Author: Nik Ranger

It Looks Like ESL Will Host the First CS:GO Major of 2019 and Facebook Streaming Shouldn’t Be a Problem IEMIt looks like Valve has selected ESL to host the first Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major of 2019 and IEM Katowice seems to be the most likely choice. The Valve sponsored CS:GO Majors are the most prestigious events on the Counter-Strike esports circuit and tournament organizers usually have to bid for their chance to host one. The first seven majors were hosted by DreamHack or ESL but the likes of ELEAGUE, MLG, PGL, and FACEIT have all been given the chance to run one since the million dollar major era began. In fact, ESL has hosted just one $1,000,000 Major at ESL One: Cologne 2016 and DreamHack hasn’t had a look in since the last $250,000 Major at DreamHack Cluj-Napoca 2015. Read More: Richard Lewis Is Confident That There Isn’t a Cheating Problem in Professional CS:GO Despite the Recent Norwegian Scandal – Now it looks like Valve is going to give ESL the chance to get back in the game as a new report from Jarek ‘DeKay’ Lewis at DBLTAP claims that multiple sources have revealed that the German company has been awarded the first Major of 2019. It also looks like IEM Katowice could be the most likely candidate for the tournament, though nothing has been confirmed: “the Major is intended to begin in February and possibly extend into March, according to multiple sources. A few sources have named Katowice as a likely location for the Major — though that has not been confirmed — because the aforementioned time frame falls in line with ESL’s annual IEM Katowice event,” IEM Katowice is one of the biggest events in CS:GO and, along with the likes of ESL One: Cologne, is one of only a handful of tournaments that holds similar weight to a Major even when it isn’t one. IEM Katowice would also make sense as it is one of the few competitions that are not subject to ESL’s new Facebook live streaming exclusivity deal that affects the likes of the ESL Pro League and ESL One events. Valve sponsored Majors have to be streamed on Twitch, so other popular events like ESL One: Cologne would, presumably, be difficult to organize. ESL has hosted two previous Majors in Katowice, in 2014 and 2015, and the crowd at the Spodek arena is often referred to as one of the best in esports.

Is Semmler returning to CSGO after Overwatch League departure? CS:GO fans are speculating that Auguste ‘Semmler’ Massonnat could be returning to the game after he announced he will no longer be a full-time caster for the Overwatch League. Semmler is the latest member of the Overwatch League’s broadcast talent to announce their departure ahead of Season 3, following commentary duo Christopher ‘MonteCristo’ Mykles and Erik ‘DoA’ Lonnquist, and host Chris Puckett. In the wake of his announcement, CS:GO fans have been quick to suggest that Semmler might be making a return to the game he made his name in, with fellow CS:GO commentators and even pro players reacting to the news on Twitter. Alongside Anders Blume, Semmler was part of CS:GO’s original iconic commentary duo. The pair were the primary voices for the game for multiple years, but in September 2017 they announced that they would be going separate ways. While Anders formed a new partnership in CS:GO with Jason ‘Moses’ O’Toole, Semmler stepped away from the game entirely, instead moving to the Overwatch League where he teamed up with Robert ‘hexagrams’ Kirkbride as one of several casting pairs for the first two seasons of the league. With Semmler now departing the league ahead of Season 3, however, it’s very possible he could return to CS:GO, and fans are speculating that he could be heading to the upcoming BLAST Premier league. Semmler appeared at multiple BLAST tournaments during 2019, so it would be no great shock to see him lend his voice to the BLAST Premier’s Spring season, which kicks off on January 31 – a prospect that BLAST may even have hinted at themselves by liking Semmler’s announcement on Twitter. Prior to his announcement about leaving the Overwatch League, Semmler also wished Moses a happy birthday while stating “Here’s to what’s coming in 2020” alongside a picture of himself, Moses, and Anders commentating at a BLAST event. Happy Birthday to the Bald Eagle, @MosesGG. Here’s to what’s coming in 2020, bro pic.twitter.com/wQbYkRDYsd — Semmler (@OnFireSemmler) January 12, 2020 While these “hints” could be entirely meaningless and coincidental, with Semmler having yet to make any official announcements about his future plans, it’s certainly enough to get CS:GO fans excited about the prospect of having one of the game’s most iconic voices return this year.

Is CS:GO down? Players report long queue times, rank resets on July 31 ValveSome Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players reported strangely long queue times and ranks being reset on July 31, but it appears to have been resolved. Update (July 31 at 13:46 EST) It appears that the issues have now been resolved, following a server outage affecting gameplay in the popular shooter game. There doesn’t seem to be any more long queues to enter matches, as was previously the case, and it seems like businesses as usual in CS:GO. Original story: CS:GO players all around the world seem to be having issues with the game, with many people unable to play competitive matches. The issue seems to be isolated to just Counter-Strike and could be due to server errors, after Valve’s weekly scheduled maintenance day on July 30. Some players have complained about being unable to find a competitive game after reporting over 20 minutes of queuing, as well as their ranks and match stats being reset. If Valve are not yet aware of the issue, they soon should be, and will work quickly to resolve the problem. However, being based in Bellevue, Washington, they may be limited in staff considering time zones. The problem seems to only be affecting competitive matches and ranks, meanwhile custom games and casual matches are still working. Third party services like Faceit and ESEA seem to be having no problems. Article last updated on July 31, 2019 at 13:46 (EST).

Is battle royale coming to CS:GO? Leaks suggest it might be Leaked information about tests currently being conducted by the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive development team seems to prove that the game will be getting a new ‘Survival’ mode in the future. The information in question comes from @Nors3 on Twitter, who stated that the new mode could be making an appearance for the game’s ninth ‘Operation’: “Devs are testing Mode Survival for Op9. Probably people gonna gonna leak the image but I won’t do it, let them work.” He eventually went on to show a screenshot of the developers playing on a map called ‘mg_xl_enclave’ which, according to one Reddit user, is: “in the official survival map pool, according to the cvar ‘ui_playsettings_maps_official_survival’.” Devs are testing Mode Survival for Op9 :grimacing: Probably people gonna gonna leak the image but I won’t do it, let them work. — Nors3 (@Nors3) November 12, 2018 Okay I post hiding the name Indeed this is Survival Mode https://t.co/JuRYKeKyHN pic.twitter.com/EZvtAYbU4u — Nors3 (@Nors3) November 13, 2018 Rod ‘Slasher’ Breslau probed for more information about whether the Survival mode would be some sort of battle royale but Nors3 appeared uncertain, stating: “Yes and No. I doubt Source can handle a proper +30 BR mode, should be a mode with less people.” Yes and No :thinking_face: I doubt Source can handle a proper +30 BR mode, should be a mode with less people. — Nors3 (@Nors3) November 12, 2018 Other community members argued that there have been servers that could handle 60 or more players, but many seem to believe that Valve will go in an entirely different direction to the current battle royale phenomenon. CS:GO has been an immensely popular game for a number of years now, as were Counter-Strike 1.6 and Counter-Strike: Source before it, but its growth has slowed somewhat of late. Read More: Aussie CS:GO team embarrassed by 1v3 ninja defuse because teammate was drinking a Red Bull – Thanks to its vibrant esports scene, the game will always have a core of fans that are interested in nothing more than competitive matchmaking, PUGS and official matches, but bringing in new casual fans seems to be a bit of an issue due to the steep learning curve and lack of casual incentives. With games like Fortnite showing what is possible when the casual community is constantly provided with updates and interesting new modes, items and skins, even the likes of Richard Lewis and Duncan ‘Thorin’ Shields have conceded that other esports-focused titles could learn a thing or two from Epic Games. It has been a year since the last CS:GO Operation, Operation Hydra, ended so it would make sense if the developers were working on a new one. However, the general consensus seems to be that they need to shake things up a bit if they want to entice a larger casual audience.

CSGO hacker confronted by IRL streamer at DreamHack for cheating on LAN A Polish Twitch streamer has confronted a blatant Counter-Strike: Global Offensive hacker at one of Europe’s biggest LAN events, Dreamhack Winter, leaving him stunned. Hacking permeates throughout all of gaming. Regardless of title or genre, most players have felt the rage-inducing experience of playing against a hacker who’s manipulating the game to always be in the favor. However, what would you do if you came face-to-face with one at a LAN event? This Polish IRL streamer had that exact experience happen at one of Europe’s biggest LAN parties, Dreamhack Winter. ‘Benczek’ was wandering around day one of Dreamhack Winter, checking out what people were playing and the events on offer. However, as he strolled past this one CS:GO player, he had to do a double take because of how wildly different his game looked. The player was blatantly hacking on LAN, either playing CS:GO online or participating in one of the Open events Dreamhack hosts at every event. Benczek stopped in his tracks, filming the player from over his shoulder, looking stunned as to why someone would hack on LAN. Read more: CS:GO legend s1mple banned on Twitch again – When he asked the player whether he was hacking or not, the player just straight up said “yes.” After all, when there is clear camera footage of you hacking, it’s pretty hard to deny reality. The CS:GO player had three obvious hacks on at the same time. He was playing his games from a third-person perspective, which is impossible to do on VAC-protected servers. He was also running a bunny-hop script, giving him a lot more mobility across the map. Finally, his character had a purple hue to it, indicating some sort of wallhack to easily detect other players. There’s also a possibility there were more hacks the player was using, but to cheat in such an obvious way at such a big event takes some courage. While hacking at major events has toned down in recent years, some high-profile cases have brought players under intense scrutiny. Most recently, the infamous word.exe hack at eXTREMESLAND Asia 2018 landed OpTic India’s Nikhil ‘forsaken’ Kumawat in hot water, with the player receiving a five-year ban. Cheating in CS:GO usually results in VAC bans for player’s Steam accounts, making them ineligible to play in any Valve-sponsored event. It can also ban other Steam accounts used on the same piece of hardware, which can lead to wide-spread bans over rental PCs, like those on offer at Dreamhack. Benczek didn’t report the hacker to the admins, but it’s likely the player was discovered by another passer-by who could have reported the player. It’s also unclear whether the player was banned, but Dreamhack might now take action given the viral reach of Benczek’s clip.

Intriguing Mr. Robot Easter Egg discovered on Breach in CSGO A recently discovered easter egg in CSGO shows that some sneaky developers at Valve Corporation are huge fans of the popular psychological drama series, Mr. Robot. Having been on the air since June of 2015, it was recently announced that the subversive Mr. Robot would be coming to an end with a fourth and final season. With just a few episodes remaining until we reach the conclusion of Elliot Alderson’s mind-bending journey, CSGO fans have picked up on an unexpected Mr. Robot Easter Egg in-game. Wandering through Breach after a major November 4 update which saw certain sections of the map drastically altered, players are now able to stumble upon a newly placed Easter Egg on one of the monitors in-game. At first glance, one of the monitors is simply just displaying an assortment of insignificant code. Upon an extremely close look however, players discovered that the code is actually a neat throwback to specific coding from the very first episode of Mr. Robot. The exact code features lines such as ‘fsociety’ and ‘LEAVE ME HERE,’ both of which are present in the pilot episode of the popular show. Eliot stumbles upon fsociety early into the narrative and decides to align his efforts with the secretive hacker group in order to destabilize the status quo. The band of misfits is labeled after their hideout on an abandoned Coney Island as well as their obvious message to societal norms. Not the only creative easter egg on the map, CSGO fans have also been treated to an intricate and amusing feature that requires four players to stand directly under certain lights on Breach. Doing so hilariously unlocks a brief first-person cutscene that sends your character down the spiraling slide. No stranger to Easter Eggs of late, the recently updated Cache also featured a number of hidden goodies for dedicated players to track down. With numerous changes to Breach in the latest update, there might still be some surprises left to discover but for the time being, here’s everything you may have missed in the new patch.

Insane clutches: Top 10 ESL Pro League Group Stage plays After an insane three weeks of action at the ESL Pro League S13 Group Stages, we’ve put together our top ten show-stopping plays to look back on. During the Group Stages, the likes of Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz, Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut, and Dmitry ‘sh1ro’ Sokolov made monumental displays of skill and talent. Other players took the cake with their showings, too. Team Liquid’s Michael ‘Grim’ Wince is known for his accuracy with a rifle and pulled off a clean hold against Astralis which set the scene for a fantastic game on Dust 2. Over at FaZe Clan, Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dulken seemed to have found his footing once more, showing off his unrivaled first-bullet aim to take an ace of kills. It wouldn’t be a top-ten list without the inclusion of Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev, though. The Ukrainian, who remains the best AWPer in the world, was on top form as he dropped 52 kills, at one point obliterating MIBR as a one-man-army. Unsurprisingly, one iconic star-quality play came from Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo. The Brazilian Godfather of CS:GO took down Endpoint in a brutal showing that saw his opponents fall like dominos, and all without his weapon of choice. Check out the full video above to find out just where these plays rank alongside all of our top ten. For all CSGO news and events, keep it locked to Dexerto over at our dedicated main page.

Infamous CSGO cheater forsaken free to compete again as ESIC ban ends OpTic GamingNikhil ‘forsaken’ Kumawat’s five-year competitive ban from CS:GO events has ended and the Indian player can now play in esports tournaments again. Five years ago, on October 24, 2018, the Esports Integrity Coalition banned forsaken from “all esports-related activity for or with any ESIC member organisation.” The Indian CS:GO player was caught playing with a cheat program at the eXTREMESLAND Asia Finals, and after an investigation from ESL, he was also found to have cheated at the India Premiership Fall Finale. His team, OpTic India, was disqualified from eXTREMESLAND 2018 and promptly fired the player following the ban and investigation. forsaken also deleted his social media accounts soon after. He later spoke about his ban in an interview with AFK Gaming and released a statement about the situation. “If I could go back, I would probably delete the day I first played Counter-Strike – nothing good has happened to me since the day I first played that game. I am extremely sorry to my teammates, OpTic management and the people who always put their trust in me. I feel guilty of stealing away the opportunities from my teammates. Each one was extremely talented and I have jeopardized their chances of being where they deserve,” Kumawat said. Now, his ban from competitive events has been run out for ESIC-member events and the Indian player can return to competitive play. However, because of Valve’s new RMR eligibility guidelines implemented in 2021, forsaken cannot play in developer-sponsored events until after September 21, 2024. forsaken allowed to return to competitive CS:GO as ban expires In the wake of his ban, forsaken has had multiple videos come out explaining his rise as a competitor and fall as a cheater. He has also become somewhat of a meme in the esports community thanks to his name for the cheat he installed on the tournament computer, “word.exe,” and how blatant his cheating was. Since his statement about the ban was released, CS:GO esports fans have not heard from the former Indian pro. He has been in retirement since his ban and is not expected to return to competitive play in the newly released CS2.

Incredible Grabbity Glove skin combines CSGO and Half-Life: Alyx VR game A CS:GO fan thought up of an incredible way to incorporate the upcoming Half-Life: Alyx VR into Global Offensive with a perfect skin for the game. The hype surrounding the upcoming VR experience will expand on the Half-Life universe; something that hasn’t been done since 2007’s Half Life 2: Episode 2. Needless to say, fans across the gaming space are excited to once again explore a Combine-controlled Earth. To build further excitement for the game, Valve are planning to bring Half-Life into its other shooter with “Special Half-Life: Alyx-themed content for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive,” according to the title’s Steam page. Valve has a ton of options to explore in making that a reality, and Reddit user ‘corey_cobra_kid’ put together a concept that is almost too easy to incorporate into CS. “With the news that CS:GO will be getting Half-Life: Alyx content, I decided to make my own Grabbity Glove skin concept,” Corey said. It looks like the Grabbity Gloves will be a predecessor of some sort to Half-Life’s Gravity Gun and players’ main tool as they explore the VR space. Meanwhile, CS:GO has had gloves as a customizable option since the cosmetic items first debuted in 2016. Upon launch and even years later, players are still loving the designs for the skins. Marrying the two together, the concept would introduce Alyx’s tool as a cosmetic that would instantly make it one of the most unique skins to come in Global Offensive. The idea instantly became popular with other fans, some even taking the idea and expanding it to have features tied to CS:GO. “As an index owner, I truly hope this is what it is lol,” user ‘Quzga’ said. “Would be even cooler if the hearts connected to your hp in csgo.” “If Valve added something like this to the game for HL:Alyx, I think it would be cool to have stats on the gloves,” user ‘Mrlejosh’ added. “Like how many times you’ve reloaded, or picked up weapons” The upcoming VR installment of Half-Life is sure to be popular with a ton of CS:GO fans, making an in-game item like the Grabbity Gloves a major draw for players to collect.

In Katowice, CPH Flames are proving Stockholm Major run was no fluke João Ferreira/DexertoCopenhagen Flames co-owner and head coach Daniel ‘Vorborg’ Vorborg spoke with Dexerto about the team’s renaissance at IEM Katowice and the failed deal with Complexity. As Copenhagen Flames’ players leaped up from their seats in celebration after the final frag against NIP, they took in the moment. They had done it again. Four months after exceeding even the wildest expectations when they booked a spot in the New Legends Stage of PGL Major Stockholm, they were through to the last-16 stage of another international competition, IEM Katowice. .@CPHFlames take down @NIPCS convincingly 2-0 in the series! 16-3 Nuke 16-12 MirageThey’re the first team through to the #IEM Katowice 2022 group stage from the play-ins! pic.twitter.com/XRRUvsvgUM — ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) February 15, 2022 “They are LANimals,” analyst Sudhen ‘Bleh’ Wahengbam said on the broadcast after the team’s convincing 2-0 victory against NIP. The accomplishment was made sweeter by the simple fact that NIP had been the team to deny Copenhagen Flames a spot in the Major playoffs and the opportunity to be immortalized in the game via the player signature stickers — reserved for the 40 players who stepped onto the stage of the Avicii Arena. Yes, they were up against a dev1ce-less NIP, but Copenhagen Flames have shown again that they can wrestle with the best where it matters most, on LAN. They had begun the day by hammering Fnatic 16-7, and they quickly took the lead in the series against NIP with a 16-3 thrashing on Nuke. They still let NIP get back into the game in the second half of Mirage after taking a commanding 13-2 lead but kept their heads and eventually put the game to rest. 75 % of that match felt perfect! So happy with our performance today! 2-0 vs @NIP 🔥😍 — Rasmus🐢Pallisgaard🐢Nielsen (@HooXiCSGO) February 15, 2022 It’s a glorious return to the spotlight from the Danish team after they endured a turbulent end to the 2021 season. A complex affair Complexity were one of the organizations that expressed an interest in signing Copenhagen Flames’ team following their ‘Cinderella’ run at the Stockholm Major. In the market for a new team after pulling the plug on the ‘Juggernaut’ project, the North American organization quickly entered into talks with Copenhagen Flames, who were willing to listen to offers between $500,000 and $750,000 – a reasonable fee for a ready-made team with Major pedigree. For the players, Complexity was a dream destination. Not only would they be offered bumper pay deals — Copenhagen Flames have said multiple times that they cannot match the salaries available elsewhere —, but they would also represent a storied organization that has guaranteed slots in both ESL Pro League and BLAST Premier. A deal seemed to be close at hand until Complexity made a last-minute U-turn and signed a North American roster. To this day, Copenhagen Flames co-owner Daniel Vorborg, who doubles as the team’s head coach, still doesn’t know what made Complexity change their minds. “Complexity was the team that we negotiated with the longest – and also the destination that we thought the players would end up in,” he tells Dexerto. “Only Complexity can say exactly why it didn’t work out in the end. As far as the players and I are concerned, we agreed on everything. “I’ve read a lot of comments about how the club or the players didn’t accept the offer from Complexity out of greed or because we thought we could get more. That definitely wasn’t the case. When we heard rumors that they were looking into a North American option, we even offered a fairly large discount to make the deal happen. “In the end, we set a deadline together with the players for Complexity to make a final decision, but they didn’t get back to us on it, so we saw the deal as being dead.” Vorborg maintains that he doesn’t hold a grudge against Complexity for the way things turned out, but he admits that the protracted saga did contribute to the team’s decline in form after the Major. By the time they returned home from Stockholm, Copenhagen Flames were ranked ninth in the world, according to HLTV.org. The team have since plummeted to 18th as they have struggled to live up to their new status as a rising power in the cutthroat competitive environment that is Europe’s second tier. “It has been hard to get the players’ heads in the right space, but my take is that this deal falling through was not the main issue,” he explains. “The issue was that we had such a poor showing throughout the end of the year and confidence was running low. “There were many different reasons why we did so poorly towards the end of the year, and the negotiations taking a long time was only one of them. Having to deal with motivation issues, playing online again after two big LANs, losing [head coach] pita, me working on getting a new lineup, and having to play as favorites all contributed to this. “I don’t think we would have made it through this if we didn’t have such a good team atmosphere. It has been a rough couple of months.” Katowice goals and future offers Copenhagen Flames showed such class on the first day of IEM Katowice that it was somewhat surprising that Vorborg revealed the players didn’t know what to expect heading into the event. According to the coach, a lot was riding on the opening game against Fnatic. “If we lost that game, I would not have been surprised to see us go out of the tournament 0-2, but I also told HooXi before the event: ‘If we beat Fnatic convincingly, we are back, and we will go really far’”. With a renewed sense of confidence, Copenhagen Flames are marching on to the group stage of IEM Katowice. The tournament is now tightly packed, with all but one of the current top 10 teams in the world in attendance (Entropiq, who are ranked 10th, can still join the lot). Standing in their way first will be No.4-ranked Virtus.pro, who come off an unbeaten run in ESL Challenger February. Copenhagen Flames know that it will be hard to keep the momentum going, but this ragtag band of misfits — from star player Fredrik ‘roeJ’ Jørgensen, who was in the form of his life last year at 27, to 18-year-old Rasmus ‘Zyphon’ Nordfoss, removed from Astralis’ academy team less than 12 months ago due to attitude issues — just wants to seize the moment. Like in Stockholm, they are taking it one game at a time. “From now on, it’s the same goals as at the Major,” Vorborg added. “We will be facing some of the best teams in the world, and our goal is just to play our hearts out, and to not be scared. “We need to make the most out of every game, and then we’ll see how far we can go.” If Copenhagen Flames continue to impress on LAN, it’s more than likely that interest in the team will be renewed. This would certainly put Vorborg and the players through another rollercoaster of strong emotions. The Danish organization announced in December, after talks with Complexity had broken down, that they planned to keep the team in their ranks in 2022. But can they resist the temptation to sell if the phone rings again? Vorborg said: “The plan is not to sell, but we will of course listen to any serious offers if they are in the interest of the team.”

In FaZe’s IEM Katowice win, stand-in jks took the spotlight ESLJustin ‘jks’ Savage came in at the last minute and helped FaZe win IEM Katowice as a stand-in. It was a fairytale story for the Australian, who was at the lowest point of his career. As the CS:GO tournament season began at the end of January, jks braced himself for what was coming next. More weeks, potentially months, stuck in limbo, watching old foes from afar, waiting for something to happen. And then his phone rang. On the other end of the call was FaZe, asking if he could stand in for Robin ‘ropz’ Kool in the early stages of IEM Katowice after the Estonian had returned a positive test in the lead-up to the Polish event. Standing in as the 5th member of our professional CS:GO roster to begin IEM Katowice, please welcome @COL_jks! ropz will rejoin the starting lineup following his recovery & quarantine as soon as it is safe for him to do so. #FaZeUp pic.twitter.com/elTfdTBKwh — FaZe Clan (@FaZeClan) February 10, 2022 Jks had barely touched the game since being benched by Complexity in November following the disbandment of the ‘Juggernaut’ project. He was also coming off a forgetful year with that team, so he knew that if he fluffed his lines, he could find himself in an even worse position in the market. But he concluded that the benefits of playing top-tier CS:GO on LAN again outweighed the risks, so he decided to give it a shot and hoped for the best. In the end, he wound up making history for Australian Counter-Strike. Becoming Australia’s darling Jks established himself as the best player in Australia and one of the best in the world during his time playing for Renegades and 100 Thieves. He became the first player from his country in history to make it to HLTV’s Top 20 list in 2019 – a magical year for him and his team, who reached the playoffs at the IEM Katowice and Starladder Berlin Majors, in addition to finishing runners-up to Astralis at IEM Beijing. It was clear that jks had outgrown his surroundings and that he should move to a bigger, non-Australian team to realize his full potential. So when 100 Thieves decided to withdraw from CS:GO, Complexity and jks seemed like a match made in heaven. But the reality was far different. There was already an air of dysfunction when jks joined the team, and things became even worse during his time there as problems kept popping up. In an interview with Dexerto at the end of 2021, head coach Luis ‘peacemaker’ Tadeu said that the perception that the team was falling apart was very much real. In a system Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer built heavily around himself, jks looked a shadow of the player he had been on his previous teams, averaging a meager 1.02 HLTV rating. He took some of the fault for his low impact and struggles to adapt to his new circumstances, but the instability plaguing the team, coupled with role clashes and internal issues, made it impossible for him to perform to the best of his abilities. “It could have been really good, but it wasn’t,” jks said in an interview with Duncan ‘Thorin’ Shields in November, describing his time on Complexity as “a negative experience overall”. Stepping in for FaZe Dressed up in a jersey belonging to Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dulken with the Canadian flag on the front, jks helped FaZe to move through the Play-In stage and win their first match in the group stage. Still rusty and mostly concerned about not letting his teammates down, he averaged a 1.03 HLTV rating, surpassing the 1.05 rating mark only on two maps. With ropz coming back to the team for their second group match against Fnatic, it was supposed to be the end of jks’ stand-in spell. But a positive test returned by another FaZe player, Håvard ‘rain’ Nygaard, put the Australian on alert. Just 30 minutes before the team was due to travel to the Spodek Arena for their first playoff match against Gambit, jks was told that he was going to play the remainder of the tournament. The rest, as they say, is history. Despite having only a few days preparation, jks looked much more comfortable stepping into rain’s shoes and playing in some of his usual positions. He became more consistent in the playoffs and delivered some vintage moments of individual brilliance, most notably the 1v2 clutch that secured the marathon Mirage game against G2 in the final. He averaged a 1.13 rating in the playoffs, helping to unlock a number of situations with 0.15 opening kills per round, the fourth-highest in the knockout stages. NO F*CKING WAY JUSTIN @COL_jks @FaZeClan NO ONE CAN STOP JUZZY#IEM pic.twitter.com/o4GosXlU0E — ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) February 27, 2022 There is no understating how important winning IEM Katowice was for this FaZe team, built to climb the highest peaks. Ropz agreed to a pay cut to join FaZe in the hopes that triumphant moments like this would become a regular occurrence. After the match, an emotional Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen expressed relief at finally lifting the trophy in Katowice after losing the 2017 and 2018 finals to Astralis and fnatic. For jks, too, it was a remarkable moment. He added another entry to his impressive résumé as he became the first Australian player to win a top-tier event in CS:GO. But at the same time, the victory in Katowice adds to his frustration. With the tournament season underway, chances are that more months of waiting are ahead of him as most teams will ride out the Major cycle before pulling the trigger on roster changes. FaZe themselves could be a destination, but they will likely give the team a few LAN events before passing judgment on rain’s future. As he watched jks lift the trophy, Complexity owner Jason Lake wrote on Twitter that he hopes the successful stand-in spell will spark interest in the player. According to him, the organization had not received any offers from European teams since his benching. Completely agree. JKS wants to live & play in EU. We’ve kept him on a salary and secured his visa but have had no offers yet. Hopefully this event sparks some interest because he’s obviously still a star and deserving of a team. https://t.co/OU00SaipRw — Jason Lake (@JasonBWLake) February 27, 2022 In a way, there was a sense of irony to it all: jks’ struggles on Complexity ultimately helped him to win the kind of trophy he had been chasing his whole career. And it’s not just because he was available for hire because of his benching. By his own admission, he is now “more of a complete player”, having “learned how to play differently” during his troubled tenure with the international team. That certainly came in handy when he had to fill in for two different players at a moment’s notice on one of the biggest stages. With a big trophy to his name, jks will return to his routine, now with a renewed sense of confidence, his stock once again high. He knows it is a matter of time before his phone rings again. “Whoever wants to contact me, I’m on Twitter,” he told reporters after the event. “I’m waiting to see what happens.”

Immortals reportedly looking to buy OpTic Gaming and their LCS spot with new funding League of Legends NA LCS spot if their reported interest in Infinite Sports and Entertainment materializes into a sale. While the initial boom of buying into esports organizations has well passed, there has yet to be a high-profile sale from an investor who jumped in ahead of the curve. However, that may be set to change with two of the biggest names in North American esports potentially lining up for a marriage not quite made in heaven, but one that could leave both sides with plenty of headaches. Immortals x OpTic Gaming According to a report from ESPN’s Jacob Wolf, Immortals, which is set to be renamed as Immortals Gaming Club, has completed a Series B round of funding worth $30 million – acquiring Brazillian CS:GO platform Gamers Club and prompting a rebranding. In addition to that acquisition, Immortals are reportedly one of the bidders in the planned sale of OpTic Gaming’s parent company, Infinite Sports and Entertainment. While Wolf notes that the funding will be used for, amongst other things, Overwatch League payments, there is the possibility of investing into OpTic for their NA LCS spot. Immortals had initially tried to pick up an NA LCS spot back in 2017 but had their application rejected by Riot Games because of concerns about finances. Conflict of interests While Immortals’ potential purchase of OpTic may be centered on their LCS spot, the Green Wall does operate teams in other esports – that Immortals does, also – that have rules against organizations running multiple squads as a potential conflict of interest. Read More: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad could potentially be up in the air as Immortals operates the Los Angeles Valiant and MIBR, respectively. Will Infinite sell OpTic? The sale of Infinite has been mooted since late January, with a pretty price tag of $150 million, but there has yet to be any sort of confirmation that progress has been made in terms of cashing out from their initial purchase. While ESPN notes that Immortals are one of the interested parties, and even details that investment bank J.P. Morgan Chase is handling the deal, there is no confirmation of a sale or even names of any other potential buyers. It remains to be seen just who will acquire Infinite Sports and Entertainment, if there is to be a sale, and what that could mean for the future of OpTic’s stable of competitive teams. –

Immortals Gaming Club launch legal action against 9z over meyern fee Adela Sznajder/DreamHackThe Immortals Gaming Club (IGC), the parent company of Immortals, MIBR, and the Los Angeles Valiant, have taken legal action against Argentinian organization 9z. IGC claim that 9z have failed to pay the agreed transfer fee for CS:GO player Ignacio ‘meyern’ Meyer. The North American company have filed a complaint to the Superior Court of California claiming a breach of contract from 9z over the $35,000 transfer fee agreed in June 2020, documents obtained by Dexerto show. According to IGC’s claim, 9z have “never paid the buyout fee, nor any portion of the buyout fee” despite stating “numerous times that payment would be forthcoming”. The suit seeks unspecified damages that include, but are not limited to, the unpaid transfer fee. Dexerto has obtained evidence showing that attempts to settle the matter out of court were to no avail, with 9z often taking weeks to provide updates on the efforts to settle the fee. The case will be heard in a Los Angeles County court as permitted by the deal that was signed when the transfer agreement was reached. If the court sides with the IGC in this dispute, it is possible that the North American organization will take this matter to the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC), which could apply sanctions to the Argentinian organization. Calling out “bad actors” Contacted by Dexerto, Tomi Kovanen, IGC’s chief operating officer, explained that the company’s intention in taking the matter to court isn’t so much about getting what they are owed as it is about rooting out bad behavior in the esports industry. “Like other nascent industries, esports has an issue with bad actors abusing others for financial gain,” he said. “Teams sign players to punitive contracts, illegally withhold pay or refuse to honor agreements, and tournament organizers disappear without paying out prize money. “Luckily, very few experience it directly, but everyone in the industry is impacted by the erosion of trust. “We must collectively demand more. It’s possible to reduce these issues by collaborating between teams, ESIC, and the various tournament organizers, but it requires us to act collectively. “Whether our legal action helps us collect, we hope it can serve as a catalyst for greater collaboration among the stakeholders in order to discourage bad actors in the industry.” Bank problems Mariela Silvi, public relations director for 9z, told Dexerto that the organization has attempted to pay the transfer fee to IGC. According to her, the payment was made “on time and in the agreed manner”, which was the reason meyern was able to compete for 9z. “What happened was that, at that precise moment, in June 2020, in the middle of a global pandemic, the Central Bank of Argentina adopted new regulations that, among other restrictions, limited bank transfers in foreign currency and transfers in dollars for the payment of debts,” she explained. “Given this situation, it was agreed that 9z should make the payment with certain characteristics, which for confidentiality reasons we cannot disclose. “We have always fulfilled our commitments, and that has always been our wish. That is why we have been working to solve any incident that may arise in the best possible way.” A rising star Meyern was signed by the Immortals Gaming Club to their MIBR CS:GO team in December 2019 in a transfer from Portuguese organization Sharks Esports. The Argentinian player was touted as a future star, but he struggled to show the sort of dominance he had displayed in his previous teams. He was moved to the bench after just six months, later admitting that he didn’t think he was the right fit for the squad. On June 29 2020, 9z announced meyern as their newest player in a transfer from MIBR, labeling the player “the [Lionel] Messi of CS:GO”. That comparison proved to be wide of the mark. Before the end of the year, meyern announced that he had been given permission by 9z to explore offers from other organizations. Since June, he has been on loan with Furious Gaming. Claims of outstanding salaries Over the past year, there have been multiple claims of unpaid salaries involving 9z. Brazilian League of Legends coach Philipe ‘Joe’ Mazetti Gonçalves claimed in October 2020 that he was owed four months’ salary and revealed that he had started legal proceedings against the organization in a São Paulo labor court. According to 9z, the court ruled in their favor. In March 2021, José Manuel ‘Beto’ Franco Contreras, another League of Legends coach, and Fortnite duo Santiago ‘Sanku’ Busso and Leandro ‘Riquelmee’ Marconi all claimed that they were owed salaries and prize money. 9z took to social media to address this sequence of claims. In a statement, the organization stressed that they had not failed to fulfill any contractual obligations and denied having received any legal contact over the issue. Questioned about these accusations from former players and coaches, Silvi told Dexerto that 9z “always work to fulfill our obligations” and that, in these particular cases, the organization attempted to offer “an adequate resolution” to the issues that were raised. She added that Beto did not show up to a court hearing after lodging a legal claim against 9z for a breach of contract. “Beyond the reports in the media that have come out on certain occasions, we have only had one single legal case, which was ruled in our favor,” the 9z public relations director said. “This demonstrates that our wish has always been, and will continue to be, to act professionally and with the best practices that the market allows us.” Founded in 2018, 9z are one of the biggest esports organizations in Latin America, with active teams in several games, including CS:GO, League of Legends, Valorant, Rainbow Six, and PUBG. ¡FALTAN 2 DÍAS! 👀 En tan solo dos días se estrena SUEÑO VIOLETA, nuestro documental sobre la #BLASTPremier ¿Con quién vas a ver el debut de 9z en la pantalla grande?#TodoVioleta 💜 @ClaroArgentina @AORUS_LATAM @LogitechG pic.twitter.com/aNhkrXOxgO — 9z Globant (@9zTeam) September 27, 2021 Their CS:GO squad have qualified for the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown, where they will be aiming to go even further than in the Spring season, when they managed to shock French giants Vitality in a best-of-three series.

