Author: Nik Ranger

DeKay’s Sources: ESL Pro League introducing strict exclusivity rules for Pro Tour in 2020 The ESL Pro League is set to feature multiple new exclusivity rules as part of the ESL Pro Tour starting in 2020, according to information provided to Dexerto. ESL and DreamHack have announced a new CS:GO circuit that will begin in 2020, featuring a $5 million combined prize pool. The circuit has been named the “ESL Pro Tour” and will link over 20 tournaments together that are split between “Challenger” and “Masters” levels. One notable tournament that is included in the tour is ESL Pro League, which now features multiple exclusivity rules according to information provided to Dexerto. In the “Pro League Focus” section of the ESL Pro League term sheet excerpt sent to Dexerto, there are multiple clauses regarding when teams can and cannot play other tournaments. “Beginning January 1st 2020, all member teams of Pro League shall not play in other Counter-Strike leagues, this means non Valve sponsored competitions where the first day of competition (excluding qualifiers) and the grand final day are more than fourteen (14) days apart, besides Pro League. All member teams of Pro League shall limit their tournament participation days, meaning the active competition days of a tournament they participate in regardless of if they play on that day or not, to not more than 60 days per calendar year (not including travel, media days, or break days). This number excludes official Valve competitions such as Minors and Majors, online qualifiers, and also excludes Pro League competition days. Exceptions to the number of tournament days allowed can be granted by the Members Meeting. During the League Season (per jointly aligned schedule), teams shall not play in any other tournaments/leagues. Member teams may play online qualifiers for tournaments of $200,000 or higher in prize money during this period. This number excludes official Valve competitions such as Minors and Majors, and online qualifiers.” Multiple sources have explained to Dexerto that despite the announcement of ESL Pro Tour, at least two teams with ESL Pro League spots have not yet agreed to participate in the tournament circuit. According to two separate sources, organizations will not be able to participate in ECS Season 8 while participating in ESL Pro League due to these new rules. Teams that hold spots in both leagues include Team Liquid, NRG, MIBR, Complexity Gaming, Cloud9, FURIA Esports, eUnited, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Mousesports, FaZe Clan, Astralis, Team Vitality, Optic Gaming, North, and Fnatic. Dexerto has reached out to ESL, the Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association (CSPPA) and FACEIT for comment. This is a developing story, with more information expected in the coming days. We will update as and when more details about the ESL Pro Tour and Pro League emerge.

DeKay’s Sources: coldzera transfer to FaZe Clan nearing completion European Counter-Strike team FaZe Clan are in the final stages of acquiring Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David from the Immortals organization, according to multiple sources close to the team. It is expected that the transfer will be finalized in time for the team to play with him at ESL One: New York this week. Coldzera will officially fill one of the two spots left vacant by the departures of Filip ‘NEO’ Kubski and Ladislav ‘GuardiaN’ Kovács from the active roster. Filling the other spot on trial is Helvijs ‘broky’ Saukants, a relatively unknown AWPer from Latvia. GuardiaN has already been announced as the replacement for Danylo ‘Zeus’ Teslenko on his former team Natus Vincere. The transfer of coldzera marks the first time FaZe Clan have paid a transfer fee in CS:GO since acquiring GuardiaN in the second half of 2017. Since then, they had only used free agent players or players on loan including former Major winners in Filip ‘neo’ Kubski and Dauren ‘AdreN’ Kystaubayev. FaZe Clan were able to retain their slot at the StarLadder Berlin Major with a 1-3 record in the New Legends Stage. Their performance earned them a spot in the New Challengers Stage for the next Major, scheduled to take place in May of 2020. Their other recent performances included a group stage exit at ESL One: Cologne 2019 and a quarter-final appearance at the ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals. A two-time CS:GO Major winner, coldzera was crowned HLTV’s best player in the world in 2016 and 2017. The 24-year-old was the star player of the Luminosity/SK Gaming core during their era of Counter-Strike dominance but became disillusioned as results declined following the move to MIBR. In July of 2019, he opted to bench himself and MIBR chose to play with coach Wilton ‘zews’ Prado at the StarLadder Berlin Major. Coldzera has not played an official tournament since ESL One: Cologne 2019 in early July. Should the move go through, FaZe Clan’s CS:GO roster would consist of: Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovacs – Håvard ‘rain’ Nygaard – Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer – Helvijs ‘broky’ Saukants – Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David –

DeKay’s Sources: BIG exploring replacements for gob b and denis The majority German Counter-Strike team Berlin International Gaming are exploring replacements for Fatih “gob b” Dayik and Denis “denis” Howell on the active roster, according to multiple sources. Benched BIG players, Owen “smooya” Butterfield and Johannes “nex” Maget have been discussed as possible replacements but no decision has been made at this time. While it was originally discussed that gob b would eventually become the coach of BIG when his time as a player came to an end, that is now not expected to happen according to one source. Discussions are ongoing with Sprout coach Tobias “TowB” Herberhold, who would replace Alexander “kakafu” Szymanczyk as head coach should the two come to an agreement. Gob b has been a member of the BIG organization since its inception at the start of 2017. Denis joined BIG back in May, replacing nex on the active roster. Since he joined the team, they have struggled on an international level with poor performances at both ESL One: Cologne and the StarLadder Europe Minor. Multiple sources have explained that smooya would prefer to not return to the lineup, where he played for ten months between 2018 and early 2019. To leave the organization, his transfer fee must be agreed upon and paid by a new organization due to his contract extending as far as 2020. A separate source mentioned that re-adding nex to the lineup is not the first choice of the organization and could be temporary, if it happens. The other name mentioned to Dexerto as a possible new addition is Michael “devraNN” Geutebrück, who is a member of their academy team.

DeKay’s Sources: 100 Thieves to acquire Renegades CS:GO team The 100 Thieves organization plan to re-enter professional Counter-Strike with the acquisition of the Oceanic players from the Renegades organization, according to multiple sources. Dexerto was first to report that the Renegades players were facing expiring contracts earlier last month. According to one source, 100 Thieves recently purchased the lineup. It is unclear how much time remained on their previous contracts. The Renegades CS:GO roster currently consists of: Aaron ‘AZR’ Ward – Justin ‘jks’ Savage – Joakim ‘jkaem’ Myrbostad – Jay ‘Liazz’ Tregillgas – Sean ‘Gratisfaction’ Kaiwai – Aleksandar ‘kassad’ Trifunović – Renegades tweeted their goodbyes and well wishes to their roster, and included the roster’s 100 Thieves destination. They have since deleted the tweet that read: We can’t wait to see what’s in store for all of you. Thank you, @azr, @RNGjks, @jkaemGO, @liazzgo, and @GratisfactionNZ. Thank you, @kassadCSGO and @GoMeZCSGO. GLHF with @100Thieves. Once a Renegade, always a Renegade. The 100 Thieves org will be hoping that their acquisition of the Renegades roster will be a smoother transition into the Counter-Strike space than their first attempt. In 2017, Nadeshot’s organization picked up the talented Immortals roster but the Brazilian lineup. Unfortunately, a number of issues meant that the team never saw the light of day as 100 Thieves removed Vito ‘kNgV-‘ Giuseppe due to offensive language before eventually deciding to withdraw from the scene entirely. Nadeshot revealed plans to return to CS:GO back in July, while walking into a meeting during one of his vlogs. In August, he followed this up by announcing that he and 100T were flying to Berlin for the tail end of the StarLadder major with the goal of assembling “a championships caliber roster.” The Renegades roster has been moving closer and closer to championship caliber, having finished with better results at each major they’ve attended over the past two years. Most recently they made the semifinals of the StarLadder major, losing to AVANGAR. Renegades entered the CS:GO scene in 2015, picking up the popular Australian lineup of Vox Eminor. Aaron ‘AZR’ Ward and Justin ‘jks’ Savage have been with the organization ever since and have become synonymous with the brand. Norwegian player Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad joined the roster in 2018, and has experienced a career revival with Renegades, after his tenure with FaZe Clan ended disappointingly after high expectations. Renegades added younger talent in Jay ‘Liazz’ Tregillgas and Sean ‘Gratisfaction’ Kaiwai in late 2018, as well as coach Aleksandar ‘kassad’ Trifunović. Since the additions, the Renegades roster and organization achieved some of their best event finishes in years.

DeKay’s Sources: 100 Thieves CSGO linked to NBK- and Aleksib With North American esports organization 100 Thieves confirming their plans to enter CSGO esports, they’re already apparently interesting in acquiring a couple of prominent players. According to multiple sources, 100 Thieves have expressed direct interest in Nathan ‘NBK-’ Schmitt and Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen over the past few days. It has been mentioned by those same sources that the two players have discussed pairing up, regardless of which organization they play for. Both NBK- and Aleksib were benched in their respective organizations following their play at the StarLadder Berlin Major. Dexerto was first to report that Aleksib would be replaced by Miikka ‘suNny’ Kemppi, before they had even made it to Berlin for the event. NBK-‘s benching came more as a surprise and was announced the day after their quarterfinal finish. During his time with Vitality, NBK- helped the team win ECS Season 7, cs_summit 4, and finish second place at ESL One: Cologne 2019. He was one of the main figure heads for building the initial roster and coming to an agreement with the Vitality organization. Aleksib is most known for his time on ENCE as an in-game leader, where they amassed a number of impressive finishes. Under his leadership, ENCE won StarSeries Season 6, DreamHack Open Winter 2018, and BLAST Pro Series: Madrid. They also finished runner up at the IEM Katowice Major, DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019, and IEM Chicago 2019. 100 Thieves joined professional Counter-Strike once previously in early 2018, but their lineup never played an official match before being released due to various setbacks and issues. Their CEO Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag announced on Twitter that they would be making a return to CS:GO in mid-July.

DeKay’s Pre-Cologne CS:GO Mailbag, Part 1: Flusha, Mousesports, and MIBR ESL One: Cologne has the potential to go down as the best event for Counter-Strike of 2019, which means there are plenty of questions surrounding the teams in attendance. With all but two of the top fifteen teams of the world attending, the competition will be fierce. Many teams have their rosters locked due to the Major, but there is still plenty to discuss. Where might flusha end up? What should we expect from Mousesports? When exactly did MiBR decide to replace felps? All those and more are answered in Part 1 of this mailbag. Will flusha return anytime soon? Is flusha coming back any time soon? Will he go to NiP or fnatic? — Priyank (@Pr1y_NK) June 27, 2019 Like many answers on this mailbag: it depends. I think the most likely scenario is him joining NiP or FaZe Clan if he decides he wants to return to the professional circuit. Veteran Swedish players have the fortunate benefit of their stock remaining the same or even going up when they take a break away from the game. He will likely have many teams to choose from and it’s totally up to what he wants. My bet is FaZe Clan though. Is there an ELEAGUE event coming soon? I haven’t heard a single thing about another Counter-Strike event with them. That’s not to say it won’t happen, but their desire to have another event is much less than it once was. Are there updates on TSM’s return to CS:GO? TSM won’t enter the game unless they get a top team or a team that is cost-beneficial long term. The only way I see them entering any time soon is by them picking up ex-OpTic and that’s no guarantee. Having a team full of players that live in Denmark while they are located in California is something they would like to avoid if possible. It was one of the hang-ups with not retaining the now Astralis players in fact. Any updates on suNny? Regular question, but what on earth is happening with sunny? — David Jones (@onlyusedforcsgo) June 27, 2019 I don’t have a timetable for his return, unfortunately. I originally thought he was hoping ENCE would eventually want to change, but then I was recently informed he isn’t playing due to something outside of the game. I don’t know enough to speak about exactly why though, so there isn’t much more to say. I hope he returns soon. Will kioShiMa play with G2 Esports? I don’t expect G2 to make a roster move any time soon with their performance at the ESL Pro League Finals. Even if they wanted to make one, I’m not sure he would be at the top of their list. His reputation is tarnished for one reason or another and I’ll never understand it. He is repeatedly mentioned as a toxic player but when I ask around, no one will give me an example. It sounds like people believe he acts exactly the same as earlier on in his career and hasn’t learned anything since then. What will happen to steel? What do you think is gonna happen with steel? Clown9 can’t even make the major anyways, they should just pick him up over daps. He’s too good of a player and IGL to be playing with Hiko + no names. #freesteel — Cameron (@CamehZoR) June 27, 2019 I don’t know his plan but I doubt C9 reach out to him. I think the most likely scenario for him would be recruiting players and trying to get the EPL spot Ghost has or coaching. He has shown that his teams belong in EPL but he’d also be a fantastic coach if players buy-in. As always, it’s unfortunate he is still banned because he is an underrated player to this day. What was the thought process of FaZe Clan’s recent moves? Did FaZe actually think that they could find someone better than @karriganCSGO ? — Wanbro (@Wanbro_) June 27, 2019 I don’t think their rationale was to find an IGL better than Karrigan. The choice was to either keep him or NiKo and you know how that ended. Sometimes teams get to a point where two players just cannot continue playing together and one has to go, even if they are a top-rated player. The FaZe Clan organization will always choose the most marketable of the two and that’s what happened. As I mentioned before, I think they will limp along in the top 10 of the world rankings before exiting CS:GO entirely when the players’ contracts are up. That is pure speculation though. Has anyone reached out to kioShiMa? Not that I know of. I’m sure some smaller teams have reached out, but nothing of note. Will Cloud9 go All-American? I don’t think they’ve made their mind up just yet. They aren’t in the Major so they have time on their side to get the roster how they’d like it. I’d say it’s more likely than not. Will Lekro be playing in Cologne? Lekro just made a cryptic tweet about not going to Cologne, is there something happening there? — NicoVanG (@NicoVanGij) June 27, 2019 Pretty sure he’ll be there. Has NoChance gotten any offers? I haven’t heard anything. I hope they at least find a sponsor to pay for bootcamping and travel. Maybe they could work a deal that gets better if they make it into the Major. Any word on EPICENTER or ELEAGUE in 2019? I would say yes for EPICENTER and no for ELEAGUE at this time. When did MIBR decide to replace felps? Precisely after their exit from the ESL Pro League Finals. Heading into the event, they did not plan to make a move until after the Major when I asked around. Once they were out, things flip-flopped instantly. It was only a day or two before lucas1 was practicing with them and they started talking with Luminosity about a loan deal. What’s the potential of the current mousesports roster? Where do you think the mouz lineup will progress throughout their growth as a team and what changes would you make if any? — Leo Chevez (@AndurilCS) June 27, 2019 Right now, I wouldn’t change a thing. Their progress is exceptional and this is just another positive entry on Karrigan’s resume. He truly is one of the best leaders in the world and they haven’t had a ton of LAN time together yet. Cologne and the Major will show where they really stand, due to the quality of teams attending. I expect them to make the playoffs in Cologne and top eight at the Major. This mousesports team is very similar to when FaZe Clan first recruited all their star players, except these guys are even more hungry to win. How important is Cologne? In my book it is. It could easily be the best event of the year. It should return as a Major next year. How much were recent buyouts? I don’t speak about buyout numbers unless I see them on paper, I haven’t seen either of theirs so I can’t really say. What are the expectations for Fnatic? What is fnatics Future look like ging into cologne and the Major? — Maximilian Schank (@Maximil27126470) June 27, 2019 From what I know, not very good. There are a few factors outside the server that will hamper them, especially for Cologne. Out of respect for the players, I won’t mention them. Is 100 Thieves coming back to CS:GO? Is 100T looking to pick up a cs team consisting of suNny Flusha Kio Smoooya, Aviyan — seankaempf (@sleep3k) June 27, 2019 Highly unlikely. I don’t think that combination of personalities would end up being a good mix on a team. 100T do not want to gamble if they return. They want to pick up a team that will almost guarantee them positive results from the get-go. Should the map pool be increased? Do you think number of maps in pool should increase? I.e adding cache and cbble so making it 9 or refresh the pool completely bring 9-11 brand new maps. TLDR : should map pool extend and/or maps rotate within major cycles — Yunus Emre Kara (@yemrekara24) June 27, 2019 I do not think it should increase but I do think a map or two should get shuffled after each Major or each year. It would break up the monotony and expose teams that aren’t innovative with their approach to the map pool. Why has NA historically lagged behind? Why has NA historically always lacked when it comes to teams? — Gabriel G (@GabrielGCali) June 27, 2019 Ego, complacency, and selfishness. Some teams have bucked the trend at different points but as a whole the problem is still as prevalent as it ever was. I constantly hear Veteran players talking about how no one takes things seriously in pugs and practice in NA while simultaneously I hear about that same player being a bum teammate. Paychecks are valued higher than championships and that won’t change until players start dreaming about Major victories instead of their next $400 shoe purchase. Team Liquid are the example that many in NA should take after, but I doubt anything will change honestly.

DeKay’s Pre-Cologne CS:GO Mailbag, Part 2: FaZe Clan, Liquid ‘era’ and future of ex-OpTic One of the biggest events of the CS:GO calendar each year, ESL One: Cologne, is right around the corner, so to make sure you’re in the know before the event begins here’s the answers to some of your burning questions. This is part 2 of DeKay’s Pre-Cologne CS:GO mailbag – if you missed part one you can catch up here. FaZe Clan roster moves? I think they are going to monitor for who is available following the Major. I fully expect NEO to get replaced before the end of the year, as they even said adding him was a temporary move. My pick for that spot is flusha, but that is purely a guess. Which orgs are most respectful to journalists? Which org(s) treat journalists with the most professionalism/respect? — Wutzke (@MrW2605) June 27, 2019 In my experience, North American orgs are the most respectable compared to anyone else. Some even go as far as saying they enjoy my work and to continue doing it, despite having done multiple reports that include them. Not that many are bad eggs, just the ones that call journalists out for not asking for comment or other mundane crap like that. New ‘big’ orgs coming to CS:GO? are there any big orgs in serious talks with any cs teams right now? — Pjammin (@pjammin) June 27, 2019 From what I know, there isn’t but there totally could be and I just don’t know. Craziest moves that never happened? What are some other mind blowing roster changes that never happened, such as C9 GTR, Hiko, ska, and scream’s team, nip/faze shuffle? — Kayzeno (@kayzeno_Dingus) June 27, 2019 I’ve written about most of them, so there aren’t any crazy moves that I know about that haven’t been mentioned already. The one that I heard about and have mentioned before that would have been crazy is shox replacing karrigan on FaZe Clan. Far fewer details exist about that potential move and it could totally have been just a crazy rumor and nothing legitimate. What’s LUCAS1’s potential with MiBR? Do you think MiBR will have good results with LUCAS1 ? And do you think they will sign him as a permanent player ? — Dev’sS (@DevsS5) June 27, 2019 I think they will show some improvement but I’m not convinced he is the fix long term. To make strides forward they need to make more than one move, in my opinion. It’s obvious they would prefer picking up a FURIA player or two in the long run so don’t think they’ll give up trying to make that happen. As always, it will come down to who is available at the time if they want to make another move or not retain LUCAS1. Is FURIA players’ salary the lowest of any top team? And another one. Are Furia’s players paid the least amongst all the TOP 20 HLTV teams? — Augustas Babelis (@De2kas176) June 28, 2019 With their base salary on their old contract, they probably were or very close to it. I’ve been assured that the salary on these new contracts is very respectable, they just have giant buyouts on top of them. What the organization doesn’t want you to know is that they don’t have work visas for the US yet. They got in trouble once already for it. Hopefully they get them soon. A new Major qualification system needed? Do you agree with me with the idea that CSGO majors also should invite teams with DPC points? Because number of events are too many, and some teams are trying to avoid competition and attending events where it is easier to win and get the money. — Ulugbek (@Ulugbek42595767) June 27, 2019 I wouldn’t mind something like that because I’ve always believed Majors should have the top twenty four teams in the world, every single time. If a team is tearing up tournaments by placing really well and they fumble at a Major only to continue placing well after, I don’t think they should have to redo the entire qualification process for the next Major. They should be rewarded for their consistent high level of play, which in theory would keep the level of competition high at the most prestigious tournaments. The important questions: Milk or cereal first? People putting milk in their bowls first are absolute lunatics. Potential GeT_RiGhT replacements? They still have time to figure that out, but it’s clear they’d be open to flusha joining. If not him, I can see them trying to steal another youngster. Nawwk is a prime candidate but he has a buyout now and I bet you it is pretty large. This is something with a wide range of possibilities right now so speculating will always be difficult. Why are the Danes struggling? I wouldn’t consider it a problem with Danish teams, it’s just that they have just so happened to struggle at the same time. Astralis has some ring rust and teams have all spent months adapting to their playstyle and analyzing their demos. I still think they are a strong team and they have the capability to bounce back if they are motivated enough. As for ex-OpTic, you can imagine not having an organization’s support has had an effect on them mentally. The lineup is still on the newer side, so if they can sort all of that out I think they will start placing well in qualifiers and eventual tournaments. Where’s the competition in the CIS region? NA is in peak form, france looks like they might have a renaissance, EU is stable but when is CIS gonna produce a rival to Navi? Like Furia is challenging mibr in brazil at the moment — Alex Riebel (@m00nkeyboy) June 27, 2019 At the moment AVANGAR has the best shot to give Na’Vi a run for their money with the addition of AdreN but expecting them to take over Na’Vi just isn’t realistic. The issue is that Na’Vi have s1mple and no one else does. When you have a generational talent like him, it will be difficult to beat his team on a regular basis. Long term though, I think AVANGAR will be the best they ever have as a team. AdreN fills a lot gaps in teams with his experience and adaptability. Most likely to underperform in Cologne? Fnatic has my pick. As I alluded to in Part 1, they were dealing with some issues leading up to the event. They spent most of their time practicing with Jumpy because JW was in the hospital. He is good to go now, but they won’t have had much practice together. If they play even decently well, I’ll be impressed. I didn’t plan on discussing it but JW replied in the thread for Part 1 on Reddit and explained the situation. If I was a Fnatic fan, I would be looking towards the Major as a real barometer for the level of this lineup. What does the future hold for Ex-Ghost? what’s happening with the ex ghost players? have any of them gotten any offers? do any of them want to still play together? — MC Ferrari (@MC__Ferrari) June 27, 2019 I’m not entirely sure. Wardell would have already joined another team if he didn’t have such a large buyout, in my opinion. Many forget that he was the only one to sign a “multi-year” deal with them so who knows how much that will limit his opportunities. I think the other guys are just surveying their options. The most interesting aspect is that they had an ESL Pro League spot, so I wonder of one or two of them can convince ESL to let them retain it. I don’t think the org plans on picking up a new team for it. They also can’t sell it without the original majority lineup either. Nawwk to NiP? Only if they want to pay a large buyout. Last I checked he was pretty committed to GamersLegion. Future of (ex-)OpTic? I have no news at all to report what will happen with the organization. As for the ex-OpTic players, I expect them to find an organization relatively easily. Those things just take some time. Criteria for a Liquid ‘era’? What does Liquid need for an era? Have any teams approached JDM that you know of? — Vawqer (@Vawqer) June 27, 2019 They need to at least win the Major and some tournaments after, in my opinion. Winning both Cologne and the Major would jumpstart it even sooner, especially if they beat Astralis once or twice again in the process. I just don’t think any other team can hang with them when they are firing on all cylinders. Their best is better than everyone else’s right now.

