What started as an outbreak in Wuhan and the delay of the LPL in China led to a plethora of canceled and reformatted events around the globe. The Coronavirus outbreak has affected many aspects of esports, here is the list so far:
UPDATE 4/27: SolaFide Esports has stated in a tweet that the organization will be ceasing operations until all former team members are compensated.
If you're a fan of the video game industry, there are few places you can go enjoy your hobby without hearing about League of Legends, one of the largest titles in the world.
Heading into the last match day of week 5, FlyQuest was in a must-win situation to keep its Mid-Season Showdown hopes alive. Since FLY lost to IMT, its best possible finishing record in the Spring Split is 8-10. Hypothetically, FlyQuest could tie Evil Geniuses, the latter of whom is currently in 6th place, if EG lost its last three games and also finished at 8-10, but because FLY lost to EG in both meetings this spring, the head-to-head record would bar FLY from the post-season all the same.
In a brief interview with Inven Global during TSM's winstreak, support Hu "SwordArt" Shuo-Chieh spoke about adjusting to the playstyle of a new region, how Los Angeles played a part in his decision to compete in North America, and his international aspirations as a member of TSM in 2021.
Team Liquid are now the second team to advance to the LCS Lock In Finals after beating Evil Geniuses 3-0. They will meet Cloud9 on Sunday to crown the first-ever victor of the LCS Lock In and determin
In the first best of five of the year for competitive League of Legends, Cloud9 graced the fans with a reverse sweep, taking down 100 Thieves in a full five-game series, including two pentakills by C9 AD carry, Zven. Read more on the series here:
Years after winning three back to back EU LCS titles and attending two Worlds, former G2 Esports trio Perkz, Zven, and Mithy rejoined forces on Cloud9, this time with Mithy as a coach rather than a support. Read Mithy's expectations and reflections here:
YourPrincess was one of the Twitch Rivals captains that drafted a team for the upcoming event, but shortly after the draft multiple players selected for her team dropped out of the tournament. Read up more on the story here:
UPDATE 1/5: After finalizing its LCS and amateur rosters, Evil Geniuses has finalized its roster for EG Academy.
Following suit with the other major competitive regions, the League Championship Series has launched a rebrand headed into 2021, featuring a new LCS logo, color scheme, and identity. Read more about their rebrand here:
After another 3-3 finish at Worlds, Team Liquid and Jensen returned home looking to rebuild for the next year. Jensen re-signed with the team, finding himself as one of the two longest-standing members going into 2021. Here's what he hopes to accomplish this year:
Team Liquid had an interesting 2020, ending in yet another 3-3 run at Worlds. The team kept most of their roster, but they're making two key changes this off-season. Here is the official confirmed 2021 Liquid roster:
Ahead of the 2021 season, Goldenglue took off his player hat and donned a coaching hat in its place, becoming the new head coach for the 100 Thieves Academy roster. We spoke with Goldenglue about his player career, his new role, and his expectations. Read and watch the interview here:
It's no secret that the League Championship Series production wasn't up to par this Summer Split, or really, the entirety of the 2020 season. Take a deeper look into how they failed and what they need to focus on for 2021 here:
About a month after Bjergsen announced his retirement from professional League of Legends, Doublelift announced his own retirement as well. Read more about his career and retirement here:
CLG has had a rough few years since their 2016 MSI Finals appearance. They performed well in NA in 2017, but barring a 2019 Summer Split third-place finish, they've been seventh or lower for the other five splits. In 2020, CLG finished 10th in spring and ninth in summer. With that in mind, the org is in need of some rejuvenation to find their return to glory. They've officially signed three new pl
Among Liquid's off-season changes was the addition of Kold to the LCS coaching staff. Kold spoke with us about his time with Liquid at Worlds and how he hopes to power up the team in 2021. Read his interview here:
UPDATE 11/16: Rogue has confirmed both top laner Andrei "Odoamne" Paschu and support Adrian "Trymbi" Trybus will be joining the organization's main squad for the 2021 League of Legends European Championship season. Trymbi is being promoted from Ultraliga squad AGO Rogue, and Odoamne is donning a new jersey for the first time since joining FC Schalke 04 Esports before the start of the 2019 season. Rogue has confirmed these moves are pending approval from Riot Games.
Take a look at the first actions Riot is taking to improve Academy and Amateur - they won't be their last. Over the long term, Riot will continue listening to the community's feedback and adapting, but check out all of the upcoming plans for developing NA talent here:
