Duncan “Thorin” Shields, a prominent journalistic figure in the world of CSGO and others, has decided to cut all ties with ESL in light of their recent decision to implement changes to ESL Pro League. Thorin had extremely harsh words to say about the tournament organizers and their new format. However, some suspect that Thorin’s critical outlook is biased, due to his ties with FACEIT’s new league, B Site league.
ESL Pro League cuts teams in new format
Thorin’s critical reaction to the announcement stems largely from its reduction of participating teams. Before the implemented change, ESL Pro League Season 11 was supposed to feature a much larger team list, having received slots beforehand. However, the new format has announced that Season 11 will feature 24 invited teams, whereas it used to be 48. To make things worse, they aren’t all confirmed for the tournament; it is just a list of teams invited.
This change means that the teams that were not invited will have to compete in the lower-tier Mountain Dew League in order to once again qualify for ESL Pro League.
ESL under heavy criticism
Though many have criticized the abrupt change, Thorin was perhaps one of the most critical voices out there. Being a well recognized figure on the scene, his controversial and usually extremely direct manner is heard by the CSGO community. The Brit has absolutely slammed ESL, calling them “unethical scumbags” in light of not all teams being able to participate that were supposed to before the format was implemented.
I'll now write an email literally turning down over a thousand dollars of shoulder content creation I had agreed to do with them. I won't work with unethical scumbags who treat people like valueless pawns in a sick game that aims only for power and money.
— Thorin (@Thorin) January 25, 2020
Thorin has also confirmed that he has cut ties with ESL, stating on Twitter that he “won’t be working with their [ESL] org under any circumstances until the people responsible are named and fired or leave the company.” He also added at the end that that even includes Majors.
Some, however, have criticized Thorin himself. With Thorin being tied to B Site, a new FACEIT CSGO league, Haci, a popular CSGO figure, has suggested that Thorin’s criticism may be true, but it is also somewhat biased. He suggests that any changes ESL will now do will “directly favor his position and B Site’s.”
What ESL did with MDL teams was wrong but Thorin throwing everything at them while he's signed to B Site (meaning ESL wouldn't have hired him anyway) while everyone eats the things he says is hilarious.
Any changes ESL make now will directly favor his position and B site's.
— Hac1 (@DonHaci) January 25, 2020
Nevertheless, most agree that it was not right by ESL to suddenly change the format and discard CSGO teams that were qualified for ESL Pro League Season 11.
What do you think of Thorin’s accusations? Do you agree with Haci? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Follow Daily Esports for all your latest CSGO news.