DeKay’s Mailbag, Part 3: What to expect from Team Envy CS:GO, compLexity, and FaZe Clan With a multitude of questions still lingering within the CS:GO community, the final edition of DeKay’s Mailbag will look to answer some of the biggest ones of all. While things might seem quiet in the world of CS:GO at the moment, there’s almost always discussions going on with many of the top teams prior to the next major roster shuffle. Does Envy have what it takes to be a Top 3 team in North America? Do FaZe Clan have any roster moves in the pipeline? Any news on the Polish roster shuffle? Be sure to catch up Part 1 and Part 2 of the Mailbag before diving into the concluding part. Can Envy be a top team in North America? What do you think about nV? Do you think that they can do damage in the scene and be a top 3 NA team? — Theta (@theta2k) April 19, 2019 Envy have some potential, but I’m not yet convinced this roster is the one that gives them the best shot. I think they need another event or two before they consider making a change though. Their performance at EPL was pretty rough but there wasn’t a particular player that underperformed in comparison to their teammates. That leads me to believe they need more time to iron out their map pool and protocols. Ultimately I think their ceiling is low though and they would need a superstar type player to raise that ceiling. Are compLexity making any moves? Have you heard anything about CoL thinking about replacing rickeh due to visa issues, or making any other changes? — Pjammin (@pjammin) April 19, 2019 The rumor of rickeh getting replaced has been floating around for a while now and they would have already replaced him if Jordan ‘n0thing’ Gilbert had stuck around permanently. I think he gets replaced very soon, it’s just a matter of who they get. The most likely scenario is Owen ‘oBo’ Schlatter still in my opinion, once he is old enough. Other than that, I haven’t heard any names in particular that have been asked to join. Will nifty or Autimatic move anytime soon? Any chance of nifty moving towards a better team? Or any chance of autimatic going to another team? — Keegan Baker (@kbib109) April 19, 2019 Both are in long term contracts (as far as I know) and are pretty committed to their respective teams. They are both centerpieces for their organizations so someone would have to pay an insane amount of money to get them, even if they were willing. I think those two are the most likely to remain on the current lineups out of all the players on either team. When will FaZe Clan move on from AdreN? when do faze plan to replace adren, and according to hunter, they never showed interest in him, why? he could igl, and is related to Niko — Hazemore (@Hazemore04) April 19, 2019 Dauern ‘AdreN’ Kystaubayev will likely be kept on an event to event or month to month basis I think, until they figure out what the long term plans of the team are. How much stock they put into their BLAST Miami victory will also play a part in that decision making process. From what I know, Nemanja ‘huNter’ Kovač was never approached directly but instead an inquiry was made to his organization. He has a super high buyout because of his fresh contract, so he will be stuck there unless someone wants him extremely bad and doesn’t care about the price. Are FaZe Clan looking for any new IGLs? As far as I know, no they aren’t. They easily could be without my knowledge, but the number of players they would even consider is quite small so I find it unlikely right now. Are FaZe Clan willing to spend big money? Is Faze looking for a new IGL? If so, Are they willing to spend big or do they wanna get one for cheap/free? — akshat gupta (@gakshat11) April 19, 2019 It has been years since FaZe has been willing to spend serious money on anything. They could have grabbed a ton of different players that would have been willing to join, but chose to wait for AdreN to become a free agent. I’m amazed that people haven’t caught on to this, even if you haven’t been paying attention to how many times I’ve said it. Will Ninjas in Pyjamas pick up a new IGL or coach soon? Probably not anytime soon. A competent Swedish IGL in the international scene would have to surface and that hasn’t happened in years. Making a change for the sake of making a change right now would be pretty foolish, it would just be a gamble with unfavorable odds. Their only choice would be trying out unproven players or having to venture outside of their comfort zone with a non-Swedish IGL. I just don’t see that happening. Are NiP planning on a roster change? I have no idea if they plan on it. I’m confident they will approach Robin ‘flusha’ Rönnquist if they haven’t already. Even if they do, that doesn’t mean he will join. It’s hard to say just yet. Are Team Vitality happy with their recent success? How happy is Vitality right now with the win in Charleroi and with Alex? — banksjie-twyz 银行 (@andrew_csgod) April 19, 2019 I assume they are pretty happy. Winning an event is great for confidence and team morale regardless of size. In this case, they beat national rivals so that makes it even sweeter. Is suNny wasting his talent? Btw how about @suNnycsgo, he waste his talent being in inactive ,in which team he will may realize himself? last year he got 16 place on top 20 players hltv, maybe this year he will be on top 10-5? — N (@krombergjk) April 19, 2019 I’m sure there are a bunch of teams he would be willing to play for, but it isn’t entirely up to him. Not only does a team have to be interested in him in return, but they have to be willing to pay his buyout. It’s not as simple as you make it sound. Any news on the Polish roster shuffle? Nothing at this time. What’s next for NoChance? They are still looking for an organization to represent but times are tough for lower ranked teams in that respect. On any given occasion, I am approached to try and help teams like this one find an organization and they just don’t exist right now. For the most part, a Counter-Strike team is unprofitable unless they have tremendous sponsorship and are placing well internationally. This is an unfortunate reality of the post skin gambling era.

DeKay’s CS:GO Mailbag: NiP controversy, FaZe’s next move, bigger prize pools (Part 2) With the full list of teams set for the StarLadder Berlin Major, we all now must wait nearly a month for the New Challengers Stage to begin. Roster discussion is at a stand-still for most Major bound teams, but there is still plenty on the table to discuss. Has Fifflaren started a movement? What was Boomb14 tweeting about? Should Cloud9 or NRG make a roster move soon? Answers to these and much more are in this installment of the DeKay Monthly CS:GO Mailbag. This is part 2 of DeKay’s monthly mailbag – if you missed Part 1 you can catch up here. Cloud9’s next move? What should the next move for C9 be? Stick with the roster they’ve got and see where it takes them or try and make a move for 1 or 2 more changes? — Jake V. (@TheJakeVanO) July 28, 2019 They need to give the roster a full chance before they make another change in my opinion. A leader like daps will need time to help them build their map pool and find where they are most comfortable in a best-of three environment. It would be crazy to cut someone so early into this new project. I think they should keep their roster the same until the end of the year. Fallout from Fifflaren’s NiP claims? Do you think the Fifflaren / NiP exposé is the beginning of something? Like finally getting rid of some skeletons that’s been in the CSGO scene’s closet. — Sebastian (@detbrusar) July 28, 2019 When Fifflaren first mentioned he wanted to talk to Richard Lewis about it, that was my first thought. I hoped it would result in many more coming out and telling their story about NiP as well as other organizations. I spend a ton of time working with people to help them get money they are owed on a regular basis, but a majority of them never want it going public. In most cases they are afraid that it might hurt their reputation and don’t want to risk it. That’s not a healthy way to live. I have had a ton of people reach out since his interview, so yes is the answer to your question. Who knows how many have contacted Richard. I’m loving every second of it. Bigger CS:GO prize pools? Do you think Valve will get involved with more tournaments in the CS:GO scene in the future that aren’t majors? For the majors themselves, do you think the prize pool needs to be increased? — Ryan (@k3arCS) July 28, 2019 I don’t see them getting more hands-on outside of Majors, that’s just not the Valve way. Sure, prize pool being increased wouldn’t be bad but money alone won’t help them feel more prestigious though. I think getting the community involved similarly to the way they do with the International would be a huge step in the right direction. Stickers are pretty lackluster in terms of revenue these days so I’d like to see them reinvent that process somehow. Additionally, they need to approach the awarding process for Majors a bit more diligently moving forward. I’m over the process of giving the new guy a Major each year and “seeing how they do.” It’s time to return to giving it to the organizer with the best pitch and the most amount of resources to put on a memorable event. What’s next for bodyy? I unfortunately don’t have an answer for you there, I haven’t heard his name pop up in a while now. LETN1 to be replaced on CR4ZY? Unless there is some sort of internal conflict, I don’t see that happening. They just made the Major for the first time, so I can only imagine spirits are very high at the moment. I expect their lineup to remain the same unless nexa or huNter get picked up by a bigger organization later on in the year. Lucky being ‘kicked’ by G2? I have not heard that at this time, no. Although, knowing shox, that is probably the guy they would pick if they do in fact want to make a change. Like many teams, the Major will decide how they will approach their roster moving forward. Boombl4’s QBF accusations? What are your thoughts on Boombl4’s remarks about his time on QBF, and having money taken from him? This seems to be a continuation of a trend of organizations conducting shady business without repercussions because of people seemingly not speaking up until long after the fact. — Will Vickers (@WVick7) July 28, 2019 I’ve been actively working on a story about his experience for about a week now and it’s really unfortunate. In a way, he isn’t exactly owed the amount he tweeted about, but he did in fact have money stolen from him. I will explain it in a report within the next few days. At the end of the day Quantum Bellator Fire was an extremely amateurish “organization” who had a team that got extremely lucky during their run at the Boston Major. There are a ton of these shady organizations that still remain, but as you mentioned people don’t like to speak up. I hope my contribution as well as others eventually get us to a place where things like this don’t go unmentioned publicly for as long as they typically do. I’ll try my best to make sure that happens. Possibility of Flusha to Fnatic? JW (one of flusha’s close friends) told the stream that Flusha would never join NiP in his opinion due to the drama with Pita and not very close relationship with all the players on NiP. Why didnt you say fnatic is looking at him? — Hamshanks (@Turner03Ur) July 28, 2019 I have said Fnatic is looking at him in two separate articles, I suggest you read them here and here. What’s going on with FaZe? Like many teams, nothing will change until after the Major. After that, I’m pretty certain that neo will not remain with the team. Moving forward, things could go a ton of different directions but I haven’t heard one way or the other just yet. I have a feeling the team will head their separate ways if their next lineup doesn’t work out, but that is purely speculation. SuNny to ENCE? any possibility of ence upgrading with sunny? maybe -aerial? any thoughts/info/ also opinion? — TysoNOG- (@tysonog1) July 28, 2019 I do think that is an option after the Major and I believe that is partially the reason he is still not playing with a new team. People do have to remember, he is still under contract with Mousesports though. He does have a buyout and I do not believe it is a cheap one. ENCE will have to be absolutely sure it is the best decision for them as a team if they are going to spend that kind of money. They had at least one player want suNny in the team and talked with him on multiple occasions about possibly joining following the Katowice Major. The team was just in too good of a spot to justify making the move in the end. Can Astralis get back on top? Where do you see Astralis in the next few months? They have performed very poorly after the major and in the last few months they only beat Fnatic, Nip, Heroic, and C9 when it was in shambles — LO5T (@LO5T4) July 28, 2019 They are in a pivotal spot right now because their performance moving forward will decide how the future of the team will go. If they turn things around, they are a team who can pick up incredible momentum and storm their way back to the top quickly. Although, if they can’t find their confidence, it will be a quick drop in the world rankings and inevitably a roster change situation. Personally, I think they will improve and give Liquid a serious challenge. I don’t see them as the number one team again though. Did Fnatic have any roster change plans? Even though JW said in an interview the team is feeling good together, were there any planned roster changes? — bagin (@baginxc) July 28, 2019 I don’t believe the team had pre-existing agreements to make any roster changes. They really did give the Minor a fair shake and tried as hard as they could. I’m sure some of them knew that being replaced was a possibility if they failed to qualify for the Major, but nothing was planned officially from what I know. Most teams heading into Minors and Majors will have a good feeling about their upcoming performance, that’s how confidence works. No one actually knows how good things will go though. NRG changes if they don’t perform at the Major? Do you think NRG will make changes if they don’t get good result in Berlin? — Liquid – Meran (@meranvh99) July 28, 2019 I really don’t think so. I feel the same way about them as I do Cloud9, give them time. The only way possible is if they bombed out of the event without a single match won, but that’s not likely. They added a new in-game leader, so it should be expected that it will take time for him to get to work and for the players to adapt to their new playstyle. I think it is a bit unrealistic to expect instant results when so many things will have changed internally within the team. What’s next for Ex-OpTic? Any news of what direction ex-Optic is going? Any of them going together or will we see them all split up? I would love to see Refrezh and k0nfig work more with MSL — Han Joo ‘Cracker Barrel hater’ Park (@Croudss) July 28, 2019 All signs have been pointing to them sticking together and signing with a new organization. I do not have any information as to if they have gotten that done yet or if it’s still in progress. How ambitious are 100 Thieves? Do you think 100 Thieves will be looking to build something of an international super team or will they settle for an ex-Optic level squad? — TopiT (@TuppurainenTopi) July 29, 2019 100 Thieves don’t want to come into CS:GO again and have a team that might not perform that well. If and when they come back, they want to have the best chance possible to have a really good team. I don’t expect them to sign ex-OpTic because there are still too many question marks with their level of play. Not to say they aren’t capable at becoming a high ranked squad, I just know 100 Thieves want something a bit more certain. What do Fnatic need to change? What do you think has to change for fnatic to be a top team once again ? — Maximilian Schank (@Maximil27126470) July 28, 2019 It’s pretty simple in my opinion. They need to replace Xizt or have someone else in-game lead. That one change alone will do wonders for them.

DeKay: Why the future of FaZe Clan CS:GO is looking bleak While FaZe Clan’s CS:GO roster was one of the most hyped rosters ever, things have begun to spiral, with the future of the roster now looking incredibly bleak. FaZe Clan entered professional Counter-Strike in early 2016 when they acquired the entire G2 Esports roster, which featured Håvard ‘rain’ Nygaard and Joakim ‘jkaem’ Myrbostad . At the time, it was the most expensive transfer of players in the history of Counter-Strike at a value of around $700,000. The players had only been with G2 for a few months and, outside of their semi-final appearance at DreamHack Open Cluj-Napolca, had not placed particularly well at tournaments. Nevertheless, the acquisition made a statement: FaZe Clan have the money and they will do whatever it takes to get the best Counter-Strike team. What has happened to that attitude? Why are the team so reluctant to sign a permanent fifth player? Well, signing the best players in the world is an expensive business, and in the midst of legal battles, it may be that FaZe Clan can no longer afford to splash out like they did In 2016 and 2017, when they assembled one of the most talent-heavy rosters to ever exist. Just two months after getting their team, they purchased Fabien ‘kioShiMa’ Fiey from Team Envy to replace Mikail ‘Maikelele’ Bill. Six months after that, they grabbed Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen from Astralis, and over the next year they stacked star after star onto the roster by adding Nikola ‘NiKo‘ Kovač, Ladislav ‘GuardiaN’ Kovács, and Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer. Each player came with a tremendous buyout figure that FaZe appeared to pay with ease. The lineup they built was something the world had never seen before and was almost inconceivable. They had one of the top in-game leaders in the world, one of the finest AWPers in the world, and easily the best rifling trio you could ask for at that time. The first six months with karrigan, rain, olofmeister, NiKo, and GuardiaN saw them win three large international tournaments and come close to a Major in Boston. The talent of their roster almost guaranteed them a place at the finals of every event they attended. Olofmeister’s period of inactivity in mid-2018 for personal reasons was a turning point for the roster and eventually the organization. When he returned, they had a group stage exit at ELEAGUE Premier 2018 and quarter-final appearances at DreamHack Masters Stockholm 2018 and the FACEIT Major: London. This caused the players to turn their backs on karrigan – they had lost faith in him and handed the reins over to NiKo to lead the team. The old FaZe Clan would have replaced karrigan immediately and paid any price to get a new fifth player, but that didn’t happen. Karrigan hung around on the roster for five more international tournaments before finally being replaced by Dauren ‘AdreN’ Kystaubayev in January 2019. AdreN was a free agent and it was immediately announced that his signing was a temporary move. They have since replaced AdreN with Filip ‘neo’ Kubski, who was also a free agent and is unsurprisingly listed as a temporary addition. They could have instead grabbed Mathias ‘MSL’ Lauridsen prior to him joining OpTic Gaming, or gone all-in with a star pick-up like Valdemar ‘valde’ Bjørn Vangså. Valde has conveniently started in-game leading for North, which is something FaZe need to free NiKo back up as one of the best players in the world. Members of the team have mentioned that they haven’t added a long-term fifth player because they can’t find one they like, but in my opinion, the issue extends well beyond that. CS:GO is much further down the totem pole of importance at the FaZe headquarters than it was previously. On top of that, the company have found themselves in the middle of legal trouble. Last year, FaZe Clan were sued by an apparel company for alleged trademark infringement and now they are embroiled in a new lawsuit with Fortnite Battle Royale player Turner ‘Tfue’ Tenney. The financial toil from their legal troubles will almost certainly have an impact on their teams and if they weren’t willing to spend money on a new player before, they definitely won’t be willing to now. Also, the financial return from selling their superstar players might be too tantalizing to pass up. Unless something changes, they have either accepted that they’ll never have a top roster again or plan to exit CS:GO entirely in the coming months. Despite it being pure speculation, I am convinced they won’t have a team come this time next year.

Sources Say by DeKay: Who FaZe considered, BIG exploring options, and changes in North America The behind-the-scenes discussions and developments are never-ending in the world of CS:GO esports, and here’s the latest rundown on what’s been going on, featuring FaZe Clan, BIG, and some of the North American teams. “Sources Say” is a regular column that focuses on discussions and behind-the-scenes developments I can confirm or plainly just feel confident are happening, but should never be considered as an official report. “X team talked with Y Player” or “A player has been practicing with B team” is the type of stuff that will normally be discussed in these columns. Counter-Strike is in a weird place where few transfers happen between high ranked teams, which is a side-effect of the growth of esports as a whole. Think back to the last “blockbuster” trade or transfer – it was a long time ago. A buyout figure of a couple hundred grand is now commonplace for players on teams that aren’t even in the top twenty of the world rankings. While most buyouts are never paid in full, the negotiation process is much more treacherous when starting as high as they do. Every week I hear of teams inquiring on players only for nothing to materialize, in most cases due to a crazy buyout clause. People often assume a high buyout figure is entirely the fault of the organization and no fault of the player, but that just isn’t true. Players have always had some influence on their buyout, aside from extreme one off circumstances. Players are even told they can “set their own buyout”, which is based on how much they are paid monthly more than anything else. Read More: Gla1ve reveals only CS:GO events Astralis will attend for remainder of season as BLAST criticism continues – In almost every single case I’ve reviewed, players almost always choose as high of a monthly salary as possible and in turn making their buyout figure as high as possible. They see dollar signs and disregard the opportunity cost that comes with being locked into a contract that no organization in the world feels comfortable paying. If anything, this is the new normal in Counter-Strike. Crazy roster moves will be rare and sporadic. I don’t see that changing unless players go out of their way to align their contracts with the Major schedule and/or sign shorter contracts than the multi-year ones being signed now. Enough of that though, let’s talk business. BIG exploring options BIG have been exploring the replacement of nex for a few weeks now and even considered bringing smooya back for him. He wouldn’t have been able to play for them for around three months at ESL events due to standing in for Renegades, so they decided against it. Him continuing to play for them at upcoming events cements that even further. If they make a move it looks like it will be after ESL One: Cologne but could be sooner if they find the right fit. Who FaZe considered FaZe inquired with Flusha prior to IEM Sydney, who was someone I mentioned as a likely target for them many weeks ago, but I was told by multiple sources he turned them down. It is unclear how soon he is to returning to the game and if that had an effect on his decision or not. I heard BnTeT’s name mentioned as an option also, but from the sound of it they didn’t actively try to pursue him. Changes in North America About two months remain on the contracts of the Ghost roster, or at least some of them. It’s too early to tell if they will re-sign with the org or if that is even an option at this point. JamesIRL has interest from compLexity as a coach, so it is clear they are exploring their options in case a new deal doesn’t work out. Spacestation Gaming aren’t expected to retain their roster in the upcoming weeks, leaving the players orgless soon if they don’t find an alternative.

DeKay’s Sources: Casting duo HenryG and Sadokist split for StarLadder Berlin Major Long time casting duo Henry “HenryG” Greer and Matthew “Sadokist” Trivett will not cast together at the StarLadder Berlin Major, according to multiple sources. Instead, HenryG is expected to cast with Alex “Machine” Richardson for at least some of the event, while Sadokist will work on the desk. Update, August 13, 3PM EST: Following this article, Sadokist has confirmed that he will be on the desk in some capacity, but not as an analyst. Sources have told Dexerto that he will be hosting. Just the clarify, I will be in the desk, but not as an analyst. — Matthew Trivett :wolf_face: (@Sadokist) August 13, 2019 According to the sources informing Dexerto of the situation, this was not a decision made by StarLadder and is entirely the decision of the two casters. Earlier in the week, Sadokist answered a number of questions on his Instagram that suggested he would be doing a lot less casting in the future. One response said “I regret to inform you that you might be watching a lot less in the future… unless you like desk segments!” The pair of HenryG and Sadokist have casted a tremendous amount of events since pairing up in 2015, including two Major finals. Thus far in 2019, the two have casted 7 large international tournaments with the most recent being IEM Chicago. StarLadder has not yet announced talent lineups for either of the three stages of the upcoming Major tournament. The New Challengers stage starts in ten days time, where eight out of sixteen teams will progress to the New Legends Stage. Dexerto reported last week that StarLadder had reconsidered their decision to exclude specific members of talent from the tournament. Multiple sources can now confirm that Anders Blume and Jason “moses” O’Toole will attend the event. It is unclear at this time if Duncan “Thorin” Shields has been included or if discussions are still ongoing between him and StarLadder.

DeKay Sources: BIG CS:GO in discussions with denis German Esports organization Berlin International Gaming are in discussions with Denis ‘denis’ Howell, according to multiple sources close to the team. It is expected that denis will eventually replace Johannes “nex” Maget on the active lineup, between now and the culmination of ESL One: Cologne. Denis has been a member of the Sprout organization since they first entered professional Counter-Strike in December of 2017. They were unable to find success on an international level during his time with the team and often failed to qualify for premier LAN tournaments. Denis will meet a familiar face at BIG if he joins with gob b, who was in-game leader of Mousesports during his time there in 2015. The contracts for a few Sprout players are set to expire in about six months, meaning more members of the team may be available to join new organizations by then. If denis does join BIG, the roster moving forward will consist of: Denis ‘denis’ Howel – Faith ‘gob b’ Dayik – Johannes ‘tabseN’ Wodarz – Tizian ‘tiziaN’ Feldbusch – Can ‘XANTARES’ Dörtkardeş – Nex has been a member of BIG since early 2017 when the organization was formed and spent a brief period inactive while recovering from an injury. When he re-joined the lineup this past February, he replaced Owen “smooya” Butterfield on the active roster. Smooya is still under contract with BIG but is expected to remain as a stand-in for Renegades during stage two of ESL Pro League Season 9. Playing again in an ESL event for Renegades will reset his 120 day ban from playing ESL events with other teams, per their event rulebook. In the second stage of ESL Pro League Season 9, BIG are up against Heroic, Natus Vincere, and North. The top two teams from their group will proceed to the Finals, which are set to take place in late June. Changing a member of their lineup will use one of the two allowed roster moves during the ESL Pro League season.

DeKay’s Sources: AdreN to potentially reunite with former teammates on new CS:GO team Kazakh veteran Dauren ‘AdreN’ Kystaubayev has been in discussions with his former Gambit teammates Abay ‘Hobbit’ Khassenov and Rustem ‘mou’ Telepov about creating a new team, according to multiple sources close to the players. The three played together under Gambit Esports and won a Major at PGL Krakow 2017 under the leadership of Daniil ‘Zeus’ Teslenko. If the trio were to reunite once again, a new organization would have to pay a transfer fee to obtain Hobbit and mou who are both benched on HellRaisers and Gambit Esports, respectively. One source mentioned that the players have no issue with moving to Europe or even North America if necessary. AdreN is the only free agent, who signed with FaZe Clan on a temporary basis from January to May this year. Gambit Esports announced on May 21st that they would be putting their entire roster on hold until later in the year, with Mikhail ‘Dosia’ Stolyarov, Nikolay ‘mir’ Bityukov, and Dmitriy ‘dimasick’ Matvienko being put on the transfer list. The remaining player from their lineup, Sergey ‘Ax1Le’ Rykhtorov, was moved to Gambit Youngsters. The future of the organizations’ participation in Counter-Strike is unclear at this time. CS:GO teams looking to make roster moves While Gambit is seemingly in the midst of a roster overhaul, they aren’t the only team doing so as we gear up for the StarLadder Berlin Major in a few months. NRG Esports have already made a move – replacing Damian ‘daps’ Steele with Peter ‘stanislaw’ Jarguz – while the likes of Hellraisers and Ninjas in Pyjamas are in prime positions for roster moves in the coming weeks. Notably, MIBR could also be looking to shake things up a bit after a string of lackluster performances that include losses to both Complexity and North during the ECS Season 7 Finals.

