With so many great things going on in the world of competitive CS:GO, it can sometimes be difficult to stay abreast of all the news and hype and to generally be thoroughly informed about everything. This is the sort of gap we’re looking to plug up with our weekly wrap-ups, providing those who do not have the time to delve deep into everything, with a way to catch up and to keep up.
The first noteworthy bit of the week was the move team EnVyUs have finally made. Like the fans mentioned above, sometimes even professional teams have difficulties keeping up with the flow of the CS:GO esports world, and they have to make adjustments on the go to stay competitive. The adjustment EnVyUs have made concerned Fabien Fiey, a team member known by the moniker “kioshima” who was dropped and replaced with Timothee Demolon (DEVIL). The team put out a statement justifying their move, in which they pointed at the recent string of less-than-satisfactory results they had logged. They also noted that roster-changes are always viewed as a last-resort solution, but that in this case, they had indeed genuinely run out of other options. What this all means is that the title-defense EnVyUs are going to mount in three weeks‘ time at the MLG Columbus will see them trot out a brand new lineup. DEVIL should be a great fit for the organization: he’s got the required skills and according to EnVyUs management, he’s a hard worker who will doubtlessly value being pushed into the limelight like this.
Another team which announced a roster-adjustment this past week was TSM: they have apparently waived trial player Daniel “vice” Kim, whose trial-period expired and who was obviously deemed a less-than-ideal fit for the squad. vice took the news in stride, thanking TSM for the opportunity and the experience, wishing them well and promising to continue to improve, playing the game at a higher level than ever before.
In other news: the Intel Challenge Katowice 2016 wrapped up last week with the victory of the reigning champions, WRTP, who disposed of CLG Red 2-0 in the finals. The all female team retained the title, picking up the top prize of $15k. The runner-up was rewarded with $7k. Karma and LDLC fe, who finished tied for 3-4th place picked up $3k each. The last two teams to earn money were Millenium fe and Exertus fe, whose joint 5-6th places were worth $1k a piece.
In still other news: The lineup of the iBP Spring Invitational has been completed and announced last week: a total of 6 invitees have rounded out the list of competing teams. Thus, the final lineup includes no fewer than 6 teams from the US: Cloud9, Counter Logic Gaming, Winterfox, Team Liquid, Selfless and Team SoloMid. Two teams will fly the Brazilian flag: Tempo Storm and Luminosity Gaming. Renegades from Australia and OpTic Gaming from Canada round out the lineup. In addition to the lineup announcement, iBUYPOWER have also thrown an extra $1k into the prize-pool of the event.
The last noteworthy news-piece of the week concerns yet another roster-change. This time, TyLoo, one of the most prominent Asian CS:GO teams, have made an addition in YuanZhang Sheng (AttackeR), who was brought in to replace Quanqing Wu, the former TyLoo member who got banned from all Valve-sponsored events after he was found guilty of having dealt with a VAC-banned account.
The new TyLoo lineup has already had its first trial of fire at the Dreamhack Masters Malmo, where they defeated Vici Gaming 2-0, making it into the LAN finals of the tournament.
Peter Wassenberg is a Gosugamer. Gosugamers.net is the world’s top eSports spot and the home of the most happening Dota 2 forum.