While many
League of Legends players were returning to their normal lives, the eSports world rolled on. Here are some of the top stories going into the new year.
Last Call Tournament Results
The absence of TSM did little to detract from the excitement surrounding this CLG-hosted event. Top Korean teams Maximum impact Gaming and Extreme Dive Gaming attended, with the former sporting both A (MiGiCE) and B teams (MiGFiRE). EDG, led by Maknoon, were seeded 63 out of 64, resulting in them beating 2nd seed Curse in the first round. They would go on to lose in the quarters to Epik Gamer, who beat MiGiCE in the semifinals. Much-hyped Goose lost earlier on to MiGiCE.
On the other side of the bracket, Dignitas and CLG made their way to the semifinals without much contest. Interestingly, both teams were both playing with a different roster than normal. CLG's Doublelift slept through the early rounds and was replaced by Zuna of It's Gosu until Doublelift presumably woke up and played the semifinal series. Dignitas' new jungler Iwilldominate, formerly of Complexity, debuted in grand fashion by helping his team defeat CLG 2-1.
Epik was playing with a sub too; with Dan Dinh at home and unable to play, v8's Aphromoo played AD Carry and resulted in a switching around of roles. By the finals, though, listeners of support Nhat Nguyen's stream could tell that the team was tired and to some extent wanted to have the tournament over with. This is not to say that they threw the games, but that their fatigue was likely a factor in their loss, as was a Ventrilo failure before a crucial Baron confrontation that sealed their defeat in game 2. The win for Dignitas must be a boon for their confidence after the loss of their previous jungler Jatt and several lackluster performances.
Dignitas Signs New Jungler
Though Iwilldominate was not officially part of the team when they won Last Call, it was evident that he was Jatt's replacement. The American jungler said he was happy to join the team, and that it's an honor to play with such good players.
I am extremely excited about my opportunity to join dignitas as their new jungler. L0cust, imaqtpie, Scarra and Voyboy are all exceptional players and it is truly an honor to play alongside them and represent Team Dignitas. I am committed to working hard to ensure that Team Dignitas remains a top competitive league of legends team and hopefully we can win many tournaments in the future.
Source: Christian "Iwilldominate" RiveraThe transfer from Complexity fills a void that had to be filled before the team travels to Kiev for
IEM.
Acer Revamps Lineup, Searching For International Squad
Team Acer, coming off a disappointing performance at
WCG and a 2nd place finish at
EPS Germany last month, announced a total overhaul of their lineup; all players except captain Schabs are being replaced. No reason is cited for the change except that their main focus in 2012 will be the next
EPS season. The new lineup is as follows:
- Schabs - Solo Top (captain)
- Adren4lin - Support
- opfazopf - AD Carry
- 1349 - Jungler
- Reevan - AP Carry
In addition, Acer announced that they are seeking an international lineup, which they are taking applications for. The announcement would appear to say that they want an entire team to sign up rather than individual players.
Goose Not Going to Kiev After All
Shortly after their
IEM Kiev qualification which thrust them into the spotlight, Atlanta and his team made it clear that they did not have the funds to travel to the event, as they are neither a sponsored team nor loaded with cash. They planned to earn the travel money through streaming and donations. With the event creeping closer, it became apparent to them that two of their players, lemongod and mandatorycloud, would be unable to attend to family issues. Or as Atlanta put it, "their families being assholes". Here was his statement on Reddit:
Since both Mandatorycloud and Lemongod are unable to go basically due to their families being assholes, we're making the decision not to go to Kiev as 3 and attempt to fly under the Goose banner there. We feel like Lemon and Cloud were too much a part of the Goose identity much like any other 2 members would be if they were missing. As such, we'll be passing our spot, preferably to V8, but likely CLG will end up going because of their ease of travel access. (possibly no one if Riot decides this is too short of notice)
Additionally, Lemongod will not be able to play for Goose anymore for at least the next semester due to his family being assholes. We'll be looking for replacements but it will be HARD. I AM A SAD PANDA AND SO ARE THE REST OF US BUT WE WILL BE STRONG THIS SEASON ANYWAY. there are plenty of events for Goose to attend in the future, including IPL and various ESL sponsored events. We would like to refund the money that was donated to us, but due to complications in our finances, it might take a while. We Geese love your support and hope that you realize that Kiev is not the end all be all for our team and that YOU WILL SEE US. THE GOOSE WILL FLY AGAIN.
Source: Atlanta We initially reported that CLG would go to Kiev in Goose's place, but it now appears that SK Gaming will replace them. There has been no official announcement, but
Ocelote has announced it on his Twitter.
