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    Ground Zero surge to second Contenders win in a row, Drop Bears claw back second

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    Jess: Choosing passion over profession

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    SeeEl: “We’re already preparing for international tournaments.”

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    Elevate re-enter Rainbow Six through ANZ, sign former Oddity roster

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    Emagine: In the footsteps of the Journeyman

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    Ground Zero settle into Contenders Australia with almost flawless first week

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    Sources: Pabu to join Pentanet.GG in role swap roster shuffle

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    OPL 2020 Split 1 Final Preview: Legacy Esports

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    OPL 2020 Split 1 Final Preview: Dire Wolves

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    Ground Zero get Contenders treble with Drop Bears triumph in Week 3

    Ground Zero get Contenders treble with Drop Bears triumph in Week 3

    Ground Zero surge to second Contenders win in a row, Drop Bears claw back second

    Ground Zero surge to second Contenders win in a row, Drop Bears claw back second

    Contenders Australia return marred by map preset, pause issues

    Contenders Australia return marred by map preset, pause issues

    Ground Zero settle into Contenders Australia with almost flawless first week

    Ground Zero settle into Contenders Australia with almost flawless first week

    Jordation: “I hope people don’t sleep on Mindfreak again”

    Jordation: “I hope people don’t sleep on Mindfreak again”

    Ground Zero secure super team for Contenders Australia 2020

    Ground Zero secure super team for Contenders Australia 2020

    Athletico look to Europe to revamp Overwatch Contenders squad in 2020

    Athletico look to Europe to revamp Overwatch Contenders squad in 2020

    Snowball Esports: 2019 in Review

    Snowball Esports: 2019 in Review

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    ESL and DreamHack announce two year exclusive partnership with Twitch from 2021

    Avant make confident start in the new international environment with ANZ Champs victory

    Avant make confident start in the new international environment with ANZ Champs victory

    The Kiwi faces of esports: Black Sheep’s Cookie

    The Kiwi faces of esports: Black Sheep’s Cookie

    Emagine: In the footsteps of the Journeyman

    Emagine: In the footsteps of the Journeyman

    Order signs Rickeh as permanent starter, adds tucks as head coach

    Order signs Rickeh as permanent starter, adds tucks as head coach

    IEM set to depart Sydney, move to Melbourne in 2020

    IEM set to depart Sydney, move to Melbourne in 2020

    Chiefs’ new CS:GO lineup shows Major ambitions

    Chiefs’ new CS:GO lineup shows Major ambitions

    Snowball Esports: 2019 in Review

    Snowball Esports: 2019 in Review

    Honour among The Boys: Why 100 Thieves’ Counter-Strike return means so much for Oceania

    Honour among The Boys: Why 100 Thieves’ Counter-Strike return means so much for Oceania

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    Six Masters 2020 to tie into new Rainbow Six global esports circuit

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    Jess: Choosing passion over profession

    Jess: Choosing passion over profession

    Elevate re-enter Rainbow Six through ANZ, sign former Oddity roster

    Elevate re-enter Rainbow Six through ANZ, sign former Oddity roster

    Magnet, Dizzle, and Fnatic going from APAC top dog to global underdog

    Magnet, Dizzle, and Fnatic going from APAC top dog to global underdog

    Lunarmetal: SEA Rainbow Six “really has a lot of potential.”

    Lunarmetal: SEA Rainbow Six “really has a lot of potential.”

    Wildcard gearing up for 2020 marathon after Six Invitational “miracle run”

    Wildcard gearing up for 2020 marathon after Six Invitational “miracle run”

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    • Pick 6
    Ground Zero get Contenders treble with Drop Bears triumph in Week 3

    Ground Zero get Contenders treble with Drop Bears triumph in Week 3

    The Kiwi faces of esports: Black Sheep’s Cookie

    The Kiwi faces of esports: Black Sheep’s Cookie

    Ground Zero surge to second Contenders win in a row, Drop Bears claw back second

    Ground Zero surge to second Contenders win in a row, Drop Bears claw back second

    Jess: Choosing passion over profession

    Jess: Choosing passion over profession

    SeeEl: “We’re already preparing for international tournaments.”

    SeeEl: “We’re already preparing for international tournaments.”

