Titan (esports)
Titan was a professional esports organization founded in September 2013. Titan formerly sponsored teams in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Quake Live, and Smite. CEO and founder Damien Grust announced the organisation's dissolution on 13 January 2016, citing financial issues.[1][2]
Former divisions | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Dota 2 Quake Live Smite |
---|---|
Founded | September 2013 |
Folded | January 2016 |
Based in | Singapore |
Website | www |
Dota 2
Titan started its Dota 2 team in 2013 by recruiting four players from Orange Esports, Lee "KyXy" Kong Yang, Lim "Net" Wai Pern, Joel "Xtinct" Chan and Chong "Ohaiyo" Xin Khoo, in addition to Chua "Ice" Chee Cai.[3][4]
Although the team secured a podium finish at Mineski Pro Gaming League,[5] in December 2013 Ice was dismissed from the team,[6] being replaced first by Singaporean carry player Gavin ‘Meracle’ Kang and then Malaysian player Ng Wei "NWP" Poong (formerly known as "Yamateh").[7]
The team went on to win the Asian Cyber Games 2013[8] and finished 9th/10th place at The International 4 in 2014.[9]
In October 2014, the Titan Dota 2 team was disbanded and the division was officially put on hold.[10] Most of the players went on to join the newly formed Team Malaysia.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
In January 2014, Titan formed a CS:GO team by recruiting the VeryGames team of Kévin "Ex6TenZ" Droolans, Nathan "NBK" Schmitt, Edouard "SmithZz" Dubourdeaux, Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom, and Richard "shox" Papillon.[11][12] The team went on to win the February 2014 DreamHack Invitational tournament, defeating their rivals Ninjas in Pyjamas.[13][14] With Copenhagen Games 2014 the first LAN to do groups based on world rankings, Titan was ranked as the second best team in the world,[15] but failed to deliver at the event.
The team's lineup changed in May 2014, with the departure of shox and the arrival of Kenny "kennyS" Schrub.[16] Following the change, the team did poorly, although they took second place at Gfinity 3 in August 2014.[17][18]
In September 2014, the roster was restructured again. Only Ex6TenZ and kennyS were retained, and they were joined by three players from Team LDLC: Dan "apEX" Madesclaire, Mathieu "Maniac" Quiquerez and Hovik "KQLY" Tovmassian.[19][20] The new lineup then went on to win the DreamHack Stockholm Invitational in Globen,[21] taking down parts of their former teammates in LDLC. KennyS was also singled out as "the best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player in the world" by CS:GO analyst Duncan "Thorin" Shields,[22] with the team being ranked as no. 5 on his Top 10 World Ranking list leading up to DreamHack Winter 2014.[23]
In November 2014, Hovik "KQLY" Tovmassian was dismissed from the team after receiving a VAC ban,[24] with returning CS:S player Cédric "RpK" Guipouy taking his place.[25] Also returning but in July 2015 would be previous Titan team members shox and SmithZz, replacing the two exiting players apEX and kennyS.[26][27] In September 2015 Maniac, another longtime member, left the team, making room for yet another returning player, ScreaM.[28][29]
However, on 13 January 2016, Titan's Founder and CEO Damien Grust issued a statement from its official website stating that they do not possess the revenue to keep supporting their CS:GO division and that they would disband.
"From then on it was a real uphill battle and I forced myself to reinvest into Titan in order to keep the company afloat for at least one more year, believing that we could make it after all. We fought the entire year, trying to secure sponsorships that would enable us to keep a struggling, but great CS:GO team as well as our SMITE team. We also sought advice from agencies and lawyers to maybe even sell shares in the company, or merge with another one. None of these scenarios ever materialised with any of the potential partners we spoke to.
Here we are now, starting 2016 without a budget high enough to keep a CS:GO team or pay our amazing staff. How profoundly sad."[1]
Smite
In December 2014 Titan expanded its esports presence by recruiting Aquila, securing the lineup of Nate “Ataraxia” Mark, Andreas “KanyeLife” Christmansson, Emil “PrettyPriMe” Edström, Thomas “Repikas” Skallebaek, and Kevin “Confrey” Confrey.[30][31]
Founded as Agilitas at the start of the Smite Pro league qualifier in 2013, the team had stayed largely intact since its inception, adding manager Job “CaptCoach” Hilbers and analyst Erik “Omgimabird” Sjösten as support staff.
Playing their way through the Smite Challenger Cup and placing 1st seven weeks in a row, the team ended 2014 by winning the Smite European Regionals after a 2-0 clean sweep against SK Gaming in the finals.[32][33][34] In the following 2015 Smite World Championship tournament the team managed to beat Oh My God and SK Gaming, with Titan taking an impressive second place after losing 2–3 to the home soil lineup of Cognitive Prime in the grand final.[35][36]
In August 2015 Job “CaptCoach” Hilbers left the team in search for new challenges, and the following month saw the team part ways with Kevin “Confrey” Confrey, being replaced by the up-and-coming talent of Nicklas "Brotuz" Petersen.[37]
On 12 January 2016, Titan's Smite division dissolved due to the departure of the current Titan SMITE roster. It would only be a mere day later that Titan's CSGO division followed suite and was shut down, along with the rest of Titan.
