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The upset trend continues to shine in The International 2024 as Xtreme Gaming pulled off yet another shocker to defeat defending champions Team Spirit to knock them out of the competition, moving forward to the third round with the hopes of continuing a promising run in the tournament. No one expected Xtreme Gaming to lose after that tough loss to Team Liquid considering the fact that they failed to put up a massive fight against the latter. However, Xtreme Gaming pulled off a strong performance to show up and come up with a promising victory against Team Spirit, taking them out of the competition for good and thwarting a repeat championship attempt from the said team. Xtreme Gaming now moves on to the next stage and will face Aurora, who lost to Cloud 9 in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals and went on to defeat HEROIC in the second round of the Lower Bracket. This sets up a huge showdown in the depths as it is expected that these two teams will be coming up with a huge fight to move forward in the tournament – facing either Tundra Esports or the Gaimin Gladiators in the next round. A Huge Upset Win – Again Three days into The International 2024 playoffs, it cannot be denied that there have been a lot of promising twists and and turns so far, which has definitely made it quite fun to watch at this point. So far, the biggest twist that has happened on the big stage at this point is Team Spirit’s rough finish on the Lower Bracket. So far, it cannot be denied that Team Spirit’s exit was truly unexpected, and fans were left shocked and at a loss of words. This means that Team Spirit’s hopes of coming up with a repeat in The International 2024 and claiming their third title in the tournament come to an early end now. Team Spirit was one of the heavy favorites to win in the competition after having a promising campaign so far, but it is hard to comprehend that the defending champions would bow out easily from the battles in The International. Team Spirit was the only team to finish 3-0 in the group stages, only to lose to nouns in the Seeding Decider at 2-0. The team would go on to show some signs of life in their first round win over G2 x IG in the Lower Bracket, but the team fell short of coming up with another hopeful win in their 2-1 loss to Xtreme Gaming. Last Chinese Team Standing With Team Zero and G2 x IG now eliminated from playoff contention, it does seem that Xtreme Gaming is now the only team left to carry the Chinese banner in The International 2024. The team now enters the top eight of the tournament and will be the only Chinese team to look out for at the Royal Arena. This coming challenge against Aurora will be a tough one with 23savage leading the squad. As the last hope for many Chinese fans, the pressure is now on for XG to continue making some big strides in their games and cement their place at the top of the game. It has been eight years since a Chinese team has won The International, and Xtreme Gaming has a chance to come up with a historic finish this year.

Despite being the only team to start off at 3-0 in the Group Stages, Team Spirit fell to the depths of the lower bracket after losing to nouns in a 2-0 affair in the seeding decider last weekend, which was capped off by a 48-minute clash. Now Team Spirit seeks to survive the threats of the lower bracket starting off with their game against G2 x IG tomorrow. Fans have definitely felt the roar of the upset from Team Spirit after they lost in a sweep to the underdogs nouns. It was the biggest shocker of the tournament considering the fact that they were the clear favorites to win in their group. The team failed to display the same level of dominance in the group stage, and it cannot be denied that it was quite a surprise that they lost big time. Now that they are in the lower bracket, one can say that Team Spirit has to carve their path back up to the top, where they are now set to face G2 x IG and will face Xtreme Gaming in the second round if they do win against their first round opponents. It will take them a longer and more challenging journey to repeat as champions now more than ever. An Upset Like no Other A lot of critics pointed out that Team Spirit was doomed to lose right from the start of their games against nouns. Picking Tinker twice as a support proved to be a fatal choice for the team as it faced a lot of nerfs in the previous months from Valve. It was matched by nouns’ strong and consistent draft picks with Luna and Sand King as the carry and frontline tank, respectively – and these two heroes performed well in the current meta so far. A collection of poor in-game choices also quelled their chances of winning. For instance, the team gambled with an unusual mid-lane of Batrider and a support duo of Rubick and Tinker – a combination that did not blend well for most of the game. Another instance was a poor decision from Miposhka to collect lotuses that led to his Rubick, losing a crucial Gem of True Sight at the same time. From poor drafting, individual mishaps, and even a weak teamplay – all of these contributed to Team Spirit’s loss in those two games against nouns, and it cannot be denied that some experts even say that they did deserve to fall to the lower bracket for all of their poor decisions in the games against nouns. Repeating is a Challenge This edition of The International was hyped to be a promising story for Team Spirit, considering the fact that they have had impressive strides in their games. However, it cannot be denied that the team will now have a much bigger task at hand – surviving the lower brackets en route to a repeat. No other team in the history of Dota 2 has ever managed to come up with a repeat in winning The International aside from OG, who pulled off the same feat back in 2018 and 2019. Now it seems that Team Spirit will have to claim their first back-to-back win and third overall win in The International with a much tougher road now more than ever. But first, they will have to survive G2 x IG in their clash.

