leading podcasts & integrations engineering at @beehiiv • husband, pet dad, & amateur pitmaster • award-winning investigative reporter • fmr @espn, @dotesports
Austin, TX
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In that case, that sounds like a really insecure partner and that there are bigger issues to address.
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In the buyout agreement for Perkz this time last year, @G2esports and @Cloud9 agreed to put a clause that would prevent @C9Perkz from moving to @FNATIC for the next three years.
Despite that, Riot Global found it's caused no harm to Perkz's prospects.
dotesports.com/league-of-leg…
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Sources: @Cloud9 have made verbal commitments to both @G2esports and @G2Perkz to acquire the Croatian mid laner from the #LEC championship team.
A deal cannot be finalized in writing until Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. ET, but both teams were able to come to terms on Thursday.
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Statement from me and @AshleyKang regarding Riot's interactions with med ia around #Worlds2021.
Text version: medium.com/@Brayll/statement…
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Cody coming out of journalism retirement with the biggest story in gaming of the past few years.
I’m so glad we at ESPN never acquiesced to Dr DisRespect’s PR people’s bullshit by giving him a softball interview — where they requested we not ask about it — in summer 2021.
He got banned because got caught sexting a minor in the then existing Twitch whispers product. He was trying to meet up with her at TwitchCon. The powers that be could read in plain text.
Case closed, gang.
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Sources: @FNATIC will sign @YamatoMebdi as their new head coach, marking his return to coaching in Europe ahead of the 2021 season.
In 2020, YamatoCannon became the first Westerner to coach a League of Legends team in South Korea when he joined SANDBOX Gaming.
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Sources: @S04Esports are signing @FORG1VENGRE, who will return to pro play after the completion of his military service. The team has also extended @OdoamneLoL.
es.pn/2XtLq7f
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BREAKING: The majority of @overwatchleague teams have hired a British law firm to collectively bargain against Activision Blizzard amid growing frustrations around operation costs, lackluster viewership and a distinct lack of a path to profitability.
jacobwolf.report/p/overwatch…
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Today was my final day at ESPN, as I requested to be let go early. Thank you to all my colleagues for everything the past four and a half years.
I've got some Wolf bombs 🐺💣 of my own up my sleeve. Stay tuned.
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Sources: @PowerOfEvilLoL notified @TSM Tuesday that he will sign with the team as their new mid laner at the opening of the League of Legends Free Agency window on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. ET.
PowerOfEvil chose TSM over @EvilGeniuses, who have been aggressive in the mid lane market.
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Sources: @TeamLiquid are working to finalize a deal that will send @TLDoublelift back to his former team @TSM.
espn.com/esports/story/_/id/…
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.@G2esports and @G2Perkz have been actively engaging the past two weeks with six different teams — Cloud9, Evil Geniuses, 100 Thieves, TSM, Team Vitality and Misfits — sources told me. Cloud9 are his desired destination, on an #LCS record-setting proposed salary, but... (cont)
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“Always been my consistent target…”
I’ve known Carlos for eight years. He doesn’t talk or type this way. PR person looking out.
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Sources: @FNATIC are expected to complete an one-year contract extension with support @FNCHylissang, marking his return to the team after an impressive #Worlds2020 performance.
Now the big elephant in the room for Fnatic: re-signing Rekkles, who will become a free agent Monday.
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Per @Esportmaniacos & @lequipe: @FNATIC will buy out @Nisqylol from his @Cloud9 contract and sign the Belgian mid laner to a new deal with their team come Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. ET.
Nisqy will replace Nemesis, who will also be available for buyout this offseason.
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Over a period of two years, Brandfluence — then known as Softgiving — quietly collected 42 percent of donations from some of Twitch's most-watched charity streams, public tax records show.
My latest with @ByHunterCooke: jacobwolf.report/p/charity-p…
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As reported on the show: @TSM are finalizing a buyout agreement with @EvilGeniuses for top laner @Huni, sources told me.
Huni will replace Broken Blade as the top laner of the dynastic North American franchise.