Imaqtpie gets crazy luck in CSGO case opening but still left disappointed Popular Twitch streamer Michael ‘imaqtpie’ Santana received some incredible case opening luck in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive as he went in search of a gift for his girlfriend. Anyone who has played even a few hours of CS:GO will know that it’s pretty hard to resist opening at least one case or capsule in pursuit of skins or stickers. It’s become big business in the multiplayer game, with players able to show off their incredibly valuable skins during matches and wowing fellow competitors who haven’t got their hands on them yet. Yet, it’s not just weapon skins or knives that can be found in their cases. Players can also uncover a set of gloves to give their character an extra level of customization. During his December 26 stream, imaqtpie, who is more known for his success in League of Legends, hit up the popular Valve shooter and went looking for some gloves for his girlfriend Lisha. “Ok, I’ve got to get Lisha a pair of gloves,” he told his chat as soon as he twisted the key and opened the case. Within moments, the game had concluded its spin around the contents of the case and landed right on what the streamer had wanted. There were no wild celebrations, though, instead, the former Team Dignitas bot laner just nodded his head and seemed pretty pleased with his work. Yet, when he inspected the gloves that he had actually unboxed, he wasn’t sure that they would be wholly suitable. “God really? These are like the most not feminine gloves imaginable – they’re well worn, god damn it,” he said, before being surprised by their actually lofty price tag – around $150. After telling his girlfriend that he had gotten her a “gift,” the streamer turned his back to the gloves in question. “I was opening gloves to get Lish a gift, you think a woman wants these?” he asked his viewers. Even though they may not have been the most stellar of hand protectors, the unboxing was ultimately a huge success for imaqtpie – especially after calling his shot. Who knows, maybe next time he’ll translate his luck into grabbing a Dragon Lore or an Asiimov. With his luck, the possibilities are endless.

IGC insist MIBR “remain committed” to CSGO despite BLAST Premier slot sale IGCTomi Kovanen, Managing Director and Executive Vice Chairman at the Immortals Gaming Club (IGC), has told Dexerto that CS:GO is still a priority for their Brazilian esports organization. On April 21, BLAST announced that the BLAST Premier slot owned by IGC had been acquired by Norwegian organization Heroic for an undisclosed fee. The news came as a shock to the Brazilian community as it meant that MIBR no longer have a guaranteed spot in an active franchise league (Flashpoint, of which they are a founding member, has not operated since Season 3 in July 2021). MIBR can still qualify for BLAST events via the pathway available for non-partner teams, which consists of regional qualifiers and the Showdown tournament. But despite the criticism that has come with the sale of the slot, IGC’s Tomi Kovanen has guaranteed that CS:GO remains a vital part of MIBR’s operations. “[CEO] Roberta and [executive chairman] Yuri are doing a great job operating MIBR, which will remain committed to Counter-Strike, where the brand’s roots are,” he told Dexerto. “With the strong performance of late, we are confident that MIBR will continue qualifying for BLAST events even without a guaranteed partner slot.” Kovanen also confirmed that MIBR had no involvement in the decision to sell the league slot. “In IGC’s corporate structure, the holding company (of Immortals, MIBR, and LA Valiant) makes all asset acquisition and divestiture decisions.” MIBR’s reaction to the news MIBR strategic coach Renato ‘nak’ Nakano was saddened by the loss of the league spot, but at the same time, he showed understanding for IGC’s decision. Triste por não ter mais a vaga na BLAST mas sendo bem sincero, estávamos lá há um bom tempo e não tivemos resultados expressivos. Corríamos o risco de perder essa vaga por desempenho, o lado bom é que vendemos e conseguimos mais recursos para manter a estrutura que temos. [2/3] — RNakano (@nakfps) April 21, 2022 “Honestly, we have been there [BLAST Premier] for a while, without any outstanding results,” he wrote on Twitter. “There was the risk of losing the spot based on performance. The good thing is that with the sale, we will have more resources to keep the structure we have in place.” MIBR recently qualified for PGL Major Antwerp after finishing the American RMR in second place. This will be the first Major for four of the squad’s players, and it will mark the return of MIBR to the biggest stage there is in CS:GO after the team missed the Stockholm Major in 2021.

Vitality win IEM Winter 2021 ESLCSGO is winding down for the year, but IEM Winter 2021 sent things off in style. The second-last “big event” of 2021 saw 16 teams duke it out for $250,000. We’ve got all the details on IEM Winter 2021 right here, including a recap of results as they happened. Vitality Sweep NIP 3-0 in Finals, locking up the IEM Winter 2021 win – G2 fall to NIP, setting up Vitality vs NIP in Finals on Dec 12 – Winner will earn $100,000 – There’s only two big CS:GO events left on the calendar in 2021: IEM Winter 2021, and the BLAST Premier World Final. It’s a bit of a pre-holiday treat for Counter-Strike fans, especially after November’s Stockholm Major. IEM Winter 2021 will feature 16 sides looking for redemption after the Major. Although champions Natus Vincere won’t be in attendance, their rivals will be fighting tooth and nail to try and claim one last bit of silverware heading into the player break. We’ve got all the details on IEM Winter 2021 right here, including the streams to watch, the latest schedule and results, and the teams participating. Contents IEM Winter 2021: Recap NIP and Vitality both had plenty of close calls during the Groups and Playoff stages, but managed to make the Grand Finals. Both teams came from Group A along with G2, while Group B saw Gambit, Virtus.Pro and Godsent advance to the playoffs. Godsent and Gambit would be knocked out in the first round by NIP and Vitality, respectively. After that, Vitality took down VP 2-0 and NIP survived against G2 2-1 to advance to the Grand Finals. On Finals Day December 12, it was all Team Vitality though. NIP just couldn’t get a rhythm going, which let ZywOo and company waltz away with an easy 3-0 win, $100,000 in prize money, and the IEM Winter 2021 title. IEM Winter 2021: Schedule & results Playoffs Day 1: December 5 Day 2: December 11 Day 3: December 12 Group Stage Day 1: December 2 Day 2: December 3 Day 3: December 4 IEM Winter 2021: Final placements IEM Winter 2021: Teams & groups 16 teams took part in IEM Winter 2021 — but Major champions Natus Vincere were not one of them. However, G2 Esports and Team Vitality — their finals opponents from both the Major and BLAST Fall Finals respectively — were in attendance, with the latter taking home the championship. The new-look Astralis were also contending for their first title with an overhauled roster, but were unable to make it through the Group Stage. You can find the IEM Winter 2021 teams, and the groups they’ve were divided into, down below.

IEM to address crowd interference with live matches ESL / Helena KristianssonDuring the ESL Pro League Finals in Odense, an incident occurred involving Astralis player Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth seeming to gain knowledge of an opponent’s whereabouts due to calls from the Danish crowd. While the video seemed quite damning, Højsleth denied that the crowd was assisting him intentionally when the moment occurred. Whatever the truth of the matter, the incident prompted debate about whether or not soundproof booths should be essential at Counter-Strike tournaments to preserve competitive integrity. It is a discussion that has happened before with not everyone being in agreement. Players seem to overwhelmingly prefer competing in booths, tournament organizers are less enthusiastic about the prospect given the additional expense and how they impact on the fan experience. Following the discussion the Vice President of Professional Gaming for ESL, Michal “Carmac” Blicharz, decided to approach the problem from a different angle, one he hopes will appease all parties without impacting negatively on competition or fan experience. Ahead of IEM Katowice, which takes place in the Polish city between February 24th and March 1st, Blicharz released a statement about the new measures entitled “IEM Katowice: booths vs. audience etiquette.” In it, he outlines the new methods that the event will utilise in a bid to prevent any disruptive moments like the ones seen in Odense. Outlining why he isn’t a fan of booths he wrote “we fundamentally believe in the chemistry of the players and the audience. We do not want players to be isolated and unaware of their environment. Quite the opposite. We want players to feel that they’re sitting in front of thousands of enthusiastic people.” Placing the onus on attendee etiquette, comparing the need for contextual quietness to golf and tennis, he explains that IEM will do more to make attendees aware of their responsibilities in this regard. “In Katowice we will be running PSA videos and we will talk to [fans] via the stage MC in order to educate them on what we think is appropriate and what isn’t. Cheering before a knife kill, cheering during trigger discipline moments, cheering for things the player shouldn’t be able to see, etc. are moments when the audience waits until the deed is done.” Penalties for crowd infractions In addition to this there will be penalties for crowd infractions. Citing popular Australian analyst Chad “Spunj” Burchill as the architect behind this idea, if anyone does violate the behavioural expectations then X-ray on the crowd monitors will be turned off a minimum of twenty minutes each time. “You can’t really tell your player he’s aiming at a tower of bodies through the wall if you can’t see them, can you” Blicharz explains. It is also worth making clear any such changes made will only impact on the live crowd in attendance and not the fans watching online. We won’t have to wait long to see what impact these changes have on the event but here’s hoping it is a compromise that everyone can live with.

IEM Sydney 2023 locked in as Counter-Strike returns down under with $250K event ESLIEM returns to Sydney as the landmark Counter-Strike tour gears up for 2023’s Fall Masters tournament down under, four years on from the last visit. 2019 was the last time the APAC region was blessed with an IEM tournament. It was in 2019 when CSGO was arguably at its most diverse state, with Asian teams such as TYLOO and Oceanic teams like Renegades making relatively deep runs in Majors and various other tournaments. And 2019 also saw CSGO make multiple visits to APAC, with both China and Australia being regular hosts of various ESL, PGL, and Starladder tournaments. Four years removed from IEM Sydney 2019, the popular CS competition is making a return down under, with 2023’s Fall Masters locked in for Sydney. Just like IEM Dallas’ attachment to Dreamhack Dallas, IEM Sydney will be held as part of another ongoing event in the city, SXSW Sydney. In our interview with ESL’s Head of Sales and Marketing, Graeme Du Toit, he outlined how a partnership with SXSW came at the optimal time, stating the Aware Super Theatre at ICC, which holds up to 9,000 spectators, was right there for the taking. However, this highly anticipated return doesn’t ‘t quite guarantee subsequent IEM Sydney events in the future. “Right now, we’re just super focused on making this event as good as it possibly can be,” he said. “Hopefully, the best one we have.” He further added that ESL could only make a comeback to Sydney if the Aussie demand is there. “Hopefully the crowd comes out and votes with their wallets and fills the arena, then we put the best foot forward and you never know what happens.” ESL has not announced whether there will be other tournaments operating in tandem with IEM Sydney. In 2019, the Overwatch Contenders 2019 Season 1 concluded at IEM Sydney. Thus far, it’s full steam ahead with Counter-Strike competition in focus. However, even the exact version of CS remains up in the air. Will it be regular CSGO or will we see Counter-Strike 2 make its pro debut down under? You can read up on that and plenty more in the rest of our interview here.

IEM Sydney 2018 $250,000 CS:GO Tournament – Final Placements Red BullThe final day of IEM Sydney is upon us, as the grand final is set between top European teams FaZe Clan and the all Danish Astralis. The tournament has been an outstanding one, both for the quality of the matches but also the liveliness of the crowd, who in some moments stole the show. There were also incredible upsets of course, most notably local team Grayhound taking down SK Gaming in a best of three match up, which also gave rise to the infamy of Grayhound player Ollie “Dickstacy” Tierney. Grayhound were unable to replicate against FaZe Clan though, who despite losing to Renegades went on to take down Cloud9, Fnatic and TyLoo in an impressive run to the final. Astralis on the other hand have looked near flawless on their route to the final, only losing a single map, making for a very tasty championship match up. The match is FaZe Clan’s third grand final of 2018, but needed to go one better as they have lost the two previous. Incredibly FaZe stunned Astralis, taking it 3-0 and despite the maps being close, looked assured throughout. Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovaçs took home the MVP award. IEM Sydney 2018 Final Placements

IEM Rio CSGO Major 2022: Outsiders crush Heroic and win their first Major Michał Konkol//ESL Gaming via ESPATThe Rio Major has come to a close. After a series of dramatic upsets and two finalist teams that have never won a major, IEM Rio Major 2022 was won by the Outsiders. Catch up on the action here with all the event details, including the format, schedule, and the final results. Outsiders beat MOUZ to book their finals spot, and went on to crush Heroic 2-0 – Hometown favorites FURIA stunned by Heroic and knocked out in the semifinals – Despite getting knocked out of the tournament in the quarterfinals, s1mple was crowned the player of the decade by ESL – Come to Brazil, they said. Now Counter-Strike’s best are doing just that. The IEM Rio Major 2022 brought the peak of the game’s competition to the CS:GO-loving nation with a $1 million prize purse and the illustrious title on offer. After being canceled in 2020, Valve and ESL have followed through on their promise to bring the biggest stage to Rio in 2022 where 24 of the world’s best Counter-Strike teams fought to win the major title. Catch up with all the IEM Rio Major 2022 pre-event info right here including the format and who qualified. Contents IEM Rio Major 2022: Streams Being an ESL-run event, the IEM Rio Major 2022 was streamed on all ESL CSGO Twitch channels. Miss a game? Catch up with VODs on the ESL Archives YouTube channel. Main stream IEM Rio Major 2022: Schedule & results The IEM Rio Major 2022 took place from October 31 to November 13, 2022. It was split into three different stages: Challengers, Legends, and Champions. This is akin to formats used in past Majors. Challengers and Legends work on a five-game Swiss format, where teams need to win three matches to qualify for the next stage. Lose three matches and you’re eliminated. The top eight teams foght through a single-elimination bracket to cement their place in Counter-Strike history. With $1.25 million on the line, the Outsiders walked away with a decent chunk of change — and a slot at IEM Katowice 2023. The event ran as follows: Dates: October 31-November 13 Challengers Stage: October 31-November 3 – Legends Stage: November 5-8 – Champions Stage: November 10-13 – Champions Stage (November 10-13) Day 1: November 10 Day 2: November 11 Day 3: November 12 Day 4: November 13 Legends Stage (November 5-8) Day 1: November 5 Day 2: November 6 Day 3: November 7 Day 4: November 8 Challengers Stage (October 31 – November 3) Day 1: October 31 Day 2: November 1 Day 3: November 2 Day 4: November 3 IEM Rio Major 2022: All qualified teams Twenty-four teams qualified for the IEM Rio Major 2022 via the Regional Major Ranking (RMR) events in Europe, the Americas, and Asia. The eight-best teams from the qualifying events (seven from Europe and one from the Americas) have made it into the Legends Stage — straight into the Top 16. The other 16 will have to battle their way through the Challengers Stage, which will also include two teams from Asia-Pacific. You can find the full slot breakdown for the IEM Rio Major 2022 below. Legends teams Challengers teams Contenders teams IEM Rio Major 2022: prize money distribution The IEM Rio Major will have $1.25 million on the line. It’s a $250,000 increase when compared to the previous two CS:GO Majors, though it’s important to mention that, because of this change, the RMRs no longer have prize money on offer. All in all, the prize money for the entire Major cycle remains the same.

IEM Rio CSGO Major sets new viewership record on day 1 ESLThe IEM Rio Major is shaping up to be one of the biggest events in CS:GO history. Just day one into the tournament, it has already shattered one viewership record in Valve-sponsored competitions. The opening day of the IEM Rio Major peaked at 745,304 viewers, setting a new viewership record during the Challengers Stage of a Major, according to statistics website Esports Charts. The previous record during this stage, set during PGL Major Antwerp, was just over 707,000 concurrent viewers. Day one of the IEM Rio CS:GO Major was rough for the local teams, but the Brazilian fans turned up in droves, on-site and online, to celebrate this historical moment and support their favorite players. IEM Rio is only the second CS:GO Major to feature a live audience during all days of the competition. The StarLadder Major, held in Berlin in 2019, had a small audience at the Verti Music Hall during the first two stages of the event, but nothing compared to the size of the crowd that will fill the stands of the Riocentro Hall. The peak viewership is believed to have occurred sometime during the opening round match between Vitality, the current world No.2 team, and local favorites Imperial, home to Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo and Fernando ‘fer’ Alvarenga, two of the players who made history for Brazilian Counter-Strike by winning back-to-back Majors in 2016. (Lincoln ‘fnx’ Lau, who was also part of that Major-winning team, is coaching Imperial.) Imperial and 00 Nation are both on the brink of elimination after a rough first day that also saw FURIA slip up in the first round. Dubbed ‘The Last Dance’, Imperial face a tough battle for survival against Cloud9, the biggest disappointment of the first day, in the headline match of the second day. The last time these two teams faced each other was in May, in the Legends Stage of the Antwerp Major. The Brazilian team ran out 2-1 winners in a high-octane series, knocking the Russians out of the event. Popular teams like NAVI, FaZe and Liquid will only enter the fray in the Legends Stage, featuring the top 16 teams of the Major. Even though ESL calls this “the biggest Major of all time”, it will be hard for it to surpass the game’s current peak viewership record of just under 2.75 million, set during the grand final of PGL Major Stockholm 2021 between NAVI and G2 Esports.

IEM Rio CSGO Major failure sparks Astralis revolution Adela Sznajder/ESL Gaming via ESPATJust days after failing to qualify for the IEM Rio Major, Astralis have begun the process of cleaning house. The question is: Where do they go from here? We all knew how it was going to end — the only question was when it was going to happen. All the tell-tale signs were there. The lack of intensity, the constant speculation about Asger ‘Farlig’ Jensen’s future, the disappointing form of the team’s two veterans, the over-reliance on Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer. Astralis hoped that, somehow, the team would be able to weather this storm and still qualify for the Rio Major. After that, there would be time to analyze the state of the team and what the future might hold. But when Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke, Astralis’ second star, fractured an ankle in a scuffle in Malta and was ruled out of the RMR, the writing was on the wall. The Danish team looked predictable and toothless in the qualifier, where they were eliminated after losses to Ninjas in Pyjamas, Bad News Eagles and forZe. The IEM Rio Major is the first Valve-sponsored event that Astralis will miss since the organization’s inception, in 2016. The failure to qualify is a significant blow for Astralis, the winningest team at Majors, with four titles. It also ends Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth’s streak of Major appearances, leaving Vitality’s Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen as the sole player who, barring a last-minute setback, has played at all 18 Majors. Astralis’ management has wasted little time in making changes. After terminating k0nfig’s contract, they are now moving on from head coach Martin ‘trace’ Heldt. “More measures”, the Danish organization added, will be introduced in the coming weeks. The situation is so delicate that it warranted a comment from CEO Anders Hørsholt. Normally, Kasper Hvidt, Astralis’ Director of Sports, is the spokesperson for the organization when it comes to changes to the CS:GO team, their crown jewel. Even in Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz’s transfer to NIP in April 2021, Hvidt was the only senior Astralis figure who came out and commented on the loss of the organization’s biggest star. “Naturally, saying goodbye to a player like ‘dev1ce’ will be a challenge short term, but changing players is part of the game and we are well prepared,” he said at the time. Those words now stand in stark contrast to the impressions that the team has made since losing dev1ce, forcing the CEO to step up and send out a strong message. “For too long we have not delivered a clear direction,” Hørsholt said. “Going forward, we will be making changes with a focus on the long term, so that we will once again live up to the expectations that we, our partners, and the world around us rightly set.” Why Astralis are not in a hurry As Astralis look to overhaul their squad, the biggest question is which players they should build around. The obvious answer is blameF, who, despite the team’s shortcomings, has looked like an elite player all year long. gla1ve, too, should be a lock, because of his IGL pedigree and the respect that he still commands in the scene, which could play a key role in convincing players to join a team that has long stopped being synonymous with winning championships. Still, his erratic form — a far cry from the heights he hit in 2018 — is a cause for concern, as is the fact that he has struggled to find a winning formula without dev1ce. That could be solved if reports of dev1ce’s imminent return to Astralis prove correct. But if the finer details of the transfer are not hammered out soon, Astralis risk watching the deal get hijacked as other teams will certainly look to make changes after the Major. As things stand, Farlig seems to be nearing the end of his time with Astralis. He is an improvement over Philip ‘Lucky’ Ewald but still not the type of impactful AWPer that the team can play around — which puts them at a clear disadvantage against most top teams. As criticism reached new levels with each passing tournament, Farlig seemed unable to block out the noise. “I’m obviously doing my best to ignore social media because there’s more of it when you’re in Astralis,” he said in a July interview. It hasn’t helped that reports of Astralis’ interest in dev1ce have come out on the eve of key tournaments. Xyp9x’s future in the team remains a question mark. It’s impossible to ignore that his game has left much to be desired this year (0.95 HLTV rating and 0.85 Impact), but Astralis still see him as an important piece of the squad, one that just last year signed a mega-extension keeping him tied to the organization until 2025. There is also a significant void to fill in the coaching role with trace out of the picture. Astralis have suggested that Nicolai ‘HUNDEN’ Petersen could begin working in a more direct capacity with the team once his ESIC ban expires in August 2023, but until then, a new coach is required to help restore some order to the chaos. In the end, this is a problem of Astralis’ own making. They have watched as players like Fredrik ‘roeJ’ Jørgensen, Jakob ‘jabbi’ Nygaard, Valdemar ‘valde’ Bjørn Vangså, and Victor ‘Staehr’ Staehr have switched teams in recent months and gone on to book tickets to Rio. In some cases, there were doubts about the players’ ability; in others, concerns about whether they had the necessary mental fortitude to play for Denmark’s biggest team, one that is constantly under scrutiny by a large fanbase and the country’s media. The biggest issue with having to rebuild during a Major is that most interesting players will be attending the event, leaving you with no chance to test things out for a number of weeks. But Astralis should not be in a hurry to finalize their lineup. The failure to qualify for the IEM Rio Major might end up being a blessing in disguise. It will give Astralis the time, and the motive, to carefully plan their next steps and end their cycle of Band-Aid solutions to chronic problems. Their next event, the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown in just a week, is already a write-off — a huge blow as it means that they will miss out on the season finals at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen, the organization’s home turf. With nothing left to fight for in 2022, Astralis might as well focus on building a long-term blueprint. From Hørsholt’s words, it seems clear that Astralis will put time, effort and money into building a title contender in 2023. This is the chance for them to start a new era and build a team that can step out of the shadow of the Major-winning lineup, once and for all. “No one will ever reach that level of dominance, but that does not change the task on hand: We must restore clarity in the way we do things, and we must return to a position where we are in the fight for titles and top positions,” the Astralis CEO said. “It won’t happen overnight, but the work has begun.”

FURIA, Virtus.Pro, FaZe Clan win IEM New York: results & final placements ESLWe might not be in the Big Apple this year, but IEM New York is still taking place. Three events across North America, Europe, and CIS will take place to crown regional champions in the next stage of the IEM Global Challenge. ESL One New York in 2019 featured an Astralis vs Evil Geniuses final, where the hometown stars took down the dominant Danes in a convincing 3-1 series. However, the two will be separated into different regional events in 2020. IEM New York is still taking place online, with 32 teams across three regions invited to take part in the $250,000 event. Across three weeks, different regional champions will be crowned, with RMR points on offer for the best performing teams. Not only that, but spots at the first CS:GO LAN post-pandemic, the IEM Global Challenge, are potentially on the line. IEM New York stream IEM New York, being an ESL event, will be streamed on the ESL CS:GO channels on Twitch and YouTube. We’ve embedded the streams below for your convenience. IEM New York teams 12 North American and CIS teams, plus eight European teams, will be taking part in IEM New York. Despite having the fewest number of teams, Europe boasts the biggest prize pool of $140,000 USD. The teams will be divided into two sets of groups — six in each NA and CIS group, four in Europe. The best teams in each group will make it to the playoffs. The format for playoffs will be single-elimination in Europe, and double-elimination for North America and CIS. These are your #IEM New York 2020 Groups! 🤩 Who will rise to the top in each? Give us your predictions! 🗽 https://t.co/BomQNjZ9GD pic.twitter.com/O8wRkhjwmJ — Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) September 30, 2020 North America Europe CIS IEM New York schedule Tuesday, October 6 Wednesday, October 7 Thursday, October 8 Friday, October 9 Saturday, October 10 Sunday, October 11 Tuesday, October 13 Wednesday, October 14 Thursday, October 15 Friday, October 16 Saturday, October 17 Sunday, October 18 Monday, October 19 Tuesday, October 20 Wednesday, October 21 Friday, October 23 Saturday, October 24 Sunday, October 25 IEM New York Final Placements: Europe IEM New York Final Placements: CIS IEM New York Final Placements: North America

IEM Katowice viewership tumbles amid CSGO’s all-time player record ESLIEM Katowice 2023 continued the trend of decreasing viewership figures, which comes just as the game is experiencing a surge in popularity among players. After the CS:GO season started with a BLAST Premier event that drew unimpressive viewership numbers, IEM Katowice provided a better test of the esport’s current standing as its biggest rival, Valorant, is about to host its first international competition of 2023. IEM Katowice is one of the most iconic events on the esports calendar, with roots that stretch back nearly a decade. It was the first tournament of the year with a crowd, and it had a $1 million prize pool and 17 of the 20 best teams in the world to draw in fans. But despite the hype surrounding the tournament, fewer people tuned in to watch the games when compared to last year. IEM Katowice 2023 averaged 234,041 viewers, a 29% decrease from 2022, while the peak viewership of 712,534 viewers, hit during the final between G2 Esports and Heroic, was 36% lower than last year’s peak of over 1.1 million people, according to statistics website Esports Charts. This comes amid news that CS:GO is experiencing new levels of popularity worldwide. On February 11, days after the release of the Revolution Case, the game hit a new all-time player count record with 1,320,219 concurrent players. It beat the previous record, set in April 2020, by around 12,000 players. Some factors There were significant dips in peak viewers across the English (28%), Russian (38%) and Portuguese (38%) language streams, with the latter partly explained by the Brazilian teams’ struggles in Katowice. Even world No.9 FURIA could not make it past the Play-In Stage after losing to BIG and IHC Esports. But the biggest decrease happened in the Vietnamese language streams, which were down 88% when compared to last year’s peak of 155,380 viewers. This is mainly due to the fact that Nimo TV, the Huya-owned streaming platform, was shut down in 14 countries in April 2022 due to financial issues. FURIA were not the only team that underperformed in Katowice. Reigning champions FaZe, who were within striking distance of the Intel Grand Slam, failed to reach the playoffs, while Cloud9 could not win a single match in the tournament. By contrast, Heroic were one of the least popular organizations represented in Katowice, with just 276,000 followers on social media, according to Esports Charts. This trend of declining viewership has hit most esports titles in 2023 and was already on display in the BLAST Premier Spring Groups, where numbers were down across the board. The next event on the CS:GO international calendar is ESL Pro League Season 17, a month-long tournament in Malta with 32 teams and a $850,000 prize pool.

IEM Katowice 2019 CS:GO Major team list confirmed The IEM Katowice Minors’ third place play-in tournament concluded on January 27 and the 24 teams that will compete at the 14th Valve sponsored CS:GO Major have officially been confirmed. Here’s everything you need to know. The third place play-in competition saw the third place teams from each Minor get one last chance to earn a spot in the IEM Katowice New Challengers Stage in a four team, double-elimination bracket. Unfortunately for North and Team Envy fans, this was still not enough for the European and North American hopefuls. Instead, Winstrike Team – the third place team from the CIS Minor – and ViCi Gaming – third in the Asia Minor – capitalized on their second chance and became the final two teams to make it to the Major. They will join the eight teams that finished first or second in the Minors in the New Challengers Stage of the 2019 IEM Katowice CS:GO Major along with the six returning challengers from the FACEIT London Major. The 2019 IEM Katowice participants for the New Challengers stage are as follows: Minor Challengers ENCE eSports – NRG Esports – AVANGER – Renegades – Team Vitality – FURIA Esports – Team Spirit – Grayhound Gaming – Winstrike Team – ViCi Gaming – Returning Challengers Ninjas in Pyjamas – Fnatic – G2 Esports – Vega Squadron – Cloud9 – TyLoo – The 16 Challengers will compete from February 13 – 17 in the New Challengers Stage and the top eight will advance to face the top eight teams from FACEIT London, also known as the Returning Legends. The full list of Returning Legends for the $1 million IEM Katowice 2019 Major is as follows: Returning Legends Astralis – Natus Vincere – MIBR – Team Liquid – compLexity Gaming – BIG – HellRaisers – FaZe Clan – The New Legends stage of the contest will run from February 20 – 24 and the top eight teams will then advance to the New Champions Stage and play in a single-elimination bracket from February 28 – March 3. The last team standing will be the new Major champions. You can can find out more about the IEM Katowice Major 2019 format, schedule and more in our how to watch guide and information hub. Alternatively, follow @Dexerto on Twitter for regular updates and news.

IEM Katowice loses arena audience due to Coronavirus threat ESLThe Coronavirus scare has had a dramatic impact on the esports scene early in 2020, unfortunately resulting in numerous events being canceled or delayed. Due to the concerns about “global health,” the regional government for Katowice, Poland has made the decision to “remove their approval regarding ESL hosting a mass event” at the Spodek Arena. The playoffs for the IEM Katowice tournament are set to take place between Feb 28 – March 1, but will do so without a live crowd. ESL released the announcement before the final group stage match between mousesports and 100 Thieves took place, and said they “respected the decision” of the Gouverneur of Silesian, and that all tickets would be fully refunded. They clarified that the tournament will still take place and be broadcasted, but without “any additional visitors” on-site. Due to the dynamic changes in the global health situation, the Gouverneur of Silesian Jarosław Wieczorek issued a decision to remove their approval regarding ESL hosting a mass event in Katowice, Poland. #IEM https://t.co/hak1sn98o7 — Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) February 27, 2020 Several players took to Twitter to express their disappointment that there would be no crowd, which has been a terrific aspect of past Katowice tournaments, including last year’s major. While the players are disappointed, they also understand the reasons why, and respect the decision that’s been made. Astralis star Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz wrote that teams would, of course, loved to play in a full area, but keeping fans safe and not sick comes first. I think it’s important to state that safety is first and Poland choosing to shut down the event is first and foremost to keep the attendees (the crowd) from getting sick. You know that all teams would have loved to play in a full arena ❤️— Nicolai Reedtz (@dev1ce) February 27, 2020 Team Liquid’s star Russel ‘Twistzz’ VanDulken said that it was “only a matter of time until this virus situation started to impact esports.” It was only a matter of time until this virus situation started to impact esports. Let’s see what other things happen in the future. https://t.co/Cpf1Lh6kfh — Russel van Dulken (@Twistzz) February 27, 2020 Unfortunately, this is far from the first time that the coronavirus outbreak has affected the realm of esports, but it is the first time that it’s negatively impacted a CS:GO event this drastically. Overwatch League homestands in both China and South Korea were canceled, delaying those matches until an unknown date. LPL, the highest professional League of Legends division in China, had matches delayed as well. The effects of the outbreak have stretched into areas of the gaming world outside of esports as well. Concerns about the virus have caused the Nintendo Switch port for The Outer Worlds to be delayed, and reports indicate that the next generation of consoles might potentially be postponed as well. A visibly upset Michal ‘mbCARMAC’ Blicharz, VP of Pro Gaming at ESL, appeared on stream after the announcement to again deliver the news, and apologize to the fans who can no longer attend. The matches will continue on, and the broadcast team plans to deliver another excellent experience for viewers, according to caster Jason ‘Moses’ O’Toole on Twitter. Don’t worry, I have the best broadcast colleagues in the business and we’re all going to make sure that you still feel the full force and intensity of #IEM Katowice 💪 @OnFireAnders @MACHINEgg @HenryGcsgo @getfrank @OJBorg @SPUNJ @stunna @Maniac_CSGO @Pimp_CSGO — Jason O’Toole (@MosesGG) February 27, 2020 Friday’s quarterfinals matches will begin on schedule, with Team Liquid facing Na’Vi in the first series at 3pm local time (CEST), 9am EST. After that, Fnatic will face the winner of Thusday’s final group stage match between 100 Thieves and mousesports, which is ongoing at the time this article was published.

IHC Esports respond to reports of arrests of IHC crypto coin founders ESLIHC Esports have been thrown into disarray following the reported arrest of three of the founders of a major partner, forcing the Mongolian esports organization to issue a statement. The UB Post, an English-language newspaper in Mongolia, reported on February 3 that three of Ih Bit Global’s founders had been arrested at the beginning of the month following complaints from a series of customers who had purchased the company’s crypto token, called Inflation Hedging Coin (IHC). Ih Bit Global CEO Gantig Bayarmagnai, COO Munkhjin Otgonbaatar, and chairman Erkhembayar Bayarsaikhan face “charges of misappropriating funds” from the IHC coin and “laundering the income earned by manipulating the market”, according to the article. On its official website, IHC is described as “an alternative investment token positioned to increase its value by continuously burning itself following multiple burn protocols.” The token has tumbled as much as 97% since it began trading, according to Coinbase. The UB Post spoke with representatives of a number of customers who have lost large sums of money. “The people who created the IHC coin often make stories on the Internet and build trust,” one representative is quoted as saying. “They said ‘It is a gold-backed coin that would not fall from its issued price. Take it even if it falls.’ I had money in my account so I took it every day. I believed in what Otgonbaatar Munkhjin was saying. 142 million MNT ($40,488) reduced to two million MNT ($570). There are probably thousands of victims like me.” IHC Esports respond to reports Ih Bit Global entered esports in December 2021 through a partnership with Mongolian esports organization ZEUS Esports, which rebranded to IHC Esports as part of the deal. The news of the arrest of three of Ih Bit Global’s founders has raised questions about the future of IHC Esports, one of Mongolia’s most prominent esports organizations. In a statement posted to Twitter on February 9, IHC Esports chairman Dave Lee expressed “deep regret over the dissemination of misleading information”. There was not a single reference to Ih Bit Global, its founders, or the scandal involving the IHC token. “We would like to categorically state that certain individuals have no involvement with our management and operation, and we deny these allegations in the strong possible terms,” Mr. Lee said. “The spread of misleading information has not only affected our team’s morale but also threatened the stability of our operations. We would like to assure all stakeholders that we are fully committed to safeguarding the integrity of our organization and protecting the interests of all parties involved.” IHC Esports have risen in prominence in the last year, in part thanks to the international success of their CS:GO team, which was known as Checkmate prior to signing with IHC in March 2022. Mr. Otgonbaatar, one of Ih Bit Global’s founders, was IHC’s Chief Financial Officer at the time, according to an article from CSGO2ASIA. Earlier this month, IHC’s CS:GO team finished 9th-12th at IEM Katowice after defeating paiN, FURIA and Cloud9, before falling to FaZe. They are currently 21st in HLTV.org’s world rankings. The Mongolian team have become a regular at international CS:GO events, attending the two most recent Majors, PGL Major Antwerp and IEM Rio. IHC couldn’t go beyond the Challengers Stage at either event. In January, IHC Esports’ PUBG Mobile team placed fifth at the PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2022, held in Malaysia and Indonesia. It was the team’s second-best international outing after finishing third at the 2020 PUBG Mobile Global Championship while still playing under ZEUS Esports. In addition to IHC, the Mongolian organization is partnered with betting company 1xBet, cryptocurrency exchange X-META, and sports manufacturer Puma.

