Welcome back to the Esports Report! We had an action-packed April with numerous majors and international competitions as well as a big organization announcement. Without further delay lets get into the news.

Counter Logic Gaming is Acquired by NRG

On April 3, 2023, independent reporter Travis Gafford reported that Counter Logic or CLG would be closing its esports operations. Three days later fellow esports organization NRG Esports announced that they acquired CLG and that former owners of CLG, Madison Square Garden Sports becoming a major shareholder in NRG. Madison Square Garden Sports bought CLG on July 31, 2017. With the acquisition, NRG took over CLG’s slot in the LCS, the North American League of Legends.

Unfortunately, with the acquisition the remaining CLG employees were laid off and other teams lost their brand contracts. This includes teams in Valorant, Smash, Fornite, Apex Legends and other fighting games. Luckily their female Valorant team found a new home with Moist Moguls for the rest of their contract. Counter Logic Gaming was founded in 2010 and has been a fundamental presence in the North American esports scene, their legacy lives on in NRG.

17 Gaming Claims Victory in Kuala Lumpur

PGS1 is the first international tournament of the 2023 PUBG season and the conclusion of the first phase. PGS1 invited 24 teams to compete in a LAN hosted in Kuala Lumpur. The tournament consisted of four phases; the Group Stage, Winner’s Bracket, Loser’s Bracket and the Grand Finals.

In the Group Stage, the 24 teams were divided into three groups of eight to find out who advances to Winner’s or Loser’s bracket. In the Group Stage, favorites 17 Gaming and Gen G underperformed and were forced into the Loser’s Bracket, while LAN rookies Exo Clan from Australia and Turkey’s Howl Esports sneak into Winner’s Bracket. Luminosity Gaming, the favorites out of North America, won the Group Stage handily with 126 points.

The next two phases, the Winner’s and Loser’s Bracket, the teams play for a spot in the Grand Finals with the Winner’s Bracket teams getting two chances to qualify. Defending World Champions Natus Vincere dominated the Winner’s Bracket by taking the top spot and were joined by Thailand’s Daytrade Gaming and Vietnam’s Cerberus Esports. In the Loser’s Bracket, partner teams Faze Clan and Petrichor Road struggled and missed out on the Grand Finals only by a handful of points. NewHappy, GEX and Exo Clan who were in the Winner’s Bracket continued their struggles in the lobby and also failed to qualify. Russia’s Twisted Minds and Luminosity Gaming who continued their roller coaster performance qualified at the top of the table.

At the Grand Finals, Korea’s Gen G and Ukraine’s Natus Vincere got off to a fast start each getting wins in the first day. North America even though all of their teams qualified for the Grand Finals failed to break into the top five with Luminosity, STK and Third Eye finishing at the bottom of the table. But it was China’s 17 Gaming who would come out on top. Recovering from a disappointing Group Stage, to claim a win in each of the three days of the Grand Finals, finishing with 157 points. Germany’s Acend Clan claimed second place followed by China’s Tianba, Danawa Esports from Korea and Russia’s Twisted Minds. 17 Gaming took home the Grand Prize of $80,000 and 200 PGS Points, which count towards qualifying for Worlds at the end of the year. The remaining prize money and PGS Points were divided with the rest of the 24 teams.

Karmine Corp Climb to the Top in San Diego

Taking place in San Diego, the Winter Major for the RLCS invites 16 teams from around the world to compete for the split championship. The tournament’s format involved a group stage followed by a single elimination playoff bracket.

In the Group Stage, even though tournament favorites Faze Clan started the tournament with a loss they still finished at the top of their group. Other group winners included Karmine Corp, Team Liquid and Complexity Gaming all of whom finished the group stage with undefeated records. The last place teams in each group who were also eliminated from the tournament included G1, Dignitas, APAC’s sole representative Gamin Gladiators and the Pioneers.

In the Playoffs, Faze Clan recovered from their slow start in the Group Stage by defeating Gen G 4 – 2 and fellow group winner Complexity 4 – 3 to punch a ticket to the finals. Karmine Corp’s road to the finals went through G2 Esports and fellow European team Team Liquid with both matches finishing with 4 – 2 scores. In the finals, Karmine Corp would come out on top with a 4 – 2 victory and claim Europe’s first major win of the competitive year. Karmine Corp takes home the $100,000 grand prize along with 40 RLCS points.