DeKay: Quantum Bellator Fire accused of withholding funds from CS:GO players Following Robin ‘Fifflaren’ Johansson’s interview with Richard Lewis in which the former CS:GO community have spoken out about their negative experiences with professional teams. One of the most shocking revelations was from current Natus Vincere player Kirill ‘Boombl4’ Mikhailov, who has tweeted that “$95,000 was stolen” during his time with Quantum Bellator Fire, where he played between 2017 and 2018. He added: “I want to thank Winstrike that saved my career at that moment.” Boombl4 is not the only ex-Quantum Bellator Fire member who was owed money by the organization. According to information provided to Dexerto both before and after Boombi4’s tweets, the players and coach were owed in excess of $60,000 USD combined by their organization at one time. I want to say thanks to @Winstrike_Team that saved my career at that moment. — Кирилл (@Boombl4CS) July 26, 2019 This debt was a combination of unpaid salary, prize money, and sticker money from their participation in the ELEAGUE Boston Major. Upon the transfer of the team to the Winstrike organization, all of these debts were paid by Winstrike in full. Multiple sources also claim that Vyacheslav Soloviev was largely responsible for those outstanding payments. In addition to those debts, the same sources claim that Soloviev withheld two weeks’ worth of per diem payments from the players after he and the team had been transferred to Winstrike. Vyacheslav Soloviev was the team manager and part-owner for Quantum Bellator Fire during their time in CS:GO and, according to multiple sources, was partly responsible for distributing payments to the players on behalf of the organization. The compensation for the players just prior to the Boston Major was around $750 USD per month, with a prize pool split of 75% to the players and coach, plus 35% of Major sticker money if they were to qualify in Boston. Upon qualifying for the Major and making it all the way to the Playoffs, the players asked for a raise to anything from $2,000 to $3,000 USD per month, and even suggested that gradually increasing the salary over multiple months to eventually reach an agreed-upon total would suffice. Soloviev claimed that co-owner Konstantin Kopylstsov would never approve of such a high amount, but agreed to approach him, asking for a period of two months to get everything taken care of. It was at this moment that the relationship between the organization and players soured. Eventually, a $2,000 USD salary was agreed upon by the ownership but it was only paid out in full for the month of April. No prize money or sticker money was distributed to the players as well and payments were frozen by the organization. When the players asked why they had not received sticker money, Soloviev explained that there were tax issues and it would come at a later time. The players were also promised better equipment, internet, and bootcamps on multiple occasions but none of this ever happened. Quantum Bellator Fire ownership received inquiries from at least 10 organizations that were interested in acquiring the players during this period, but the owners asked for an unrealistic amount of money for the team, despite one source claiming that the players never had real contracts. Winstrike had originally approached Quantum Bellator Fire about a possible transfer as early as March. Their motive was to lock down a team that would be guaranteed two additional Major appearances due to the slot ownership rules at the time. The rule that both 0-3 teams in the New Legends stage would be forced to re-qualify did not exist yet. Upon first contact, they were presented with a transfer fee for the entire team, coach, and manager of $150,000 USD. At that time, there was no mention of the outstanding debts owed to the players and coach of the team. During negotiations, Winstrike learned that the players were not signed to legally binding contracts and had been notified that they were owed over $60,000 USD by the organization. Upon learning this, they repositioned themselves to instead sign the players as if they were free agents. Since the agreement between Quantum Bellator Fire and the players was only a verbal one, there was nothing they could do to prevent it. When they began acquiring the players, Winstrike took on Vyacheslav Soloviev as a manager because he had explained early on to the organization that the players would not come without him. Again, they would later learn that this was not the case, as the players had suspected him as being the reason why they had not received a bulk of their owed money while with Quantum Bellator Fire. When approached about it by the players, he would routinely blame their missing payments on co-owner Kopylstsov. Vyacheslav Soloviev’s tenure only lasted two weeks with the Winstrike organization. His first task was to manage the team and distribute daily stipends for the players during their time at Moche XL Esports 2018. He was given money by Winstrike for expenses, but according to a source, instead of providing meals and other necessary amenities for the players, he kept nearly 3,000 Euros to himself. The players were not even aware that they should have been receiving money, learning about it after the event when they contacted Winstrike. As a direct result of this revelation, he was immediately fired by the organization. One source claims that during this brief period with Winstrike, Soloviev admitted to the team that all of their owed prize money and sticker money was intentionally withheld by Quantum Bellator Fire. Information presented and reviewed by Dexerto shows two payments from Valve to Quantum Bellator Fire on March 23 and March 27, 2018 for their participation in the Boston Major cycle. Another source said that Soloviev’s explanation for Quantum Bellator Fire withholding payments was because they thought that the players and coach would leave right after being paid and felt they deserved to earn something for supporting the team. When pressed about where the money was, Soloviev said that it had been spent a long time ago by him and Kopylstsov. Multiple sources have presented financial documents to Dexerto that show the 2,950,000 Rubles stated to be owed to the players by Soloviev in his HLTV interview is lower than the actual amount that was later paid to the players by Winstrike as a part of their transfer. The actual amount paid to the players and coach by Winstrike was nearly 3,500,000 Rubles (or ~$52,000 USD) at the current exchange rate. The exchange rate at the time of when the payments should have been received puts the total as high as $63,000 USD. Dexerto was able to confirm that the $95,000 USD mentioned by boombl4 did not account for prize money payments to the team that were received from Quantum Bellator Fire in March,of around $35,000 USD. Following these revelations from our investigation, both Winstrike CEO Jaroslav Komkov and former Quantum Bellator Fire Owner and Manager Vyacheslav Soloviev responded with official statements. Winstrike Official Statement by CEO Jaroslav Komkov: We were negotiating the purchase of QBF for an amount of about $150,000. The complete mess with the contracts in the old org led to the fact that we signed players as free agents and began paying them salaries and full security as teams (meals, per diems, computers, travel and accommodation). It is important that mix roster came with the manager (Soloviev), who controlled every single thing in the team for two weeks during tournaments. After returning from the tournament in Lisbon, Iksou (coach) wrote to me in a telegram, complaining that he had absolutely no money. Then it turned out that they want to sell us a team with a bunch of debts for salaries, unpaid prizes and stickers, lack of contracts. We suspended the negotiations and tried to understand the situation. It turned out that indeed, there was a big debt to the players, which the former management could not pay off. They sincerely wanted to pay debts to the players from the money for the transfer, but forgot to tell us about it. After that, we began to bargain and decide who should pay the debt to the players and how the transfer cost will change due to this. After 2 months we re-signed contacts with the players, made the QBF debt to them ours and began to pay it out of the current expenses of the team. Negotiations with ex-QBF have moved into a sluggish discussion of transfer compensation, which is still ongoing. The fact of non-payment was, the debt to the players paid off by Winstrike. There was only a personal resentment of the players, which I understand, but I can not and do not want to do anything about it. Otherwise, this is not the worst conclusion to a very sad story. Official statement from Vyacheslav Soloviev: When asked about the total owed to the players and coach of Quantum Bellator Fire: The total amount that was agreed on with team members was 2,950,000 rubles. And you should ask Winstrike why they paid 3,400,000 rubles to the players, I can’t comment on that. When asked about the money that was withheld from Winstrike players during the Moche XL 2018 tournament: This is slander. We parted with Winstrike on mutual agreement. I reported to the management of the company for each ruble spent. Moreover, there is a signed document with Winstrike on the absence of mutual claims, Winstrike will confirm this. And may I ask you, does your source have any documents to speak about the theft? When asked about why sticker money and prize money wasn’t paid as soon as it was received from Valve: Most of the sticker money was paid to the players; some of the funds for the stickers and prize money for the Major remained frozen. Part of the money received by the organization was spent on increasing the salaries of the players, on travel support for Copenhagen Games tournament (there was no travel support at that tournament), on developing social media (QBF group in VK), and so on. Other money was frozen for a long time, and after that was spent on other projects, including new CS:GO and PUBG teams. When asked why no official contracts existed between the players and Quantum Bellator Fire: In Russia, there are no Esports contracts that legally tie players to an organization as it is implemented, for example, in football. Russian Esports Federation doesn’t yet allow entering into sports contracts with players. Therefore any agreements/contracts do not protect organizations and players in particular. As a result, we worked for a long time with the players without contracts. After they had passed the Minor, we handed over the contracts to a large law firm to analyze the legal system and the possibility of signing contracts that could protect both parties. But they did not meet the deadline, and the players became Legends, and the signing of treaties was no longer discussed. Correction: Dexerto initially falsely stated that Vyacheslav Soloviev was a part of the CS:GO organization ForZe, which is untrue. The article has been updated to reflect this as of August 6 at 3:46 PM PST.

DeKay Pre-Cologne CS:GO Mailbag, Part 3: Cloud9, s1mple, and Renegades With Counter-Strike. This is part 3 of DeKay’s Pre-Cologne CS:GO mailbag – if you missed the first two parts you can catch up here and here. Are there big changes coming to the Swedish CS:GO scene? That purely depends on how Fnatic and NiP perform at Cologne and the Major. I can only see Fnatic replacing one player at most if things don’t pan out. The more interesting situation is NiP because we know they’ll be adding Plopski, but Golden is effectively trying out for the team for when GeT_RiGhT hangs his mouse up. If they don’t like his leading style, then I can see them looking elsewhere. So again, it depends. I’ve always thought olofmeister would return to a Swedish team one day, maybe that happens within the next year. Who knows. Is there any interest in kaze? Not that I have heard of. Any updates on upcoming roster moves for Cloud9? Any update on Cloud 9 and their projected roster moves? — Slightly Above Average Bucks Fan (@AverageBucksFan) June 27, 2019 The latest rumor I had heard and felt was legitimate was the addition of daps, TenZ, and koosta. I’m not so sure that is a certainty though, just players that were explored at one point in the recent past. Beyond that, I can only speculate at this time, but that could change quickly. As always, I’ll report any moves they’ll be making if I find ample confirmation. Where is smooya headed? Any ideas where Smooya is headed? Also, do you think there could be another strong international squad aside from Faze and Mouz? — Brolobo (@zechiscute) June 27, 2019 Smooya doesn’t really have any offers that I’m aware of, but his buyout hasn’t made things any easier despite it being small. As for the second part of the question, I think there is definitely room for another international roster but I’m not sure how competitive they would be. FaZe have been looking for a long term in-game leader since before Karrigan even left and they’re still looking to this day. That means a new international team would have even more trouble unless they had a ton of money behind them. How is your day? It’s going well. I get to write about Counter-Strike and people actually read it, I can’t complain. Could s1mple ever leave Na’Vi? Will simple ever leave navi for good ? And which team he will join if he does so — Tejas Shetty (@TejasShetty0) June 27, 2019 I think Na’Vi is his for as long as he wants it. The crazy part is even though he is the best player in the world, he hasn’t been very demanding during his time with them since joining. It would be easy for someone as skilled as him to be frustrated with some of their performances in the past year or two, but he remains patient. It’s almost understated how much of a professional human being he has become. I can see a world in which he never leaves, so long as they want to field a Counter-Strike team. The only way I see him leaving is if a team with a ton of potential and cash to spend reaches out at the exact moment Na’Vi is in a huge slump. Who was on FaZe Clan’s radar? Who was faze looking at besides neo? What’s the future of flusha? — Lachs (@ThisIsLachs) June 27, 2019 At that time, I didn’t really hear of any other names. He was the first name I heard and they announced soon after. How is Renegades looking? What do u think about renegades? Do you think they can get back to their form from the major? Do you think jks could be the first Australian player to make it to top 20? — P1psqu3ak (@P1psqu3ak1) June 27, 2019 I think they can now that Gratisfaction’s visa issues are a thing of the past (I hope). I thought they hadn’t even peaked in Katowice and had more room for improvement. Unfortunately, that got disrupted by having to play with a stand-in soon after. Jks is absolutely good enough to make a top 20 list, but making it this year will be tough. For that to happen he will have to show out right away in Cologne. What’s the deal with Heroic? whats the point of heroic signing NaToSaphiX if they dont let him awp (es3tag awps) — Hazemore (@Hazemore04) June 29, 2019 I don’t have any insight but my guess is that if he AWPed, the resulting roles would put more players in uncomfortable positions than they are now. It could also have been a decision made by Peacemaker, who knows. If they struggle, I’m sure they would give it a chance because you have to try everything before you give up and make a roster move. What’s the word on Wardell? That comes down to how much organizations want to spend and how willing Ghost is to offload him. There is sufficient motivation on both ends of that due to how good he is, so I think someone picks him up. Cloud9 would be my pick to go get him over anyone else. Is there speculation on match fixing? Have there been any speculations about possible match fixing in any tier CS games this year? — Augustas Babelis (@De2kas176) June 28, 2019 Yes, absolutely. In China and Germany more than anywhere else. I wish I had more time to look into matches I suspect were fixed. I’ll be able to more in the near future. What’s next for xccurate? I don’t have enough information to say really. I’m pretty sure TYLOO buyouts are pretty large, from what I remember. He might be stuck for a while if someone doesn’t want him bad enough. What happens with MIBR if LUCAS1 doesn’t work out? If this LUCAS1 experiment from MiBR does not give them better results after the major?What’s their next move? — sid. (@siiiden) June 28, 2019 I think their next move is replacing fer and/or LUCAS1 if things don’t get better. That is just my guess though. They have to shake things up big time if it doesn’t work after this. Are there any orgs interested in OpTic CS:GO? I haven’t heard any solid names yet, you’ll hear from me if I do. Will GuardiaN retire soon? I’m pretty sure he has mentioned he wants to win a Major still, so I expect him to play another year or two. That’s not very long though in Counter-Strike and it’s not looking good with his current roster so I’m not very hopeful he can make it happen. If there was one player that I would love to see win one though, it would be him. Is the CS:GO scene in trouble? With so many high level pros without teams and so many notable teams without organisations backing them, do you think that the scene is running out of money? Did it grow too fast? Are the buyouts too high? Any take here? — Jonathan (@JK_Composer) June 27, 2019 Most buyouts are reasonable compared to current salaries, in my experience. The main issue I see is that many organizations expected to profit on their teams far sooner than has happened or they underestimated how expensive teams are. On top of that, teams are still terribly managed. Far too many people are unaware of roster rules until I let them know about it, for example. If that’s going on, money is likely being wasted on a ton of pointless stuff. This results in orgs coming and going the way they do. A real sustainable organization takes time to pan out and anyone thinking esports was going to explode in a few years’ time is just delusional. If the economy takes a hit in the future, we will see ramifications but nothing I would personally worry about. I’ve never been more excited to work in this industry. What are the possible jobs in esports besides being a player? Management, Writing, Production, Administration are some of the more popular areas. Follow your passion. Could Astralis be in for a major change soon? If Astralis keep being this 5-8’th place team they are now, do you think they will make a change after the Starladder Major? — Oliver H (@OliverandEsport) June 27, 2019 No, I don’t think so. It would take more of a drop-off to leave them considering a change that early. What’s the outlook on Oskar? Oskar really misses the tournaments nowadays, do you think he might be leaving hr? If so what would be a suitable team for Oskar?— Sander (@Sandeman02) June 27, 2019 With the way things ended on Mousesports with Oskar, I don’t see a larger organization taking a chance on him. He kind of wore out his welcome and word spreads fast in this industry. Can inactive players quickly get back into their groove? There are many tier1 players or tier2 player inactive like flusha and sunny. Do you think without any real competitive games they will ever be as good as they were? Are there any examples of big players taking such long brake and coming back as strong? — Diego Quiroga (@1diego_q) June 27, 2019 That is always a risk when you take time off, but I think sunny is young enough to pick up where he left off. Flusha is the more worrying one but I just can’t imagine a world in which Flusha isn’t a good player. He is too skilled. Could smooya come back to BIG? Is smooya still a possible player to comeback to big if this lineup dont work ? — marzio (@sou_o_teu_paii) June 27, 2019 I think it is very unlikely that happens. Why are veteran teams starting to underperform? besides not being able to change players as easily as before, why do you think a lot of tenured teams are starting to underperform? — sexhaver_420 (@Sexhaver_420) June 27, 2019 General complacency and younger talent wanting it more than them. Many tenured players naturally ease up on how serious they take the game when they get a hefty paycheck. Some clearly have fallen out of love with the game and play because it’s the one way for them to make a paycheck and uphold their lifestyle. Not everyone is like s1mple and dreams about playing the game at every single waking moment.

DeKay on CSGO: Top Five Inactive Players, Post-Berlin Major Edition The post-Berlin roster shuffle saw a few teams make significant changes to their internal structure and even the language they speak in the server. FaZe Clan finally paid a buyout for the first time in nearly two years in Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David, while G2 Esports added two heavy hitters from outside of France in Nemanja ‘nexa’ Isaković and Nemanja ‘huNter-’ Kovač. Following every shuffle, a number of players are left inactive for a number of different reasons. The most common reason though, is an extremely high buyout figure. While not nearly as many notable players are inactive in comparison to after the Katowice Major, the list is still long. All five players from the last issue have either found a new home or are playing actively on a new lineup. Despite being officially inactive Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen, Nathan ‘NBK-’ Schmitt, Valdemar ‘valde’ Bjørn Vangså, and Issa ‘ISSAA’ Murad were not included in this list due to their ongoing situation with the OG organization. With that said, here is our list of the best available players on the market and some exclusive information regarding their situation at the moment: Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke k0nfig is most known for his superstar play between 2016 and 2017 with the Dignitas and North organizations. Since that period he has struggled to re-find his once incredible form and to make things worse, he has been stuck in a tough situation contractually for part of 2019. With minor interest from outside organizations, the Immortals organization has yet to sell k0nfig and a few of his teammates who play for their subsidiary company, OpTic Gaming. Due to their restrictive situation, the team has decided to disband and explore options separately. Earlier this month, k0nfig was heavily critical of himself in a series of tweets after reading an article by Duncan “Thooorin” Shields. This newfound accountability may finally be what k0nfig requires to once again demolish the competition. He tops this list primarily due to the sheer amount of potential the Danish rifler has. It is only a matter of time before someone gives him the chance to realize it once again, so the rest is up to him. Mathias ‘MSL’ Lauridsen MSL is in a very similar situation to k0nfig and is also under contract with OpTic Gaming at this time. Despite a lack of success in international play in 2019, MSL is still a valuable in-game leader who has a proven track record of building competitive rosters. His last premier tournament victory was in late 2018 over Astralis at DreamHack Masters Stockholm. The lack of accomplished dedicated in-game leaders throughout professional Counter-Strike gives MSL a leg up on other players that he can’t match skill-wise. Both a move back to North or time working with up and coming Danish talent make sense for him at this point. Just like with k0nfig, the unknown duration and buyout of his current contract is a question mark and could keep him sidelined for a while longer. Tomáš ‘oskar’ Šťastný Oskar makes things difficult because on skill alone he should be a member of a top team. He is a presence in the server and has single-handedly won multiple series for his teams over the years. What perhaps shadows over that skill is his reputation as a teammate and unwillingness to play in North America, so at the end of the day his options are limited. A return to mousesports is not in the cards and I don’t see a relevant team willing to take the gamble that they can handle oskar. If I had to guess, oskar will play at a lower level and dominate the competition. Although, I can’t help but feel like that is a waste of his talent and experience. Matthew ‘Wardell’ Yu Wardell is in a very similar situation to oskar in that he has a bit of a negative reputation as a teammate. Fortunately for him, he is younger and much less rigid as a professional player. Having escaped from his giant contract at Ghost, he is now the hottest free agent in North America. AWPers who have delivered on LAN in North America are almost non-existent, so it is only a matter of time before he has multiple offers headed his way. I suspect the aforementioned issues have had an impact on why he is still teamless, but that only lasts so long before a team like Complexity picks up the phone. Adam ‘friberg’ Friberg At the end of his tenure with Heroic, friberg was one of their best players. It is almost a certainty that he has an idea of where he’ll play next, with multiple sources informing me he turned down an offer from GamerLegion recently. Since that is not publicly rumored as of yet, he still gets a spot on our list. Friberg offers a tremendous amount of experience and cohesion to whichever team he plays on and seems to have adapted to not being an entry god anymore like he once was. Rumors have swirled about a reconnection with Richard “Xizt” Landström in some shape or form, but at the moment it isn’t clear yet. Honorable Mentions Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund – Niels Christian “NaToSaphiX” Sillassen – Daniel “mertz” Mertz –

DeKay on CS:GO: North primed for brilliance with Valde at the helm With the European Minor set to begin on July 17th, teams are training intensively as they look to secure a top two placing that will grant them qualification for the StarLadder Berlin Major this September. Fnatic are working hard to recapture their former brilliance, the new-look Mousesports are looking to continue to climb the rankings, and CR4ZY are desperate to show that they belong at international level. These three outfits provide tremendous entertainment value on their own, but there is one more team that you should keep your eye on – the Danish outfit North under their new leader Valdemar ‘valde’ Bjørn Vangså. Back in January, North was under the leadership of Casper ‘cadiaN’ Møller and failed to qualify for the Major after crushing defeats to Vitality and ViCi Gaming at the last European Minor and its subsequent play-in. A few months later, they decided a change of leadership was in order and quietly benched cadiaN. The timing of his benching is interesting because up until mid-March, Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen was available on the market. Karrigan has proved on many occasions that he is one of the best in-game leaders in the world and he’s Danish – sounds like a match made in heaven, right? Him reuniting with former teammates on North and looking to one-up Astralis would have been an understandable move, but it didn’t happen. It’s almost a certainty that an offer between the two existed though, according to many I’ve spoken with. His choice to return to a mixed European lineup with Mousesports makes sense because it is less likely he will lose his teammates to other teams. Something he was vocal about not wanting to experience again like he had in the past on other Danish lineups. Prior to cadiaN’s benching, valde was a star player but not necessarily in the traditional sense. He would post incredible numbers but also provide a supportive element for the team at the same time. During his time with North, you’ll be hard pressed to find an event where he wasn’t the best player on the lineup. He has no issue locking down bombsites and routinely takes advantage of the space created by his teammates on T-side. He is also one of the best in the world at rifling, if that wasn’t already clear. Rather than North scouring the market for another in-game leader, valde proposed he lead the team instead. We’ve seen similar moves made in the past, where star players try their hand at leading, but it almost always fails. One shudders at the thought of valde not being able to perform at his best with the added responsibility. Many forget how good of a player Denis ‘seized’ Kostin was prior to his time as in-game leader with Natus Vincere. Seized is still reeling from that experience and has yet to return to the player he once was. Teams led by the likes of Richard ‘shox’ Papillon and Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač show flashes of brilliance but never seem to sustain a high level play. Something tells me that won’t be the case here though, valde is on another level when it comes to his intelligence and understanding of the game. With enough time and the right roster composition, valde has the potential to become a world class in-game leader. His aforementioned way of processing the game of Counter-Strike is something very few possess. So much of his potential exists within intangible characteristics that are hard to describe or show off in a server. Listening to his current and former teammates talk about him is probably the best way to gain an understanding for it. It may sound crazy, but he has the make-up to one day become better than Astralis’ Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander. Yes, I am confident that he is that special. While the current North roster has its weaknesses, it does have enough to work with to do damage at the Minor and eventually at the Major. I have no doubt they will qualify and am even tempted to predict a playoff appearance from them come September, but let’s not get too far ahead. From this point forward with a few events under his belt, valde will be remembered differently for his accomplishments in CS:GO. Instead of recalling tournaments he fragged out in, it will now transition to where he placed because of his leadership role. Many newer fans to the game wish they could have watched a young karrigan or gla1ve transition to the tremendous leaders they are today, knowing what we know now. This is their chance to watch a similar story unfold with valde, I promise you that he won’t let you down.

DeKay Mailbag Part 3: smooya’s future in CS:GO, Who OpTic will replace, and Thoughts on Team Liquid A significant point of discussion in Counter-Strike is Team Liquid and their trend of always finishing in second place, but how much of an issue is it? MiBR have shown some promise, but they haven’t returned to their previous form just yet. How likely is it that they reclaim a top three world ranking? smooya still remains teamless, is anyone even interested in him? The answer to those three questions and more are answered in this installment of the DeKay Mailbag. What’s next for smooya? Last I was told he didn’t have any real offers from a professional team. I find that quite odd because he is too impactful as a player and AWPer to remain teamless. I would point towards a buyout but his buyout is actually quite reasonable from what I know. Eventually BIG will be tired of paying him his benched salary (if he has one) and just let him free of his contract. Don’t forget that he also can’t play ESL events for another three months or so due to playing with Renegades, so any team attending Cologne is off the table. My guess is he joins a new team after Cologne or the Major. How can Team Liquid improve as a team? What does Liquid need to overcome their Finals losing streak?? — Charlie, sporkliest gorl (@spaceMomGG) May 26, 2019 Time, more than anything else. This five-man lineup is still pretty fresh and they still need to iron out a few issues in my opinion. Making a roster move this early would be premature. I really wonder what they could have been able to do with more time to practice in between big events instead of playing smaller ones like BLAST Pro Series and cs_summit. My guess is they would look even better. People need to realize how good of a problem it is to have so many second-place finishes, many teams wish they could even reach a fraction of the finals that Liquid does. They aren’t far off from turning the corner completely, but they need time. What’s going on with OpTic Gaming? What is happening with Refrezh and Snappi in OpTic? Will they only replace Snappi with TeSeS or possibly replace Refrezh with a Norway player like Tenzkie or possibly RUBINO? — woooow (@sleep3k) May 26, 2019 The only change I’m aware of right now is them benching Snappi for TeSeS. They are not in a position financially to buy players out right now with the whole Infinite situation. I think MSL will give this lineup a solid amount of time to mesh before making another move like that. Anything new with BIG? Nothing new to report with them. I assume they retain this lineup for the Major and then reassess afterward. I do think bringing smooya back wouldn’t be a bad idea though, if all parties are willing. Could 3dmax be returning anytime soon? Not that I know of. Thoughts on MIBR’s current form? What are your thoughts on the recent form from mibr? Do you see them taking their top 3 spot back? — The God (@TwoGods1) May 30, 2019 I think they are in a do or die position at the moment because they have shown flashes of resurgence but nothing super convincing. Additionally, FURIA is improving at an exponential rate and I feel like that will put pressure on them to get things going. Things will go downhill fast if they aren’t the best Brazilian team anymore. I don’t think they crack the top three, I expect Liquid, Na’Vi, and Astralis to hold those spots for the foreseeable future. Does G2 Esports need to make a change? I dont think G2 will ever be top 8, so what will it take to get Vitality to top 5. ALEX replacing Happy, then later becoming full igl has helped, but do they need one more roster change to become elite? And if so who — Hazemore (@Hazemore04) May 26, 2019 Given their recent performance I don’t think they need to make a change. They should ride this momentum into the Major and see what happens. What will happen to FaZe Clan’s player if the team leaves CS:GO? If faze pull out of csgo do you think the team will just be sold off as a team to another org or each player sold individually to separate orgs? — ZeGermanPotato (@ZeGermanPotato) May 28, 2019 If that happened, I expect they’d go their separate ways. I don’t see all of the players being willing to sign brand new long term contracts with a new organization. I could be wrong though, that’s just my intuition. Where could Autimatic go next? What realistic teams does autimatic have chance to get on if he decides to leave c9 — Cheeky (@MaxFunnell) May 27, 2019 Any team in NA besides Liquid as well as some decent European teams. I don’t see him leaving C9 anytime soon though. Will ESG Tours ever return? Where’d ESG Tours go? Any word on if Mykonos was a nail in the coffin? Old news I know, but I enjoyed their last event. — Pr0nogo (@Pr0nogo) May 27, 2019 This is a good question but I honestly have no idea. I will look into it.

