Ad (you must be 18+ to trade shares, please trade responsibly; ENUK was given E$100 to trade with and cannot withdraw this, it’s purely for entertainment purposes)
IEM Sydney 2023 is well underway, and UK-based fantasy esports trading game ENDX has launched a free-to-enter IEM Sydney Fantasy League, with E$225 up for grabs from October 20th to 22nd. Dom Sacco enters the tournament, reveals his star team and shares his experience using ENDX so far.
Since Esports News UK partnered with ENDX a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been agonising over which Counter-Strike players to spend my in-game dollars on.
Let’s be real. I was always going to start with UK players.
So my first purchase was made on stream earlier this month – E$5 worth of shares in experienced UK CS player Thomas ‘Thomas’ Utting (E$1 each).
Thomas was the ideal starting point for me. I’ve followed his story over the years as he’s been in esports for a similar time to me, playing for teams from Reason to Endpoint, Envy, Coalesce and Into the Breach, with whom he made that epic run at the Paris Major.
Was my decision emotionally-driven? Yes. The guy once photo-bombed my interview with smooya and Dobbo at Insomnia last year. So of course it was an emotional choice. I had to buy shares in Thomas.
I was told on stream that my purchase wasn’t a good idea as Thomas recently stepped back from Into the Breach. But I’m playing the long game here.
What if Thomas signs to a new team? His stock will rise, and I’ll profit. Not that I’d really want to sell Thomas anyway, as my first ENDX investment.
Okay, so I had made my first purchase. Now, what about other UK players?
Unfortunately, while a few can be pre-ordered on ENDX, like GamerLegion’s volt, he’s not available to trade right now.
I then thought about ENDX’s new IEM Sydney Fantasy League, and that prompted me to grab some CS players who are competing in that tournament.
Speaking of which, GamerLegion are doing pretty well down under. They face Faze Clan overnight after I write these words. So if I can’t buy volt, let’s get one of his teammates instead: E$15 in acoR (E$1.04).
I also notice a few others in the tournament have him in their roster. Like UK caster Ne0kai. Who I’m definitely not copying.
I like how you can see other traders’ rosters in the IEM Sydney Fantasy League, much like how you can see friends’ teams in fantasy football games. Copying some of them might be good, or it could be awful. But regardless, to beat them you’re gonna need a slightly different team, of course, adding an element of risk and strategy.
I look at the teams doing well in the tournament, like Mouz. Frozen (E$3.19) is an obvious choice so I invest E$10 in him.
There are also some big org names in there. G2. FaZe. Fnatic.
I quickly grab some shares in m0NESY (E$1.01), Karrigan (E$1.01) and KRIMZ (E$1.01) from these respective teams. A rising star plus two well-known experienced faces that surely won’t let me down.
I had wanted to buy UK Fnatic player mezii instead of KRIMZ, but he wasn’t available, so I made do.
Will this be a mistake that comes back to haunt me? Should I have looked at other teams? Should I have copied Ne0kai more closely? Time will tell.
I round out my team with sh1ro (E$1.89) of Cloud9, whose price is up 89%.
When I submit my team into the IEM Sydney Fantasy League, it’s hard to pick my sixth player, the sub. Eventually, I settle on acoR, as I’m drawn by the other, bigger names in my list.
Will this be a mistake that comes back to haunt me? Should I have looked at other teams? Should I have copied Ne0kai more closely? Time will tell.
Some of the shares I’ve purchased are Proxy Shares— temporary, non-fluctuating shares for tracking non-partner team players during tournaments.
These shares have no affiliation with players / teams and cannot be traded between traders. only eNDX will sell proxy shares to traders and only eNDX will buy proxy shares from traders. The share price is always E$1.01, which explains the price of m0NESY, Karrigan and KRIMZ.
Well, I’ve splurged my E$100 for the IEM Sydney Fantasy League, and I’ve earned a badge for making multiple orders. Luckily, I still have E$10 left, thanks to ENDX’s offer for readers and followers of Esports News UK.
I’m not super confident my investments will pay off, given I’m a follower of UK esports rather than top players in global tournaments, but I’m keeping the faith (for now)! I’ll be back with more of my progress on ENDX soon.
Join the EsportsNewsUK clan on ENDX and get E$10 free – sign up now
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.
