by
Petar Vukobrat
in League of Legends | Apr, 19th 2021

Royal Never Give Up have outclassed FunPlus Phoenix en route to becoming the 2021 LPL Spring Split champions! This is also a welcome reminder of just how amazing the double-elimination format truly is — a fertile ground for the most mind-blowing redemption arcs and twists that’ll make your mouth water!

We’re just twelve days removed from FPX beating RNG in the upper half of the playoffs bracket so, in all fairness, this most recent result will surely come as a shock. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but that’s competitive League of Legends in a nutshell: it doesn’t always compute, and that’s partly why we love it so much. Then again, these are some of the best and most capable teams in the entire world — there’s really no reason why they wouldn’t be able to lick their wounds, go back to the drawing board, and mount a comeback. That’s precisely what RNG pulled off, and they made it look relatively easy too. 

Things didn’t start off that way, though. FunPlus Phoenix got the better of them in game one, and for a brief moment it looked like we were in for a bit of déjà vu. Fortunately for RNG, that was far from the case. Game two was equally as competitive, but RNG were ever so slightly quicker to react. They rotated more often and found the right picks at the most crucial of moments. Yuan “Cryin” Cheng-Wei’s incredible Ryze and Shi “Ming” Sen-Ming’s roaming allowed RNG to turn the tides and even the score. 

The fourth and final game started off in much the same fashion: a blunder in the top lane and two quick kills for RNG. By the eleven-minute mark, this perennial LPL giant had basically sealed the deal, and closing things out was merely a formality. It took them less than twenty-two minutes to topple the former World Champions and lock down a spot at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational!

In the end, their incredible regular season run wasn’t just a fluke but rather an indication of their overall strength and long-term potential. Still, they’ll need all the hype and momentum they can get if they intend on trading blows with DWG KIA — the most dominant team the world of competitive LoL has to offer. 

Needless to say, the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational can’t come soon enough!

Coinsmart. Beste Bitcoin-Börse in Europa
Source: https://www.esportstalk.com/news/royal-never-give-up-topple-funplus-phoenix-to-become-2021-lpl-spring-split-champions/

by
Petar Vukobrat
in League of Legends | Apr, 19th 2021

Here’s an unexpected bit of news: Felix “Abbedagge” Braun (formerly of Schalke 04) has just been signed by 100 Thieves! This, in short, is quite a surprise! Now, we knew that 100T were looking for a new mid laner, but no one expected Abbedagge to be the one getting the nod and moving across the Atlantic! As expected, Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho finally becoming a resident has allowed 100 Thieves to truly scour the globe and find the perfect player for the job.

Back when this talented German mid laner joined the LEC, he was quite a flawed performer. His highs were impressive, but he mostly became known for his tendency to misposition and engage without thinking twice (almost always to the detriment of his team). This, in turn, meant he quickly accrued a staggering number of isolated deaths. Now, that’s not exactly what anyone wants to be known for (to say the least). That’s the sort of grim statistic that can easily overshadow the rest of your gameplay and stick around for the rest of your career.

Fortunately, last year’s transition to an online-only format “unlocked” Abbedagge in the most mind-blowing of ways. Heck, we’re still baffled at the whole transformation. He went from being a solid mid-tier gatekeeper to a bona fide mid lane titan. It was a night and day difference, really, and he was able to maintain such a staggering level of play throughout this most recent split as well. By and large, he was the most important player over at Schalke 04 and a key factor in their historic miracle run as well.

But is he a good enough fit for 100 Thieves?

We’ll have to wait a bit before we get an answer to that oh-so-interesting question but, by the looks of it, all signs are pointing towards a tremendous “yes!” Abbedagge is the kind of mid laner you want by your side if you’re going up against Luka “Perkz” Perković, Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen, Tristran “PowerOfEvil” Schrage, and others. Abbedagge is more than talented enough to trade blows and even win out from time to time. What more could you ask for?

Coinsmart. Beste Bitcoin-Börse in Europa
Source: https://www.esportstalk.com/news/100-thieves-have-a-new-mid-laner-abbedagge/

Beyond the Summit has opened registration for the open qualifiers for cs_summit 8 Online, the first Regional Major Ranking (RMR) event in North America. The tournament will run from May 14-30 and award points towards the RMR leaderboard, which will be used to determine the teams attending the PGL Major Stockholm in October.

