJJ.

An in-game leader for the squad, Team Liquid’s Summer record with CoreJJ was an impressive 15-3. The support player garnering individual game MVP honors in week two, twice in week six, and again in week seven. In the Summer playoffs his performance saw the team advance to the upper-bracket finals. However, the team would unfortunately fall to FlyQuest in the fourth round. The squad now contends with TSM for a possible rematch against FQ for the title of playoff champions.

This, combined with his ever expanding popularity of CoreJJ has made him a natural candidate for MVP. Since his return to NA in 2019 CoreJJ has lived up to his reputation as a international-calibre talent. A former World Champion with Samsung Galaxy in 2017, Team Liquid’s support superstar now looks at a return to Worlds. It would be his fifth trip to the championship tournament in five years.

But first TL must topple TSM. Then CoreJJ be on the road to Worlds 2020, and a chance to secure his second world title.

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/LCS Veteran Kold Announces Retirement, departs Origen

It’s always sad when seemingly young pro’s call it quits. However, today’s announcement that Jonas “Kold” Andersen would be retiring takes the cake. Kold announced his retirement today on social media, accompanied by a longer explanation on TwitLonger.

In his post, Kold describes the issues that had plagued him during the 2019 Summer Split – problems which eventually caused him to step down from Origen. The star Danish jungler had been under tremendous amounts of stress which had manifested into physical symptoms. In light of the threat to his health, Kold took a break from the competitive scene.

Now, just over 12 months later, Kold has officially announced his retirement. He’s not completely leaving the scene though. The talented former-player now looks to put his skills to work as a coach in either the LEC or LCS.

Any team that picks up Kold would benefit from his years of competitive experience, dating back to 2013 and the foundation of the modern LoL pro-scene. First rising to prominence on the now defunct Cloud9 Eclipse, a European branch of the NA organisation, Kold’s biggest break would come as part of H2k-Gaming.

Kold would later move regions to NA, playing on Enemy eSports, before returning to Europe. Here he found one of his most successful seasons with Splyce. However, despite their seeming mastery of Macro play, Splyce would find themselves eliminated in the group stage. Following this, Kold played on European teams including Unicorns of Love and finally Origen.

He departs his pro career with a legacy that includes international competition, a Rift Rivals victory, and several LEC runners up prizes.


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

Categories
General

TSM Chess? TSM Signs Grandmaster Hikaru Nakumura

Team SoloMid has always positioned itself at the cutting edge of esports, but their latest signing may still surprise you. The storied esports organisation yesterday (August 27) announced the addition of the prodigious chess player Hikaru “GM Hikaru” Nakaru to its lineup of talent.

However, this isn’t the start of a TSM chess division. Instead, the acquisition is a move to acquire one of the most popular and recognisable figures in a rapidly expanding field of streamed entertainment. Chess has seen a huge surge in popularity in the past 12 months, especially on YouTube and Twitch.

In June, Chess.com, one of the largest online chess websites hosted the PogChamps tournament on Twitch. Instead of Grandmasters and chess pros though, the tournament featured popular streamers and YouTube personalities. As a result, the level of play was much more accessible and understandable for a wider audience, making the event a huge success. 

GM Hikaru featured as one of the commentators for that event, even if some moves by the competitors left him baffled.

What GM Hikaru brings to TSM, besides his chess legacy (a 15 year old prodigy who became the youngest American to earn the Grandmaster title, and a five-time US Champion), is a more modern attitude to the game of Chess. This new wave of popularity is less focused on the highest levels of play, and instead on personality and entertainment. 

It aims to make chess more accessible, separating it from the elitism that has traditionally run through its core. GM Hikaru is a perfect match for this new perspective on one of the oldest games in the world.


You can catch GM Hikaru streaming on his official Twitch channel. And make sure to follow Dartfrog for all the latest gaming and esports news on our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch.

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.