DeKay Mailbag Part 2: What’s next for Gambit CS:GO, Valve franchising, and HellRaisers Major slot With an abundance of inactive CS:GO talent existing in the CIS region, it is almost certain that a combination exists that can become a fringe top ten team in the world. Edward has already joined Winstrike but could AVANGAR bolster their roster? A Valve sanctioned franchise league gets mentioned from time to time, but is it realistic? Lastly, what happens if Immortals buy the OpTic Gaming brand? Answers to these questions and more are in this edition of the DeKay Mailbag Will we see a CIS roster shuffle soon? is it finally time for a proper CIS shuffle with all teams playing below their potential and gambit recently disbanding? — David (@d4vskal) May 27, 2019 I would agree that there is a hypothetical team out there that would perform better than AVANGAR have, but it’s not exactly clear cut. With good pieces of talent out there, like AdreN and Hobbit, you’d have to imagine they might consider a change. You can make a case for them on Vega Squadron or Winstrike as well. The issue is, I think it will take some trial and error with these teams over the remainder of the year to really make an impact internationally. Are FaZe Clan planning any more roster moves? Are FaZe planning on making any other roster changes to replace Rain, Olof or Guardian? — Actually Fact Based Account (@MooBrudda) May 26, 2019 If FaZe lose any of those players, it will be because one of them wants to leave and another organization is purchasing them. There is no way they actively replace one of them right now on their own, it just wouldn’t make sense. I expect them to retain this roster for a while, given FaZe’s situation right now. Will Valve ever make a franchised CS:GO league? Do you think Valve will ever make a franchised league like LoL has? And would it be beneficial for the game? — Nenad Tasic (@nenadt007) May 26, 2019 There have been rumors about this and even questions about it in recent mailbags. My answer is still the same: No. I don’t think Valve is willing to be that hands-on with professional teams, it just doesn’t align with the way they like to operate. Some serious internal structure would have to change for me to feel differently about it. It can have value but overall I prefer the open market we have now, so long as people don’t abuse their influence and power. Unfortunately, that is inevitable from time to time. Are there any leaks about the possible Immortals buyout of OpTic Gaming? any new leaks on OPTIC Immortal situation? Also will Optic pick up the Young Danish Team as a Academy Team? — the:ocean:® (@deer_withat) May 28, 2019 I don’t have any information regarding the Immortals/OpTic situation, I wish I did. Last I was told, things weren’t looking good for OpTic but that could be pure rumor. I don’t see them picking up an academy team now or in the future, regardless of the outcome. Are teams interested mou? Not that I have heard, but it could easily be the case. The key factor for Gambit players is how high their buyouts are and/or how much time is left on their contracts. That will decide what the near future will look like for them more than anything else. I wish I had more insight for you. How will Renegades perform in the near future? Will renegades be able to perform as well as before with Grat getting his visa? — Gostrapyaself (@Jokes131313) May 28, 2019 I believe so, just not right away. Spending that amount of time without real practice with all five members definitely hurts. Some believe they may have peaked before he ran into VISA issues but I think they had room to get even better. Let’s see if they can get back into shape before the Major. Did Renegades think about replacing Gratisfaction? Were RNG considering replacing Gratisfaction on a permanent basis at any point? If so who were they after — nozv (@bludgernozzy) May 27, 2019 They definitely kept an eye on possible replacements in case they couldn’t sort his situation out. Some might view that negatively, but I think it’s smart and I would do the same. I didn’t really hear any names in particular but you would have to imagine smooya was one of them because he was just about the best stand-in they could have gotten. What’s next for AdreN and Hobbit? Is Adren getting any offers after FaZe stint? Where’s Hobbit heading to?— Adam Maciak (@Enfaude) May 26, 2019 He is definitely getting offers, which is what you would expect for a very experienced player that can play a number of roles. I think him linking up with a CIS team of some kind is the most likely scenario, but I can’t say for sure just yet. Hobbit is open to playing almost anywhere and has even had an offer from North America, but I have nothing to report just yet. If I do, you’ll see it published! What is HellRaisers plan for the next Major? What’s Hell Raisers plan for the Major? Not invited to any closed qualifiers, didn’t enter the open qualifier and only have 2 of the 5 from their last run. — Dubs (@RDoubleCS) May 26, 2019 I’m actually not sure and have been asking around about it this week. StarLadder have it so that teams cannot abuse the rule like it was previously. Teams will now need a legitimate emergency reason to swap their coach in as a fifth player and retain their spot. Right now they either won’t attend the Major or will put deadfox on the roster for the June 25th deadline. The deadfox option is looking like the most likely scenario given that they aren’t in any of the qualifiers right now. Will Immortals face problems of dual ownership like RFRSH did? Will Immortals run into the same problems as Rfrsh with dual ownership, if they buy the OpTic-brand? If so, could an org like TSM or Rogue be in play for the danish squad, or what else could be on the horizon for them? — Niklas Nürnberg (@ChimRichalds_) May 26, 2019 If Immortals do buy OpTic, they would have to immediately sell the team to abide by WESA rules. I do think both TSM and Rogue would at least consider getting both of them, but it really depends what they are looking for. The team itself is about to make removing Snappi official and they have been improving since MSL joined. Therefore, it is probably safe to say that someone will buy them, but it’s just a matter of who and for how much. Do you actually play CS:GO? Not nearly as often as I would like, unfortunately. I would say 2 hours per week at most lately. My full-time job outside of Counter-Strike takes up a ton of my time as well as other personal obligations at the moment. I’ve had a plan in place for about a year to leave my work outside of esports in July this year and I’m looking forward to it. Maybe I’ll be able to play a little bit more once that happens. One of the unfortunate realities of working in esports though, is that your time to play is reduced a ton if you are giving it your best effort. Many members of talent share the same sentiment.

DeKay Mailbag, Part 2: Na’Vi’s new approach in CS:GO, Who FaZe could get, and What Cloud9 should do With CS:GO still experiencing a bit of a lull after the IEM Katowice Major, it’s a perfect time to dive into even more of the most pressing questions from within the community. Even though the post-Major transfer period was on the quiet side compared to previous roster shuffles, teams like Cloud9, FaZe Clan, and Natus Vincere still have plenty of question marks surrounding their rosters as we head into the rest of 2019. Will FaZe Clan be on the look out for a new IGL? Are OpTic Gaming in talks with any more players? Does Na’Vi need to make roster moves? Should Cloud9 be making any roster moves? Roster moves C9 should do within NA and stick to. I.E. have a stable roster. — ashyra (@ashyra_) April 20, 2019 I think they should stick with what they have now until after the Major. Maikil ‘Golden’ Kunda Selim needs time to install his system and see how it works with a stable roster and consistent play. I don’t necessarily believe Cloud9 has plans to go back to a full North American roster. They specifically sought out European players in this last shuffle and would have probably got another one if Daniel ‘vice’ Kim didn’t free up the way he did. Will FaZe Clan pick up a new IGL? With NiKo talking about how he wishes not to be igl any more, is it likely faze will try getting a new igl even with the “success” they had? — N1tsuA (@N1tsuA_) April 20, 2019 The problem is an IGL has to appear that Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač and the rest of the team approve of and feel happy with. I can’t even come up with five names in the world on any team that would gain that approval, so therein lies the issue. The only “maybe” that I can think of is Robin ‘Flusha’ Rönnquist joining and them playing a loose style that he is known for liking to play when he leads. Outside of Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander and Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toldeo, I can’t think of any other player that I believe they would be happy to play with. With that in mind, I expect the team to remain the way it is for the time being. What’s going on with Natus Vincere? With adding Blade and a sports psychologist/business structure, is NaVi making a last ditch effort to make this 5 man work? Is there any roster change potential on the horizon? — Michael (@MDC_gg) April 19, 2019 I do think they are in some sort of scramble mode right now. At the FACEIT London Major, I spoke with one of the owners of Na’Vi and when I explained everything Astralis was doing outside of the server, he dismissed it all as nonsense. He couldn’t understand how Astralis was so much better than his team and everyone else. Now all of the sudden, they are approaching the game in somewhat of a similar way. They even considered a roster change before EPL started, but nothing happened. I think the StarLadder Major is the last one with this lineup unless they win it. How do the NA teams stack up against each other? Of the NA teams (rosters, not necessarily orgs), how would you rank their desirability? In other words, which teams would players most want to join? I’m guessing 1.Liquid 2.NRG 3,4,5+.??? right? — Bastiat (@TopDeckLife) April 19, 2019 Yes, you have the right idea. Liquid, NRG, and Cloud9 are the big three but compLexity and Envy are close behind. Any team with real structure and investment will be a place that players will look to join if they can. I would say those five organizations are the top five with others like Ghost just behind who are doing really cool things. Who are OpTic Gaming in talks with? What players were OpTic in talks with and are the talking to any ATM? — Donald Duck (@Originnzzz) April 19, 2019 I don’t have a confirmed answer for you, I can only make educated assumptions when it comes to their situation. Right now, I don’t think they are talking with anyone. They are trying to see what they can do with their current roster composition. Back when they were still adding Mathias ‘MSL’ Lauridsen, I know they considered getting a third player. I assume that player is Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså, but as I mentioned in Part 1 of this mailbag, he will be really hard to get. Do female players get consideration during transfer periods? Do any of the more prominent female players ever get considered for respectable teams in shuffle season? — Jonathan (@JK_Composer) April 19, 2019 Not that I have ever heard. Who would be the best fit to get Na’Vi a Major win? who does navi need to add to win a major, ange1? boombla? someone else? — IcY_Radon (@IcY_Radon) April 19, 2019 I’ve always advocated for Kirill ‘ANGE1’ Karasiow because I think he is underrated and I know Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev would enjoy playing with him. He tried to recruit him previously at one point to Na’Vi. That is the major change that would put them on the next level in my opinion. I’d suggest swapping out Ioann ‘Edward’ Sukhariev too and get some fresh blood in there. This next Major has a lot of implications for this lineup and I think it is unfair for them to live and die by s1mple all the time. Is NiKo the best IGL in CS:GO? Whant do you think about @fazeniko igl, his results are still great, will he fully cope with this role? can he become one the top igl in csgo? — N (@krombergjk) April 19, 2019 I think he can do a really good job at just about anything he sets his mind to. The main issue is that if he dedicates more time to being a real IGL, his fragging ability will suffer. We saw this in Mousesports time and time again. I don’t want to go down that road again, I want to see someone come in and take pressure off of him. He is just too good of a player to have in-game leading and while they might have some nice finishes, it shouldn’t be a long-term option. Were Virtus.pro in talks with other players? Not that I heard, it sounded like they were extremely happy with Arek ‘Vegi’ Nawojski and made the transfer happen in quick fashion. I’m not convinced he will fix their issues, though. They have a long way to go still. Is there a perfect rest period between events? Given the debate about BLAST, what do you (or to your knowledge teams) consider to be an adequate gap between tournaments to allow them to comfortably attend both. In other words is there an accepted number of ‘rest days’ which teams will take between events. — Mac McCauley (@macattackmicmac) April 20, 2019 This would heavily depend on the team in question and their respective travel distances. As far as I know, there is no definitive amount of rest but maybe the Players Association has come up with something as a rule of thumb. I could probably find that out. Some players may prefer to just jump one event to the other to get the whole trip over with, while I assume others would enjoy a nice week between.

DeKay Mailbag Part 1: SuNny’s future, Thoughts on FaZe, and Why SK Gaming is Unlikely to Return With the next CS:GO Major starting on August 23, teams will have to make a decision on whether or not to keep their current lineups. Some will change while many others will stick together and give it their all. Natus Vincere just made their move, but what about others? What is going on with SuNny? How long will neo stay with FaZe? Are Cloud9 happy with their lineup? These questions and more will be answered or discussed in part 1 of the latest edition of DeKay’s Mailbag. Who’s Na’Vi interested in? From what I heard, he was the main target. They didn’t even get the chance to consider anyone else because everything worked out well in and out of the server with him. I think the only hurdle was discussing the transfer and they obviously got it done in a couple days. Where next for SuNny? I asked around recently because I believe he is too good of a player to sit on the sidelines for this long, but nothing is going on with him from what I was told. I have a suspicion he is hoping that ENCE come calling in the next few months and add him if they start to struggle. The team has newfound expectation and pressure to live up to after how well they have played in the first part of the year. Other than that, I don’t really see where he ends up right now. Mousesports is playing really well already, so returning to that lineup doesn’t seem likely either. FaZe/Tfue controversy affecting CS:GO team? Are FaZe’s players worried at all by the Tfue situation? Is there a possibility the players part ways with the organisation? — Dom Phillips (@DomPhillipsCSGO) May 26, 2019 I wrote about my worries with FaZe Clan CS:GO here, but overall I don’t think the players themselves are too worried. They are all household Counter-Strike names that would have no issues joining another team if FaZe Clan ever exits the game or doesn’t re-sign them. My assumption is that they are operating like they usually do and focusing on the task at hand. Cloud9 changes planned? How long do you think C9 are going to play with this particular roster? Are they looking to have a long term roster, or do they plan to bring back flusha or something for the major spot? — Christopher Park (@ChrisPChicken97) May 26, 2019 I expect them to remain with this roster until after the Major. They had explained their desire to play with a solid five once they felt it was good enough and I think this is it. Ultimately it will come down to how Autimatic and Valens feel, they have the most influence on the roster. CajunB has played well and done exactly what they have asked him to, so I think he remains long term. Do FaZe have a plan B? In a perfect world they would consider another player pretty quickly, given that they announced this was another temporary move when getting him. The only issue with that is there aren’t very many free agent players that fit their needs if it doesn’t work. If they continue this trend of not being willing to pay for players, I can see him sticking around for a while. Their star players are capable of getting them decent results even if he plays bad. I want to see how they feel once the mystique of playing with a legendary player wears off. Jame and/or Qikert to Na’Vi? Is Na’Vi interested in Jame/Qikert? Do you think there is a chance atleast one of these two will be transfered to Na’Vi before Colonge? — DaMaDe (@officialDaMaDe) May 27, 2019 I didn’t hear that they were interested in them, but you have to imagine they were on the short list of players to add. I would definitely consider them if Na’Vi makes another move in the near future. The likelihood of either of them moving before Cologne is very low though, I don’t expect that. Another French contender? Vitality and G2 are the clear French 1 and 2, what about the 3rd best team? With ldlc, ex 3dmax and ex- ldlc, what team of those are the 3rd best, or what players would you put together to form a solid 3rd team. Also maybe some of the guys from GL — Matt (@notCrank) May 26, 2019 FrenchFrogs are my number three team for France right now but that’s only based on them stealing a single map off of G2 on LAN. That isn’t much to write home about, so it’s really just a guessing game until one of those teams does something more impactful. Hadji is clearly the bright spot on the team and their best player, but beyond him I’m not super impressed. Even if you look at all the other French players, I don’t really see a combination that makes me feel like they can do something internationally. Markeloff’s future? All signs point to his retirement, but I haven’t heard one way or the other. I would say he is technically “inactive”. Is sk gaming taking Aristocracy (ex-devilsone) to play for them ? — Macien124 (@macien12) May 26, 2019 I was told a while back to not expect SK Gaming to return to Counter-Strike for many years or ever again. I would be shocked if that actually happened. Their exit from the game was anything but smooth behind the scenes after silently recruiting the NTC roster while still having the now MIBR players under contract. That could change of course, but that is what has held them from returning thus far. CompLexity’s plans with Rickeh? Is complexity still working on visa issues with Rickeh or are they planning on replacing him? — MC Ferrari (@MC__Ferrari) May 28, 2019 He has been practicing with the team, so I will have to assume that they got his issues sorted out. I do however expect them to make a roster change, so keep an eye out on my Twitter feed in the coming days. The fallout of Tfue vs FaZe Clan? Really curious to see your take in this whole faze vs tfue situation and are these rumors true that Navi are interested in acquiring Boombl4 for Edward ? Thank you sir really appreciate your work ! — Zuhair Ahmed (@zuhair4700) May 26, 2019 For FaZe and Tfue it’s pretty simple in my opinion, they are both at fault. He should have had a lawyer read the contract, just like ANYONE should no matter what it is for. That would have solved the problem before it even became one. They shouldn’t have provided a contract that potentially violates labor laws and it’s clear they realized that before this even went down. All the other drama is pretty much meaningless. Sadly, this won’t be the last time people come out about their contract situation being unfair in esports. I bet there are a ton of players that looked at their contract as a result of this and are currently in talks with their own organizations about some of the stipulations What’s going on with TyLoo? Any news about the roster change in tyloo? — british y0un9 fell0w CSGOEmpire (@admsthor) May 26, 2019 No, I’m not sure what is going on there. As I reported, freeman had agreed to join the team prior to him playing at IEM Sydney. I had assumed he would join prior to TYLOO playing at DreamHack Masters Dallas, but that didn’t happen. My only guess is that the team want to give this lineup one last try before making a move. I still have him joining their roster in the near future, because I know for a fact how interested both parties were in making the move.

DeKay Mailbag, Part 1: Conflict of interest in CS:GO, Will MIBR change, and What OpTic will do Now that the post-IEM Katowice CS:GO Major roster shuffle has settled down, it’s a perfect time to dive deep into some of the biggest questions from the community that still remain. While teams like mousesports, Cloud9, and OpTic Gaming dominated the headlines with various roster moves over the last few weeks, that doesn’t mean their rosters are locked in forever, as some of them could be looking for even more changes down the line. Will OpTic Gaming make any more moves? Could Cloud9 be looking to move on from one of their stars? Will MIBR keep on pushing with their current lineup? Can anyone beat Astralis? All of these questions and plenty more will be answered in Part 1 of the latest edition of DeKay’s Mailbag. Can anyone beat Astralis? Can any team take Astralis down in their current form, or will a roster change be necessary to see that happen? Also, how do you see the field of esports journalism evolving over time, with respect to how NBA, NFL and other sports’ journalism looks now? Are the fields comparable? — Unmesh Datta (@Sp3ed_CS) April 19, 2019 In their current form, I believe they’ll get beaten but they’ll still win almost every event they go to. As we sit, there is no one that can hold a candle to the level of play they bring to every tournament. They do so much inside and especially outside of the server that other teams don’t have the patience for. By the time those other teams decide to put in more work, Astralis is another five steps ahead. I believe they will be at the top for a long time and the only way they’ll drop is if something outside of the game affects their chemistry or ability to travel. For the second question: We still have a long way to go but at the same time I don’t want to try to mirror traditional sports just because they’ve been around longer. In the almost three years I’ve been in journalism, it has gotten dramatically better. I’m not the best person to ask though, in the grand scheme I’m still a novice and have a ton to learn. There is still a distinct lack of respect and understanding for media in general in esports and I hope that continues to change for the better in the next 5 to 10 years. Will OpTic be sticking with Snappi? Is OpTic looking to stay with Snappi? What’s the situation with Jugi? Wasn’t he joining C9? — Maurice (@mauscribe) April 19, 2019 Cloud9 expressed interest in Jakob ‘JUGi’ Hansen when they tried to get Ismail ‘refrezh’ Ali and later Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke prior to the EPL roster lock. When both of those didn’t work out, I think they just decided to move on. That is my guess, though, I don’t actually know the reason. From what I know they are giving Marco ‘Snappi’ Pfeiffer his chance as an individual player, but I believe he will be the first one out the door if they struggle. How long will Cloud9 be hanging on to Autimatic? Do you think autimatic is gonna stay on Cloud9? I feel like he could be a great asset on other teams — Christopher Park (@ChrisPChicken97) April 19, 2019 Timothy ‘Autimatic’ Ta would be a great asset to most teams in the world, but I think he has a lot of control and influence at Cloud9. Someone would have to produce an amazing opportunity for him to forego all of that, so I just don’t see it happening. I expect C9 to continuously churn their roster until they come up with a roster they feel confident with. When will Ninja in Pyjamas make any significant roster moves? Robin ‘flusha’ Rönnquist is on the market and they wanted him quite recently, so I guarantee they’ll reach out to him again. Swedish teams value experience and past accomplishments more than almost any other country, so expecting them to dump their Veteran players is not realistic, though. They would have to tank in the rankings for someone higher up in the organization to force a significant or “real” change. Who would OpTic pick up if they settled on a roster move? Do you think OpTic could potentially settle on Snappi as the 5th? And do you think they will look to change the roster, if so who could they get? — niftycs (@NiftyCS) April 19, 2019 He is the guy for now, but as I said above, he will be the first out of the door if they make a change. I think it that decision is based on performance, so more time is needed to evaluate that. Should they replace him, I don’t know who they could even get. Your guess is as good as mine because I don’t think they would be able to get a player from North like Valdemar ‘valde’ Bjørn Vangså. Heroic is having some success by recruiting young talent, so maybe they go that route. Will MIBR take their current roster into the next Major? will mibr have the same lineup at the next major or could they make a roster change if they dont start to play better and have better results ???? — tuga:flag-pt: (@tuga_FDP) April 21, 2019 If things don’t improve soon, I think they would absolutely make a change of some kind. I’m not sure what they would change though. From what I was told, MiBR hasn’t had legitimate practice still since the Major. That could be an excuse or it could be legitimate, but the amount of events they’ve been to lead me to believe it is true. You’d think that after some real practice time they would shape up a bit. It’s hard to say right now, but the next month or two will be really key for this lineup. The problem with conflicts of interest in CS:GO What are your thoughts on the RFSH and Astralis conflict of interest situation? Also, what is the key to writing and making it big in journalism in Counter-Strike! — Will (@Willy2k0_o) April 19, 2019 Conflict of interest in Counter-Strike is something I’ve discussed on numerous occasions in columns and in videos, as well as how little the community cares about it. For the most part, all conflicts are ignored until something bad happens, which is backwards. I wish I would have had more time to spend uncovering them in the past, but this isn’t a full time gig for me just yet. In the RFRSH case, it is an issue I am not comfortable with and never have been since they owned multiple teams. No team should ever compete in a league run by the same ownership group. I’m not saying that I believe RFRSH and Astralis would ever do something unethical, I don’t actually think that at all. The fact that they COULD do something sketchy is the issue. It shouldn’t even be possible. How can someone get a job in CS:GO? How do people become managers/coaches/analysts in CS? Is there a structured path? — Lukas (@bosshoggcs) April 19, 2019 This is a question that you should ask multiple people, because every answer will vary depending on who you ask. From my perspective, the most efficient way to join an organization is to network and be willing to volunteer until you have experience. The more people you know, the better. Reach out, offer to help, and work hard. That alone will take you pretty far at this point in time, in the future it won’t be so simple. So in that sense, there isn’t really a structure. Making a name for yourself is the best way. For example, I get asked to coach and manage teams on a regular basis even though I’ve never really expressed an interest in doing so. Will StarLadder make any changes for their Major later this year? Do you know if StarLadder will be introducing any changes to the system for their Major, e.g. how they run Swiss bo3 group stages for their events, could we see that in the Major? — Dom Phillips (@DomPhillipsCSGO) April 19, 2019 I think it’s possible they’d stick with the BO3 system for the Major, but I’m not sure if that causes any issues logistically. I haven’t heard one way or the other, so any guessing from me would be pure speculation. Tournament organizers like to retain what makes their events unique for Majors so that it is more memorable in retrospect. I’ll go out on a limb and say they keep the BO3 Swiss system, which I’m excited to see. Are Valve going to make any major changes to the CS:GO game engine? Valve fixing the demo replay system and the engine the game is running on? (possibly updating to source 2) — Anton Koev (@MolenTV) April 20, 2019 Trying to predict what Valve will do is next to impossible, so I won’t even try. I don’t expect an engine update on CS:GO, I expect a new Counter-Strike instead but many years in the future. An update to the demo UI is a must though and I think that getting updated within the next year or so is very likely. Prominent members of our community are working on third party viewing systems that will be released later as well, so that will shake things up a bit, too.