After its launch last August 23, PlayStation has announced in its latest blog that Firewalk Studios’ Concord will now shut down moving forward after receiving feedback from various players, critics, and fans amidst its poor launch week that proved to be a disappointment from a game that was eight years in the making. The competitive gaming scene has been quite on a buzz after the recent announcement by PlayStation. Concord did not even last more than two weeks on the market and was said to be quite a bust for many as it failed to sell the estimated copies and even come up with a promising tally on players despite having 2,300 gamers present in its beta launch. This shutdown by Concord marks the worst entertainment launch of all time. Many critics are even calling the PlayStation title the worst game since the 2023 flop The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, which was criticized for its lack of unique game features that eventually led to its downfall. Pulling the Plug Concord was hyped to be one of the up-and-coming competitive esports titles of 2024, only to come up short with a poor performance in its launch week, not being able to sell more than 25,000 estimated copies while also having a all-time peak of 697 players on Steam. In the end, PlayStation went on to pursue the inevitable – a total shutdown of the hero shooter game. “We have decided to take the game offline beginning September 6, 2024, and explore options, including those that will better reach our players,” says Concord game director Ryan Ellis in a PlayStation blog post. “While we determine the best path ahead, Concord sales will cease immediately and we will begin to offer a full refund for all gamers who have purchased the game for PS5 or PC.” Concord was first announced in the PlayStation Showcase back in May 2023 with a CGI trailer. The game would go on to release a beta in July 2024, only to meet underwhelming player numbers with the most accurate estimate at 2,300 players. In retrospect, it did receive promising scores from game reviewers, but many factors played out to affect the game’s overall performance in the market in the long run. Failing to Thrive in the Market As said above, Concord managed to bring a peak of 697 concurrent players on Steam – which is even lower than the game’s beta phase and a disappointing number for a major release. Many critics believe that it was the game’s lack of a unique selling point that proved to be a major reason why it failed to thrive in the market where it had to go up against the likes of Fortnite and Overwatch in the hero shooter genre. On top of that, some even blamed the expensive price tag that PlayStation put for the game, which is set at $40. Considering the fact that both Overwatch and Fortnite are free-to-play titles, it is worth noting that Concord made a poor decision to come up with the way they released the game in such a competitive market. This ending for one of the hyped games of 2024 is quite a disappointment. However, it does serve as a promising learning point for many developers and publishers in the long run, what not to do in coming up with a title that is in the hero shooter genre.

