Luminosity Gaming

Luminosity Gaming is a professional esports organization based in North America. It has teams competing in ''Call of Duty, Overwatch, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege'', ''Super Smash Bros.'', ''Fortnite,'' ''Apex Legends'', ''Rocket League'', '' Pokémon Unite'', ''Brawl Stars'' and ''League of Legends''. The team was founded in Canada by Steve "Buyaka" Maida in 2015, and is based in Toronto, Ontario.

Current divisions

''Super Smash Bros. ''

In October 8, 2016, Luminosity Gaming signed their first Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U representative being the Japanese Mewtwo player Abadango. Shortly after, they signed their first Super Smash Bros. Melee player being European Fox main Ice. Both players left shortly before the start of 2018 ending their Smash Division. This was until Melee player Ginger was signed in February 2021.
In October 9, 2022, they announced Enrique Hernández (" Maister") as their first Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player. The following year on March 23, 2023, they announced they had signed two more Ultimate players, being Gavin Dempsey (" Tweek") and Leonardo López ("MkLeo"). In May 2024, they announced that they had signed the Smash Ultimate player and content creator Tyler Martins ("Marss"). The following month, Luminosity announced they would be returning to the Melee scene, by signing Miles Foster ("Soonsay") and Justin Hallett ("Wizzrobe") as players.

''League of Legends''

On November 26, 2024, Luminosity announced their entry into ''League of Legends'' by entering the North American Challengers League (NACL). The NACL is the second-tier league for teams in North America, with its best teams earning a shot to be promoted to the ''League of Legends'' Championship of The Americas (LTA) North Conference as guests.

Rosters

Former divisions

''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive''

On April 30, 2015, Peter "ptr" Gurney joined the team as an AWPer. On July 29 it was announced that Luminosity dropped its roster and picked up a team based in Brazil that consisted of Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo, Fernando "fer" Alvarenga, Lucas "steel" Lopes, Ricardo "boltz" Prass, and Marcelo "coldzera" David. In November 2015 Luminosity reached the quarterfinals of DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015. Luminosity won MLG Columbus 2016 on April 3, 2016. On May 8, 2016, Luminosity won DreamHack Austin where they beat fellow Brazilian team Tempo Storm 2–0 in the finals. A couple of days later on May 16, 2016, the team won the ESL Pro League Season 3 Finals after beating G2 Esports 3–2 in the finals. On June 24, 2016, it was officially announced that the Brazilian roster would be joining SK Gaming on July 1, 2016. The roster's final tournament with Luminosity was the Esports Championship Series Season 1 Finals where they placed second, losing to G2 Esports in the finals.

Luminosity signed the Brazilian team WinOut on July 30, 2016. Its roster consisted of Renato "nak" Nakano, Bruno "bit" Lima, Lucas "destinyy" Bullo, Vinicios "PKL" Coelho, Gustavo "yeL" Knittel and is coached by Alessandro "apoka" Marcucci. Renato "nak" Nakano and Bruno "bit" Lima were kicked on the team on September 8, 2016. Gustavo "SHOOWTiME" Gonçalves and Bruno "shz" Martinelli joined Luminosity on September 11.

On September 12, 2019, Luminosity dropped its second Brazilian roster.

''Hearthstone''

On January 11, 2015, Luminosity picked up Stanislav Cifka, Nuno "Ignite" Pinho and Josh "Impact" Graham. On July 13, 2015, Christopher "PHONETAP" Huynh left Team Hearthlytics and joined Luminosity.

''Madden NFL 17''

On October 15, 2016, Luminosity picked up Eric "Problem" Wright. Widely known as the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) in the Madden franchise, Problem is the only 3-time winner of the Madden Challenge. No one else has won more than one. He also won Madden Nation, Season 3, which was featured on ESPN, along with numerous other tournaments.

''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege''

On June 22, 2019, Luminosity picked a ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege'' team that consisted of Coal "Doodle" Phillips, Kian "Hyena" Moyazani, Richie "Rexen" Coronado, Tom "Tomas" Kaka, and Muteeb "PiXeL" Chaudary. They quickly became a top team in North American Pro League defeating top teams DarkZero Esports and Team Reciprocity. Luminosity placed third in the online qualifier for the Six Major Raleigh and failed to qualify for the event. In Dreamhack Montreal 2019, Luminosity lost to Team Liquid and BDS Esport being eliminated in the group stage and placing 13-16th, alongside top European team, Chaos Esports Club and amateur teams Livid Gaming and Super Nova. After this defeat, PiXeL left the team and was replaced with former player of Rise Nation, Abdullah "Factor" Rihan. Luminosity placed 4th in North American Pro League Season 10, failing to reach the Season 10 finals but avoiding relegation.

On April 14, 2020, Hyena released a statement detailing conflict between the team, Luminosity, and the developers of Rainbow Six Siege, Ubisoft criticizing the latter two for mismanagement and miscommunication resulting in the team's removal from Pro League. A day later, Ubisoft confirmed that the team would not be competing in Pro League. On April 17, Luminosity released Hyena along with the rest of the team. Hyena later retired from Rainbow Six Siege.

Controversies

On December 17, 2024, Luminosity was named a defendant in a case alleging discriminatory behavior against Felix Hasson, a globally ranked gamer known in the gaming community as "T_pot." In late 2023, Hasson, a professional Super Smash Bros. player from New York City, faced online harassment and was banned from several tournaments due to his pro-Israel views expressed on social media.

Hasson was removed without notice from the "Luminosity Makes BIG Moves 2024" tournament, scheduled for January 5–7, 2024, in New York. The tournament organizer, "Aerodusk," confirmed the decision, citing a tweet that labeled Hasson a "racist zionist weasel."

Following this, Hasson was banned from weekly tournaments at Waypoint Cafe NYC and Game Guys Entertainment in Houston. Organizers justified the bans by referencing his social media posts, with one stating that "sometimes these expressions have consequences."

Hasson, who had spent a gap year in Israel and openly identifies as Jewish and pro-Israel, expressed that the bans and accompanying online criticism were hurtful. He emphasized that he has never intended harm and voiced concern over the impact on his professional gaming career.

The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) publicly condemned the bans, arguing that no one should face discrimination for their Zionist identity or support for Israel. CAM called for Hasson's reinstatement in the tournaments.

This incident sparked broader discussions about the intersection of personal beliefs and professional participation within the gaming community.

See also

*Seattle Surge
*Vancouver Titans

References

External links

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{{Authority control

2015 establishments in Canada
Apex Legends teams
Call of Duty teams
Defunct and inactive Counter-Strike teams
Defunct and inactive Overwatch teams
Esports teams based in Canada
Esports teams established in 2015
Hearthstone teams
League of Legends teams
Rocket League teams
Smite (video game) teams
Super Smash Bros. player sponsors
Team Razer
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege teams
Valorant teams
World of Warcraft teams
Marvel Rivals teams