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I'm excited to announce my return to @DotEsports as their Chief Reporter & Investigative Lead.
I'm coming home.
Read More: medium.com/@Brayll/im-coming…
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“I hope the negotiations go well,” he says, as he destroys any vestige of leverage his peers had (which wasn’t much in the first place).
Just watched Doublelift’s video on the #LCS Walk out
The most popular player in the league just publicly said that the asks from the LCSPA weren’t the right way of coming to the table and if it comes to cancelling the split or playing, he’s playing
Yeah… this situation is over
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Sources: @FlyQuest are getting @deftlylol as part of their deal for IgNar to @EvilGeniuses. Deftly is not the for sure starter.
But the bigger news: FlyQuest will also be acquiring @Josedeodo from Rainbow7. A buyout for the LATAM jungler is verbally agreed to.
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Got blocked because I retweeted his incorrect reporting.
Rich that someone can't take the heat when he stood by—online and in person—and watched his colleagues, including yours truly, get shit on by fans and Riot unjustly for reporting.
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I may not always be first to a piece of news but I hope people understand the reason I tend to be cautious. When I call sources, I ask about all the plausible outcomes — how deals can be broken, the risk of reporting affecting it, etc.
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Decision made.
Former T1 Challengers AD carry Berserker will join @Cloud9, rounding out the lineup with three players who competed in Korea's primary and secondary leagues, according to sources.
dotesports.com/league-of-leg…
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SHOW: SAVED...
PRODUCTION: CALIBRATED...
JACOB WOLF: EVI⅃...
WE'RE BACK. 🐺💣
Nov. 16 | 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT
twitch.tv/EvilGeniuses
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Sources: @Cloud9 are finalizing terms with former Team SoloMid AD carry @LoLZven, league sources told ESPN. Zven will join @Vulcanlol in Cloud9's new bottom lane.
es.pn/2KzA2Sa
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If my educated guess is correct, SwordArt will be the highest paid player in the #LCS, even more than Perkz — although I don't think Perkz is that far behind.
Kind of crazy we went from Impact being the highest paid at ~$1.2 mil/yr to two players making give or take $3 mil/yr.
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.@TSM has signed a 10-year, $210 million naming rights deal with cryptocurrency exchange @FTX_Official.
H/T @nytimes / @Kellen_Browning
dotesports.com/news/tsm-sign…
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Hello Games after their disastrous "No Man's Sky" launch: it can't get much worse than this, right?
CD Projekt Red: Hold my beer.
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Just when you think it couldn’t get any worse: r/LeagueofLegends is deleting all reported roster moves, including @ESPN reports, and aggregating them into a megathread. Only official announcements get their own threads.
This is very frustrating and dangerous.
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Sources: Two separate deals between @TSM and @EvilGeniuses — one that would send @Lost_adc to @EvilGeniuses, and another for @Huni to join TSM, both agreed to verbally Monday night — may be in jeopardy as TSM's roster is uncertain, particularly around Doublelift's future.
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Logged into my League account today and it says I've been "permanently suspended."
I've not had a behavior warning in eight years. I've literally just been playing TFT and ARAM and only time I use chat is to "?" when someone does something dumb or to talk strategy. @RiotSupport
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Sources: @G2esports is hiring @RomainBigeard away from the @LEC biz dev team to become its new League of Legends general manager.
He's got a monumental task ahead of him: to rebuild a G2 roster with two players and very little staff.
dotesports.com/league-of-leg…
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Sources: @Immortals are finalizing terms with @Xmithie, putting an end to the biggest free agent pursuit of the North American 2020 offseason.
es.pn/2XvqyN8
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Went on a Starbucks run this afternoon and met something unexpected. This poor baby kitten. Gonna try to keep it alive until I can give to @austinpetsalive.
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.@Santorin will sign an one-year agreement with @TeamLiquid on Monday at 7 p.m. ET, rounding out the all-star #LCS lineup, sources told me. @TravisGafford first.
