Short news: Week 6

BET-M have sent fnatic to the lower bracket of the IEM Atlanta Europe Closed Qualifier after securing a three-map series victory.

The Russian team is now within one win of a spot at the main event and will face BetBoom in the upper bracket final for their first chance. fnatic, meanwhile, will take on ENCE in the lower bracket to avoid an early elimination, and need two additional wins afterward to lock in the final spot.

Data analyst Jay "⁠DeMars DeRover⁠" Li is moving to a new role within Liquid, so the organization have opened a google form for a new analyst.

After Torbjørn "⁠mithR⁠" Nyborg revealed that MCS had not paid their announced venue, the Windsor Hotel, the tournament organizer has taken to social media to say that teams' entry fees will be refunded after failing to secure enough teams for VRS status.

"Without the required number of confirmed teams," they said, "we are unable to proceed in full compliance with Valve regulations and therefore cannot secure HLTV coverage or VRS status for the event [...] All [entry fees] will be fully refunded."

The Windsor Hotel in Istanbul has cancelled their contract as the venue for the debut February 16-18, $10,000, Masters Championship Series event, Torbjørn "⁠mithR⁠" Nyborg has revealed, after no payment was received from the TO.

"As a team that needs to apply for visa for most tournaments," JiJieHao coach mithR explained, "we felt that the opportunity of attending 2 VRS tournaments in the same city [the other being Istanbulan a few days before] was a chance we had to take."

"This morning we got contacted by the hotel again who said that they did not receive payment from the TO, despite being sent (a fake) payment receipt. Therefore the hotel and venue has decided to cancel the contract with the TO.

"We were aware of the risk. Unfortunate. Lesson learned." mithR also added that JiJieHao had paid 50% of the tournament's $799 entry fee.

ENCE Academy have announced their new lineup for 2026, with Matti "⁠Matz⁠" Alatalo replacing the outgoing Brimir "⁠Blick⁠" Birgisson.

Niki "⁠Cliqq⁠" Kinnunen Teemu "⁠teme⁠" Korva Matti "⁠Matz⁠" Alatalo Giorgi "⁠Schwarz⁠" Gakhokidze Aleksi "⁠millert⁠" Lehtopuu

George "⁠Whitey⁠" White (coach)

The Russian rifler's 3.44 map rating is now the ninth-highest of all time (the current record is held by Dmitrii "⁠NIGHT666LADE⁠" Botirov with a 3.71 rating).

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"They decided to replace me right after we finished 1st at NODWIN Clutch Series 4, just a couple of days before our next LAN in Copenhagen, where I could have proven myself and help us get closer to the Major," a dismayed Stanislav "⁠fostar⁠" Ostashevskiy said on X.

He was replaced by Paweł "⁠dycha⁠" Dycha ahead of the team's campaign at Copenhagen Gaming Week Showdown and the first Parken Challenger tournament.

After benching himself late last year over "personal reasons," Vladan "⁠VLDN⁠" Radević has now parted ways with Partizan entirely to become a free agent.

Maks "⁠trochu⁠" Trocha and Falcons have agreed to part ways as the Pole was allowed to "pursue a new project," ending their nearly two-year partnership.

The Pole spent most of that time in the role of the assistant coach to Danny "⁠zonic⁠" Sørensen, until he was demoted to an analyst with the arrival of Aymen "⁠Aymeinstein⁠" Bencheikh at the beginning of the year.

After their win at IEM Krakow, Vitality have become the most successful organization at Big Events.

The full list is:

Vitality: 20

Astralis: 19

FaZe: 16

Natus Vincere: 15

fnatic: 10

G2: 10

Ninjas in Pyjamas: 8

SK: 7

Spirit: 7

Liquid: 6

MOUZ: 6