"The departure from Titan also signals the end of the current roster, with parts of the Thomas "Repikas" Skallebaek, Nicklas "Brotuz" Petersen, Nate "Ataraxia" Mark, Emil "PrettyPriMe" Edström and Andreas "KanyeLife" Christmansson lineup going their separate ways."[38]
Former players
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Nathan "NBK" Schmitt
- Kenny "kennyS" Schrub
- Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom
- Dan "apEX" Madesclaire
- Mathieu "Maniac" Quiquerez
- Hovik "KQLY" Tovmassian
- Kévin "Ex6TenZ" Droolans
- Richard "shox" Papillon
- Cédric "RpK" Guipouy
- Edouard "SmithZz" Dubourdeaux
- Victor "LiCroM" Albe
- Jérôme "NiaK" Sudries (Manager)
Smite
- Kevin "Confrey" Confrey (Hunter)
- Thomas "Repikas" Skallebaek (Jungler/Guardian)
- Nicklas "Brotuz" Petersen (Solo)
- Nate "Ataraxia" Mark (Hunter)
- Emil "PrettyPriMe" Edström (Mid)
- Andreas "KanyeLife" Christmansson (Guardian)
- Job "CaptCoach" Hilbers (Coach)
- Erik "Omgimabird" Sjösten (Analyst)
Dota 2
- Chua "Ice" Chee Cai
- Galvin Kang Jian "Meracle" Wen
- Chong Xin "Ohaiyo" Khoo
- Wei Poong "NWP" Ng
- Wai Pern "Net" Lim
- Joel Zhan Leong "XtiNcT" Chan
- Kong Yang "kY.xY" Lee
Quake Live
- Alexey "cYpheR" Yanushevsky[39]
- Andrew "Vamper" Sirnikov[39]
- Sergey "evil" Orekhov[39]
Achievements
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Place | Tournament | Location | Date |
---|---|---|---|
ESEA s15 | Dallas, USA | 19 January 2014 | |
DreamHack Invitational | Stockholm, Sweden | 21 February 2014 | |
StarSeries XI | Kiev, Ukraine | 5 May 2014 | |
Gfinity 3 | London, United Kingdom | 4 August 2014 | |
DreamHack Invitational | Stockholm, Sweden | 27 September 2014 | |
Asus ROG | Helsinki, Finland | 31 January 2015 | |
Pantamera CSGO Challenge | Stockholm, Sweden | 7 February 2015 | |
Gamers Assembly 2015 | Poitiers, France | 6 April 2015 | |
ESL Pro League Winter 2015 | Cologne, Germany | 12 April 2015 | |
ESEA s18 | Dallas, USA | 19 April 2015 | |
Gaming Paradise | Portorož, Slovenia | 9 September 2015 | |
CEVO Season 8 | Columbus, USA | 8 November 2015 | |
ESL One: Katowice 2015 | Katowice, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland | March 12–15, 2015 |
Smite
Place | Tournament | Location | Date |
---|---|---|---|
Wildcards | Online | 26 October 2014 | |
SMITE European Regionals | Cologne, Germany | 16 November 2014 | |
SMITE World Championship 2015 | Atlanta, USA | 11 January 2015 | |
Hitbox EU Invitational | Online | 12 July 2015 |
Dota 2
Place | Tournament | Location | Date |
---|---|---|---|
SteelSeries SEA Cup Season 3 | Online | 28–31 October 2013 | |
GMPGL SEA Grand Finals Season Five | Quezon City, Philippines | 9–10 November 2013 | |
≈5 | Rapture Gaming Network League 2013 - 2014 | Online | 18 May - 8 December 2013 |
joinDOTA League Asia Season 1 | Online | 26 January - 13 April 2014 | |
≈9 | The International 2014 | Seattle, Washington, United States | 8–21 July 2014 |
References
- "Titan Bids Farewell". Archived from the original on 14 January 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
- "Titan shuts down, releases players into 'beautiful esports wildernerness'". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016.
- "Titan acquires ex-Orange, Ice as fifth". joinDOTA. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
- "Titan picks up ex-Orange squad and Ice". GosuGamers. Archived from the original on 31 July 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
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- "Meracle replaces Ice in Titan". GosuGamers. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
- "Yamateh joins Titan as fifth member". GosuGamers. Archived from the original on 5 July 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
- "Titan sweeps Mineski, takes home ACG title". GosuGamers. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
- "The Playoffs Are Over!". Dota2. Archived from the original on 20 July 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
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- "Virtus.pro win Gfinity 3". HLTV.org. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
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- "Titan Change Ses Cadres". Vakarm. Archived from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
- "Official: Titan sign LDLC trio". HLTV.org. Archived from the original on 6 September 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
- "Titan vann Dreamhack Stockholm: "Oerhört lyckliga"". 26 September 2014. Archived from the original on 27 September 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- "kennyS - Special Sniper". 17 October 2014. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- "Thorin's CS:GO Top 10 World Rankings - 12th November, 2014". Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- "Statement Regarding DreamHack Winter 2014". Archived from the original on 16 December 2014.
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- Lewis, Richard. "EnvyUs underperformance sparks French roster revolution". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015.
- "Titan CS:GO Roster Changes". Titan.pro. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015.
- Sawant, Seth. "Titan drops Maniac, adds ScreaM". GosuGamers. Archived from the original on 26 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
- "Titan Ventures Into Smite". Titan.pro. Archived from the original on 4 January 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
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- Warr, Philippa (24 November 2014). "Smite: The Aquila/SK Gaming EU Showdown". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
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- Warr, Philippa (12 January 2015). "Smite Crowns First World Champions". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
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- "SMITE Adventure Ends". Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
- http://titan.pro/news/read/Cypher-Vamper-Evil-Found-out-a-new-team/4%5B%5D