Cloud9 threw away a winning game against Team Liquid and lost their LCS playoff series 3-1. Two LFN League shows broke it down this week and agreed: this was not a choke. Cloud9 has struggled in closing games and now they head into the LYON rematch that decides who skips the Worlds play-in.
In Counter-Strike, Complexity is officially gone. Jason Lake shut down the last true legacy North American organization, and Snake & Banter sent him off with a long tribute to an owner who put more of his own money and heart into the scene than almost anyone in the game's history.
⚔️ LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
North America's Worlds seeds are set, and Cloud9's collapse against Team Liquid dominated the week. Off the Rift, the Olympic Council of Asia pulled esports out of the Asian Games and into a separate 2027 event in Kuwait, which puts the military exemption route for Korean players in question.
→ Power Spike: Cloud9's can’t keep losing like this: it was the third time this year the team failed to finish a game while standing inside the enemy base. Plus Karmine Corp goes on the fraud scale after dropping to MKOI. Watch →
→ Summoning Insight: Cloud9 lost a winning game to Team Liquid, and the base pushes they keep misplaying are now a pattern rather than a fluke. Plus what esports leaving the Asian Games means for Korean players chasing a military exemption. Watch →
💣 COUNTER-STRIKE
→ Snake & Banter: Complexity, one of the last old-school North American esports organizations, has shut down for good, and Jason Lake poured more of his own money and passion into Counter-Strike than anyone else in the game's history. Plus why Aurora's rise is exposing XANTARES. Watch →
🐉 DOTA 2
OG made its new roster around Topson official, and the PGL Wallachia group stage sent Team Yandex and Xtreme Gaming through undefeated at 3-0.
→ Not For Broadcast: OG's new roster pulls players from multiple regions, and teams without a shared home base, culture or style of play have never won anything that matters over a full season, so this one is doomed before it plays a match. Watch →
→ All Chat: Pro players who dodge interviews and behind-the-scenes shoots are sabotaging their own futures, because once the wins dry up, a player fans never got to know is a player nobody remembers. Plus how SirActionSlacks went from waiting tables to shaping The International and True Sight. Watch →
🛡️ RAINBOW SIX SIEGE
→ Down But Not Out: Two months out from the Osaka Major, Ubisoft has pushed its operator buffs too far: Zofia, Kali and Jäger are climbing the pick rates in every regional league, while the new anti-shield operator meant to shake up the meta has barely been picked. Watch →
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Esports delenda est.
MonteCristo