Legends fall at IEM Katowice CS:GO Major New Challengers stage – results and recap ESL/Adela SnzajderSunday, February 17, signified the end of the New Challengers stage at the IEM Katowice Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major. So, here are the teams that are moving on to the New Legends stage. The New Challengers stage marked the beginning of the major event and with a new format in place, a number of shocks were sure to occur – creating a new batch of teams to move on into the New Legends stage. In one of the first surprises, Australian team Renegades completed the stage with a perfect 3-0 record – defeating AVANGAR, Ninjas in Pyjamas and ENCE. After failing to qualify for the FACEIT London Major, North-American squad NRG also finished the stage with a 3-0 record – picking up wins over Winstrike Team, TYLOO and ViCi Gaming. The two unbeaten teams were joined by Finnish hotshots ENCE, French upstarts Vitality, Swedish legends Ninjas in Pyjamas, CIS hope AVANGAR, G2 plus former Major winners Cloud9 in all moving on to the next stage. However, one of the biggest shocks came in the form of Fnatic failing to make it over the first hurdle. The Swedish team, which has competed at all 14 major events, were eliminated after losing to G2 in a 1-2 elimination match-up. In order to qualify for the next major, rumored to be hosted by StarLadder in Berlin, Fnatic will have to compete in the stacked European Minor event – in what will be completely new territory for the organization. The Swedes exited the tournament at the first stage alongside TYLOO, ViCi Gaming, Winstrike Team, Furia, Vega Squadron, Team Spirit and Grayhound Gaming. Team Spirit and Grayhound Gaming were the two teams to finish the event with the dreaded 0-3 record as the pair failed to win any of their games – with Spirit falling to ENCE, Vega Squadron, and Furia while Grayhound were beaten by Cloud9, Vitality and Fnatic Final Standings The attention of the CS:GO world will now turn to the New Legends stage as powerhouse squads such as Astralis, Team Liquid, MIBR and FaZe Clan all enter the fray. The next stage kicks off on February 20 as fans will be able to watch the action up close at the International Congress Centre in Katowice.

IEM Katowice 2023: G2 Esports win title ESLThe 2023 edition of IEM Katowice is officially in the rearview mirror. Here’s our full recap of the event if you missed any of the action. IEM Katowice is one of the biggest and most iconic tournaments on the CS:GO calendar, only rivaled by the Majors and IEM Cologne. The 2023 edition brought elite-level Counter-Strike to the Spodek Arena, where the winner walked away with the lion’s share of a $1 million prize purse and a ticket to IEM Cologne. The tournament featured 24 teams from all over the world, including 17 of the top 20 teams in the rankings. Eight teams were directly invited to the group stage, while the other 16 duked it out in the Play-In stage for the final eight spots in the main tournament. G2 Esports picked up where they had left off in 2022 and won IEM Katowice with a spectacular dream run. The BLAST Premier World champions lost just one map en route to the title, in the 3-1 victory against Heroic in the grand final. Justin ‘jks’ Savage made history as the official tournament MVP and the only player in Katowice history to win back-to-back events with different teams. In 2022, he played as a stand-in for FaZe as the team won the title after beating G2 in the final. The biggest disappointment of IEM Katowice was without a doubt Cloud9, who did not win a single match in their first outing with Timur ‘buster’ Tulepov. FaZe, the defending champions, also cut a frustrated figure after being denied a spot in the playoffs by Team Liquid. Here are all the details you need to know about IEM Katowice, including the full schedule, lineups, and prize money. Contents IEM Katowice 2023: Results IEM Katowice began with the Play-In Stage, where 16 teams competed in a double-elimination bracket. The opening round was played in a best-of-one format, while the remaining matches were best-of-three series. The top eight teams advanced to the group stage, where they joined the eight teams invited by ESL based on the world ranking. These 16 teams were split into two GSL groups, with three teams per group advancing to the single-elimination playoffs, which were played at the Spodek Arena. The tournament culminated in a best-of-five grand final. Playoffs (February 10-12) Day 1: February 10 Day 2: February 11 Day 3: February 12 Group Stage (February 4-7) Day 1: February 4 Day 2: February 5 Day 3: February 6 Day 4: February 7 Play-In (February 1-3) Day 1: February 1 Day 2: February 2 Day 3: February 3 IEM Katowice 2023: Teams & players IEM Katowice 2023 featured top teams from Europe, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. The majority of the participating teams were determined by ESL’s world ranking, with only two coming from qualifying events (Fnatic through winning Elisa Masters Espoo and Permitta by topping ESL Mistrzostwa Polski Autumn). The Polish event was the first opportunity to see some of the new teams in action. Those were the cases of Cloud9, who placed 13th-16th in their first event with buster, and IEM Rio Major winners Outsiders, who acquitted themselves well after adding Aleksandr ‘KaiR0N-‘ Anashkin, reaching the playoffs. Sprout will also attend their first LAN tournament with Romanian AWPer Adrian ‘XELLOW’ Guță. IEM Katowice also marked Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke’s debut for NIP. In their first tournament with the former Astralis rifler, who replaced Hampus ‘hampus’ Poser, the Ninjas went out 13th-16th after losing to Vitality and Outsiders. Invited Teams Play-In Teams IEM Katowice 2023: Final standings Below you can find the prize pool distribution and the final standings.

FaZe win marathon IEM Katowice 2022 Grand Final ESLIEM Katowice 2022, the first major Counter-Strike event of the year ended with FaZe taking down G2 in a showstopper of a Grand Final in the Spodek Arena. Here’s what happened at the event, including the full schedule, results, and how the final went down. FaZe wins OT-packed Grand Final match against G2 3-0 – G2 fly past NAVI 2-0 to secure first Grand Finals spot – FaZe take down Heroic 2-0 to face G2 in finals – IEM Katowice might not be a Major, but it’s still one of Counter-Strike’s biggest events. Returning to Poland again for 2022, 24 teams duked it out for a share of $1 million — including $400,000 for the winners. All the big names were there, and the action was definitely intense. Here’s all you need to know about IEM Katowice 2022, including full results, teams participating, and how the Grand Final went down. Contents IEM Katowice 2022: Recap Following the Group Stages, eventual champs FaZe were forced to play with stand-in jks in place of Rain for the entire knockout portion. However, they made quick work of Gambit, taking them down 2-0. On the other side of the bracket G2 also made quick work of Virtus.Pro, also winning 2-0. The semis were full of even more sweeps. FaZe would get past Heroic unscathed with a 2-0 score, and G2 pulled off the upset against NAVI with their own 2-0 sweep. This set up the FaZe vs G2 Grand Final, and despite finishing with a score of 3-0 in FaZe’s favor, it was a much closer match than that. On the second map Mirage, the two teams would slog it out in more than 50 rounds of Counter-Strike for a map that ended up lasting over 2 hours in total. FaZe would end up winning 31-27 in one of the most memorable matches in recent CS history. After that, Dust II seemed to fly by with FaZe wrapping things up 16-14, and an emotional karrigan raised the Katowice trophy along with the rest of his teammates. IEM Katowice 2022: schedule & results Playoffs: February 25 — February 27 Day 1: February 25 Day 2: February 26 Day 3: February 27 Group Stage: February 17 — February 20 Day 1: February 17 Day 2: February 18 Day 3: February 19 Day 4: February 20 Play-Ins: February 15 — February 16 Day 1: February 15 Day 2: February 16 Qualified teams: CPH Flames, Astralis, OG, FaZe, MOUZ, NIP, ENCE, Fnatic IEM Katowice 2022: Final placements IEM Katowice 2022: Teams 24 teams descended on the Spodek for IEM Katowice 2022. They were split into two seeds — eight teams going right through to the Main Event, and 16 teams who had to tackle the Play-In gauntlet. NAVI, Gambit, G2 Esports, and Vitality pushed through to the Main Event, and so did Liquid. However, names like Ninjas in Pyjamas, Astralis, and MIBR started in the Play-Ins. You can find the full list of teams who played at IEM Katowice 2022 below. Teams qualified for Play-ins Note: Due to multiple infection cases, TYLOO and Complexity withdrew from the event. They were replaced by Sprout and Movistar Riders. Note 2: FaZe’s Robin ‘ropz’ Kool and MOUZ’s Aurimas ‘Bymas’ Pipiras have tested positive ahead of the event. Complexity benched player Justin ‘jks’ Savage will step in for FaZe, while MOUZ have brought in academy player Jon ‘JDC’ de Castro for the event.

IEM Katowice 2022 makes CSGO history with impressive viewership figure ESLIEM Katowice 2022 has entered the list of the most-viewed CS:GO events of all time after peaking at over 1 million concurrent viewers on the final day of the event. The showpiece competition came to a close on February 27 with an intense and balanced-out final between FaZe and G2 Esports that was not reflected by the 3-0 scoreline. Fans tuned in by the hundreds of thousands to watch the best-of-five grand final, which hit a peak viewership of over 1.1 million viewers during the marathon game of Mirage, according to statistics website Esports Charts. IEM Katowice may not have reached the same heights as PGL Major Stockholm, which set a new game record for the highest peak viewership, but it still made history as the only non-Major in the top 5 of the most-viewed CS:GO tournaments of all time. It is fifth on the list, taking the spot that was occupied by the FACEIT Major (peak viewership of 1,084,946). The top most-viewed CSGO events following are listed below: PGL Major 2021 — 2,748,850 – ELEAGUE Major 2017 — 1,331,781 – ELEAGUE Major 2018 — 1,329,096 – IEM Katowice 2019 — 1,205,103 – IEM Katowice 2022 — 1,122,015 – #IEM Katowice 2022 – most popular non-Major @CSGO event.@ESLCS @IEM — Esports Charts 🇺🇦 (@EsportsCharts) February 27, 2022 The semi-final between G2 and NAVI almost broke the 1 million viewers mark but ended up hitting a peak that was just shy of 980,000. Of the five most-viewed matches of the tournament, four of them involved G2, who posted an average viewership of 475,845 people – over 100,000 more than NAVI (372,694) and tournament champions FaZe (350,782). These are exciting times for CS:GO esports. After a rocky year with multiple scandals and the threat posed by a rising competitor in Valorant, the scene seems to be on the up in the highest echelons thanks in large part to the return of in-person events with a crowd. Discover More: ropz: “I’m glad I joined FaZe and not G2” – The next such tournament will be PGL Major Antwerp, slated for May 9-22. In a recent interview with Dexerto, PGL CEO Silviu Stroie vowed to raise the bar for this event after the Stockholm Major felt somewhat underwhelming from a storytelling perspective and was dogged by production and technical issues.

Gambit win IEM Katowice 2021: Final placements & recap Counter-Strike’s IEM Katowice 2021 saw Gambit Esports etch their name into one of CSGO’s most prestigious trophies, alongside winning the lion’s share of $1 million after defeating Virtus.pro in the finals! Here’s how the tournament unfolded. Gambit defeated NAVI, Spirit and Virtus.pro in the Playoffs. – Abay ‘Hobbit’ Khasenov stole the show in the finals. – Dmitry ‘sh1ro’ Sokolov was crowned the event MVP. – IEM Katowice 2021: Final placements & prize breakdown The $1 million prize pool was be split between all 24 teams, including the ones that failed to make it to the Group Stage. The first-place team earned the biggest sliver of the pie, of course, taking home $400,000. IEM Katowice 2021: Format Play-In: Feb 16-17 Double-elimination bracket. – Opening matches were best-of-one, all other matches were best-of-three. – The Top 8 teams advanced to Group Stage. – – Group Stage: Feb 18-21 16 teams split into two groups. – Double-elimination brackets. – Top-three teams from each group advance to Playoffs. Group winners started in the semifinals. – Group second-place teams started in the quarterfinals (high seed). – Group third-place teams started in the quarterfinals (low seed). – – – Playoffs: Feb 26-28 Single-elimination bracket. – Best-of-three matches, Best-of-five Grand Final – – Watch now: ThriveFantasy IEM Katowice 2021 Quarter-Final Preview | Presented by BanKs & Maniac IEM Katowice 2021: Play-in results Day 1 — February 16 Day 2 — February 17 IEM Katowice 2021: Group Stage results Day 3 — February 18 Group A Group B Day 4 — February 19 Group B Group A Day 5 — February 20 Group A Group B Day 6 — February 21 Group A Group B IEM Katowice 2021: Playoff results Day 7 — February 26 (Quarter-finals) Navi & Astralis suffer shock exit Gambit pulled the upset against Navi in the CIS derby. The young squad swept s1mple’s team 2-1 with Overpass (16-12) and Train (16-6) going the way of Gambit. Sh1ro stepped up across the series, consistently clutching rounds and displaying a respectable 87.8 ADR. Virtus.pro continued their great 2021 form by eliminating Astralis in a thrilling series. Overpass (16-10) went the way of VP, followed by Astralis taking Train (16-12). The Danes had no answer in the final map, as they witnessed YEKINDAR take control of Inferno (16-11) and bring home the bacon. The Latvian star consistently performed during the series, clocking out with 75 kills over the three maps. A 3-MAP THRILLER?! @BanKsEsports makes his #IEM Katowice QF @ThriveFantasy picks 🔥 Use promo code DEX and receive an INSTANT match up to $50 on your first deposit! https://t.co/8T3TdeM06N Full T&C’s apply | #ad pic.twitter.com/FkT9HXQf3q — Dexerto (@Dexerto) February 25, 2021 🎥 @Maniac_CSGO is backing s1mple in his #IEM Katowice @ThriveFantasy picks. Use promo code DEX and receive an INSTANT match up to $50 on your first deposit! https://t.co/8T3TdeuoId Full T&C’s apply | #ad pic.twitter.com/YQd1T98SRF — Dexerto (@Dexerto) February 25, 2021 Day 8 — February 27 (Semi-finals) Gambit &Virtus.pro sweep their way to an all-CIS Katowice final Gambit swept Team Spirit to earn a spot in the grand finals. Ax1Le was their top performer, staying at the top of the scoreboard on both Overpass (16-11) and Inferno (16-13) with 48 kills at the end of the series. Team Liquid were unable to stop the CIS region from dominating the Playoffs. Virtus.pro defeated the North Americans on Dust2 (16-9) and Mirage (16-12), with Jame finding impact with the AWP in almost every round. Day 9 — February 28 (Grand Final) Gambit defeat Virtus.pro to claim the Katowice trophy The CIS showdown started with VP edging out Gambit on Vertigo (16-14), as YEKINDAR and Jame topped the scoreboard with 26 kills each. Gambit turned the series around on Dust2 (16-6) winning 10 rounds in a row to close out the map before continuing their domination on Train (16-4). The youngsters finally took the trophy home after halting a potential VP comeback on Overpass (16-12). Hobbit led by example in the series, posting an impressive 90 frags over the four maps — alongside 106 ADR! IEM Katowice 2021 essentials! Relive the big moments Top 10 Group Stage Moments: Stewie & Degster DOMINATE! – Richard Lewis: Stewie2K IS BACK! Return of Liquid’s Smoke Criminal – ThriveFantasy quarter-final preview – IEM Katowice Playoff preview – IEM Katowice Playoffs: 5 players to watch – Why Astralis Desperately Need a Zonic BOOM @ IEM Katowice Playoffs – Richard Lewis: Navi’s Biggest Flaw EXPOSED AGAIN – Terms & Conditions of the ThriveFantasy service apply. For a full list of Terms & Conditions, please visit: https://www.thrivefantasy.com/.

IEM Katowice 2021 quarterfinals preview ESLIEM Katowice 2021 has already served up some amazing matchups, and now the quarterfinals are upon us. With CIS supremacy sweeping the CS:GO server, Astralis stand as the lone force to try and stave the three Russian squads away. Six teams have qualified for the playoffs at IEM Katowice 2021, and four of them are from CIS. Gambit, Natus Vincere, and Virtus.pro are hungry for quarterfinals success, while Spirit awaits one of them in the semifinals. It’s put more pressure now, more than ever, onto two stalwarts of their respective scenes — Denmark’s (and Europe’s) Astralis, and North America’s Liquid. The latter looks reinvigorated with Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo in the squad, while the former are struggling to reach their peak online. Ahead of this weekend’s action, let’s take a look at the two quarterfinals — Gambit vs Natus Vincere and Virtus.pro vs Astralis — and what you should expect. Gambit vs Natus Vincere The battle for CIS supremacy will reign on in the quarterfinals of IEM Katowice when Gambit takes on Natus Vincere. This has been a historically Na’Vi-sided matchup, to the surprise of absolutely no one. Gambit went on a lower-bracket tear to make it to the quarterfinals of IEM Katowice, and they won’t let their rivals stand in their way. Young gun Dmitry ‘sh1ro’ Sokolov is really trying to make a name for himself as CS:GO’s next big AWPer, trying to reach the heights of idols like Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Vastyliev. Seeing the two face off will be a treat in this quarterfinal, but don’t expect the reigning champions to take it easy. Na’Vi are really finding their stride now, and despite losing to Team Liquid to find themselves in this position, you can’t keep them down for long. Denis ‘electronic’ Sharipov and s1mple are bouncing off each other better than ever, and it really feels like a repeat of IEM Katowice 2020 is on the cards. Na’Vi didn’t make it easy for themselves there in groups, before proceeding to demolish Liquid, Astralis, and G2 Esports without dropping a single map in playoffs. Gambit’s going to have to be prepared for a Na’Vi they’ve never faced before. It’s the biggest stage this matchup has happened on, and while the potential for an upset is there, you’d have to back Na’Vi to finish strong at Katowice. Thrive Fantasy Props Ax1le: 28.5 total kills Over = 90 points – Under = 110 points – – Hobbit: 43.5 total deaths Over = 110 points – Under = 90 points – – Electronic: 6.5 total assists Over = 95 points – Under = 105 points – – Flamie: 18.5 total headshots Over = 105 points – Under = 95 points – – S1mple: 75.5 total kills and deaths Over = 100 points – Under = 100 points – – Virtus.pro vs Astralis Virtus.pro and Astralis marks the first rematch of the StarLadder Major Berlin 2019 final. Back then, Astralis were decimating anyone in their patch, and VP (then Avangar) were collateral as the Danes took home their fourth major. However, it’s funny how things change in 18 months. Astralis’ experimentation with six and seven-man rosters has led nowhere, and with the core five back together, they’ve been struggling to get back into gear. Virtus.pro, on the other hand, has started 2021 on fire with a win at cs_summit 7 (where Astralis didn’t play). One also has to look at how far Virtus.pro has come since then. “Jame Time” might still be the slogan, but everyone from Timur ‘buster’ Tulepov to Mareks ‘YEKINDAR’ Galinskis have been pulling their weight. The team isn’t as reliant on Jame’s AWP to win as they once were, and he’s taken to the IGL role like a fish to water. If there is one time where Virtus.pro could get their revenge, it’s now. VP have taken down Vitality and FURIA — two of the best teams in the world — to get here, and Astralis have been hot and cold to start off the year. The tournament remaining online likely doesn’t help Astralis either. However, you can never count out the Danes. Much like Gambit vs Natus Vincere, the real big ticket matchup will be Jame vs Nicolai ‘device’ Reedtz. The AWPers will once again prove to be the deciding factor in this matchup, and if history is anything to go by, it should be explosive. Thrive Fantasy Props Buster: 45.5 total kills Over = 115 points – Under = 85 points – – Sanji: 32.5 total deaths Over = 80 points – Under = 120 points – – Magisk: 9.5 total assists Over = 100 points – Under = 100 points – – gla1ve: 13.5 total headshots Over = 90 points – Under = 110 points – – Device: 88.5 total kills and deaths Over = 110 points – Under = 90 points – – The IEM Katowice 2021 quarterfinals get underway on February 26. Terms and Conditions of the Thrive Fantasy service apply, for a full list of Terms and Conditions, please visit: https://www.thrivefantasy.com/

IEM Katowice 2019 CS:GO Major stickers and souvenirs revealed – Full image gallery and details The IEM Katowice CS:GO 2019 Major kicks off on Wednesday, February 13, and fans have been eagerly anticipating the release of the commemorative stickers and souvenirs that drop for major tournaments. In the Wednesday, February 6 update for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Valve officially launched the stickers for the upcoming tournament, alongside the new Viewer Pass feature for the tournament. Anyone who would like to take part in the Katowice Pick’Em Challenge will need to purchase the Viewer Pass, which will also give fans exclusive access to Katowice 2019 Souvenir Packages, along with a Steam.tv flair and Team Graffitis which can be used throughout the tournament. When the Viewer Pass has been purchased, owners will be awarded with the bronze Katowice Major coin. To earn the silver, gold and diamond coins, players must complete challenges that include watching matches or making correct predictions in the Pick’Em Challenge. The IEM Katowice stickers have also been officially released, with Team and Autograph versions both available so you can show your support for your favorite squad or players. 50% of each sticker sale will go directly to the organizations or players who feature on the sticker, with the sticker capsules divided into the stage at which they will enter the tournament. You can see a full gallery of all the IEM Katowice stickers below. first round matches of the competition have already been announced ahead of the start of the tournament. You can ensure that you don’t miss any of the action when the event kicks off by using our handy IEM Katowice 2019 CS:GO Major viewing guide.

IEM Global Challenge confirmed as CSGO’s LAN return: Dates & more ESL / IEMCS:GO tournament organizers ESL have finally announced that they will be returning to LAN for the first time over six months with their IEM Global Challenge event in Cologne that will round out the 2020 season. Plenty of CS:GO LAN events across the world were canceled or moved to an online format in early March, shortly after IEM’s Season 14 World Championship, due to the ongoing global health crisis. However, after months of playing online events, ESL has now announced their return to LAN, with the IEM Global Challenge 2020 scheduled for later in the year. ESL announced that the event will be kicking off on December 15-20 and would have a whopping $500,000 prize pool in total. While there are still concerns about returning to the normal CS:GO schedule, this IEM Global Challenge will only be an eight-team tournament, with an extensive online qualification system to determine who will be competing. Qualification for the tournament will see the top teams from the last online events in 2020, IEM New York, DH Open: Fall, and IEM Beijing, make up four of the eight spots in the tournament. Back on LAN. 8 Teams. $500,000 Prize Pool. This is how qualification works for the #IEM Global Challenge 2020:https://t.co/ScS3Fatbwz pic.twitter.com/OLuLSwa9LA — ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 17, 2020 The remaining four rosters will be determined by the ESL World Ranking ahead of the event, with two slots for Europe, one for the CIS Region, and a slot for North America. ESL’s upcoming LAN will see the eight teams split into two groups of four, with the top two squads from each pool advancing to bracket play to determine a winner. The IEM Global Challenge will be hosted in Cologne and it is likely that both the players and the fans will be quite eager for the action to resume on the main stage. As of now, it is unclear how this event will be operated to include the necessary safety measures, although it is possible that ESL could host a bubble format, similar to what has been planned for League of Legends’ Worlds 2020.

IEM Dallas 2022: Cloud9 dominate ENCE with 3-0 Grand Finals win Adela Sznajder/ESL Gaming via ESPATThe international CS:GO calendar resumes with IEM Dallas, a $250,000 tournament with some of the best teams in the world. Keep up with the North American LAN event right here with the latest schedule, results, and information on how to watch. Cloud9 win first tournament by dominating ENCE – 3-0 sweep: 16-12, 16-11, and 16-3 scorelines – Ax1Le named MVP – Just one week after PGL Major Antwerp came to a close, the international CS:GO calendar resumes with IEM Dallas. The week-long tournament will take place at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, with 16 teams vying for the lion’s share of a $250,000 prize pool. Visa issues and the global health crisis have seen IEM Dallas lose some of its must-see appeal, with NAVI, Entropiq and Heroic all forced to withdraw from the event. Others, like NIP and ENCE, will have to field stand-ins. It was FaZe’s title to lose — and Cloud9 really showed up to them. After winning the last three international events, including the Major, FaZe Clan couldn’t continue their rampage towards the Intel Grand Slam. Below you can find everything that you need to know about IEM Dallas. Contents IEM Dallas 2022: final placements IEM Dallas 2022: schedule & results IEM Dallas will see the 16 participants split into two double-elimination groups. The opening round will be played in a best-of-one format before the tournament enters the best-of-three stages. The group winners will directly advance to the semi-finals, while the runners-up and the third-placed sides will move on to the quarterfinals. The tournament will culminate in a best-of-five grand final on Sunday, June 5.

IEM Cologne holds moment of silence for CSGO ahead of shift to Counter-Strike 2 in 2024 Twitter: ESL Counter-StrikeIEM Cologne held a moment of silence for CSGO ahead of the pivot to Counter-Strike 2 for the 2024 competitive calendar. 2023’s iteration of IEM Cologne has crowned its champions, and it saw G2 lift their first trophy in the ‘Cathedral of Counter-Strike”, making them the third-ever team to win Katowice and Cologne in the same year. However, 2023’s IEM Cologne also marked the very last time CSGO will be played in the iconic region as 2024 marks the arrival of Counter-Strike 2. To bid adieu to the very last appearance of CSGO in the cathedral, IEM Cologne 2023 held a moment of silence for the storied game as the community readies for the future. IEM Cologne holds moment of silence for CSGO as Counter-Strike 2 nears Right before the semi-finals match between Astralis and G2 to decide who would be making their first Cologne grand finals appearance, Cologne decided to commemorate some of its greatest moments with a one-off display. From Olofmeister’s famous molotov defuse in the semis of ESL Cologne 2014, SK Gaming’s back-to-back Cologne wins, and NIP’s first and only Major trophy, a special package was heard throughout the venue during this moment of celebration. “Time to take a moment Cologne,” said long-time CSGO stage host OJ Borg to the crowd. “A moment of silent contemplation. As we finish another sentence, we turn another page in this most magnificent book. “Moments written by masters, witnessed by millions, and what a place to relive it all here in the cathedral of Counter-Strike.” The esport is poised to make its transition to Counter-Strike 2, which will be releasing sometime this Summer. As for the rest 2023’s calendar, we’re already set to see a few CS2 tournaments played. However, for every other major CS tournament, from ESL Pro League to IEM Sydney to the BLAST Fall Finals and World Finals, these will be some of the very last CSGO tournaments before the transition.

IEM Cologne crowd loses it after fan unboxes legendary CSGO skin Valve/HLTVThe crowd at IEM Cologne 2022 went viral after they collectively freaked out when a fan unboxed a super rare CS:GO skin during the tournament. CSGO LAN’s can be rowdy events, but there’s nothing quite like coming together with thousands of other like-minded individuals to watch top-level Counter Strike played. To get a sense of the community that’s on display during these events, all you need to do is look at how the crowd reacted to one of their own unboxing a rare skin during IEM Cologne 2022. On July 17 while waiting around for the action to begin in the Grand Final between FaZe Clan and NAVI, one fan who brought their laptop with them decided to do what any CS:GO fan would do with some time to kill: open a few cases. Specifically, they were opening Dreams & Nightmares cases, some of the newest ones to be released by Valve after Recoil. With each case that was opened, the crowd behind them would react. However no one could predict they would be blessed with one of the rarest skins possible. The spin in question started out like any other, but when the wheel stopped and a Nightwish AK-47 skin was the result, the crowd lost their minds. Along with the Starlight Protector MP9, the Nightwish is one of the rarest possible skins to pull out of a Dreams & Nightmares case, definitely not a bad way to kill some time. Above all though this is really a moment that could only happen during a CS:GO live event. So the next time someone says the game is dead, show them this clip.

G2 win IEM Cologne 2023: Final placements and recap Helena Kristiansson/ESLIEM Cologne 2023 has come to a close, with G2 Esports winning the title after besting ENCE in the final. Read our recap of the tournament and find all the results and placements here. The ‘Cathedral of Counter-Strike’ has bid farewell to CS:GO. Since 2015, the LANXESS arena has been the stage of many legendary bouts that will forever live in Counter-Strike lore. But this year was special: IEM Cologne 2023 was the last edition of the event to feature CS:GO as the esport is poised to make a slow transition to Counter-Strike 2, which will be released sometime in the summer. This year’s tournament may not have lived up to the lofty standards set by the 2022 event, which culminated in a nail-biting five-map final between FaZe and NAVI, but it still had its fair share of excitement, especially as a number of teams debuted their new rosters, most notably Cloud9. In the end, it was G2 who ran out victors after beating ENCE 3-1 in the grand final, capping off a fantastic run that saw them lose just three maps and that also included victories over FaZe, Vitality and Astralis. Shortly after the final, tournament MVP Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač said that winning Cologne does ease the pain of not winning a Major title in CS:GO. “This trophy definitely makes my career look a bit better,” the Bosnian superstar said. “Even though there is no Major, at least now there’s Cologne.” The victory shows that G2’s decision to keep the same roster after the failed BLAST Paris Major run was the right call. Many had called for the team to cut ties with Rasmus ‘HooXi’ Nielsen, but G2 opted to give the Danish IGL one more chance. While most teams switched players during the off-season, G2 were rewarded for their patience. They have become the third team in history to win Katowice and Cologne in the same year, after Fnatic (2015) and FaZe (2022). Below is everything you need to know about IEM Cologne 2023. IEM Cologne 2023: Dates and format The tournament took place from July 26 through August 6. The Play-In Stage and the group stage were held behind closed doors, while the playoff matches took place at the LANXESS arena in front of a crowd. Play-In (July 26-28) 16-team double-elimination bracket – Opening round is BO1, the rest is BO3 – 8 teams move on to the group stage – Group Stage (July 29-August 1) Two double-elimination groups of eight teams – All matches are BO3 – Top three teams per group advance to the playoffs – Playoff Stage (August 4-6) Single-elimination bracket with group winners in the semi-finals – Quarter-finals and semi-finals are BO3, grand final is BO5 – IEM Cologne 2023: Final placements and results Playoffs (August 4-6) Day 1: August 4 Day 2: August 5 Day 3: August 6 Group Stage (July 29-August 1) Day 1: July 29 Day 2: July 30 Day 3: July 31 Day 4: August 1 Play-In (July 26-28) Day 1: July 26 Day 2: July 27 Day 3: July 28 IEM Cologne 2023: Teams and rosters IEM Cologne featured 24 teams from all over the world, eight of which went straight to the group stage. The remaining 16 had to go through the Play-In stage, which determined the last eight sides entering the main tournament. Four group stage slots went to the winners of IEM Katowice, ESL Pro League Season 17, IEM Rio and IEM Dallas. The champion of ESL Meisterschaft, Germany’s main CS:GO league, got direct entry into the Play-In stage. Group Stage teams Play-In teams

FaZe Clan win IEM Cologne 2022: Full recap and results HLTVIEM Cologne is one of the most storied events on the Counter-Strike calendar. Twenty-four teams gathered in Germany to compete in the 2022 edition of the event, duking it out for their share of $1,000,000 in prize money and the prestigious title. Here’s how it all went down. Key Action FaZe overcome NAVI 3-2 in an absolutely epic Grand Final – FaZe ends Movistar Riders Cinderella run with 2-0 win in Semifinals – NAVI get past Astralis to secure Grand Finals spot – As far as trophies go in Counter-Strike, the IEM Cologne title is always one players are chasing. It might not be a Major, but it has a near-equal level of prestige as a permanent fixture on the yearly calendar. The Group Stage concluded with Team Liquid and Movistar Riders making surprise deep runs. The Playoff Stage started on July 15 with Astralis taking down MOUZ and the two surprises of the tournament facing off against each other. Fans will also get a second look at FaZe Clan vs. NAVI, after the two were both seeded directly into the Semi-finals. The Semifinals started out on July 16 with NAVI barely skating by Astralis on their way to the Grand Finals. In the second match of the day, FaZe ended Movistar Riders Cinderella run with a 2-0 sweep of the upstart Spanish side. The stage was set for FaZe and NAVI to face off in the Grand Finals of IEM Cologne 2022 on July 17. It was an epic back and forth, and one that will go down in the history books of Counter Strike. But, after five games it was FaZe who would come out on top and cement their spot on top of the CS:GO rankings. IEM Cologne 2022: Recap IEM Cologne 2022 was full of storylines, including a Cinderella run from Movistar Riders, but in the end it would be NAVI vs FaZe for the Grand Final yet again. From the very start of the final it was back and forth as a CSGO match can be. FaZe came out blazing on Inferno, taking the opening map 16-13. However NAVI struck back on Overpass to tie it up 1-1, with an identical 16-13 score. Ancient would also go to s1mple and company, who after a 19-16 win looked ready to lock things up. FaZe weren’t done though, and dominated Mirage 16-9 to level the scores yet again at 2-2. This meant it all came down to Nuke, which was truly a battle for the ages. Reflecting the series as a whole it was almost out of control at moments. At times it seemed like NAVI would win, then two rounds later FaZe seemed to have taken over the driver’s seat. In the end though, it was karrigan and FaZe who would come out on top, and cement themselves as the best CSGO team in the world. After winning ESL Pro League Season 15, PGL Major Antwerp 2022, and now IEM Cologne, FaZe are undoubtedly the team to beat going forward. IEM Cologne 2022: Full results Playoff Stage (July 15-17) Day 1: July 15 Day 2: July 16 Day 3: July 17 Group Stage (July 7-10) Day 1: July 7 Day 2: July 8 Day 3: July 9 Day 4: July 10 Group A Group B Play-In Results (July 5-6) Day 1: July 5 Day 2: July 6 IEM Cologne 2022: final standings IEM Cologne 2022: format & location IEM Cologne 2022 took place from July 5 to July 17, 2022. The competition was split up across three stages. The top eight from the play-in stage joined the remaining eight sides in the Group Stage, which followed the GSL format across two groups. The top three from each group progressed to the Playoffs, with the first seeds earning a bye into the semifinals. From there, it was single elimination until a winner is crowned. The playoffs were held at Lanxess Arena in front of a live crowd. IEM Cologne 2022: All qualified teams Twenty-four teams qualified for IEM Cologne 2022. Big names like recent Major winners FaZe Clan and Natus Vincere top the list, but emerging squads like the new-look ENCE and dark horse Movistar Riders kept things very interesting. You can see the full team list for IEM Cologne 2022 below including all the players on each roster.

