Netherlands
Esports journalist since 2015.
I've traveled from Los Angeles to Shanghai to cover esports. I've broken news, covered the most important stories, and interviewed industry legends.
I ran my own site, Em Dash Esports, for a while. Also seen at: Inven Global, Upcomer, Hotspawn, Cybersport, GosuGamers, and several genre sites.
Contact: [email protected]
Author's Choice
Em Dash spoke with nine people affected by systemic mismanagement from Canadian studio Northern Arena.
Carlos open-heartedly spoke with Inven Global's Tom Matthiesen about player contracts and the topic of poaching. Carlos discussed the tough business choices he had to make selling some of the most popular players and how it impacted him. He also made one thing crystal clear. The landscape of roster moves isn't just hectic. It's a warzone where many organizations try to steal land by any means possible.
For four splits in a row, Rogue has dominated the best-of-one phase. Head coach Simon "fredy122" Payne explains how he analyzes his players and cracks the meta to find success time and time again.
Perkz, Carzzy, Labrov and Mephisto share how the star-studded League of Legends roster was formed over the course of multiple months.
MAD Lions soared in the LEC in 2021, but they had to overcome great challenges to be the champions. Carzzy, Elyoya, Mac, and Jake share how they battled burnout and isolation.
LEC Senior Broadcast Producer Kevin Bell gives an in-depth look at finding the right music to play during the broadcast in order to keep the audience engaged.
For years, the League of Legends analyst desk has been welcomed by the same face. James "Dash" Patterson, host to the LCS and the knockout stage of the League of Legends World Championships, is the first to greet the viewers at the start of the broadcast and the last to say goodbye when the curtain falls. But who is Dash, and how did his early years guide him to the path of esports glory?
Features
18 champion tiles hang on the wall in the LEC studio in Berlin. At the very start, Fnatic, who toppled Lemondogs in 2013 to become inaugural EU LCS champions. At the end of the wall, MAD Lions: the team that broke the cycle of G2 and Fnatic domination, and in 2021 became the third-ever team to win back-to-back titles.
Many have declared Vetheo as the best mid laner in the LEC due to his standout performance. Is that a fair award to hand out, especially since Larssen has been incredibly consistent in the LEC spring split too? Is he being snubbed?
This year, there is no bailout for the LEC. There are only three tickets to Worlds. At least one of the four titans, old or new, will see their competitive year come to a brutal end without an essential appearance on the international stage.
LEC teams are in the luxurious position to have a thriving European scene from which they can pluck new talent. But teams are disappointingly reckless with this position. Rookies are cast aside after barely playing a Split.
After years of collectively neglecting to develop local talent, owners of teams in the LCS are suddenly asking Riot Games to change the rules for them. Under the guise of wanting to "help North America prosper", they're seeking new ways to solve problems by spending money.
MAD Lions are writing their name in the League of Legends history books. The rookie squad surprised everyone this year as they fearlessly took on the best teams Europe has to offer, quickly making a name for themselves. But why is this squad so captivating, stealing everyone's hearts?
When in Western countries you ask gamers for their favorite battle royale game, there are three answers you'll get 99% of the time: Fortnite, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, or Apex Legends. But in Latin America and Asia, a different king reigns. Those regions have been enthralled by a free to play, mobile-exclusive battle royale game: Garena Free Fire.
Towards the end of the year, the lists come out. What were the best songs of the year? Which sports moment defined the past twelve months? Which was the best game released? But 2019 offered something far more unique to follow: an explosive birth of a new game genre.
An unexpected turn of events during the last weekend of Hearthstone Grandmasters' regular season. After finishing his match, Hong Kong player Ng "blitzchung" Wai Chung appeared on the official Taiwanese Hearthstone stream for his post-game interview wearing a gas mask. After lifting the mouthpiece, Blitzchung shouted, in Chinese: "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our age!"
It was supposed to be a weekend celebrating Hearthstone esports to its absolute maximum. Hundreds of Hearthstone players, aspiring pros and field-tested veterans alike, had gathered in Las Vegas for the first ever Masters Tour. On the line: prestige, $500,000 and chances for a coveted spot in the Hearthstone Grandmasters league next year.
Dota 2: When I boot up Steam and click on 'Dota 2', the platform tells me it's been exactly four months since I've last played the game. Prior to that, there's almost a year-long gap until you find my l
Ambitious, fresh, but most of all: a big step in the right direction. When Blizzard announced its plans for the 2018/2019 Hearthstone Championship Tour in December last year, it was lauded from about every angle imaginable. An increase in prize money and a system designed to reward consistency had slowly been approached over the years, but with the introduction of the Masters System finally seemed to be conceptualized.
It is still dark in the Dutch town of Alphen aan den Rijn when Jordy and Dennis are setting up their laptops. It's half past seven. "My alarm went off at a quarter to five. At half past five I h
March was supposed to be an epic Hearthstone season in which the final battles were fought leading up to the year’s first Playoffs, all while the hype for the game’s upcoming Witchwood expansion built up. Instead, March for many professional Hearthstone players turned out to be the most frustrating season to date.
