Reigning MSI champion Gen.G Esports has defeated Top Esports 2-0 to advance to the quarterfinals at the 2025 League of Legends World Championship.

The series also saw Top Esports’ Bai ‘369‘ Jiahao and Seo ‘Kanavi‘ Jin-hyeok face off against their former JD Gaming teammate Park ‘Ruler‘ Jae-hyuk, who played two near-flawless games at the Beijing JD Esports Center.

In the first game of the series, Top Esports (TES) struggled against the suppressing map presence of Gen.G’s Kim ‘Canyon‘ Geon-bu. Moreover, the jungler concluded the series with an incredible 9/3/27 KDA.

While the enemy jungler helped Top Esports secure first blood, the Korean team managed to retaliate with picks of its own.

Similarly, TES claimed the first dragon of the series in minute six, just to be punished for forcing a teamfight around the grubs shortly after. This solidified a 10,000 gold lead for Gen.G by the ten-minute mark, which the team methodically exploited.

Top Esports was swiftly overwhelmed across all areas of the rift, suffering team aces and losing the two next drakes as well as the Atakhan. Suffocated for comeback opportunities, the LPL roster had to concede more and more of its lanes until Gen.G took its nexus in under 25 minutes.

For the second encounter, both teams drafted more scaling-focused compositions, leading to a slower early game where Top Esports looked more comfortable compared to game one.

However, it was Gen.G’s Jeong ‘Chovy‘ Ji-hoon who scored first blood this time around despite a rough mid-lane match-up. After its first dragon, the LCK squad slowed its pace even further in anticipation of Chovy’s first crucial item spike on Yone. TES could have leveraged this time window to secure its own first drake for free, but instead, was slaughtered in a delayed teamfight around the dragon pit.

From minute 18 onward, the pace of the game increased massively as both competitors looked primed and ready for teamfights. At first, a mistake from Gen.G’s toplaner, Kim ‘Kiin‘ Ki-in, delivered TES a shutdown on Chovy. The LPL’s own bot-lane scaling efforts also began showing promise.

Yet, when it mattered most, Gen.G outclassed its opponent to win skirmishes for the Atakhan and Baron. Top Esports was conquered again soon after.

Due to today’s loss, Top Esports must prove itself in the last round of Swiss Stage matches on October 25th to secure a Knockout Stage slot.

The draw for these match-ups will take place after tomorrow’s matches. Bilibili Gaming and Keyd Stars will kick off the day at 9 AM BST, followed by 100 Thieves versus reigning Worlds champion T1.

The Counter-Strike 2 skin market is currently in uproar. Developer Valve released a new patch to its free-to-play shooter on October 22, bringing back Retakes mode, a 4v3 match where players must defend or destroy a post-plant location, and some refinements to how some skins are collected. 

In a refinement to the Skin Trade Contract, a way to legally trade these cosmetics in Counter-Strike 2, players can now exchange five Covert items to earn a guaranteed knife or a pair of gloves. This one change has upended a big part of the CS2 marketplace, with parts of it losing over $1.75bn in value. Below, we’re breaking down what these mean for players and the skin-trade market as a whole.

On October 22, Valve released a new patch for Counter-Strike 2 that brought out various refinements, which included:

Adding Retakes as an official game mode supporting Defusal Group Alpha and Defusal Group Delta maps on official matchmaking servers.

However, it’s the change to the Trade Up Contract that’s causing a seismic shift in the Counter-Strike 2 skin market:

Previously, rare knives and gloves could only be obtained from rare drops of cases, or via the Steam market and CS2 skin-market sites. This made certain items very rare and very valuable, which only increased the market cap of the skin market. Now, though, after this major CS2 skin update, we’re already seeing huge drops, as much as 15% as of October 23.

When you look at the overall picture of Counter-Strike 2, it makes sense for Valve to make this change. The company has never been about trading markets – swapping cosmetics was simply seen as a fun attribute in its games like Team Fortress 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. But along the way, some realised that rare items could be traded for players willing to pay a high price for them.

Games are meant to be played for fun, and Valve has always prioritised that. You only need to watch the Half-Life 2 documentary from 2024 to see some of the team explain how they refined certain sections of the sequel to make it more enjoyable to play.

This new patch seems to reinforce that mantra by letting rare knives and gloves be obtained by other means. By allowing five StatTrak or regular Covert items to be traded for a rare item, it gives casual Counter-Strike 2 players an easier way to equip rarer skins to show to their friends and family. Valve wants more players to enjoy the game, not to trade rare items for a higher price.

Granted, some like SAC, owner of the esports team Irish Guys, posted on the social media site X that while the CS2 skin market overall is healthy, there’s going to be a big drop-off from knives and gloves in the coming weeks. But perhaps that’s what Valve is expecting from this patch. Some on Reddit are celebrating the move, too, with one user, PixILL8, explaining how skins have been a distraction in some matches.

