With how wide the esports world is, it’s tough to pin down every marquee matchup and bit of esports news each week. Sometimes, those moments go beyond competitive tournaments like PSG’s upset at MSI and dip into streaming, general gaming and the business world, too. Esports is bigger than just the games we watch every day and the big thing that you should take away from each week could pass you by if you’re not careful.
That’s where we come in. Every week, Upcomer’s staff comes together to select the five biggest W’s of the last week, whether they be a player’s performance, a new game release or something else. The goal: To get you caught up on esports news this week and get you ready for everything that comes next.
Here are our Five W’s for the week of May 10-May 16.
Fuslie joins 100 Thieves
Among Us lobbies on Twitch are starting to look more and more like 100 Thieves conference calls.
As of May 12, Twitch sensation Leslie “Fuslie” Fu is the newest addition to the 100 Thieves’ star-studded roster of entertainers. Known for her Among Us skills, Streamer Camp events and OfflineTV cameos, she’s seen a massive surge in popularity over the past year and it was only a matter of time before she signed with someone.
Between Jack “CouRage” Dunlop, Rachel “Valkyrae” Hofstetter, Austin Show and Nicole “neekolul” Sanchez, it’s no secret that 100T is home to some of the biggest creators in gaming. Valkyrae alone has already done two music video collabs this year with both MGK and, just recently, Bella Poarch.
The year’s barely halfway through and 100 Thieves continues to surprise fans with each announcement they make (I saw the Cash App card coming, but the Excedrin partnership definitely threw me for a loop).
– Nick Ray
PSG defeating RNG at MSI
On May 16, RNG finally lost at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational after going on a 12-game win streak. And, of course, the team to do it was the only team at MSI playing without their full roster: PSG Talon.
PSG didn’t just beat RNG, they stomped them in less than 30 minutes with a 26-9 kill score. That’s an impressive result against any team, let alone the undisputed tournament favorites (which we called in our power rankings, by the way). The wildest part about this win was that RNG actually played the game well, PSG was just ready with good prep and drafting.
Somehow PSG show up with subs to every international tournament, get heavily underrated by analysts because of this, and then proceed to stomp everyone. Anything can happen in the second round-robin of the Rumble Stage, but PSG are absolutely a favorite to advance to the MSI knockouts and a dark horse in this tournament.
– Ray
NL wins Capcom Pro Tour Asia East 1
Sim “NL” Gun has returned to the Capcom Pro Tour in a big way. A dominant run through the Capcom Pro Tour Asia East 1 Online tournament has qualified the former Combo Breaker winner for the 2022 Capcom Cup.
This was NL’s first tournament in the Capcom Pro Tour since 2019. He picked up wins over some of the best players you could find in Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea. He took victories over Gamerbee and Xiaobao to make his way to Grand Finals, where he would meet South Korea’s Infiltration. After a bracket reset by Infiltration, NL closed out the tournament 3-1 in the final set.
NL has never won a Capcom Cup, though he has participated in the invitational tournament for the last three events. With the changes made this year to the Capcom Pro Tour format, allowing players to qualify just by winning one of the 31 online tournaments, players are qualifying earlier than ever before. With more time to rest and more time to train, it could finally be NL’s time to call himself the best Street Fighter V player on the planet.
– Josh Petrofsky
Brame Esports upsets undefeated Alliance in EU DPC
Brame Esports have done what no other team has been able to accomplish in the European Dota Pro Circuit: take a series off of Alliance, crushing their dreams of an undefeated season.
It is an even larger accomplishment considering that Brame Esports had to fight their way to the upper division from the lower. While they have no chance of currently making the Major, sitting at a 3-3 record, it is an incredible win and crucial step in the development of the team. With Brame Esports making a name for themselves with a win over Alliance, it also marks the return of two popular Greek players: Charalampos “Skylark” Zafeiriou and Giwrgos “SsaSpartan” Giannakopoulos, who have a legacy spanning back to their time as Ad Finem in the 2016 Boston Major. Brame will definitely be a team to look out for next season.
– Kenneth Utama
Atlanta FaZe become second team to take two Call of Duty Cold War Major titles
Atlanta FaZe made a run through the lower bracket of the Stage 3 Major after losing to the New York Subliners earlier in the winners’ bracket. Now, facing them a second time, FaZe got their revenge to earn their second Major title.
Not only do Atlanta FaZe now have two Majors, they are also the only team to compete in all three Major finals: First against Dallas Empire, second against Toronto Ultra and now with the win over the New York Subliners. After Stage 3, Atlanta sit atop the Call of Duty leaderboard with the most CDL points and are cemented as the most “winningest” team in the CDL so far.
– Danny Appleford
Published: May 17, 2021 01:00 pm