DeKay: Explaining StarLadder Berlin Major roster rules and how they’re affecting CS:GO teams The StarLadder Berlin CS:GO Major is looming ever closer and questions and concerns about roster lock rules are, as always, popping up with increasing frequency. With the recent announcement that Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David has asked to be benched on MIBR, those questions just became significantly more pertinent as the Brazilian team find themselves with very few options. On June 25, the StarLadder Berlin Major roster lock went into effect for all Counter-Strike teams competing in the Major cycle. Due to an August 23 start date, teams will be unable to officially change their roster for nearly two months over this span. For teams that didn’t plan ahead or properly read the official StarLadder Berlin Major rule book, this has become a significant challenge. The sheer number of players, coaches, and managers who seem to not understand roster rules is alarming, so I’ll do my best to explain them in layman’s terms. Each Major in CS:GO contains 24 teams, 14 of which are already qualified due to their placing at the previous Major. This leaves 10 spots that are determined via smaller offline tournaments called Minor Championships. Read More: DeKay Debrief: ESL One Cologne 2019 – The top two teams from each of the four Minor tournaments fill those spots, while the final two are filled via the Third place play-in. To reach a Minor, teams must make it to the Minor closed qualifier via one of the four open Minor qualifier brackets. As I write this article, we are less than a week away from the start of the Minor tournaments. Open and closed qualification for them has already transpired. Roster Changes (Part II, Section 12 StarLadder Berlin Rulebook) Since four open Minor qualifiers existed for each region, teams were allowed to change their rosters between their four qualification attempts if desired. Additionally, a coach or reserve player could have been swapped in without issue between matches during both open and closed qualification without penalty. Once teams made it to the closed qualifier, they were not allowed to add new unregistered players or players that failed to make it out of the open qualifier. This is the reason Jaccob ‘yay’ Whiteaker was unable to play with Lazarus in the North America Closed qualifier – he had already played the Open Qualifier with Bad News Bears. The key cutoff point here that should be noted is the jump from qualifiers to the Minor. This is a huge benchmark. Once a player reached the Minor, they were off limits to any team in the Minor or Major. If a team failed to qualify for the Minor, their players are allowed to join Major qualified teams as long as it was done prior to the roster lock date. This is what MiBR did with Lucas ‘LUCAS1’ Teles because he failed to qualify with Luminosity Gaming. Beyond this point, the roster lock rule is very simple. After June 25, no changes are allowed unless it is an emergency situation and StarLadder has proof of said emergency. Examples they list include visa issues or a serious health issue. This is significant because coldzera has reportedly asked for his own benching in an attempt to leave Made in Brazil after a string of poor results. He has stated that he offered to stay until the Major, but claimed that his teammates would rather him leave sooner. Unfortunately for them, they cannot play with anyone else besides coldzera barring an emergency situation. Dexerto has reached out to StarLadder to ask if a team would be allowed to compete with four players, but has not received a response at this time. The otherwise most notable case of the roster rules having an impact was with Ninjas in Pyjamas, who chose to replace Dennis ‘dennis’ Edman on their active roster with Nicolas ‘Plopski’ Gonzalez Zamora. Since Plopski qualified for the European Minor with Team Ancient, he had breached the critical benchmark of not being able to join another Minor or Major team. He made it one step further than LUCAS1, making him unavailable for NiP. Thus, they were able to loan Maikil ‘Golden’ Kunda Selim from Cloud9, presumably doing so ahead of the June 25 roster lock. NiP are Current Legends in Berlin due to making the playoffs at IEM Katowice earlier this year. It’s certainly not unheard of for organizations to be forced to use their ‘B Team’ lineups at Counter-Strike Majors after falling foul of the roster lock rules. Despite numerous major cycles having come and gone, roster locks still appear to be a stumbling block for many.

DeKay Debrief: StarLadder DMCAs, Complexity controversy, CR4ZY remain underrated We have reached the New Legends Stage of the StarLadder Berlin Major and before we talk about what’s to come, let’s take a look back at key moments from the New Challengers Stage. StarLadder vs. Streamers I can’t help but feel the first stage of the Major was marred by the fact that StarLadder went on the offensive by filing DMCA takedown notices against a number of Twitch streamers for streaming GOTV without permission. Everyone involved has had their infraction revoked, but then were met with either having to insert advertisements into their stream or pay money to gain GOTV streaming access. Each day that passes without a statement from Valve clarifying the situation leaves me fearing that they have in fact given full control over every broadcast medium to StarLadder. Less than 24 hours remain until the New Legends Stage starts, so if they’re going to say something it needs to be today. 600Right now, we know that in April of 2018 Valve explicitly told a streamer that broadcasting via GOTV was allowed. The question is, has that changed? If it has, why did it change? This wasn’t even an issue in the past because most organizers realize the added value streamers bring to the viewing experience. Despite most Majors having the best talent in the world with experienced members of production, that style isn’t for everyone. If I’m honest, I actually prefer watching the Major through a secondary stream. It’s more mellow and allows me to tune out from time to time while getting work done. If I was in charge of a Major, I’d be shouting from my social media that as many streamers as possible should stream GOTV. StarLadder is concerned about what they are getting in return rather than what they should actually be focusing on: getting as many people as possible watching the event. The Major should always be a celebration of the game and this definitely doesn’t feel like one. I’m tired of Valve giving Majors to organizers that spend all of their time focusing on the bottom line instead of the overall product and getting eyes on the game. Jason Lake goes off Just moments after the 1-3 performance from Complexity in the New Challengers stage, Jason Lake published a tweet that exploded. It was met with praise and equal amounts of criticism, due to the timing and nature of his sentiment. I think there is an argument on both sides, but let’s step through what happened and what’s actually possible. As for the tweet itself, I don’t particularly think it was an issue but there is a chance that it may have scared off a handful of candidates. I’m not easily offended though. There are fragile star players out there that probably don’t want to play for someone who is capable of saying something like that right after a poor performance. The thing is, I don’t think Jason Lake wants a player that fragile. In that case, it’s a win-win. I love our players as individuals but these results won’t be tolerated. If you’re a Tier 1 player looking for a fresh start at the best facility in the world, HMU. I’ll pay your buyout and give you the world’s highest salaries. Let’s build a juggernaut. Spread the word. — Jason Lake (@JasonBWLake) August 25, 2019 What I did like about the tweet is it shows a sense of urgency and is likely the tipping point from where Complexity become big spenders instead of trying to get “the best bang for the buck” type players. If you’re a fan of the organization, you probably loved it. Sure, there are ways to get the point across without saying something like that, but trust me his inbox is now full of players who are interested in signing up. That shit worked. I think it would have been met with far less criticism if he tweets it following the end of the Major and had discussed the future of the team with his players in depth. Fans shouldn’t be asking if Complexity can afford some of the world’s best players because they absolutely can. The question instead should be, which players are available to grab and will they mesh well together? If I had to guess, I’d wager that Owen “oBo” Schlatter is the only safe player on the team. Shahzeeb “ShahZaM” Khan has played well, so there is a case that can be made for him, but I’m not so sure. In every team that forms, players make sacrifices in their roles and spots they like to play. Do three or four tier one players exist on the market right now that are willing to do that? If so, are they willing to move to the United States (if they don’t live there already)? Assembling the pieces of the puzzle here is the difficult part and that will take some time. I don’t expect much to happen for a couple of weeks. CR4ZY set to go even more crazy If you follow my work you’ll know that I’ve been on the CR4ZY hype train for months now. I’ve written about their two star players here and here. I’ve considered them one of the most underrated teams in the world and I still believe they might be underrated in the New Legends Stage. As I write this, many people do not have them advancing to the playoffs, but I do. The unfortunate part is that they play Team Liquid for their first match-up, which is just about the hardest opponent. I wouldn’t write them off entirely though, as Liquid has yet to play an official match yet. If they can get the ball rolling early, it might be too much to handle as Liquid gets warmed up. I still see CR4ZY making it through though, even with a loss against Liquid. They can hang with and beat teams like ENCE, FaZe Clan, NiP, and MIBR.

DeKay Debrief: IEM Sydney 2019 Team Liquid were crowned champions at the IEM Sydney 2019 pro CS:GO tournament, and here are my biggest takeaways from everything that took place over the course of the five-day event. Liquid Clear the Hurdle After ten runner up finishes since 2016, Team Liquid finally win a tier one tournament and make the most of a great opportunity. Despite letting the final go to five maps, their level of play was higher than it has ever been. Almost every player on the lineup stepped up at different points with nitr0 showing up huge on Overpass in the Final, a map that they lose without his performance. Other subtleties like tricky retake smokes and staying aggressive in their decision making was key to their success against Fnatic, especially late in the series. Getting their first big win out of the way heading into ECS and EPL makes them a threat to each and every team attending. Fnatic Show Promise This event was the best Fnatic has looked since Golden was their in-game leader in early 2018, showing a new level of cohesiveness with many of their veteran players. One of the highlights was seeing JW return to a level of play we all know he is capable of on the big stage. I think their ceiling is higher than they showed and can be realized with some tweaking that will allow Twist to feel more comfortable on certain maps. If they can’t retain this level of play moving forward, I would keep an eye on Flusha as a possible alternative. The same can be said for NiP, who offered him multiple times within the last year. A move like that ultimately would depend on when Flusha wants to return to playing once again. Mousesports Instantly Competitive Karrigan has proven once again why he is and always will be one of the best in-game leaders in the world with Mousesports’ performance in Sydney. Making the playoffs here was a huge statement and becoming a top five team isn’t out of the question with the talent he has to work with. His style of leading fits the way these players like to play and it shows in the server. The addition of Vertigo might be an X-factor with them because of how masterful Karrigan is with map vetoes and map pools. I can see him using it as a tool to frighten other teams as well as abuse it when teams don’t go out of their way to ban it. I expect their roster to stay intact for the time being while they add to their game, which is completely understandable. Renegades Take a Step Back The unfortunate side effect of having to play with stand-ins for ESL Pro League is that it hurt the flow of the Renegades roster for this event, I’m convinced of that. It was even more unfortunate to see them under-perform while playing at a big event in their home country. It doesn’t look like things will get any easier either because they’ll have to return for Round 2 of Pro League in a couple weeks’ time. All signs point to using smooya again playing for gratisfaction, who is at least the best possible stand-in for their style of play. I hope they can get these issues sorted out well before the Major so they can continue to build without being interrupted all the time. MiBR Treading Water The number of events MiBR are attending are not helping their attempts to climb the rankings once again, allowing less time for legitimate practice. That’s what I was told at least, when I inquired with people who are close to the team. Not playing at Blast Pro Series Madrid and DreamHack Masters Dallas should allow them time to get things figured out. If they don’t take advantage of the break, I’m worried about the future of this roster. Every day that goes by with them under-performing makes the recruiting of new Brazilian talent more and more likely.

DeKay Debrief: IEM Katowice CS:GO Major New Legends Stage takeaways Following the conclusion of the New Legends Stage of the IEM Katowice CS:GO Major, just eight teams remain to contend for the title. Much like the New Challengers Stage, there were a number of intense and equally surprising matches during the New Legends Stage of the IEM Katowice Major over the last few days. Astralis and Team Liquid torched the competition, while plenty of other teams struggled their way through to the New Champions Stage later this week. Here is a rundown of my takeaways for the IEM Katowice 2019 Major New Legends Stage. Renegades keep on trucking After their convincing Challengers Stage performance I was a believer that Renegades could make to the Major Playoffs easily. I put them in my Pick’Ems and they didn’t let me down. Their level of play has been extremely consistent thus far. On top of that, I’m impressed by how they can close out tight maps without letting nerves affect them much. Stealing a map off of Astralis shows they won’t falter when they match up with the best in the world, either. The question now is if the Katowice crowd will have an effect on them in the playoffs. NRG fall flat For a team that sits near the top of the world ranking, their performance here was inexcusable towards the end. Losing to Ninjas in Pyjamas and AVANGAR in best-of ones isn’t ideal but was always a realistic possibility. Their play against compLexity is where they really dropped the ball though, that can’t happen. In my opinion, having Jacob ‘FugLy’ Medina on the same team as Damian ‘daps’ Steele will hinder them in the long run. I think locking down someone with a bit more firepower to help pick up the slack when others aren’t on their game will help them. Once again, I would put all my money on NRG begging Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik to join as we speak. Out of all the options available, joining them makes the most sense. They have the league slots that a new team under TSM would have to attempt to qualify for all year long. If they added him, they’d be a lock for making it out of the Americas Minor again later this year. MIBR do it again Say what you want, Made in Brazil are consummate professionals that always find their way into the New Champions Stage. Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David looks like he feels comfortable again and I had always imagined that would be the case if they returned to their native language in game. My prediction for MIBR was a top four spot and I think that is where they will end up. They will face off against Renegades and would play the winner of the Astralis matchup if they both win in the quarterfinals. I’m keeping my eye on MIBR this year, as they have a real chance to do damage when they get their map pool on point. Business as usual from Astralis and Liquid Astralis and Liquid look a level above any other team in this tournament, as many people expected. I hated making the cliche prediction of both teams making the final but they have shown thus far why they deserve that respect. I would keep an eye on how Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander being sick impacts his performance in the playoffs, but I doubt it will cause any issues. The thing I’m happy about is that the two teams can’t meet until the Final. This format has been an amazing aspect of the entire tournament. Props to ESL for that one.

DeKay Debrief: IEM Katowice CS:GO Major New Challengers Stage takeaways With the New Challengers Stage of the IEM Katowice CS:GO Major now in the books, it’s a good time to take a look back at what transpired as we head into the upcoming New Legends Stage. The IEM Katowice Major kicked off on February 13 with the New Challengers Stage that saw a number of surprising results from top to bottom. While teams such as NRG and Renegades led the pack, teams such G2 Esports and Fnatic had a few stumbles along the way. Here is a rundown of my takeaways for the IEM Katowice 2019 Major New Challengers Stage. Three Cheers for the Format I particularly enjoyed the format of the Challengers Stage, it proved itself as an effective way to ensure the best teams made it through. If a team did not qualify for the New Legends Stage, it was because they didn’t deserve to. I expect the next stage to end up the same, with the best teams in the playoffs. Following this event, I hope other tournament organizers take notice. Adding best-of threes where teams can advance or get sent home helps remove a bit of the randomness that existed in the past. Fnatic Drop the Ball Following their exit from the IEM Katowice Major, Fnatic team director Andreas Samuelsson posted a Twitlonger about their performance. It includes all of the typical rhetoric you would expect and he finishes by saying no changes will be made to the team, despite rumors to the contrary. I found this odd because at no point have I heard rumors regarding a roster change. It would be far too early, so I don’t understand what he is referencing. That being said, continuing to allow Richard “Xizt” Landström to make “no respect” vetos will only continue to hurt them. If they aren’t going to make a change in leadership, they should at least change his outdated approach to the game. It isn’t working. Not Sold on G2 Despite including G2 Esports in my personal CS:GO Pick’Em and choosing them as my dark horse, I did not find their play inspiring until they beat TYLOO. It wasn’t until that fifth match that the team appeared cohesive and fired on all cylinders. In the New Legends Stage, they will have to pick up where they left off or they will be headed home. Lucas “Lucky” Chastang looks like a promising piece of blue chip talent, but I think they are still one player change away from their full potential. I’m not inspired by Alexandre “bodyy” Pianaro and Audric “JaCkz” Jug on the same lineup right now. I would suggest recruiting a player like François “AmaNEk” Delauney but who knows if there is a political reason as to why that isn’t realistic. You never know with these guys. Sleeping on Renegades I am happy to admit I overlooked Renegades when analyzing the Challengers Stage on paper, they looked special here. In particular, their 2-0 victory over Ence shows that they mean business. This lineup looks as if they are finally playing with confidence on the big stage, which is something they lacked for years. Justin “jks” Savage looks like he is back to his comfortable self, where he belongs. Newer fans will now learn why many hold his play in such high regard. I think Renegades have a real shot to make the Top 8, but I’m also being careful not to overvalue their previous victories. My prediction is they make it in on the last day with a 3-2 record.

DeKay Debrief: Liquid’s IEM Chicago dominance, hope for MIBR & concerns for Fnatic Over the weekend, Team Liquid dominated at IEM Chicago 2019 while a number of teams fates were decided for the upcoming CS:GO Major. Here are my biggest takeaways from everything that took place recently. With the culmination of the European and American Minors as well as IEM Chicago this past weekend, we now must sit and wait for the players break to end before a majority of the Counter-Strike world resumes. The Asia and CIS Minors will begin later this week which are followed by the Minor play-in, but after that, it is three weeks of empty calendar space. Team Liquid dominate IEM Chicago Team Liquid have added to their total of incredible performances this year by reaching their ninth final in a row and yet another victory at IEM Chicago. It should have already been clear that this is in-fact the Team Liquid era, yet many are still arguing that point and missing their chance to just enjoy some of the best Counter-Strike ever played. Their level of skill and ability to shoot their way out of sticky situations is something we haven’t seen for a couple years on the global stage and it’s brilliant. MiBR step-up in Chicago The remaining seven teams from Chicago have left us with much less to discuss, especially because many of them have locked rosters until after the Major. MIBR had a great run with their semi-final appearance while using Zews as a player, but as everyone knows he will move back to coaching after they play in Berlin. It’s still a bit too early to speculate on who they will look to add to their roster to replace coldzera. Renegades’ performance was disappointing to see given what we know their lineup is capable of, I am starting to wonder how much the AUG nerf has affected their performance. I understand that Gratisfaction being in and out of the lineup had to have hurt their cohesion but now is the time to prove you can play at that high level again. Fnatic need the Player Break The Europe Minor has created a number of interesting storylines due to CR4ZY qualifying over the likes of Fnatic, Ancient, and BIG. While I dislike the timing of the Player Break in its current state, it comes at a good time for Fnatic. They can all go their separate ways and reconsider how they want to approach the game in the latter half of 2019. I can tell you confidently that they will be making a roster move at some point in the near future and I’d be shocked if Flusha wasn’t involved. The question here becomes how many changes they want to make, because their previous approach wasn’t cutting it. BIG could make changes BIG is another team where a roster move is guaranteed as well, it’s just a bit too early to know how they’ll approach changing their roster. I’m aware that their analyst accidentally leaked some of their plans, but I’m told those aren’t final decisions just yet. Smooya’s name has been linked to another roster behind the scenes, so I’m not convinced he will return to their lineup as many people have suggested. Ancient has a roster with a ton of talent and players that teams will likely show interest in, but their future as a team will come down to how committed to each other they all are. We’ve seen this story time and time again, where one player gets an offer from a larger org and the rest of the roster crumbles. I’m not saying that’s what will happen here, but I don’t think it’s out of the question. The Americas Minor was far less interesting and isn’t really worth discussing. Both teams that people expected to move on to the Major actually did and did so with relative ease. Bear with me as we count down the days to the start of the Major, I promise to keep you entertained.

DeKay Debrief: ESL One Cologne 2019 Team Liquid were crowned champions at the ESL One Cologne 2019 CS:GO tournament, and here are my biggest takeaways from everything that took place over the course of the five-day event. The Liquid Era With a victory at ESL One Cologne, the Team Liquid era has officially started. They are the second team to win the Intel Grand Slam and did it in the shortest time frame possible, something that will probably never happen again. The addition of Stewie2k has added a level of flair and audacity that the rest of the more reserved players lack, in and out of the server. Overall, they appear complete and ready for any team in the world that wants to challenge them moving forward. I don’t see their motivation or dominance stopping at the Major, they will be the team to beat there. Stewie isn’t the only thing that has propelled them to the next level though, the addition of adreN as coach has been just as pivotal. His work to help prepare the team and expand their map pool has been nothing short of incredible and keeps nitr0 confident as an in-game leader. Naturally, the contribution of adreN has been overlooked like many coaches are due to how little input they have during matches but the players appreciate him thoroughly. Imagine a world in which Liquid stayed with their original decision to skip attending this event… A fractured MiBR A report via HLTV surfaced on the day of the Finals about coldzera requesting his own benching so that he can pursue other opportunities. I can confirm that report, as I had my own similar one in the works before heading to bed the night prior. The situation is complex at the moment because MiBR losing their best player would be a huge blow. On top of that, coldzera will have a hard time getting someone to pay his buyout. The players are just over a year into their three-year long contracts, which I assume means he’ll have to pay a large percentage of it to get himself free. His desire to play with NiKo is well documented and that is absolutely an option if the aforementioned issues can be sorted. In fact, that is probably the only option outside of staying with MiBR. As I write this, nothing has transpired officially so the situation is still ongoing. I believe that MiBR will do their best to retain him, even if it means replacing additional players following the Berlin Major. Should coldzera leave the team, they’d have tremendous shoes to fill on the roster. He and Fallen have had their differences in the past, so it was only a matter of time before the two split if their poor performances continued. I was vocal about them needing to make two changes before rebounding performance wise and this might be how it happens. It’s unclear just exactly who they would target if coldzera does leave, but it’s only a matter of time before I’ll know more. The Return of French CS Seeing G2 Esports and Vitality finishing second place in their most recent respective tournaments is an incredible transformation for French Counter-Strike. The sheer level of talent they possess meant it was only a matter of time before one of the two teams found success. It just so happens that they both have, with Vitality looking the most dangerous. While their reliance on ZywOo can be worrying, I’m hopeful that the rest of the team can improve individually and meet him halfway so-to-speak. I found their team play very impressive, especially their flashes on most maps. ENCE regress to the mean This ENCE lineup finishing last place at ESL One: Cologne is their worst placing as a group and they have come down to earth since the IEM Katowice Major. I didn’t watch their matches very closely but losing a best-of one and then losing to the eventual runner-up team in Vitality is somewhat excusable. I don’t think it’s the end of the world but I do feel they’ll have their work cut out for them to remain a top five team. I’m curious if sunny waiting in the distance will have an effect on them mentally, especially those who would be candidates for being replaced. If a player or two wanted him to join right after they finished second place at the Major, they definitely want him to join now. Time will tell on this one. Natus Vincere show promise The new-look Na’Vi didn’t look tremendously different to the previous lineup with Edward in my opinion. I will say though, the moral of the team appeared better. They seem to value Boombl4’s willingness to play his role and how much more communicative he is in the server. Overall, I expect them to improve as a lineup but focusing too much on their Liquid rivalry could leave them vulnerable to lineups like Mousesports, NRG, Astralis, and Vitality. If they can pair a unique map pool with s1mple’s brilliance, they’ll be dangerous as ever when we get to Berlin.