For skin collectors who have a bunch of rare knives and gloves, they’re likely seeing a big drop in value already. Many don’t play Counter-Strike 2 for fun; they play for profit in the skin market. When cosmetics become an investment, it becomes something far beyond Valve’s intentions for the game, which is likely why it brought out the patch on October 22. So at the time of writing, many are experiencing a huge shock, and may be wondering where the market will go in the coming weeks.

However, for those who play Counter-Strike 2 for fun, whether that’s casually or as part of an esports team, it’s a benefit. Previously hard-to-obtain items have had barriers lowered significantly thanks to this patch, meaning more players can now claim those that were once higher-value items.

Ultimately, the patch could be a turning point for the CS2 skins market, where more players load up Counter-Strike 2 and are surprised with a rare knife or glove skin, instead of feeling like they need to be involved in the CS2 marketplace. It’s a positive, overall, and we suspect Valve isn’t done with making more changes to the CS2 skins marketplace as a whole.

Valve is known for taking its time in developing games. Half-Life 2 went through many iterations, as did Team Fortress 2. The Counter-Strike series is also one of its big successes, but you can bet that the developer didn’t create later games with the intention of players trading CS2 skins.

The October 22 patch looks to be proof of this by lowering the barrier for casual players to earn the rare knives and gloves that had been previously hard to get. Valve wants players to enjoy its games for what they bring, not to trade cosmetics. In addition, if it’s prepared to make a major change like this to knives and gloves, we’re expecting more to come from Valve soon.

The MongolZ has named Unudelger ‘controlez‘ Baasanjargal as its stand-in for IEM Chengdu 2025, taking place from November 3rd to 9th, 2025.

Controlez joins the Mongolian esports organisation’s roster following the shock benching of Azbayar ‘Senzu’ Munkhbold on October 22nd.

Announced on October 23rd, the arrival of controlez is the first roster change for the team in over two years. It also comes after The MongolZ became the first Mongolian team to top the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) after a string of strong performances.

Controlez recently competed for Chinggis Warriors, which has recently undergone a roster change of its own. Ariunjargal ‘ariucle‘ Yadam has been moved to the bench for former MongolZ academy player Zolbayar ‘tikuak‘ Chimedtseren.

“Due to insufficient time to fully assess the academy team’s players, the decision was made to field an experienced player, taking into account the input of the main team’s players,” said The MongolZ in a statement.

Prior to joining Chinggis Warriors, controlez has previously competed under The MongolZ banner. In 2017, he competed alongside Erdenedalai ‘maaRaa‘ Bayanbat, the current MongolZ coach.

In 2020, controlez spent a short time competing alongside Garidmagnal ‘bLitz‘ Byambasuren while representing Checkmate.

2025 has been a year of The MongolZ cementing its place among the world’s best Counter-Strike 2 teams.

Despite failing to qualify for the playoffs at ESL Pro League Season 22, the team has achieved plenty of success with victory at the Esports World Cup, and three second-place finishes at BLAST Bounty Season 2, FISSURE Playground 2, and the BLAST.tv Austin Major.

The addition of controlez to the starting lineup brings a wealth of experience to The MongolZ as it prepares to begin its IEM Chengdu campaign.

The MongolZ faces HEROIC in its opening best-of-three match and aims to start the tournament on the front foot.

AlphaTON Capital has joined the Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA), an organisation promoting blockchain adoption in gaming. 

This follows AlphaTON’s recently announced plan to acquire a 51% stake in GAMEE, a gaming platform within the Animoca Brands ecosystem.

The alliance will facilitate a new ‘TON Gaming Builders’ track for BGA member studios. Through this programme, AlphaTON will offer funding, technical support, and direct distribution on Telegram. 

The strategy leverages Telegram’s vast user base for instant, ‘one-tap’ gaming. The company operates as a specialised digital asset treasury for the TON blockchain. Its business model functions as both an accelerator and an incubator. 

“Telegram is the app for the people and TON is the blockchain for the people; it’s only natural we help build the gaming platform for the people on Web3—where talent can create livelihoods and earn real income from play, skill, and community,” AlphaTON Capital executive Will de’Ath stated in the press release.

AlphaTON invests in a range of TON-native sectors, including staking and decentralised exchanges. It also provides institutional investors with regulated exposure to the TON ecosystem. 

AlphaTON Capital’s move to join the BGA marks the latest step in its ongoing effort to attract more Web3 gaming developers to the Telegram ecosystem this year.

Earlier this month, the company signed a non-bidding letter of intent to acquire a 51% stake in GAMEE, which could see the firm become the first publicly listed web3 company.

GAMEE is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Animoca Brands, a web3 firm with investments in esports and web3 gaming.

The terms of the deal also include the acquisition of a majority of GAMEE’s native tokens $GMEE and $WAT on the open market.

Movistar KOI (MKOI) has avoided elimination by winning 2-1 against Team Secret Whales at the 2025 League of Legends World Championship Swiss Stage.

