ESL and DreamHack branded events will be exclusively broadcast on Twitch following this year, as the Turtle Entertainment companies have announced a partnership that turns the streaming platform options exclusive from 2021.

In an announcement today, esports giants ESL and Dreamhack have announced a three year deal with Twitch which will see CS:GO, Starcraft II and Warcraft III tournaments broadcast exclusively on the streaming platform for 2021 and 2022.

Whilst Twitch will operate as a non-exclusive partner alongside YouTube for 2020, this will see tournaments, such as the ESL Pro League, Intel Extreme Masters and DreamHack Open, move to a single platform for 2021 and 2022.

As well as their global tournaments, ESL also operates competitions within the SEA / OCE region, with the ESL ANZ Championships offering players from the three featured titles a chance at qualifying to international events to compete with the world’s best.

pic.twitter.com/hKoxKqQZSI

— ESL (@ESL) April 28, 2020

ESL teased the new partnership on Twitter

The plan is for Twitch to work directly with ESL and Dreamhack to provide a hub for their competitions. The partnership will springboard coordinated broadcasts and sponsorship efforts into the new decade.

Frank Uddo, Senior Vice President at ESL Global Media, said live streaming esports had belonged to Twitch in recent years.

“As we continue to host some of the world’s largest esports tournaments, it feels only natural to work even closer with Twitch to provide the best gaming experience for fans, as well as safeguard the future of the esports industry.”

Alongside the ESL ANZ Championships, ESL have also begun hosting weekly cups for Starcraft II and Warcraft III.

The weekly competitions are held Tuesday nights (for Starcraft) and Saturday days (for Warcraft). Both tournaments have a $100 prize pool and have open registration for anyone based within the SEA / OCE region.

As the battle for content access heats up and each streaming platform jockeys for positioning, this deal is one that stands out for the old guard of esports standing firm with each other.

In the current environment, it is noteworthy as well that Twitch has opted in with the TO that is promoting grass roots participation for those joining in from home. We’ll see as this deal plays out how this maneuvering benefits both sides.

Produced by Josh Swift

Avant’s emphatic 3-1 victory over Order has become a statement of intent as they now look to be a dominant force in the new post-major qualification world.

Though they didn’t know for sure at the time, when Avant hit the server to face Order in the Grand Finals of Season 1 of ANZ Champs for 2020 it would be looked back on with some significance.

In the current health environment, Valve made the only practical decision they had in attempting to condense the year that would normally contain two Majors into one. In this, they also halved the chances for ANZ teams to prove themselves on the biggest stage CS:GO has to offer. In turn, this put even greater significance on those events that feed into the remaining international tournaments that domestic teams can qualify for (assuming these events run as scheduled).

The result was that ANZ Champs became the first cab off the ranks as the “Best of the Rest” suite of events – the first chance for teams other than Order, Chiefs, Renegades and Ground Zero to make an international presence. And Order was here to crash the party.

With a DreamHack Open invite on the line, Avant stalled momentarily off the line, before coming screaming to life and overwhelming Order, 3-1. It was a crushing victory and given Order had taken Renegades to 3 maps a month prior, came in a fashion that many did not expect. It may give some pause to wonder if this team can finally be the one in a long list of contenders to take the domestic crown away from Renegades/Grayhound.

Jared “hazr” O’Bree has his eyes on this prize, but is taking things one step at a time to get to this lofty point.

“We’re definitely setting our sights on taking over that top spot eventually. I know we have all of the pieces required to do so, it’s just a matter of constantly working hard together and making sure we don’t get complacent with ourselves so we can keep growing as a team,” he told Snowball.

Asked about the “Gentleman’s Sweep” that Avant handed to Order, and if they used Dust2 to work anything out strategically that Order were showing them, hazr credited the slow start to just that…a slow start, as opposed to any sort of “feeling out” of Order.

“I think we just had a very slow start on Dust 2, we started to get into the groove of things in the second half, but it was just a bit too late. We didn’t really need to change anything for the next maps because it felt like we would’ve easily had that first map if we played like ourselves earlier on. It was a pretty smooth ride after that.”