Amidst the issue of the Hands of Midas, Valve has released a new patch that has changed a lot of the game’s dynamic heading into the biggest stage of the competitive Dota 2 scene, the International. However, there are a few select items and heroes who will be nerfed before the big tournament begins. The International is the biggest tournament in all of Dota 2’s competitive esports scene, and it cannot be denied that there are many players who are seeking to make their name on the big stage. However, the latest Dota 2 patch is set to make some changes in the game as it brings a balance to the bugs and hero disadvantages that will be crucial heading into the tournament. Heroes such as Ringmaster, Nature’s Prophet, and Tinker are all affected by the latest update as the developers have made some changes in the game that would seemingly play a huge role as these heroes are commonly used on the competitive scene. This is why there are a lot of players who are a bit worried as to how the nerfs will affect team selection in the coming tournament. Hero Nerfs Ringmaster, who is just a new hero in the game, has received a couple of nerfs in the latest patch. Movement speed has been reduced, and his Strongman Tonic souvenir has been reduced well after each of the hero’s levels was reduced to just 1 strength instead of the original 1.5 per level. Gleipnir, on the other hand, has a deducted health bonus of 350 to 300, and the item’s active ability has dropped from 180 to 165 On the other hand, Nature’s Prophet has also received a certain downgrade after the Ironwood Treant has been nerfed – with an increase of base attack time at 14%, meaning that it would take at least 1.6 seconds per attack. It is also worth noting that the hero’s ultimate has been weakened having its base damage decreased from 120/155/190 to 100/140/180. Lastly, Tinker’s Defence Matrix has also been nerfed – for the many times it has been changed. It now gives less status resistance on higher levels, rendering it quite less beneficial in the long run, which makes it hard to use, especially in big-game clashes as well. The full list of changes can be visited on the official Dota 2 site. The International Brewing Hot The latest patch will be effective in the coming The International, which is slated to begin next week, September 4th. TI13 brings all of the best players in the world to represent their teams and lead them to bigger glory. With a prize pool of $2,278,937, teams will definitely bring their best to bring home the lion’s share of the prize while fans at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen will be given a promising treat of intense battles and fiery showdowns for all to see. A total of 16 teams will take on the challenge with the hopes of reaching the big stage. The Group Stages will take place from September 4 to 5, and it will be followed by the Seeding Decider for two more days. The main event begins on September 9th and will go all the way to September 15th for the Grand Final – which will be a best-of-five series as opposed to the prior parts of the tournament.

With just four games left to play in the Esports World Cup, it does seem that the Esports World Cup’s Club Championship is already secured for Team Falcons for good, and one can even say that the team is already expected to win when they ended the first half of the esports event with a massive lead in the rankings. In a massive competition where there are over a hundred esports teams and organizations vying for a chance to prove their worth on the big stage, it does seem that the Team Falcons have made the most of their opportunities, winning multiple games and coming up with dominant runs. That is enough to give them plenty of finishes inside the top three and has definitely secured them the top spot in the Club Championship. So far, there are four games left to play in the Esports World Cup. Both Tekken 8 and PUBG PC are slated to host its final stage in the weekend, while ESL R1 and Rocket League are scheduled to wrap up their games in the coming week, which is definitely setting bigger expectations for Team Falcons to even add more to their tally and set a bar on the Esports World Cup stage. Impressive Successes so Far Team Falcons have managed to come up with impressive victories in multiple esports titles so far in the Esports World Cup. The team has managed to secure a championship win in Call of Duty: Warzone and Free Fire for 1,000 points apiece. They also had top 2 finishes in Apex Legends and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. Sure, the team did not have promising victories in the bigger esports titles such as Dota 2, EA FC, Overwatch 2, and Fortnite, but it is still easy to say that they have managed to keep their presence alive on the big stage. All of these victories combined together have deemed to be enough to help them secure a strong finish in the inaugural Esports World Cup stage now more than ever. Thanks to their success and dominance in Riyadh, Team Falcons is slated to receive a promising $7,000,000 cash prize as the Club Championship winner in this year’s edition of the Esports World Cup. On top of all that, they get to have the bragging rights of being the best esports team all over the world given the scope of this event. Extending the Lead While their tally of 4,435 points is already enough to win the Club Championship considering that Team Liquid is far behind with 2,545 points, Team Falcons can still make an effort to set the standard in the competition by adding more to their win tally. At this point, Falcons can still win in the likes of ESL R1, PUBG PC, Rocket League, and Tekken 8. This means that the team can definitely pull off a year to remember in the competition with a massive finish for fans to look out for. At this point, one can expect the team not to hold back in their level of play. Behind Team Falcons and Team Liquid, T1 Esports lags in the third spot with 1,600 points. The Gaimin Gladiators rank fourth overall with 1,280 points and Natus Vincere lock up the fifth spot at 1,170 points. FaZe Clan, Alpha7 Esports, Team BDS, XSET, and the Selangor Red Giants make up the rest of the top 10 teams in the EWC Club Championship.