Written Interviews
Broxah spoke to Inven Global's Tom Matthiesen to talk about his break. He reflected on the challenges he faced during the pandemic and what led to him detaching from being a competitor for a while. He also looked ahead at returning to pro play, and what his return ideally would look like.
Till Werdermann, Director of Team Operations at MAD Lions, provided context on MAD Lions’ offseason choices.
Head of Esports for League of Legends EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) Maximilian Schmidt spoke to Inven Global’s Tom Matthiesen. They discussed the workload for casters in the LEC, the complexity of juggling multiple interests with talent, and the allegations made by Froskurinn.
G2's mixwell, keloqz, and neilzinho share what it is like to try to build the best possible lineup in an esport as young as VALORANT.
Inspired reflected on his team's performance and what they can do better. Mostly, Inspired shared what he does in order to stay on top of the league and which teams he keeps an eye on to learn every single day.
GrabbZ explained why he’s feeling uncomfortable about the level of play shown by his team and the other LEC teams going to the League of Legends Worlds Championship this year.
On the eve of what may be the defining match day of Fnatic in 2020, we spoke to the team’s top laner, Gabriël "Bwipo" Rau. Open-heartedly, Bwipo spoke about the difficulties Fnatic faced during the Summer Split. He opened up about how he stayed mentally strong throughout the weeks, and what the team dynamics on Fnatic are like in trying times.
While it is G2's players who shine bright on-stage, they don’t carry all the weight. When preparing for opponents and polishing their gameplay they heavily rely on the information gathered by their scouts and number-crushers: G2’s analyst team.
Caps is back in his mid lane kingdom. After a brief but successful stint in the bot lane during the LEC's Spring Split, the prodigal son returns, free to roam and gank whomever he pleases. With this formation, G2 Esports will fight for the one big achievement which they so nearly reached last year: the World Championship title.
Behind every great production stands a team of hard-working people. Quite literally so, in the case of Yulia "Yuli" Morozova. The Russian-born referee has been standing guard behind Europe's greatest League of Legends players for years. But what else does a referee at the League of Legends European Championship do?
At the reveal of Flashpoint, MonteCristo sat down with Tom Matthiesen about the long-desired, finally fulfilled move to CS:GO, the vision he has for Flashpoint, and what it's like to transfer to yet another esports scene.
Trevor "Quickshot" Henry. We all know him now as one of the faces of the League of Legends European Championship. But Quickshot grew up about as far from Europe as you can get, in South Africa. We lef
Froskurinn opened up about the difficulties of being a caster and an analyst, what both roles have taught her, and how 'forbidden words' have helped create a better broadcast experience for viewers.
There were upsets, stomps and surprise picks - last weekend LEC crowned its Spring Split king: G2 Esports. After all was said and done, we sat down with interviewer Laure Valée to talk about falling in love with games, esports and the hard work required to claim a place among the best in the industry.
It's tough being an esports player. Sure, it might sound fantastic to play video games for a living. But for the cream of the crop, it means hours after hours of grinding until the mind goes numb and you can't stand the sight of the game you love so much anymore.
Some people fill their lives with their job -- their career is what they live and die for. And then there's people like Andrey " Reynad" Yanyuk who ideally cram three full-time jobs in a day. Because aside from being the CEO of Tempo Storm, he streams, competes, and, oh yeah, he's also designing his own game.
With more than four hundred new cards being added to the game each year, it's safe to say that card art is one of the most hour-intensive parts of Hearthstone design. And while Team 5 has some amazing in-house artists like Jomaro Kindred and Charlene Le Scanff, even they can't handle fully designing more than [...]
Hunterace has had an exceptionally good HCT year thus far, being the first player to break the 45 HCT point threshold. But who is the man behind the golden curls and twinkling eyes? And how did he get this good? We sat down with him to find out.
Video Interviews
Esports is about players first, but every successful organization has a head on its shoulders making the decisions. We’ve assembled an all-star CEO cast of some of esports biggest names, including the likes of G2’s Carlos Rodríguez, FlyQuest’s Tricia Sugita, T1’s Joe Marsh and Team Liquid's Steve Arhancet.
Who is the best cook on G2? Who is the goofiest MAD Lions player? Which Rogue player would survive longest on a desert island? LEC managers Jonathan "Taco" Singh, Alexander "Stuii" Spelda, and Alex Hehn share what their players are like off-screen!
Abbedagge discussed how he has changed as a player ever since joining the LCS in the summer split. He pointed to 100 Thieves founder, co-owner and CEO Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag as key influence as to why he’s bantering more and can be spotted wearing high fashion clothing.
Mikyx talks about his offseason, and how he almost became the new bot lane for his team after Perkz's departure. He also talks about working with the player who ended up becoming G2's actual bot lane, Rekkles, and if they'll dominate the bot lane fights.
Eefje "Sjokz" Depoortere looks back at an eventful 2020: a year in which she was fortunate enough to be able to host LEC and Worlds, but still felt the impact of the pandemic. She also touches on the effects the LEC's NEOM sponsorship had, and she looks ahead at what's to come for the LEC in 2021.
The League of Legends World Championship 2020 run of Team Liquid is over, stranding in the Group Stage. After it became clear that his team would not advance, mid laner Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen joined for an interview talking about his team's preparation heading into the day and how the matches played out for them.