Team dossiers — verified rosters, region tags and active sponsorships

The teams desk tracks 72 active rosters across the four regional series. Each panel is re-stamped at the start of every desk shift and at every roster move.

A roster move is one of the most frequently corrected items in the newsroom. The desk's three-source ladder exists for exactly this reason — most roster moves are first reported by one source, and only the second source citation lets the desk publish without the REPORTED flag. Below is the working method the desk uses to verify a roster move, written for a reader who wants to verify one themselves.

The three sources — and the order the desk reads them

The first source is the team's own published roster page. A team that publishes an official roster page is the most authoritative source for its own moves; the desk treats it as Tier-A for any move the team has announced. The page is the first thing the desk reads when a move is reported.

The second source is the tournament organisation's published roster. Most regional tournament organisers publish a per-team roster at the start of each split and update it on every approved substitution. The desk treats the organisation's roster as Tier-A for split-bound moves; for mid-split substitutions the desk reads the organisation's substitution log first.

The third source is independent press — the established independent esports press and any recognised regional press. The desk cites this source as Tier-B. Two of three sources must agree before the desk prints a roster move without a REPORTED tag. A single-source move carries REPORTED until the second source lands.

How the desk handles a mid-tournament substitution

A mid-tournament substitution requires tournament organiser approval. The desk publishes a substitution bulletin and re-stamps the affected team panel within six hours. The bulletin carries the date, the published substitution reason (if any), and the desk's three-source ladder. Mid-tournament substitutions are visible on the affected team panel's roster list as a strikethrough on the substituted-out player and a fresh entry for the substituted-in player, both with a roster-verified-date stamp.

How a reader can run the same check

Open the team's own published roster and the tournament organisation's published roster in two browser tabs. If the two agree on the move, the move is verified. If they disagree, the discrepancy is itself news — the desk publishes a discrepancy bulletin with both rosters side by side and asks the team or the organisation to publish a clarification.

Where only one source has the move, the desk stamps the row REPORTED until the second source lands. The desk does not invent the second source. Where a move is widely reported but neither the team nor the tournament organisation has confirmed it, the desk files the story under the broader news beat with a Tier-C read and a note that the desk is awaiting citation lock.

What the desk does not publish about rosters

The desk does not publish salary or contract values. The desk publishes contract windows (months) only when a team or publisher has already disclosed them. The desk does not publish off-record internal team comments. The desk does not re-publish a roster move from the publisher's internal channels or community forums; the desk waits for the publisher's public announcement.

The desk keeps a per-team correction count visible. The corrections page carries every public roster revision with a timestamp and a re-citation. The desk commits to a 6h turnaround on bracket- and score-related corrections and 24h on story-tip-based corrections.

The desk covers 72 active rosters across four regional series. Each region has its own editorial coverage shape. Below is the regional breakdown, written for readers who want to know what to expect from a region's coverage.

APAC — 14 active rosters across APAC and OCE

The APAC series' coverage shape is two distinct cultures wrapped in one bracket: Japan, Korea and China teams carry a regional press tradition, while OCE and SEA teams carry a community-anchored roster bulletin style. The desk reads APAC through the publisher primary stream with one offshore press wire for cross-cite. Roster moves in APAC are first reported by the team's own published page more often than any other region.

EMEA — 16 active rosters across EU and MENA

The EMEA series' coverage shape is multi-lingual and tightly bracketed. The bracket uses a double-elim structure through the bracket stage and a BO5 grand final; the editorial cycle uses two shifts per day during bracket stage. Roster moves in EMEA are first reported by the tournament organisation's published page; the desk cross-cites with the team's own page and an independent regional press.

Americas — 12 active rosters across NA, LATAM and BR

The Americas Open's coverage shape is round-robin into single-elim. The desk's round-robin stage carries a different verification challenge: a win count plus map differential is re-summed at the end of every round. Roster moves in Americas often land via the team's own page; the desk cross-cites with the tournament organisation and one independent regional press.

Global Finals — top 4 regional winners

The Global Finals is the season's capstone. The Tokyo desk opens nine days before finals weekend and runs a continuous feed. Roster moves are rare during finals weekend because of the tournament organizer's substitution freeze; the desk's roster coverage in this period is mostly editorial scenario language for what each team's run might look like one year out.