Clément “Clem” Desplanches sets the bar way too high in his debut in the Esports World Cup after he decimated Serral in a 5-0 affair in the Grand Final stage of StarCraft II to complete his massive campaign on the big stage after he pulled off one of the most promising runs in the game. Team Liquid adds more to its points thanks to this historic victory by Clem. Clem walked off the big stage of StarCraft II with $400,000 in prize money, while Serral, who was fresh off his mandatory military service with Finland, settled for second place in the competition to go along with $150,000 in prize money. So far, this has been quite a promising run in StarCraft II’s reputation of having one of the most intense games in the EWC. It cannot be denied that fans have enjoyed this promising set of performances now more than ever. With StarCraft II concluded, there are now only five more games left in the Esports World Cup slate, headlined by Tekken 8, Rocket League, ESL R1, PUBG, and FC 24 to wrap up the festivities. For now, the StarCraft community hails its new best player after a sudden rise to the top of the big stage. Clem Outplaying One of the StarCraft Legends It cannot be denied that Serral is one of the household names in the StarCraft II competitive scene, and as one of the biggest legends in the game, it is easy to expect some promising performances from him in the game. Sure, he did enjoy some impressive runs in the early round, but his games against Clem were far from his signature performances, which surprised a lot of fans in the Grand Final. Still, critics have to give credit to Clem for outplaying one of the best players in StarCraft II history. Clem deployed a lot of run-and-gun tactics with the use of Medevacs and Marines in most of his games, and he’s been quite faster in building a stable economy than Serral in all five games, which has led to his impressive advantage so far. When Clem took a 3-0 lead in just 11 minutes in Game 3, many spectators knew that the series was over. The last two games have seen Clem deploying zone defense on the map, often pushing Serral’s Zerg multiple times. He went even as far as deploying multiple Ghosts in Game 4 despite Serral having a huge economic advantage, showing how he can choke off the field, and did the same in the final game to secure the championship. Clem at the Top of the World Clem has never cooled down for this year so far. He has won the ESL Masters, the IEM Katowice, and now the Esports World Cup. It is easy to say that a lot has happened in the past few months for Clem, and he has capped off the middle of the year with a promising victory in one of the biggest stages of StarCraft’s competitive scene. So far, his big moments have become his strong suit. Clem’s focus on the bio/tank style has helped him improve into a position-less player in the game and has certainly made him one of the most promising stars to look out for. Now he has the world looking out for him, and he’s not done yet.