Particularly impressive from Avant in this series was the performance of their veterans – Chris “Ofnu” Hanley and Mike “ap0c” Aliferis, who were at the top of the kill counts. Ap0c was every bit as cataclysmic as his namesake, leading the series in Rating and boasting a fearsome +21 kill differential. It was a stark contrast to the big-name veterans of Order, particularly Alastair “aliStair” Johnston and Karlo “USTILO” Pivac, who were each -30 or worse and had days they’d rather forget.

Ap0c noted that suppressing Order’s veterans was a conscious effort on Avant’s part. While Jireh “J1rah” Youakim, who had recently joined the team has experience in his own right, putting him in a place of fragging responsibility took away from the IGL the options he would normally have had at his disposal.

“You always try and contain aliStair as best you can (even if) most of the time he will still get his. I think minimizing the impact that Rickeh (Ricardo Mulholland) (CT) & USTILO (T) in particular had, really swung the series in our favour,” said Aliferis.

We’ve had a great run in Season 10 of the ESL #ANZChamps over the past couple months!

Here is a highlight reel of some of our craziest plays! ? ?

?? WATCH NOW: https://t.co/4OwuwMFbaE#AVANTARMY | @ESLAustralia pic.twitter.com/WP8C8H6iPZ

— Avant (@AvantGaming) April 14, 2020

The success that these efforts had really paid off in Avant’s utter dominance on their CT side. In matches that they won, they averaged nearly 10 CT rounds per map, and the only reason that number isn’t higher is that they took Train after only 9 CT rounds, having won all of them. Even factoring in their lost map, that average only dips just below 9 CT round wins per map. Ap0c credited the good blend of cohesion and confidence the team has built since this line-up had formed.

“We are really starting to click on the CT side. It was always going to take some time when we formed this new roster. We moved hazr to a completely new role for him (anchor) and BL1TZ was coming back to rifling after a year or so on the AWP.”

Meanwhile, for his part Ofnu has been nothing short of a revelation since joining Avant. Having watched the end of his time on Tainted Minds and into the Chiefs, I among others had wondered if we had seen the peak of Ofnu’s abilities and consistency pass him by. But since he left the Chiefs and longtime teammate Ryan “Zewsy” Palmer to join the new Avant roster, the resurgent Ofnu is showing the adage that form is temporary, but class is permanent.

“I think the resurgence is only just beginning, I was struggling individually and trying to find where I fit in our play style in comparison to last year in Chiefs but between working on myself and some tweaks on some of our rounds I’m starting to feel things click and can now perform to my own standards.”
Chris “Ofnu” Hanley

To this end, Ofnu acknowledged his long-time partner in Zewsy in finding his own role on Avant, and how he could bring success to the team and himself.

“I had recently been thinking about the qualities that he brings to teams he played in and trying to take some of those responsibilities on myself to help this team, he was always a selfless player and more so than ever in the Chiefs roster which can sometimes go under appreciated”

“The way in which he played and sacrificed definitely helped me to perform over the years.”

Now that the sun has set on the first season of ANZ Champs for 2020, we can begin to contextualize what this means for Oceanic Counter-Strike as it begins to adapt, as we all must, to the world we now face.

Avant may have had their second chance at a Major taken away by circumstances beyond all our control. Hopefully they and the rest of the region are not short of opportunities throughout the year to show their qualities on the international stage.

Despite competition ahead of them that has previously shown to be unassailable, crushing Order could be the shot across the bow of the scene that maybe we’re in for a new king of the mountain as we move through 2020 and beyond.

Header image credit – Avant Gaming

A trip to Germany for a Battlefield 4 event triggered a dream of Counter-Strike world domination for one young Kiwi.

Despite a lack of funding, events, and viewership in New Zealand the passion of the community has given Adam “Cookie” Cook hope for a competitive career in one of the world’s favourite esports.

It was competing in a Battlefield 4 event, all the way back at Gamescom 2015 in Cologne, that first ignited the 24-year-old South Islander’s passion for Counter-Strike. It would be the start of his journey in the competitive esport.

“I just remember being incredibly jealous of the size of the crowd and the stage of the CSGO event,” Cook said, reminiscing on his time in the German metropole.

“I said to myself then, I have to get better at CSGO so it could be me on that stage one day.”

