Optic Gaming Wins Starladder ImbaTV Invitational
Image by Optic Gaming
Following a 7-8th place run at DAC 2018, Optic Gaming takes down VGJ.Thunder 3-1 in the grand final series at Starladder ImbaTV Invitational Season 5. They flexed the versatility of their players in the final series, choosing 17 different heroes out of a possible 20. The 1st place finish nets them $135,00 and 450 DPC points, which finally puts the team on the Pro Circuit board at 14th place. However, it’s still a tough rough ahead for the team if they’re pushing towards a TI8 invite. They’ll have to get in and pull off a win in one of the two Majors they’re able to participate in: ESL One Birmingham and China’s Supermajor.
Patch 7.13 Targets Deathball Meta
Valve released another patch this week. In another creative approach to balancing, Valve dodged targeted bans and nerfs to heroes and instead changed the meta around them. Towers give less gold and Barracks and Shrines got stronger. It’ll now be tougher to snowball through the early game, with high ground being harder to crack. The way that base stats affect heroes also received sweeping reworks. Check out our initial impressions of the patch. We’ll be following up with a one week update on the impact of the patch on the meta.
Mineski Reprimands Iceiceice for Racial Slur
While streaming on Twitch, Iceiceice faced public backlash when he invoked a Black racial slur to describe why he disliked his name, Daryl. He immediately corrected himself after, substituting the phrase “black person,” but the comment ignited discussions about social awareness in a game that crosses international boundaries. To address the controversy, Mineski released a statement that said iceiceice “has been reprimanded” and that it won’t happen again. Though Iceiceice may be more conscious about his public persona now, his comment may have hit a tipping point with Dota’s gamers, which has to face what is acceptable conduct in a global community.
