Tag: Gambit Esports

Categories
CS:GO

IEM Katowice 2021 Playoffs – The rise of the CIS

The IEM Katowice 2021 Playoffs are right around the corner. Six teams remain in one of the biggest tournaments of the year. The Playoffs section of IEM Katowice is typically reserved the strongest of Europe, the CIS and NA. However, the 2021 edition of the event is seeing the overwhelming presence of the CIS teams. Let us take a look at the journey of the Playoff teams and what it means moving forward.

The CIS dominate

Just before the event, we at Dart Frog mentioned that the CIS teams really have the potential to upset this event. Lo and behold this is exactly what happened. The four CIS team all made it to the Playoffs, with Team Spirit being the team to earn a direct seed into the semi-finals.

The four teams all had interesting runs through the Group Stages, with theoretically surprise upsets all over the place. We know for a fact that these teams certainly had the potential to go far. The likes of Gambit and Virtus Pro have attended events throughout last year getting wins over some of Europe’s and NA’s best. On the other hand, Team Spirit and Na’Vi have been at each other throats for the majority of 2020 in the CIS regional brackets.

The Lower Bracket CIS teams

Gambit Esports started off slow, losing 0-2 to EG in the first round. However, they went on to win their Lower Bracket group. They beat mousesports, Heroic, and G2 Esports in the Lower Bracket. G2 and mousesports all fell 2-0 the former youngsters. while Heroic gave them a good showing ina 2-1 series. Arguably, mousesports and G2 were not as big, since both these teams have issues. But the Heroic series was certainly a valid upset.

not bad, king

Moving on, Virtus.Pro was in the same spot. They too had to make a Lower Bracket Round One run in Group B. VP started off with a loss to CIS supreme team oof NaVi. The roster then crawled it back with a 2-0 win over NiP and surprisingly Team Vitality, before taking down FURIA and making it to the Playoffs.

The Upper CIS

The number one dog in Na’Vi has a good run through the Group Stages, only losing to Team Liquid in the Upper Bracket Final. Na’Vi performed very well against VP, with a very similar result vs FURIA. The only time Na’Vi was really challenged was against Team Liquid, with the third map going to overtime before Team Liquid won the series.

Meanwhile, Team Spirit performed exceptionally well. TS started off very competitive vs G2 Esports. A 2-1 series was the result, with the Team Spirit victories being fairly close. The same story could be told for Heroic with 16-12 and 16-14 map results. Although, the real surprise was the Astralis series. The roster continued their narrative, until the final map of the Upper Bracket of Group A. The result was a near 16-0 for Team Spirit, with Astralis only clutching the pistol round to make it a 16-1 map. The result is actually incredible.

If only this moment was on LAN
An appropriate meme

What’s Next

IEM Katowice 2021 Playoffs commences on February 26t with the Quarter Finals. Natus Vincere faces off against fellow CIS team Gambit, with Astralis battling Virtus.pro on the other side of the bracket. The winners of Na’Vi and Gambit will then advance to face off against Team Spirit, with Team Liquid awaiting the other series.

Regardless of the outcome, there will be at least one CIS team in the Finals, which is certainly something to shout home about. We look forward to seeing the action unfold in the IEM Katowice 2021 Playoffs.

Will the dream come true?

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 ESL Gaming.

Categories
Dota 2

Gambit Esports confirms their new roster

Gambit Esports is one of the biggest names in the CIS Dota 2 scene. There were times when many considered this squad to be among the best in the world. However, a series of roster changes had a negative impact on their results. COVID-19 didn’t help matters either, which is why the team decided to make a fresh start.

Fast-forward six months and we finally have information about the team’s new roster. What’s interesting is that there is only one returning player from the previous roster, Danial “xsvamp1re” Alibaev. He will play alongside a few upcoming CIS players. Although they don’t have a much in the way of competitive experience, these players have shown that they have what it takes to be on the team.

Gambit’s new roster:

  • Anton “yy” Shkredow
  • Artem “Lorenof” Melnik
  • Andrey “meLes” Romanov
  • Danial “xsvamp1re” Alibaev
  • Albert “eine” Garayev

If you’ve been following the CIS Dota 2 scene recently, you’ve probably heard of ‘eine’. He was a part of VP.Prodigy and also played on a few other notable CIS teams. Moreover, he used to be a part of Gambit for a few months back in 2018.

The second name that might also seem familiar is ‘Lorenof’. He played in the OMEGA League Europe Divine Division that took place a few months ago as part of Team Unique.

We can’t wait to see the new team in action. If you want to learn more information about them, feel free to follow DartFrog on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch for the latest Dota 2 news.

Categories
Dota 2

Gambit Esports and fng part ways

There are many legendary players in the Dota 2 CIS scene. Although most of them play core roles, there are also plenty of support players, such as Artsiom “fng” Barshak. This player was a part of Gambit Esports for some time now, playing a major role in the team and winning a number of events.

Nevertheless, after spending some time with Gambit, fng’s contract came to an end. As a result, he and the organization have decided to part ways.

Gambit & COVID-19

Gambit Esports was one of the most promising teams in Dota 2. However, the team failed to keep up with the rest due to COVID-19. As you know, the virus completely changed the competitive Dota 2 scene, which had a massive effect on just about everything. Unfortunately, some of the smaller organizations couldn’t adapt to the change, which is why they’ve released their Dota 2 rosters.

Due to the fact that Gambit didn’t take part in most events, fng decided to team up with Alliance. He’s been playing as a stand-in for the Swedish powerhouse for some time now and even took part in two grand finals. However, no one from the team has officially confirmed that fng was a part of it. What’s interesting is that many people have tried asking Alliance’s players this question, but they were never answered.

It will be interesting to see what will happen with the talented CIS player. Currently, he is once again helping Alliance in the OMEGA League Europe Immortal division. The EU squad is battling for survival in the lower bracket of the event.

Don’t forget to watch the series between Team Liquid and 5MEN tomorrow. Feel free to follow DartFrog on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch for the latest Dota 2 news.