NaVi win IEM Cologne 2021: final placements & recap ESLThe $1 million IEM Cologne 2021 championship is officially in the books. One of the staple CS:GO events on the calendar brought together some of the world’s best to fight it out, but it would be s1mple and NaVi who took home the $400,000 grand prize. NaVi shut down G2 3-0 to win Cologne 2021 Grand Finals – s1mple and company return in full form for first LAN of 2021 – Online juggernaut Gambit fall to FaZe Clan in quarterfinals – IEM Cologne is one of the most storied events on the CS:GO calendar. While no longer a major, history has been made many a time in Germany, with the Cathedral of Counter-Strike hosting some of the biggest matchups. The 2021 tournament was no different, with 24 teams from across the globe fighting for the prestigious title — but in the end it would be NaVi taking $400,000 for first place at the first in-person Counter-Strike event of 2021. IEM Cologne 2021: final placements IEM Cologne 2021: schedule & results S1mple and the rest of NaVi regaining their winning ways wasn’t the only storyline to come out of Cologne though — Virtus.Pro proved they aren’t going anywhere, while FaZe shocked everyone by eliminating Gambit Esports (undoubtedly the best team during online play) in a quarterfinals win no one saw coming. You couldn’t ask for a better storyline than FaZe Clan, Astralis, and G2 all chomping at the bit to take the top spot from NaVi after Cologne, which might be just what we have with the return of live play. The first LAN of 2021 certainly didn’t disappoint, and you can find a complete recap of all daily scores down below: Play-In Stage Day 1: July 6 Day 2: July 7 Group Stage Day 1: July 8 Day 2: July 9 Day 3: July 10 Day 4: July 11 Playoffs Day 1: July 16 Day 2: July 17 Day 3: July 18 IEM Cologne 2021: teams 24 teams across the globe were invited to IEM Cologne based on their domestic results on the “Road to Cologne”. The eight top teams — six from Europe and two from NA — were seeded directly into the main event. The other 16, including teams from South America, Oceania, and Brazil had to fight through the Play-In stage for one of eight spots in the Top 16. You can find the full rosters of each team attending below.

IEM Cologne 2021 playoffs: Five players to watch ESLIEM Cologne 2021 is down to its final six teams. Only one will be crowned champion in the Cathedral of Counter-Strike, and these five players will be a big part in dictating whether CIS lifts another title in 2021, or a new contender arises ahead of the Major. It’s truly been CIS vs the world in Counter-Strike so far in 2021, and IEM Cologne 2021 is no different. While it’s not like Katowice (where all four CIS teams made it to playoffs), there’s still considerable representation in the top six. However, they’re not all in form. In fact, G2 Esports and FaZe Clan have been more of the surprise, pushing through to the top six despite fluctuating results. It’s also hard to look past Astralis too, who are trying to relive their glory days without dev1ce. So, who do you need to watch this weekend in the Cathedral of Counter-Strike? We’ve got five players you must keep an eye on (and trust us — it’s going to be a battle of the Big Green). Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev (Natus Vincere) Okay, let’s just get the obvious out of the way. S1mple is one of the greatest of all time, everyone knows that. However, he’s been playing well above even his own lofty expectations. His 1.52 rating is 0.18 higher than anyone else in the tournament — and 0.27 higher than anyone else in the playoffs (which is, funnily enough, his right-hand man in electronic). Read More: Why no team is safe at IEM Cologne 2021 – He’s just had an unbelievable amount of impact, both with the AWP and without it. It’s truly s1mple’s Cologne to win, and while it’s not a Major, it’s certainly telling of his form ahead of PGL Stockholm in November. Abay ‘Hobbit’ Khasenov (Gambit) Hobbit might not be Gambit’s IGL anymore, and it might be for the best. He hasn’t been for a while with Nafany taking up the reins, but the veteran has been the cool head the squad of rising stars has needed to raze the field and become the indisputable best team of 2021 (so far). While every part of the Gambit squad has shone so far in Cologne, Hobbit is the consistent rock, always posting up well — especially on CT side. While they had a slight slip-up against G2 before playoffs, you just know that Hobbit will be able to rally the troops with his experience to get them back to the top. Timur ‘buster’ Tulepov (Virtus.pro) If it wasn’t for Buster, we wouldn’t be talking about Virtus.pro right now in the IEM Cologne playoffs. He had not one, but two huge clutches against Complexity, when VP’s back was against the wall, to dig them out of a hole and advance to the top six. He’s not as electric as Jame or YEKINDAR — although his 1.36 rating and +13 KD against NiP shows he’s got the flair — but Buster’s clutch ability is exactly what you need once you hit the playoffs of a big event. Francois ‘AmaNEk’ Delaunay (G2 Esports) AmaNEk has some big shoes to fill on the G2 Esports roster. Is he doing well so far in kennyS’ absence in taking up the AWP? Well, as far as stats go, he’s one of the lowest performing AWPers at Cologne, barely scraping together a rating above 1.00. However, what his selflessness has allowed is for G2 to bounce back to their explosive best. His more supportive style gives NiKo and huNter- the chance to really thrive on the server. If AmaNEk can truly step into his own come playoffs though, they might be the first real threat to CIS supremacy in Counter-Strike this year. Helvijs ‘broky’ Saukants (FaZe Clan) Has broky finally matured into his role on FaZe Clan? His recent performances certainly indicate that. While Twistzz firmly remains the star of the show, the 20-year-old looks clean on the AWP. It was a big question looming over FaZe ever since GuardiaN left, but that’s been firmly answered — even if it’s almost two years later. While he did struggle against ZywOo (hardly unexpected), the level of competition is only going to go up. Twistzz does need that help on the rifles, and while Rain has stepped up somewhat at IEM Cologne to do so, a big part of their game plan relies on broky holding down the fort with the Big Green. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s up to the task. The IEM Cologne 2021 playoffs kick off on July 16.

Astralis wins IEM Chicago 2018 CS:GO- Recap, Final Results and Placings Astralis defeated Team Liquid in the Grand Final of CS:GO’s IEM Chicago 2018 to take home the $100,000 prize. Team Liquid started off hot on their map choice, Mirage, taking a 9-6 lead into the break. Astralis would flip the tables, ending the second half on a 10-5 run to take Mirage by a score of 16-14. NAF paced the North American side with 28 overall kills, while Astralis was backed by the play of Dupreeh’s AWP – who racked up 11 AWP elims on map 1. The match shifted to Nuke and Astralis kept their second half momentum going. A particularity impressive stretch happened in rounds 17, 18 and 19, where Astralis held Liquid to just three kills total. Nitro stopped the bleeding with a nice 2K to help Liquid get a bomb off in round 21, bringing the score to 14-7 before Astralis quickly took the next to rounds to claim the map 16-7. Astralis would wrap up the Grand Final quickly to win the $100,000 prize and further establish their claim of being the best team in CS:GO.

IEM Beijing-Haidian 2020 final placements and results ESLIEM Beijing-Haidian has concluded, and after two weeks of incredible Counter-Strike, we finally are able to crown the best teams in one of the largest tournaments of the Online Era. The online event hosted 24 teams across four regions: Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania. Winners fought for spots in the upcoming IEM Global Challenge and for prize pools of $150,000 (EU), $70,000 (NA), and $15,000 (Asia, Oceania). IEM Beijing 2019 saw Astralis being crowned champions after sweeping Australians of 100 Thieves in a best-of-five final. Europe and North America featured a double-elimination group stage, with a single-elimination playoff bracket. Every game was a BO3 match, except for the BO5 final. Asia and Oceania presented a double-elimination playoff bracket, with BO3 games and a BO5 final. IEM Beijing-Haidian 2020 Europe placements and results The European group stages saw Astralis, Heroic, FaZe, and Complexity proceeded undefeated to the playoffs, followed by Vitality, G2, NaVi, and BIG. Vitality powered through the playoffs by first dispatching Heroic in the quarter-finals, their Danish nemesis had previously denied the French roster two trophies at ESL One Cologne and Dreamhack Open Fall. They reached the finals after a swift 2-0 victory against the Complexity juggernaut. On the other side of the bracket, NaVi dominated Astralis in the quarter-finals, brushing them aside after two 16-9 maps. The CIS squad then faced a new-look G2 esports, destroying them on Nuke in the last map of the match. The Grand Final saw Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev dominate Vitality in the first two maps displaying a +41 K/D differential. The Frenchmen fought back on Overpass and Inferno extending the finals all the way before taking the trophy on Mirage after a stellar performance by Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut. IEM Beijing-Haidian 2020 North America placements and results North America saw the most unexpected results, with both favorites being knocked out in the semifinals of the tournament. Team Liquid faced an in-form Triumph, with Paytyn ‘junior’ Johnson appearing as one of the most interesting talents in NA and producing several highlight plays throughout the series. EG meanwhile faced eventual winners Chaos which powered through the tournament to claim their first A-tier tournament. IEM Beijing-Haidian 2020 Asia placements and results The Asian event saw ViCi finally overcome their Chinese rivals Tyloo, beating them in the upper bracket final and again in the grand final without dropping a single map through the entire event. IEM Beijing-Haidian 2020 Oceania placements and results The Oceanic tournament did not see too many surprises as the Renegades led by Chris ‘dexter’ Nong managed to take the $8,000 and their ninth regional trophy in a row.

IEM Beijing 2019 CSGO: Streams, schedule, results Eight of the best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams in the world are set to battle it out in Beijing at the first Intel Extreme Masters event of ESL’s new Pro Tour. IEM Beijing is the first event in ESL’s brand new tournament circuit that allows teams to qualify for new ‘Masters Championships’. These championships are held twice a year at two iconic Counter-Strike locations, Katowice and Cologne. This means that for this event the stakes are raised, not only are teams battling for the lion’s share of a $250,000 prize pool, but there is also a spot at first Masters Championship – IEM Katowice 2020. Some of the best teams in the world will be attending the event, with the likes of Evil Geniuses, Astralis, and Team Vitality having made their way to China. This tournament will not be one to IEM Beijing Format Eight teams have been split into two groups of four and will battle it out in a GSL style, with two teams advancing to the playoffs and two being eliminated. The playoffs are rather straightforward as well, they will be played out in a single-elimination format, with the top two teams of each group taking on the second-placed teams of the other group. Every match will be played in a best of three format, other than the final, where teams will battle for the IEM Beijing crown in a lengthy best of five/ IEM Beijing Streams Main stream Watch live video from ESL_CSGO on www.twitch.tvSecondary stream Watch live video from ESL_CSGOb on www.twitch.tvIEM Beijing Schedule Group A Wednesday, November 6 Thursday, November 7 Group B Wednesday, November 6 Thursday, November 7 Playoffs Friday, November 8 Saturday, November 9 Sunday, November 9 Last updated – Nov 10, 06:38 AM EST

HUNDEN’s mission to destroy Heroic: How a convicted coach became desperate to incriminate his former players and failed DreamhackThe Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) will take no action against Heroic players following public claims from their former coach, Nicolai ‘HUNDEN’ Petersen, that they were complicit in his cheating actions. One player, Nikolaj ‘niko’ Kristensen, was given a public reprimand and will have to attend two integrity education seminars following a recorded conversation where he said he had believed Petersen to be cheating. Following Petersen’s acrimonious split from the organization, he took part in a sustained media campaign where he made a number of claims that the players knew about his use of the coaching bug for which he was banned. Speaking to Danish publication TV2.dk, he claimed to have evidence that showed players actively engaged in behaviors to facilitate his cheating and claimed to have damaging conversations that were effectively confessions. Having reviewed the evidence, these claims do not stand up to any scrutiny whatsoever and appear to be more driven by spite than any ethical motivating factor. The current crop of Heroic players, including some who weren’t even present at the time of Petersen’s two cheating occurrences, have been subject to a barrage of abuse following these claims. This was further compounded when the same documents showed that the Chief Gaming Officer, Erik Askered, had attempted to use alterations to their existing contracts to silence them. However, the documentation that was central to the allegations only seems to condemn the actions of Askered and no one else, despite what has been publicly claimed. It isn’t clear if ESIC will take any action against Askered or if they would have the jurisdictional capacity to do so. In an attempt to prevent any further misinformation from circulating about the team, this article will serve as a complete breakdown of the evidence Dexerto believes was sent to ESIC as part of Petersen’s cooperation with them. In addition to this summary, there were several other non-credible pieces of “evidence” that for the sake of brevity will not be given attention here. In short, absolutely nothing submitted implicates any of the players on the squad outside of Kristensen’s dubious claim that “everyone” knew, which will be addressed here. HUNDEN’s claims to have evidence that the Heroic players knew is false The only two players even tangentially associated with the cheating allegations, Nikolaj ‘niko’ Kristensen and René ‘TeSeS’ Madsen, have circumstances around the claims that make exoneration the only fair conclusion. There is absolutely nothing incriminating that points to any other players despite the public claims made by Petersen. Petersen’s claims hinge on a secretly-recorded phone call deliberately designed for the purposes of manipulating someone into saying something incriminating and a misrepresentation of expert testimony. These were given the illusion of weight from screenshots of conversations that don’t say anything directly damaging, nor corroborate any of the previously-made public statements. The Chief Gaming Officer and the “taking a bullet” claim It is clear that Petersen provided evidence that Heroic’s Chief Gaming Officer, Erik Askered, did indeed believe that the coach taking the blame and saying he had acted alone was “taking a bullet” for the team. Askered then also contrived to lock the players and the coach into a non-disclosure agreement for 15 years to ensure the players could never speak about the matter in a relevant time period. This shows that Askered cannot be trusted on matters of integrity and should be ultimately disqualified from being anywhere near a competitive space. However, there are a few details that need to be acknowledged that should put paid to the notion that this in any way proves player complicity. Firstly, it is clear from the context of the conversation that Askered has not conducted any form of internal investigation. He did not want to know one way or another which players knew or did not know. Nothing Askered says would lead anyone to believe players were involved with the use of the bug or that he even believed players had used the bug. The use of the term “taking a bullet” was also first introduced to the conversation by Petersen, although Askered agrees this is a reasonable summary of events. Simply put, Askered didn’t care and wanted to get the agreement signed with as little fuss as possible and was moving along a conversation. We can infer from the conversation that Askered would have happily taken part in a conspiracy if presented with that opportunity, but there is no evidence that a conspiracy took place. Secondly, the same conversation that Petersen uses to claim that the players were complicit contains facts that would explicitly contradict this. In the conversation, Petersen acknowledges that the player Johannes ‘b0RUP’ Borup will “be a problem” [in regards to signing the NDA] as he “did not wanna work with a cheating coach (sic).” These words are Petersen’s and show that at least one player on the squad was so disgusted at his actions that they were in consideration of leaving. How this evidence fits along with the narrative that “all the players knew” and were in on it isn’t clear. Thirdly, in a group chat between Askered, Petersen, and the players, they had to be asked if they agreed with the organization’s decision to keep Petersen on in a coaching capacity. This, along with their joint refusal to sign the non-disclosure agreement that would have ensured any guilty party’s silence, heavily suggests that the players were not aligned with Askered or Petersen prior to the concession that he could remain working with the team. When all of this is considered, Askered’s attempts to silence the players contractually look like a way to affect control and to stop the same kind of media tour that Petersen engaged in once he was done with the organization. It doesn’t prove any knowledge about any players being involved nor does the conversation at any time even imply that anyone had any knowledge of player involvement. Misrepresentation of expert testimony As part of the claims made in the series of interviews by TV2.dk, Petersen said he had evidence of player complicity that could be proven with server logs. Specifically, Petersen claimed that René ‘TeSeS’ Madsen had boosted him into a position for the explicit purpose of gaining the most benefit from the coaching bug. This was also claimed to be verified by expert testimony. The report said: “TV 2 SPORT has contacted one of the world’s leading judges within Counter-Strike, who has in-depth knowledge of the coaching bug. He has examined the server log carefully and confirms that Nicolai ‘HUNDEN’ Petersen’s explanation of having received help from a player “definitely makes sense when you look at the matter”. Having identified and contacted the expert in this matter, they have stated that this materially misrepresents what they said and meant. They clarified that Petersen’s version was certainly within the realm of possibility but that there was absolutely nothing in the server logs that confirmed that version with a 100% degree of certainty. When they used the word “definitely” they meant in confirmation to the part where Madsen was on the server with Petersen. Beyond that, there is nothing in a server log that would 100% show the player was boosting a coach for the purposes of accessing the coaching bug. Furthermore, even if Madsen did boost Petersen in such a manner, nothing in that action itself would point to him explicitly understanding why such a request was being made. This presupposes that Madsen knew that the coaching bug existed and that it could be accessed from a boosted position when a coach moved into a coaching position. No such evidence of either exists. As a thought exercise, imagine a scenario where Petersen — assuming at some point in the future he might get banned — wanted the option to leverage his teammates by asking them to participate in something they thought was entirely innocent. The player, following instructions from their coach, boosts them as requested without knowledge of the purpose. Then, months later, Petersen, who we know from chat logs was disgruntled with some of the players, referring to them as “cry babies,” states that the action was part of a cheating conspiracy. The fact this possibility exists is another reason to discount this as being hard evidence. It simply isn’t. So, all we know for sure from the server logs is that Madsen was indeed on a server with his coach before a match and doesn’t deny having boosted his coach during that time. He has stated he didn’t know what for. Petersen claims this was for the purposes of using the bug but the server logs cannot confirm this. That is the official stance of the same expert used by Petersen, TV2.dk and ESIC. The secret phone recording of Nikolaj ‘niko’ Kristensen Petersen, motivated by an understanding that his case lacked substantive evidence, attempted to coerce his former player Nikolaj ‘niko’ Kristensen into a confession and to implicate his teammates via a series of leading questions. This call, unbeknownst to Kristensen, was recorded by Petersen as a last-ditch attempt to provide compelling evidence to ESIC. The date of the call is from August 2021, long after the incident and long after Petersen had served his suspension. There are a number of ethical concerns with this activity from the start. The first revolves around the legality of the move. Denmark is a single-party consent country from a legal standpoint, meaning only one person has to decide to record any call they participate in for it to be legally sound. However, as a country that values privacy, Danish law states you could be legally compromised for sharing calls that are believed to be private. The second concern is that it is known to many in esports that Kristensen is afflicted with mental health conditions that could make him more susceptible to suggestions and give him memory issues. This has been confirmed directly by Dexerto and it is reasonable to assume that Petersen, having worked with the player, would be aware of this. These two factors have a sinister implication that is hard to overlook. However, even from a practical standpoint, a single recorded conversation of a recollection of events that took place over a year ago, presented by an unreliable witness, cannot be considered substantial evidence. Regardless, TV2.dk had already published a small extract of the call, evidently the most incriminating part, divorced from its original context. Here’s the complete exchange that was represented as being evidence. Niko: Yes, but it’s… that’s the thing, and that’s what’s true here as well, as we have also talked about before… EVERYONE on our team knew HUNDEN: Yeah… Yes, yes… Yea, and it… Niko: Maybe not in the first match, but after. Everyone knew HUNDEN: Yes, and it’s also, I mean, I am able to tell from the conversations we have had, you know, afterwards, it is pretty clear that more people knew the second time around compared to the first time, so… Niko: Yeah… This exchange being used as a primary piece of evidence is so ridiculously flawed that it shouldn’t need to be explained. How Kristensen can be assumed to know the minds of all his fellow players and whether or not they “knew” about the coaching bug is ridiculous. This is contradicted as we know from Petersen’s own words that Johannes ‘b0RUP’ Borup certainly didn’t know as he was prepared to leave the team over Petersen remaining part of the organization. So if it’s not “everyone” then what does that word mean in this context? All the others? Him and one more? Maybe it is an assumption that, because he had figured it out, the others must have too. The other part of the conversation that Petersen believed to be incriminating was the following back and forth: HUNDEN: That being said, now that we’re here, I don’t know if it might be for the better to go out and tell the truth? I mean, for the five of you too? I mean, you were ready to go out and tell the truth the last time, also, with René [TeSeS], that you had been a part of it. Uhm. I know it might end up… and… but I don’t think they are going to end up banning you guys anyway. I don’t think ESIC has the resources to do anything about it, honestly Niko: Nah, I don’t know, I think we will just… I don’t know, just take it chill and see what… gonna talk to OG about what is gonna happen and stuff HUNDEN: Yea, yea of course. But you never told OG what happened, or what? Niko: Yea, yea, they knew from the beginning, cause I told them Petersen seems to believe that this section of the conversation amounts to a confession but that reading seems to be a function of internal biases. This exchange seems to show that Kristensen was not willing to speak publicly on the matter and would wait to see how the ESIC investigation progress. It also states that his new team, OG, were aware of the investigation, not that Kristensen had been complicit. The rest of the conversation is mostly Kristensen not saying much and trying to get off the call. It is hard to believe that, if there was any damning evidence that pointed to player complicity, this recorded call would have even be attempted. Even with leading questions aimed towards a vulnerable individual, this was the best that Petersen could obtain. Kristensen has certainly self-incriminated with his words, but this is certainly not robust enough to issue a severe punishment to the player when all things are considered. As a final point, even if you were to take Kristensen’s claims at face value, that he himself had figured it out after the first match against Astralis, what does that mean in a broader context? Petersen cheated only one more time after that, so Kristensen would have needed to know when he activated the bug and to raise an objection. It’s worth noting there were several series between the two cheating incidents to which Petersen confessed where no cheating occurred. So even if Kristensen “knew” as he infers, as in knew that Petersen could use the bug, how would he know when? For sure if a player has any suspicion someone involved in their team is cheating, they have a moral obligation to address it. According to ESIC’s report, Kristensen attempted to convince other teammates that Petersen was cheating but they didn’t believe him. Perhaps when he left for a new team that was the perfect opportunity to contact ESIC. Despite his failure and subsequent ill-obtained “admissions”, the player has certainly been through a turbulent enough time with the emotional strain of the inquiry hovering over him. It was likely a significant factor in his team’s drop in performance, which contributed to them not qualifying for the Major. In summary, there’s nothing that has been presented to Dexerto that would be considered conclusively damning towards the players. Petersen’s testimony can be judged on its own merits and believability. His credibility is not just harmed by the fact he is a convicted cheater but also has publicly stated that lied during the first ESIC investigation. This standing is further damaged by the fact that, despite having ample opportunity to gather truly damning evidence, he was not able to, and that he engaged in one last desperate attempt to gather some implies that on some level he knows how utterly flawed his case is. Petersen’s legacy was always going to be a dark spot on both himself and the people who trusted him, but these attempts to impugn the reputations of his former players cast him further in shadow. Whatever the truth of what happened, it will not be Petersen that sheds light on it, and the players can rightly feel aggrieved about the conclusions many have jumped to. No evidence of a crime doesn’t mean no crime occurred, but you certainly cannot convict those accused, except in the perennially unfair court of public opinion.

Hunden & MIBR’s dead banned by ESL for exploiting CSGO coaching bug ESL/HLTVThree CSGO coaches have been suspended by ESL for a minimum of six months after they were found to be abusing an in-game camera bug that let them see into the enemy team’s spawn area and other areas of the map hidden from players. Those banned include Aleksandr ‘MechanoGun’ Bogatiryev of Hard Legion Esports, MiBR coach Ricardo ‘dead’ Sinigaglia and Nicolai ‘HUNDEN’ Petersen, whose team Heroic were recently crowned champions at ESL Cologne. The bans were announced on August 31, just one day after ESL One: Cologne 2020 wrapped up, and Heroic walking away with $150,000 in prize money. It was all due to a new bug discovered in CS:GO that allowed the coach of a team to become a spectator anywhere on the map, without anyone else knowing. “Recently, we were made aware that by taking a combination of different steps, a bug in CS:GO allows the coach of a team to become a spectator anywhere on the map, unbeknownst to anyone else,” ESL wrote in a statement. “The coach would then be able to stay in that position, getting a free camera/observer position on e.g. the opposing team’s spawn area (or other areas of the map that would be hidden to the team otherwise), and could advise their team to react based on that knowledge.” As a result, the three coaches named above were all found by ESL to be abusing this one particular bug to give their team an advantage, and the tournament organizer even gave specific examples of matches where it happened. Hard Legion, MechanoGun at ESL One Road to Rio on six maps in three matches – Heroic, HUNDEN at DreamHack Masters Spring in 10 rounds on one map – MIBR, dead at ESL One Road to Rio in one round on one map – The penalties facing all three orgs are pretty severe, with anywhere from six to 24-month bans from playing or coaching in a competition for the three coaches. Read More: Can NBK Work His CSGO Magic AGAIN in OG? – On top of that, their teams will also be retroactively disqualified from the tournaments that were flagged, be forced to forfeit any ESL Pro Tour points from those tournaments, and forfeit any prize money they received. dead will receive a six-month ban from playing or coaching in competition – HUNDEN will receive a 12-month ban from playing or coaching in competition – MechanoGun will receive a 24-month ban from playing or coaching in competition – The teams will retroactively be disqualified from the tournament in question – The teams will forfeit their ESL Pro Tour points from the tournament in question – The teams will forfeit their prize money from the tournament in question – UPDATE on September 2 at 12:46 PM MiBR coach, dead, has received a ban from Beyond the Summit that will span the next two events in the series. The tournament organizer concluded that the Brazilian coach “knowingly abused the coach spectator glitch to obtain an unfair competitive advantage in MIBR’s Lower Bracket Round 3 match vs Triumph at CS_Summit 6 Online on June 23.” MiBR is also retroactively disqualified from CS_Summit 6 Online. The team will forfeit prize money earned from CS Summit 6 as well as their placing. And this is why results from the online-era of 2020 will all have asterisks. This cheat was caught, many others likely will never be found. https://t.co/bBrD442X8y — MonteCristo (@MonteCristo) August 31, 2020 Some fans and commentators are already saying this could delegitimize all the results of the “online-only” 2020 era in CS:GO, since this could just be one of many possible cheats and exploits that haven’t yet been found. Following the news from ESL, both MiBR and Heroic were quick to put out statements regarding the scandal, but at the time of writing, we have yet to see anything from Hard Legion. Stick with Dexerto for more news and updates on this developing story.

HUNDEN makes shocking claim about Heroic spectator bug case DreamHackNicolai ‘HUNDEN’ Petersen, one of the 37 CS:GO coaches who were banned in September 2020 for using the spectator bug, has claimed that some of Heroic’s players were aware of his actions. HUNDEN has backtracked on his previous comments that he abused the bug without the knowledge of his teammates. In an interview with TV2.dk, he alleged that part of the team knew what he was doing. “Some of the players were aware of it,” he said. “I will not name any names as I think it is up to the players themselves.” HUNDEN was banned for eight months by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) for using the bug in two matches in May 2020, against Astralis in DreamHack Masters Spring and against Team Spirit in Home Sweet Home Cup 5. His initial 12-month suspension was reduced due to his assistance in the investigation. In a statement issued at the time, HUNDEN apologized for his actions and said that he had acted “on my own, without the knowledge of my teammates.” New evidence surfaces Asked by TV2.dk why he is telling a different story now, HUNDEN said: “I’ve fallen so far into a hole now that there’s nothing to keep away anymore.” CS:GO analyst Jacob ‘Pimp’ Winneche commented on the shocking claims by saying that he has seen material obtained by TV2.dk that seems to support HUNDEN’s new version of the events. “I’ve been presented the material the article is based on,” Pimp wrote on Twitter. “My judgment is that it’s highly probable he’s telling the truth.” Coach bug scandal 🚨 Hunden claims that the heroic players also was involved and aware of his cheating in the coach bug scandal. I’ve been presented the material the article is based on. My judgment is that it’s highly probable he’s telling the truth.https://t.co/8SaJGgqrl1 — Jacob “Pimp” Winneche (@PimpCS2) August 26, 2021 In a statement to TV2.dk, Heroic CEO Joachim Haraldsen denied the claims, saying that ESIC “thoroughly investigated” the case and that HUNDEN admitted to acting alone after being found “guilty of cheating.” “Now he changes his explanation after he was fired from the team in July and shortly before ESIC comes out with their decision in the pending case,” Haraldsen said. “I am convinced that ESIC and the rest of the world will see this for what it is: Nicolai Petersen failed his teammates by cheating, he failed them by sharing confidential and sensitive information with a major competitor, and he is now failing them a third time by trying to blame them for his actions. “That’s not very heroic.” ESIC set to make ruling ESIC will announce on Friday whether it is banning HUNDEN in a separate case that involves a potential breach of the esports watchdog’s integrity program. HUNDEN has been accused by Heroic of sharing sensitive information with a competitor before IEM Cologne. HUNDEN, who did not travel with the team to that event, denied “rumors” that leaked the team’s stratbook but admitted that he shared “anti-strat material of opponents” with other coaches, “in the context of sparring.” Heroic have opened legal proceedings against HUNDEN for what they deemed to be “a clear breach of his contract.” According to the organization, two courts have “independently found sufficient grounds for evidence collection, which has been carried out.” ESL, the company running IEM Cologne, and ESIC both issued statements saying that the competitive integrity of the tournament was not impacted by the leak, but the esports watchdog underlined that HUNDEN’s behavior potentially constituted a breach of its Integrity Program. TV2.dk reported on Wednesday that HUNDEN will be banned for two years. In an interview, the coach criticized ESIC for its handling of the investigation, saying that he was never heard in the case, and claimed that he was threatened with a five-year suspension if he appealed against the ban.

HUNDEN banned for two years by ESIC for breach of conduct João Ferreira/DreamHackThe Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has announced that it has slapped Counter-Strike coach Nicolai ‘HUNDEN’ Petersen with a two-year ban over a breach of its integrity program. The announcement follows an investigation launched in July by ESIC into claims that the Danish coach had leaked sensitive information to a competitor ahead of IEM Cologne without the knowledge of his then team, Heroic. In a statement on Friday, ESIC explained that “extensive investigative efforts” were undertaken, including examination of the Google Drive access records and contents, and interviews with the Heroic management and the opposing team. It also requested a forensic IT report from forensic expert firm Frend. In its findings, ESIC said that, at the time the material was shared, HUNDEN was negotiating a move to the opposing team, whose name was not released. A report by HLTV.org in July claimed that HUNDEN had emerged as a priority target for Astralis as the team’s head coach, Danny “zonic” Sørensen, was entering the final months of his contract with the organization. According to the “forensic evidence available to date” by ESIC, the material shared by HUNDEN was not accessed by the recipient. However, considering that he was employed by Heroic, was locked in talks with the opposing team about a potential career move, and that both teams would attend IEM Cologne, ESIC deemed that HUNDEN: “Created a threat to the integrity of an ESIC member event (irrespective of whether or not that threat materialized); – “Created a threat to the reputation of an ESIC member (irrespective of whether or not that threat materialized); and in doing so – “Threatened harm to the reputation and competitive integrity of esports, and ESIC’s member ESL.” – ESIC added that its observations are corroborated by HUNDEN’s admission in a July 28 Twitter post that he shared “anti-strat material of opponents”. This, according to the esports watchdog, made the charge against the Danish coach “a self-evident matter.” The ban will last until August 24 2023 and will be served across ESIC’s members, including ESL, DreamHack, WePlay, BLAST, LVP, Nodwin, Eden, Relog, UCC, Allied, Kronoverse, Estars and 247 Leagues. Claims rejected The length of the ban had been revealed on Wednesday by Danish media outlet TV2.dk, which also conducted an interview with HUNDEN. In it, the coach questioned the way the investigation was handled, saying that ESIC had decided against hearing him, and claimed that he was threatened with a five-year ban if he appealed against the ruling. But according to ESIC, HUNDEN has been invited to respond to the charge on multiple occasions since August 19. “To date, Mr. Petersen has failed to provide ESIC with any reply of substance relevant to the charge made against him,” ESIC added. The esports watchdog also said that HUNDEN’s claim about being threatened with a harsher sanction in case of an appeal is “false”. It explained that the two-year ban was offered as “a plea bargain in good faith” and that HUNDEN could either accept the decision “or appeal it at risk of costs and a more onerous sanction at the discretion of the Independent Appeal Panel.” “Mr. Petersen’s statements in this regard were not only a disingenuous misrepresentation of a plea bargain offered to Mr. Petersen in good faith by ESIC, but a misleading allegation that flies in the face of ESIC’s work in esports,” ESIC noted. “It is apparent to ESIC that, as a matter of observation, Mr. Petersen has attempted to employ tactics to evade the scrutiny that should rightly be placed on his conduct with respect to the subject matter of this release and divert attention to fabricated procedural issues which have no direct relevance to or bearing on the outcome reached by ESIC.” A new ban This is not the first time that HUNDEN has landed in hot water with ESIC. In September 2020, he was among the 37 CS:GO coaches who were banned for using the spectator bug for competitive advantage. HUNDEN was initially suspended for a year, but his ban was reduced by four months following a review of the case because of the assistance he provided in the investigation. During his ban, he remained on Heroic’s books in an analyst position, returning to his coaching role in April after serving his suspension. HUNDEN announced in late July that he was leaving Heroic at the end of his contract, citing his wish to “begin a new chapter” in his career after over a year with the team. He also denied “rumors” that he had shared the team’s strategy book, claiming that the only information that he had discussed was “anti-strat material of opponents.” But just 24 hours later, Heroic issued a statement accusing HUNDEN of blocking team members’ access to a strategy folder and of revealing confidential and sensitive information with a major competitor prior to IEM Cologne. The Danish organization added that this constituted “a clear breach” of HUNDEN’s contract, and revealed that it had opened legal proceedings against the coach. ESIC and IEM Cologne organizers ESL both stated that the competitive integrity of the tournament had not been impacted by the leak, but the esports watchdog underlined that HUNDEN’s behavior potentially constituted a breach of its integrity program. HUNDEN has not yet announced whether he plans to appeal against the decision. But the Danish coach seems to have concluded that his career in the game is over, telling TV2.dk: “Right now there is nothing called Counter-Strike for me after this”. It would appear that HUNDEN has come to terms with the fact that it’s over for him in CS. “”Right now there is nothing called Counter-Strike for me after this”” That would at least explain why he’s willing to burn down everything around him. https://t.co/m6FR6R8GMe — Milan Švejda (@StrikerHLTVorg) August 26, 2021 This is perhaps the reason why, in the second part of the interview, which was released on Thursday evening, HUNDEN alleged that “some of the players” on Heroic knew that he was using the bug despite previously claiming that he had acted “on my own, without the knowledge of my teammates.” CS:GO analyst Jacob ‘Pimp’ Winneche said on Twitter that he has seen evidence supporting HUNDEN’s new story. “It’s highly probable he’s telling the truth,” he wrote. ESIC is yet to comment on these allegations, which could bring new charges in connection with the spectator bug case, which is still being investigated by the esports watchdog.

