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Intel® Extreme Masters Sydney 2023: FaZe Clan crowned the first-ever Counter-Strike 2 Champions following an electrifying Grand Final

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The Intel® Extreme Masters (IEM) Sydney 2023 Grand Finals have concluded today, with powerhouse FaZe Clan emerging victorious with a score of 2-1 against Complexity. The first international in-person tournament played on Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) saw a nail-biting final, with FaZe Clan claiming the victory after an exhilarating double overtime final set, in what will surely go down as an iconic IEM final.

IEM Sydney 2023 is both the fastest-selling and largest Australian esports tournament in history. Australian Counter-Strike fans returned in force to the first live IEM Sydney in over 4 years, with 20,000 fans in attendance throughout the Playoffs in the Aware Super Theatre.

Group Stage

The tournament commenced on October 16 with a Group Stage during which the teams were divided into two groups of eight. Group A saw MOUZ dominate the upper bracket, with BetBoom Team coming in a close second. Both teams made it through to the Playoffs, alongside FaZe Clan who fought through the lower bracket for their spot, knocking out Natus Vincere in the process.

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In Group B, G2 Esports and ENCE secured the top two spots in the upper bracket, and Complexity beat out Monte in the lower bracket final to claim the final spot in the Playoffs.

Playoffs

The Playoffs kicked off on October 20 with the quarterfinals that saw MOUZ, FaZe Clan, G2 Esports, and Complexity make it to the top four.

FaZe Clan showed their strength early during the Playoffs with a 13-0 win over ENCE, the first time a team has 13-0’d a competitor in a live Counter-Strike 2 tournament. Complexity also started their playoffs run strong with a 2-0 against BetBoom Team.

In the semi-finals, FaZe Clan dominated MOUZ winning 2-0, taking the first set 13-4 on Nuke, before converting a closer win of 13-9 on Vertigo.

Complexity also scored a 2-0 semi-final victory, dispatching G2 Esports, storming home 13-8 on Anubis, before winning the second set more comfortably 13-3 on Ancient, with Ricky “floppy” Kemery posting some impressive stats.

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Grand Final

FaZe Clan and Complexity both booked their places in the Grand Final with impressive performances during the Playoffs where neither team dropped a map.

The first set of the Grand Final was incredibly tight, with Complexity eventually edging out a 13-11 win in the final round of the set, following a brilliant comeback. FaZe Clan rallied for set 2, winning it 13-11 and bringing the match to the decisive third set.

The third set nearly saw one of the greatest comebacks of IEM history, with Complexity recovering from 9-3 down, to win six consecutive games to bring it back to 10-9. In a nail-biting final few rounds, Complexity continued their magical form to take the Grand Final to overtime, and then a second overtime. Despite Complexity’s resurgence, FaZe Clan were able to recover, dominating the second overtime to take home the trophy, with Robin ‘Ropz’ Kool taking the title of ESL Pro Tour DHL MVP.

“It feels amazing to be the first CS2 champions,” said Håvard “rain” Nygaard of FaZe Clan. “I want to say thank you to all our fans here and around the world. This was hands down the best crowd I’ve ever played in front of.”

“It feels great, we’ve spent so much time practicing CS2 together before this,” said Robin ‘ropz’ Kool. “The first loss against GamerLegion hurt, but we stuck with it and managed to come back. It’s been a turbulent year for us, but I’ve been playing as much as possible, and CS2 gave us the motivational boost to improve our performance and work harder for this IEM.”

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IEM Sydney 2023 saw a peak viewership of more than 463,081* concurrent viewers, over 6.6 million hours watched and attracted more than 20,000 attendees.

THE CACHES IV Showmatch

Ahead of the Grand Final on October 22, THE CACHES IV Showmatch Powered by Intel® and Acer Predator took place, which saw Team Australia and Team UK face off once more following a 4-year hiatus. Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill, Joshua “INS” Potter, Christopher “dexter” Nong, Justin “jks” Savage, Declan “Vexite” Portelli, Chris “GoMeZ” Orfanellis (Coach) represented Australia, while Alex “Hawka” Hawkins, Guy “NertZ” Iluz, Sebastian “volt” Maloș, Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov and Henry “HenryG” Greer lined up in the British corner.

The match started closely, with both teams taking a few rounds each. However, Team Australia eventually got into a winning rhythm and swept away Team UK 13-7, winning The Caches for the fourth consecutive time. The showmatch also marked the launch of the Intel® Core™ 14th Gen Desktop Processor.

The ESL Pro Tour (EPT) for Counter-Strike continues with the currently ongoing ESL Challenger League Season 46, which will conclude on December 3. The year will be closed off by ESL Challenger Jönköping on November 24-26 and ESL Challenger Atlanta on December 15-17, before kicking off 2024 with a bang with the EPT Championship IEM Katowice 2024 on January 31-February 11.

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GIANTX unveils its team for the Spanish Superliga of League of Legends

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The global esports organization GIANTX has officially presented the roster for its League of Legends Superliga team, the most prestigious esports competition in Spain, organized by the LVP. The roster includes Feisty (midlaner) and Aetinoth (ADC), who continue for another year after establishing themselves as key players for the organization, and newcomers Badlulu (toplaner), Ferret (jungler), and Lospa (support).

The team, known as GIANTX Pride, will be led by Fearless, a veteran coach who has already won three Superliga titles with GIANTX. After previous stints with teams like Guasones and Rebels, Fearless returns to lead this young and promising roster as they pursue the organization’s long-awaited eighth Superliga trophy, with the season set to begin in January 2025.

