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United States33495 Posts
May 15
Creator joins AlQadsiah Esports - Twitter/X
May 13
ShoWTimE joins Sentinels - Twitter/X
Dark begins military service - Twitter/X
May 6th
GuMiho joins S8UL - Twitter/X
May 2
sOs joins StreamerZone - Twitter/X
April 29
Spirit joins ROC Esports - Twitter/X
April 21st
Classic joins Virtus.pro - Twitter/X
April 15th
SHIN joins Weibo Gaming - Twitter/X
April 13th
Zoun joins Team Vitality - Twitter/X
April 12th
herO joins Twisted Minds - Twitter/X
January 14
ShoWTimE leaves BIG - ShoWTimE
January 6
Oliveira retires - TL.net post
-------------- 2024 ---> 2025 -----------------
December 22
soO retires - Weibo
December 10
Dark leaves Talon Esports - Twitter/X (supposedly due to impending military service)
December 9
Classic leaves Twisted Minds - Twitter/X
Dec 1
Trap leaves Gen.G
November 29
Nikich, ArT, eGGz, ShaDoWn leave Platinum Heroes - Twitter/X
November 3
Solar joins Falcons Esport - Twitter/X
November 1
Krystianer joins ONSYDE - Twitter/X
October 13
Starlight Twinkle disbands, Cham, Wayne, Krystianer, YoungZest, ReWhite all presumed to be free agents - Twitter/X
October 11
Maru extends with Vitality until 2026 - Twitter/X
BabyMarine joins Streamerzone - Twitter/X
October 10
Spirit leaves NAVI - Navi.gg
October 7
Gerald joins Streamerzone - Twitter/X
October 4
HHQuanta joins Streamerzone - Twitter/X
October 3
Firefly leaves OFFSYDE - Twitter/X
ForJumy joins Streamerzone - Twitter/X
October 2
Gerald leaves PSISTORM - Twitter/X
AqueroN and ForJumy leave Platinum Heroes - Twitter X(1) - (2)
October 1
Solar leaves Vitality - Twitter/X
YoungYakov leaves Platinum Heroes - Twitter/X
NightMare joines Streamerzone - Twitter/X
September 22
Zoun returns from military service, resumes competitive SC2 activities - Twitter/X
September 14
Astrea leaves Virtus Pro - Virtus.pro
August 7
uThermal leaves OFFSYDE - Twitter/X
August 4
Krystianer leaves Starlight Twinkle - Twitter/X
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China6330 Posts
Depends on post EWC tournament plans, a sizeable amount of players on EWC participating teams might be released.
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United States33495 Posts
Couple of moves coming with the start of a new month
Solar leaves Vitality - Twitter/X
YoungYakov leaves Platinum Heroes - Twitter/X
Nightmare joins Streamerzone (not sure if this counts as this seems more like a streaming move than an esports move) - Twitter/X
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Solar leaving Vitality sounds like a big deal to me
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United States33495 Posts
Updated with Gerald leaving PSISTORM, AqueroN and ForJumy leaving Platinum Heroes.
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Canada8989 Posts
On October 03 2024 04:35 Die4Ever wrote:
Solar leaving Vitality sounds like a big deal to me
I wonder what's up with Onside. Maybe they can ''revive'' if Vitality takes steps out.
Solar would be great add to Psistorm though.
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On October 03 2024 04:35 Die4Ever wrote:
Solar leaving Vitality sounds like a big deal to me
100%. If Vitality wants to keep fielding a strong WTL team (which we're pretty sure is going to continue, right?) it's unlikely there will be a free agent floating around as good as Solar. From Solar's perspective, while I'm sure many teams would be happy to have him, idk how much he could bid up his salary with the next EWC a year away even if SC2 gets a spot.
Makes me wonder if Vitality is scaling down or if Solar is heading to the military soon (he is 28 after all.)