HP OMEN CSGO Challenge hub – Stream and schedule ft NiKo, s1mple, more The HP Omen Challenge will see some of the best CS:GO players in the world face off in a 1v1 tournament on September 20. The tournament is taking place in London, and will offer both a unique competition and broadcast experience as eight players compete for a share of the $50,000 prize pool. Here’s everything you need to know about the OMEN Challenge. The OMEN Battle Arena One of the distinguishing elements of the OMEN Challenge will be its use of a unique, custom-built map made with the help of some of CS:GO’s top map creators, TopHattwaffle and TheWhaleman. The map is designed to mirror the look and feel of the tournament venue, which in turn will allow for a unique broadcast that will “allow us to blur the lines between gameplay and reality through an immersive set design [and] an augmented reality livestream.” OMEN Challenge stream and schedule The tournament is due to kick off at 2:30 PM BST / 6:30 AM PDT / 9:30 AM EDT, and will be broadcast on the OMEN Twitch channel below. The tournament will be commentated by Anders Blume and Jason ‘Moses’ O’Toole. Watch live video from OMENbyHPEurope on www.twitch.tvThe players The tournament will feature eight players, of which five will be top pros from some of the world’s best teams. They will also compete against two amateur players who were hand-picked by Astralis coach Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen and given a bootcamp with coaching by the Astralis team at their headquarters. The amateurs will be backed by a “hype team” featuring Jaroslaw ‘pashaBiceps’ Jarząbkowski and Julia ‘Juliano’ Kiran. Finally, the tournament will be rounded out by a mystery “Wildcard” player, who will be revealed at the event itself Pro players: Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev – Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač – Denis ‘electronic’ Sharipov – Håvard ‘rain’ Nygaard – Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz – Amateur players: N1k – Hayden – Wildcard player: TBC – OMEN Challenge format The tournament will kick off with a four-player Deathmatch round in which the eight players will take turns facing each other in every combination. The results of these Deathmatch games will be used to determine seeding, after which the competition will move into more traditional tournament play. Dexerto Interviews “I am going to try and knife everyone”@dev1ce tells @getfrank how he plans to dispose of his CSGO rivals at the #OMENChallenge w/@OMENbyHP pic.twitter.com/HF9MDrWq2f — DEXERTO.COM (@Dexerto) September 20, 2019 :fr: @NBK reveals to @getfrank why he’s leaving the French CSGO scene to play for an international team.#OMENChallenge w/@OMENbyHP pic.twitter.com/ZRPdoPZgeR — DEXERTO.COM (@Dexerto) September 20, 2019 “I don’t want his advice, I’ll play worse” :joyful:@FaZeNiko tells @getfrank that he doesn’t want @Ynk’s help with 1 v 1 practice at the #OMENChallenge w/@OMENbyHP pic.twitter.com/948LAdnUDi — DEXERTO.COM (@Dexerto) September 20, 2019 :dart: @FaZe_rainCS ranks his opponents aim skills at the #OMENChallenge :dart: Visit our hub: https://t.co/sNEJ3Rf9dl w/@OMENbyHP pic.twitter.com/mmBLnAPjEv — DEXERTO.COM (@Dexerto) September 20, 2019 :right_bicep: @paszaBiceps reveals to @getfrank the expert advice he gave to the amateur players facing the pro CSGO players at the #OMENChallenge w/@OMENbyHP pic.twitter.com/gPRW1DuwKb — DEXERTO.COM (@Dexerto) September 20, 2019 :speaking_head_in_silhouette: @juliakiran tells @getfrank what she taught her amateur player ahead of the #OMENChallenge, and how she personally copes under the stress of playing professionally. w/@OMENbyHP pic.twitter.com/85QnCB6W4K — DEXERTO.COM (@Dexerto) September 20, 2019 :speaking_head_in_silhouette: @OnFireMoses explains exactly what ‘mixed reality’ is to @getfrank and how it is being used at the #OMENChallenge Visit our coverage hub: https://t.co/sNEJ3Rf9dl w/@OMENbyHP pic.twitter.com/iHl4uW0KrG — DEXERTO.COM (@Dexerto) September 20, 2019 :speaking_head_in_silhouette: @MojoOnPC tells @getfrank how he did a personal 1 v 1 against @paszaBiceps, and predicts how well he’d have done against the pros at the #OMENChallenge w/@OMENbyHP pic.twitter.com/tAwQHjgiCB — DEXERTO.COM (@Dexerto) September 20, 2019

How vsm persevered through a ban and finally reached a CSGO Major FluxoFor several years, Vinicius ‘vsm’ Moreira was unable to play at CSGO Majors because of an old VAC ban. At the BLAST Paris Major, his dream finally comes true. Of the 25 Major rookies competing at the BLAST Paris Major, no one is enjoying this moment as much as vsm. For many years, it seemed as if this would never happen. In November 2018, the Brazilian player was indefinitely banned by Valve after an ESL investigation confirmed that an old Steam account with a VAC ban in CS:GO from 2013 (when he was just 13 years old) belonged to him. Back then, it was almost a career death sentence. Players with a VAC ban attached to their names were barred from Majors, with no formal appeal process. Elias ‘Jamppi’ Olkkonen, a highly touted player from Finland, ended up moving to Valorant because of his VAC ban, which cost him a contract with OG and consigned him to a peripheral role on ENCE’s team. vsm was one of the hottest prospects in Brazil at the time. Yet because of the ban, many doors were suddenly closed to him. The devastating blow, he notes, curtailed his progress. “There was a decline as a player,” he tells Dexerto. “I was depressed, and I couldn’t play like I used to, with a lot of confidence. That really brought me down, and I couldn’t play at that level. There are still some remnants from that [in my game].” vsm could have easily soured on CS:GO after his career hit such a major roadblock, but he kept on playing, trying to make the most of the opportunities to compete abroad that came his way. 2019 was his breakout year as he averaged an impressive 1.19 HLTV rating and 1.26 Impact on LAN, attending both ESL Pro League Americas seasons and the ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals. He also picked up his first international trophy by winning the OMEN Atlantic Challenge in Lisbon. And then, out of the blue, Valve relaxed the Major circuit’s VAC ban rules in 2021. The developer set a five-year cap on the ineligibility of players with VAC-banned accounts, giving vsm, Jamppi, and others the chance to finally attend Majors, which are regarded as the absolute pinnacle of the game. “#vsmisfree,” he quickly tweeted. For many years, the Brazilian CS:GO community had used the hashtag ‘#freevsm’ to rally support for the player and push Valve to look into his case. vsm’s first three qualification attempts ended in failure. To make matters worse, his team could not even reach the RMR leading to the IEM Rio Major, the biggest event in the history of Brazilian Counter-Strike and the one Fluxo had in their sights when they entered CS:GO in August 2022. But his patience was finally rewarded last month when the team finished fifth in the Americas RMR to punch their ticket to the BLAST Paris Major. As the qualification series against Paquetá came to a close, vsm struggled to hold back the tears. “I am so happy because this is something I always wanted in my life, and I have finally done it!” he says of qualifying for the Major. “This is an important moment because this is the last CS:GO Major. “I am really happy to have my sticker because it means my name will be in the game that I love. CS is really important to me.” Major preparations The qualification for the BLAST Paris Major is a landmark moment for Fluxo, a Brazilian organization that has amassed a legion of followers since its founding in January 2021. Initially, Fluxo competed only in Free Fire, the game in which co-founder and CEO Bruno ‘Nobru’ Goes made his name, but over the last 12 months, the organization has expanded into other titles. In August 2022, Fluxo spent nearly half a million dollars on player transfers when assembling its CS:GO team. Before the end of the year, it entered CBLOL, Brazil’s franchise League of Legends competition, by acquiring Rensga eSports’ slot for an undisclosed fee. “Ever since this project was accepted by Fluxo, we agreed with the organization that we had to reach the Major,” vsm says. “Getting Fluxo’s brand on the international scene is very important for the growth of the organization.” The team spent two weeks bootcamping in Germany, practicing over nine hours a day, with no off days, according to vsm. During this time, they worked on getting everyone in top shape for the Major and cutting out the mistakes that proved costly in the two domestic tournaments that came after the RMR. Because of those disappointing showings, Fluxo is regarded as massive underdogs for the Major, with many pro players, analysts, and community members predicting them to go 0-3 in the Challengers Stage. vsm says that the team’s main goal was to qualify for the Major; now, the players are focused on giving a good account of themselves. But even if Fluxo’s Major campaign comes to an early end, vsm will still have reasons to smile. For someone who spent so many years chasing this goal, just making it to the Major in Paris feels like a win. “I never thought about quitting because I learned that, in order to win in life, you need to lose,” he says. “That was always on my mind, and I just kept going.”

How Vitality stint lit a fire in CSGO veteran JACKZ: “If I have my roles I can get the job done” João Ferreira/DexertoCS:GO journeyman Audric ‘JACKZ’ Jug spoke to Dexerto about regaining his confidence after playing for Vitality, the issues with HEET and what he is looking for in his next challenge. “I still know how to click on the server,” JACKZ tells Dexerto. For JACKZ, playing for Vitality in ESL Pro League was the opportunity to prove just that. Not only to himself but to everyone. Four and a half years ago, his career finally took off when he was signed by G2 Esports. He was 26 at the time. By that point, most players have reached the autumn of their careers; he, on the other hand, was just getting started. JACKZ had a good first two years at G2 but his impact started to fade when he was pushed to a peripheral role on the server a few months into Nemanja ‘nexa’ Isaković’s stint as captain. In the summer of 2022, after a run of mixed results, JACKZ was given permission to explore his options and eventually signed with HEET. On paper, it seemed like a perfect destination for JACKZ, who was reuniting with his old teammates from DBL PONEY, the team he had represented as a stand-in two years earlier during a brief period on G2’s bench. But he struggled to perform with the team and brought the relationship with HEET to an early end five months after his arrival, amid reports that the organization owes him a fee in the region of $75,000 related to his buyout from G2. With his stock at an all-time low, JACKZ seized his big chance with both hands. “I saw some people on the internet say, ‘Oh, it’s the stand-in buff. He won’t have pressure. It will be easy for him to kill,’” JACKZ says. “I don’t agree with that. “With HEET, I was not good enough, you know? I was not good at all. I thought that if I couldn’t perform with Vitality at this event around good players, people would just say that I was washed up and finished. I played to be confident in myself and to perform.” JACKZ played some of his best Counter-Strike in years while filling in for Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen in Malta, averaging a 1.26 HLTV rating and 1.35 Impact as Vitality topped their group after defeating Grayhound, OG and FaZe Clan (who would go on to win the tournament and the Intel Grand Slam). Vitality captain Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire switched to a faster style that suited JACKZ perfectly and gave him the kind of freedom that he had been craving for years. By his own admission, he simply played to kill. “apEX put me in good roles,” he explains. “I was taking space, being active on the T side, calling for flashes, doing the peeks that I wanted to do. This is what I didn’t have at G2 towards the end and what I didn’t have at HEET. I was on the extremities. I was B on Dust2, I was B monster on Overpass, I was B on Ancient. “All these things are not Jackie. You don’t put Donnarumma, the goalkeeper, in attack. But that’s what happened to me.” Skipping dessert Despite some standout performances, JACKZ would not get to see action in the playoffs. Back from parental leave, dupreeh reclaimed his starting spot ahead of the quarter-final match with ENCE, which Vitality lost 2-1. JACKZ admits to feeling a sense of sadness after missing out on the playoffs, and likens the situation to being denied a dessert after going out for a meal. After such a promising start, he saw it as the perfect opportunity to finally get a tier-one trophy under his belt and break his streak of grand final losses. (G2 were on the losing end of title deciders at IEM Katowice 2020, IEM Cologne 2021, PGL Major Stockholm 2021 and IEM Katowice 2022.) But at the same time, he understood the team’s reasoning. Getting the team back in sync before the European Regional Major Ranking, the decisive qualifier for the BLAST.tv Paris Major, had to take precedence over the mere possibility of winning Pro League. “The most important for them is the Major and they needed to have some play [time] with dupreeh,” he says. “But yeah, I was a bit sad.” JACKZ spent only a few days with team, hardly enough time to get a full sense of their lingering issues. But he insists that the atmosphere in the team was really good and that everyone is eager to “move on and learn from their mistakes”. It is hard to overstate how important the BLAST Paris Major is for Vitality. More than a year after the team turned international with the high-profile additions of Major-winning trio Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif, Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen and head coach Danny ’zonic’ Sørensen, they have only one trophy to show for their efforts. Since Vitality entered CS:GO in late 2018, they have reached the knockout stages in only two out of five Major appearances. They couldn’t go beyond the first round of the playoffs in either tournament. With the next Major taking place in Vitality’s backyard, a lot of pressure will be on the team to deliver. “When I left the team, I told them, ‘Please tell me you’re going to play [at the Major] with your heart. It’s so f***ing special for us. You cannot fail. I don’t want to put pressure on you, but you cannot fail,’” JACKZ says. “The team was created almost from scratch to perform at the Paris Major.” Despite Vitality carrying a huge burden of responsibility, JACKZ expects the team to do well in Paris, pointing to FURIA’s deep run at the IEM Rio Major as proof that the support of the home crowd can provide a significant boost. For JACKZ, Vitality have to get over a mental hurdle to become an elite side and contend for titles regularly. He saw the same thing happen while he was with G2, who are currently the No.1 team in the world and recently won the BLAST Premier World Final and IEM Katowice. According to him, the line that separates success and failure can be very thin. “We choked,” he says, laughing. “It was maybe a meme. But at the end of the day, it really was a mental issue, and they needed to change something. HooXi has done a really good job, and jks is solid as f*** right now, but it’s more like sometimes you need to open a different door to perform like that. I’m really, really happy for them.” JACKZ says that he has agreed to be Vitality’s substitute player for the Paris Major if the team qualifies for the tournament. But barring a last-minute setback, he won’t get to play, missing the first-ever Major in his home country and the final Valve-sponsored event in CS:GO. “I feel so sad,” he says. “I wanted to be in this one really badly. It’s a dream for us to have a Major in France and to prove to people that the French scene is not really dead.” What lies ahead for JACKZ As he prepares for the next chapter of his career, JACKZ is working hard to stay in shape. He is also brushing up on his English, admitting that his poor grasp of the language was a limiting factor while at G2 (something that the even organization poked fun at). A couple of teams have sounded him out since Pro League (including one top 12 side, he says), but he won’t make a decision before the end of the Major cycle. He is taking his time and making sure that he chooses the right project, where he can play to his potential. “HEET was a mistake from me,” he says. “I love all the guys. When I came into the team, I was like, ‘Okay, guys, I don’t want to disturb your system. I’m a good guy. I’m going to adapt. No worries.’ “This was a big mistake on my part. I need to have more confidence in myself. I’m a tier-one player and if I want to perform, I need to have my roles. I cannot be put on the side, just waiting or doing some sh*t I don’t like. “For me, the most important is to not be too kind to people. I’m going to be nice but I just want to have my roles. And I know that if I have my roles I can get the job done.” With regards to his reported money dispute with HEET, JACKZ says only that his agent is handling the matter. JACKZ, who turns 31 in July, knows that some in the scene might use his age against him but he hopes that his Pro League performances were enough to prove his doubters wrong. At the same time, he continues to exhibit the kind of passion that one typically associates with a young player — the result of being a late bloomer and having a “unique” career. “I still have this fire in my hand,” he notes. After so many heartbreaks, he has his sights on finally lifting a trophy. “Yeah, if I can get that, it would be good,” he says. “You never know what the future holds, but yeah, one trophy at least. I think that, after all the finals I have played, I deserve one trophy.”

How VAC-banned CSGO star Jamppi was forced into Valorant ENCEOn January 26, 2021, Finnish CSGO prodigy Elias ‘Jamppi’ Olkkonen finally announced his rumored switch over to Riot Games’ Valorant after a short, turbulent career in Valve’s hit FPS title. At just 19, Jamppi has had a career dissimilar to most of his peers. At the age of 14, Jamppi says he lent his CSGO account to a friend to play on, and received a VAC ban for cheats used on the account. To this day, the ban stands, with Valve’s strict policies preventing him from playing in Valve-sponsored Majors, and an ongoing lawsuit between the two making matters even harder for the Finn. Despite having a particularly promising future as a player, Jamppi never got to live out his expected career trajectory. Here’s how it all went wrong. Finland’s CSGO prodigy Coming up just playing with friends in Finland, Jamppi shifted his career plans away from the ice hockey rink and into the server. Before he became the worldwide phenomenon he is recognized as now, Jamppi made an incredible mark on the Finnish scene. Playing in a local LAN against the likes of HAVU’s Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen and Otto ‘ottoNd’ Sihvo, Jamppi fought through a broken wrist, cranked his sensitivity up and put on a stellar performance. It became immediately clear that if a broken wrist couldn’t stop him, not much could. Watch Now: Jamppi’s Tragedy: How a VAC Banned CSGO Pro Was Forced to Play Valorant ENCE or bust Jamppi joined ENCE in April 2020, offering him the opportunity despite ongoing troubles with his VAC ban. The team was made up entirely of players from his native Finland in Aleksi ‘allu’ Jalli, Jere ’sergej’ Salo, Jani ’Aerial’ Jussila, Sami ‘xseveN’ Laasanen and Miikka “’suNny’ Kemppi. For many, including perhaps himself, this was to be Jamppi’s big break… His chance to prove himself and hopefully, a time for Valve to reconsider their stance on his ban. Instead, Jamppi found himself left in the dark as to what his future holds — and he’s taken it upon himself to change that. From CSGO to Valorant Like many top pros in other esports, Valorant offered a new path to success for Jamppi. We’ve seen top Overwatch stars such as Jay ‘sinatraa’ Won make the switch, while fellow CS:GO pros like Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo and Matthew ‘Wardell’ Yu are considered among the game’s best. Rumors had been circulating regarding Jamppi’s future, with talk of a Valorant switch on the cards, and that was made official on January 26. After dedicating his entire teenage life to making it in Counter-Strike, the Finnish prodigy will be aiming to make waves in Future Earth, swapping the AK for the Vandal. The move is one that doesn’t really come as a shock, but could be a source of sorrow for the CS:GO scene, as it loses one of its most promising talents to a game frequently branded as the CS:GO killer.

How to Watch the FACEIT London CS:GO Major – Stream, Format, Matches and More It’s been 7 months since the ELEAGUE Boston Major, but finally CSGO fans have a major tournament to look forward to, as the FACEIT London Major kicks off in just a few days. When is it? Starting on Wednesday, September 5, 24 of the best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams in the world will descend on England’s capital city to compete for their share of the $1 million prize pool. The New Challengers Stage runs until September 9, with the New Legends Stage running September 12 -16. The Champions Stage will begin on September 20, with the grand final taking place on September 23. Where is it? The FACEIT Major is taking place in London, England. The New Challengers and New Legends Stages will take place at Twickenham Stadium, where the qualifying Minors took place over the summer. While the first two stages of the tournament are not open to the public, the Champions Stage is open to the public, and takes place at the SSE Arena at Wembley. How can I watch? The event will be streamed on FACEIT’s Twitch and YouTube channels. The event can also be viewed through the GOTV player built into Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Viewers who watch on GOTV, along with those who watch on Twitch with a linked CSGO account, have a chance of receiving a collectible Souvenir Package. Watch live video from FACEIT TV on www.twitch.tvCan I buy tickets? Single day tickets for Thursday September 20, and Friday September 21 of the Champions Stage are still available, but the Saturday and Sunday are now sold out. There are also no Premium or VIP tickets left. You can buy tickets for the Thursday and Friday here. What is the format for the Major? The Major is divided into three stages, The New Challengers Stage features 16 teams, made up of the 8 Minor winners from 4 different regions, along with teams who place in Top 16 at the Boston Major back in January. 8 teams will progress from this stage into the New Legends stage, where they will be joined by the Top 8 teams from the Boston Major. Both the New Challengers and New Legends Stage will use a 16 team Swiss format, with the first four rounds being best-of-one matches, and the fifth round being a best-of-three. Teams will be ranked using the Buchholz system in an attempt to avoid random matches. From that stage, 8 teams will progress to the single-elimination Champions Stage, where all matches will be best-of-three contests. Who is competing at the FACEIT London Major? The major is made up of 24 of the best CSGO teams from around the world. Included are favourites Astralis, Ninjas in Pyjamas, OpTic Gaming and more. The full list of teams can be found below. Quarter Final Matchups Round 4 Matchups Round 3 Matchups What are the Round 1 Matchups? Round 1 matches begin on Wednesday, September 5, with coverage starting at 10am BST (2am PDT, 5am EDT, 7pm AEST). The full first round matches can be viewed below.

Astralis & Chaos EC win DreamHack Masters Winter 2020: Final results DreamHackThe DreamHack Masters Winter 2020 has come to a close and here’s all you need to know to catch up on the action, including the CS:GO streams below, results across all four regions, and how the $250,000 prize pool was split up. Spread across four regions, DreamHack hosted some of the best teams in the world with stacked brackets across its CS:GO events. With the qualifiers out of the way, all participants were locked in and moved through to bracket-play to then determine the playoffs. Here’s an overview of how it all played out. DreamHack CS:GO Streams All of the games were broadcasted on DreamHack’s Twitch channels, with a few events taking place at the same time. We’ve embedded all of the relevant streams below for your convenience. DreamHack Masters format and schedule Due to the disparity in participants across the four events, there were slight differences in how they all played out. However, all DreamHack events still featured typical bracket play with teams competing in a Best-of-Three matchups to advance. The DreamHack Masters Winter 2020 started on Monday, November 30 and ran through to the Grand Finals across the four respective regions on Sunday, December 6. Schedule & Results Europe November 30 December 1 December 2 December 3 December 4 December 5 December 6 North America November 30 December 1 December 2 December 3 December 4 December 5 December 6 Oceania November 30 December 1 December 2 December 3 December 4 December 5 Asia December 1 December 2 December 3 December 4 December 5 December 6 DreamHack Winter 2020 Final Placements and Winnings Europe North America Oceania Asia

StarLadder StarSeries Season 8 CSGO: Streams, schedule, results Some of the world’s best CS:GO teams are set to clash once again at StarLadder’s StarSeries i-League Season 8. Offering a $500,000 prize pool, StarSeries Season 8 will see sixteen teams fight through one of the most rigorous formats on the circuit to claim the lion’s share. While the top two ranked teams in the world – Astralis and Team Liquid – are absent, StarSeries will give an opportunity for several other top teams to establish themselves as the top contender with that pair. Both ESL One New York champions Evil Geniuses and DreamHack Masters Malmo champions Fnatic are in attendance, while the likes of Na’Vi, Vitality, Ninjas in Pyjamas and MIBR all get to show off their new rosters once again. Format The sixteen teams competing at StarLadder StarSeries Season 8 have been divided into two groups, each of which will feature a double elimination bracket. The top four teams from each bracket will advance to the playoffs. The playoffs themselves feature another double elimination bracket, with the top four teams from the group stage starting in the upper bracket, and the next four teams starting in the lower bracket. All matches throughout the tournament will be best-of-threes. Final Standings Streams Main stream Watch live video from starladder_cs_en on www.twitch.tvSecondary stream Watch live video from starLadder_cs_en2 on www.twitch.tv Schedule Playoffs Friday, October 25 Saturday, October 26 Sunday, October 27 Group Stage Monday, October 21 Tuesday, October 22 Wednesday, October 23 Thursday, October 24 StarSeries Season 8 Groups Group A Group B Last updated: 2:26 PM EST on October 27.

CS:GO: How to watch StarLadder Berlin Europe and Americas Minors Counter-Strike teams hoping to qualify for the StarLadder Berlin Major will have their chance when the American and European Minors kick off July 17 and here’s how to catch all the action. The best teams in CS:GO are gearing up for the Starladder 2019 Berlin Major. But before crowds hoard the Mercedes-Benz Arena on September 5, up-and-coming-teams hoping to make a name for themselves will fight for their right to play in the year’s second Major. While there’s plenty to talk about in the lead up to the tournament, specifically with talent lineup and surprise rankings going into the event, will be on the 16 teams vying for a spot at StarLadder. How to watch the Minors It seems like the Minors will be played on stream only, with no fans attending the preliminary stage for the Berlin Major at the StarLadder studio. But CS:GO fans looking to follow a potential Minors-to-Championship road with their favorite team can catch all of the action on the tournament organizer’s Twitch channels embedded below for your convenience. Watch live video from Starladder_CS_en on www.twitch.tvThe Minors will also be streamed in Russian which you can find here as well as here. The first matches of the Americas qualifier will be NRG versus Team One while FURIA and INTZ simultaneously play on July 17 10:00 CEST / 1:00 a.m. PST / 4:00 a.m. EST. Then the European Minors start with Mousesports against NoChance at the same time as North try to fend off BIG at 16:00 CEST / 7:00 a.m. PST / 10:00 a.m. EST. The StarLadder Berlin Minor setup The regional minors will consist of two tournaments each with eight participants looking to advance in the GSL-formatted group stage which will play out with best-of-one opening matches. After which, contestants will be placed in corresponding best-of-three Winner’s and Loser’s Matches based on the results of the previous BO1’s. From here on, it’s all about who can perform at a high level in BO3 series to claim the lion’s share of $50,000, with the real prize going to the top two teams in both regional qualifiers getting a ticket to the Major. It should be noted, however, that the third place team in each Minor will advance to the Third Place play-ins for the Major on July 29. The Americas and European Minors will each promote only two teams to the next stage of the StarLadder Berlin Major as there won’t be a Grand Final in this stage. Instead the first place team (top placement of Winner’s side) just gets the majority of the prize pool and a ticket to Berlin, while second place is the team out of the Loser’s side who also get to go to the Major. While the Major will be filled with elite teams vying for number one, the Minors hold tons of matches filled with players looking to prove themselves and make it to the world stage. StarLadder Berlin Europe and Americas Minors Results Group Results Americas Minor Group A Americas Minor Group B Europe Minor Group A Europe Minor Group B Wednesday July 17 – Group Play Americas Minor Group A Americas Minor Group B Europe Minor Group A Europe Minor Group B Thursday July 18 – Group Play Day 2 Americas Minor Group A Americas Minor Group B Europe Minor Group A Europe Minor Group B Friday July 19 – Playoffs Day 1 Americas Minor Playoffs Europe Minor Playoffs Saturday July 20 – Playoffs Day 2 Americas Minor Playoffs Europe Minor Playoffs Sunday July 21 – Playoffs Day 3 * = teams who qualify for the major This post was last updated on Sunday July 21, 2019 at 2:45 pm EST.

How to watch NAVI vs Vitality CSGO showmatch: Stream, time, teams GG.BETEsports betting company GG.BET is hosting a CS:GO showmatch on July 8 between NAVI and Vitality. Here is how you can watch it. Dubbed the ‘Match of LeGGends’, the event will see NAVI and Vitality face off with their new rosters in an exciting three-map showmatch that will take place in Berlin. This will be the first opportunity to see the two teams in action after the recent rosters changes. Vitality picked up Shahar ‘flameZ’ Shushan, one of CS:GO’s most sought-after players, while NAVI turned their team into an international roster and picked up Aleksi ’Aleksib’ Virolainen, Mihai ‘iM’ Ivan and Justinas ‘jL’ Lekavicius. The match, organized by GGBET (which sponsors both organizations), will have some special rules in place. The first map will be a classic game between the rosters at full strength, but then the teams will exchange players, adding a twist to the showmatch. For the second map, longtime rivals Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev and Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut will be swapping teams. But on the third map, the two stars will be playing side by side after the community drafted the two teams. Match of LeGGends: Stream, date and time The showmatch will take place on July 8 at 6 pm CET (10 am CET) and will be broadcast in multiple languages. James Banks will be the show’s host, while Mathieu ‘Maniac’ Quiquerez and Lucy ‘LucyLuce’ Eastwood will provide commentary on the action. Here’s how you can watch the showmatch: Twitch.tv/Vitality (English) – Twitch.tv/NAVITV (English) – Twitch.tv/gaules (Portuguese) – Twitch.tv/csgomaincast (Ukrainian) – According to GG.BET, there will be a series of giveaways and prize draws during the showmatch. Match of LeGGends: Teams and results New Rosters – Inferno NAVI 16:08 Vitality – NAVI: s1mple, b1t, Aleksib, iM, jL – Vitality: Magisk, Spinx, flameZ, ZywOo, apEX – AWP Swap – Anubis NAVI 08:16 Vitality – NAVI: b1t, Aleksib, iM, jL, ZywOo – Vitality: Magisk, Spinx, flameZ, apEX, s1mple – Dream Teams – Overpass NAVITY [14:16] VITAVI – NAVITY: Aleksib, iM, jL, Magisk, Spinx – VITAVI: flameZ, ZywOo, apEX, s1mple, b1t –

How to watch IEM Katowice: Streams, schedule, results, more ESLMany of the world’s best CS:GO teams are set to clash at the IEM World Championship in Katowice from February 24 to March 1, and here’s everything you need to know to catch all the action. IEM Katowice acts as the World Championship event of the IEM series, offering a $500,000 prize pool which is double that of other IEM events. Sixteen teams will compete for the lion’s share of that prize, with a double-elimination group stage running from February 24 to February 27, before the top six teams compete in a single-elimination playoff from February 28 to March 1. Jump to Section: IEM Katowice is also one of the premier events in the Intel Grand Slam that teams must win if they wish to collect the $1,000,000 bonus prize with only four event wins. If a team’s run of victories does not include IEM Katowice, ESL One Cologne, or an ESL or DreamHack-run Major, they must instead win six of the other qualifying events within the window in order to claim the grand slam. As it stands, five teams have one victory each in the grand slam – Team Liquid, Evil Geniuses, Fnatic, Astralis, and Mousesports. All five teams will be in attendance at IEM Katowice. Here’s everything you need to know about the event. Stream Throughout the group stage, there will be two matches streamed simultaneously, before the broadcast moves entirely to the A stream for the playoffs. A Stream Schedule & Results Group Stage Monday, February 24 Tuesday, February 25 Wednesday, February 26 Thursday, February 27 Playoffs Friday, February 28 Saturday, February 29 Sunday, March 1 Coverage Check out all our interviews with players, coaches and staff at IEM Katowice 2020. The man who discovered @s1mpleO, @Navi_B1ad3 talks to @BanKsEsports about finally being able to lead @natusvincere to their #IEM Katowice Championship Presented by @csmoneytrade pic.twitter.com/fROnVvT5Td — Dexerto (@Dexerto) March 1, 2020 ‘We can 100% be the BEST team in the world”@s1mpleO tells @BanKsEsports that @natusvincere’s best CSGO era is just starting after a historic win at #IEM Katowice Presented by @csmoneytrade pic.twitter.com/OI9w0wLzB1 — Dexerto (@Dexerto) March 1, 2020 ‘Individual skill is NaVi’s advantage in final’ After a dominant win over Astralis, @s1mpleO tells @BanKsEsports how @natusvincere will tackle G2. w/@CSMoneyTrade | #IEMKatowice pic.twitter.com/GyLeWnwpeW — Dexerto (@Dexerto) February 29, 2020 “Even without the crowd, there was a lot of pressure”@G2nexa explains to @BanKsEsports how @G2esports put their nerves at bay to beat FNATIC and reach the #IEMKatowice final 🔥 w/@CSMoneyTrade pic.twitter.com/8WXiBq9eX8 — Dexerto (@Dexerto) February 29, 2020 It just wasn’t their day!@fnatic’s @goldenmajk talks to @BanKsEsports about what went wrong against G2 esportsw/@CSMoneyTrade | #IEMKatowice pic.twitter.com/eeMb8S9OMg — Dexerto (@Dexerto) February 29, 2020 “We won’t lose confidence” @100Tjks tells @BanKsEsports how @100Thieves will learn from their mistakes after elimination #IEMKatowice. Presented by @csmoneytrade pic.twitter.com/eM895aIyvO — Dexerto (@Dexerto) February 29, 2020 What went wrong for Renegades at #IEMKatowice?@malta_CS shares his thoughts with @BanKsEsports Presented by @csmoneytrade pic.twitter.com/Ul1jTigsCq — Dexerto (@Dexerto) February 29, 2020 ‘NaVi felt PRESSURE vs Team Liquid’ @natusvincere’s @flamieCS also told @BanksEsports why they rage less. w/@CSMoneyTrade | #IEMKatowice pic.twitter.com/NXCNb8R40q — Dexerto (@Dexerto) February 29, 2020 “Being a coach is being able to innovate people” @G2maLeK_ explains to @BanKsEsports how he helped @G2kennyS overcome depression Presented by @csmoneytrade pic.twitter.com/nQoTYeQsXF — Dexerto (@Dexerto) February 28, 2020 “EG was our Kryptonite”@Azr tells @BanKsEsports how beating longtime rivals was vital for @100Thieves‘ confidence. w/@CSMoneyTrade | #IEMKatowice pic.twitter.com/jSPZxQqTPv — DEXERTO.COM #IEM Katowice (@Dexerto) February 28, 2020 “This is the BEST Na’Vi has ever been” ?CS:GO GOAT @s1mpleO recounts to @BanKsEsports how @natusvincere rallied to defeat FaZe Clan at #IEM Katowice Presented by @csmoneytrade pic.twitter.com/8rMLsVWYvu — DEXERTO.COM #IEM Katowice (@Dexerto) February 27, 2020 After a dominant win at #IEM Katowice, @G2kennyS revealed to @BanKsEsports how CS:GO and @G2esports helped him overcome depression Presented by @csmoneytrade pic.twitter.com/wbbDBopLIz — DEXERTO.COM #IEM Katowice (@Dexerto) February 27, 2020 “My job is to get the kills”@G2huNter explains to @BanKsEsports how his team regained to eliminate Team Liquid and reach the semis of #IEM Katowice. Presented by @csmoneytrade pic.twitter.com/cYSA3TNbsC — DEXERTO.COM #IEM Katowice (@Dexerto) February 27, 2020 “We got scared”@zonic explains to @BanKsEsports why @astralisgg’s form dipped in early 2020 and what’s changed for #IEM Katowice. Presented by @csmoneytrade pic.twitter.com/AJBVbNlYR8 — DEXERTO.COM #IEM Katowice (@Dexerto) February 27, 2020 ?️ @100Thieves’ @jkaem explains to @BanKsEsports what changed to finally overcome Nuke hurdle against rivals EG. w/@CSMoneyTrade | #IEM Katowice pic.twitter.com/bpj1sx93Zh — DEXERTO.COM #IEM Katowice (@Dexerto) February 27, 2020 “We will prove we should have won the first time”@FaZeClan CS:GO coach @YNk tells @BanKsEsports why they’re confident for @natusvincere rematch 💪 w/@CSMoneyTrade | #IEMKatowice pic.twitter.com/adut2gQmpq — Dexerto (@Dexerto) February 27, 2020 “”The competitive scene has never been stronger””@mousesports coach @RejinCS reveals who he wants to face next at #IEMKatowice, after beating MAD Lions. Presented by @csmoneytrade pic.twitter.com/tMJcharKnM — Dexerto (@Dexerto) February 27, 2020 Teams Group A Astralis – Cloud9 – Ninjas in Pyjamas – Team Vitality – Natus Vincere – FaZe Clan – Renegades – Fnatic – Group B Mousesports – TyLoo – 100 Thieves – G2 Esports – Team Liquid – Virtus.pro – MAD Lions – Evil Geniuses –