The roster was revealed during an event at the Home of GIANTX in Málaga, attended by over 150 fans and supported by Opel, the team’s main partner in the Superliga. The event featured activities, giveaways, and a showmatch against Barça Esports, where fans got a first glimpse of the team in action.

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Feisty (South Korea, 2003) and Aetinoth (Turkey, 2005) return for another year, having gained recognition as rising talents with potential for the LEC, Europe’s premier competition in which GIANTX also competes. Badlulu (France, 2002), with prior experience in the Superliga at CASE Esports, joins as the toplaner. Ferret (Turkey, 2001), a promising jungler from the Turkish scene, comes from FUT, while Lospa (South Korea, 2002), a former Iberian Cup champion, joins as support after training in Gen.G Academy.

GIANTX Pride is the most decorated organization in Superliga LVP history, with seven titles to its name. The last victory came in the summer of 2021, and the team is determined to add the elusive eighth trophy to its collection. The Superliga for 2025 will feature ten teams, including Barça Esports, Guasones, Los Heretics, LUA Gaming, Movistar KOI, Ramboot Club, UCAM Esports, VENI VIDI VICI, and ZETA, competing across three splits—winter, spring, and summer.

The LVP, part of Grupo Mediapro, has introduced changes to the Superliga’s format for 2025. The updated calendar will be released soon, setting the stage for another thrilling season.

The post GIANTX unveils its team for the Spanish Superliga of League of Legends appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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GRID Joins IBIA as an Associate Member, Strengthening Esports Integrity

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GRID, an esports data platform, has officially joined the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) as a first esports-focused Associate Member. This collaboration signifies a pivotal moment for esports integrity, aligning GRID with IBIA and its globally recognized integrity-focused members, who monitor over $300bn in sports bets per annum and have a growing focus on esports betting.

With this partnership, GRID and IBIA are committed to collaboratively addressing any integrity issues in esports, fostering trust across stakeholders, and setting a benchmark for excellence in the ecosystem. GRID has been a certified member of IBIA’s Data Standards program since 2022, actively contributing to the development of tailored esports integrity protocols. This membership further underscores GRID’s dedication to transparency and collaboration in combating betting-related corruption within esports.

Since 2018, GRID has operated an internal integrity department pioneering official data-driven solutions for esports. This makes GRID one of the first companies to monitor tournament and data integrity in the competitive sports sector and actively flag and report suspicious behavior, enabling it to collect a large database of integrity reports and insights.

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IBIA is a not-for-profit body that protects regulated sports betting markets from match-fixing. It represents over 50 of the world’s leading betting companies which operate over 125 sports betting brands. IBIA’s global monitoring network is a highly effective anti-corruption tool, detecting and reporting suspicious activity in regulated betting markets using transactional activity linked to individual customer accounts.

Under the partnership, GRID and IBIA will share information relating to suspicious esports betting and potential match manipulation from their respective monitoring and intelligence platforms. IBIA members will also benefit from free access to wider integrity-focused resources supplied by GRID.

Moritz Maurer, CEO of GRID, commented: “Integrity is at the heart of GRID’s mission. By joining IBIA as an Associate Member, we are taking a definitive step toward establishing esports as a trusted and credible industry. This partnership enables us to further our efforts in promoting transparency, reducing risks associated with esports betting, and strengthening operational practices across the ecosystem.’’

Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said: “We are delighted to welcome GRID as an Associate Member of IBIA. This partnership is a landmark for the esports sector and reflects our commitment to expanding our integrity initiatives into new markets. GRID’s expertise in esports data monitoring and integrity standards is an invaluable asset in our shared mission to combat betting corruption globally.”

 

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ComeOn Group and Astralis unite to drive esports engagement in the Nordics

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ComeOn Group announced a sponsorship partnership between its flagship brand ComeOn! and Denmark based Astralis, one of the most esteemed esports organisations globally. As a global leader in esports, Astralis is providing a vibrant and engaging esports experience that is aligned with ComeOn!’s brand experience and is further enhanced by its focus in providing a leading esports betting destination.

As the official sponsor of Astralis, ComeOn! will be prominently featured across all of their platforms, including social media, team events, and competitive gaming content, boosting their brand exposure in key global markets with a focus on the Nordics. ComeOn! is already known as a vibrant brand in the Nordics and with the increased brand visibility it will be put at the heart of the fast-growing esports scene.

ComeOn Group continues to invest in its Sportsbook product experience that is powered by its proprietary sportsbook platform, where esports holds an important strategic market opportunity with its ever growing demand.

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Juergen Reutter, Chief Executive Officer at ComeOn Group, said: “We are very excited to team up with Astralis as this collaboration not only allows us to showcase our innovative Sportsbook platform but also strengthens our ties to the esports community. This partnership is very much in the heart of one of the fastest growing betting markets globally. Esports has seen great demand by our audiences, and we want to provide the best betting experience for our customers. This partnership is also a testament to our localisation and personalisation focus and by working together with Astralis, we can deliver unique experiences that resonate with our players and elevate the entertainment experience around competitive gaming.”

Mads Rasmussen, Commercial Director at Astralis, said: ”We are proud to present ComeOn Group as our new global partner. This partnership holds great significance for Astralis both as an organization and as a business, and we look forward to bringing the agreement to life, benefiting the vast majority of our fanbase – who are adults. We have undergone a long and very positive process with ComeOn, and the fact that they are European-based with licenses in all our key markets, including Denmark, has been a decisive factor in our decision. Astralis fans, both in Denmark and internationally, can look forward to an innovative new digital activation, which promises to deliver an exciting and engaging experience.”

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