And despite his “fair share” of ups and downs, he says one of the benefits of competing in Global Offensive is the clear route for career progression.

“There’s a clear pathway for players to go from social competition, all the way to the professional stage,” he said.

• Read more: Emagine — In the footsteps of the Journeyman

Now, Adam plays for the only team to source all its players from New Zealand ?— Black Sheep New Zealand. Formerly known as Breakaway Esports, the team is backed by the New Zealand Breakers basketball team.

“I’m only just now starting to feel that I’m able to compete on an individual skill level at the higher end of Australasia,” Cook said.

Born and raised in Westport, on the West Coast of NZ’s South Island, Cookie was gifted a closed beta key for the latest installment of CSGO in 2012 by an old-school Kiwi player, Bryan “Simcore” McLean.

“Shoutouts definitely for him for getting me hooked,” Cook said.

Sharing his time between Global Offensive and EA’s Battlefield 4, where he competed in several events, Cook was hovering around the second tier of competition in teams mostly made up of Australians.

After losing his spot in Oceania then-top 5 team, Paradox Gaming, Cookie decided it was time to throw in the towel.

“I decided to take a step back from the game and focus on myself and studies,” he said. “All the while, I had Samual “Hue” Uitermark of the now Black Sheep roster asking if I’d play with their team.”

Adam said he wasn’t keen to compete at an amateur level, but he liked the idea of competing with a full New Zealand roster. “I decided to join the squad and take on the opportunity of rebuilding myself,” he explained.

“What I didn’t expect to see, though, is serious potential in this team – especially my teammate Addict, who I think has the potential to make it to the world stage if he puts his mind to it,” he continued.

“Now that we’re practicing and competing regularly against other top teams in the region, I think we’re definitely on track to be competing at the highest level in Oceania.”

Cook said the best thing about the New Zealand esports community is the passion.

“Especially for those operating the competitions and teams, as more often than not they’re volunteering to work on their own time,” he added.

“I can’t thank those people enough for all of their work over the years to help build what’s turned into a special community. There’s a lot of talent that’s come out of New Zealand.

“But unless you’re in one of the top four teams, you rarely get to play at events and in the end, that’s what we’re all playing for, that opportunity to compete on stage.”

Black Sheep New Zealand roster

• Samual “hue9ze” Uitermark
• Christian “addict” Pendleton
• Adam “cookie” Cook
• Jonathan “jono” Do
• Daniel “jeepy” Farnsworth (sub)

Follow Cookie & Black Sheep on Twitter.

Produced by Josh Swift

Ricardo “Rickeh” Mulholland has joined Order, the Melbourne org announced on Thursday. The former Complexity rifler will also be joined by Tyler “tucks” Reilly, who joins the roster as coach.

With the end of the first round robin approaching, the Oceanic Pro League has seen a fair share of fixtures but has also left some of it’s best for last.

The returning 29-year-old has had a tenured career in CS:GO so far, playing for Aussie rosters Team Immunity and Renegades before moving to Counter Logic Gaming in 2017.

After eight months with CLG, Rickeh joined Rogue, then spent most of 2019 with Complexity Gaming. He last played for them in Berlin, at the 2019 StarLadder Major.

Back in Australia, Order has been left short-handed since the departure of Jordan “Hatz” Bajic to Renegades, and the retirement of Chris “emagine” Rowlands.

Rickeh has been playing as a substitute for the team in the ESEA Premier Division and the IEM Masters Season XIV Oceanic qualifiers since January 8. Now, the Melbourne org has officially welcomed the veteran star into a starting role in 2020.

“Today, we are excited to welcome Rickeh and Tucks to Order!” the team’s announcement read. “Having played with the team under a trial capacity since January 8th, we are very happy to finally be able to announce Rick becoming a permanent member of Order.”

Alongside the Rickeh announcement, Order also confirmed rumours that tucks—who had been listed on the team’s ESEA page since February 5—would be taking over the coaching role for the Melbourne team.

Tucks’ has been a powerhouse in the Oceanic scene since its inception, representing the Chiefs Esports Club at multiple international events, and leading them to a host of LAN titles at the ESL ANZ Championships and CyberGamer Pro League, and more.