    Elevate re-enter Rainbow Six through ANZ, sign former Oddity roster

    Elevate re-enter Rainbow Six through ANZ, sign former Oddity roster

    Emagine: In the footsteps of the Journeyman

    Emagine: In the footsteps of the Journeyman

    Ground Zero settle into Contenders Australia with almost flawless first week

    Ground Zero settle into Contenders Australia with almost flawless first week

    Magnet, Dizzle, and Fnatic going from APAC top dog to global underdog

    Magnet, Dizzle, and Fnatic going from APAC top dog to global underdog

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    Ties’ Takes – Lessons from Split One

    Ties’ Takes – Lessons from Split One

    “It’s been a long time”: Legacy Esports claim maiden Oceanic title after five years of crownless campaigns

    “It’s been a long time”: Legacy Esports claim maiden Oceanic title after five years of crownless campaigns

    Sources: Pabu to join Pentanet.GG in role swap roster shuffle

    Sources: Pabu to join Pentanet.GG in role swap roster shuffle

    OPL 2020 Split 1 Final Preview: Legacy Esports

    OPL 2020 Split 1 Final Preview: Legacy Esports

    OPL 2020 Split 1 Final Preview: Dire Wolves

    OPL 2020 Split 1 Final Preview: Dire Wolves

    Sliding Doors: OPL 2020 Split 1, Playoffs

    Sliding Doors: OPL 2020 Split 1, Playoffs

    Sliding Doors: OPL 2020 Split 1, Week 10

    Sliding Doors: OPL 2020 Split 1, Week 10

    OPL Predictions: 2020 Split 1, Super Week

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    Ground Zero get Contenders treble with Drop Bears triumph in Week 3

    Ground Zero get Contenders treble with Drop Bears triumph in Week 3

    Ground Zero surge to second Contenders win in a row, Drop Bears claw back second

    Ground Zero surge to second Contenders win in a row, Drop Bears claw back second

    Contenders Australia return marred by map preset, pause issues

    Contenders Australia return marred by map preset, pause issues

    Ground Zero settle into Contenders Australia with almost flawless first week

    Ground Zero settle into Contenders Australia with almost flawless first week

    Jordation: “I hope people don’t sleep on Mindfreak again”

    Jordation: “I hope people don’t sleep on Mindfreak again”

    Ground Zero secure super team for Contenders Australia 2020

    Ground Zero secure super team for Contenders Australia 2020

    Athletico look to Europe to revamp Overwatch Contenders squad in 2020

    Athletico look to Europe to revamp Overwatch Contenders squad in 2020

    Snowball Esports: 2019 in Review

    Snowball Esports: 2019 in Review

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    • IEM Sydney 2019
    ESL and DreamHack announce two year exclusive partnership with Twitch from 2021

    ESL and DreamHack announce two year exclusive partnership with Twitch from 2021

    Avant make confident start in the new international environment with ANZ Champs victory

    Avant make confident start in the new international environment with ANZ Champs victory

    The Kiwi faces of esports: Black Sheep’s Cookie

    The Kiwi faces of esports: Black Sheep’s Cookie

    Emagine: In the footsteps of the Journeyman

    Emagine: In the footsteps of the Journeyman

    Order signs Rickeh as permanent starter, adds tucks as head coach

    Order signs Rickeh as permanent starter, adds tucks as head coach

    IEM set to depart Sydney, move to Melbourne in 2020

    IEM set to depart Sydney, move to Melbourne in 2020

    Chiefs’ new CS:GO lineup shows Major ambitions

    Chiefs’ new CS:GO lineup shows Major ambitions

    Snowball Esports: 2019 in Review

    Snowball Esports: 2019 in Review

    Honour among The Boys: Why 100 Thieves’ Counter-Strike return means so much for Oceania

    Honour among The Boys: Why 100 Thieves’ Counter-Strike return means so much for Oceania

  • Rainbow Six
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    • Predictions
    Six Masters 2020 Predictions: Week 1

    Six Masters 2020 Predictions: Week 1

    Six Masters 2020 to tie into new Rainbow Six global esports circuit

    Six Masters 2020 to tie into new Rainbow Six global esports circuit

    Six Masters 2020 to tie into new Rainbow Six global esports circuit

    Snowball partners with Ubisoft for Six Masters 2020

    Jess: Choosing passion over profession

    Jess: Choosing passion over profession

    Elevate re-enter Rainbow Six through ANZ, sign former Oddity roster

    Elevate re-enter Rainbow Six through ANZ, sign former Oddity roster

    Magnet, Dizzle, and Fnatic going from APAC top dog to global underdog

    Magnet, Dizzle, and Fnatic going from APAC top dog to global underdog

    Lunarmetal: SEA Rainbow Six “really has a lot of potential.”

    Lunarmetal: SEA Rainbow Six “really has a lot of potential.”

    Wildcard gearing up for 2020 marathon after Six Invitational “miracle run”

    Wildcard gearing up for 2020 marathon after Six Invitational “miracle run”

    Fnatic’s fresh blood ready to set Montreal alight at Six Invitational

    Fnatic’s fresh blood ready to set Montreal alight at Six Invitational

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Snowball Esports: 2019 in Review

Josh Swift by Josh Swift
December 31, 2019
Snowball Esports: 2019 in Review
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As we close out the decade it’s time for our yearly wrap, and a look back at what we accomplished this year.