Team Spirit crush FaZe Clan: IEM Katowice recap, schedule, past results & more Adela Sznajder/ESLIEM Katowice 2024 playoffs has wrapped up, and Team Spirit has lifted the trophy after a dominant run, losing only one map in the win. Here is all you need to know of the tournament. The 2024 edition of IEM Katowice is already chock-full of important storylines as teams test their roster’s capabilities in the first big tournament of the 2024 season. Top teams like Vitality, NAVI and Heroic were eliminated before making it to the arena, while surprise new lineups like Spirit and MOUZ impressed, reaching the Spodek with ease. Team Spirit as it turns out would have one of the most dominant Katowice runs in history, only losing one map the entire tournament, with their young gun Danil “donk” Kryshkovets putting on a world-class performance to net him the MVP just at 17 years old. Team Spirit met FaZe Clan in the Grand Finals, this not being FaZe’s first Kato finals. However, it seems the CS giants in FaZe clan were no match against donk and Team Spirit, being handily defeated in a 3-0. Here are all the details you need to know about IEM Katowice, including the full schedule, lineups, and format, and final results. Contents IEM Katowice 2024: VODs & Stream The tournament was broadcast across Twitch and YouTube on IEM channels. VODs of all live broadcasts can be viewed on ESL Counter-Strike’s YouTube channel, with individual maps available on ESL Archives IEM Katowice 2024: Final Standings Below you can find the final standings of all the teams. Team Spirit took home the bulk of the $1,000,000 prize pool, with FaZe Clan taking home second. Team Spirit’s trophy lift also secures them a spot at 2024’s IEM Cologne, the BLAST Premier World Final, and the Esports World Cup. IEM Katowice 2024: Results Playoffs (February 9 – 11) Day 3: February 11 Past results Day 1: February 9 Day 2: February 10 Group Stage (February 3 – 6) Day 1: February 3 Day 2: February 4 Day 3: February 5 Day 4: February 6 Play-In (January 31 – February 2) Day 1: January 31 Day 2: February 1 Day 3: February 2 IEM Katowice 2024: Format The IEM format was largely unchanged from previous years. Sixteen teams have qualified for the Play-In stage and will face off in a double-elimination bracket. The first matches were best-of-ones and all other were best-of-threes. The Group Stage featured invited teams and the Play-In Stage teams split into 2 eight-team double-elimination brackets. All matches will be best-of-three series and the top three from each group will qualify for the Playoffs. The Playoffs were a six-team single-elimination bracket with the top finishes in the group stage seeded directly to the semifinals. The quarterfinals and semifinals were best-of-three matches, with the Grand Final as the sole best-of-five match. IEM Katowice 2024: Schedule The tournament ran from January 31 – February 11, and the playoffs stage will take place in the Spodek Arena from February 9-11. Here were the schedules: Play-In: January 31 – February 2 – Group Stage: February 3 – 6 – Playoffs: February 9 – 11 –

How to watch the IEM Katowice 2019 CS:GO Major – Stream, schedule, results and more It’s that time of the year once again, as the best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams are locked in a heated battle to be named champion of the IEM Katowice 2019 CS:GO Major. Returning to ESL for the first time since 2016, the IEM Katowice Major 2019 features 24 of the best teams in CS:GO battling for a share of the $1,000,000 prize pool. Much like previous majors, the tournament will be split into three stages – New Challengers, New Legends and New Champions, with the tournament concluding at the end of the three week period with just one squad left standing, who will be named the IEM Katowice Major 2019 Champions. Here’s everything that you need to know about the ongoing Major. How to Watch the Major Whether you want to attend the event in person or want to watch from home, ESL has you perfectly covered. For those who would like to attend the event in person, some tickets are still available for final days of the New Champions stages from ESL’s official website – despite the stage officially getting underway on February 28. If you just want to watch the whole event from home, each stage of the event will be streamed on Twitch, Steam.TV, in-game with CS:GO and ESL TV. Additional language streams are available on Twitch, as well. IEM Katowice Major Primary Stream: THE NEW CHAMPIONS STAGE We’ve reached the halfway point of the IEM Katowice CS:GO Major quarter finals, with a major shock surprising CS:GO fans as ENCE secured a 2-0 victory over Team Liquid to secure their spot in the semi finals. Natus Vincere also claimed a berth in the next round with a 2-0 win over FaZe Clan. As play continued on March 1, MIBR and Astralis both made easy worth of the competition with a pair of 2-0 victories over Renegades and Ninjas in Pyjamas, respectively. RESULTS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28 FRIDAY, MARCH 1 SATURDAY, MARCH 2 UPCOMING SCHEDULE SUNDAY, MARCH 3 THE NEW LEGENDS STAGE The IEM Katowice Major continued with The New Legends Stage, which saw 16 of the best teams in the world contend for the eight spots that comprise the New Champions Stage of the competition. Astralis and Team Liquid led the way with perfect 3-0 records, while teams such as Ninjas in Pyjamas and FaZe Clan barely squeezed into the playoffs with 3-2 records. STANDINGS RESULTS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24 THE NEW CHALLENGERS STAGE The New Challengers stage concluded on February 17 and featured some of the biggest names in CS:GO either struggling or failing to advance altogether. FINAL STANDINGS RESULTS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 17 Major Format The Major will truly kick off with The New Challengers Stage from February 13-17. A total of 16 teams will compete with the Top 8 teams moving to the next stage of the Major while the bottom eight will be eliminated. Six teams, known as “The Returning Challengers,” will be joined by 10 teams from the various qualifiers leading up to the event. The New Legends Stage will then take place February 20-24 where the eight teams from The New Challengers Stage compete with Top 8 teams, known as “The Current Legends,” from the FACEIT Major: London 2018. The Top 8 from The New Legends Stage move on to the The New Champions Stage to fight for the title of IEM Katowice champions on February 28-March 3. The IEM Katowice Major will see the Swiss format return for both the New Challengers and New Legends stages, but a best-of-three format will be used for all progression and elimination rounds instead of fifth round matches only like at the FACEIT Major. The New Champions Stage will feature a best-of-three, single-elimination bracket. Confirmed teams The Current Legends Astralis – Natus Vincere – MIBR – Team Liquid – compLexity Gaming – BIG – HellRaisers – FaZe Clan – The Returning Challengers Ninjas in Pyjamas – Fnatic – G2 Esports – Vega Squadron – Cloud9 – TYLOO – The New Challengers ENCE eSports – AVANGAR – Team Vitality – Team Spirit – NRG Esports – Renegades – FURIA Esports – Grayhound Gaming – Winstrike Team – ViCi Gaming – Venue Information Unlike most major esports events that happen at a single venue, the IEM Katowice Major will take place at three separate venues, one for each stage of the tournament. All of the Minor Championships and The New Challengers Stage will be held at the ESL Arena in Katowice. The New Legends Stage will take place at the International Congress Centre in Katowice. Finally, the event will conclude at the Spodek Arena in Katowice with The New Champions Stage. How to Watch the Major Whether you want to attend the event in person or want to watch from home, ESL has you perfectly covered. Those looking to attend the event in Katowice can purchase tickets for both The New Legends and Champions Stages on the official website. The New Challengers Stage will only be streamed online. If you just want to watch from home, each stage of the event will be streamed on Twitch. More information will be available once the Major gets underway. Additional language streams will likely be available on Twitch, as well.

Astralis dominate IEM Global Challenge 2020: Final placements & recap IEM’s Global Challenge has come and gone, with Astralis emerging as victors and claiming the lion’s share of $500,000. Here’s how the event unfolded. Astralis cruise to a 3-0 Grand Final win over Team Liquid — Inferno (16-11), Overpass (16-11), Dust 2 (16-10) – Device dominated for The Danes with a 1.26 rating across 13 maps – Twistzz confirms Liquid departure after Grand Final loss – IEM Global Challenge 2020: Final placements Astralis walked away with $200,000 and 3,000 BLAST Points — overtaking Team Vitality (9,300) at the top of the BLAST Circuit with 9,363 points. IEM Global Challenge 2020: Results & recap Results & recaps Day 1 — Tuesday, December 15 BIG upset Vitality, Astralis & Na’Vi cruise through Better late than never! Plenty wrote off BIG heading into IEM Global Challenge, seeing them as nothing more than Chaos’ replacement, but the Germans came to play. Despite Vitality’s convincing win on their map pick of Inferno (16-7), a 19-17 win on Vertigo and 16-13 win on Nuke was enough to edge past the world number ones. It was business as usual for Astralis and Na’Vi, who swept their way past Complexity and Na’Vi to put them one step closer to the Playoffs. Day 2 — Wednesday, December 16 BIG clinch Playoff berth, Vitality & Liquid win big The day started off with cool, calm, and collected performance from Team Liquid, who wrestled a 2-0 victory vs Heroic — 16-11 on Inferno and 16-14 on Nuke. Vitality made up for their shock day one loss with a dismantling of Complexity, taking Nuke 16-9 before dominating Dust2 16-3. The tournament’s first Playoff clincher match went the way of BIG, who etched out a key overtime victory on Vertigo (22-19), before making a comeback on Dust 2 to take the map 16-10. Day 3 — Thursday, December 17 FURIA finish strong against Heroic; s1mple shines vs Liquid The Brazilian’s weathered the storm against Heroic. While the Danish side managed to keep the first two games highly competitive (sending Nuke into triple overtime), FURIA took the Group B decider match with an emphatic performance on Vertigo 16-4 — sending Heroic packing in 7th-8th place. Navi advanced to the Playoffs with a swift 2-0 win over Team Liquid. After the matchup, s1mple said it felt good to beat the Americans, since they had their number in 2019. While it was teammate Perfecto who clutched up time and again on map one, s1mple closed out the series with his dominant AWP performance on Nuke. Day 4 — Friday, December 18 Liquid & Astralis secure Playoff spot Astralis took down the top dogs of Team Vitality to secure their Playoff spot. Even though Misutaaa was strong out of the gate, The Danes shrugged off the one map loss, taking the series 2-1. FURIA went in against Team Liquid as hot favorites. Competing for the fourth and final Playoff spot, Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski and the rest of Liquid stepped up to secure semi-final matchup against an on-form BIG lineup. Day 5 — Saturday, December 19 Astralis & Liquid shrug off Europe’s finest Semi-final Saturday got off to a rocking start with Na’Vi taking on Astralis. Even though s1mple and co. put up a fight, taking Nuke (16-9), it wasn’t enough to overcome the Danish powerhouse, who punched their ticket to the Final with a win on Inferno (16-13) and Train (16-11). Team Liquid brushed aside BIG in two. Despite Jake ‘Stewie2k’ Yip’s mid-series mouse issues, Liquid looked unstoppable as EliGE clocked off with a 113.6 ADR and 61 frags. Day 6 — Sunday, December 20 Astralis end 2020 on a high, with a Twistzz Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dulken stepped up after a rocky road to the Grand Final. But despite the Canadian’s best efforts, Astralis proved too strong. 16-11 wins on Inferno and Overpass led to a Dust 2 brawl. Liquid just weren’t able to keep up with Astralis’ dynamic duo in Device & Dupreeh, bowing out in 2nd place after losing 16-10. IEM Global Challenge 2020: Teams & players Teams were divided into two groups. The top two from each group qualified to Saturday’s semi-finals. Notably, Complexity played with Otto ‘ottoNd’ Sihvo as a stand-in, following Valentin ‘poizon’ Vasilev’s absence.

How to watch IEM Beijing-Haidian 2020: Streams, Schedules and Teams ESLThere is more CSGO on the horizon, with Intel Extreme Masters Beijing-Haidian 2020 starting on November 6, pitting together the best teams in North America and Europe for a spot in the IEM Global Challenge. Two regional tournaments will take place and both promise to deliver some great Counter-Strike, Europe is looking to provide the majority of the top-quality gameplay while North America will provide a really interesting look at new teams and their up-and-coming talent. The prize pools that teams will be looking to take home are $150,000 (EU) and $70.000 (NA) with the winners securing a spot for the IEM Global Challenge. IEM Beijing-Haidian 2020 stream All games will be streamed on ESL’s Twitch account. There will be only one match playing at any time so it will be easy to keep up with. IEM Beijing-Haidian 2020 Europe preview The European branch is hosting the continent’s elite teams with the Heroic, Vitality, and Astralis looking like the favorites but we cannot ignore the potential challenge from OG and a NiKo-powered G2 Esports; especially after the great form showed at last Premier: Fall Series, with both teams topping their respective groups. BIG and the Complexity juggernaut will also be at the event, with both teams having proved their capacity to win tournaments in the online era. The top teams from earlier in the year will also attend the event with Fnatic, NaVi, and Mousesports looking to regain form and consistency. FaZe Clan will also be attending, with the international roster not yet announcing a replacement for Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer, it is likely that the former world number one will remain with the team. NIP, Spirit, North, ENCE, and MAD Lions complete the European line-up. The 16 teams have been divided into two, double-elimination groups with every match being a best-of-three set. The top four teams from each group will then advance into playoffs and the now traditional BO5 final. IEM Beijing-Haidian 2020 North America preview The two teams to watch out for in NA are obviously Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid. With Furia and MiBr currently residing in Europe, it is up to the two NA giants to conquers this event. Chaos Esports Club, Triumph, Team One, and New England Whalers have upset opponents in the past meaning we should be keeping an eye out for them to take a map or two off the big teams. Rebirth and Rugratz are the two teams joining the event through the closed qualifiers. The North American tournament will use a scaled-back version of the European one with double-elimination groups and playoffs before a BO5 final.

Virtus.pro wins $1M Flashpoint Season 2: final placements & results FlashpointVirtus.pro have come out victorious in Season 2 of Flashpoint, claiming the $500,000 lion’s share of the $1 million prize pool, CSGO’s biggest in 2020. [jwplayer Wsvpwyoq] The competition had been held completely online since March, due to the ongoing concern surrounding the global health situation, and that continued for Season 2 as well. This tournament venture between B Site Inc. and FACEIT kicked off its second season on November 10, 2020 – the playoffs culminating on December 6 with a Grand Final matchup between Virtus.pro and OG. The best-of-three final began with OG taking a 1-0 lead after claiming a 16-10 victory on Mirage before VP tied things up with their own 16-9 win on Train. Everything came down to one single game on Inferno, which proved to be a tight affair before the eventual champions pulled away with a 16-12 win. The apex predators stand unchallenged! @virtuspro are your #Flashpoint 2 champions! pic.twitter.com/7DfdGBZpwk — Flashpoint (@Flashpoint) December 6, 2020 Participating teams Group A Fnatic – c0ntact – Dignitas – MAD Lions – Group B BIG – Team Envy – forZe – MIBR – Group C OG – Cloud9 – Gen.G – Virtus.Pro – Flashpoint Season 2 scores & final placements FLASHPOINT Season 2 started off with a Group Stage, where 12 teams competed in three different Groups. The top two teams in each group automatically qualified for the Playoffs, while teams who finished 7th-10th competed in Last Chance matches for the final two Playoff berths. Flashpoint’s Playoffs consisted of of an 8 team, double-elimination bracket.

How to watch FLASHPOINT Season 1 – Stream, schedule, teams B Site Inc.Flashpoint’s organizers have revealed a new online schedule for the CS:GO competition’s remaining matches for Phase 1, after announcing a transition to completely online play earlier in the week. Due to the ongoing concern surrounding the virus outbreak, Flashpoint joined ESL in moving all future matches online after suspending offline play on Monday, March 16. The new competitive Counter-Strike venture between B Site Inc. and FACEIT kicked off its first season on March 13, but fans only got to watch one weekend of the teams actually competing together in person. Flashpoint to delay tomorrow’s matches and move online as we battle COVID-19. We look forward to helping fill the content void and continuing to provide CS:GO fans with entertainment. pic.twitter.com/2zPAJKGNhW — Flashpoint (@Flashpoint) March 17, 2020 Stream The online matches will still be streamed on FLASHPOINT’s Twitch channel. Participating teams Cloud9 (Founding Member) – C0ntact Gaming (Founding Member) – Dignitas (Founding Member) – Gen.G (Founding Member) – MAD Lions (Founding Member) – MIBR (Founding Member) – Team Envy (Founding Member) – FunPlus Phoenix (Founding Member) – Orgless (LAN Qualifier) – Chaos Esports (LAN Qualifier) – HAVU (LAN Qualifier) – Copenhagen Flames (LAN Qualifier) – On March 11, FLASHPOINT announced the final entries to the 12 member list of participating teams, including reigning LoL world champions FunPlus Phoenix from China, Finnish organization HAVU, NA roster Chaos Esports Club, and Danish team Copenhagen Flames. Duncan ‘Thorin’ Shields, who is participating in the leadership of FLASHPOINT’s creative direction, cheekily remarked that Flashpoint was now one of the “top two online CS:GO “league” in the world confirmed,” after the news they were moving to all-online format broke. Flashpoint top two online CS:GO “”league”” in the world confirmed :> — Thorin (@Thorin) March 17, 2020 Groups With the rescheduling, multiple matches between teams from the same group will no longer be held on the same day, but other than that, the groups should stay the same. Group A (Ingame Feeders): Mad Lions, Copenhagen Flames (CPHF), c0ntact, HAVU – Group B (Assisted Living): FunPlus Phoenix, Cloud9, Orgless, Dignitas – Group C (Snakes and Ratters): Gen.G, Envy, MIBR, Chaos Esports Club – Format/schedule FLASHPOINT Season 1 kicks off with three double-elimination GSL group stage brackets with four teams each. The winners of each group stage will be split into separate groups for the second stage, with all the other teams split between the three as well. The new schedule for Phase 1 swaps the order of matches to better suit teams as they transition to playing from home or from the LA apartments provided by the tournament organizers. Flashpoint has also confirmed that any previous dates for Phase 2 are currently being reviewed, and have yet to be confirmed as they work to finalize the schedule.

ESL Pro League Season 12 final placements & results ESLAfter an intense and competitive regular season and playoffs, the ESL Pro League Season 12 champions have been determined, headlined by Astralis in the European region and FURIA in North America. 36 of Counter-Strike’s premier esports teams were pitted together in ESL’s 12th season of their Pro League. Because of the current global pandemic, Season 12 was played online, with five dedicated regions this time: Europe, North America, South America, Oceania, and Asia from Sept. 1 through Oct. 4. North America had one group for the regular season, while Europe was split into two different divisions, so each region has their own champion. On the EU side of things, Natus Vincere and Astralis met in the Grand Final after they won groups A and B, respectively. It looked like Na’Vi would win it all after going up 2-0, but a huge reverse sweep from the Danish side flipped the script and handed them the regional crown. WOW 🤯 Down 0-2, @AstralisCS complete an incredible reverse sweep vs @natusvincere to win the ESL Pro League S12 title!pic.twitter.com/C33htUcXRY — Dexerto (@Dexerto) October 4, 2020 Prior to that, over in North America, the regular season group finished with Evil Geniuses up on top, but the team failed to make to the Grand Final as second-place FURIA and fourth-place 100 Thieves had that honor. The final match of the tournament ended as a pretty one-sided affair, as FURIA denied 100T’s first trophy in CS:GO with a dominant 3-0 sweep. THE CHAMPIONS OF #ESLProLeague SEASON 12 FOR NORTH AMERICA@furia 🇧🇷🏆🇧🇷🏆🇧🇷🏆 pic.twitter.com/izlVCHaJFe — ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 27, 2020 Participating teams Between Europe, NA, and the other three regions included in Season 12, there were 36 total teams participating in ESL Season 12. The 16 European teams were split into two different groups to compete in the regular season, and the eight teams from North America played against one another. Here’s who was playing in each group: Group A (Europe) AGO – BIG – ENCE – GODSENT – Heroic – Natus Vincere – OG – Group B (Europe) Astralis – Complexity Gaming – FaZe Clan – Fnatic – mousesports – Ninjas in Pyjamas – Team Spirit – Team Vitality – North America Evil Geniuses – Team Liquid – 100 Thieves – Triumph – FURIA Esports – Gen.G Esports – Cloud9 – Chaos Esports Club – South America BOOM Esports – Havan Liberty – Sharks Esports – Isurus – Oceania Renegades – Chiefs ESC – ORDER – Avant Gaming – Asia TYLOO – Beyond Esports – ViCi Gaming – Invictus Gaming – ESL Pro League Season 12 schedule and results Tuesday, September 1 Wednesday, September 2 Thursday, September 3 Friday, September 4 Saturday, September 5 Sunday, September 6 Tuesday, September 8 Wednesday, September 9 Thursday, September 10 Friday, September 11 Saturday, September 12 Sunday, September 13 Tuesday, September 15 Wednesday, September 16 Thursday, September 17 Friday, September 18 Saturday, September 19 Sunday, September 20 Tuesday, September 22 Thursday, September 24 Friday, September 25 Saturday, September 26 Sunday, September 27 Tuesday, September 29 Wednesday, September 30 Thursday, October 1 Friday, October 2 Saturday, October 3 Sunday, October 4 ESL Pro League Season 12 final placements Europe North America South America Oceania Asia Format Europe European teams played a round-robin best-of-three format within their groups ending on Sept. 19, with the top four teams from each qualifying for the double-elimination playoff tournament that eventually determined the champion. Teams from Europe fought over the majority ($450,000) of the season’s $750,000 purse, followed by North America, with $225,000. The remaining three regions each have $25,000 on offer. North America The eight North American teams all played the regular season in one big group, with the top two teams being placed into the upper bracket of the playoffs, and the bottom two in the lower. Here, the first and second-placed teams went head-to-head in the Winner’s Final, while third and fourth battled in the Loser’s Final — where the winner of this matchup faced the loser of the Winner’s Final to earn their spot in the Grand Final. South America, Oceania, Asia The remaining three regions, with only four teams each, didn’t have a regular season at all. Instead, they all competed in their own, four-team double-elimination tournaments starting Sept. 21-22.

How to watch ESL Pro League Season 11: Stream, schedule, results ESLCounter-Strike’s cream of the crop will battle it out in their groups to be crowned ESL Pro League Season 11 champions of their respective region. Here’s how to catch all of the action on stream. 24 of Counter-Strike’s premier esports teams will be pitted together in ESL’s 11th season of their Pro League. Following the current global pandemic, the entirety of Season 11 will be played online, with two dedicated regions: Europe and North America. There will be three European groups and one North American group, meaning that the European and North American divisions will have their own respective champions this season. Here’s everything you need to know, so you don’t miss a second of Counter-Strike’s finest locking horns. Stream ESL Pro League Season 11 will be streamed live to their dedicated Twitch channel or YouTube channel. Missed some of the action? Catch-up with the action by rewatching VODs from the day’s action on the dedicated section of ESL’s Twitch channel. Watch live video from ESL_CSGO on www.twitch.tvParticipating teams ESL’s Pro League Season 11 is comprised of 24 teams, which are divided into four groups of six teams. Per the ESL’s efforts to minimize risk following the ongoing epidemic, there will be three European groups and one North American group. Here’s how each group weighs-up. Group A (Europe) Astralis – ENCE – GODSENT – Ninjas in Pyjamas – Team Spirit – Team Vitality – Group B (Europe) BIG – Complexity – forZe – Fnatic – Natus Vincere – North – Group C (North America) 100 Thieves – Evil Geniuses – FURIA Esports – Swole Patrol – Team Liquid – MiBR – Group D (Europe) FaZe Clan – G2 Esports – mousesports – OG – Tyloo – Virtus.pro – Given the circumstances, there have been numerous changes made to the original Season 11 lineup announced back in February. Read more: Top 20 most expensive CSGO skins in history – The changes are summarized below, with more details available on ESL’s website. Renegades replaced by Swole Patrol in Group C (unable to travel overseas). – Sharks replaced by MiBR in Group C (safety concerns). – BOOM replaced by Team Spirit in Group A (safety concerns). – Heroic replaced by BIG (unable to field eligible lineup). – Format Europe A round-robin, best-of-three format will be used in Group A, B and D respectively. Each of the group’s winners will qualify for a second group stage, while the runners-up and third-placed teams in each group will go head-to-head to decide the remaining three slots. Six teams will make up the second group stage (Winner’s Group Stage) and will operate in the same manner as the first group stage. The winner of the group will earn their spot in the best-of-five Grand Final, while second and third-placed teams play a best-of-three decider. North America Across the pond in Group C, the format is similar, however, four teams will advance to the playoffs, which will use a double-elimination bracket. Here, the first and second-placed teams will go head-to-head in the Winner’s Final, while third and fourth will battle in the Loser’s Final — where the winner of this matchup will face the loser of the Winner’s Final to earn their spot in the Grand Final. NA Playoffs and Results EU Playoffs and Results Stage 2: Schedule and results Stage 1: Results Group A Group B Group C Group D Stage 1: Standings Group A Group B Group C Group D

ESL One Road to Rio: Final placements, results, more ESLUp next on Counter-Strike’s Major calendar is ESL One, as 56 teams will be battling in the Road to Rio in an attempt to secure their spot. Here’s everything you need to know about the tournament and how to catch all of the action. 24 of the world’s best teams will compete at ESL One: Rio for the lion’s share of the upgraded $2 million prize pool and the prestigious title of Major Champions. But before the Major gets underway in November 2020, each team needs to earn their spot. Road to Rio was the first of various regional competitions that will serve as the qualification method to the next CS:GO Major. Stream ESL One: Road to Rio was streamed live to their dedicated Twitch channel (below) or YouTube channel. If you missed some of the action, you can catch-up with the action by watching VODs from the day’s action on the dedicated section of ESL’s Twitch channel or tune into ESL’s reruns. Watch live video from ESL_CSGO on www.twitch.tvFinal placements The ESL One: Road to Rio consisted of 56 teams, which was divided into six regions. Europe, CIS, North America and Asia each had two groups, while both South America and Oceania regions are represented by one group. Here’s how each group finished: Europe CIS North America South America Oceania Asia Playoffs Below are the results from each of the playoff matches as they unfolded. Europe CIS North America South America Oceania Asia Groups Below are the standings for each group as they finished, in their respective region. Europe (Group A) Europe (Group B) CIS (Group A) CIS (Group B) North America (Group A) North America (Group B) South America Oceania Asia (Group A) Asia (Group B) Format All teams in each respective region played between April 22 – May 17 in their bid to earn their spot in the ESL One: Rio Major. Each group used a round-robin basis, with each match using a best-of-three series. There were a few distinct differences based on each region, which are highlighted below. Europe (two groups) Each group had eight teams. – 1-2 placed teams from each group will proceeded to the Upper Bracket. – 3-4 placed teams from each group will proceeded to the Lower Bracket. – Playoffs used a double-elimination bracket. – Grand Final was best-of-five, with a one map advantage to winner’s of Upper Bracket Final. – CIS & North America (two groups) Each group had six teams. – Top teams from each group earned a pass to the Semi-Final. – 2-3 placed teams from each group proceeded to the Quarter-Final. – Playoffs used a single-elimination bracket. – South America & Oceania Top team earned a pass to the Grand Final. – 2-3 placed teams proceeded to the Semi-Final. – Playoffs used a single-elimination bracket. – Asia (two groups) Each group had four teams. – 1-2 placed teams from each group proceeded to the playoffs. – Playoffs used a single-elimination bracket. –

How to watch ESL One New York 2019 CSGO tournament ESLESL One New York is returning to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for its fourth year running, as eight of the best teams in global Counter-Strike battle for their share of the $200,000 prize pool. At last year’s tournament, mousesports walked away with the trophy, but they won’t even be in attendance this time around, after failing to secure the spot from the European qualifier. Instead G2 Esports took the spot, and will be joined by fellow European squads Astralis, ENCE, FaZe Clan and OpTic. Team Liquid, newly-transferred Evil Geniuses and eUnited will be the North American representatives. The tournament is first opportunity to see Coldzera in a FaZe jersey, as well as the new Evil Geniuses roster, who joined from NRG on the day the tournament starts. G2 also have a new-look roster, with kioShiMa being used as a stand-in, following the departure of Shox. ESL One New York Stream Matches will begin at 11 AM EST / 8 AM PT / 4 PM BST on September 26, and you can watch all the action on the official stream below. Watch live video from ESL_CSGO on www.twitch.tvESL One New York B Stream Watch live video from ESL_CSGOb on www.twitch.tvAstralis and Liquid will be the favorites heading in, and the proposition of a final between the two powerhouses will be on many fans’ wishlists. Although they played at the Berlin Major, it was a round one match in the legends stage, and in truth, Liquid were roundly outplayed by Astralis, whose surprise Vertigo pick threw the North American’s off. The now-former NRG lineup will be hoping they can bring it home for North America, as they now fly the colors of Evil Geniuses, in the organization’s return to Counter-Strike after seven years out of the scene. ESL One New York Schedule September 26 September 27 September 28 September 29 ESL One New York Groups Group A Group B

How to watch ECS Season 8 CSGO Finals – Streams, Schedule, Results The eighth season of FACEIT and the Esports Championship Series’ CSGO competition is coming to a close with only the finals left to be played. Some of the best Counter-Strike teams in the world have descended on Arlington, Texas this Thanksgiving weekend, and will duke it out for the lion’s share of half a million dollars inside the Esports Stadium. All eight teams will be split into two double-elimination groups, where two teams from each group will emerge victorious to qualify for the semifinals that start on Saturday, November 30. The opening matches in each group will be Bo1, but all matches after (including playoffs) will be Bo3. ECS Season 8 Finals Schedule and Stream The action starts at 10am EST/7am PST/3pm BST on Thursday, November 28 with the opening group stage matches. The first match will be Berlin major grand finalists AVANGAR taking on ESL One NY champions Evil Geniuses. All opening group stage matches will take place on Thursday, as well as the winner’s match from each group, meaning one team from each group will have already advanced to playoffs by the end of the day. There are no concurrent matches at this event, so there is only one stream to follow, and it can be watched on Caffeine or Twitch. Watch live video from FACEIT TV on www.twitch.tvECS Season 8 Final Results Thursday, Nov 28 Friday, Nov 29 Saturday, Nov 30 Sunday, Dec 1

Spirit, paiN win EU & NA DreamHack Open January: final placements & recap DreamHack, DexertoCSGO’s DreamHack Open January 2021 has come to a close with Team Spirit taking things in the EU half of the event while paiN Gaming were a dominant force on their way to the NA crown. Here’s how all the action unfolded. Spirit tore apart FPX in Grand Final 3-0 to win EU tournament. – paiN’s flawless run peaked with a dominant 3-0 over Rebirth in NA Grand Final. – Combined $100,000 prize pool – $70K for EU and $30K for NA. – Jump to section DreamHack Open 2021 EU: Final placements 70% of the $100,000 prize pool was allocated for the EU tournament, $35K of which went to Spirit on the virtue of their first-place finish. All eight teams received a share of the prizes. DreamHack Open 2021 EU: Scores Here are all of the results from the five days of matches, including all group play and knockout round games. Day 1 – January 27 Day 2 — January 28 Day 3 — January 29 Day 4 — January 30 Day 5 — January 31 DreamHack Open 2021 EU: Group standings This is how the two groups stacked up after this phase of the tournament; the top-two teams advanced to a single-elimination bracket from which the overall winners was decided. Group A Group B DreamHack Open 2021 NA: Final placements Only $30,000 of the $100K overall prize pool was made available to the NA half of the event. On the back of their championship performance, paiN took more than half of prizing, while the other three teams earned much more modest shares. DreamHack Open 2021 NA: Scores Because there were only four teams competing in this tournament, the group stage was omitted and the field played a double-elimination bracket. Here are all of the results from the five days of action. Day 1 — January 27 Day 2 — January 28 Day 3 — January 29 Day 4 — January 30 Day 5 — January 31

How to watch Dreamhack Open Fall 2020: Stream, schedule, results DreamHackDreamHack Open Fall 2020 is underway and the event is stacked with some of Europe’s most elite competition vying for the lion’s share of $115,000 and more Regional Major Rankings (RMR) points for higher standing. There are of course the top-ranked teams that can be seen as favorites for the event like Astralis, BIG, Heroic, Vitality, G2 Esports, OG, FaZe Clan, and more. But there are also teams like Sprout, North, and mousesports who are coming from the Closed Qualifiers, looking to make a dent in the event. The field of 16 teams has been split into four different groups that will decide the 12 orgs who will eventually move on to the Double-Elimination bracket playoffs. Below you can find everything from results to the streams where all the action is set to go down. Follow along live and look out for more stories as they unfold. DreamHack Fall 2020 stream DreamHack is hosting all of the matches on their channel which can be found below. If there’s more than one game going on, just make sure you’re on the right feed for the team you want to watch. DreamHack Open Fall 2020 teams There are five teams that had to come up from the qualifiers to cement their place in the DreamHack Open Fall 2020 event. As previously mentioned there are a total of 16 teams who will have no choice but perform at a high level to avoid an early exit. There isn’t going to be much wiggle room for error, so expect it to be a contentious tourney from the start. We have got some major teams who will battle it out starting this Thursday during #DHOpen Fall..! Which team do you think will take the trophy?! 🤔 pic.twitter.com/LtsQXOY7Vh — ESL Impact (@ESLImpact) October 12, 2020

BLAST Premier Spring Groups final placements & results: NaVi, BIG, Complexity finish on top BLAST PremierThe BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2021 has now wrapped up after some of the best CSGO teams in the world battled it out for cash prizes and qualification into the next stage of BLAST’s Spring competitions. Here’s everything you need to know about how all the action unfolded. BIG, Complexity, NaVi win their groups – secure Spring Final qualification. – Astralis, G2, Vitality among teams forced to play Spring Showdown next. – $150,000 prize pool – first-place teams earned $25K each. – After 10 days of intense competitive CS:GO action, six teams have earned qualification for BLAST’s Premier Spring Final in June. Among the teams that failed to finish in the necessary top-two spots of their groups were Astralis, G2, and Vitality, who will instead now have to play the Spring Showdown to secure one of the final two Spring Final spots. Catch up on all of the action from the tournament below, including the final placements, all scores, group highlights, and more. BLAST Spring Groups 2021 essentials Liquid vs Twistzz event preview – Group A highlights: NiP’s ztr shines – Richard Lewis on Ninjas in Pyjamas’ academy star – Group B highlights: Complexity steal the show – Group C highlights: Boombl4 ninjas his way past FaZe – BLAST Premier Spring Groups: Final Placements BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2021: Results & Highlights BLAST Spring: Group A #BLASTPremier Spring Groups has been filled with highlights 🔥 Here are the top plays from Group A: 🔹 @syrsoNCSGO — @BIGCLANgg 🔹 @ztrcss — @NIPGaming 🔹 @dupreeh — @AstralisCS 🔹 @ztrcss — @NIPGaming pic.twitter.com/s2QwQxZbGn— Dexerto (@Dexerto) February 8, 2021 BLAST Spring: Group B There’s been plenty of action at #BLASTPremier Spring Groups 🔥 Top plays from Group B: 🔹 @COL_jks — @Complexity 🔹 @G2kennyS — @G2esports 🔹 @blameFFFFF — @Complexity pic.twitter.com/oJ1lId9EHr— Dexerto (@Dexerto) February 11, 2021 BLAST Spring: Group C NAVI were UNSTOPPABLE at #BLASTPremier Spring Groups 🔥 Top plays from Group C: 🔹 @Boltz — @mibr 🔹 @olofmeister — @FaZeClan 🔹 @s1mpleO — @natusvincere 🔹 @Boombl4CS — @natusvincere pic.twitter.com/2OUpVK6zPq— Dexerto (@Dexerto) February 15, 2021 BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2021: Teams & rosters

BLAST Global Finals 2019 – Final placements and results BLAST Pro SeriesFour of the world’s best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams descended on Bahrain to fight for the BLAST Pro Series 2019 title, and $500,000 in prize money from December 12 to 14. BLAST have shaken up CSGO with their rapid-fire tournaments, taking the world’s best teams around the world to put on a show for all. After six events dotted across Europe, South America, and North America, the top four teams from across the year will battle it out in Bahrain for the title. FaZe Clan won the Miami and Copenhagen heats for the BLAST finals, while Team Liquid and Astralis took home one-a-piece in Los Angeles and São Paulo respectively. Ninjas in Pyjamas had consistent finishes across the year, with a second place in Copenhagen their best result. The title isn’t the only thing teams are fighting for, with $500,000 in the prize pool on offer. The winning team will walk out of BLAST $350,000 richer, making it one of the biggest tournaments of the year based on prize money. Read more: FaZe Clan dominate BLAST Miami – We’ve compiled everything you need to know about the BLAST Global Finals 2019 so you don’t miss a beat. BLAST Global Finals 2019 Final Results Astralis stunned Liquid on the North American’s map pick, Inferno, to take a one map lead. Despite a strong showing from Liquid, Astralis took their own map pick on the back of a monster performance from gla1ve and device. With a 2-0 victory, Astralis ended their dominant 2019 (two Valve major victories) with yet another trophy. BLAST Global Finals 2019 teams Four teams qualified for the BLAST Global Finals through the tournament organizer’s point system. Teams earned points by performing well at BLAST events across the year, netting ten points for a win and all but guaranteeing themselves a spot at the finals. The Madrid and Moscow events were won by ENCE and Avangar respectively, although neither team ended up qualifying for the Global Finals. How to watch BLAST Global Finals 2019 The BLAST Global Finals will be streamed on BLAST’s Twitch channel, which you can find below. BLAST Global Finals 2019 schedule At the Global Finals, teams will be seeded into a double-elimination bracket. They will play best of three’s every game.

