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GUIDES
Simple Radar
© 2026 TLDR Media, All Rights Reserved.
Cloud9, meanwhile, are struggling.
Edition #401 | sep 22nd, 2023
Sweden were also thrown into turmoil as one of their most promising talents was banned - as if things weren’t bad enough over in cinnamon bun-land.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Liquid
2
0
L. Vision
C9
0
2
CoL
VP
1
2
G2
C9
Today
Liquid
MATCH FIXING
Don’t (allegedly) match-fix kids, it’ll come back to bite you in the zigzag.
Joel, former GODSENT player and currently on Victory Zigzag, has been accused of match-fixing. This all started with a tweet by robiin calling joel out, which read a little salty at the time, but boy has it aged well.
Three days later, ESIC (remember them?) released a statement announcing a temporary suspension for joel pending their investigation. This bans joel from playing at the BLAST Showdown his team qualified for.
So what the hell did he actually do?
He bet on his own games which is how he got caught. How obvious can you get, at least ask a friend to bet for you, it’s not THAT hard. Not legal advice. Joel didn’t just bet against his own team, he also bet on them to win, which is fair play, at least back yourself. The time frame these bets were placed was during “BetBoom Playlist Urbanistic” and the IEM Dallas Closed Qualifiers — if you were curious.
Joel’s team at the time, GODSENT, had their own thoughts on the matter. They said they were “informed” which is why he was removed from the roster. They hadn’t made a statement before because they were helping ESIC “in confidence.” There’s more but it’s just PR and “we’re so disappointed :(”
The man himself also made a tweet, denying the allegations as well as claiming that the head of ESIC Ian Smith said there would be “No further actions at this point in time”. Our favourite bit is where joel suggests making a public statement is an “extreme injustice”. The plan of action: he’ll cooperate with ESIC together with his lawyer. We’d like to take this time to say this is all satire, parody, and a joke in Minecraft.
Our two cents: fuck around and find out.
Smaller stories
Podcast
The last few weeks have been more unhinged than usual on the podcast - five weeks of ESL Pro League, it turns out, is enough to send anyone mad. Admittedly, Logan and Elliott had a headstart.
Here's what we get into in this episode:
LISTEN NOW
ESL Pro League Group D
North America need a hero, and one has arrived.
Complexity didn’t just beat Cloud9 — they destroyed them.
They were talking a big game in the lead-up to the group: floppy called them the best NA team by far, and Grim said they are "playing their best CS since they made the team.”
The two-week bootcamp in Poland wasn’t just media training either. They’ve been just as good in the server, shutting down 9INE and then Cloud9 to qualify for playoffs. floppy, naturally, memed his way to a 1.53 rating en route.
We can’t help finding it slightly funny that they are peaking just as CS2 is imminent but NA needs this, and they deserve it too.
On the other side of the server, it can only be seen as a disappointing result for Cloud9, who Groove admitted having “problems because they have a lot of stars and a lot of voices.”
Frankly, it looked like it; just look at this round Bubzkji broke down to get an idea of the state of play.
It’s not getting any easier, either. Cloud9 will face Liquid tomorrow in a medium-low stakes middle-bracket bout. Put it in your calendar!
VP, the other CIS side in the group, are probably still playing G2, where our plucky Europeans are hunting VP down in every save just to give us a drop of entertainment in an ultimately convincing 2-1 win.
We know saving is VP’s playstyle, but can they please not be broadcast in the last game of the day? If it’s helping an insomniac sleep then fine, but for the rest of us, it is not what the doctor ordered. Not even close.
Everything Else
🆚 It’s all about the match
📄🖊️ Roster? I barely know her!
🎖Prepare your thank you speech
