Dota 2 - Valve
- Fixed the display of particles in the portrait window.
- Fixed Shadow Fiend's Demon Eater (Arcana) steaming while in the river.
- Fixed Juggernaut's Bladeform Legacy - Origins style hero icons for pre-game and the courier button.
- Improved threading configuration for AMD Ryzen processors.
- Workshop: Increased head slot minimum budget for several heroes.
Counter-Strike - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Graham Smith)

I’ve been a member of many games communities over the years – clans, guilds, forums – but the one I remember most fondly was a server.

… [visit site to read more]

Dota 2 - Ward


Today the Juggernaut receives a new 'Origins' style for his Bladeform Legacy Arcana. Score ten kills with Omnislash to unlock this second form. With a new gem counter and overhead effect that track your total Omnislash kills, you can watch your tally increase in each battle as the Juggernaut's mask burns with the energy of the fallen.

This update includes the release of Player Cards for The Kiev Major. Head into the Compendium section of your Battle Pass to unwrap your cards and start planning Fantasy Challenge rosters. You can also add Player Cards to your Dota 2 profile to show off your favorites.
Dota 2 - Ward


Today the Juggernaut receives a new 'Origins' style for his Bladeform Legacy Arcana. Score ten kills with Omnislash to unlock this second form. With a new gem counter and overhead effect that track your total Omnislash kills, you can watch your tally increase in each battle as the Juggernaut's mask burns with the energy of the fallen.

This update includes the release of Player Cards for The Kiev Major. Head into the Compendium section of your Battle Pass to unwrap your cards and start planning Fantasy Challenge rosters. You can also add Player Cards to your Dota 2 profile to show off your favorites.
Dota 2 - Valve
* Bonus Tower Armor based on nearby enemies is now shown in the HUD only to the attacking team
* Fixed an Earth Spirit lane pull abuse
* Improved server region auto detection
Counter-Strike 2

It’s a busy weekend in the world of electronic sports and it’s not just League of Legends that aims to have fans excited. There’s plenty of action from the CS:GO at StarLadder to the Rocket League: Championship Series. We even have the Hearthstone: Trinity Series finals to look forward to. All the details on this weekend’s events can be found below.

League of Legends: 2017 EU LCS Spring Split

Week seven of the EU LCS was crucial for the bottom-placed teams and Origen was desperate to pick up their first victory of the season. However, Roccat managed to win key team fights and after a messy back-and-forth game the series went to them. Technical difficulties came up during the Team Vitality vs Giants series and game two had to be replayed due to an Orianna bug. This break unhinged the Giants and Vitality took the victory despite losing a game. Meanwhile, the top teams also had to play each other this week, and H2k remained on top form in their game against Misfits, and Unicorns of Love managed to dominate Fnatic after a game-changing team fight in game two. G2 Esports are still the team to beat and we’ll see if anyone has what it takes to topple them as we enter week eight of play. This week’s schedule and stream can be found over on LoL Esports.

League of Legends: 2017 NA LCS Spring Split

Phoenix1 had another great week and they decimated FlyQuest in both games, and now they’re only two wins away from rivalling Cloud9 for second place. Echo Fox’s series against Team Dignitas was very close, but in the final game jungler Chaser and mid-laner Keane managed to take complete control of the map and applied pressure until Echo Fox crumbled. Team Liquid made changes to their roster once again, but despite adding Doublelift to their line-up they couldn’t quite takedown Cloud9. However, they did manage to win an extremely close game against Envy after a securing Baron. Meanwhile, TSM had a very shaky week which saw them drop two games against both Envy and Immortals, but they did eventually pull through and win both matches. The competition continues to heat up as we enter week eight of play and all teams will be looking to climb the competitive ladder. The full schedule and stream can be found over on LoL Esports.

CS:GO: StarLadder i-League Season 3

The American and European playoffs are taking place this weekend and only the top two teams from each bracket will secure a place in the LAN finals. G2 Esports and Space Soldiers are kicking things off in Europe today at 08:00 PDT / 16:00 CET, while Cloud9 and Renegades clash in America much later at 18:00 PDT / 02:00 CET. With $300,000 up for grabs you can bet that every team will go in guns blazing, and there’s sure to be plenty of high-octane action. The schedule and stream for both playoffs can be found here.