The 23-year-old’s crowning moment came at IEM Sydney back in 2017, when he and the rest of the Chiefs marched to a 16–5 victory over Renegades, and a 16–13 triumph over North. The Chiefs ended their IEM campaign in 5th, defeated by OpTic Gaming 16–10.

According to tucks, the move is the “perfect fit,” especially considering the “eagerness” the roster boasts. On top of that, he told Snowball Esports, he has full faith everyone involved will be able to “listen and apply anything [he] brought to the table.”

That’s not to say he hasn’t had a quick glance over his shoulder before departing the playing life. He spent years under the Chiefs banner, and the move “is a bit sad,” but it’s one that he has to make to keep progressing, he explained.

“I still do miss playing, but I always wanted myself to end up coaching, and tried to make sure I had the right qualities of a good coach while I was playing,” he said.

“So far, the Order organisation has been nothing but amazing, constantly making sure everything is going great, and reassuring me they trust me and team in what we want to do. It’s already been a real treat working here.”

Now its eyes front for the rookie coach and the new-look roster under his command. While nothing is set in stone, tucks certainly believes they have what it takes to continue onward and upward on the path Order set themselves in 2019.

“It’s hard to really give a prediction, but we will just be focusing on the process of becoming the best team we can, and putting in as much effort as we can to hopefully achieve some great results overseas,” tucks said.

Until they add another permanent member, Order will be using Jireh “J1rah” Youakim formerly of Avant as a temporary substitute for ESEA and other events.

Order’s current lineup

• Alistair “aliStair” Johnston
• Matthew “Valiance” Hartrick
• Karlo “USTILO” Pivac
• Ricardo “Rickeh” Mulholland
• Jireh “J1rah” Youakim (substitute)
• Tyler “tucks” Reilly (coach)

Order is currently contesting Season 33 of the ESEA Premier Division – Australia, where they boasted an undefeated 8–0 record ahead of their Thursday evening matchup with the Chiefs. From there, they are also set to contest the Asia Minor Championship Oceanic closed qualifiers for a potential spot at the 2020 Major in Rio de Janeiro.

After three years of epic moments, and playing host to some of the best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams of all time, IEM is leaving Sydney, swapping Qudos Bank Arena and the Harbour City for Melbourne Park and a southern switch according to sources.

A new teaser from ESL Australia features host Danny Kim, resplendent in a Renegades jersey and an Australian flag, waltzing up to Qudos Bank Arena. He appears ready to claim his seat, but is soon told there will be no IEM in Sydney for the first time in three years.

The first question raised by the announcement is where the Oceanic IEM event will take place this year, and a clear frontrunner has emerged.

We normally send @DannyKimHD out just before our big events, but for #IEM this year, he wanted to queue up early.

Things didn’t go to plan, however… pic.twitter.com/xCdpZYcRU2

— ESL Australia (@ESLAustralia) February 3, 2020

Fans have been clamouring for ‘IEM Melbourne’ for years, especially following the success of the Melbourne Esports Open. According to sources close to Snowball Esports, they may finally get their wish, with Australia’s premier CS:GO event heading south.

For those already pulling out their esports calendar, keep in mind there have been no dates confirmed by ESL yet, but sources have suggested IEM’s move to the Victorian capital will likely coincide with the ever-expanding MEO.

MEO has traditionally taken place towards the end of August to coincide with the Oceanic Pro League grand final. If IEM locks in its arrival to Melbourne Park, fans may be treated to a doubleheader with the best CS:GO and League of Legends on offer.

As well as the two headlining events, it’s expected Rainbow Six’s Oceanic Cup will still be played on Margaret Court Arena in the opening days. However, there has been no confirmation the Overwatch Contenders finals will be hosted this year.

While it looks like Melbourne esports fans may have less travel to contend with in 2020, there has been no confirmation the premiere CS:GO event will be permanently moving to Melbourne, or if this is a one-off switch for the calendar year.

There is one thing that’s certain though ?— with the Melbourne Esports Open, the upcoming debut of Fortress Melbourne, and now IEM Melbourne, it’s a great time to be an Australian esports fan, and there’s sure to be plenty more on the horizon.

Follow ESL Australia on Twitter to keep up with the latest IEM news.