In the aftermath of the decision in the 142nd IOC Session at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee has announced the creation of the Olympic Esports Games. This changes the dynamic of the games as it takes another level of growth and development – bringing esports to a whole new direction. This has gained a lot of varied reactions from the esports community so far. But according to former Riot Games executive and COO of Loaded Chris Hopper, it does seem that this is a bold move that will help esports ascend to a bigger audience at hand while also sending the esports world to an expanded scene now more than ever. For many, this change of direction for the esports world means further recognition in the game, and a promising sight for players who have built a reputation in various games. It cannot be denied that being able to call these players as Olympians sounds more appealing than just esports players to begin with, which says a lot about how it is expected to change the perception of esports and its prominence as well. A Big Opportunity for Esports Hopper, who has a lot of experience in league operations, claimed that this will be a promising opportunity for esports to have a bigger and wider audience, as well as ensuring the increase of players who will contend for the various games in the esports. According to Hopper, being able to place esports players in the same category as Olympians does have a nice ring to it. "I think anytime there's a chance to put esports and, more broadly, video gaming in the right kind of light in an authentic and organic way, and showcase players of the caliber of Olympians — that's an awesome thing," said Hopper. "I view this as being very much in the ethos of the Olympics—trying to provide an opportunity for the greatest competitors to play together on the same stage and provide visibility for that.” The Olympics will better highlight the skill and mastery of players who do not have a lot of opportunities in their respective countries. Not all countries have all the popular esports, and there are certain countries where a specific esports title may not be popular at all. Furthermore, the Olympic Esports Games could definitely boost the industry as a whole, possibly bringing sponsors, more media exposure, and different benefits that would extend the esports industry’s promising potential. Addressing Challenges Of course, esports can benefit from a massive exposure on the big stage, but Hopper also believes that it needs to be managed and handled perfectly if it is going to deliver the desired impact on the industry. However, there are plenty of hurdles that the Olympic Committee will have to address if esports events will be held well in 2028. "You're going to run into challenges in everything from scheduling to location to qualifier circuits to which games are chosen to be included," said Hopper. "My hope is that with a new focus on long-term competition, some of these national Olympic organizing committees will start to help develop the infrastructure that hasn't natively grown in most major esports." So far, the IOC has four years to prepare for the inclusion of esports in the Olympic Games. This just means that the whole world could be preparing for a more professional and sustainable esports ecosystem in the long run, with the games definitely taking a bigger spotlight soon.

Closing the distance on the Esports World Cup, it does seem that XSET capitalized on a promising campaign that proved to be the winning deal to defeat Exceed in the final of the Fortnite Esports World Cup to secure the $400,000 first prize in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Joseph “Ritual” Mauro proved to be the x-factor in the team’s campaign, and he definitely capped it off with an impressive performance in their games. The American star sure pulled off some high level plays, especially in the final where he capped off an impressive night when it mattered most. Exceed takes home $160,000 in the loss as the second-placed team. XSET also moves out to take the no. 6 spot in the Esports World Cup Club Championship standings with 1,000 points. Finishing as the best team in Fortnite, it seems that XSET is ready to take on the challenge to deliver a massive finish in this year’s campaign. XSET’s Push to the Top XSET did not drop a single map during the group stages, which was played in a best-of-five. The team went on to advance as the Group A champions and secured a high seed in the playoff bracket. They would go on to take out the Gaimin Gladiators in a 4-0 win in the quarterfinals, before beating HEROIC 4-1 in the semis. The team has been waiting for a chance to show off their prowess in the game, hoping to leave their mark on the big stage and come up with a massive climb in the competitive Fortnite scene. So far, this has been quite the story for XSET, and it cannot be denied that the team has managed to prove its worth on the big stage with this victory. XSET would go on to cap off a massive final against Exceed. They won on Chalet Capture the Flag at 3-0 before Exceed clapped back with a 250-228 win when they played on Panther Hardpoint. The game would go on for more back and forths before the game ultimately went in XSET’s way, with the team pulling away at Chalet Hardpoint and Taverna Zoni Keeper to finish the series and close out the championship run for good. Promising Finish to a Campaign to Remember Fortnite was one of the most hyped games in the Esports World Cup, and it cannot be denied that XSET finishing at the top was a storied plot line that delivered a crushing hype to the Fortnite competitive scene. HEROIC and Karmine Corp would go on to tally $80,000 as the third and fourth-placed teams in the competition, while the Gaimin Gladiators, R8 Esports, Team Falcons, and Dignitas wrap up with a $40,000 prize money and 60 points in the rankings. The squad, composed of Clix, Edgey, Muz, Ritual, Trashy, and Cold made a daring run in the Fortnite, not falling a single map through the group stage and playoffs. It was a unique campaign that proved to be a far cry from the traditional multiplayer experience that Fortnite has delivered so far, and the Esports World Cup was the perfect stage at this point, considering that it had a massive fan following. XSET’s victory is a story to remember, and this will definitely set the tone for the coming runs that the team has to make to wrap up the year.

