Today news esports batch includes VALORANT Episode 6 (the new map, Lotus, updates of Split, and the new Araxys skinline), Olaf's pentakill in League of Legends, iiTzTimmy leaving Apex Legends.

Hello friends! 

We’re back to bring you the latest news straight from the world of esports. In today's episode, we cover the new VALORANT map, Olaf's pentakill in League of Legends that has become an instant meme, one of the 100 Thieves players skipping the 15th season in Apex, and players being unhappy about the gifting system in Apex.

Before we begin, don't forget to check out how G-Loot can help you track your games stats and make your GGs more rewarding. 

VALORANT Episode 6: Lotus map, update of Split, and the Araxys skinline

The year kicks off with Episode 6 in VALORANT. The developers delighted players with the new Lotus map, an update of Split, and the Araxys skinline.

Being set in the Indian Western Ghats on Omega Earth, Lotus features traditional Indian stepwells and Dravidian-style stone buildings. The map has three sites for attack and defense as well as some interesting mechanics like destructible objects, silent jumps from heights and a number of rotating doors. It's great to see how Riot Games gives players the opportunity to develop their defense and attack strategy with non-standard mechanics.

The map Split has been reintroduced to all of its fans, and there are quite a few of them. Attacking on Split has become easier now. 

At the A site, a cornice was added, and the combat zone was expanded for greater manoeuvrability. The site’s platform was reduced - it became much easier to get a good view of A for attack. In addition, part of the rafters near A main was removed, and part of the tower became more even, which made it a lot more difficult to defend such a point. On Mid, you can now silently jump down from the platform in order to avoid giving too much information to the opponent. At the same time, the developers cut off the corner near the rope to make clearing the spot easier.

It's also worth noting that Breeze and Bind have been removed from competitive and casual modes, remaining available in other modes. It seems like these two are in for an update.

Finally, a few words about the origin of Araxys: according to the legend, a formidable alien race created a weapon using the force of dangerous energy and decided to use Vandal, Operator, Shorty and Bulldog along with a biocollector for close combat. All of these can already be tested in the game.

League of Legends Olaf's meme pentakill

While VALORANT players are enjoying the new map, the League of Legends has players losing it over Olaf's meme worthy pentakill and complaining about the game balance.

Season 13 did not bring many major changes, but the few that it did made Bruisers and Tanks incredibly prominent in the meta. Items like Ravenous Hydra and Jak'Sho dominated both solo queue and regular play and have become the dominant pick for many champions.

Thanks to the power of the new items — namely, Jak'Sho and Spear of Shojin, plus the shield from Sterak's Gage and the damage and the AoE bonus from Titanic Hydra — this Olaf player managed to take on the enemy team 1 versus 5 without moving most of the time.

A post poking fun at the "mechanically gifted" pentakill received a lot of attention in the community and raised some concerns about the current state of League of Legends. Is there going to be a balance patch?

100 Thieves Timmy 'iiTzTimmy' leaves Apex Legends

Meanwhile, Apex Legends keeps losing players. A star of 100 Thieves Timmy ‘iiTzTimmy’ An has revealed the reason for missing the 15th season.

Over the past few years, iiTzTimmy has gained the reputation of one of the most popular and talented Apex Legends streamers on Twitch.

However, he's been stepping away from Apex, moving to other multiplayer games like Escape from Tarkov, Overwatch 2, and VALORANT.

When asked why he stopped playing Apex, Timmy remembered the last time he really got excited about the game. “I would say when this map came out”, he said, talking about the recent Broken Moon map. 

With Season 16 of Apex Legends due out in February 2023 and the recent start of Lunar New Year Collector's Event, it's possible that this new wave of content could bring iitzTimmy back into the game and renew his interest in Apex.

Apart from professional players, Apex risks losing part of its general audience: players are unhappy with the gift system and believe that it is broken and only steals money.

Initially, there was nothing but positive feedback from the community, but recently many players have had problems with gifts.

In late December and early January, lots of Apex players complained that the gifting system was "buggy" and could not send items to the intended recipient after making a payment. This resulted in them wasting their Apex Coins, and since Respawn has yet to comment on the issue, this is a huge disappointment.

That's all for now! Join us next week for a new batch of esports and games news. If you have enjoyed this video, don't forget to subscribe and check out how G-Loot can make your GGs more rewarding.

See you next time!