eSports

Heroic acquire BLAST Premier Member Team slot from Immortals Gaming Club

Published

2 years ago

April 21, 2022

George Miller

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Norwegian organisation buy IGC’s MIBR BLAST Premier Member Team slot

Norwegian-based esports organisation Heroic has become a BLAST Premier Member Team after acquiring the slot owned by Immortals Gaming Club, following a highly competitive bidding process.

Founded in 2016, Heroic are one of the world’s top Counter-Strike teams and are currently ranked fifth in the HLTV rankings. They join other top esports and CS:GO organisations in owning a BLAST Premier Member Team slot.

The Norwegian-based organisation, with a huge following globally, have had recent successes winning ESL Cologne Europe 2020, claiming first place in ESL Pro League Season 13, finishing fourth at the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2021 in Copenhagen’s iconic Royal Arena and finishing 3rd/4th in the Stockholm Major 2021 and IEM Katowice 2022.

After Immortals Gaming Club decided to sell the Member Team slot, a highly competitive and in-depth bidding process was undertaken with a number of leading esports and Counter-Strike organisations showing an interest in the slot sale.

IGC, who own MIBR, were an original BLAST Premier founding Member Team and have played in the tournament circuit since its inception in February 2020, competing in nine BLAST events during this time.

Charlotte Kenny, Managing Director of BLAST Premier, said: “We thank MIBR for being one of our partners for the last two years. Their renowned and passionate Brazilian fanbase have ensured there’s never been a dull moment, even when we had to pivot to online-only shows in 2020. We look forward to having them back competing in our global qualifiers and regional Showdowns in the future.

“We’re delighted to welcome on board Heroic, they’ve proven through their performances on the server over the last few years, that they belong alongside the world’s elite of Counter-Strike. Their impressive showing at last year’s Fall Final in Copenhagen highlights what they will add to our tournaments. The level of interest, competition and investment shown for this slot highlights just how much BLAST Premier has grown in the last 12 months alone.”

Joachim Haraldsen, CEO for Heroic, said: “Today marks a massive milestone for Heroic Group. Our entry into BLAST Premier provides us with a unique position alongside the biggest brands in our industry, and a platform for collaborative growth that we strongly believe in. We are really impressed by the product that BLAST has built so far and are super excited to contribute to the continued success of the tournament as one of the 12 members.”

The BLAST Premier circuit will continue to offer opportunities for non-Member Teams to reach the ultimate stage of competitive CS:GO through the global qualifying series, which covers key regions around the world and feeds into the tournament series’ regional Spring and Fall Showdowns.

BLAST Premier is one of the world’s leading Counter-Strike tournament series, hosting the best players and teams, offering opportunities to regions across the globe and crowning the world champions of CS:GO. Up to 32 of the best teams take part in the seven BLAST Premier events across the year with a combined prize pool of $2,475,000 on the line.

BLAST Premier Member Teams: Astralis, NIP, G2 Esports, OG, Team Vitality, NAVI, FaZe Clan, Complexity, Team Liquid, Heroic, Evil Geniuses and BIG.

eSports

North Star Network Acquires Um Dois Esportes

Published

3 days ago

April 26, 2024

GamingAmericas.com

north-star-network-acquires-um-dois-esportes

North Star Network has acquired Um Dois Esportes, a sports coverage and analysis site created from the merger of Gazeta Do Povo and Tribuna do Paraná in 2020.

Julien Josset, co-founder of North Star Network, said: “Thank you to the team at GRPCOM for their faith in us to take the brand forward. Um Dois Esportes is an established and renowned site in Paraná State, and we’re excited about the challenge of developing this asset.

“We’re happy to maintain the collaboration with the existing editorial team, and look forward to working with them, bringing our unique NSN approach, to take UDE forward.”

NSN’s signing of Um Dois Esportes is the media house’s fourth acquisition of 2024, following the recent deals to purchase UK-based SportsMole and MrFixitsTips, as well as Chilean site AlAireLibre, which was announced in March.

The latest addition to the North Star media portfolio joins existing assets including Top Mercato, Afrik-Foot, and Vringe. The Paris-based company already oversees a significant Brazilian operation, delivering over 6 million sessions per month, from the likes of Trivela, Premier League Brasil and Lakers Brasil.

NSN will retain Curitiba-based journalists from the Um Dois Esportes legacy team to maintain the asset’s unique tone and popular coverage of the Paraná sports scene across site and social.

Rafael Mello, Director of GRPCOM, said: “We were surprised by the interest, and initially had no intention of selling Um Dois, but as the conversations evolved, we realised this was a serious group with good intentions. We were very happy to see our project being valued by a large international group and going global, demonstrating the quality of the content we produced.

“We’re also proud that North Star inherited our journalists, who are truly responsible for the success of the product we offer readers every day.”

Alona Shevtsova

L&G esports team founded by Alona Shevtsova won the national Dragon EC Cup tournament

Published

5 days ago

April 24, 2024

GamingAmericas.com

l&g-esports-team-founded-by-alona-shevtsova-won-the-national-dragon-ec-cup-tournament

Ukrainian esports team L&G won the Dragon EC Cup tournament, held on the 20th of April by Dragon Esports Club. Four teams competed in the tournament’s final: Lazer Cats, L&G, which received a direct invitation to the final stage, EsportsBattle, and ThunderFlash, which had open qualifiers. During the Grand Final, the L&G team competed with Lazer Cats on Mirage, Anubis, and Vertigo maps.

“This victory is a testament to the exceptional talent and commitment of our players, as well as the collective effort of our coaching staff and support personnel,” said Alona Shevtsova, founder of L&G Esports. “We are immensely proud of their accomplishments and grateful for the unwavering support of our fans.”

L&G is among the top 5 Ukrainian teams in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. It was founded in 2021. The previous name was Leogaming, and it was created on the initiative of the famous Alona Shevtsova from the fintech sector.

The team began competing in top tournaments and almost immediately made it to the Advanced division of the ESEA League Europe competition. The team also participated in and took prizes in European tournaments such as the SCL League, WhiteBit Crypto Open, Phoenix League, and local competitions. The team players are marat2k, r0ublE, kr1vda, kL1o, OneUn1que, rji (coach).

The winners received a 50,000 UAH prize. Dragon Esports Club also prepared a 15-skin giveaway for the broadcast’s viewers.

It is worth mentioning that the L&G team created its merch items, which are available for order worldwide. To get more information about the team, visit the L&G Instagram page, Twitch, or Telegram Channel.