Another champion has risen in the esports world as Team BDS took center stage with a promising victory at the top of the Rainbow Six Siege scene with their impressive finish against W7M Esports in the Esports World Cup at the Grand Final. This marks their most impressive campaign that ended in a clear victory for the team after a long struggle. With 16 teams making impressive strides in the game, it does seem that Team BDS has stolen the spotlight with an extraordinary campaign after showing off that they have what it takes to deliver a victory with bigger stakes at hand. Team BDS came through and pulled off a promising feat like no other, showing that they are capable of reigning supreme in Rainbow Six Siege. With sixteen teams battling their way to the top, it does seem that Team BDS chose a great time to arrive at the summit with their promising performances. Now they are reigning above everyone else in Rainbow Six, and their time has just begun to take over the big stage. BDS on the Scene BDS came through Group A, which was considered the group of death in Rainbow Six. They had to defeat all sorts of impressive teams in the game, such as Team Liquid, Furia, Bleed, W7M Esports, Spacestation Gaming, FaZe Clan, and DarkZero. All of those teams did not stood a chance as BDS went on to deliver a massive blow one game after another, showing how well they can take over the competition in just a snap. The team defeated Bleed and Furia to earn the top seed in the double elimination groups. They did have some select mishaps in the group stages, but they did emerge victorious to secure their spot in the deeper stages of the competition, beating FaZe Clan in a 2-1 rally before sweeping Furia in the semis. BDS continued with the same pace in their games in the Grand Final, sweeping finalists W7M Esports, who also had an easy path towards the final with sweeping victories over Bleed and Team Liquid. It was a showdown to remember against W7M, and it sure highlighted the impressive finish that many fans were waiting to see from the team. BDS’ Dominance in the Grand Final BDS was in control right from the start, and they did not let up in the game as they managed to outlast W7M in every single turn, which just says a lot about how they came ready to battle at the big stage, and they definitely silenced their critics as well. From defense and attack rounds, BDS outplayed W7M without much hassle, scoring 7-2 on Clubhouse, 7-3 on Consulate, and 7-1 on Oregon. This stretch of wins guaranteed BDS the championship, stripping fans of a possible dramatic finish in the grand final. Josh "Yuzus" Pritchard went on to finish as the Player of the Tournament after he continued to bring a consistent performance of 80-46 kill-death ratio and an overall rating of 123. BDS has been one of the prominent names in the Rainbow Six scene, and this win caps off a strong pace for them as they sought to bounce back from their BLAST R6 Major Manchester loss. For now, the team can rest easy knowing they took a win to wrap up the month, and prepare for the coming BLAST R6 Major Montreal in November.

With the Esports World Cup already at its halfway point, it seems that the Team Falcons are a clear leader en route to winning the first-ever Club Championship in the event. With 13 more games yet to finish competitive play, there is a high chance that the Falcons will indeed finish the campaign in the Esports World Cup with a whopping win total in points at this rate. It is not easy to win at the Esports World Cup – a tournament that brings at least a total of 38 teams into the fold for a chance to compete for multiple awards on various popular esports titles. So far, Team Falcons is making it look like a walk in the park with the way they have tallied a massive amount of points in just a short amount of time. In nine esports titles completing their respective tournaments, it does seem that Team Falcons is gearing up towards a hopeful campaign that will see them make the most of their chances in each title. After all, being the first to win a whopping number of esports tourneys is quite a feat that will be hard to beat in the long run. Falcons Soaring High Team Falcons have established themselves as the contenders of the competition so far. They have managed to come up with impressive showings in various esports titles, claiming championships in Call of Duty: Warzone and Free Fire. They also finished second in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and even had third-place finishes in titles such as Dota 2, MLBB Women, and Overwatch 2. That has led them to tally a total of 3,500 points, – the only team to breach the 3,000-point mark. Of course, they cannot win all of the competitions there are considering how many elite teams