Header image credit: Helena Kristiansson | ESL Australia

Chiefs knew that to fill the shoes of their iconic roster AND go hunting for the major slot that has so far eluded them, they’d have to sign one heck of a Team. Fortunately, they’ve found one.

For the continual history at the top of the CS:GO division, as one of the stalwart organisations in Oceanic Esports, one of the feathers absent from their cap is a Major sticker. Today, they announced a new direction in their CSGO division which retains that status while also allowing them to compete in the Major system.

The acquisition of the roster most recently known simply as Team has been a consistent performer at the top of the scene over the last year. The roster joins Chiefs almost twelve months to the day after having formed under Genuine Gaming and have a slew of top 4 results over that time.

• Hugh “HUGHMUNGUS” Anderson
• Chris “Jinxx” Moseley
• Tom “apocdud” Henry (Captain)
• Jordan “SkulL” Newland
• Daryl “Maker” May

apocdud is excited to join a roster that shares their ambition and will empower them to grow.

“We’re all super keen to represent such a respected and storied organisation, and hopefully with their support we’ll be able to continue climbing the ranks of OCE and start consistently competing in overseas events.”

“I hope all our team team fans keep following us on our journey with Chiefs!” said apocdud.

Chiefs CEO Nick Bobir paid tribute to the outgoing roster, who served admirably in the events they were able to compete in under their circumstances.

“We would like to thank the previous members of the Chiefs Counter Strike roster who at the end of last season decided to go their separate ways, pursue new teams or hang up the keyboard.

“While one chapter closes, we are excited to start a new era with a team that has certainly worked hard throughout 2019, turned heads and made plenty of noise.”

The outgoing Chiefs roster contained some absolute titans of the local scene that would be a monumental challenge to live up to. Fortunately, their new roster has been putting up some titanic efforts of their own. Currently 5-1 in Mountain Dew League, this new partnership is poised to go from strength to strength as they push towards the first major qualifier season of 2020.

Follow The Chiefs Esports Club on Twitter.

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.

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

The squad informally known as ‘The Boys,’ the ex-Renegades roster, has recently been transferred to the ever-growing North American organisation 100 Thieves.

Many fans have been waiting in anticipation for the team’s next move, with news swirling from as early as Berlin, where the boys were eliminated 2-0 by eventual runners-up AVANGAR in the semi-finals, earning themselves a place at the next major.

Around the same time, 100T founder Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag made it quite clear Counter-Strike was once again on the agenda for the flourishing org, especially after they have rebuffed a place in Activision’s impending 2020 Call of Duty League.

According to the former COD pro, returning to CS:GO has been part of 100T’s plan since the organisation was founded three years ago. They were just waiting for the right roster.

“There’s just so much history, so many storylines, so many players and organizations that have been here before us,” Nadeshot said in the team’s announcement video. “And I’m so damn excited to be able to participate in it again.”

For Oceania, the move is massive. The acquisition brings with it a host of potential opportunities for the overall esport industry and the ongoing role in the legacy of Counter-Strike.

100T are among many organisations who are entering the CS:GO landscape with the intent of building a highly competitive, championship-calibre lineup. With this change coming at the end of the Major cycle, 100T will also be able to ease into the changeover.

It is also important to note this roster’s top-four finish in Berlin means they will fly the 100T banner high at the next Major, and will likely be a shoe-in for invitations to other international tournaments on Aussie soil like IEM Sydney in 2020.

The team is currently competing in the ESL Pro League, and – as of the publication of this article – are still battling for second place behind Astralis in Group A at IEM Beijing.

I am so damn excited to enter CS:GO and assemble a Championship caliber roster. We are flying to Berlin next week for the conclusion of the Major with a goal of signing players that are hungry to build a winning legacy here with @100Thieves. Let’s get to work!

— 100T Nadeshot (@Nadeshot) August 30, 2019

While playing under the Renegades banner, the team made steady improvements on the global scene, peaking at fifth on the HLTV.com official rankings thanks to back-to-back top eight finishes at both of 2019’s Major Championships.

With this pressure comes the expectation to perform, and aim for trophies with the clearly-strong lineup. There’s now eyes on the team, wondering what they can achieve both with their recent success, and a new upgrade in terms of organisations.