Rocket League: Championship Series

The 16 teams that will be competing in the Rocket League Championship Series over the next six weeks have been decided. There was a big upset in Europe as PENTA Sports will once again miss out on league play after falling 1-3 to RedEye and losing to Mockit eSports in the loser’s bracket. Another surprise was delivered by ZentoX who fought their way through the lower bracket to claim the last available spot in league play. Meanwhile, in North America Radiance managed to take down both Iris and Atelier for the first spot, but the biggest surprise came when Iris was knocked out by Selfless. Make sure you check out RLCS official Twitter handle to receive the latest schedule times and streams.

Hearthstone: Trinity Series

The top four teams from the online portion of the Trinity Series will be participating in the live finals this Saturday. There’s a $150,000 prize pool up for grabs, and the tournament will be hosted at ESL Studios in Burbank, California. So far Team Liquid is the favourite team to secure a place at the final, but the competition is looking extremely close and every player will need to be at the top of their game if they want to take home the title. The upper bracket finals and lower bracket semifinal starts today at 10:00 PDT / 18:00 CET, while the lower bracket finals and grand finals start the same time tomorrow. The official stream can be found over on Twitch.

Heroes of the Storm: Eastern Clash

The top Heroes of the Storm teams from China, Korea, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan will clash in order to crown the best team in Asia. Matches will be played in a double-elimination format and there’s expected to be rivalries between China and Korea, especially between organisations like MVP Black and eStar Gaming. With $100,000 on the line and a chance to claim bragging rights over Asia the Eastern Clash is expected to deliver an action-packed weekend. The full schedule and stream can be found over on heroesofthestorm.com.

Dota 2 - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Alice O'Connor)

Jakiro from Dota 2 [official site], once thought to be the world’s most popular flying plastic bag since that one in American Beauty, has been revealed as a two-headed dragon. Valve yesterday pumped out a Dota 2 update which included the long-promised new model for the support character(s), which makes clear that Jakiro are actually a dragon and not a burst bin bag. Who knew! The new Jakiro mostly follows the same concept, though Blue Head’s cute beard o’ barbels has become a jawline so stern even Judge Dredd would envy it. Update v7.03 also brought a fair few balance tweaks, and one of those mega-expensive ‘Arcana’ cosmetic sets for Juggernaut. … [visit site to read more]

Counter-Strike 2 - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Alice O'Connor)

Italy is a hotbed of international terrorism in Valve’s Counterverse. The level Italy sees terrorists take market stallholders hostage so they can kill their chickens and destroy their watermelons, the revamped Inferno relocated to Italy, and now Counter-Strike: Global offensive [official site] has added a map set in an off-brand Venice. The new map, Canals, arrived in an update last night. It’s a pleasant slice of city, with plenty of canals, floating rubbish, and ornate architecture — some of which is targeted by terrorists. They really do have it in for Italy. … [visit site to read more]

Counter-Strike 2

Valve has just announced a brand new addition to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's map line-up. Dubbed 'Canals', the map is based on an "historic Italian city" and is based on "real-world environments". The map's existence first came to light last year when players found references to "canals" in the game files. Now, it's finally here.

"The CT side is composed of a large, wide open area while the T-controlled territory forms a crescent of smaller spaces around it and provides multiple approaches to each bomb site."

The description continues: "While the map is based on a real-world location, the aesthetics are intentionally clean and uncluttered for good player visibility. In addition, many of the environmental models are built in a modular fashion so they can be easily re-used by community map makers." For a full detailed rundown on some of the design decisions, click on over here.

A few more pics:

The update will also usher in a visual upgrade to the Phoenix Terrorist player model, with the aim of "preserving character legibility and improving overall visual fidelity". Finally, there's also a new Spectrum Case containing 17 new weapon finishes designed by the community.

Dota 2 - Ward


Today, the mask is unveiled. Juggernaut's Arcana is now available. Featuring a custom Dragon Spirit ancestor and all-new animations and effects, the Bladeform Legacy marks a new chapter for the wandering warrior from the Isle of Masks.

In patch news, this release includes a new Captains Mode interface, a redesigned model for Jakiro, the 7.03 gameplay update, and various improvements to game performance. Head over to The Bladeform Legacy Update page for more information on all of the changes.

To celebrate today's update, this weekend's Battle Cup is free to all players. You don't need an entry ticket or a Battle Pass—just party up and join the queue by your local start time to answer the call to glory.
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