As a result, the LCP team has been eliminated from the competition, while MKOI has to win one more BO3 to qualify for the Worlds 2025 Knockout Stage.

MKOI battled through all three games, recovering from early losses to dominate key fights and objectives. The team’s coordinated plays and clutch objective steals ultimately secured a 2-1 series win over Team Secret Whales.

In game one, MKOI struck first through Javier ‘Elyoya‘ Prades Batalla’s early double kill and a 2v2 win bot, but the momentum did not last long.

Team Secret Whales chased down the LEC representative and, after a fight in front of the dragon pit, punished risky recalls and repeatedly caught David ‘Supa‘ Martínez García to swing the map in the LCP second seed’s favour. By constantly winning skirmishes, Team Secret Whales steadily built a strong lead in gold and objectives.

MKOI refused to fade quietly, and Joseph Joon ‘Jojopyun‘ Pyun landed a critical four-man Orianna ultimate to keep the EMEA hopes alive. Yet Team Secret Whales tightened its control across the Rift even further as the team reached Soul point, got Atakhan, and then secured both Cloud Soul and Baron. The LCP representative marched towards its opponent’s Nexus and, after one final fight, claimed the win within 34 minutes.

However, Movistar KOI was not ready to be eliminated from Worlds without a fight. 

Despite the LEC team striking early in the second game, Team Secret Whales continued to find flashless targets to punish and pressured the side lanes for towers and Herald, keeping control of the Rift despite MKOI stacking dragons. The LCP representative constantly traded advantages, even as Jojopyun and Elyoya pressed hard for picks around the map.

Nevertheless, it was MKOI that finally found the game’s first crucial fight to secure Atakhan and two towers. Even after MKOI swung momentum in its favour and shattered all three inhibitors, Team Secret Whales clung to life. A second Baron finally gave the LEC representative enough power to close the game and force a decisive final game for Worlds survival.

The third game was highly contested, with both teams trading objectives and kills, keeping the match almost perfectly even through the first 20 minutes. A huge fight near the mid lane swung the momentum in MKOI’s favour, and a crucial Atakhan steal gave the LEC representative the final push to secure the lead in the match’s final game.

Elyoya dominated the jungle with Naafiri and finished 10/0, leading Movistar KOI to a decisive victory that kept its Worlds 2025 run alive.

MKOI are now 2-2 in the League of Legends World Championship 2025, meaning the team faces one final best-of-three to qualify for the Knockout Stage. A win will send the European representative through, where G2 Esports is already waiting. MKOI will need to bring its A-game once again if the team want to keep its tournament hopes alive.

Potential opponents for MKOI include LCP’s CTBC Flying Oyster and FlyQuest, along with other teams currently sitting at either 2-1 or 1-2. The matchups will depend on how the rest of the Swiss Stage plays out, and MKOI may have to navigate another challenging series to secure a spot in the Quarterfinals of Worlds 2025.

For Team Secret Whales, the Worlds 2025 journey ends here. The LCP second seed showed great moves — in and out of the game — throughout the Swiss Stage, but three consecutive losses mean it exits the tournament without a chance to reach the knockout stage.

Following the conclusion of closed qualifiers and regional leagues, the 16 teams competing at The Finals Grand Major 2025, the inaugural LAN event for Embark Studios‘ first-person shooter title.

Teams from North America, EMEA, China, and South Korea will head to DreamHack Stockholm for a chance to be crowned champion of the title’s first official esports tournament and win the lion’s share of a $100,000 (~£74,912) prize pool.

Before the action gets underway, Esports Insider checks out the notable teams to watch during the event.

After becoming one of The Finals’ first partnered teams, ENVY successfully navigated its way to the Grand Major after dominating Group A.

The team topped the group after sweeping aside the 6 Ft Underdogs 2-0 to advance from Stage 1.

As one of North America’s top teams, ENVY is expected to be in contention for championship glory in Stockholm.

After finishing as runners-up in the EMEA closed qualifier under the ‘BEAMERS‘ banner, Fnatic is one of the latest esports organisations to expand into The Finals ahead of the Grand Major.

A two-point haul in Group B sealed the deal for the European roster, which looks to deliver some success for the UK-based organisation.

Having missed out on the top spot to Alliance in the closed qualifier, the Grand Major acts as a chance for the team to cement its place at the top of the international scene.

Instead of using online closed qualifiers to determine which teams qualify for the Grand Major, the second circuit of the Korea National League decided the region’s sole representative.

The Final Descendants completed an impressive run through the lower bracket to earn a place in the Grand Final against Honey Badger. The best-of-seven series went the distance, with The Final Descendents emerging victorious to qualify for the Grand Major.

The Korea National League used the Final Round game mode instead of Cashout to decide its winner. A change of format at the Grand Major could catch the team off guard but after fending off plenty of strong opposition in the qualifier, The First Descendants could be an underdog capable of causing some upset results.