Liquid is one of the first @LCSOfficial rosters to be finalized this offseason.
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Sources: @EvilGeniuses will acquire the League of Legends Championship Series slot previously owned by @echofoxgg after being selected by Riot Games as the league's newest member.
Evil Geniuses return to League of Legends for the first time since Sept. 10, 2014.
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Sources: @TeamLiquid are nearing a multi-year deal with former Origen top laner @Alphari that is worth more than $1 million per year.
espn.com/esports/story/_/id/…
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Sources: @MADLions_EN has accused @G2esports of tampering and in a recent owners' meeting, called for a vote that passed 8-2 asking the #LEC to push Riot Global for rule revisions.
Riot tells @DotEsports that it has not received a formal complaint.
dotesports.com/league-of-leg…
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Sources: @TeamLiquid is all but signed — the team will sign free agents @Bjergsen and @Bwipo, and buy out @Hanssama tomorrow.
The team is also retaining @SupportEyla in the event CoreJJ doesn't get a green card in time for the 2022 #LCS.
dotesports.com/league-of-leg…
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I've not been wrong in five years and if I ever am, I'll own it. Because I'd rather be right than first.
I may be a little strict sometimes on what comes out of my mouth but I accept the responsibility of the things I say and I hope people appreciate that.
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Someone needs to pull the ethernet cable from Valkyrae's computer right now. I feel really bad for her, but this stream should've been a 5-to-10 minute video explaining what she was told, what actually happened, what she knew, and an apology. That's it.
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Sources: @EvilGeniuses will acquire @IgNarLoL from @FlyQuest once League of Legends Free Agency opens this evening. @Esportmaniacos first.
First big move of the offseason for Evil Geniuses, who are expected to make others in short order tonight.
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When I got kicked out of the Worlds 2016 venue while reporting out the ROX Tigers story, you'll never guess which "journalist" (he called himself that back then) was buddy-buddy with the Riot PR people who made that decision.
Fuck out of here with that shit.
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Honestly, if you're 21 years old and you're offered $1 million+ per year, are you going to say no? Can't really blame Alphari here, honestly. This career is finite and he's at his peak value. Even if he was the highest paid player in the #LEC, he'd still be $200-300,000 lower.
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Chiming in on this bit:
There is zero reason for anyone reporting on this to post a screenshot of the website containing those deepfakes. It's just making it worse.
In your reporting, you can very simply describe the website without advertising exploitation of these women.
I want to scream.
Stop.
Everybody fucking stop. Stop spreading it. Stop advertising it. Stop.
Being seen “naked” against your will should NOT BE A PART OF THIS JOB.
Thank you to all the male internet “journalists” reporting on this issue. Fucking losers @HUN2R
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.@G2Perkz and @G2Caps will officially swap roles, with Caps making his AD carry debut on Jan. 24 against MAD Lions, @CarlosR told ESPN on Thursday.
espn.com/esports/story/_/id/…
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Sources: @ogmithy will retire and is finalizing terms to coach @FNATIC. Mithy will replace Youngbuck, who left the team last week to join Excel.
es.pn/2CWE82o
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At $58M market cap, Reddit should crowdfund $100M and execute a hostile takeover.
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Kind of goes without saying, but @Cloud9 will now make @Nisqylol fully available for buyout & @G2esports will be on the hunt for a new AD carry.
Biggest deal of the offseason so far.
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News: @Ssumday has received a green card and is now a North American resident, per Riot's rules.
As a result, @100Thieves have acquired @AbbedaggeLoL as its new mid laner, according to an announcement from @S04Esports this morning.
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Sources: @MisfitsGG are finalizing a buyout agreement with @Rogue for @Vanderlol, which is expected to be completed next week.
In 2020, Vander had a stellar year on Rogue, becoming one of the #LEC top supports. Rogue, though, promoted @trymbilol a few weeks ago.
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The holdup remains Perkz’s buyout, which G2 have told several teams is just shy of $5 million, according to sources.