After two majors, including one first place finish, Karmine Corp has at minimum secured a spot in the Wildcard Stage of the World Championship and maintain their lead as Europe’s top team, with Team Liquid, Oxygen Esports and Moist Esports wrapping up the top four. Faze Clan although with a dominant performance throughout the split is only North America’s second-best team. Gen G still holds first place and also locked in a spot to the Wildcard round. Complexity Gaming and G2 Esports are third and fourth place respectively. With one split remaining before Worlds, several teams still have a chance to qualify.

Brazilian Underdogs w7m Esports Take the Gold at Blast Copenhagen

The first major for the Rainbow 6 competitive year took place in Copenhagen and was organized by BLAST. 24 teams from around the world qualified to compete for the $750,000 prize pool and SI Global Points. The major consisted of a play-in phase, a playoff phase and a finals phase.

In the double elimination play-in phase, the lower rank teams competed for a spot in the next round. Four teams to a group with the upper bracket consisting of a best of one showdown and the lower bracket consisting of a best of three. From Group A, Saudi Arabia’s Team Falcons play while the United Kingdom’s MNM Gaming comeback from an early defeat to claim the lower bracket spot. From Group B, North America’s Spacestation claimed the upper bracket while Brazil’s Ninjas in Pyjamas got revenge on Six Karma to win the lower bracket. From Group C, Soniqs from North America win the group with Reven Eclub from LATAM finished in second. Finally Group D had w7m of Brazil and Wolves Esports of France moved on to the next round.

In the playoff phase, the remaining 16 teams competed in a Swiss System format where the first eight teams to win 3 series will advance to the finals bracket. Faze Clan and w7m Esports were the fastest to reach 3 wins. They were followed by G2 Esports, the Soniqs, Ninja in Pyjamas, Team Liquid and SCARZ. The final spot came down between MNM Gaming and Russia’s Virtus Pro. Virtus Pro started the playoffs with two quick wins, however they choked away their lead after losing the two matches. MNM Gaming would go on to continue their comeback reputation in the tournament with a 2 – 0 victory over Virtus.

In the final bracket, w7m Esports continued their dominance from the playoff phase with only one game loss through their 3 matches. The other finalist Team Liquid defeated G2 Esports and Faze Clan to get to the finals but would go on to lose to w7m Esports 0 – 3. The first place prize for w7m Esports totaled to $207,000 and 350 SI points as well as the overall tournament MVP going to HerdsZ.

Gamin Gladiators Win Big in Berlin

The final major tournament of the month of April was the ESL One Major for DOTA 2 that took place in Berlin. 18 teams qualified from six regions around the world. The tournament’s format consisted of the group stage and the playoffs. The eighteen teams competed for $500,000 and 2,700 Pro Circuit points.

The round robin group stage featured two groups of nine teams where the top six teams of each group progressed to the next round. Eventual winners Gaimin Gladiators won the top spot in their group with 5 wins and 3 ties. In the bracket stage, Gaimin Gladiators went undefeated beating Team Spirit, OG and 9Pandas. Team Liquid, the other finalist, had a middling performance in the group stage and started the playoff in the lower bracket. Team Liquid then fought through the gauntlet of Xtreme Gaming, Team Aster, Tundra Esports, Evil Geniuses and 9Pandas. Gaimin Gladiators won the best of five series against Team Liquid with a score of 3 – 1 to claim the $200,000 grand prize and 500 DPC points.

Competitions in May

• DOTA 2 Pro Circuit (Regional Leagues): May 14 to June 5
• PUBG Asia Super Cup: May 17^th to May 28^th
• MSI 2023: May 2^nd to May 21^st
• Valorant Champions Tour: ending May 28^th
• Valorant Challengers Leagues: ending June 10^th
• Overwatch League Spring Stage: April 27^th to May 28^th
• Overwatch World Cup Wild Card Qualifiers: May 18^th
• BLAST Paris Major: May 8^th to May 21^st
• RLCS Spring Cup: May 12^th to May 21^st
• Pokemon Unite Championship Series May Finals: May 27^th
• CDL Stage 5 Major: May 25^th to May 28^th