DeKay on CS:GO: Top five inactive players With the bulk of post-Major roster moves out of the way and ESL Pro League in progress, the CS:GO roster move landscape has gone quiet. A majority of the world’s best are confident with their starting five and will not change their lineup until after the Starladder Berlin Major in September. With many teams remaining static, the list of talented inactive players has grown to a size we may have never seen before. So many, that at least two whole mixed nationality rosters could be created tomorrow. Here is our list of some of the best players available on the market and some exclusive context surrounding their situation: Miikka ‘suNny’ Kemppi SuNny is a rifler with superstar potential, showing that on multiple occasions during his time with Mousesports. His decline in form towards the end of his tenure on the lineup is understandable considering the overall form of the roster before they split up. Multiple roster moves in a short period of time obviously didn’t help his case, either. He won’t be cheap to extract from Mousesports but the longer he sits, the more they will be motivated to move him elsewhere. Sources have mentioned that his contract with the organization ends in less than a year. It would be shocking to see him teamless come September, given the impact he can provide in the server. Robin ‘flusha’ Rönnquist Flusha could possibly be the most attractive player on this list for interested teams due to his ability to perform as an in-game leader or as a strong role player. During his time with Cloud9, his performance only got better until he decided to step back from professional play. The interest from a number of teams will be extreme, which means it will come down to how soon he wants to return to playing Counter-Strike. One obvious landing spot is FaZe Clan, who have expressed they will eventually recruit an in-game leader. Although, their recent victory at BLAST Pro Series: Miami might put a damper on a potential roster change. The other obvious move is a return to Sweden, where he still held in high regard. Fabien ‘kioShiMa’ Fiey KioShiMa was one of the best players for Cloud9 during their period of roster volatility at the start of the year. Once again though, he was replaced. William ‘RUSH’ Wierzba recently mentioned in an interview that kioShiMa was a great teammate, but doesn’t play the game the way the rest of the roster wants to. Surely though, there is a team out there that could use a veteran rifler that has a wide skillset and is dependable to deliver results in-game. The bonus for any team interested in his services is that he is a free agent and just like suNny, I would be surprised to see him without a team for long. Owen ‘smooya’ Butterfield Smooya is an AWPer that has shown flashes of brilliance during his time on the big stage and brings a level of aggressiveness that many teams could utilize. He has expressed his willingness to play anywhere in the world, meaning any team in need of impact AWPing should at least explore the idea. The small downside of his recent stand-in play for Renegades is that he cannot play in ESL Pro League for Season 9 for any other team once he is subbed out. Thankfully, his buyout with BIG Clan is quite low, with sources intimating it is around the $30,000 mark. William ‘draken’ Sundin Draken hasn’t shown a level of consistency yet to make him more desirable than smooya but has shown on multiple occasions he is worth rostering based on potential alone. Constantly being moved in and out of the Ninjas in Pyjamas roster can’t be great for his confidence, which is essential when using the big green gun. Putting him on a roster that is a bit more rigid and structured is worth a shot for those needing some firepower. He was smart by ensuring he would be a free agent if replaced on NiP, rather than getting locked to the bench again. Notable Mentions Abay “Hobbit” Khasenov – Jakob “JUGi” Hansen – Niels-Christian “NaToSaphiX” Sillassen – Asger “AcilioN” Larsen –

DeKay CSGO Monthly Mailbag – What Happened with Jamppi, the 2020 landscape, more With the Counter-Strike scene moving forward and multiple rosters being reported, there are still a tonne of questions that need answering before a number of announcements. Jamppi was supposed to be headed to OG but now looks sidelined, so what’s next for them? When will the European organization make an announcement on their move into CS:GO? Will GeT_RiGhT find a permanent home after Ninjas in Pyjamas? Answers to these questions and more are in this edition of DeKay’s Monthly Mailbag. What will CSGO esports look like moving forward? What are your personal predictions on how Counter-Strike esports will change/shape up in 2020? — Draulon (@draulon) October 27, 2019 Counter-Strike will be similar to 2019 in 2020 with at least one new addition to the calendar. For a couple months out of the year, the landscape will be divided due to playing their respective leagues. Teams like Liquid are positioned on the ESL side while many other North American teams are aiming to play in the new league that has been rumored. As far as the rest of the calendar, it should look pretty much the same but I don’t expect ECS to remain in the same capacity that it is operating in now. Online Counter-Strike for the top teams is pretty much a thing of the past and no one wants to do it anymore. Why did OG switch to poizon? Why did OG decide to focus on poison instead? — ShadeWalker #IStandWithMirage (@RealAproximate) October 27, 2019 Multiple sources have said it is due to the VAC banned account that jamppi is linked to. The real question there is if OG decided to stay away because they don’t like the risk or if they were able to get a clarification from Valve. I haven’t heard one way or the other just yet. As for poizon, he was next on their list and has earned himself a chance on a better team. Should Cloud9 move on from JamezIRL? Do you think Jamez should be changed by another coach on cloud9? — Sebastian Medina (@sfmedinac) October 27, 2019 I don’t have any insight as to what type of coach Jamez is on Cloud9, but I’ve heard previously that he is very dedicated. I doubt he is their weak point, so changing him out doesn’t really make sense to me unless there is conflict. How close are we to an announcement from OG? I’ve been told to expect something pretty soon. This week hopefully. What’s next for oskar? Oskar will always have less options to choose from than a player of his skill would normally have, due to his reputation as a teammate. I wish that wasn’t the case, but it is reality. He is known for being tough to deal with and I don’t really expect him to go anywhere other than a smaller team similar to that last HellRaisers lineup. Should Complexity make a move for an AWPer? Awper that complexity should make moves towards to replace shazam? — Wanbro (@Wanbro_) October 27, 2019 An obvious option is WARDELL, but that is something you need to have full confidence in being an upgrade before doing it. I’m not convinced it is. At this point, if they are truly bringing k0nfig in, shahzam is the next guy up for replacement due to the structure of the team. Outside of WARDELL, you probably have to go to Europe to get a legit upgrade but that would put Complexity in the EU Minor pool. That isn’t a risk worth taking in my opinion. How do you fix North? You have to go get MSL again at this point. I know it isn’t flashy, but they would get more decent results with him there. Is there a leader that is more deserving of a chance in Denmark? What should Cloud9 do? What move should Cloud9 make? Is koosta the problem in Cloud9 (beef with players, past behaviour)? Which player would fit the most for daps playstyle? — Sebastian Medina (@sfmedinac) October 27, 2019 I think they should go a couple of events with subroza just to see how things change. Beyond that, I highly doubt koosta is an issue on that lineup. Koosta is quiet and does a ton of the dirty work on the teams he plays for nowadays. They need a player that will buy in fully to the system who also has a ton of potential. I don’t have a name that fits that bill just yet. What’s going on with nawwk and fnatic? any more news on the nawwk fnatic sitauation that went down in September that you mentioned in one if your streams a while back? — Berqvi (@Berqvi) October 27, 2019 I’m hoping to make a report about that, so I’ll have to ask you to remain patient for me. What’s happening with 100 Thieves, Dignitas, and TSM? 100T, Dignitas, and.. TSM? any news? Renegades doing changes? Are they going to change org as previous mentioned? — enchorigoNNN (@lucas_7_94) October 27, 2019 Many of those organizations are considering an entrance to CS:GO if the new league in NA pans out in the way they’d like it to. The issue is, there are only so many top lineups to go around. The latest information I have had on 100 Thieves leads me to believe they won’t be getting a lineup anytime soon. Has GeT_RiGhT had any offers? Did GeT_RiGhT get any offers so far? anything he’s actually thinking about? — DaMaDe (@officialDaMaDe) October 27, 2019 I don’t have any information on that front, but I imagine he has had some interest. One option could be wherever Xizt and Friberg go. I’ve always thought GeT_RiGhT would give an international team a chance before he stopped playing, so maybe that happens. I’m not sure really. Do you think k0nfig will find form again? do you think k0nfig will get back to his best, especially if he gets his motivation by joining Complexity — Hazemore (@Hazemore04) October 27, 2019 I really do think he will return to form in 2020. I think everything is in place for him to make that happen. He has dealt with his own struggles in the past as well as organizational struggles recently that have severely hampered him. Once he is officially locked down, there will be so much less in the way for him. I’m excited. Masvidal or Diaz? Masvidal has the edge in my opinion but fights with Nate never seem to go how I expect. I’m not super confident about that choice. How long before Na’Vi make another change? How long will it take for Na’vi to make another change considering their latest problems — Ieuan (@Fera2k4) October 27, 2019 I think b1ad3 can still work some magic with this lineup and help fix some of their issues. Replacing an in-game leader isn’t an easy move, especially when you have a guy doing it that doesn’t have any notable experience with the role. I will have a ton of patience with this lineup and I hope they have patience themselves. GuardiaN needs to step up too, which I think will happen. Any moves for ex-GamerLegion players? Next moves for ex-GamerLegion players? (Ex6tenz, ScreaM, HS) — Erick Shufeldt (@erickshufeldt) October 27, 2019 I haven’t heard anything about any of those players, but if they want any real interest they’ll need to prove themselves again. Either together or separately. Would FaZe ever take Karrigan back? Would faze ever consider karrigan again? And vice versa with karrigan considering an offer from faze if mousesports ever went down hill really badly? I feel like they need an IGL in general, not sure if they’ll consider any at this point. — Jachro (@JachroCS) October 27, 2019 Some players like Rain would definitely consider him returning, but I doubt NiKo ever would. Nor would Karrigan for that matter. He likes having control and has the accomplishments that warrant that control, so why would he give that up? Karrigan will be at Mousesports for as long as he wants really. If they go downhill, he’ll be allowed to make the changes he feels are necessary. Do Faze want to continue with Broky? Do FaZe want to continue with broky? Any idea on what they feel about the recent performances? — Robert :ok_hand::flag-ro: (@RobertCS__) October 28, 2019 I can only assume so. They probably aren’t happy about their recent performances and I would hope they’ve been working to improve them. If not, I’d be pretty worried. Will the next Major be in Sydney? I am 99% sure there will not be a Major in Sydney. I don’t know what that random report was talking about.

DeKay CS:GO Major Mailbag, Part 2: Karrigan, Mertz and playoff predictions With the IEM Katowice CS:GO Major about to kick off its final stage, DeKay is back with another Mailbag looking at some of the biggest questions from the community. There’s less than 24 hours left until the playoffs of the first CS:GO Major of 2019 gets underway, and there’s plenty at stake for all the teams involved. Depending on how each teams perform, we could be set for a number of roster moves once the post-Major shuffle gets underway. Part 2 of DeKay’s Mailbag will look at a few of the teams that could be set for moves, as well as look beyond the Major to what’s coming during the rest of 2019. Who will win the Major? Which top8 surprised you the most? Who are you rooting for? And your bet would be in which team to win? — Joao Mariani (@joaohmariani) February 26, 2019 The biggest surprise for the entire Major in general has to be Renegades. I put them in to make Top 8 in my Pick’Em but only after the Challengers Stage. The appear very cohesive and I’m amazed at how well AZR plays while also being the in-game leader. They almost look like a mini Team Liquid. Speaking of Team Liquid, they are my choice to win it all. I think their path to the Final is clear cut and they are overflowing with confidence. Could tarik have landed somewhere other than NRG? I’m not 100% certain of every team that reached out to him. My guesses would be teams like Envy and compLexity. Where will karrigan land? Where do you think Karrigan will end up going ? , NA pay check or regaining success in EU ? — Patricio Muñoz Ramos (@PatoMunozRamos) February 26, 2019 If I had to put money on it now, it would be either Envy or Mousesports. In that order. Still uncertain at this point though. What are FaZe Clan’s long-term plans? Is Faze looking at ChrisJ as a possible fifth player before the Major? AdreN is just a stand in, right? Ir not ChrisJ, who else is Faze considering for the Job? Ty — Antonio M. Martin (@antoniomg16) February 26, 2019 I think that is doubtful. I’m not sure how keen NiKo is on working with ChrisJ again. I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea though. It is hard to say how everyone on that team feel about him. I haven’t heard any rumors about it being possible yet. Again, it is early because FaZe are still in the Major. Are BIG looking to make moves after a disappointing Major? With BIG’s massive failure at the major how likely are they now to pursue potentially getting ChrisJ? — Will Vickers (@WVick7) February 26, 2019 I think them looking to players like ChrisJ or woxic is a real possibility. There have a been a few rumors pointing that direction, but it’s still a bit early yet. What’s up with Ghost and steel? Why has Ghost abandoned steel? (Org and teammates) — YamsInACan [Yamin A] (@Yams1nACan) February 26, 2019 Contrary to what most people think, it has nothing to do with being able to play Majors or not. It’s not my position to discuss what exactly at this time. Maybe in the future. Is a French roster shuffle on the horizon? With no French teams making the playoffs, how long until the next French shuffle and who do you expect to move? — Dewba (@DewbaCS) February 26, 2019 I don’t expect much movement from them. At the most, G2 maybe making a singular change? That’s the only thing I feel is possible, but for now I wouldn’t be surprised if they stay put. What about a Danish shuffle? Not that I’m aware of. From what I’m told, Mertz was in fact sick and Heroic held him out a tiny bit longer rather than immediately throwing him back into the fire. I haven’t heard of any real movement yet around North and OpTic. We will see. Can MIBR beat Astralis? Do you think liquid will beat astralis in the finals? Do you think mibr has a chance of beating astralis? — The God (@TwoGods1) February 26, 2019 I explained the first part above. I don’t believe MiBR have the map pool to make it past Astralis though. What’s next for pashaBiceps? Will pasha play in a competitive team again? Mabye with olof because it is a dream of both to play once together? — BMG (@BMGoI) February 26, 2019 I haven’t heard anything about Pasha and his future. He doesn’t strike me as someone that is interested in grinding from the bottom. It will probably come down to the quality of offers he receives. Playing with olof doesn’t sound like something that would actually happen. Who knows though. Can compLexity replicate their success in the future? Was the Col performance a complete fluke, or do you think they can actually remain a quality team moving forward? Who do they try to pick up to improve that roster? — Jake V. (@TheJakeVanO) February 26, 2019 I don’t have a ton of confidence in them. I’d be shocked if either n0thing or Rickeh remain with them moving forward. They would have to make a huge splash for me to count on them to carry any sort of momentum the rest of the year. Stanislaw played out of his mind and they can’t expect that to happen on a regular basis. Is a new seasonal league on the way? Which TO is setting up the new seasonal competition (like pro league or ECS)? — Daniel Powell (@DanielMPowell) February 26, 2019 None that I’m aware of. Everything appears very static at the moment with mostly format changes occurring. Ask me again in six months.

DeKay CS:GO Mailbag: What’s up with WARDELL, Team Liquid Expectations, and more (Part 2) With the rise of Evil Geniuses and Fnatic, other CSGO teams are on the slide and could be facing potential roster moves. Which teams are they and what might they do? Find out in the second part of this month’s mailbag below. Where is WARDELL headed? why isn’t wardell on a team? Any rumors on potential teams? — IcY_Radon (@IcY_Radon) October 27, 2019 I’m sure he has had some interest now that he is a free agent but he has his own reputation as a teammate that has hampered some opportunities, in my opinion. He is a young guy that is still moldable though, so I don’t see that as an issue myself. Friberg with a new Swedish lineup? Have u heard anything about friberg/the new swedish lineup u talked about in one of ur streams a while back? — Bobby (@iBobby_CS) October 27, 2019 Friberg turned down more than one Swedish team in recent weeks due to his project with Xizt, but I’m not exactly sure what it involves. It could possibly involve one of the new organizations that intends to play in the new North American league forming, but I’m not entirely sure yet. Time will tell. When will Godsent return? If they are still pursuing the Japaleno players, then not very long I would say. I haven’t heard anything new or different since I reported that information. New rumors on mousesports changes? Any rumours on mousesports changes? The org has been known to step in before when unsatisfied with the results, but all the pieces seem to be there and players only seem frustrated at not performing to the level they know they can, perhaps back room changes? — Alex (@_alexaddison) October 27, 2019 I heard some rumblings after the Major about a move being considered, but as we all saw nothing happened. I do think they are going to make one soon if things don’t improve. The issue here is that if they decide to change a player a few weeks after everyone else did, there won’t be many great choices at an affordable price. Update on ex-OpTic Gaming roster? Nothing new to report just yet. When is Mirage being removed? Pretty soon, I hope. Which top-three team makes the first change? Out of Liquid, EG, and Astralis. Who makes the first roster move in your opinion? — Global (@C9Global) October 27, 2019 Team Liquid. If things don’t improve by the start of next year, I can see a world in which a change is made. Hopefully it won’t come to that though, this lineup is still capable of incredible things. Which hypothetical EG-Liquid trade would be best? You have to make one transfer from EG to Liquid (and vice versa) to improve both teams. What is it? — Jakub Lockstaedt (@Loczeno) October 27, 2019 EG are in a perfect spot at the moment and can still improve further so I obviously wouldn’t make a move if I were them. I also don’t see a clear change that benefits both teams. Pulling one player opens up a new weakness on either lineup in my opinion. CS:GO org appearance fee? Do top cs orgs ask for appearance fee? If so do you know how much? — S. Archie (@archie0704) October 27, 2019 Yes and it varies heavily. I don’t like to speak on numbers if I haven’t seen them on paper, so I won’t even estimate. Thoughts on Liquid’s drop in form? What are your thoughts on Liquid’s big drop in form? — Hogne -nesi- Larsen (@nesicsgo) October 27, 2019 I think it is mental more than anything else. Confidence plays a huge part and was a hurdle they had to clear originally to become the best team in the world. It is even harder to regain confidence once you worked for it and lost it. I hope they can find the catalyst that pulls them back into that sweet spot. Swedish scene outside of NiP and Fnatic? Not a whole lot. We have a couple lineups with good AWPers but they lack in-game leading that can take them to tier 1 events or get deep in them. Hopefully someone can come along like Golden did and help them get there. Will the FaZe crisis affect their CS:GO team? Maybe indirectly, but since they spent so much money on Coldzera they are still at least somewhat committed to supporting their team. I really don’t expect it to have much of an impact, although I’m not super well versed in what they are dealing with at the moment. I prefer to just focus on Counter-Strike if I can. Latest on FaZe’s in-game leader situation? How long till Faze realize they need an IGL? Who would they drop/pick — Joao Mariani (@joaohmariani) October 27, 2019 In my opinion, you will never see another genuine in-game leader on the roster as long as NiKo is a member of the lineup. It just won’t happen. EG investment the best ever? Evil Geniuses are true investment geniuses? Best investment ever? — Joao Mariani (@joaohmariani) October 27, 2019 Now that we have seen what the roster has been able to do, yes it was a great investment. It’s not like they got them for a bargain though, they paid top dollar. I think it was beneficial to everyone involved. Will Fnatic success last? Do you think fnatics succes will last? Or will they become worse soon? — Kampffrosch (@Kampffr0sch) October 27, 2019 Even if they retrace a bit in the rankings, it would still be tremendously better than what they have been doing for the past year. I think they can be happy winning an occasional event and having a chance to beat anyone on any given day. I see them sitting in the top 5-6 area next year for a while. That concludes part two of DeKay’s latest CSGO mailbag. Make sure to check out part one if you haven’t already, and be on the lookout for part three coming soon!

DeKay CSGO Mailbag: Will TSM ever return, Where MSL could land, and more (Part 3) In the third and final installment of this month’s mailbag, I discuss the final questions from the Counter-Strike community that involve Team SoloMid, ENCE, FaZe Clan, MIBR and more. Anything new on TSM? ANYTHING NEW ON THE LEGENDARY NORTH AMERICAN ORGANIZATION KNOWN AS TSM (TEAM SOLOMID)? SORRY FOR SCREAMING BUT I BROKE MY CAPS LOCK KEY — jeff bozos (@bathwaterabuser) October 27, 2019 TSM is always keeping an eye on the environment to see if anything meets what they’re looking for. The thing is, they have a very specific set of stipulations for their team if they are to return. They aren’t willing to overlook anything just for the sake of re-entering CS:GO so there is no way to know if it will ever happen. Are most of your sources inside or outside of teams? I know you’ve answered this before and do not want to reveal your sources. But could you tell us whether most sources are inside or outside of the team? I’m just trying to understand how your roster leaks work ^^ — AdmiralCrunch (@TobKar99) October 27, 2019 It would be unethical to even say one way or the other on that one. As I always say when things like this are asked, use your best judgement and you’ll likely be correct. How much did G2 payed for Hunter and Nexa? I don’t have the total just yet, but it definitely wasn’t free. I should know more in the near future about the deal. Are FaZe Clan satisfied with broky? From what I can tell they are, but I don’t know for certain. He has done well thus far in my opinion, so I don’t see why he wouldn’t stick around for a while. What will be the best new Polish team, and who would be on it? What player or what team will be the new best polish team? If any… — Spaghetti Yeti (@SpaghettiYeti0) October 27, 2019 I couldn’t tell you, I barely get to watch enough Tier 1 Counter-Strike as it is. Will ENCE continue to receive event invites? Do you think ence is gonna keep getting invites or do they need to grind qualifiers and maybe some DH opens? — Henri Hyttinen (@HyttinenHenri) October 27, 2019 They will still get invites, maybe just not as many though. It will be on them to make the most of the invites they do get or as you mentioned, it will be back to qualifiers for them. Who’s in-game leading for Ninjas in Pyjamas? Who’s IGLing for NiP? Is Lekr0 back at it or is there someone else? — Rad Onofrio (@rad1ey_) October 27, 2019 I have no idea, it changes every week. What happened to Renegades being sold? Renegades getting sold was never something I reported. My report highlighted that their current deal with their org was coming to a close. That means they have/will re-sign with Renegades or they will move on to somewhere else. I have no idea where they are in that process though at this time. Are ENCE’s recent struggles due to a new roster? Do you think ENCE’s recent performances are a result of a new roster and little practice, or do you think this trend will continue? — Jaron (@Ibpsack) October 27, 2019 Initially, yes. They did have a brutal road schedule that didn’t allow them to innovate. Now that they’ll have some time, there won’t really be any more excuses. They’ll have to perform right away to make any sort of justification for kicking Aleksib. Are there other international teams in the works? 100 Thieves? Dignitas? With all of the big free agents on the market, are there any other international teams in the works behind the scenes? Anything being put together by 100T, Dig etc? — HeliiZ (@Wheatley006) October 27, 2019 Nothing at the moment, from what I know. That can change at any time of course, but we are at the tail end of roster movement for most teams until a bit further into 2020. Expectations for FaZe Clan? What do you expect from this FaZe lineup , should they get a experienced IGL or this lineup can work? — UrimHD (@Urim_HD) October 27, 2019 I expect a top 8-10 team, but nothing more than that without a dedicated in-game leader. What’s the player response regarding the StarSeries Season 8 format? What’s the response from the players regarding the format in Turkey? (Starseries S8) — Joakim smedman (@jocke_nice) October 27, 2019 I think most teams enjoyed the format and knowing that they could still battle back on multiple occasions if they had a mishap. It is a format that truly helps decide who the best team is at the event and reduces the effect fluke results can have on an overall tournament. Although, I would expect complaints if every event had this format. Players like variation, so it is nice to have once in a while. Where’s a reasonable place for MSL to land? With the current need of IGLs in the pro scene where is a reasonable place for MSL to land? — Doom (@DrDoom12912) October 28, 2019 He should have a ton of teams trying to get him but sadly I doubt that is the case. The only reasonable place I see him ending up is back on North. It just makes sense. What’s going on with Vitality? I think it is pretty early on still to expect too much from them, but they are likely trying their best to mold shox into the roster. NBK did a ton of underappreciated work, so someone has to pick up that slack if they want to achieve the same results or better. It just takes time. Expectations for Dignitas’ roster? I’m not sure who is even out there for them to get, unless they grab a whole team from another organization. There are more orgs than top teams at the moment. Any news about Hiko? I have not heard anything, but I hope he has something in the works. Is there going to be a North American major in 2020? It’s still early due to the May Major, but I do think we are due for another Major in North America. Won’t be long before we find out. Any info about the ex-Luminosity players, except for Steel? I do not, I haven’t heard a single thing. What’s still missing for MIBR? What’s missing for MIBR to become a great team again? — Lucas Landa :flag-br: (@lucasduarteidk) October 27, 2019 I think about this a good amount and I just can’t figure out what they are missing. Map pool is definitely a huge aspect, I don’t see where else they appear confident other than Train. That is something I expect Fallen to fix though. I guess maybe I expected more of an impact from kNg? I’m not really sure. Is there a chance that TenZ returns to Cloud9? Is there a chance that TenZ going to return back to the cloud9 roster if Subroza trail ends with him leaving the team? — Naheek (@Naheek2) October 27, 2019 0% chance as far as I know. Who are the most well paid players? Complexity players. Why didn’t FaZe Clan acquire aleksib? They didn’t believe he would be a good fit for the team. I’m not sure exactly why they felt that way though. I think paying both his buyout and Coldzera’s wouldn’t have been possible either. That concludes part three of DeKay’s latest CSGO mailbag. That’s it for this month! Make sure to check out part one and part two if you haven’t already.