Two teams will advance from each open qualifier, scheduled for May 1-2 and May 8-9, and will meet invited teams in closed stage, set to run from May 14-18 as part of the broadcast’s “main event”.

Both open qualifiers will utilise single-elimination best-of-one brackets leading up to the quarter-finals, with the top-eight and top-four match-ups using a best-of-three format to decide the two teams that advance.

The dates for the cs_summit 8 qualifiers are as follows:

Open Qualifier #1: 1-2 May – Signup
Open Qualifier #2: 8-9 May – Signup

Closed Qualifier: 14-18 May

The RMR standings for North America, taking into account lineup changes from the previous season and their resulting point deductions, are as follows:

1-2. FURIA – 480 points
1-2. EXTREMUM – 480 points
3. Evil Geniuses – 360 points
4. Liquid – 240 points

Coinsmart. Beste Bitcoin-Börse in Europa
Source: https://www.hltv.org/news/31592/registration-goes-live-for-cs-summit-8-qualifiers

by
Cody Perez
in Apex Legends | Apr, 19th 2021

It is finally time for the beginning of the beta for Apex Legends Mobile. The mobile version of the popular battle royale game is finally coming soon and we have the first details about when and how you will be able to play it. Unfortunately, it comes down to the Apex Legends Mobile Beta regions. 

The first details for the beta have been revealed and it looks like it is coming much sooner than we expected. Respawn Entertainment is finally ready to talk about this mobile port and everything that is surrounding it. This is great since the developer has been pretty tight-lipped about the situation. 

Thus far, we have only been able to get news about the beta and everything through the other playtesters and those who have insider info. Thankfully, the beta is confirmed and we know how even the Apex Legends Mobile Beta regions will work and all. 

This new version of the game is being considered as something built from the ground up for mobile devices. This means that it has been designed, specifically, for touchscreen controls and smaller screens. In this way, the controls are streamlined to allow for players to easily play there. 

In addition, there are some meaningful optimizations made to this version of the game to ensure that this is the “most advanced battle royale combat available on a phone.” That is a bold claim from Respawn and we will have to wait and see for now. 

There are no video clips shown officially yet for the mobile version but we do know some about this version from the screenshots that have been shared. It does look like the overall detail for the game is less than before as expected, but it isn’t so bad that it is extremely noticeable. 

It does look decently good and the characters themselves are alright, but they do seem to be the ones who have taken the most hits when it comes to the look of them. Lastly, Respawn made it clear that this version is a “new version” entirely but one that stays true to the original so keep that in mind. This tells us that it is likely a PUBG Mobile versus PUBG proper type of situation. 

As for the start of the beta testing for this mobile iteration, there are only some Apex Legends Mobile Beta regions that will be included. At this time, it looks like the beta will be extremely limited as it will only be available to two regions in particular. 

The only places where players will be able to check out the beta are India and the Philippines, and that is literally it. If you don’t live in one of those two places, you are not guaranteed a chance to check out the mobile release of the game ahead of time. 

While this might be frustrating, this is the sort of thing that most major mobile releases like this one will do. When it comes to huge online multiplayer games, there are a lot of unknowns and issues that can spring up when a lot of players are checking it out. 

As such, mobile releases will typically have a beta test like this one that is limited to specific regions. Those regions are usually less populated and more focused than larger places like the United States and China, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here. 

Both India and the Philippines are highly populated areas, with India, in particular, having a growing and thriving group of gamers there. But I can see why it was included in the initial Apex Legends Mobile Beta regions as battle royale games have been met with controversy over the last year. 

PUBG Mobile is famous for not being available in that country anymore and Tencent has yet to come up with a permanent solution to this. It seems that, hopefully, EA and Respawn have figured out a way to make the Apex Legends Mobile game be allowed in India, which is great news for players there. 

It almost feels like this is a direct attack against PUBG Mobile as it seems that Apex Legends Mobile is being touted as the true competitor to that title on mobile after the loss of Fortnite for many mobile devices. 

For those of you who are in the Philippines and India, and are interested in checking out this mobile iteration for yourself, you won’t actually have to wait too much longer. Unfortunately, a beta release date has not been revealed yet but it really isn’t far away at all. 

Though no release date has been set, Respawn has already revealed that it will begin later this month. Given that we are currently more than halfway through the month already, we imagine that it is likely beginning either this week or the next; the next being more likely since we imagine a release date would have already been announced if it was this week. 