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On October 03 2024 22:14 dysenterymd wrote:Show nested quote +On October 03 2024 04:35 Die4Ever wrote:
Solar leaving Vitality sounds like a big deal to me 100%. If Vitality wants to keep fielding a strong WTL team (which we're pretty sure is going to continue, right?) it's unlikely there will be a free agent floating around as good as Solar. From Solar's perspective, while I'm sure many teams would be happy to have him, idk how much he could bid up his salary with the next EWC a year away even if SC2 gets a spot. Makes me wonder if Vitality is scaling down or if Solar is heading to the military soon (he is 28 after all.)
On his Twitter Solar said that he is looking for a team for the EWC 2025 Season (his words), so I guess he won't do his military service yet. He also specifically said that his contract with Vitality and Onsyde ended, so he definetly left the team and not just the org
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If you don't want to click on the link it is that firefly is no longer on offsyde.
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Canada8989 Posts
Oh.... any jucy drama comming from the chinese's forums?
Edit: Oh god I saw on reddit, fuck, fuck, fuckedy fuck.
Here we go again 
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Assuming it's verified beyond reasonable doubt later, it's one thing being unprofessional, it's another to matchfix.
He gotta hope that it didn't happen for an EPT circuit match, because buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuusted
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United States33495 Posts
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United States33495 Posts
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Pretty convoluted way to say " We didn't need you for much longer than EWC, what comes after equals goodbye "
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Whether you like it or not, but most orgs that "returned" to SC2 was 99% because of EWC
Now that dont mean all of them gonna kick their player(s) but i belive we probably gonna see more orgs with simular posts.
I hope im wrong tho!
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On October 11 2024 04:42 [Svall]Granis wrote:
Whether you like it or not, but most orgs that "returned" to SC2 was 99% because of EWC
Now that dont mean all of them gonna kick their player(s) but i belive we probably gonna see more orgs with simular posts.
I hope im wrong tho!
It's not hard to guess, but sometimes these companies should just openly say it instead of doing some hilarious PR turnarounds/social posts/insert *shrug*
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On October 11 2024 14:25 Philippe wrote:Show nested quote +On October 11 2024 04:42 [Svall]Granis wrote:
Whether you like it or not, but most orgs that "returned" to SC2 was 99% because of EWC
Now that dont mean all of them gonna kick their player(s) but i belive we probably gonna see more orgs with simular posts.
I hope im wrong tho! It's not hard to guess, but sometimes these companies should just openly say it instead of doing some hilarious PR turnarounds/social posts/insert *shrug*
They might come back next year, better not be too direct this time
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Vitality has signed Maru for another year:
Will be interesting to see if they hire a third player for WTL, leave the league or maybe kick out Ryung and put Maru in another team?
They could literally destroy the league by fusion Maru off to BASILISK, so BASKitality could finish the season with a 55-11 record
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United States33495 Posts
On October 11 2024 21:00 Balnazza wrote:Show nested quote +On October 11 2024 14:25 Philippe wrote:On October 11 2024 04:42 [Svall]Granis wrote:
Whether you like it or not, but most orgs that "returned" to SC2 was 99% because of EWC
Now that dont mean all of them gonna kick their player(s) but i belive we probably gonna see more orgs with simular posts.
I hope im wrong tho! It's not hard to guess, but sometimes these companies should just openly say it instead of doing some hilarious PR turnarounds/social posts/insert *shrug* They might come back next year, better not be too direct this time
IIRC there are supposed to be some minimum length contract eligibility regulations for EWC so teams can't just sign ppl for the duration of the event. Not quite sure what the specifics are.
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Tangentially related to this topic: has the maximum age for military service in Korea been raised or something? I just realized that Cure is almost as old as Zest was when he left and back then there were all kinds of rumors about Zest possibly being exempt because he kept playing. Dark and Bunny are also over 29 now and I was under the impression that you had to enlist before this age. In Bunny's case I suppose he might have quietly retired in preparation, he hasn't played a match since almost qualifying for the EWC 3 months ago.
In any case, I hope these guys get to stay a bit longer for a bit longer; there probably won't be much of a pro scene when they finish their service. At this point, there's only a handful of pre-military players left but they're all among the strongest players around so any retirements will be felt.