DeKay CS:GO Mailbag: Flusha’s plans, Olofmeister’s future, franchising and more (Part 3) As we await the start of the StarLadder Berlin Major Qualifier next month, players are AFK and spending some time out of the server for once. That doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to discuss in the world of competitive Counter-Strike though. In the third and final part of this month’s DeKay Mailbag you will read answers to questions about a number of teams and players, including Wardell, FaZe Clan, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and more. Check out Part 1 and Part 2 of DeKay’s monthly Mailbag if you missed them. A Swedish shuffle and dream NA lineup? Any news on a Swedish shuffle? Will more talent be plucked from Ancient or Gamer Legion? What would be your dream NA lineup to pair with Liquid, NRG, and Cloud 9? — ashyra (@ashyra_) July 28, 2019 I’ve answered a good amount about the Swedes in the past two parts of the mailbag, so I suggest checking those out. At this point, it is still a bit too early to know what will happen just because we are still pretty far from the Major at this point. My dream North American lineup at this point in time is Team Liquid, of course. There is nothing I can suggest that would make them even better, they have it all. Coldzera as FaZe Clan’s IGL? If that were to happen, I assume that NiKo would in-game lead once again or at the most it being a tag team effort depending on which side they are playing. I don’t like the idea of either of them in-game leading but if I had to choose between the two, I’d choose to have NiKo do it because at least he has a good amount of experience with it. A CS:GO franchised league? Has there been any talks around CS:GO franchising? Or has that just dropped out of the picture completely? Thanks for doing these! I love reading them. — Joël (@JKangarr) July 28, 2019 No talks that I’ve ever been aware of. I don’t know who made that rumor up and I have always said that real talk of it has never existed to my knowledge. If it is being discussed, it’s being kept extremely quiet. I don’t think so though. D0cC’s prospects? I’ve never heard his name mentioned ever, when it comes to team and roster dynamics. When I look at his performances in qualifiers, I don’t see anything special. That’s probably why no one considers picking him up, he needs to improve to have a shot with a team. What’s going on with Flusha? Whats going on with Flusha? Is Golden going to be IGL during major? Considering that he was that When Lekr0 imo peaked in Fnatic. — Axel Thuresson (@AxelThuresson1) July 28, 2019 Flusha has been playing CS again for a little while now and seems poised for a return. The only two places I see as a realistic landing spot for him are Fnatic and FaZe Clan. Like I mentioned in Part 1, I expect him to join Fnatic. He is a valuable asset and a former teammate for some of the core guys of that team. It just makes sense. Where’s Wardell going? Nowhere for as long as he is on the Ghost bench. His buyout is really high due to the long contract he signed. Someone will have to get really desperate to get him and the word is that he is a tough player to play on a team with. That kind of talk gets around. Will f0rest ever retire? f0rest is the type of dude to play until he is 40 years old just because it’s easy for him. On a real note, I have no idea. People talk all the time about how players getting up there in age “aren’t the player they used to be” but we just never say that about him. He is consistently one of the better NiP players and is often a catalyst in many of their victories if you watch them back. It will probably come down to a feeling thing, he’ll hang it up when he doesn’t feel like playing anymore. NiP replacements for Get_RiGhT? Has NiP shown any interest in bringing in an AWPer like nawwk or trying draken one last time once GeT_RiGhT has retired? — Tony (@AnthonyMV01) July 28, 2019 From what I’ve gathered the first step is seeing how they like Golden as in-game leader, since his time with the team is a pseudo-trial period. Depending on how that works out, will kind of lead them to the next step or not. If they keep him, they’d have to replace someone else to get an actual AWPer in the team. My guess would be that if they keep Golden, f0rest would do it again. One final note: I don’t actually know if GeT_RiGhT is leaving after the Major, I’m just assuming that is what the scenario is here. A ‘BIG’ clear out? Do you think BIG will only change a few players or do you think they’ll change everyone but Tabsen for example? — Kampffrosch (@Kampffr0sch) July 28, 2019 From what I’ve gathered they are just replacing gob b and denis like my report said. Two players is a pretty big move and the team will definitely look different. The issue for them is that they do not have two rock solid replacements. They are looking towards bringing smooya back but he doesn’t want to be there. If he finds someone willing to buy him out, then I imagine he leaves ASAP. Nex won’t be a permanent addition either if he comes in, so the future looks a little bleak if I’m honest. G2 players under pressure? Has G2’s recent run of form (losing to mibr without coldzera and with zews) put the G2 players on the clock? — Pollux (@Pollux_____) July 28, 2019 Yes, I think they will consider change if they don’t perform as well as they would like at the Major. I don’t have fine details for you but that’s the vibe I get from people I’ve talked to. 600IEM Vancouver: bait or real? Was ESL baiting or is your and @priusCSGO’s brilliant call for IEM Vancouver an actual possibility? pic.twitter.com/6dMkgkJd59 — Destro Mayhem (@destro_mayhem) July 28, 2019 No insight on that just yet, but I sure as hell hope it wasn’t just bait. Coldzera offers? Do you know if anyone has reached out to get coldzera, seeing as how there were rumors that Faze did, but niko said that they didnt. — WorldPlays (@worldplays7) July 28, 2019 FaZe in one way or another inquired on coldzera, but maybe not officially from organization to organization. Trust me, they know how much his buyout is. Other than that I’m not aware of anyone who has showed interest in him. The real question becomes who will ask after the Major, because that is the best chance he has at someone coming to get him. Otherwise, it will be a long time on the bench. How common are appearance fees? Richard lewis recently talked about how teams are now requesting appearance fees to attend events (using the example of TL), how common is this? — Ben (@bencam6788) July 28, 2019 Extremely common. I believe teams have been doing this for a while now. I’m not too up to date on how much teams are asking though. New organizations entering top tier CS:GO? new orgs coming into tier 1 cs? I’ve heard of 100T but any others? — DaKing8080 (@DaKing8080) July 28, 2019 I haven’t heard of any new names really. That’s not anything to worry about though. New organizations show up quickly and act quickly, so I rarely get much notice anyway. MLG to host a CS:GO event? I personally don’t think so. They have said that it’s not off the table, but I just don’t see it happening. I hope I’m wrong. Where is coldzera going to end up? On the bench. Olofmeister leaving FaZe Clan? I don’t have any information for what his plans are, but I could see a world in which he returns to Sweden in one way or the other before too long. I’ll be keeping an eye on it. What’s next for JDM? do you know anything about the future of the lounge nation god jdm? — Piot01 (@Piot01) July 28, 2019 Nothing to share unfortunately. It seems many teams are choosing to go the younger route, which you can’t really blame. He is a free agent and can do good things for a handful of North American teams IMO so I expect someone to give him a call eventually. FaZe Clan to eventually leave CS:GO? Do you think that FaZe will expire the players’ contracts and withdraw completely from CS? Do you know how long the contracts are running? — GrizzlyBear (@GrizzlyBear1337) July 28, 2019 That is what I have been predicting for a while yes. It would be smarter for them to sell some of their players off prior to that though. The rumor was that they had three year contracts, so that puts many of them under contract well into 2020 if true. I don’t expect them to make a splash of any significance if and when they replace NEO. Dark horses at the Major? My prediction is North. I wrote about it recently. Do Vitality need a change? Should Vitality change a player to close the gap in firepower with TL ? — xp4ndeR (@_xp4ndeR_) July 28, 2019 I think it would be a bit too early to make a move like that, but it’s not the worst idea. I just don’t see who is a prime candidate that gives them the best chance to fix the holes in their game. It is tough making a move when you are ranked second in the world, it could wreck your synergy and have you tumbling down the rankings. Where next for gob b after BIG? with gob b being reported to leave big, what teams are in the conversation to be picking him up? — nez (@uMx_nez) July 29, 2019 I haven’t heard anyone being interested yet, it’s still too early. Can ForZe go to the next level? Thoughts on ForZe? Since their time getting to play in ECS they’ve been beating pretty much all tier 2 talent online and offline. Does this team look similar to a Furia or an Ence, or do they still have to prove themselves at the major? — William (@tehbae) July 28, 2019 They still have to prove themselves, I want to see what they can do on LAN against some tougher teams. ECS doesn’t really matter to me because it’s online. Would swag and steel be top 10? Theoretically, if swag and steel were unbanned how far do you think they could go? Top 10 material? — ziP (@zippermin) July 29, 2019 It won’t ever happen. If it did, steel is one of the top minds in the game and could lead many teams into the top ten rankings. Swag doesn’t strike me as the player he once was though. He could be a good asset to a North American team, but that’s it IMO. What’s the appeal of Formula 1? Could you explain to me your fascination for Formula 1? I’ve watched quiet some races but have never really understood the interest some people have in the sport… — AdmiralCrunch (@TobKar99) July 29, 2019 If you have some time, watch the 2012 season online somewhere or watch the last race that just happened in Germany. That is why we all watch. You have to take the good with the bad in a sport that is so driven by money, rather than pure skill and talent. My fascination is rooted with being a racing driver as a kid and growing up in a racing family. I like watching the best in the world doing something I enjoy doing myself, just like Counter-Strike.

DeKay CS:GO Monthly Mailbag – Coldzera’s buyout, 100 Thieves plans and more The CS:GO community is gearing up for the kick-off of the StarLadder Berlin Major, marking a good point to rattle through some of your burning questions. The StarLadder Berlin Major main qualifier might be just a few weeks away, but teams have been battling it out through their respective regional minors to try and grab a spot. The play-in minor, the last shot at hope for teams who came ever-so-close to qualifying the first time around, is underway but will there be any huge shake-ups ahead of the Major itself? What will be fall out of the player break? DeKay answers your questions. Did Felps impact Coldzera’s departure? How much weight did coldzera have on felps release? Should they consider felps again? — Joao Mariani (@joaohmariani) July 29, 2019 I don’t believe he had much of an impact on that decision and they’ve already tried him twice now, so I don’t expect them to try again. Felps is a great player with a ton of talent, but he clearly needs to play positions that weren’t allowed to him on MIBR. He is good enough to play for an international roster if he really wanted to. Should Hellraisers be at the Major? Typically I don’t fault organizations for exploiting rules. In most cases, the rule is the issue rather than those choosing to abuse it the way they do, but in HellRaisers case it’s a little bit different. Having placed a player as a coach almost a month prior to the eventual rule change leaves me skeptical and concerned. It makes me wonder if they had prior knowledge that this would happen, which would have given them a competitive advantage over other teams like Cloud9 who chose to play the Minor again. I’m not saying that’s what happened, but it looks extremely fishy that they would set their team up to benefit from a rule change occurring so far in advance. I’ve spent some time asking around about it but no one has been able to tell me one way or the other. Will there be any departures from NiP? In light of recent news surrounding NiP, is there any plans for players to leave the org? — Pug (@ScarletPug) July 28, 2019 The current players don’t really have a choice while they are under contract, assuming their contracts are legitimate and enforceable by law. I haven’t heard any rumblings that they plan on leaving but there isn’t much they can do other than not re-sign with them or look for a team that wants to buy them out. It will not shock me if the organization uses their current players as pawns to talk good about NiP and try to sway public opinion somehow. One day down the line the current players will tell a story similar to Fifflaren’s and that’s a shame. Will Witmer make a return? The real ones know he is capable of doing it, but how bad does he want it? That’s what I want to know. A fully focused and undistracted witmer has a place on many teams in North America. Will Renegades opt for a shake-up? Do you think renegades will make changes reguardless how they do at the major? Or do you see jks seeking a new team? — Pjammin (@pjammin) July 28, 2019 This is a tough question because I believe the Major is a huge focal point for them. It will determine their future and help decide how they approach their lineup moving forward. If they bomb out of it, I don’t see how they can continue with this lineup. It just hasn’t been the same since Katowice and they can’t use Gratisfaction being out as an excuse anymore (not that they were). I don’t know jks well enough to know if he fancies playing internationally or not, but he’d be a great addition to North American teams and even some European teams. Could golden join NiP full-time? Who are NiP considering after the major as a replacement for GeT_RiGhT? How likely is Golden? — DaMaDe (@officialDaMaDe) July 28, 2019 Golden’s performance at the Major as a leader and a player will dictate if he is in the discussion or not for joining the team full time. This is definitely a trial of sorts and they’ll keep their eyes open for other players should he not be added full-time. With Fnatic likely to make changes, the player(s) leaving there will probably be in the running. Flusha is not an option I’ve been told, so they can’t count on him. Who are 100 Thieves eyeing up? Neither of those players from what I’m aware of, but that could change of course. Right now I’m hearing rumblings of who they are looking to add for management and/or coaching but nothing about players. It appears they want to build a team from the top down. I should have more about it coming in the near future. What’s the likelihood of Hunter and Nexa in FaZe? What u think is there any possibility to huNter&nexa join FaZe Clan,for example next year? — hy (@Hajrud1N) July 28, 2019 Both players have been considered in the past but the large issue that remains is their large buyouts. Their current contracts were signed at the start of the year, so there isn’t a ton of wiggle room to work with. On top of that, I just don’t see FaZe paying large amounts of money for Counter-Strike players ever again. Something big would have to change on either end to make something like that happen. What plans does Steel have? He wants to continue playing but right now that’s all I’m able to share. Will Fnatic make a change? 100% chance they make at least one change. I would put my money on twist leaving the lineup. If I had to put money on someone joining, it would be flusha at minimum. They are on vacation for the most part, so news about it will be further down the line. Will Smooya return to BIG? If he had it his way, he would be bought out from his BIG contract to join a new team. He does have an offer elsewhere, but there are a ton of moving parts necessary for it to happen. Should that not come to fruition, there is a world in which he returns to the BIG lineup. I don’t think that happens though. How long will Coldzera be benched for? How likely is it that Coldzera sits on the bench for a long time because his buyout is too big? — Tanner Doiron (@Tan976) July 28, 2019 Extremely likely. The only organization I can see being able to pay his buyout is 100 Thieves. Trust me, his buyout is double the amount anyone has ever paid for a player in Counter-Strike player. Actually, it might even be higher than that. If Immortals feel that he could one day return to their lineup, they aren’t going to make it easy for other teams to get him. Two years still remain on his contract as well, so it’s not a pretty situation. Is Mouz a dark horse for the Major? I’m not sure if you would consider them a dark horse but the most obvious answer to me is Mousesports. Should they end up peaking at the perfect moment, they have the talent and the leadership to get it done. Karrigan has made a living out of sending hyped teams home with ease, so I’m not about to doubt him. Personally, though, I think it’s a little bit early for them to make that type of run but making the finals or semifinals is not out of the question for me. Will Team Liquid fall off any time soon? Do you think Team Liquid will fall off or continue their domination after the player break? — burNout (@burNoutCS_) July 28, 2019 I think they will pick up where they left off. It’s not like every other team out there is grinding at home right now while they relax. Just about every team and player high up in the rankings is enjoying their time off. I don’t understand why everyone is focusing on Liquid and the player break when it’s pretty much an even playing field. Everyone will have to come back and get into the groove again. Who could knock off Team Liquid? What team do you think will eventually overtake liquid as #1? — Xavier Simmons (@XavierSimmons11) July 28, 2019 This is a tough one. I can’t come up with a single answer that makes sense at the moment. I think the team most capable of doing it right now is probably Astralis, but I don’t think it will actually happen. Every team below them has at least one flaw that I feel keeps them from ever dethroning Liquid for any given period of time. Vitality relies too much on ZywOo, ENCE aren’t quite skilled enough from top to bottom, NRG have too much work to do with a new leader, FaZe are a dead man walking, and Na’Vi still rely too heavily on s1mple. It will be some time before a team appears that I can feel confident enough to pick as a future number one team. What are the odds of Smooya heading to Complexity? What are the chances of Smooya joining complexity with Rickeh getting the boot after the major? Or any news of note besides BIG putting him on the active roster, again? — Corbin Brown (@CorbinB54320349) July 29, 2019 I haven’t heard Complexity mentioned as a possible landing spot for him, but it does make a ton of sense now that you mention it. I would imagine it is because Shahzam is there and their playstyles would mesh well with each other. Both of them like to AWP full time. As far as I know, he has a separate offer and BIG wants him back. Right now those are the two most likely spots for him to end up.

degster hails Team Spirit’s PGL Major Antwerp run: “We’ve done unbelievable things” Stefan Petrescu/PGLIn an exclusive interview with Dexerto at PGL Major Antwerp, Team Spirit’s Abdul ‘degster’ Gasanov admits that the team will approach the match against FaZe without pressure. “If we reach the final, that’s great,” he says. “Who cares about experience, bro? No-one,” degster says with a smile, when I point out how calm and collected his team, the youngest at PGL Major Antwerp, looked the day before. It has been less than 24 hours since Team Spirit beat FURIA in the quarter-finals, and the Russian AWPer continues to show the same laid-back attitude that has been a trademark of this team since the beginning of the Major. Nothing seems to rattle them, not the chants coming from opposing fans or the unprecedented attention that their Cinderella story has generated. Fairy-tale runs aren’t unusual at Majors. There was Gambit’s dream run at PGL Major Kraków 2017, Cloud9’s remarkable victory at ELEAGUE Major Boston 2018 after overcoming a 0-2 start, or ENCE’s grand final appearance at IEM Katowice 2019. In Antwerp, Team Spirit are adding their name to that list. The Russian team, who began the year outside the top 100 in the world rankings amid a roster overhaul, came all the way from the open qualifiers to the Major and are now just one victory away from the grand final. It’s all new for everyone on Spirit, even degster, who has been with the team since January 2021. He appeared on the analyst desk with a wide grin after Spirit booked the first spot in the playoffs with an unlikely 3-0 record in the Legends Stage. Struggling to contain his emotions, he revealed that playing in front of a crowd was one of his dream goals. It didn’t matter that most of the fans were cheering against his team. “It was unbelievable,” degster tells Dexerto of the match against FURIA. “It was the best atmosphere that I had ever felt. “As I said [on the desk], I didn’t care if fans hated me or cheered for my opponent. I just wanted to feel this atmosphere. And it was great. It didn’t bring any pressure, it just brought very good emotions. “I saw some Spirit fans. There weren’t many, but every time I had a highlight [moment], I just waved at them. It was great.” degster then reveals that his team received an extra dose of motivation in the lead-up to the series against FURIA. In his pre-match comments, FURIA captain Andrei ‘arT’ Piovezan said that Spirit had been “lucky” to win the best-of-one game between the two teams in the Legends Stage. The playoff match, he insisted, would be “easy” for FURIA. “Disrespectful things, in my opinion,” he says. “I would never say anything like that, and I recommend no-one say anything like that, ever.” Grinding schedule Part of the secret behind Spirit’s incredible run lies in the positive atmosphere that has been created since the roster came together, just three months ago. According to him, that’s something that was missing in previous iterations of the team and that helped offset their inexperience. “That’s the most important thing for young players,” degster tells Dexerto. “No-one gets blamed when they make mistakes. You are not going to be nervous because you know that, no matter what happens, your team will say, ‘Anyone can make mistakes.’” But just as important as the mood in the Spirit camp is the hard work that has gone into preparing for the Major. Everyone has been on the grind, with degster alone logging over 180 hours in the game over the past two weeks. “I had nothing [else] to do,” he explains. “I was not at home. I was staying in Serbia and Romania, in a hotel room. You don’t have TV, you don’t have your girlfriend with you, you cannot talk to your parents because of the Internet. It was a hard time for us. “And when you go through these situations, you try to make the most of it. And that was playing CS.” Spirit’s preparations for the Major were rocked by the news that head coach Sergey ‘hally’ Shavaev would not be able to stand behind the team during the tournament. He was one of three coaches who were provisionally suspended by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) for the use of the spectator bug. That has given degster added responsibilities, which he has taken on with gusto. “Against FURIA, I could call a timeout and say, ‘Guys, let’s calm down a bit. We’re killing them. Just wait. We don’t need to play faster,’” he says. “It’s hard because he cannot call a timeout and say what we should do, but it also gives you a lot of experience. I can decide what we want to do. It’s a unique experience because you’re never going to go through it again. I hope. I hope no-one is going to be banned. [laughs]” Unable to coach the team in official games or even be present in the practice room, hally decided to stay in Serbia, watching his team overcome challenge after challenge from afar. “I’m sad that he’s not experiencing the emotions that we are feeling,” degster says. Preparing for FaZe The only thing standing in Spirit’s way of reaching the final is FaZe, the red-hot favorites to secure the title in Antwerp. They are expected to pose a much tougher challenge than FURIA, but degster believes that his team has a fighting chance. “We just need to play like we have been doing,” he says, adding that FaZe in-game leader Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen cannot afford to underestimate his team. “He wants to win a Major. I think it’s his dream.” Regardless of the outcome of today’s match, degster is proud of what his team has accomplished in Antwerp. Anything that they achieve from here on in is a bonus. And as the underdogs against FaZe, they will step onto the stage without any pressure, ready to play fearless Counter-Strike once again. “We don’t have any goals here,” degster says. “We have already done unbelievable things. If we reach the final, that’s great. If not, that’s okay. We will do our best and hope everyone will have fun.” Before degster goes on his way, I ask what the day has in store for him. Is he going to put in long hours again to prepare for the biggest match of his career? Surprisingly, the answer is no. “I’m not going to spend the entire day practicing. I’m already ready to play,” he says with assurance. “We will just play some scrims, watch some demos and do some individual practice. Deathmatch, bots or FPL. “After that we are going to sleep. Tomorrow [today], we are going to prepare for the semi-final. The first semi-final of a Major in my life, so I am happy. I am very happy.”

Decorated CS:GO commentator HenryG announces retirement from casting Twitter, @HenryGcsgo[jwplayer 3EyfiByz]Henry ‘HenryG’ Greer, a veteran CS:GO commentator, has officially announced his retirement from casting after building a six-year resume filled with over 150 live events, including 10 majors and an “Esports Broadcaster of the Year” award. In a somewhat somber, strikingly genuine announcement interview with DBLTAP, HenryG touches on why his retirement is coming so suddenly and what possibilities lie on his horizon. Essentially, his thoughts of stepping back from live commentary met their breaking point in recent weeks, as the hectic CS:GO schedule left him burnt out and interested in moving on. It comes with the heaviest of hearts, that today, I am announcing my retirement from Esports commentary. 6 years. 150+ live events. 10 Majors.Countless memories. Thank you so much for listening.Please read my interview with @Dekay: https://t.co/GX30kMbugv — HenryG (@HenryGcsgo) September 4, 2020 “The older I get and as the years seem to flash by, I realize that the pace of the job is getting almost too much for me,” he said. “The quality level of commentating I could once always deliver is slowly slipping out of my grasp … The one real regret I will carry around for me for the rest of my days, due to this period in my life – is how distant and jaded I became due to the unfathomable workload and constant stress of being on camera almost every single day of my life.” As HenryG explains in his interview, the relentless Counter-Strike event schedule (or as he calls it, “the never-ending traveling circus of CS:GO”) took its toll on him, and he found himself struggling to maintain both his work and his personal life. The recent switch to online play provided no solace, as he remarks that the unfortunate situation has “gutted” him of his chance to retire following an initial “road map.” 🥳 Happy birthday to Counter-Strikes finest 🇬🇧 @HenryGcsgo! It’s been quite the journey since you casted your first Major at #ESLOne Cologne 2015! Keep at it King 👑 pic.twitter.com/OO4YIVXCqP — ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) August 22, 2020 Should say as well… I share many of the same sentiments he expressed in his interview with dekay which is well worth reading. CSGO commentary hasn’t been a healthy lifestyle for years but the problem is that there is no change in sight — Jason O’Toole (@MosesGG) September 4, 2020 Members in the CS:GO community are all too familiar with the exhausting, frenetic schedule of events that, particularly in the online era, have allowed little to no time for breathing room. As mentioned by Jason ‘Moses’ O’Toole in his Dexerto column, “our schedule in the professional scene for the past three, four years has been a clusterf**k. For all talent, players, and teams, we just have way too many tournaments and are stretching ourselves way too thin.” Unsurprisingly, HenryG is one of the largest chips to fall, having been one of the scene’s most prominent casters and an inevitably stretched broadcasting commodity. On the bright side, this retirement comes on the tail-end of a massive legacy and allows him to prioritize both his personal relationships, mental wellbeing – and his next project, which he is describing as “a colossal one for the CS:GO community.” The announcement of said project will come on September 7, and fans are already eager to see what their refreshed, renowned caster, has been cooking up.