there are in the competition. For now, it is easy to say that the Falcons have the top spot locked up with those whopping points tally as of the time of writing. A lot of teams dream of coming up with historic feats. So far, Team Falcons is definitely on the track on that matter, and having two championships on the EWC is a good start considering the fact that they are still expected to play more games with their respective team per esport taking on the challenge. Prominent Teams Catching Up All while Team Falcons reign supreme at the top so far, there are a lot of prominent teams who are starting to make their presence felt in the competition as well. For instance, Team Liquid has come alive in the standings despite not winning any tournaments so far thanks to a tally of 1,170 points. They only have a second-place finish in Dota 2, accompanied by third-place finishes in League of Legends and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. They also earned 20 points and finished 8th in PUBG Mobile. Natus Vincere comes third on the list with a total of 1,110 points as of the time of writing. NAVI’s win in CS2 was a promising look, and their campaign is definitely just getting started at this point in time, which means that fans can expect them to continue to make their climb in the standings as well. The Gaimin Gladiators remain on hold of the no. 4 spot in the rankings, while the Alpha7 Esports, Selangor Red Giants, T1 Esports, Crazy Raccoon, and the Smart Omega Empress are all tied for the fifth spot, which just shows how intense the Esports World Cup has been so far.

Crazy Raccoon took home a promising $400,000 in prize money, along with 1,000 championship points as they defeated the Toronto Ultra in the Grand Final of the Overwatch Esports World Cup, showing no signs of weakness as the team made its way towards a promising finish that has them sitting at the top of the world. The win also sees Crazy Raccoon make a sudden climb to the no. 5 spot in the Club Championship Standings, tied with Alpha7 Esports, Selangor Red Giants, T1 Esports, and Smart Omega Empress, who all have 1,000 points for winning respective tournaments in the Esports World Cup. Kim "Shu" Jin-seo was also named tournament MVP for the Crazy Raccoon’s campaign. The Japanese esports team has done a great job of making their presence felt in the game. It has been quite a promising run for the team as they went on to suffer only two game losses, which just says a lot about how prominence does not really play a huge role when you play in a given tournament at a given time, and Crazy Raccoon’s story as a fresh team off the blocks has seen them as a promising team to look out for at this point in time. Path to the Championship Crazy Raccoon began its campaign in a battle against ENCE, which was wrapped up in just four games – showing the team’s focus and how locked in they are in terms of coming up with an easy sweep to open up the Quarter Finals. They went on to face Team Falcons – who are the leading team in the Club Championship Standings – and just defeated them in five games, giving up one win before they proceeded to complete the ordeal and deliver a strong finish. Toronto Ultra, on the other hand, has been one of the best teams to look out for in the game over the years, and they have swept Twisted Minds in the Quarter Finals in a quick run. However, they did battle against ZETA Division, which has been quite a team to look out for, and it ended in a seven-game series. Ultra emerged as the winner in the seventh game as they had to stave off ZETA in the final moments of the semis. The Final, however, was as predicted by many fans and critics. Crazy Raccoon has regained the composure they had in the early rounds, and they definitely carried the same pace in the Grand Final as they went on to carry out wins in the first three games before Ultra managed to answer back in Runasapi Push. However, Crazy Raccoon wrapped up the day with a win at Eichenwalde Hybrid. Crazy Raccoon’s Rise to Dominance While the esports company was established in 2018, Crazy Raccoon’s Overwatch team only entered the scene this April, with the free-agent team of WAC (We Are Crazy Raccoon). This included three former Shock 2023 players such as HeeSang, Junbin, and MAX, alongside recent champion CH0R0NG and longtime OWL players LIP and Shu. The team made immediate strides in the Overwatch scene, winning in the Overwatch Champions Series 2024 - Asia Stage 1 Main Event last April, and then continuing with the winning pace in the Overwatch Champions Series 2024 Major with a 4-2 win over Team Falcons last June. This recent win in the Esports World Cup has definitely given them more prominence to build on en route to the next set of tournaments they will play.