Gambit sweep $250k IEM Summer 2021 Grand Finals: results & recap ESLIEM Summer 2021 brought together some of the greatest CS:GO teams in the world, with $250,000 and circuit points on the line, but it was Gambit Esports who continued to prove why many consider them one of the best teams in the world right now. Gambit won the IEM Summer Grand Finals 3-0 against OG. – The Russian team fell to Vitality in Round 2, but would end up winning it all. – Gambit take home $100,000 and more bragging rights for CIS. – As well as the huge prize pool, BLAST Premier circuit points and ESL Pro Tour points awarded will help teams qualify and get better seeding at future, even-bigger events later on in the year. Besides the eventual champs, OG seemed to be in top form throughout the tourney, not dropping a match until the Grand Final with Gambit. Another memorable moment was when Virtus.Pro sent Ninjas in Pyjamas home in a 2-1 win during the Lower Bracket Round 3 match. After a back-and-forth match tied things at 1-1, VP went on an absolute tear, wrapping things up on Overpass 16-4, and it wasn’t even that close. Take a look at the full final placements below, along with a full recap of each day’s scores. IEM Summer 2021 Final Placements Results & Recap The tournament kicked off on June 3 and ran for 10 days, with GSL-style groups followed by a single-elimination playoffs bracket. Group Stage schedule and results Day 1 — June 3 Day 2 — June 4 Day 3 — June 5 Day 4 — June 6 Day 5 — June 11 Day 6 — June 12 Day 7 — June 13 IEM Summer 2021 teams Here are all the teams and players that were in attendance at IEM Summer 2021. That’s all for now, but we’ll be back with more CSGO esports coverage when the Blast Premier: Spring Finals get going in a few days, so see you then!

How to view your CSGO stats in-game with new tracking feature ValveThe Operation Broken Fang update for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has introduced a new way for players to track their stats in-game. Here’s how you can use it to improve your play. Trying to find your in-game stats for CS:GO has been difficult in the past, to say the least. Players have had to rely on third-party sites, which can be either unsecure or inaccurate, or both at the same time. However, Valve has finally listened to the community’s pleas. They have shipped a new, in-game stat tracking feature, that players can start using from Day 1 of the new Operation Broken Fang update. https://twitter.com/CSGO/status/1334617343859650560 While it doesn’t retroactively track players’ stats, it’s a new starting point for CS:GO. What stats does the CS:GO in-game tracker follow? The new CS:GO in-game stat tracker will track almost everything a player could want. It’ll count your matches played, your ADR, KD ratios, and more. Not only that, but it’ll break it down by map and gun too. Read more: New CS:GO Operation Broken Fang revealed – That’s not the only thing the in-game stat tracker can do. It also has a heat map for where you commonly find kills, deaths, and where you hold angles. It also breaks down where you hit players, so you can figure out what you need to do to fix your aim. It is the one stop shop for all you need to know about your CS:GO game, and where you need to improve. Getting picked off at one position all the time? You can see it on the heatmap and change things up. Not sure if you’re better with the P2000 or the USP? You can find that out. How to view your CS:GO stats in-game It’s super easy to check your CS:GO stats in-game. You can basically do it from the main menu. Here’s where you can find it. Open up CS:GO and go to your dashboard (main menu). – Click on Operation Stats near the bottom of the dashboard. – Select the parameters you want to track. All 5v5, All Wingman, etc. – Past 14 days, Past 30 days, Past 90 days, All time – – Analyze your stats. – The stats are currently limited to Operation Broken Fang, but it’s likely the feature will stick around after the event wraps up. It’s a huge upgrade for CS:GO players who are looking to improve their game. Now, you can definitively know if your teammates are holding you back or not.

How to unlock the Halo music kit in CSGO Halo music has officially been added to Counter-Strike in one of the wildest collaborations of all time, but unlocking it could take you some time. The iconic Halo theme and other tracks were added to CS:GO to celebrate the launch of The Master Chief Collection on Steam and users who purchase the title have a pathway to unlock the music kit in Counter-Strike. According to the CSGO Twitter account, the Halo Music Kit will become available to users once they have more than five hours playtime on the Master Chief Collection. With The Master Chief Collection releasing on Steam the exclusive Halo Music Kit is now available to users with more than 5 hours of play time in MCC. Play time is the only way to earn the Music Kit — it is not sold in-game or available on the Community Market. — CS2 (@CounterStrike) December 3, 2019 “Playtime is the only way to earn the Music Kit,” the post warned. “It is not sold in-game or available on the Community Market.” YouTuber Haaylo showed off how the music sounds in-game and it’s downright exhilarating to hear that iconic orchestral melody in a title other than Halo. The music kit replaces all the music in the game too including Round Start, Map Objective, Round End, Death Camera and more. The Halo theme is one of the most memorable and timeless tracks in video game history, so to have it in CS:GO is bizarre yet amazing at the same time. For collectors and completionists, this Music Kit will undoubtedly be incredibly sought after. Of course, there’s more to the crossover than just the music. The Halo Sticker Capsule was also added to CS:GO, making the tactical FPS all the more sci-fi. The Master Chief Collection is Halo’s debut on Steam and comes jam-packed with many games from the franchise including Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST and Halo 4. Today we’re excited to ship the @Halo Sticker Capsule in CS:GO! As an added bonus, users who purchase and play The Master Chief Collection on Steam will receive an exclusive Halo Music Kit in CS:GO. pic.twitter.com/s41vyGqMhq — CS2 (@CounterStrike) November 26, 2019 There’s no telling if anything Counter-Strike related will make its way into Halo Infinite, but it would be cool if Valve ends up repaying the favor with some sort of easter egg or promotion within the upcoming title. The Master Chief Collection is available now on Steam for $39.99 USD.

CS2 VAC was unable to verify game session error: How to fix in Counter-Strike 2 and CSGO ValveWant to fix the “VAC was unable to verify your game session” error in CS2 and CS:GO? You’re definitely not the first to encounter the frustrating error, which will prevent you from playing matches. Here is how you can try to fix it. CS:GO and CS2‘s matchmaking servers are all ‘VAC secured’ – the purpose of this is anti-cheat, to prevent players from using external software to get an unfair advantage. In order to do this, VAC will ensure that all players’ game files match what is expected, and nothing is missing or added. But, sometimes, an error can occur that either prevents VAC from running this check or finds an issue. In this case, you will get the ‘VAC was unable to verify your game session error’ – here are some things you can try to fix it. Fix VAC was unable to verify in CS:GO & CS2 Restart the game The first thing to try is the simplest and quickest option, which may instantly resolve the problem. Exit CS:GO and Steam entirely, before re-opening Steam, and running CS:GO from the Steam launcher. As CS2 launches from the same game in your library, this all applies there too. It’s best not to relaunch it from a desktop shortcut – unless trying the next tip on this list. Run as administrator An issue that can cause the VAC unable to verify error is a problem with system permissions. To avoid any difficulties here, you should try running CS:GO or CS2 as administrator. To do this, simply right-click the shortcut, and then select “run as administrator.’ It’s also advised to open Steam itself in the same way. If neither of these quick fixes resolves the issue, then we’ll move on to the next options. Verify the integrity of game files Verifying game files is a standard troubleshooting tip that is always recommended when you run into any unexpected errors, but it is particularly relevant with the VAC unable to verify error. This is because it is very likely to be an issue with one or more of local files. To verify integrity of game files on Steam, follow these steps: Go to your Steam Library – Right-click Counter-Strike: Global Offensive from the game list – Go to Properties, then Local Files – Select Verify integrity of game files – If there are any corrupt or missing files, Steam should identify them and resolve the problem. Then, try re-opening CS:GO/CS2 and searching for a match to see if the issue is resolved. Restart your PC If after verifying your game files, you still receive the VAC unable to verify game session error, the next step is a classic – turning it off and on again. Specifically, try restarting your PC, and then loading up CS:GO/CS2. This will resolve the issue for many players, but not everyone, so there are a few more steps to try if you’re still getting the error. Change your Steam name and Profile Picture This tip might seem bizarre, but for unknown reasons, many players actually report this working and instantly fixing the VAC unable to verify error for them. To change your Steam display name and picture, navigate to your profile and click ‘Edit Profile’ in the top right, beneath your featured badge. Then, simply enter a new name and upload a new picture. Then try relaunching the game to see if the error is resolved. Reinstall We’ve left this tip for last, as it is, of course, the most time-consuming, given it will require you to re-download and install Counter-Strike again. If you have tried all of the above steps and still can’t search for a game in either CS2 or CS:GO, then close it down, right-click it from your Steam library, and select uninstall. Then, simply download it again and relaunch it when ready. Contact Steam Support If all these steps and a full reinstall haven’t resolved the issue, the next best option is to contact Steam support and report the issue. Wait for a response, and in the meantime, keep restarting and trying to search for a game every now and again, as many players report the error fixing itself after a period of time. Unfortunately, the ‘VAC was unable to verify your game session’ error is a long-standing and frustrating CS:GO bug that still affects players every day. But, remember its purpose, when it works, is to prevent cheaters from getting into matches, so it’s not all bad.

How to fix CSGO sensitivity bug Valve via Team Liquid YouTubeA bug in Counter Strike is making the rounds and changing players’ mouse sensitivity to extremely low values. Everyone from CSGO pros to casual players have been having issues, but — thankfully — a temporary fix has been found. The CSGO community has been contending with the sens bug for a little while. The tricky part of the glitch is that it’s been showing up at random times and on multiple occasions. While it’s been an increasingly reported instance in the CSGO world, the bug could stem from a larger problem in Valve’s Steam program that could be messing with games. It’s because of this that some people have been finding ways to at least put a temporary stop to the sens bug by working outside of CSGO. CSGO sensitivity bug People have been reporting a similar problem across multiple Steam games. The bug reportedly drops people’s mouse sensitivity in-game at random, with values reported at just above 0 in some instances. A concrete cause is still unknown, but people have been experimenting with a potential fix. Your mileage may vary since it’s not exactly a permanent solution to bank on, but it’s something until an official patch is released. The fix includes opting out of Steam’s beta participation as well as disabling the Steam Overlay while in-game, which some have reported to help with the sens bug. Since the problem is being linked to the shift-tab function with Steam’s overlay, Steam players are trying out the temporary solution until Valve can come up with something more impactful. Opt-out of Steam beta Open Steam – Go into Settings – Settings will automatically open in ‘Account’ – In ‘Account,’ locate ‘Beta participation’ – Select: NONE – Opt out of all beta programs – Disable Steam Overlay Open Steam – Go into Settings – Navigate to ‘In-Game’ tab – Un-check the ‘Enable Steam Overlay while in-game – CSGO pros like Ninja in Pyjamas’ Fredrik ‘REZ’ Sterner, OG Esports’ Valdemar ‘valde’ Vangså, and even Evil Geniuses’ coach Wilton ‘zews’ Prado all reported encountering the problem. Yeap, some guys here and on @heroicgg getting it in this scrim ;( @CSGO plz fix — Wilton Prado ‘zews’ (@zews) March 23, 2021 Zews said that his EG team and Heroic had experienced the bug during scrims, so the competitive side of CSGO are also asking Valve to look into the issue. There hasn’t been a sign from the devs they’re working on a fix, but it probably won’t be long from now if more CSGO players come across the sens bug.

How to fix CSGO “pure server” disconnect issues after May 4 update ValveA number of CS:GO players are reporting not being able to join official matchmaking servers after the 1.37.5.0 update. Thankfully, there’s an easy solution for most. Since the release of CS:GO’s latest update just 24 hours ago, players have reportedly struggled to join official matchmaking servers. The update pushed through a change to how servers read players’ individual game files. If there is a discrepancy, players will get kicked. The scope of this function was increased in this patch, although specifics weren’t detailed. what if you wanted to play some CSGO but CSGO said: pic.twitter.com/HBz78ibgnq — Hac1 (@DonHaci) May 5, 2020 “sv_pure servers will now kick clients that have loaded asset files into game memory from files not present on [the] game server filesystem,” Valve stated in the update notes. This is leading to “pure server” error messages, and players getting kicked out of lobbies. If you are queuing up for competitive matchmaking and get kicked like this, you will be handed a loss and a competitive cooldown. Thankfully, there is a solution on the table. According to ‘gabefollower’ on Twitter, you’ll need to delete some game files. The shaders, materials, models, sound, scripts, and particles folders all could affect your ability to join a server. On Windows, navigate to Program Files (x86) > Steam > steamapps > common > Counter-Strike Global Offensive > csgo and remove said folders. Then, verify the integrity of the game files on Steam by going into CS:GO > Properties > Local Files. An update pushed on May 5 has also helped players pin-point the specific files that might need deleting if you are unsure. little update, if first one doesn’t work, try to delete ALL these folders pic.twitter.com/2BVDgzDzne — Gabe Follower (@gabefollower) May 5, 2020 If all else fails, you can contact Valve directly. The developers have opened up their emails for people with “sv_pure” issues. “If you’re facing this issue then please go ahead and send an email to csgoteamfeedback@valvesoftware.com with the subject line “sv_pure kick,” said ‘2Eggs’ on Twitter. Be sure to include your profile link, where you were playing, and what the error you are getting is, so Valve can pinpoint where to look to help solve your problem. https://twitter.com/2Eggsss/status/1257467805995319298 Until Valve completely patches out the issue, this will be the only way to work around it. If you are a modder, you’ll have to make sure to delete these folders every time you want to join an official server. We will let you know once it gets patched out completely — and hopefully, that’s sooner rather than later.

How to earn the IEM Katowice 2019 CS:GO Major event coins ValveOne of the most enjoyable parts of a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive major event is getting an in-game coin to display on your profile. However, there has been a change to how it works for the IEM Katowice Major, so here’s what you need to know. However, Valve has changed their system this year, adding a viewer pass for players to purchase in order to take part in the Pick ‘Em challenge, be eligible for those sweet souvenir case drops and ultimately have an event coin. There may still be some confusion over how players get the higher tier coin – as its no longer based solely on achieving a high score in the Pick ‘Em challenge and showing off your knowledge of CS. The coins would usually be in a Bronze, Silver and Gold tier system but in In a change for Katowice, there is a new Diamond version. Here is everything you need to know about leveling it up. How do you upgrade the IEM Katowice coin? The coins are now upgraded through a series of challenges that are linked to watching the event and completing a set number of objectives. Complete five challenges to upgrade the coin from the original Bronze state to Silver. Completing seven of the challenges will then upgrade the coin from Silver to the highly sort after Gold. If you complete all eleven of the set challenges, you’ll get the new Diamond coin. To upgrade the coin through watching matches on Twitch, you will need to link up your Steam and Twitch accounts. You can link your accounts here. You will also be able to use steam.tv or GOTV in-game to upgrade the coin through watching. What are these challenges? The challenges are laid out in-game once you purchase the viewer pass. By activating your viewer pass, you’ll complete the first challenge. However, the next few require you to take part in the tournament Pick ‘Em challenge and make some correction predictions while also watching at least one live match from each round of the Major – either using the in-game viewer or the Steam.TV platform. Read More: Sources: TSM exploring options in CS:GO – Making five corrections predictions in the Challengers stage will complete one challenge, a further fiver corrections predictions in the Legends stage will complete another while predicting two of the quarter-finals winners will trigger a third completed challenge. Once the action heats up and there is more at stake, players must make at one least correct prediction for the semi-finals to complete that challenge and then correctly predict the event winner in the Grand Finals to wrap up the predictions challenges. What does it all mean for souvenir cases? The souvenir cases are the same as they used to be – a skinned gun from a certain map that contains gold stickers of both teams, the event and the round MVP in which it was dropped. However, they won’t be dropped during games any more solely for viewers – you will have to complete the challenges and leveling up the coin. Each new level will bring one new case, meaning that three in total can be secured. Read More: IEM Katowice 2019 CS:GO Major stickers and souvenirs revealed – Full image gallery and details – Any cases must be redeemed in-game by March 31, so you won’t be able to horde the cases until the next Major. Katowice 2019 Tournament Items are now available. https://t.co/GXg0yNs1Nl pic.twitter.com/aOUMQwdygc — CS:GO (@csgo_dev) February 7, 2019 What else is there to know? Choices for the Pick ‘Em challenges have to be completed before the round gets underway. With the Challengers stage of the event kicking off on February 13, picks must be locked in and ready prior to that.

How to customize new CSGO chat wheel: pings, binds, more ValveCS:GO has introduced a huge chat wheel function in Operation Broken Fang, overhauling the old system in a bigger and better way. Here’s how you can customize it to suit your needs. CS:GO has always had some sort of ping system to communicate with teammates about certain things. However, it’s been long outdated, with newer games like Valorant, Apex Legends, and even Rainbow Six: Siege completely blowing Valve’s title out of the water. Operation Broken Fang has changed the game though. CS:GO’s ping and chat wheel system has been brought back into modernity. There’s plenty of new commands you can use to quickly communicate with allies. The best part? You can customize it to fit your playstyle. Customizing your new CS:GO chat wheel The new CS:GO chat wheel can be customized with ease in the settings menu in-game. You can set up to three chat wheels you can have access to. With each wheel having 8 options, you can bind up to 24 commands — up from the previous 15. The commands are also more useful. They can ping sites on the minimap, notify teammates where you need assistance, and more. Here’s exactly how you can tailor your chat wheel to your liking. Launch CS:GO and open the settings tab. – Navigate to Keyboard/Mouse > Chat Wheel Keys. – Click on the chat wheel you wish to customize. – Click on what message you’d like to replace, and the one you’d like to replace it with. – Save your changes, and play. – All the new CS:GO chat wheel options The new CS:GO chat wheel options are split into seven tabs: Preparation, Movement, Commands, Report, Bomb Status, Responses, and Grenades. There’s over 30 options all up. Here’s a list of what you can choose from. Preparation We should save – We should buy – Request a weapon – What’s the plan? – Movement Go go go! – On my way – Follow me – Following you – Ping Site A – Ping Site B – Ping Middle – Commands Rotate to me – Stay together – Spread out – Fall back – Hold this position – Check the Hostage – Report Heard noise – Enemy spotted – One enemy here – Multiple enemies – Need Backup – Sniper spotted – Bomb carrier spotted – In position – Covering you – Area clear – Bomb Status I’ll De/Activate Bomb – You De/Activate – Bomb was dropped – Guarding the Bomb – Ping Bomb – Bomb picked up – Responses Yes – No – Nice! – Thanks! – Cheer – Pep talk – Sorry – Grenades Need Decoys – Need Smokes – Need Frag Grenades – Need Molotovs – Need Flashbangs – Operation Broken Fang introduced more than just a chat wheel though. CS:GO’s first major update in over a year released nearly 100 new skins, seven maps, a new Retakes game mode, a battle pass, and more.

How to complete CSGO PGL Stockholm Major Viewer Pass challenges and earn rewards ESL / VlaveThe CS:GO PGL Stockholm Major is just around the corner and with it comes the Viewer Pass offering a bunch of rewards to players. Here’s how to complete every challenge and earn the rewards. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s PGL Stockholm Major is the first of its kind in over two years and is set to begin on October 26. With the Major, Valve released team stickers and the Viewer Pass. This pass comes with nine challenges to complete and tons of rewards. Here is everything you need to know about how to complete these challenges and earn the rewards. How to buy Viewer Pass for CSGO PGL Stockholm Major To unlock the Viewer Pass players need to buy it for actual money. There are two options, the first is the basic one that costs $9.99 or you can get the upgraded pass that comes with three extra Souvenir Tokens for $17.99. Here are the steps to buy the pass: Open CS:GO in Steam. – In the main menu scroll down to “Stockholm 2021 Items.” – Click the “Viewer Pass.” – Select “Pass and Tokens” then pick which pass you want to buy. – Complete transaction through Steam to unlock the pass. – Once you have completed all of these steps you can move on to the next part which is completing the nine challenges that come with the pass. How to complete CSGO PGL Stockholm Major challenges After you have purchased the pass, you will be able to complete nine challenges for the PGL Stockholm Major. Here is a list of the nine challenges that you can complete: Activate your coin before the tournament is over – Place all nine Pick’Em predictions for the Challengers Stage before it begins – Get five correct Pick’Em predictions for the Challengers Stage – Place all nine Pick’Em predictions for the Legends Stage before it begins – Get five correct Pick’Em predictions for the Legends Stage – Place all seven Pick’Em predictions for the Champions Stage before it begins – Place two correct Pick’Em predictions for the quarterfinals – Place one correct Pick’Em predictions for the semifinals – Make a correct Pick’Em prediction for the grand final – These challenges all revolve around the Pick’Em and each stage of the Major. The Challengers Stage is the first part, where you must place all nine of your predictions and will need at least five of them to be right. You can do this again for the Legends Stage and once again for the Knockout Stage. You’ll want to complete these as there are rewards for doing so. CS:GO PGL Stockholm Major Viewer Pass rewards For every three challenges that you successfully complete, you will earn an additional Souvenir Token. These Souvenir Tokens can be redeemed during a match to earn a Souvenir Package featuring the teams playing in that match. These packages can grant players a random Souvenir weapon skin, but those have not been revealed yet. Players that wish to get even more tokens can purchase them throughout the event. Astralis and Cophenhagen Flames kick off the Challengers Stage at 1 AM PST / 4 AM EST on October 26.

How to complete CSGO Operation Broken Fang Week 6 missions ValveThe weekly missions in CS:GO Operation Broken Fang take a bit of time and effort to complete, but the rewards, which come in the form of stars, make them all the more worthwhile. Here’s everything you need to know about this week’s missions. CS:GO Operation Broken Fang, introduced new sets of weekly missions that players can complete to earn stars and exchange them for collections, graffiti, stickers, skins, and agents. So far, players have been able to grab plenty of stars by completing all the missions, and this week, they can earn even more. Here’s a list of what those missions are, and how to complete them. CS:GO Operation Broken Fang Week 6 missions The sixth set of missions are split into four, with each one focusing on a different objective. You’ll need to play on specific maps and modes to complete some, and use a specific weapon to complete another. If you play your cards right and get them all done, you’ll be able to earn a whopping 11 stars for the week. It’s a decent haul that will almost certainly come in handy. Here’s the complete list: Rock Is Dead: Win rounds in Wingman: Vertigo 4 round wins: 1 star – 8 round wins: 1 star – 12 round wins: 1 star – – Don’t Let Me Down: Get 20 kills with Terrorist weapons Guardian: Vertigo: 2 stars – Backstage Pass: Get kills from Tunnel or Palace in Deathmatch: Mirage 10 kills: 1 star – 20 kills: 1 star – 40 kills: 1 star – – Home Sweet Home: Get kills in Demolition 10 kills: 1 star – 20 kills: 1 star – 30 kills: 1 star – – Fortunately, the missions don’t expire, which means there isn’t a real need to rush them. However, since they’re not too hard to do, there’s no reason to put them off for too long, either. CS:GO Operation Fang’s weekly missions have been a treat for players who like working towards a different goal each week. They add some fun and versatility to the game, which can help break up the competitive grind.

How to complete CSGO Operation Broken Fang Week 4 missions ValveIf you want to get your Operation Broken Fang Diamond coin in CS:GO, it’s time to get working . There’s a new set live right now, with plenty of stars on the line to catch up on progress. CS:GO’s latest operation, Broken Fang, is now in full swing. If you haven’t jumped into the action yet, it’s been the Christmas present players were hoping for, with plenty of new content including skins and maps, as well as tons of rewards on offer in the battle pass. There’s one surefire way to test all of it out though, and that’s through the weekly missions. The challenges usually have a set theme to them, and take players around different parts of the game to try out new content. CS:GO Operation Broken Fang Week 4 missions The fourth set of missions again has four missions in it, with the potential to net 11 stars. These can be redeemed for your Diamond coin progress, or rewards in the in-game shop. Inferno is the big focus of this week’s challenges. The map features in all of the missions if you so choose, across Wingman, Guardian, Retakes, and Casual. Here’s the full list of challenges: Get A Head Start: Get headshot kills in Wingman: Inferno. 4 kills: 1 star – 8 kills: 2 stars – 12 kills: 3 starts – – Spend It All In One Place: Get 20 kills with the M249 in Guardian: Inferno. 2 stars. – Short Term Investment: Deal grenade damage in Retakes. 50 damage: 1 star – 100 damage: 2 stars – 150 damage: 3 stars – – Cash Rules Everything Around Me: Earn money in Casual: Defense Group Delta. 25,000 cash: 1 star – 50,000 cash: 2 stars – 100,000 cash: 3 stars – – While the missions don’t expire, you only get 10 stars of progress maximum per week towards your Diamond coin. If you haven’t started now, you only have two more weeks of buffer before the 100-star reward becomes out of your reach. A new set of missions will be revealed on December 29.

How to complete CSGO Operation Broken Fang Week 3 missions ValveOperation Broken Fang is kicking along in CS:GO. If you’re keeping up with the weekly missions, the Week 3 set has just launched. You’re going to have to get your eye in to complete them too, with many of them featuring long range kills. We’re now a few weeks into Operation Broken Fang, and the new content has certainly been a blessing for CS:GO players. From new maps and game modes to a lick of fresh paint in the form of new gun skins, there’s plenty to dig into. There’s also a ton of missions you can complete to not only unlock all this content in the in-game shop, but also get that coveted Diamond coin. Here’s what you need to do for the Week 3 Operation Broken Fang missions. CS:GO Operation Broken Fang Week 3 missions With only 11 stars on offer, you’ll need to complete every mission this week to make full progress towards your Diamond coin. Thankfully, less stars means there should be less trouble in completing them all. While you’ll need to play four different game modes to tick every mission off the list, they’re not awfully painstaking. If you consider yourself a wizard with the green stick, you can knock these “Rangefinder” missions off with ease. Dangerous At Any Range: Win rounds in Competitive: Ancient. 7 rounds: 1 star – 15 rounds: 2 stars – 20 rounds: 3 stars – – Through The Looking Glass: Get 20 kills with any sniper rifle in Guardian: Train. 2 stars. – Keep Your Distance: Get kills at a range of at least 15 meters in Deathmatch: Defusla Group Delta. 10 kills: 1 star – 20 kills: 2 stars – 40 kills: 3 stars – – Scope The Competition: Get kills with any sniper rifle in Arms Race. 3 kills: 1 star – 6 kills: 2 stars – 10 kills: 3 stars – – If you haven’t started making progress to your Diamond coin, you’re going to have to get in quick. While all the missions — including Weeks 1 and 2 — will be active the entire event, you can only earn 10 stars towards your coin every week. With only 16 weeks in the event, and 100 stars needed, you’re going to have to start soon or risk missing out. A new set of missions will launch on Dec. 23, so be sure to get in before then.

How to complete CSGO Operation Broken Fang Week 2 missions ValveWeek 1 of CS:GO’s Operation Broken Fang has come and gone. Did you manage to get your 19 stars? Either way, don’t worry, because there’s plenty more up for grabs in the Week 2 missions. Operation Broken Fang has been a breath of fresh air for CS:GO players. It’s also been a bit of an early Christmas present, and it shows in the player numbers — every day the game has been spiking above 1 million peak players. There is one thing on players’ minds when a new operation rolls around though, and that’s the Diamond coin. Players earn these operation coins by working through the weekly missions. With Week 1 in the rearview mirror, it’s time to tackle Week 2’s challenges. There’s less on offer, but there’s still 14 stars up for grabs if you complete everything. Here’s what you need to know. CS:GO Operation Broken Fang Week 2 missions The second week of challenges for Operation Broken Fang have been culled from seven to five. While this is nice in some respects, you’ll have to play across four different queues if you want to finish all of them — so no mission stacking, sadly. You’ll have to jump into Competitive, Guardian, Retakes, and Hostage to finish the Week 2 missions. There’s no Danger Zone on the menu, which might disappoint some players looking to play the new Frostbite map. There’s also a heavy focus on pistols. You’ll need to use the Deagle in one, while any pistol will do for two of the other missions. The Right Stuff: Earn MVPs in Broken Fang Premier 3 MVPs: 1 star – 6 MVPs: 2 stars – 9 MVPs: 3 stars – – One Small Step: Win rounds in Competitive: Apollo 7 rounds: 1 star – 15 rounds: 2 stars – 20 rounds: 3 stars – – Houston We Have A Problem: Get kills with all 10 pistols in Guardian: Apollo. 2 stars. – Low Earth Orbit: Get Pistol kills in Retakes. 3 kills: 1 star – 8 kills: 2 stars – 15 kills: 3 stars – – The Deagle Has Landed: Get Desert Eagle kills in Casual: Hostage Group. 4 kills: 1 star – 9 kills: 2 stars – 18 kills: 3 stars – – If you’re chasing that coveted Diamond coin, you’re going to need to start grinding soon. Given only 10 stars you earn each week can go towards the coin, you’ll need to keep up across the event to get the 100 stars needed. A new set of challenges will launch on December 17, so be sure to get on before then to stay up to date.

How to complete CSGO Operation Broken Fang Week 1 missions ValveOperation Broken Fang is here, and that means heaps of new CS:GO content. If you want to make the most out of it though, and try and get that Diamond coin, you’ll want to complete the weekly missions. When better than to start in Week 1? Christmas has come early for CS:GO players. Operation Broken Fang has dropped over a year after Operation Shattered Web started, and it’s brought a bevy of new content. Seven new maps, nearly 100 skins, an entirely new game mode in Retakes, and even more. The best way to get your hands all over this though is through the battle pass and weekly missions. The battle pass will set you back around $15 USD, but it’s worth it if you are going to grind the game. Plus, it’ll also give you access to the weekly missions, which are the best way to experience the new content. CSGO Operation Broken Fang Week 1 missions While you don’t need the battle pass to play the missions, you’ll be duly rewarded for doing them. In Week 1, it’s all about new content. Read more: New CS:GO Operation Broken Fang revealed – Players will be taken to the new maps in Engage, Frostbite, and Ancient — dashing across multiple game modes. You’ll also be tasked with testing out the new retakes gamemode — a brilliant way to finesse your play before hitting the competitive queues. There’s also the mysterious Under The Hood mission, where you have to find what the Phoenix are up to. Here’s the full list of missions for Week 1, which can net you up to 19 stars. Premium Unleaded: Win rounds in Broken Fang Premier. 7 rounds: 1 star – 15 rounds: 2 stars – 20 rounds: 3 stars – – Manual Transmission: Win rounds in Competitive: Engage. 7 rounds: 1 star – 15 rounds: 2 stars – 20 rounds: 3 stars – – Mass Production: Get 25 kills in Guardian: Engage. 2 stars. – Under The Hood: The Phoenix have been spotted! Find out what they’re planning. 2 stars. – Warming Up: Get AK47, M4A4, or M4A1-S kills in Casual: Ancient. 7 rounds: 1 star – 15 rounds: 2 stars – 20 rounds: 3 stars – – Clutch Control: Win rounds in Retakes. 3 rounds: 1 star – 7 rounds: 2 stars – 10 rounds: 3 stars – – Ice & Snow, Take It Slow: Get kills in Danger Zone: Frostbite. 2 kills: 1 star – 4 kills: 2 stars – 6 kills: 3 stars – – You have until December 10 to complete these missions, so get in quick before they run out!