In 2019, we went through some major growth at Snowball in a couple of areas. At the beginning of the year, San Hoang and Chelsea Moss became the first content producers outside of myself on the team since Snowball began. Having them on board allowed us to maintain the same quality while continuing to pump out more content, especially during the OPL splits.

The team covering MEO 2019.

We hit up IEM Sydney, the Melbourne Esports Open and PAX Australia this year, and brought our flavour of coverage to those events.

In September, we announced that Snowball will partner with META High School Esports next year. We’re really excited to work with Nigel Smart, Woody Wu and the rest of the team on this for their 2020 season, providing high quality content and regular coverage.

I took a different approach with my year in review, going month to month and picking some key pieces from each to give you some insight into our year.

January

Presenting Snowball’s Scuffed OPL Tips!
OPL

Presenting Snowball’s Scuffed OPL Tips!

by Josh Swift
January 17, 2019

The likes of Andrew Wray and numerous others try and cheekily convince me to take on ridiculous time consuming projects all the time. After finding out there would be no tipping system for OPL like in 2018, we’d had discussions about trying to fill that gap and do something via Snowball but ultimately decided it wouldn’t be worth the time and effort to set up and maintain a competition.

We now know how weak-willed I can be when the community yearns for something. I ended up building an entire tipping league just days before the OPL returned in January. Over 200 OPL fans participated in the competition during the Split 1 regular season and some won some great RP prizes courtesy of Riot.

February

ARTeMis and refreshed lineup lay Carnage across WESG and IEM Qualifiers
CS:GO

ARTeMis and refreshed lineup lay Carnage across WESG and IEM Qualifiers

by Reece Perry
February 8, 2019

A great feature from Reece Perry on Jessica “ARTeMis” Majrouh and Carnage after their efforts at the WESG qualifier in Perth. This piece was also produced by one of our talented new additions at the start of this year in Chelsea Moss.

March

An impossible Dream – How Ronan Swingler made it to the OPL
OPL

An impossible Dream – How Ronan Swingler made it to the OPL

by Ellis Longhurst
March 22, 2019

I am intensely proud of this piece from Ellis Longhurst. Ronan’s story is one that resonated with League of Legends fans both here and overseas, and is one of the most viewed Snowball pieces of all time. Ellis took a unique approach composing this story as if it were to become a six-part Netflix series, it’s an intensely inspiring read.

Also during March was the OPL playoffs for Split 1, which marked the return of Snowball’s Gauntlet Run series, kicked off by Harry Taylor.

April

‘The stars aligned for us’: Order forge OPL history with 9-1 miracle gauntlet run
OPL

‘The stars aligned for us’: Order forge OPL history with 9-1 miracle gauntlet run

by Isaac McIntyre
April 2, 2019

I’m fairly sure this is the longest OPL recap of all time from Isaac McIntyre, and with good reason. It tells the tale of Order’s run through the OPL gauntlet, after barely scraping into the playoffs and taking down each team against all predictions on their path to the final.

Also worth noting in April was an interview ahead of the Mid-Season Invitational with Bombers coach Westonway which garnered international attention as people looked to find out more about the oceanic representatives, and announcing our IEM Sydney coverage, with the intent to bring a team to the event for the first time in Snowball’s history.

May

IEM Sydney: Celebrating a Legacy
IEM Sydney 2019

IEM Sydney: Celebrating a Legacy

by Ash Whyte
May 31, 2019

Along with a myriad of written and video interviews with CS:GO’s biggest names, we had one of our newest writers Ashley Whyte put together a great feature on IEM Sydney, and the legacy that it’s created in our region after we talked with Michal ‘Carmac’ Blicharz.

As part of our IEM Sydney coverage, the popular Survival Guides made a return, this time with Sydney local Bernadette Wong at the helm.

June

FBI becomes first Australian in the LCS system:  ‘It’s what I’ve always dreamed about’
OPL

FBI becomes first Australian in the LCS system: ‘It’s what I’ve always dreamed about’

by Isaac McIntyre
June 6, 2019

After a stellar split in the OPL, Victor “FBI” Huang became the first Australian to make the journey to North America following in the footsteps of New Zealand’s Lawrence “Lost” Hui as told by Isaac McIntyre.

Other notable pieces from June include Emma van der Brug putting a spotlight on the Girl Gamer Festival coming to Sydney, a foray for us into Hearthstone with Legacy signing Grandmasters star FroStee, and the acquisition of the Chiefs Esports Club by ICON.

