theScore Esports Podcasts

Over the course of the last week or so, Twitch streamer Ludwig has spent dozens of hours creating a functional casino in Minecraft. And lately he's become one of the fastest growing streamers on the planet. This dude is blowing up on Twitch right now and could just be the next Kking of Just Chatting. Let us tell you all about his rise to the top of the Twitch charts.

This past Saturday the world of Counter-Strike woke up to the news that Fnatic's long-time rifler and two-time Major winner, Krimz, had been VAC banned. But, here's the thing: as far as anyone can tell, our boy got clapped for doing something even crazier than cheating: he played the game using a Scandinavian third-party matchmaking service. Let us explain what happened.

So last week a 25-page document that former member of Offline TV content house, Fedmyster, wrote but never wanted made public was leaked to Twitter. In it, he accused Pokimane of being dishonest about their relationship. She jumped on stream to defend herself and we reported on it. I naively thought we were done with all of this but over the weekend Pokimane released an 11-page document further clarifying and refuting Fed's allegations. Let's talk about it.

Riot Games was recently accused of basing their newest character -- Seraphine -- off of a real life woman without her consent. We're talking hair, facial features, hobbies -- the whole deal. And what's more is that this isn't even the first time they've been accused of this. Let us tell you the whole story.

So Twitch tried to make Fall Guys competitive --- and it backfired. They hosted a $500,000 Twitch Rivals event with some of the biggest names on Twitch. And then xQc decided to go and ruin the entire thing. He stream sniped DrLupo, pissed off Shroud, confused Tyler1 and got himself banned from Twitch for seven days and Twitch Rivals for six months.

It's OFFICIAL: Perkz is going to Cloud9. This is a player so popular that moving from G2 Esports' Mid Lane to AD Carry was one of the biggest moves in the history of the LEC. And this news blows that out of the water. Perkz is a contender for the Western GOAT. Unless Faker decides to go to NA as well, this is almost certainly going to be the biggest move of the off season. Let us walk you through it.

A couple of months ago we published a video about the overwhelming number of sexual misconduct allegations that came out of the competitive Smash Bros community. And if you don't remember that, let us remind you, there were over one hundred people accused of sexual misconduct, from sexual harassment to outright sexual assault. Since then, many people have left the scene, apologized, or otherwise gone dark. But the story is still going. Nairo, one of the biggest names in the Smash scene, broke his silence to refute the allegations against him not too long ago. Here's everything you need to know about what's happened since our last video.

We can't believe we get to say this: but we FINALLY have OpTic Gaming back. Its been a while since OpTic felt like the org that so many of us remember. But with H3CZ back in the driver's seat, there's plenty of good news for Call of Duty. Having names like OpTic, H3CZ and Nadeshot involved in the CDL is definitely important — but add in a CoD title that the pros are feeling optimistic about, and 2021 could just be the best year Call of Duty has had in a long time.

Over the last few weeks a Korean League of Legends Caster has deleted his Twitter account, had his grandmother doxxed and caused a protest which involved a truck sporting a billboard in Seoul, Korea. All because LCK caster LS might be T1's next coach. Let us tell you the whole story.

OK. It's real. Nikola “NiKo” Kovacs is officially on G2 Esports. NiKo and KennyS are on the same team Let's just calm down for a second and ask the big questions: Is this the right move for NiKo? Are G2 winning the next Major? And, in all seriousness, what happens to FaZe Clan now?

It's the most high-risk, high-reward weapon in the whole of Counter-Strike. It has the highest skill cap, and the widest margin for both success and failure. It's gone from accessible and overpowered to useless and underutilized and, in that time, it's inspired both adoration and anger. It's both the best and worst value proposition in the buy menu. A symbol of what it means to be truly great at esports' most hallowed and hallmarked shooter. You can buy it. Just know: you better hit your shots. This is the story of the one weapon in CS:GO that not everyone should wield. The weapon that can make or break any round. This the Story of the Deagle.

Recently, a pro Rainbow Six Siege team in the APAC region threw a pro match. But this wasn't your normal match fixing situation. They threw on purpose, but not for money. Because of the way the tournament is structured, they chose to lose on purpose in order to potentially win BIG down the line and qualify for the semifinals of an APAC major. Quite the awkward position to be in if you're a pro team right? And this news has the Rainbow Six Siege community divided. Let us explain how this all happened.

Imagine — it's Friday night. You grab a drink, get into voice and sit down to play your favorite game. But when you try to load it up, it's just… gone. If you're one of our viewers in India, you don't have to imagine this problem. You might be living it right now. Because in September, the Indian government banned the country's most popular game -- PUBG Mobile. And what's happened since is honestly just insane.

Whether you like the guy or not -- every time DrDisRespect makes a move, the gaming world takes notice. Over the last few months he's gone from being banned on Twitch for mysterious and STILL unknown reasons to resurrecting himself on YouTube seemingly unscathed. And now, he's designed a brand new map and has his own skin in Rogue Company, the latest multiplayer shooter looking to blow up in the streaming world. Something we've really never seen a major streamer do. What is up with Doc?

Welcome to North American Counter-Strike in 2020. Where CS:GO esports are completely Euro-centric. Where top tier orgs are outright blocking and deleting the scene like it was a bad ex girlfriend. Where young superstars are calling it quits because they've been forcibly relocated an ocean away from their home. So is NA CS:GO dead?

To understand how Denis ‘electronic' Sharipov went from living in the shadow of one of the greatest players CS:GO has ever seen to a bona fide superstar in his own right, we need to go back in time a little bit. The year is 2015, and this scrappy, stoic, stern-faced teenager is trying to make a name for himself in the mother of all Counter-Strike-obsessed regions: Russia. The problem is that it's a lot more difficult than you might think.