How to call a Technical Timeout in CSGO Competitive ValveValve has added Technical Timeouts to CS:GO Competitive in their January 27 update. It’s different from the game’s already-existing Tactical Timeouts. Here’s exactly how they work, and how you can call one for your team. The addition of Technical Timeouts built into CS:GO comes as Valve has looked to revamp Competitive play by removing bots, and even adding bonus income for teams down on players. It’s different from the already-existing Tactical Timeouts — which players can call once per half in a CS:GO Competitive game. In fact, you don’t really get an opportunity to call a tech pause, as they automatically go through. Here’s how the new feature works, and how you can best utilize it to boot. Finally, Competitive teams down a player will receive an extra $1000 shorthanded loser income (after exceptions are met) per round loss. This does not apply to teams who kick a player. More on that in today’s Release Notes: https://t.co/fYc12ghQHx — CS:GO (@CSGO) January 27, 2021 How to use Technical Timeouts in CS:GO Technical Timeouts aren’t something you can call on command in CS:GO. In a matchmade competitive game, something has to go awry first. Technical Timeouts can only be called if a player has disconnected from the game, and hasn’t reconnected by the time the next round starts. They will be automatically called, and will last two minutes at most. This allows the DC’d player time to reconnect to the game. The timeout will automatically be canceled if the DC’d player abandons the game. Timeouts also won’t be called in a 4v5 if the player was kicked. Each team gets one Technical Timeout. It doesn’t count towards your Tactical Timeout count. Hopefully you won’t ever have to use a Technical Timeout in CS:GO competitive queues. If it does come down to it though, it’s a handy tool that will allow players to get back into the game if their internet died or their game crashed. In the downtime, you can talk strategies about tackling the game while a man down — or a man up. However, you won’t just be able to call it for your mouse glitching out, or a sticky desk mishap.

How Tabsen rebuilt German Counter-Strike German Counter-Strike was a marvel to see in the days of 1.6, and it’s been a long time since the scene had much acclaim. But Johannes ‘tabseN’ Wodarz has slowly been building up the country’s prominence in the esport alongside the rest of the BIG lineup. Hailing from pre-Source era LANs, tabseN was there when the Germans were a force to be reckoned with, alongside the neighboring French teams of the time. But that pales in comparison to modern CS:GO, where a German player has yet to even grace a grand finals for a Major. Looking to right that wrong, tabseN would leave NRG Esports in 2017 to create Berlin International Gaming (BIG). He linked up with Fatih ‘gob b’ Dayik and Nikola ‘LEGIJA’ Ninic to take Germany back to its CS glory days. The early road was rocky, to say the least. Roster changes and injuries marred the first couple years. This made it hard for tabseN and co. to put together any meaningful results, with only minor success or deep bracket runs that would fizzle out before reaching the finals. TabseN didn’t win a single championship in 2019, that was his first dry year since 2012. Read more: Nadeshot explains 100 Thieves exit from CSGO – Then the online era of 2020 rolled around, where he was now the prominent IGL and the team had added Florian ‘syrsoN’ Rische and Nils ‘k1to’ Gruhne to the lineup. Like classic German engineering, he would create a team that could withstand major obstacles and persist pressure. This is the story of how tabseN rebuilt German Counter-Strike.

How Stanislaw became NA CSGO’s greatest leader Peter ‘stanislaw’ Jarguz has been one of CSGO’s most impressive in-game leaders for years, leading teams to extremely impressive highs and, at times, disappointing lows. His persistence through myriad successes and failures has earned him the title of the region’s best IGL. An all-around in-game leader is hard to come by. While Europe has its fair share of talent like Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen or Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander, NA has historically been lacking in that department. A 20-year-old Stanislaw burst on the scene in 2014 with fantastic aim and cheeky tactics. Through tumultuous roster relocations, he eventually landed on Conquest where consistent results were stacking up. It wasn’t until the Greenwall had picked him up alongside Will ‘RUSH’ Wierzba, Damian ‘daps’ Steele, Shahzeeb ‘ShahZaM’ Khan, and Keith ‘NAF’ Markovic, where CSGO crowds started to learn his name. Through all the odds, this team would eventually qualify for the ESL Cologne Major. But after fizzling out in the group stage, there were a few roster changes in the OpTic lineup that saw stanislaw ousted from the team, just to eventually return a while later. Read more: CSGO legend KRIMZ mysteriously VAC banned – But this is the part in stan’s journey where he notably led the way to victories with his rifle as well as his tactical prowess on teams like Evil Geniuses. With the tactical side of CSGO taken care of, he resorted to focusing on himself to avoid being a detriment to the team. Usually, IGLs aren’t expected to collect a lot of frags, but the NA leader defied convention throughout his career to be a potent threat on all parts of the map.

How Golden saved Fnatic CSGO twice DexertoFrom the second half of 2014 to early 2016, Fnatic was the most successful team in CS:GO, so much so that people began calling that period “the Fnatic era.” However, things began falling apart not too long after that, and after a major roster overhaul mid-2017, Golden was promoted from their academy team and became the Swedish org’s new captain. After the initial transition period, Golden found a way to unite their roster with a strong play-style, and they went from losing early at tournaments to finishing top-four in the two biggest leagues at the time. Read More: The inside story of Astralis’ Dynasty – With peaks come valleys, though, as the Iraqi-born Swede couldn’t demonstrate enough ability to maintain his position, initially being replaced as the captain by Xizt before being completely removed for draken in June of 2018. For many, this move was justified, especially since Xizt seemed like the perfect replacement – but it didn’t take long for Fnatic’s results to further deteriorate, as they returned to their low point of losing in the group stages at tournaments, once again. After a brief spell of inactivity, Golden moved to Cloud9 and was soon joined by flusha, who had also been dropped. While they weren’t able to find much success with the North American team, Fnatic’s situation had grown so desperate that they agreed to bring back the two players in an attempt to fix things. Read More: Jamppi sues Valve over permanent VAC ban – Following their return, and with Golden again at the helm, the Swedish team stringed together a very impressive series of results, which shows that they maybe should have never made those roster changes in the first place. As for Golden, his legacy and reputation were sealed as a multiple-time savior of Fnatic – and while others may seem a better fit on paper, he’s proven to be their “golden boy” on more than one occasion.

How Gambit’s clutch king equalled s1mple’s record at IEM Katowice The 19-year-old marksman equaled s1mple’s record, by winning 19 1-vs-X situations at big events, not to mention the fact that the youngster & co went on to win the whole event. With Gambit claiming the lion’s share of the $1,000,000 prize pool, it doesn’t look like the spotlight is going away any time soon! Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev’s record for 19 1-vs-X situations at title events left everyone speechless with his phenomenal plays and skill. While this was often on his opponents failing to double peek, the star took these opportunities when they presented themselves to give himself an advantage. Though sh1ro was on fire, the whole team continues to show an incredible sense of awareness about any ongoing situation within their maps, proving time and time again that they can determine where their opposition is by gathering early-round intel to determine a strategy. With sh1ro now topping the charts on five metrics, and nabbing himself an HLTV rating of 1.27, he stunned everyone with his clutch factor. Whoever Gambit takes on next, one thing’s for certain: they’d better be on the lookout for Sh1ro. For all CSGO news and events, stay tuned over at our dedicated main page.

How Gambit went from heroes to zeroes and back again Gambit has undoubtedly had a tumultuous time within CSGO’s scene but they’re back on the rise. This is the story of one of CSGO’s ultimate rollercoaster rides. Back when they were formed, the roster was a mix of unproven rookies and legends that were supposedly past their prime. They had their work cut out for them to prove their worth. However, running rampant at events like the DreamHack Winter Open back in 2016, they obliterated their competition. This saw them slamdunk the likes of Renegades in a dominating 2-0 Grand Final. Gambit continued to make a name for themselves throughout the early half of 2017, and in tournaments, they steamrolled the likes of Fnatic and Astralis, making it clear they had no intention of slowing down. Read More: NAVI drop flamie – Finally proving themselves to the world, they took home the win at PGL Major Kraków 2017 against Immortals. Then, however, their luck seemed to dry up. Just weeks after crushing the Major, the team started to split up, and the roster plummeted. Spiraling through a slew of unsuccessful roster swaps, by the end of 2018, it was a shadow of its former self. Continuing this run all the way through until mid-2020, a shift came when previous member, Abay ‘Hobbit’ Khassenov, was signed back to Gambit through their developmental roster. Gambit Youngsters performed that well, they were promoted up to the main team. In 2021, a storyline we’d seen before began to emerge. At the IEM World Championship, the team came out with a 4-0 playoffs record, also dominating in a 48-18 round score in their victories. While they didn’t take home the crown at ESL Pro League, there is excitement about Gambit’s potential when things go back LAN. But can they continue to prove their worth or will they falter once more? For all CSGO news and events, keep it locked over at our dedicated main page.

How G2 Finally Became CSGO’s Best with the Unlikeliest Roster Dexerto/G2 Off the back of their poor 2019, its unlikely that anyone would have put G2 Esports down as a future world number one team. However, against all the odds, their CS:GO roster are now considered the very best in the world. When it comes to the best CS:GO rosters in the world, it’s hard to think beyond Astralis. The Danish outfit have long been at the top of competitive CS:GO but, in 2020, G2 have done what no other team have managed in a long time – take away their top spot. While Astralis do have two players on leave, the G2 roster has shown their championship credentials, with first-place finishes at the 2019 Champions Cup Finals and the 2020 Blast Premier Spring series. They’ve also gone close in DreamHacks Masters Spring and ESL One: Road to Rio, finishing second in both events. G2 have proven in other esports – like Rainbow Six Siege – that they are not afraid to try the unprecedented. While they’ve not gone as far as throwing five straight fraggers together in CS:GO, their desire to reach the top has never been clearer as they try everything possible. Around the ubiquitous KennyS and JaCkz, they added huNter- and nexa, shocking the CS:GO world with their announcement to go to a mixed lineup. It appeared to work at first, but recent results online have been less than ideal. Whether G2 can continue their success is anyone’s guess, but they’ve proved once again that they’ll do whatever it takes to make it to the very top.

How FalleN unlocked Stewie2K’s true potential on Liquid News of the Godfather of Brazilian Counter-Strike, Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo, moving away from his native scene to join Team Liquid shocked everyone. Now, Jake ‘Stewie2K’ Yip is reaping the benefits. On paper, the star is the perfect solution to correct all of the team’s woes. Previously the top dogs of the scene, Liquid racked up win after win back in 2019, completing the Intel Grand Slam in just 63 days. 2020 was a different story, though. Looking directionless, they slipped down the world rankings. Bringing FalleN into the mix is just what the roster needed, with the team in desperate need of an IGL and a full-time aggressive AWPer. When FalleN was initially brought into play, he wasn’t made IGL straight off the bat, but a brutal loss to FaZe was undoubtedly the straw that broke the camel’s back. Heading into IEM Katowice with the Brazillian star as IGL, though, the team displayed a renewed sense of self, allowing Stewie to flourish once more, beginning their first deep run in months. With the burden of IGLing off of Stewie’s shoulders, we saw the return of the Smoke Criminal once more. Free from having to pick up the AWP, the star dominated matches with huge impact plays. Now seeing a return to form for Liquid, the sky is the limit as they continue on in 2021’s tournament scene. For all CSGO news and events, keep it locked at Dexerto over at our main page.

How Falcons pulled off a major coup with zonic and Lars Robl signings João Ferreira/Gamers8Saudi esports organization Team Falcons has secured the services of Vitality’s Counter-Strike coach, Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen, and Head of Performance, Lars Robl. In an exclusive interview with Dexerto, the pair, as well as Grant Rousseau, Falcons’ Global Director of Esports, discussed how the move came to be and shared their goals for the project. When Grant Rousseau got confirmation that he landed zonic, he did the same thing he had done shortly after Guild Esports’ Rocket League team won a regional tournament in 2021, when he was working there as Director of Esports. He called his parents to tell them the news. “I think it is probably on par, if not slightly higher,” he tells Dexerto. “For me, it feels bigger because it’s the start of a much bigger project.” In many ways, getting someone with zonic’s stature and pedigree feels more impactful than the sometimes ephemeral rush of winning a trophy. After an exceptional career as a player, zonic established a new standard for esports coaches as he guided Astralis to an unprecedented four CS:GO Major victories, along with an Intel Grand Slam title and countless other trophies. He went on to add a fifth Major crown to his résumé with Team Vitality, continuing to burnish his credentials as the greatest esports coach of all time. zonic is joining Team Falcons as their new Counter-Strike head coach from November 1, a move that is sure to send shockwaves through the esports world because of the sheer surprise factor involved. After all, he is joining a team that is ranked 55th in the world and has never been to a Major or won a LAN trophy. It’s such an unlikely scenario that Rousseau didn’t think at first that it was achievable when he began talks with the agent of Lars Robl, Team Vitality’s CS:GO Performance Manager, with a job offer. But once he learned of zonic’s availability as he was entering the final months of his Vitality contract, Rousseau decided to try to keep the pair together. A couple of weeks later, he was, as he put it to his parents, signing the “Pep Guardiola of CS”. Leaving Vitality behind zonic and Lars have worked together since 2018 and won almost all there is to win in CS:GO, forming a strong duo that complements each other. They left Astralis at the same time and joined Vitality together, and while they don’t consider themselves a package deal, they were keen to extend that partnership for 2024 and beyond. As the summer season progressed and he entered the final six months of his contract, zonic opened discussions with Vitality about a new deal. With talks dragging on, he asked his agent to begin exploring other options. By that point, Lars was already in negotiations with Team Falcons about taking over as Director of Performance, a role that the Saudi organization was eager to fill. In the end, zonic had three destinations to choose from: Vitality, Falcons, and an undisclosed organization. “The reason was mid- and long-term,” zonic explained in a conversation with Dexerto. “I think that Falcons’ project is really attractive. “If we look at the short term, I’m part of the best team in the world right now, one that is most likely going to be the favorite for the next Major. But there were some things with Falcons’ project that, future-wise, make so much sense.” The other reason he is making such an eyebrow-raising career move is of a more personal nature. “Why not try and challenge myself yet again by going to a team that will start from a lower competitive rank and try to build them up into one of the best in the world? “My ultimate goal is to try to win a Major in all three games, 1.6 as a player, then CS:GO and CS2 as a coach.” As for Lars, he was tempted by the prospect of working from a clean slate and developing a performance culture that he believes will give Falcons’ esports teams “an edge”, instead of operating within another’s system. “It’s like a bare field,” Lars explained. “We have been given the opportunity to make our system work. We have the ability to decide how to shape it ourselves. And that’s interesting. “Falcons have a long-term project, they also understand that. They have a really solid and professional organization. They hired Danny. They hired me. ‘That’s the project. Make it work.’ “I really have the space to do that. I have never had that before because it has always been done in an existing system. That’s a huge possibility.” zonic is well aware of the magnitude of the task at hand. He is going to be working with a roster where most of the firepower comes from largely unproven talents, mixed with veteran players, which is quite the change from coaching the likes of Nicolai ‘device’ Reedtz, Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen, and Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut in their prime. There’s also the added factor that Falcons are not partnered with either ESL or BLAST, which means that invites to tournaments in 2024 will be based on results. (In 2025, partner leagues will be scrapped, as determined by Valve.) Perhaps the biggest challenges ahead will be tempering his own expectations and changing his approach to the job, at least in the short run. These last eight years, he has been consumed by a desire and a responsibility to win. He acknowledged that when that didn’t happen — Astralis in 2020 and 2021, Vitality in 2022 — it simply was “not fun.” Can he keep that insatiable appetite for victories in check? “I think it would be foolish to go in and say, ‘We can qualify for the Major, and Falcons’ ambition is to win the Major in Copenhagen,’” he said. “I think that would be stupid and not very responsible. “But that was also the case for Vitality when I joined. I also said the first year would be rough, and that was despite me having a super team under me.” zonic insisted that everyone on the team will have “a fair chance” to prove their worth and that he will not be going into this project looking to tear the team apart. “I need to evaluate all the players, have talks with them, see how they play, how they function,” he explained. “It’s difficult to see that with an outsider’s perspective.” But if he deems that changes are necessary, he will have the authority to put his stamp on the team and the resources to speed up their timeline of building a title contender. “Falcons mean business when it comes to establishing this as the number-one team in the world, and that is also part of the excitement and the challenge that I have,” he said. “I’m not joining an existing project with the best players out there. I’m joining a team where my only task is to become the best in the world. How I do it is up to me and Lars.” zonic and Lars will not finish out the season as the French organization is already preparing for the future of the team. It remains unclear who will be guiding the players at IEM Sydney, the first tier-one event to feature Counter-Strike 2, though an option is that assistant coach Mathieu ‘MaT’ Leber takes charge of the squad. The French coach stood behind the players at the recent Gamers8 event, which zonic couldn’t attend due to personal reasons. Questioned about the team’s future, neither zonic nor Lars showed concern about the impact that their departures might have on the players. “I’m not too worried about Vitality,” zonic said, adding that MaT can be “a guardian of the tools” that contributed to the team’s success over the last two years. “They have got to believe that they have what it takes to get through the situation,” Lars added. “And they have the tools to do that.” In Malta, where the team was playing in ESL Pro League 18, emotions were high when the players learned that this would be their final tournament with the pair. “I would say it was very beautiful,” zonic said. “This is probably the best group of five players I have ever worked with, and I think that really showed when the news was brought up. I couldn’t be more proud of how they handled it and what we went through during those couple of days.” The revelation of the news was followed by a long group session called ‘empty the backpack’, a space devoid of criticism and judgment where everyone is encouraged to be honest with each other and express their feelings. “There were tears running down,” Lars said. “It just shows how much the individuals in the team mean to each other. It was hard, but as Danny said, it was beautiful and emotional.” zonic said that he respects Vitality’s decision to move on from him and Lars for the final leg of the tournament season. “The easy solution would have been to continue until the end of the year and try to win as much as possible,” he argued. At the same time, he can’t help but feel “sad and heartbroken” to miss, for the third straight year, the BLAST Fall Final at the Royal Arena (he didn’t travel with Astralis’ squad for the final tournaments of 2021 after informing the organization he would not be signing a new contract, and Vitality couldn’t qualify for last year’s event). The iconic arena in Denmark’s capital, which has become part of Counter-Strike folklore in recent years, will also host PGL Major Copenhagen — the first Major for both CS2 and Denmark. The qualifiers for the Major will begin on January 8, only two months after zonic steps into the role. With little time to get to know the squad and prepare for the event, he conceded that the tournament might come too soon for the team. “It will definitely be tough, working with such a tight deadline and having to qualify for the Major,” he said. “The good part is that it’s a new game. “I had to weigh things up, and for me, [Falcons] was just too good of an opportunity for me to be thinking about the next four months only. I needed to think more long-term. And yes, it will definitely hurt if I don’t qualify for the Major. But I will do everything I can to make sure that Falcons is at the Copenhagen Major.” Dealing with criticism According to zonic, one of the things about Falcons that has surprised him the most is “how professional” the organization is, which is seen in its openness to do things the way he believes to be the right one — by giving the coach free rein to work and build the team according to his vision. Only last year, Falcons made headlines by signing CS:GO star Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub with hopes of qualifying for the BLAST.tv Paris Major. The team fell short of the goal, and the iconic AWPer moved into a content creator role within the organization shortly afterward. This, however, is a much more ambitious move by Falcons, the brainchild of Mossad ‘Msdossary’ Aldossary. The Saudi Arabian FIFA star, the winner of the 2018 FIFA eWorld Cup, co-founded the organization in 2017 with the goal, according to Rousseau, of creating “an esports world for gamers in MENA.” “A lot of the work is around Msdossary’s idea to create this very popular brand across Europe and MENA that has winning at its center,” Rousseau explained. “There is a very, very large content creation aspect to Falcons, with major Middle Eastern content creators under the Falcons brand. A little bit similar to what FaZe used to be, let’s say. That’s something that’s never seen, I think, because obviously, it’s in Arabic; it’s Arabic-focused.” Since Rousseau joined the organization, in August 2022, one of his main tasks has been providing Falcons’ teams with the tools to become regulars on the international stage. In 2023, the Rocket League team repeated the top-eight finish from last year’s World Championship and placed top four at Gamers8. The Rainbow Six squad also reached the semi-finals at Gamers8 and played at its first-ever Major, in Copenhagen. And Falcons Vega, the organization’s women’s Valorant team, is through to the playoffs of Game Changers Stage III EMEA. All three squads have players from Saudi Arabia. But getting these teams to the next level required hiring an expert who could help the players keep their minds clear and focused on performing. “CS will be Lars’ priority, but actually it’s about him being able to bring this performance philosophy across Falcons as a whole,” Rousseau explained. “Sometimes, the MENA teams are incredible in that region, and to bring them to an international level requires a real step up in terms of behavior, effort, approach to work, approach to practice, teamwork… All of those different aspects. “That is something that isn’t necessarily fully implemented because of the age of status of the region. But it’s something that we feel we are advancing very quickly. And Lars is coming in to really help with that. CS will represent the best example of what he is going to put in place, and the idea is to copy-paste the system across all of our teams to help them develop and grow.” Rousseau noted that zonic’s hiring is part of a three-year plan to deliver a Counter-Strike Major title, but he is conscious of the transformative impact that the arrival of such a high-profile figure will have from a public-perception standpoint. Already in the scene, there are rumors about Falcons giving the Danish coach a blank cheque to assemble the team of his dreams, with Vitality’s duo of Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif and dupreeh linked with the project, according to French content creator Sebastien ‘KRL’ Perez. But amid all the hype, there is genuine concern about the growing influence of Saudi Arabia in global esports. Over the last 18 months, the kingdom has positioned itself as a major player in the esports industry, acquiring tournament organizers, hosting multi-million dollar events, and sponsoring articles in endemic publications. Getting the best talent, many feared, was just a matter of time. Rousseau believes that what Falcons are doing is “no different” from what other organizations have done over the years in search of competitive success. “We have belief in the project here and in our ability to build a CS dynasty, similar to Astralis’ back in the day,” he said. “That’s not because of pure resources; that is because of the right staff, the right talent, the right behavior, the right mindset to come together and create that. And that’s what drew zonic and Lars. They have come here because they believe in a long-term, sustainable project, one that is not about overspending or being stupid.” For their part, Lars and zonic rejected the notion that this move was purely motivated by money. “It was not the money that drove me to this,” Lars noted. “It was the role, the responsibility, and the freedom I got in the role to create something that I really believe in.” “Of course, Falcons’ offer is really good, but so were the offers from Vitality and the other organization,” zonic added. “But for me, it has to be worth it. “I need to fulfill my personal goal, which is to try and challenge myself. I understand the concerns, and it’s an easy narrative to make.” The Danish coach went on to add that he probably would have made more money in the short run if he had decided to stay with Vitality, “given the status of the team” and the events ahead. “I don’t think I’m crossing any lines I shouldn’t, but the sticker sales from the Paris Major, I don’t think they were ever as big,” he explained. “And now we are coming into the first Major in CS2. “Short-term-wise, I think I would have made more money [in Vitality], if you don’t take just the salary into consideration. Yes, I expect to make more money in Falcons, but that comes with a risk. It demands that we become the best team in the world, but that is where the challenge comes from.” The main point of criticism, however, will be their indirect association with a country that has a long record of human rights abuses. Saudi Arabia wants to become a global hub for gaming and esports by the end of the decade as part of its ‘Vision 2030’ program, which many believe is merely another attempt to polish its public image. Lars said that he experienced firsthand how big and impactful esports has become in the Middle East while attending Gamers8 in August. For him, having the opportunity to contribute to the development of the region and improve the lives of the people there was “a driving factor” in his decision. “I learned from my former career in the Special Forces, with a lot of missions to Afghanistan and other places, that you try to focus on where you can make a difference and try to make it better for the people around you,” he said. “Saudi Arabia is really putting a focus on esports because it means a lot to a lot of people down there. That’s where, I think, Danny and I can contribute.” zonic also reinforced the idea that he and Lars can be a force for good in the region. “I think there is a positive change going on in Saudi Arabia,” he argued. “With the number of gamers that the region has, being able to contribute to this positive change by bringing, let’s say, a Major trophy to Saudi Arabia is something that also drives me. “I don’t think many people know this, but my father was born and raised in Egypt, so I understand the cultural angle. Having family in Egypt, if I can contribute to Saudi Arabia’s goals, which are definitely to open up more, then I’m proud to be able to help in that department as well. “I’m not going to sit here and say there are no issues. But what I teach my kids is that if they are trying to be better, I will encourage them and help them do that. I think that bringing a Major title would be a small but good contribution to where they’re heading.”

How Davenport University has made history with college CS:GO team Davenport UniversityDavenport University made history as the first fully collegiate squad to qualify for CS:GO’s ESL Challenger League in North America. It marks a historic moment for college esports and has been years in the making at the private institution out of Michigan. In the ESL Challenger League Season 41 Relegation tournament on July 12, Davenport University was fighting for their tournament lives in the lower bracket. The players on this CS:GO team were playing in the online tournament from their various homes across the country, attempting a final push into the next level of North American competition, the ESL Challenger League, after placing third in the ESEA Advanced league. Davenport sophomore Collin ‘CoJoMo’ Moren himself was competing from Alabama in what he described as a “scuffed” setup, with an old desk, metal folding chair, and terrible internet. Colin Graham, Davenport University’s esports program director, watched on Twitch as the team lost the match to Northern Forces 2-0. “The energy was just kind of waning, I think they had been playing and practicing so much that they were just kind of hitting their limit,” Graham said in an interview with Dexerto. Davenport failed to qualify for the Challenger League, one of the biggest competitions in North America, a region that has been hit hard by the exodus of talent and organizations to Valorant. The team was bummed, but the program was ready to bounce back and fight through the Advanced division again for another shot at collegiate esports history. “We were very disappointed with that,” CoJoMo told Dexerto. “We were very disappointed and it was demoralizing. But I think we kind of just realized the bigger picture,” CoJoMo said. That disappointment didn’t last long, however, as about two weeks later, on August 3, the team saw the Davenport University logo along with that of storied teams Evil Geniuses and MIBR for the upcoming edition of the Challenger League. After some initial confusion on how they had made it in due to various teams dropping out, and if they would still need to play a qualification match against Unjustified gaming, ESL later let both teams into the Challenger League. “It was just a roller coaster of emotion,” CoJoMo said about the saga. Davenport became the first fully collegiate roster to make it into ESL Challenger after three years of competition that started in the no-man’s land that is the open division. The squad was heralded online and congratulated for hitting such a significant milestone in college esports. “This is insane for collegiate esports,” Graham said. “I never thought we were going to be here. I thought we were going to be a League of Legends school when I started.” How Davenport University built up its CS:GO program Graham joined Davenport’s program in 2019 as an assistant League of Legends coach and quickly rose up to run the entire department. Once at the top, he polled the school to see what kind of interest he could find in the student body for specific esports and quickly found out that first-person shooters were a hit. “Let’s just offer everything, let’s throw everything at the wall and see what sticks,” Graham said. “And we ended up having a couple Rainbow Six players come up… and a group of about five students, including current Davenport students, came up to me with interest in Counter-Strike.” The team saw some success in 2019, but the program only started to pick up in 2020 due to the global health crisis and esports being almost the only source of competition that kept going during that time. At the start, Graham instituted a culture in the team of sticking together and competing for a common goal. Unlike in other college esports programs, every player on Davenport only competes for the school and is required to be on campus (except during the summer, when they compete from their homes) and maintain a 2.0-2.5 grade point average. In other programs, players might be splitting time between playing for the collegiate squad and competing for other teams. They might also just sign up for one remote class at a college to play on their team. But when players commit to Davenport University, they can only play for the institution and are required to attend in-person classes. Their current Division 1 squad (Davenport University has three CS teams), has competed at LAN tournaments together as well as in ESEA league matches. “I think that a lot of people take collegiate CS as a joke because a lot of players are doing it as their secondary team,” CoJoMo said. “There are a lot of players in ECL that also play on their collegiate teams, and it makes the whole collegiate scene suffer because it’s hard to put together teams, and there’s just so much inconsistency about which players are able to play or when they’re going to be able to play, and the collegiate scene struggles a lot because of that.” The next piece of the puzzle for their success was bringing on Colin ‘koi’ Thor as their CS:GO head coach. The former MOUZ assistant coach and analyst has brought a level of expertise and mentorship that the program desperately needed, to the point that Graham let him run the ship. “My stance with him, and my relationship, is, ‘I’m going to let you spread your wings and do what you need to do,’” Graham said about koi. From there, the squad worked their way to where they are now. Even if they didn’t really reach the ECL in the traditional way, the squad put themselves in a position to qualify and have the culture that has kept them together — a rarity in the region, even at the highest level. The future of Davenport University in CS Qualifying for ECL is not what Davenport wants to be their peak. The school has teams in other esports, with the same culture and qualifications, and is bringing in international students to bolster its CS squad. The school is also planning on adding a women’s team to its ranks in the near future. Making history brings with it a level of notoriety and bargaining power with the institution and outside companies, according to Graham. Counter-Strike currently gets the lion’s share of the university budget, Graham said, and almost all of it is going to growing the program — which includes the construction of an expanded esports facility for the fall semester — and developing their current players. “I think the stance is that we want to use Davenport as a way to bring in young, talented individuals from around North America and give them a place to be successful and to grow and develop as CS:GO players,” Graham said. While Davenport has yet to see a player go pro after graduating, it is not out of the realm of possibility for its current class of students and coaches. As for their chances in ECL, the team expects a challenge, but CoJoMo thinks it’s nothing they can’t handle. “I think that we’re going to surprise a lot of people and I could even see us making playoffs and showing what is possible in collegiate esports,” he said.

How CSGO prodigy s1mple “stuck it” to those who didn’t believe in him DexertoOleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, at age 25, has reached the pinnacle of Counter-Strike and esports. In an exclusive interview with Dexerto, he spoke about his journey, and what drives him to achieve more. Every sport or esport needs a face. Lionel Messi for football, Lebron James for basketball, and for Counter-Strike, s1mple. Yes it may sound ridiculous mentioning s1mple in the same breath as iconic sports legends, but every esport needs a figure capable of bringing an entire arena to its feet. The magic of sports derives from creating villains and heroes for fans to either adore or loath. Because while sports is a career for athletes, it ultimately serves as a form of entertainment incomparable to any other medium for many fans. You either hate or love s1mple, and that’s exactly what he wants. The Ukrainian professional CS:GO player possesses the rare “it” factor to stun audiences with his highlight reel ability. He is a polarizing figure but widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. s1mple has made it his personal mission to prove people wrong. s1mple’s rise to stardom in CS:GO s1mple’s earliest video game memory came from playing Heroes of Newerth after his brother showed the MOBA to him. He later joined a computer club and discovered CS 1.6, an earlier version of the historic FPS title. After s1mple brought home his first prize from a 2v2 tournament, his family “realized that this was more than just a game and grew supportive,” according to him. It’s become a common trend for aspiring young esports players to drop out of school, either becoming full time streamers or joining an organization. But s1mple advised youngsters to “stay in school, it will come in handy later in your life.” He found a balance between studying and chasing his esports dream. In 2014, s1mple joined his first professional CS:GO team, HellRaisers. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t go as planned, but he saw a career path ahead of him. “I first realized that I could become one of the strongest players back in 2014.” s1mple experiences turbulent start to career HellRaisers cut s1mple in 2015 in part because of an ESL wire ban for cheating, which prevented him from attending the ESL One Katowice Major. The ban, which dated back to his 1.6 days, had been extended after he had attempted to evade it. s1mple wears his emotions on his sleeve while on the stage, and some community members considered his behavior “toxic“. “I believed in the 2014 HellRaisers roster, and I’m sure that I was removed because of the ESL ban, not because I was toxic as ANGE1, one of NAVI’s Valorant players, claimed.” In 2016, s1mple received a second lease on life with Team Liquid in the United States. He struggled with homesickness and failed to properly acclimate with living away from home. Despite struggling off-stage, he flourished in-game, leading Liquid to the semi-finals and finals of Majors. At ESL Cologne 2016, he pulled off a 1v2 AWP falling no-scope clutch round against Fnatic, and Valve immortalized the moment with a graffiti painting in-game on Cache. (s1mple has graffiti tattooed on his left shoulder.) “I believe I had a great career and accomplished a lot in NA, having led the NA team to the Major finals for the first time.” s1mple finally finds a home on NAVI In 2016, s1mple found the homecoming he was searching for, joining Natus Vincere in Ukraine. He shined as the team’s AWPer, pulling off memorable plays every event with the sniper rifle in hand. HLTV ranked s1mple as the best CS:GO player in 2018, but his individual accolades still were not translating into trophies. Critics questioned if s1mple could win a Major, but he never gave up faith in his ability as a player. “I never gave up and believed that one day I would become a top player and win Majors. I saw what I needed to work on and always set goals for myself.” s1mple silenced doubters by putting up one of his best career performances as NAVI won. their first Major title at PGL Stockholm in 2021. The Ukranian side made history by winning every single map in the tournament, and s1mple earned MVP honors for his heroic performance. “It’s an incredible feeling to stick it to those who don’t know anything about me or my team and don’t realize how much I wanted this or how hard I worked to achieve this result.” HLTV once again named s1mple the best CS:GO player in 2021, and he has won a record 21 MVP medals to date. What’s next for s1mple in CS:GO? Even after finally winning a Major title, s1mple doesn’t plan on retiring any time soon or leaving Natus Vincere. He recently signed a three-year contract extension that will keep him with the organization until the end of 2025. “I am thrilled to have played for the Ukrainian club for over six years, though it’s not easy for me because I had not stayed on any roster for longer than a year before.” Training the next generation of talent is essential for the growth and stability of an esport. It’s even more imperative in CS:GO, with Valorant poaching away young talent. “I think at 30, I’ll start thinking about maybe staying in the organization as a coach or in some other position because I want our academy to become even more prominent in the future. Or perhaps I’ll go into business – I don’t know yet.” Whatever s1mple decides to do in the future, he has already proved everyone wrong who doubted him, and will forever be remembered as one of the greatest AWPers and CS:GO players of all time.

How CSGO caster Anders dealt with mental health issues I The Richard Lewis interview Renowned Counter-Strike caster, Anders Blume, sat down with Richard Lewis to talk about his bout with mental health issues and how he was able to cope with it all throughout the years. Blume has been the gold-standard for on-air talent in esports. Whether it’s the amount of events he attends or the game’s he casts, his career has been a great example for others who want to follow. Unfortunately, life doesn’t come without its hardships. Whether it was personal matters at home or a packed schedule of responsibilities, Blume was hit with a flurry of stresses that seemed to pile on at times. This is something that Blume and Lewis recognized affects everyone, but something many don’t talk about – or even admit to themselves. On the job, there are some times when people can invest too much of themselves into the craft, which can start to have adverse effects on their health. Outside of the job, influences from social media or the internet just adds to the mess if you let it consume you. While there aren’t glamorous or catchy solutions to these issues, Blume found respite in everything from diet, exercise, and even meditation to start dealing with the issue head-on. Self-control in practicing good habits and having the mental strength to cast aside negativity doesn’t come easy for all people, but it could be something everyone can work on. Through years of practice, Blume eventually found a routine that works for him even when life gets thick, and is hoping more people can find a way to do the same for themselves.