IEM Chicago 2019 Summary
Counter-Strike
|
Event Previews
|
Jamie "PalmtopPitbull" Wert
With IEM Chicago over, and the United Center cleared out, it's time for a summary of the event.
Jamie "PalmtopPitbull" Wert
IEM Chicago: 5 stories to watch
Counter-Strike
|
Event Previews
|
Jamie "PalmtopPitbull" Wert
The Groups have been set, and IEM Chicago 2019 is nearly upon us. With that said, it is time to take a look at some of the story-lines that will be on display.
CSGO Tier Rankings: ESL One Cologne
Counter-Strike
|
Tier Rankings
|
The Esports Kingdom team
Team Liquid took out ESL One Cologne 2019 after a hard-fought battle against the French side of Vitality. This win let them take home $1,000,000 and become the second Intel Grand Slam winner, but what did it do for their tier ranking?
ESL One Cologne Preview - Team Vitality
Counter-Strike
|
Event Previews
|
Jamie "PalmtopPitbull" Wert
Finally, the fantastic French phenomenon of Vitality rounds out our series. We look at some of the best players on the team, their important stats, and how they have been playing just before ESL One Cologne.
ESL One Cologne Preview - FURIA
Counter-Strike
|
Event Previews
|
Jamie "PalmtopPitbull" Wert
The series marches on, this time to follow the upstart Brazilian squad, FURIA. Jamie takes a look at their form coming into ESL One Cologne, as well as some highlight players and ones to keep an eye on.
ESL One Cologne Preview - Team Liquid
Counter-Strike
|
Event Previews
|
Jamie "PalmtopPitbull" Wert
Starting the second half of our previews, we have the current top team, Liquid. Since Katowice, Team Liquid has looked nearly unstoppable. They have won 3 of the required 4 tournaments of the Intel Grand Slam.
ESL One Cologne Preview - ENCE
Counter-Strike
|
Event Previews
|
Jamie "PalmtopPitbull" Wert
The next team in our series is the people's champion, ENCE. Made up of the best 5 Finnish players in Counter-Strike, they have made quite a splash recently - but can they continue on their trip to the top? or will the bubble burst?
ESL One Cologne Preview - Natus Vincere
Counter-Strike
|
Event Previews
|
Jamie "PalmtopPitbull" Wert
We continue the series going to our unknown among the top teams, Natus Vincere. For the first time since 2013, NaVi will be without Edward, instead replacing him with Kirill 'Boombl4' Mikhailov, the 20 year old Russian previously of Winstrike.
ESL One Cologne Preview - Astralis
Counter-Strike
|
Event Previews
|
Jamie "PalmtopPitbull" Wert
This series will look at some of the teams of ESL One Cologne, their performance since the Katowice Major, important stats, and things to watch in Cologne.
CSGO Tier Rankings: ESL Pro League Season 9 and ECS Season 7 Finals
Counter-Strike
|
Tier Rankings
|
The Esports Kingdom team
Both of the big leagues came to a close and had massive LAN Grand Finals showing exactly what teams are ready to bring it just before the major. There were a lot of teams that underperformed and that is reflected in a number of down-ranks in this edition of the Tier Rankings.
CSGO Tier Rankings: DreamHack Masters, DreamHack Tours and BLAST Madrid
Counter-Strike
|
Tier Rankings
|
The Esports Kingdom team
The premier event this month was DreamHack Masters in Dallas which saw Team Liquid pick up another trophy for the case, ENCE proving to everyone again that they can go toe-to-toe with the big boys, and Astralis no-showing. What has that done to this edition of the tier rankings?
CSGO Tier Rankings: IEM Sydney, DreamHack Rio de Janeiro and BLAST Miami
Counter-Strike
|
Tier Rankings
|
The Esports Kingdom team
Grady has returned home from IEM Sydney and that means it is time for the team to sit down and try to figure out a new set of tier rankings. We have 2 teams dropping out of the rankings and three debuts, one of which is the highest debut of all time.
CSGO Tier Rankings: StarSeries Season 7, WESG 2018 and BLAST São Paulo
Counter-Strike
|
Tier Rankings
|
The Esports Kingdom team
Post-Major is always an interesting time and right now we have a whole lot of shuffles, for some teams changing the roster core. There has also been a long period where some teams haven't played any tournaments, because of these reasons we have dropped this edition of the rankings down to 25 teams.
CSGO Tier Rankings: IEM Katowice 2019 Major
Counter-Strike
|
Tier Rankings
|
The Esports Kingdom team
The IEM Katowice 2019 Major just took place and thats it is time for another tier rankings. This time we see only our second ever double-rank-jump as well as some new faces popping into high-tiers and some fan favorites falling down the table.
NRG Zayt & Ghost Saf: "By far the best format we’ve ever had"
Fortnite
|
Interviews
|
Jamie "PalmtopPitbull" Wert
Taking a break from Counter-Strike, Jamie got the opportunity to talk to the duo of NRG’s Zayt and Ghost Gaming’s Saf, who won the first ESL Katowice Royale. They discuss Fortnite prize-money, the game-breaking bugs and how they came together as a duo.
Dignitas milk: "We’re the best team here"
Counter-Strike
|
Interviews
|
Jamie "PalmtopPitbull" Wert
Jamie got to interview Kiara ‘milk’ Makua from the Intel Challenge Katowice winning Dignitas. They covered the tournament, the female professional scene and what is next for Dignitas.
![Renegades Gratisfaction: "We thought we’d just throw [Dust2] in as a curve ball"](/assets/banner/gratisfaction-interview-katowice19-small.jpg)
![Renegades Gratisfaction: "We thought we’d just throw [Dust2] in as a curve ball"](/assets/banner/gratisfaction-interview-katowice19-square.jpg)
Renegades Gratisfaction: "We thought we’d just throw [Dust2] in as a curve ball"
Counter-Strike
|
Interviews
|
Jamie "PalmtopPitbull" Wert
Our Interview Series from Katowice continues with a short chat with Sean ‘Gratisfaction’ Kaiwai about their stay in Poland, the tournament, and the future.
FaZe rain: "Right now our map pool is kind of weird"
Counter-Strike
|
Interviews
|
Jamie "PalmtopPitbull" Wert
For our first interview of the IEM Katowice 2019 Major, Jamie sat down with Håvard ‘rain’ Nygaard of FaZe Clan to discuss the Major, the team, and the upcoming schedule.
IEM Katowice 2019 - Quarterfinals Day 1 Preview
Counter-Strike
|
Event Previews
|
Jamie "PalmtopPitbull" Wert
The first day of the IEM Katowice Champions Stage is here, and we have two wonderful matches today. We will see three of the top teams in the world and a team well-known for their upsets go head-to-head for only two spots in the Semifinals of the IEM Katowice Major 2019.
NRG Brehze: "Not making the major was a huge blow to us"
Counter-Strike
|
Interviews
|
Jamie "PalmtopPitbull" Wert
NRG Esports had mixed results; failing to qualify for the FACEIT London Major, winning IEM Shanghai and then making it to the semi-finals of ESL One New York. James talks to star player Brehze about possible reasons for this and how it felt to miss the major.