For Oceanic fans, the chance to support a massive global esports brand in 100T is massive for the scene, and one that fans have already begun to embrace with both hands.

For the players, there’s only upside.

“We got approached by a couple of organisations after the Major… (we’re) pretty happy with the way it’s going (so far),” Aaron “AZR” Ward told HLTV during their Beijing campaign.

“I think, for us, we just needed a chance. It was a big thing to make the move to 100 Thieves. The fanbase is huge, that’s something we didn’t really have in Renegades. I don’t want to talk down on Renegades, but 100 Thieves is just a lot bigger.”

Furthermore, the move offers a more valuable goal for the Oceanic region to shoot for, with the team often touted as the pinnacle of the region’s talent.

Jay “Liazz” Tregillgas and Sean “Gratisfaction” Kaiwai were two recent players who made the step up from the domestic circuit into the star-studded Renegades roster, and both spent time as potentially the best players in Oceanic CS:GO before making the switch.

While there’s been no major indication that Nadeshot and 100T will look Down Under for roster replacements should any of the core players step away in the near future, if they stay on course with the same moves, 100T could stay as the pinnacle team for Australia talent.

As for the initial eye test, Beijing has been the first showing for the team with their new organisation. A 2-0 thrashing of ENCE was followed by a disappointing struggle against Astralis, but the results have still set the team up for a possible playoff appearance.

Under the leadership of AZR, as well as the addition of hometown heroes Liazz and Gratisfaction, the roster seemed to have been revitalised in recent times.

A slump following Katowice, which included a poor run at IEM Sydney where they missed playing in front of their home fans at Qudos Bank Arena, meant the ex-Renegades team was unable to keep the ball rolling in terms of consistency and placings.

This new change, however, is another opportunity for them to rewrite the script.

“We had that pretty bad period in June and July, I remember after Chicago when we got knocked out in last place we went straight to the practice room and talked for like four hours about how we can fix our shit,” AZR revealed.

“The main points were about being more open with each other, since tensions started to build in the team because we were losing a lot. The other thing was the ability to reinvent our stuff because we hadn’t been up in the top 5-10 and didn’t have teams watching us before.”

“After Katowice we talked about our strats and were like, ‘we have a pretty good strat book, we don’t have to change anything,’ but obviously that wasn’t the case [laughs]. After Dallas we watched our demos and could see teams were reading us, so we had to completely change.

“We did it for the Major, and since then we’ve been constantly revamping to not fall into the same path that we did.”

Now, the team seems to have fixed their internal problems, and are wearing new colours on-stage in a new period of potential success for the Oceanic roster.

With Liazz and Justin “jks” Savage once again finding their rhythm, and AZR and coach Aleksandar “kassad” Trifunovi? finally settling on plays, tactics, and how they want to approach Counter-Strike, it seems like the team is back on the right path.

Whether the boys can hang with the likes of current global powerhouses like Evil Geniuses, Team Liquid, and Astralis has yet to be confirmed, but with the backing of two countries and the entire 100T fan base behind them, they’re giving it their best shot.

Follow 100 Thieves on Twitter. Catch the boys in action during IEM Beijing at live.intelextrememasters.com.

Header image credit: Logan Dodson / 100 Thieves

November 22 Update

Euan ‘Sterling’ Moore of Avant Gaming has made a statement on behalf of the player group, stating that the players were reportedly left out of all discussions, and that Avant management failed to communicate correctly on behalf of the player group on multiple occasions.

You can read his full statement here.

Avant released a new statement in response to Moore, with CEO Wesley Collier taking full responsibility on behalf of management for the missteps in dealing with the situation.

You can read that statement here.

Tensions over a scheduling issue in CS:GO broke open publicly on November 1, after an unrelated tweet from caster Mitch “Conky” Concanen sparked an outcry from teams who were expected to participate in the eXTREMESLAND Asia Finals in Shanghai.

Grayhound player Ollie “DickStacy” Tierney tweeted “can’t wait to see you in Shanghai brah, ah wait Avant decided they’ll go behind Aus teams backs and f*** the dates with no reason,” kick-starting a chain of threads from members of the Chiefs and the community.

Snowball Esports has obtained emails detailing the discussions between the aforementioned teams and ESL, and spoke to sources involved in the situation, who have requested to remain anonymous.

According to the emails, all ESL Pro League teams were notified of their schedules from ESL on October 3, but due to alleged confusion this wasn’t made clear to teams until October 13.

Stage one games were set to start on October 8, with Grayhound, Avant Gaming, Order, and the Chiefs Esports Club all set to join the event in the second stage on November 16. The tournament’s major prize was a place in Odense at the ESL Pro League finals, which is set to begin on December 3.

At the same time, all four rosters qualified for the closed qualifiers for the upcoming eXTREMESLAND Asia Finals, where the top two teams would progress to China. Grayhound and Order were successful, and punched their tickets to the Shanghai event, which is expected to run from November 14 to 17, at the same time as the ESL Pro League’s second stage.

ESL revealed in the email chain that they had notified Zowie on their planned dates for the Odense Pro League finals as early as June, but confirmed dates weren’t officially locked until October 3. Zowie allegedly ignored that information, and proceeded with their own event on November 14-17.

The date-clash leaves a scheduling problem for Grayhound and Order, both of whom are eager to qualify for the Pro League finals, and compete at the international event in Shanghai during the same time period. The events boast a combined $165,000 AUD prize pool.

Order moved to rectify the problem, leading the charge with the four major Oceanic teams.

Led by Naithan “Inveigh” Briffa, Order reportedly approached Grayhound’s William “mistergrayhound” Gray, the Chiefs operation manager Mike Stewart, and Avant’s Marco “Shotzz” Mantarro to organise potential solutions to the impending clash.

These attempted mediations began by contacting ESL on October 17, and expressing their concerns to APJ League Operations Manager Nick “Turtl” Eastick.

There were a number of solutions suggested by the Oceanic cohort, including pre-recording matches for broadcasting at a later date, Zowie flying all four teams to the Pro League matches in Shanghai ahead of the eXTREMESLAND fixtures, and reorganising dates completely.

With both tournaments fast approaching on the horizon, and still no solutions in sight, Briffa wrote to ESL, calling the lack of flexibility a “very disappointing result.”

Order’s GM of Operations claimed that “given the online nature of EPL Stage 2, and the ability to replicate broadcast times and hours to fulfil commercial and partner obligations, the stance of being unable to change the dates seems to be rather an unwillingness to change dates.”

According to the emails acquired by Snowball Esports, ESL APJ project manager Kamine Naidoo joined discussions on October 23.

Naidoo stated that the Oceanic cohort’s requests had not fallen on deaf ears, and revealed that ESL had been “looking into options” over the previous days. Despite Naidoo’s claims that the ball was rolling behind the scenes, no rescheduling had been confirmed.

For the four teams, who were now less than two weeks out from the conflicting events, the window was closing. The group wrote back to ESL again with a selection of dates between November 5 and 11, suggesting Order and Grayhound could play in that six-day period.

At the same time, Grayhound and Order reached out to the Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association (CSPPA) in a joint request, flagging the ongoing scheduling dispute with the union. Grayhound are members of the CSPPA, along with multiple players from Order.

According to sources, the CSPPA responded to the requests and is aware of the situation, but has yet to take action.

ESL were then expected to make a decision on the clashes on October 28, but as the date came and went, the Oceanic cohort had received no new information.

One day later, on October 29, Avant Gaming made their first major move in the negotiations, contacting ESL and the other three teams and revealing they intended to pull out of discussions. Mantarro added that “[Avant] would prefer if the dates didn’t change.”

Mantarro clarified in a later email that Avant would be happy to move the dates to after November 16, but according to ESL this change—and the added delay that it would bring to the event—would not have been acceptable due to the Odense event running on December 3.

Eastick stepped in shortly after Avant’s emails, suggesting the organization’s changed stance on discussions “does now throw a spanner in the works.” He also added that “it becomes quite difficult to make these changes now if no longer all four teams are in support of them.”

Briffa replied late on October 29 after speaking to Avant’s chief executive Wesley “Wes” Collier, who alleged that Avant’s management reverted their stance “on advice from their player group.”

“While they do believe and have advised their player group that this is the wrong way to go about obtaining an upper hand in either competition given the various circumstances and stakeholders at play, they are standing by their players request to not change the dates,” he stated.