If Cloud9 and G2 can come to terms, Perkz would reunite with @Zven, his former teammate. The duo won three EU LCS titles from 2016-17.
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Sources: @100Thieves to acquire @CodySun from @dignitas.
Cody will return to his former team as the starter and join @stuntopolis – who 100 Thieves is giving a contract extension – in the bottom lane.
es.pn/2KIh4sn
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Sources: @Rogue are nearing completion of buyout deal with @EvilGeniuses for @Inspiredlol.
A deal between the two isn't signed — but it's expected to be one of the first completed on Nov. 15, the night the free agency window opens.
dotesports.com/league-of-leg…
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.@TeamVitality have completed their 2020 #LEC roster, promoting jungler @Skeanz_lol to the starting lineup and adding mid laner @MilicaLooL and AD carry @LDLC_Comp, as reported by @Esportmaniacos and confirmed by @ESPN.
es.pn/2XC5vbE
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Sources: @FlyQuest have reached a verbal agreement with @dignitas to acquire @Johnsun_lol as their new AD carry.
FlyQuest also acquired @deftlylol Monday as a part of a deal that sent @IgNarLoL to @EvilGeniuses. Johnsun will be the starter if paperwork is completed.
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Dignitas lineup looking fire. 🔥
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With @BloopGG: @Cloud9 has made @C9Perkz available on the buyout market, with his desire to return to Europe for family reasons, according to sources.
Next destination undecided — but the team's received interest from buyers in both NA and Europe.
dotesports.com/league-of-leg…
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Twitch is having some server issues. Not our end. We're trying to find a work around right now. Bear with us.
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.@Slasher first reported this, but find it pretty fascinating.
@PlayVALORANT influencer content, as of this tweet, has 941,000 viewers and @riotgames didn't pay a cent for people to participate in last weekend's bootcamp. The same can't be said for other games.
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Source: @MisfitsGG sign @lolGorillA to an one-year deal, rounding out its 2019 roster.
es.pn/2S6P6rD
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Sources: @Cloud9 are signing South Korean support Windsome, as well as top laner Summit.
Windsome will compete with Isles for the starting job and here's a catch: he was born in America—so he doesn't take up an import slot.
dotesports.com/league-of-leg…
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So what happens with @mithygg? His future is undecided, according to sources, but one scenario is swirling around a lot behind-the-scenes.
If @G2esports and @Cloud9 can reach a buyout agreement for @G2Perkz, Mithy could end up an assistant coach for C9, reuniting with Perkz.
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SGDQ, a community event to benefit charity, has more viewers than the Esports World Cup, a Saudi state-backed tournament with the largest prize pool in esports history.
I'm sure the Crown Prince is very happy with their investment 👍
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.@Immortals CEO @arisegal and @InfiniteEsports ownership group leader Neil Leibman are set to meet with @OpTicH3CZ on Wednesday to discuss his desire to regain control over @OpTicGaming, as first reported by @Upcomer and confirmed by @ESPN.
es.pn/2VB7Shb
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Don't worry, folks. I have "zero corner" on the market of writing about esports business and valuations, per this Forbes reporter.
Not like I've broken more than 100 hundred stories about this specific subject and am the most respected business reporter in the industry. 🥴
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.@100Thieves laid off roughly 30 employees today, including multiple senior level staff.
Among those are its CRO, VP of account management, head of partnerships, and several higher up HR people.
Exclusive: jacobwolf.report/p/100-thiev…
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Sources: @TSM and @clgaming will swap supports, with @Biofrostlol returning to his former team in return for @Smoothie.
es.pn/33ZxdS2
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Sources: @EvilGeniuses have verbally agreed to facilitate a transfer with @Cloud9 that will see @C9Svenskeren and @Zeyzal move to the new #LCS franchise.
es.pn/2p7k764
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Spotted in the GCD, @G2Caps has signed a one-year extension with @G2esports that will see him remain with the team through 2023.