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United States33495 Posts
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United States33495 Posts
November 3
Solar joins Falcons Esport - Twitter/X
November 1
Krystianer joins OFFSYDE - Twitter/X
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Krystianer seems to have joined OFFSYDE, not ONSYDE/Vitality. Vitality is still missing a third player to compete in WTL
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United States33495 Posts
On November 04 2024 00:56 Balnazza wrote:
Krystianer seems to have joined OFFSYDE, not ONSYDE/Vitality. Vitality is still missing a third player to compete in WTL
bah, same difference 
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On November 04 2024 00:42 Waxangel wrote:November 3Solar joins Falcons Esport - Twitter/X
November 1Krystianer joins OFFSYDE - Twitter/X
Solar signing with Falcons is incredible good news IMO!
Falcons is the Saudi team right? Why would they build a SC2 division... unless... EWC Starcraft 2 competition all but confirmed at this point?
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On November 04 2024 16:44 Harris1st wrote:Solar signing with Falcons is incredible good news IMO! Falcons is the Saudi team right? Why would they build a SC2 division... unless... EWC Starcraft 2 competition all but confirmed at this point?
Vitality also signing Maru specifically seems to confirm that, yes. Might just be that ESL can't announce anything because they have to wait for the green-light from the EWC Foundation.
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Canada8989 Posts
Oh no
You guy's were the best, hopefully everyone lands on their feet
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United States33495 Posts
A handful of updates:
December 22
soO retires - Weibo
December 10th
Dark leaves Talon Esports - Twitter/X (supposedly due to impending military service)
December 9
Classic leaves Twisted Minds - Twitter/X
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Trap also left Gen.G
So I believe the only EWC-Pickups that remain are Maru/VIT, Oliveira/Weibo and whatever Falcons is doing?
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United States33495 Posts
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United States33495 Posts
Some signings coming in following the EWC announcement:
April 13th
Zoun joins Team Vitality - Twitter/X
April 12th
herO joins Twisted Minds - Twitter/X
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April 15th
SHIN joins Weibo Gaming - Twitter/X
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United States33495 Posts
Damn, business is picking up
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I am surprised Weibo didnt try to get herO back to their team first, his chance of winning, or getting a deep run in EWC, is way better than Shin.
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sOs is looking for a team
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United States33495 Posts
Really curious about what's been up with sOs. He 'officially' retired a while back, but has also randomly been active, playing now and then in GSL qualifiers and random competitions. I gotta think his military situation was complicated, like being put on a long waiting list, getting called up and sent back home, or something unusual of that nature.
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When is the deadline for teams signing players? It would be a waste if they sign someone who doesnt qualify.
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I sometimes wonder how it would look if football players would look for teams like SC2/Esports pros do.
"Hello I'm Harry Kane and I'm a striker in Football, looking4team. Please contact me under dfbsdfsdf@shreeeeeek.com thanks"
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I thought he was returning to BW? Either way, best of luck!
Liquid`sOs?
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April 21st
Classic joins Virtus.pro - Twitter/X
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JD Gaming enters SC2 with Cyan/Lancer and JieShi...for some reason
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I've always wondered what kind of salary progamers can expect monthly. Like I know it depends on how good they are and what they negotiate but I don't even have a clue about the ballpark we're talking about.
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On April 25 2025 16:57 SharkStarcraft wrote:
I've always wondered what kind of salary progamers can expect monthly. Like I know it depends on how good they are and what they negotiate but I don't even have a clue about the ballpark we're talking about.
Kespa era salary was capped at around 60k$ yearly (in SC2) which was what the top players got (there was a thread about it).
Solar once said that on the chinese WTL teams salary was similar to kespa era.
Nowadays probably significantly lower though.
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Since we have those numbers:
In the LEC (European League of Legends) the minimum wage for players is 60K a year, though players usually get more than that. The average is apparently around 240K, though the median is around 160K.
In Counterstrike the wage might be a bit lower, considering that players often get huge chunks of the prizemoney earned, but idk. When the organisation Into The Breach went down (because of embezzlement and mismanagement) it was said that they had a salary budget up to 1 million per year for Counterstrike and DotA2.