It is alleged that Avant’s players made the decision to gain an inherent competitive advantage, due to the fact that if Order and Grayhound travelled to eXTREMESLAND during their ESL Pro League fixture dates, they would be disqualified.

This would mean Avant’s roster would only need to defeat the Chiefs to qualify to the Odense event, and if Order and Grayhound both knocked back eXTREMESLAND, Avant would automatically acquire one of their spots after finishing fourth in the qualifier.

According to Snowball’s sources, however, if Order and Grayhound had declined their places at eXTREMESLAND, Avant would not have been offered a spot in Shanghai, with the slots likely filled by local Chinese teams instead. This decision was allegedly made after Zowie was clued in to the falling out between Avant, the other three Oceanic teams, and ESL.

On October 31, ESL made their final decision.

The organizers confirmed they would keep the dates the same for ESL Pro League stage two, and affirmed their stance on teams being disqualified if they attended eXTREMESLAND.

“If you choose to not play EPL stage two, or agree to play EPL stage two and then come match days are not available, or you forfeit games due to the conflict, you will be removed from the season, forfeit your slot, and all prize money,” ESL stated.

Asian teams Alpha Red and Tyloo, who also qualified for both eXTREMESLAND and ESL Pro League stage two, will reportedly not be under the same threat.

“After talking with eXTREMESLAND representatives, we have worked out for your eXTREMESLAND group games to be played early enough in the day that you will be able to play your EPL games from your practice rooms,” stated ESL.

As of the release of this report, Grayhound and Order have yet to publicly confirm their intentions regarding participation and attendance in the eXTREMESLAND and ESL Pro League events coming up this weekend.

It is understood, however, that both teams will choose to attend the ESL Pro League’s second stage, leaving Zowie to fill two vacant slots for their Shanghai event.

Snowball Esports reached out to the Chiefs, Avant, Order, and Grayhound for comment. The Chiefs and Grayhound did not respond before publishing.

Order’s Naithan Briffa did reply, stating that the knock-on effects of such a decision from Avant could have major consequences when teams try to reorganise conflicts with ESL and other tournament organisers in the future.

“I think that the end result of what we tried to do to resolve this clash is that we look foolish,” he said. “We were meant to be unified, and we weren’t when it mattered. I don’t imagine this bodes well for any future discussions we might want to have as a collective.”

He also criticized Avant for pulling out of negotiations, saying that they “did the wrong thing,” although he says that not all the blame should be shifted onto the organization.

“It’s easy to blame Avant because they changed their mind, but it was the collective of owners who had to provide suggestions on how to fix it, it was the collective of owners who had to contact TO’s and request travel dates be moved, and it was the collective of owners who created a spot in the schedule that allowed EPL Stage 2 to be replicated,” he said.

As for Order, it’s months of hard work down the drain after having to rebuild their roster after Joshua “INS” Potter’s departure to Grayhound.

“I’m upset,” he said. “We worked hard to qualify for an international event, but it didn’t feel like anyone wanted to help us out, despite eXTREMESLAND causing the date clash, and ESL being able to fix it.

“It certainly doesn’t feel like anyone was looking to help us at any point, and now it’s my players, and the players from Grayhound, that will suffer the ultimate price.”

Avant also replied to our requests for comment with the following statement:

Avant Gaming stands with our peers when it comes to date management between tournament organisers which can prevent important tournaments from clash dates. In a recent series of conversations, a series of missteps were made by our organisation that have negatively affected the relationships between players and teams, and for this we apologise. We take full responsibility for what has happened as it does not represent our values as an organisation.

In a series of email exchanges between parties, an email sent by us did not fully clarify our player group position on an attempt to move the dates for an upcoming event. Our player group wished dates to be moved backwards and not forwards as player preparation can be impacted by hastening events. We want to give our players the best time frame to prepare and by moving the dates forward, we felt this would not have a positive impact on our players. 

We take full responsibility for the miscommunication to our peers and to our own player group and completely understand where our peers stand in regard to the situation. We apologise for the effect this has had on our relationship between the various parties. We hope to be able to work together with our peers in the future to rectify our mistakes and work to grow esports in Australia.

Additional reporting in this article by Josh Swift and Isaac McIntyre.