July

Global Offensive & The Importance of Grassroots in Australia – BrisVegas LAN Preview
CS:GO

Global Offensive & The Importance of Grassroots in Australia – BrisVegas LAN Preview

by Ash Whyte
July 3, 2019

Building up grassroots esports in Oceania has always been a focus for us at Snowball, so when Ashley Whyte pitched a feature on the latest BrisVegas LAN in July and why it’s important to have these kinds of events, it was a no-brainer.

August

OPL

‘Nothing else matters’: Chiefs eye return to the top – OPL Final Preview

August 31, 2019
OPL

Can Mammoth deliver on the superteam promise? – OPL Final Preview

August 31, 2019

The Melbourne Esports Open was Snowball’s biggest event by far of 2018, and this year was no different. Armed with a team of 7 at Melbourne Olympic Park, we worked to bring high quality coverage to as much of the event as we could.

I’ve spotlighted the two OPL final previews, on Chiefs and Mammoth, because it marks something really important to myself, and the wider management of Snowball. These pieces show more than most the growth in both Harry Taylor and Emma van der Brug. Both of them were added as community panelists for Snowball’s OPL Power Rankings in Split 2 of 2018.

These features are a testament to their hard work and dedication to growing themselves, and I’m intensely proud of that. Pair that with some stellar creative work from producer San Hoang and you have some bar-setting content.

September

Yuki: A decade in esports
MEO 2019

Yuki: A decade in esports

by Andrew Amos
September 16, 2019

Although we capped off MEO coverage in early September, also with the unfortunate debut of Roaming Wray, this feature from Andrew Amos on James “Yuki” Stanton is my highlight for September. It’s not often you see players have careers spanning this long, and it’s even rarer when they span as many titles as Yuki has, and Ducky did an excellent job bringing this story to life.

Also at the tail end of September, Go Next Media was announced to the world.

October

Raid: The five thousand mile pilgrimage
Interviews

Raid: The five thousand mile pilgrimage

by Andrew Amos
October 30, 2019

I believe this feature is the crown jewel of Snowball’s 2019. It was an absolute pleasure to produce, and was a complete product of circumstance. Andrew Amos was in Korea to cover the Overwatch Contenders Gauntlet right in the middle of Raid’s stay in Busan.

This is the calibre of content we strive for. You don’t often see this kind of unbridled view from retired esports pros in Oceania, and I can’t thank Julian enough for sharing his story with us.

Another notable mention from October was our PAX Australia content, my personal favourite of which was Ellis Longhurst’s look at the Mortal Kombat tournament finals.

November

[Updated] Australian CS:GO divided over scheduling controversy: The full story
CS:GO

[Updated] Australian CS:GO divided over scheduling controversy: The full story

by Andrew Amos
November 5, 2019

In one of the most worked-on investigative pieces in Snowball’s history, Andrew Amos with the help of Isaac McIntyre and myself aimed to tell the full story of the scheduling controversy between multiple Oceanic orgs and ESL Australia.

It’s a story we didn’t take lightly, and took the time to make sure we reported the facts of the situation after obtaining full email transcripts between the teams and various other parties.

Other notable pieces from November include my report on the Essendon Bombers leaving esports and selling their OPL slot to Pentanet.GG, Ellis Longhurst’s visit to the Red Bull Fight or Flight PUBG event in Sydney, and Kevin Walker’s Snowball debut with pieces exploring Overwatch 2 and its impact on competitive and a chat with New Zealand’s Overwatch World Cup team.

December

Triple joins FlyQuest Academy ahead of 2020 season: “Australian, American, Korean, I have to beat them all now”
League of Legends

Triple joins FlyQuest Academy ahead of 2020 season: “Australian, American, Korean, I have to beat them all now”

by Isaac McIntyre
December 12, 2019

I love this feature from Isaac McIntyre, and it’s a good one to grasp the scale of the offseason oceanic League of Legends has had. We’ll have a piece recapping every move of the ‘OCE exodus’ as its been dubbed in the new year, but his chat with Stephen for this piece shows how dedicated these pros are, and I’m super happy to see so many of them head overseas next year.

Andrew Amos put in some work on the Australian Overwatch offseason this month, announcing the Sydney Drop Bears new roster and telling the story of a new super team being built on our shores.

I’ll leave you with a sneak preview of something that’s currently being worked on, our brand new site!

On behalf of the entire Snowball team, thank you so much for a great year, we can’t wait for 2020. There’s much more to come!

Josh Swift

Josh Swift

Owner of Go Next Media, Josh "Swifty" Swift is Snowball's Director of Creative & Production. He looks to build up passionate creators to bring the best content to esports in Oceania.

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