Previous deal, which he signed in summer 2020, lasted through end of 2022. News w/ @BloopGG.
dotesports.com/league-of-leg…
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My first longform piece of 2021 for @DotEsports:
A look inside the "Sky House" — once home to several of the great Smash players in the world, but also a toxic environment that was rife with sexual abuse and bullying.
dotesports.com/news/the-sky-…
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.@CarlosR has always been known for his Rekkles behavior...
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Sources: @Immortals are finalizing deals for @sOAZ, @AltecLoL and @HakuhoLoL after landing @Xmithie on Monday.
es.pn/346UH7Q
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Sources: @EvilGeniuses to acquire @Bang from @100Thieves. Bang joins a team that already includes @C9Svenskeren and @Zeyzal in its starting lineup.
es.pn/2r9kDkA
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I've seen a few vocal minority responses about "no one cares about esports journalism," so wanted to just share an anecdote.
In a good month — October and November, around Worlds and offseason — Dot's League of Legends page draws in give or take 4 million views. People do care.
Statement from me and @AshleyKang regarding Riot's interactions with med ia around #Worlds2021.
Text version: medium.com/@Brayll/statement…
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.@100Thieves absence from the future @CallofDuty franchise league shouldn't be a surprise.
The game has yet to show any data for a return on a $25+ million investment. It's a huge risk, with potentially devastating consequences.
My column: espn.com/esports/story/_/id/…
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One nugget here that I feel is interesting that goes unsaid.
This means the average #LCS fan is aging. FTC standard require that 71.6% of the audience needs to be 21 years or older to allow for an alcohol advertiser.
We are excited to announce @budlight as our newest partner and the official beer of the #LCS!
Learn more at: nexus.leagueoflegends.com/en…
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Sources: @Cloud9 will promote @Fudgecakey and coach @C9_Reignover to their starting top lane and head coach positions of their main lineup. Fudge will replace Licorice, who will become available for buyout this offseason.
es.pn/3kcW24V
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Thanks so much, everyone, for tuning in!
Big shoutout to the @EvilGeniuses team for helping @tischphotos and I put this all together in less than a week. Incredible turnaround.
And shout outs to @OvileeMay, @TimSevenhuysen and @ProphetCrumbz, too!
👏👏👏
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Jokes aside, @BloopGG has had a great offseason and he is correct about G2 signing Rekkles as far as I know.
One of the first big news stories in my career was Rekkles leaving Elements to go back to Fnatic. Plenty more in the future for me. Gonna let Bloop have this one.
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Sources: @TeamVitality has facilitated a transfer agreement for Afreeca jungler Mowgli to add to 2019 roster.
es.pn/2QcxKfL
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I had 7 calls about my free agency today, another 5 tomorrow and 6 on Friday. All while helping care for a post-spay surgery kitten. I'm exhausted, hence my silence.
Appreciate everyone's curiosity but priorities right now. 😅
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Sources: @FNATIC are finalizing a buyout agreement with @SKGaming for jungler @selfmade_LoL, who will replace Broxah in 2020.
es.pn/2KtGw51
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.@PowerOfEvilLoL has declined his player option, making him a free agent ahead of the 2021 season, sources told ESPN.
A return to FlyQuest is not totally off the table, but would need to come with a new deal. PowerOfEvil will enter a free agency beginning Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. ET.
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.@TSM will NOT be allowed to use "FTX" in its name or on its jerseys for the #LCS, @ValorantEsports, or any Riot-sanctioned events, Riot told @DotEsports.
That exception was carved out in the TSM-FTX deal, but not communicated to press.
dotesports.com/news/tsm-barr…
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Mid laners for the 2020 #LCS:
@TeamLiquid: @Jensen
@TSM: @Bjergsen
@Cloud9: @Nisqylol
@clgaming: @Crown
@FlyQuest: @PowerOfEvilLoL
@GoldenGuardians: @Goldenglue
@100Thieves: @RyomaOCE
@dignitas: ???
@EvilGeniuses: ???
@Immortals: ???
Available: @Froggen, @Pobelter, @Damonte
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