That is very soon and that means that we should start seeing footage of the mobile version in action in the coming weeks. Though beta testers are many times required to agree to terms that they won’t share footage publicly, this is something that inevitably happens anyway so stay tuned for that soon. 

As for the number of players who will be allowed into the beta test for Apex Legends Mobile, it is only going to be a very limited set of players. In total, Respawn is noting that only a few thousand players in India and the Philippines will be allowed to check it out at first. 

Now, is that a few thousand players per country or altogether with both of them combined? Either way, it seems that the beta test will be severely limited for the time being. 

Here is where things get important for those of you who are not interested in the Apex Legends Mobile Beta might be wondering how this affects the main battle royale game on PC and consoles. As mentioned, these titles are being treated as different beings entirely. 

Being that it is being built specially for mobile devices, this means that it will not have crossplay with the console and PC versions of Apex Legends. This is a bit surprising since the Nintendo Switch version that recently came out also has crossplay with the PlayStation, Xbox, and PC versions. 

It was thought that the mobile iteration would follow in the steps of Fortnite and have crossplay in some way, but it seems that it is going more the route of PUBG Mobile in this case. It will be free-to-play as well, though, matching the big brother counterpart of this mobile version. 

It will never include items that will give a gameplay advantage to those who purchase them. What is interesting, though, is that it won’t necessarily have the same items as the PC and console Apex Legends. It will have a unique battle pass and selection of cosmetics that are different from what we’ve seen thus far. 

Again, this is something that is similar to that of PUBG Mobile in which we saw some cosmetic items released for that game but not the PUBG proper. Hopefully, though, Apex Legends Mobile will not get the best items like in that situation or crossovers with pop culture that don’t show up in the main game. 

To answer the question of whether or not Respawn itself is working on this mobile iteration, it actually is. There is a team at Respawn dedicated to Apex Legends Mobile that is filled with experts on mobile game development who are leading the creation of this port. 

It is being coordinated with other partners, which is likely Tencent from what we have heard in the past about this mobile port. Thankfully, this should mean that it is a separate team at Respawn so you shouldn’t have to worry about this game taking away from the main game on PC and consoles. 

Being that this is Apex Legends Mobile, it is inevitably coming to both Android and iOS devices. However, when it comes to the mobile beta, though, that isn’t the case for now. It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise but this is only happening for Android for now. 

This means that iOS players, even those in India and the Philippines where the beta is happening, will have to wait some time before they are able to jump in and check it out. Fortunately, Respawn has already noted that iOS support is coming down the road as the beta expands more. 

Speaking of the beta expanding, it is not going to stay this limited forever. There are already plans for this to be the first of several beta tests this year. As the testing continues, the size of the test will be expanded, more regions will be added, and the aforementioned iOS support will arrive. 

Then, when it is time for the game to go even broader than that, there will be a page that will allow for players to pre-register for the game and sign up for news about the future betas. This gives us a decent timeline for what is coming in the near future for Apex Legends Mobile. 

It seems that the tests will get bigger first, then more regions will be introduced, and then there will be at least one iOS beta test of some kind. After that, it is likely that the game will launch into an open beta or a full release of some kind where probably everyone who wants to play it can check it out. 

However, we have no idea the timing of when these different steps will happen but we do know that the mobile game is still aiming to release this year, so it should all happen rather quickly. Even if your particular region is not included in any of the closed beta tests, an open release is on the way. 

Finally, there is the matter of the first closed beta for Apex Legends Mobile. Will you be able to get in when it starts, even if you don’t live in the Philippines or India? This is something that is currently unknown as the beta has not yet started in those countries. 

But something that we have found in the past is that closed betas in certain regions were able to be accessed by anyone around the world through the use of APK files and VPNs. This happened in the past with games like Pokemon Go and others. 

There is a chance that you will be able to find the APK file for the beta test on Android uploaded by someone once it starts. You would then need to download it from a reputable source and be sure to install a VPN to show that you are playing from that particular country. 

But this is not guaranteed to work. With the limited nature of the beta test, it could be limited to the first few thousand players or the download links could be limited to only one user, so others will not be able to share it. Or, there could even be an account system where only certain approved accounts can log in and play it. 

But we will know more information about how the closed beta will work and if you can possibly access it from afar in the near future once the actual test begins in the Philippines and India. 

Coinsmart. Beste Bitcoin-Börse in Europa
Source: https://www.esportstalk.com/news/apex-legends-mobile-beta-regions-revealed-how-to-get-in/