August 29th, 2022

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Welcome back for year 2 of EzReadz! Starting off hot with another volatile off-season for rosters across several esports and boxing (Thank you 'Temperrr' for giving us another great fight)…check it all out below!

- Thomas and Chris

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In today's edition:

• CSGO: Blast Fall Series Wrap-Up
• Valorant: Champions Awaken
• Call of Duty: The End of the FaZe Dynasty
• Halo Infinite: FaZe Down
• Top/Bottom Frag
• Upcoming Events
• Tweets of the week
• The Esports Archive

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CSGO: Blast Fall Series Wrap-Up

• Blast Premier wrapped up, here are the results:
  • 1st-3rd (Finals):
    • Navi, Liquid, and OG. Liquid and OG are incredible. After picking up players from the CIS region, both have found a great new form. Navi is still awesome as always and 'S1mple' doesn't have two bad games in a row so any team that choked, isn't going to get another chance.
  • 4th-6th (Finals):
    • FaZe, NIP, and G2. FaZe did not come back from the break in form. Struggling to beat smaller teams, they still show absolute clutch potential down the line with their lineup and have that grit to stay in the fight. NIP struggled immensely this tournament and pulling out victories with a lineup that seems stale is impressive. G2 had the biggest changes but at least they pulled off victories with a stellar performance from 'm0nesy' and despite all the jokes, 'Hooxi' didn't frag up to expectations but definitely kept their heads screwed on straight.
  • 7th-9th (Showdown):
    • Vitality, Heroic, and Astralis. Vitality supposedly won the offseason with the pickup of 'Spinx' to replace 'misutaaa' but failed to qualify for the finals. 'Zywoo' and 'Spinx' both stepped up in every series which is a good sign but 'dupreeh' and 'apex' struggled to find much impact. They need some work. Astralis doesn't matter because 'Farlig' is not a good AWPer for the world class players they have. With rumors that 'dev1ce' might come back, that would be huge for them to pickup but at least they qualified for the RMR. Heroic is in terrible form but at least 'jabbi' shows lots of promise.
  • 10th-12th (Showdown):
    • EG, Complexity, and BIG. Complexity is the only team here with any sort of potential from what we saw. 'Hallzerk' was a phenomenal pickup and the rest of the lads had really good series. I actually like the new look EG and even though they bottomed out (played with a stand-in for groups), they barely lost to NIP who qualified for the finals. Look to see 'Hext' and 'NeaLan' grow into their roles and this team could be dangerous.
• Astralis survived the RMR open qualifiers along with GamerLegion (full of stand-ins and potential signings), SAW, HEET, 1Win, and 'smooya's' very own Benched Heroes.
• ESL Pro League Season 16 starts this week with an alarmingly stacked Group A:
  • Natus Vincere
  • NIP
  • Vitality
  • Fnatic
  • Spirit
  • Endpoint

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Valorant: Champions Awaken

• As promised from last week, here are the group predictions:
• Group A:
  • 1st: Paper Rex
  • 2nd: Team Liquid
  • 3rd: EDG
  • 4th: Leviatan
• Group B:
  • 1st: OpTic Gaming
  • 2nd: LOUD
  • 3rd: ZETA
  • 4th: BOOM
• Group C:
  • 1st: FPX
  • 2nd: XSET
  • 3rd: KRU
  • 4th: Xerxia
• Group D:
  • 1st: Fnatic
  • 2nd: 100T
  • 3rd: DRX
  • 4th: Furia
• Action starts this week, so keep your eyes peeled for the first rounds of the groups.

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Call of Duty: The End of the FaZe Dynasty

• ​FaZe drop 'Arcitys' and pick up 'Slasher'​

After a string of cryptic tweets from 'Arcitys' last week, FaZe ultimately traded the winningest player in COD history (by $ earned) to the LA Guerrillas for long-time vet 'SlasheR'. Overall this a net negative move for FaZe Clan, but after a disappointing Vanguard season a change was expected. We expect FaZe to come back in MWII motivated as ever to take back the throne but we need to wait and see how this new roster will perform.

• ​LA Guerillas sign 'Arcitys', 'Spart', 'Neptune' and 'Huke'

This roster is questionable to say the least. 'Arcitys' and 'Huke' are proven talents who will continue to perform at the top level; however 'Spart' and 'Neptune' have yet to play a full season. The two young subs were benched several times during Vanguard and lacked any sort of consistency when they were given the opportunity. Reports expressed the team has great chemistry but we will have to see how that holds up when adversity strikes early on.

• ​Minnesota ROKKR sign 'Attach', 'Bance', 'Afro', and 'Cammy'​

Overall massive roster improvement for the ROKKR. 'Cammy', 'Afro' and 'Attach' are some of the best players at their position, coupled with the veteran experience of Bance, this should be a title contending roster in MWII.

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"Dillon will be the main AR, 'Cammy' as a flex as a top 3 in the position right off the top, 'Afro' as a top SND talent is a focal point for the team and Ben will be there to teach fundamentals on this SMG pair. We have all the roles and flexibility we need for anything MWII throws at us." - Loony, Røkkr Coach

• ​FaZe release 'Prestinni'​
• ​'Crimsix' has no offers for this upcoming season (he'll come back during the midseason shuffle, we predict)
• ​OpTic is exploring options to offload 'Sender' from the coaching staff​
• ​'PaulEhx' says the only teams interested in him are the Ravens and Legion​
• Mutineers roster rumored to be 'Vikul', 'Nastie', 'Gismo', and 'MajorManiak'
• The Boston Breach roster is rumored to be 'Methodz', 'Nero', 'Vivid', and 'Owakening'

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Halo Infinite: FaZe Down

• ​Snip3down leaves FaZe Clan:
  • Suddenly over the weekend, Snip3down announced his departure from FaZe Halo, citing an unfavorable team environment despite individual talent. In a stream on Saturday night, Snip3down mentioned he was unhappy with the negative vibes on the team and had no interest in competing with the current roster. He announced he will not be retiring from Halo but instead will return to Apex for the time being unless another opportunity arises.
• ​Pistola retiring from Halo?​
  • Monumental day for the Halo scene…One of the most unique FPS styles we have ever had the privilege to watch…Best of luck Ola!
• ​G1 win the open Series again!​
• ​Spacestation release their entire roster and have shown interest in HCS Mexico City champions, Pittsburg Knights​
• ​Kansas City Pioneers former roster is set to be picked up by Native Gaming (N8V) ahead of Orlando​

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Top / Bottom Frag

• Top Frag: What the hell is this from 'broky'....unreal 1v4​
• Bottom Frag: FaZe Temperr gets knocked out by Slim​

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Upcoming/ongoing events:

• August 29 - September 14: Valorant Champions
• August 31 - October 2nd: ESL Pro League Season 16
• September 23 - 25: HCS Orlando

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Tweets of the week:

• ​According to 'Temp', Legion only have four people in the franchise and he is one of them.​
• ​Ranked doubles is now LIVE in Halo Infinite​
• ​'Clayster' speaks on his buyout prices over the years​
• ​100 Thieves is on top of the world right now​

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The Esports Archive

'Shox' missed out on this upcoming major, breaking a 17 Major streak. Here he is at the first major!​

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Round 11:

Sincerely, thank you all for reading our newsletter. We would love feedback from you all on what you liked and what you are looking for in future issues. Please fill out this survey below and share with your friends if you have the time. It would mean a lot.

Best,

- Thomas and Chris

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