These are of course just general benchmarks and hardly translate to SC2, considering that SC2 teams have a hard time generating money on their own (since I assume players don't share their prizepools with the teams). Now with EWC on the horizon and the points in SC2 being as valuable as they are in any other game, orgs like Weibo, Falcons or JDG might be ready to invest more into salaries to keep the players motivated/give them the opportunity to train correctly
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On April 25 2025 18:01 Charoisaur wrote:Show nested quote +On April 25 2025 16:57 SharkStarcraft wrote:
I've always wondered what kind of salary progamers can expect monthly. Like I know it depends on how good they are and what they negotiate but I don't even have a clue about the ballpark we're talking about. Kespa era salary was capped at around 60k$ yearly (in SC2) which was what the top players got (there was a thread about it). Solar once said that on the chinese WTL teams salary was similar to kespa era. Nowadays probably significantly lower though.
How do living costs in SK compare to EU or USA?
And not to forget in that era: housing, food , equipment and stuff was basically free, so 60k without any fixed expenses is pretty darn good I guess
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United States33495 Posts
On April 25 2025 18:01 Charoisaur wrote:Show nested quote +On April 25 2025 16:57 SharkStarcraft wrote:
I've always wondered what kind of salary progamers can expect monthly. Like I know it depends on how good they are and what they negotiate but I don't even have a clue about the ballpark we're talking about. Kespa era salary was capped at around 60k$ yearly (in SC2) which was what the top players got (there was a thread about it). Solar once said that on the chinese WTL teams salary was similar to kespa era. Nowadays probably significantly lower though.
tl.net/forum/starcraft-2/516568-korean-sc2-salary-cap-collusion-revealed
To be specific, it's hearsay from Flash that there was collusion to cap salaries. Maybe his account is not entirely accurate, but I think there's a decent chance that's where salaries realistically topped out (for nefarious reasons or otherwise).
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United States33495 Posts
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United States33495 Posts
Damn, being focused on SC2 means you don't notice the globalization going on in the rest of esports
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United States33495 Posts
May 13
Dark begins military service - Twitter/X
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Amazing pickup for sure!
If I understand it correctly (and if they haven't changed it again...) I think May 15 is the deadline for teams to pickup players. Will be interesting to see if we have any last second hot pickups
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United States33495 Posts
I think that just leaves Creator on the board as players who might realistically qualify for EWC 2025 that aren't signed?
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On May 14 2025 09:38 Waxangel wrote:
I think that just leaves Creator on the board as players who might realistically qualify for EWC 2025 that aren't signed?
Astrea is teamless still, as is Special (he's a bit more of a long shot but I think he's playing a little more lately?)
Are the regional qualifiers closed? If so, with Oliveira retired I also think that a bunch of teamless Chinese/Taiwanese players like Nanami, Nice, Firefly, Coffee, Lemon etc have a solid chance of getting in through the Asia qualifier, though they probably aren't great investments.
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Russian Federation195 Posts
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May 15
Creator joins AlQadsiah Esports - Twitter/X
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On May 14 2025 09:38 Waxangel wrote:
I think that just leaves Creator on the board as players who might realistically qualify for EWC 2025 that aren't signed?
Quick, say that someone else is on the board so they also get signed!
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United States33495 Posts
On May 16 2025 16:20 MJG wrote:Show nested quote +On May 14 2025 09:38 Waxangel wrote:
I think that just leaves Creator on the board as players who might realistically qualify for EWC 2025 that aren't signed? Quick, say that someone else is on the board so they also get signed!
As someone mentioned above, I think Astrea is left? But I think the deadline is over now, unless a deal was already signed and they just haven't announced it yet.
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Looks like twisted minds has dropped her0
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On August 31 2025 16:04 Kreuger wrote:
Looks like twisted minds has dropped her0
Not surprising. This and others are pure EWC-pickups that will definetly happen next year aswell (if we get one).
Seems like Basilisk, Shopify and Liquid are the only three "real" teams left? Apart from things like Heromarine and Mouz or Maru and Vitality?
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EPT
