As we enter into another new year, let’s take a look back on 2021 – another difficult year for many, but one that had plenty of esports action as usual.
Here’s a roundup of Esports News UK’s most-read articles of the year, in ascending order. And Happy New Year to you all – here’s to a great 2022.
10. This kind gesture from League of Legends LEC caster Caedrel will warm the coldest of solo queue hearts
British LEC caster and former pro League of Legends player, Marc ‘Caedrel’ Lamont, was a class act in solo queue when he came across frustrated player who, it turns out, was going through some personal difficulties.
9. Mini Ladd banned by Twitch following 2020 accusations of him grooming minors
British and Northern Irish content creator Craig ‘Mini Ladd’ Thompson was banned on Twitch back in February.
However, he returned later in the year and is now producing content on YouTube.
8. ‘I’m excited to speak to my lawyers’ – spat between British content creators NitroLukeDX and former CoD Ghost voice actor Jeff Leach gets ugly
Jeff Leach, British streamer, stand-up comedian and the former voice of Ghost in recent Call of Duty games (pictured left), announced he would be taking legal action against fellow British content creator NitroLukeDX (pictured right).
7. Arcane Vi, Jayce, Caitlyn and Jinx skins added to League of Legends for free: Here’s how to unlock them
Riot Games revealed some Arcane Edition skins for League of Legends: Arcane Jayce (left) and Arcane Vi (right), as well as Arcane Jinx and Arcane Caitlyn. They’re based on the popular League of Legends Netflix animation, Arcane.
6. Moxxi, Richard Lewis and other esports personalities defend Frankie Ward over Dota 2 The International community criticism
Several esports personalities came forward to stick up for Frankie Ward after the prominent British esports host came under fire from parts of the Dota 2 community.
Moxxi said: “The way Frankie handles herself professionally and also tackles issues head on is an act of bravery and dignity. So it was enraging beyond belief to see the push-back when she was announced. The gatekeeping coming out of the community was beyond insane.”
5. Adam and Upset drama: ‘It’s over, c’est fini’ – Adam attempts to end the situation between the former Fnatic League of Legends teammates after apologising on stream
The drama between former Fnatic teammates top-laner Adam ‘Adam’ Maanane and bot laner Elias ‘Upset’ Lipp looked to finally drawing to a close, after Adam read out a statment on stream apologising for his actions.
4. Gross Gore returns to League of Legends, goes 1/11/5 in his first game back
British streamer Ali ‘Gross Gore’ Larsen (now known as Woken Wolf) returned to League of Legends at the start of the year. However, in March Gross Gore was banned for ‘adult sexual exploitation’.
3. Scam the Kids: The ‘Save the Kids’ crypto scandal involving several UK YouTubers is a painful reminder of the volatility of cryptocurrency and the dangers of trusting influencers – opinion
Let’s not be so quick to forgive and forget our favourite influencers fibs or fraudulent behaviour, argues Esports News UK editor Dom Sacco in this opinion piece about the controversial ‘Save the Kids’ cryptocurrency scandal.
2. What happened at the end of Arcane Season 1? FAQs for the final act and what’s next (spoiler alert)
Riot Games’ first League of Legends animated series, Arcane, concluded on Netflix a few months ago – well, Season 1 did, anyway.
What did the ending of Arcane Season 1 Act 3 mean? How did it end? And what’s next? Here are our thoughts.
Note: SPOILERS AHEAD.
1. Rainbow Six community reacts to first openly gay operator Flores: ‘Representation matters’
Rainbow Six Siege’s first openly gay operator was revealed – and it caused a stir on social media.
Flores is an attacker, billed as a master thief with an explosive drone. He’s also gay, which got the community talking.
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Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
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 worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.