Newsflash: FIFA win for Hashtag Tom, PyrionFlax and ODPixel recognised at Dreamies, scientists discover way to secure wins in FIFA, more Royal Ravens changes

Dom Sacco, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 18/06/2025

Here’s our latest weekly Newsflash roundup, where we cover a host of brief esports and gaming news in an informal, bitesize nature for you to digest.

Hashtag Tom wins EU FIFA qualifier

UK FIFA player Tom ‘Hashtag Tom’ Leese won the PS4 FIFA Global Series PS4 Europe Qualifier 5 over the weekend and picked up $15,000 in winnings.

London Royal Ravens release Zer0 and Dominate

The London Royal Ravens, ReKTGlobal’s Call of Duty League franchise team and top-four finisher in the inaugural CDL season, announced the release of UK player Trei ‘Zer0’ Morris and UK coach James ‘Dominate’ Batz from the team after a prolonged attempt to unsuccessfully get them into the United States.

“We are saddened by the need to part with ‘Zer0’ and ‘Dominate’ as a part of our organization,” said Michael ‘ODEE’ O’Dell, chief gaming officer at ReKTGlobal. “Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented us from implementing our plan for the season since the beginning of Stage I, by keeping ‘Zer0’ and ‘Dom’ stuck in the UK. There is still no clear solution for this problem in the foreseeable future, so we’ve been forced to make the decision to move forward without them. We wish them nothing but the best.”

Tommey finishes second in AT&T Annihilator Cup

UK Call of Duty streamer Tommey picked up $50,000 after finishing second in the AT&T Annihilator Cup.

The tournament ran for five weeks across five games in April, with 20 competitors taking part.

UK talent recognised at annual Dreamies awards show

Tournament provider DreamHack has announced the full list of winners at its second annual ‘The Dreamies’ Award Show, presented by iam8bit.

UK talent including Dota 2 broadcasters PyrionFlax and ODPixel were among those recognised, picking up the Best Variety Streamer and Best DreamHack Caster respectively.

You can see the full list of Dreamies 2021 winners here.

Scientists ‘discover way to secure wins’ in FIFA

Scientists have been working on discovering how gamers can get marginal gains to achieve a competitive edge and secure a win when playing FIFA.

The secret? Players should apparently lean forwards for 4 minutes 41 seconds per game – a strategy that’s backed by the new research.

Stakester, the competition marketplace allowing users to play online games against real people for a chance to win money and prizes, has partnered with Dr Andrea Utley from Leeds University to uncover the secrets behind FIFA success.

You can check out the full report on becoming a better FIFA player here.

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Dom Sacco, Senior Editor

Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He has almost two decades of experience in journalism, and left Esports News UK in June 2025. As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late '80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He also previously worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation.

All Posts By Dom Sacco