Cloud9 signs Stewie2k
This week was chock-full of North American changes, the most notable of which was Cloud9's acquisition of one of the hottest up-and-coming players in the region, Jake "Stewie2k" Yip, who has been playing playing Counter Strike for just over a year. He will be filling in the spot left vacant by the departure of Sean "sgares" Gares last year.
Valve confirms iBP ifetime bans
Seemingly out of the blue, Valve released their final verdict this week on the contrevesial iBuyPower bans that were handed out in January of last year. All seven players that were initially banned, including Braxton “swag” Pierce, Keven “AZK” Larivière, Sam “Dazed” Marine, Joshua “Steel” Nissan, and Derek “dboorn" Boorn will be barred from any Valve sponsored tournament for life.
Dreamhack announces Malmö event
Dreamhack introduced the first tournament in their Masters series this week with the reveal of Dreamhack Masters Malmö. The tournament will kick off in April, and will feature a hefty $250,000 prize pool, all the more impressive as the tournament will not be a Valve-funded major.
OpTic enter CS:GO, wins Road to Vegas
One of the most highly decorated professional Call of Duty teams have further moved into CS:GO by signing the former Conquest roster, headed by Damian "daps" Steele. The team has had a good start with their new organization as well, winning ELEAGUE Road to Vegas in a dominating fashion earlier this week.
Maniac signs as nV coach
EnVyUs has signed a new coach for their lineup this week, picking up ex-Titan player Mathieu "Maniac" Quiquerez, who was removed from his team in September in order to make room for Adil "ScreaM" Berlitom. nV has been without a coach since the team left LDLC.com in order to join the North American organization.
Images courtesy of Cloud9