DeKay CS:GO Major Playoff Mailbag, Part 1: Na’Vi, Swole Patrol, and How my reports help players With there being a couple of days until the IEM Katowice Major Playoffs, there’s a bit of time to breath and take a look at some of biggest questions from the community moving forward. While most eyes in the CS:GO community have been focused on the IEM Katowice Major, there are still plenty of lingering questions for many teams and players heading into the post-major shuffle. What’s next for Swole Patrol? Why aren’t the positions of sources named? What kind of moves are in the cards for Team Envy, Cloud9, and TSM? All that and more will be answered in this edition of DeKay’s Mailbag. Are Fnatic making roster moves? Despite fnatic denying making roster moves, Have you heard of any moves in fnatic? — MpK :flag-se: (@MpK_CS) February 26, 2019 I have not heard anything about them. I believe they’ll keep the same lineup for now. Most Swedish players have huge buyouts so I don’t know who they could even get outside of a young up and comer. The future of Swole Patrol Any news on what’s left of Swole Patrol and their IEM Sydney and Pro League spots? — Dubs (@RDoubleCS) February 26, 2019 From what I had understood, eUnited now control the IEM Sydney slot. I will have to double check. As for EPL, it will be on Brax to field a lineup because Swole Patrol isn’t an actual organization. He shouldn’t have trouble finding players and they still have time to prepare. The season begins in six weeks. The ethics of dealing with sources in journalism When you write “”multiple sources told me/confirmed …”” in your roster move articles, who are these sources generally speaking? Those are not the team managers themselves right? Who exactly benefits from reaching out to you and telling you these thing? — AdmiralCrunch (@TobKar99) February 26, 2019 It would be unethical for me to identify who or even what type of individual I am receiving information from. Those filling me in can gain directly via information exchange or indirectly at a later date. Roster moves, for example, have many hidden benefits for the community. First, the community is not a tight knit, interconnected web. There is no transaction wire that all teams can see. Take this as an example: Team A benches Player B. I report this to be happening. This means that Team A now has to answer to any other Team inquiring on Player B. If I don’t report it, Team A can selectively decide which other organizations they want to do business with first before word spreads. It levels the playing field and ensures Player B has all opportunities available to him. On the other end, it makes sure that all organizations have a chance to inquire with Team A to get Player B. Believe it or not though, most people and/or organizations don’t use myself or media in general to their advantage. There are plenty of situations where someone could come to me and I could help them get out of a jam. Hopefully that changes in the future. Could Na’Vi be gearing up for a roster move? How likely do you think it is that Angel will replace Zeus on Navi? Also is chopper stepping down from Vega related at all? Cheers — Asa Jordan (@Asa__Jordan) February 26, 2019 If Na’Vi didn’t make it to the playoffs, I would have expected some sort of roster move. A key factor here is if Ange1 is even possible to rescue from HellRaisers. I’m not aware of his contract details, I just know previous attempts to get him failed. I would say that he is the number one choice should they ever replace Zeus. s1mple likes him. Right now, I expect the roster to remain though. That’s just how I feel, I don’t have any real information to say one way or the other. What moves are Team Envy looking to make? If you know anything more about the Envy situation, is the team looking to make more changes than just adding karrigan to improve or are they just starting there and seeing where it goes? — Tony (@AnthonyMV01) February 26, 2019 As I understand it, there would be more than one move. I don’t think anything has been decided for sure yet though. They have to lock him down first before they take that step. Doing that is no guarantee. What’s next for Cloud9? Any news on the Cloud9 situation? Are they bringing Golden back and what’s the plan för the future, are they expected to stay with the European players? — Pontus Karlsson (@Kopengakickers) February 26, 2019 I’m not sure if it has been decided just yet. That is something that I will know more about in the next couple weeks. It all hinges on his health and how they felt they performed at the Major. Where will smooya land? He hasn’t decided yet as far as I know. I would put my money on TSM, though. How will tarik’s move to NRG affect TSM? What will happen to TSM after tarik joining NRG, will they pick up Uruguay (scream,draken,ex6…) if not are there any other orgs interested in picking up this team? — 007 (@EyesOn007) February 26, 2019 Someone will pick that team up although I don’t believe it is going to be TSM. From what it sounds like, they will get a similar mix of EU talent. What’s new with mousesports? From what I’ve been told, the Mousesports organization hasn’t officially reached out to anyone just yet. They had been waiting for the New Legends Stage to end at least before making their next move. Have any spicy moves fallen through the cracks? Spicy roster changes from the last six months that didn’t happen? — Jonathan (@JK_Composer) February 26, 2019 The last six months have been mellow and pretty stable if I’m honest. I can’t think of anything crazy right now. Will kaze or BnTeT changes teams anytime soon? As far as I know neither of them will be moving. If they are, I haven’t heard about it. Are FaZe gearing up for any post-Major roster moves? I have not, it’s too early. They are still trying to do the best they can at the Major right now. Which Team Envy member is on the chopping block? Say you can retain any of the other players. If Envy is able to keep Karrigan, where is your next place to improve the Envy roster? Who are you replacing, and with whom? — Jake V. (@TheJakeVanO) February 26, 2019 I would make one change by replacing Cutler or Drone and getting whoever Karrigan felt was best (within reason). He should be the one deciding who they pick up if he ends up on the roster. Should FaZe try and pick up s1mple? What do you think About bringing karrigan back and get s1mple instead of Niko? We all Know Niko was the main reason karrigan was benched. — Jesper Steffensen (@agurkefar) February 26, 2019 That wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world but I think NiKo is too good to cut from that roster. I’m not convinced he should IGL, of course, but that would be risky. Probably too risky. Anything new on huNter? Do you have any news regarding huNter’s possible transfer ? And how about AmanEK, smooya or even swag’s situation as free agents ? Any targets ? — CSGO_DRAMA_QUEEN (@DramaCsgo) February 26, 2019 Nothing new on huNter at this time. It is still too early. I addressed Smooya earlier on. I haven’t heard anything with Swag or Amanek just yet. What if Astralis lose the Major? If Astralis doesn’t win the Major and the tournament after that do you see a world in which they do the power move and try to buy Valde from North? — Foreign_gam3r (@ForeignGam3r) February 26, 2019 While I believe Valde has played tremendously well as of late, I don’t think that’s realistic. It would take a significant slide from their current form for them to consider that.

DeKay CS:GO Major Mailbag, Part 3: Will MLG return and thoughts on new ScreaM and Ex6TenZ lineup The first day of the IEM Katowice CS:GO Major playoffs are in the book, making it a great time to take a breather with some more questions from the community. The Major playoffs got underway with quite possibly the biggest upset of the tournament, with ENCE eSports taking down Team Liquid in a tight 2-0 series to eliminate the North American hopefuls. Meanwhile, Natus Vincere easily disposed of FaZe Clan in another 2-0. As we wait for the final two quarterfinals to kick off on March 1, let’s dip back into DeKay’s Mailbag for another round of topics ranging from the future of ScreaM and Ex6TenZ to a look at future CS:GO events. Is there potential with the new Ex6TenZ lineup? Thoughts on the new ex6 lineup? Have they drawn any attention from orgs yet? (Same for NoChance and ex-fragsters actually) — Jonathan (@JK_Composer) February 26, 2019 I think it has potential to compete internationally but the personalities in the lineup could clash eventually. All of them need to buy in to ex6tenz while he simultaneously needs to redeem himself after he struggled to get G2 up to scratch. I think the lineup is risky because it hinges upon a ton of “ifs.” There is nothing outside of that, that says they can’t at least reach the level of LDLC while ex6tenz was leading and make it into Pro League. What’s next for Gambit? Any News about Gambit? Heard of Any orgs interested in the new Scream Lineup? — Joao Mariani (@joaohmariani) February 26, 2019 I haven’t heard which orgs are interested in the ScreaM team just yet. Maybe I’ll know more soon. Gambit makes no sense to me. They have flip flopped multiple times between saying they want a team or want to sell their team. I’m generally confused as to what their goal is. Will Stanislaw be on a different team anytime soon? Any chance we will see Stanislaw in a better NA team after what he’s done at the past 2 majors? — Terrex (@Terrex337) February 26, 2019 I think he will be a member of coL for a while. They need him and I don’t see where else he could go that makes sense. His performance at the Major proves once again that he is still a great piece to have. Could Krimz leave Fnatic soon? Thoughts on if Krimz will ever be saved from Fnatic? -Dennis +Krimz? Any rumors on who Mouz might be after besides Karrigan? What about any C9 changes? — ashyra (@ashyra_) February 26, 2019 Fnatic will always listen to an offer but his buyout has to be enormous since he just signed on for another three years. After NiP made the playoffs in Katowice, I don’t see them trying to make that move. I also don’t see FaZe getting him because as I mentioned before, they are reluctant to spend crazy amounts of money right now. I don’t see him moving any time soon. Is NiP looking to make post-Major roster moves? Is NIP looking to make changes after the Major? Surely they cant afford to ignore Nawwk and/or Plopski?! — SwetechCSGO (@SwetechCSGO) February 26, 2019 As I said above, I think they are happy with their result. They made it to the playoffs of a Major for the first time in ages. Even if they lose to Astralis, I don’t expect a change unless it is the decision of a player to step down. Could s1mple be on the move soon? If I remember correctly, s1mples contract runs out this year. Where do you think he will go? — shocker (@Adrian93870961) February 26, 2019 I’m not sure when his contract ends but I don’t see him moving anywhere. Does the FPL have any promising talent? Are there any fpl players (not in a team) that have a bright future — Sander (@Sandeman02) February 26, 2019 I don’t pay attention to FPL much so I’m not really sure. What’s the word on RUBINO? Stay tuned! Will MLG be hosting any CS:GO events in the future? What is the likelihood MLG will host more CSGO events or even possibly a Major again in the future? — aryTurns (@aryTurns) February 26, 2019 I have a feeling we will get an MLG event some day in the future. I don’t know when it would be though. I haven’t heard any rumors yet, I just have a gut feeling it will happen. I think them doing a Major would be a stretch, but some sort of event is realistic. They do a great job of putting on events. Myself and many others would kill for their return, even if it was a one-off. Will ELEAGUE host a Major in 2019? ELEAGUE major in 2019? What about chrisJ news? — Srgan Dimitrovski (@ElGanchoK1NG) February 26, 2019 There won’t be an ELEAGUE Major this year.

Day one upsets make for tasty second round matchups at the FACEIT London CS:GO Major Day two of the New Legends Stage has thrown up some extremely interesting contests following some massive upsets on day one. All eyes will be on the losers side of the New Legends Stage, as some of the best CounterStrike: Global Offensive teams in the world already find themselves with a 0-1 record, and in desperate need of a win. Among those is FaZe Clan, a team who many people had high hopes for heading into the Major, due to the return of olofmeister. Their tournament got off to a disappointing start, as they were soundly beaten by BIG Clan 16-5 on Dust II. They take on fellow CS:GO heavyweights Natus Vincere, who fell to Astralis in a tightly contested affair. that if his Fnatic squad failed to beat Winstrike, he would eat a shoe, so look to see him come out hot as he attempts to avoid his self inflicted punishment. MIBR also find themselves winless heading into day two of the New Legends Stage, falling to TyLoo, and will need to bounce back against Mousesports as they attempt to get their Major aspirations back on track. In the winners side of the Swiss format, surprise stage leaders compLexity face another tough challenge in the form of G2 Esports. The #1 ranked team in the world Astralis take on the talented Vega Squadron, while BIG Clan have already continued their impressive display by winning the first game of the day against TyLoo. A full list of the day two matchups, along with their estimated start times, can be found below. Matches started at 10am BST (5am EDT, 2am PDT, 7pm AEST) on an accelerated schedule.

Daps steps down from Gen.G CS:GO roster and fuels Valorant rumors Twitter, @GenG / Riot Games[jwplayer 3EyfiByz]Prominent CS:GO veteran, Damian ‘daps’ Steele, has officially resigned from his role with Gen.G Esports, prompting massive speculation that the reputable pro could be transitioning to Valorant. Steele has been an active player in the Counter-Strike scene since 2012 and has been an in-game leader across every team he’s played for, most notably including rosters like Team Liquid, OpTic Gaming, and NRG Esports. After a three year stint with NRG, Steele transitioned from time with Cloud9 to around a year playing with Gen.G Esports, who found success led by the Canadian veteran, but ultimately failed to crack the competitive game’s upper echelon. Following some middling performances, in which Gen.G went lost four of their last five matches, daps has decided to step down from the active roster. As of today, @daps has stepped down from Gen.G’s CSGO roster. From leading us to our first LAN victory in Anaheim to clutch wins online, you’ve helped shape the Gen.G CSGO journey. Thank you for all your hard work and drive every step of the way 💛 pic.twitter.com/p5zFyukVUi — Gen.G Esports (@GenG) September 11, 2020 While the team thanked daps for his leadership and role in helping them achieve their “first LAN victory in Anaheim,” the veteran took to Twitter to explain his thinking and subsequent intentions more elaborately. Generally, he explained that the move should be mutually beneficial as he has grown burnt out by the rigors of competitive Counter-Strike and that a departure from competition had been on his mind for months. https://twitter.com/daps/status/1304464380323680256 Among his reasons, he mentioned that there were “some in- and out-of-game changes” that he would have liked to be implemented over the past six months, and that factors like relentless scheduling in the online era of CS:GO were hard on his mental state. (Unsurprisingly, these are issues cited by other members of the CS community, like Moses and HenryG.) What should be of biggest interest to fans is daps’ intentions now that he is leaving Gen.G. In his post, he explains his thoughts on the future: “I still love CS and would ideally like to IGL a team I feel is the right fit for me, but if moving on as a player or leaving CS is the route I have to take, then I will cross that bridge when I know more.” Although daps asserts that he would like to continue in CS and that he will continue playing for Gen.G until they find a replacement, Valorant fans and pros alike have focused on his remark that “leaving CS” is a possibility. Like Nicholas ‘nitr0’ Cannella, numerous CS veterans have made the transition to Valorant and found success. In replies to daps’ tweet, Team SoloMid’s Yassine ‘Subroza’ Taoufik suggested that he would like his team to reach out about daps’ availability. Should the veteran Counter-Strike IGL decide to switch over, there ought to be plenty of opportunity. Rosters like T1 and 100 Thieves both have immediate vacancies and, as proved by recent flurries in player movement, spots could quickly open up on teams like TSM as well.

Daps on NRG, tarik and being replaced by stanislaw StarLadder / DreamHackCanadian CS:GO player Damian ‘daps’ Steele has opened up about his turbulent time with NRG Esports, following his replacement by former CompLexity star Peter ‘stanislaw’ Jarguz on June 11. Dexerto’s DeKay first revealed that CompLexity were looking for a replacement for stanislaw back in May, and the Canadian now has a new home. Stanislaw was quickly swooped up by NRG only days after he himself was replaced on coL by 15-year-old rising star oBo, who excelled individually at the ECS Season 7 finals. NRG’s struggles at the tournament, by comparison, would be their last together with that lineup, as stanislaw has now taken daps’ place on the roster, which he held for over three years. Following the announcement, daps made a lengthy post, detailing his “miserable” 2017, and the improvements made in NRG over the course of his time there, including being ranked in the top 10 for a number of months. He even revealed that due to the misery of 2017, he was close to quitting competitive CS:GO altogether, but despite the issues his outlook soon changed. He even spent a month as the team’s coach in late 2017, but thanked his teammates for giving him a chance again in 2018, where they even reached top 5 in the world rankings. NRG thanked him for instilling a “winning culture in the organization”, as he moves to the substitute role. With the addition of stanislaw, @daps will move to the substitute roster. During his tenure, NRG won IEM Shanghai, cs_summit3 and peaked rank 4 in the world. Thank you daps for your tireless work building our CSGO program and instilling a winning culture that has defined our team — NRG Esports (@NRGgg) June 11, 2019 Daps also revealed that their top three options to replace Jacob ‘FugLy’ Medina turned the move down, which resulted in the recruitment of Tarik ‘tarik‘ Celic, who, although a proven winner, was not a direct replacement for FugLy’s role. Stanislaw will be taking over as the team’s in-game leader, as per NRG’s official announcement, making his debut on June 12 in the Americas Minor NA Closed Qualifier. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to join such an incredible team. I’ve never been more hungry to win. Let’s do this! https://t.co/tQdGOdejjB — 21 (@peterjarguz) June 11, 2019 Stanislaw’s “style will offset what we lost with FugLy”, Daps explains, saying it should help NRG win tournaments, rather than their current pattern of making semi-finals. Daps is currently benched, but says his situation is “uncertain”, and is open to offers in any field.

CSPPA looking to enter into partnership with Flashpoint League Flashpoint / CSPPA[jwplayer 3EyfiByz]Documents leaked to Dexerto show that the Counter-Strike Professional Player’s Association (CSPPA) are in talks with the newly formed Flashpoint League, ran by the company B-Site, to form a three year partnership. The agreement would see a number of protective measures implemented to ensure improved working conditions for players from partner teams. It also contains details of a “separate commercial agreement” between both parties that would see Flashpoint providing an undisclosed amount of funding towards the CSPPA. The agreement details the minimum amount of money guaranteed to each participating team as well as Flashpoint’s commitment to a prize pool of $2,000,000 for the next three years. It also includes a clause that will see Flashpoint annually donate $1,000 per player to an insurance provider so that if a player needs to retire due to injury or health reasons, they will receive a payout at that time. This is also reflected in other details of the agreement, including a concession that the CSPPA has input in when the Flashpoint events take place and how breaks are structured in order to ensure a reasonable work/life balance for players. This includes provisions to ensure events and commitments aren’t scheduled too close to other events on the calendar to ensure teams have ample rest between competitions. Also included is an ”Event Minimum Standards” sheet that goes into great detail about what needs to be provided for players. This ranges from soundproof training rooms at the designated facility, food provisions for player lounges, minimum specifications for personal computer and desk set-ups, and guaranteed access to a physiotherapist if needed. While this deal might look relatively benign it does raise certain questions around conflict of interest concerns. The CSPPA have entered into a similar deal with the MTG owned leagues ESL and DreamHack, although none of the specific details are publicly available. It isn’t clear if these deals are the same or if some leagues pay more than others. A truncated version of the deal confirming this is available on the CSPPA website. Additionally, we reached out to multiple CSPPA members and all stated that they had not been asked to vote on this agreement or consulted on it prior to the contracts being sent out. We have reached out to the CSPPA to clarify these details, and will update the story accordingly when they respond. An earlier version of this reported that details of agreements with other leagues were not publicly available. This has now been corrected.

CSPPA “disappointed” with ESL over Pro League invite dispute ESL / CSPPAThe Counter-Strike Professional Players Association (CSPPA) has issued a statement expressing their disappointment over a lack of communication about ESL Pro League changes, stating they “will do everything in their power” to push for more “inclusivity.” Tournament organizer (TO) ESL has been pushed into the spotlight over the last week after their ESL Pro League team announcement on January 24. The planned 48-team league was cut down to 24, with teams who had qualified expecting to receive a slot being told they would be relegated back into the second-tier Mountain Dew League. Players and pundits alike were awaiting a statement from the CSPPA, in response, with the player’s union finally sharing their thoughts on January 27, hours before ESL issued their own apology. In a statement, the CSPPA board, which features Astralis’ Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth, mousesports’ Chris ‘chrisJ’ de Jong, and Team Liquid’s Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski, mentioned that ESL’s handling of the situation went directly against the union’s mission. “CSPPA pursues collective agreements with TOs who consider the pro players an equal negotiation partner and who are willing to negotiate real rights and influence for players with respect to its leagues,” they said. While they try to bargain for the best possible conditions, the union admitted they don’t wager enough influence to change business decisions from within TOs. “However, there are business decisions and commercial aspects of such leagues which the CSPPA can’t dictate,” they said. “This included the number of participants in a TO’s league, the composition of teams, the way in which the TO enters teams into its league, and the way in which the TO handles communication in this respect.” 5. However, there are business decisions and commercial aspects of such leagues/tournaments which the @CSPPAgg cannot dictate. This includes the number of participants in a TO’s league/tournaments, the composition of teams, the way in which the TO enters teams into its league… — Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association (@CSPPAgg) January 27, 2020 Regardless, the CSPPA, who has registered over 100 player-members since starting up in 2018, expressed their disappointment with ESL’s handling of the shrinking of Pro League. “We are disappointed with the way ESL has handled their communication of the EPL changes,” they said. “We have been working hard to keep the leagues and tournaments as open as possible, and…will continue to do our utmost to ensure that the affected players will have the best possible opportunities to qualify for EPL and other leagues. “The CSPPA will do everything in its power — now and in the future — to push for such leagues to be as open and inclusive as possible to allow for CSPPA members from all tiers and regions to participate.” 6. We are disappointed with the way ESL has handled their communication of the EPL changes. We have been working hard to keep the leagues and tournaments as open as possible, and have been and will continue to do our utmost to ensure… — Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association (@CSPPAgg) January 27, 2020 The union also pledged that they weren’t just bargaining for the players, but also the entire CSGO community, and asked fans to be patient as they build a better future for the game’s professional scene. “[We] ask the community to trust that we do work tirelessly to improve the working conditions of professional players within the commercial realities of the current CS:GO ecosystem in a fair and balanced manner which will elevate professional CS:GO for all stakeholders involved, including fans.” The CSPPA statement came just hours before ESL issued their own apology, with Senior Vice President Ulrich Schulze stating the TO “got it wrong by not letting affected teams know further in advance that significant changes were coming.” The ESL Pro League is one of three franchised CS:GO leagues starting in 2020. FACEIT and BLAST have launched competitors in the B Site League and BLAST Premier respectively, with the latter expected to kick off on January 31 in London.

CSGO’s strange disappearing Zeus bug is still confusing players ValveA strange Counter-Strike: Global Offensive bug that causes the Zeus x27 to disappear between rounds is still confusing players, with a popular streamer becoming one of it’s latest victims. The Zeus x27 was added to CS:GO in 2012, and remains as one of the least used guns due to its incredibly short range. However, in the rare occasions that it is used, it seems to be affected by a strange bug. Veteran CS:GO player and popular streamer Joshua ‘steel’ Nissan was caught off guard by the bizarre glitch during a stream on September 4, when his Zeus mysteriously vanished between rounds. The Canadian was playing a Faceit Pro League match on Nuke when he was forced to wait for the clock to run out on a round and saved his weapons for the next round, which included a Zeus. When the next round started, he asked his team if they want a tazer, before realizing it had disappeared. “Wait what the fuck, I thought I had a tazer. Didn’t I pick up a tazer? Shit’s busted” said Steel. He seemed pretty frustrated by the disappearance of the weapon, and later complained to the official CS:GO account on twitter, highlighting the clip and stating “I picked up a tazer and it disappeared the next round??? Hello? Feature?” Read More: How to watch StarLadder Berlin CSGO Major – His fans quickly investigated the issue and found that this is a strange bug dating as far back as 2016, where the Zeus was replaced by the starting pistol if you don’t have a pistol equipped at the end of a round. I picked up a tazer and it disappeared the next round??? Hello? Feature? @CSGO https://t.co/cNzo4atd0Y — steel (@JoshNissan) September 4, 2019 Valve have yet to comment on this, however, they are generally quick to fix bugs once they become well known, with things like the recent Olofpass boost and the ability to purchase snowballs being fixed just days after being posted on social media.

CSGO’s PGL Major Stockholm gets boost as Sweden further eases restrictions PGLThe final hurdle to bringing this year’s Counter-Strike Major to Stockholm seems to have been cleared after Swedish authorities announced that all gathering limits will be removed at the end of September. Swedish Health Minister Lena Hallengren revealed on Tuesday in a press conference that on September 29 all restrictions on public and private gatherings will be lifted as part of the government’s “successful” efforts to curb the global health crisis. “Thanks to a successful vaccination campaign, we have come a long way in dealing with the pandemic,” she is quoted by Tidningen Näringslivet as saying. “Our starting point has always been that the restrictions should be lifted as soon as possible.” This means that the two issues that had been raised by PGL have been overcome and that the Major can take place in Stockholm after all. The tournament organizer had revealed in July that it was in discussions with two other European countries about moving the event if their conditions weren’t met. The issues PGL expressed concerns about the number of spectators allowed inside the Avicii Arena, which has a capacity of almost 14,000 people for sporting events. It also raised fears that not all players would be allowed entry into Sweden given the country’s tight travel restrictions. The first hurdle was cleared on August 19, when Sweden announced that esports athletes would be able to enter the country, regardless of their country of origin, as long as they produced a negative test. Read more: Sources: coldzera poised to join Complexity – PGL is yet to comment on the news. The Major is slated to take place from October 23 to November 7, with 24 teams in attendance and a $2 million prize pool.

Nivera: It’ll take more than a CSGO Major to surpass my brother ScreaM Twitter: TeamVitalityBrought in as the sixth member of an already established Team Vitality roster, Nivera is surrounded by some of the biggest names in French Counter-Strike. But aside from having to live up to the high standards set by his teammates, the 19-year-old has to handle the pressures of living up to his brother’s reputation. Nivera: Stepping away from ScreaM’s shadow Despite never earning a podium finish at a CS:GO Major, ScreaM’s name is firmly cemented in Counter-Strike’s hall of fame. While Nivera certainly has big shoes to fill, the Vitality hotshot believes that he can certainly follow in his brother’s footsteps. “It’s my dream to replicate his career, you know? I’ll give it my best and I’m pretty sure I’ll have no regrets.” But with that said, Nivera remained candidly humble when pressed on what it will take to surpass his brother’s legacy. “Even if I win a Major, it will not be enough… My brother did a lot of things in this game and I have to work really hard.” “”Even if I win a Major, it will not be enough…”” Can @Nivera__ follow in @ScreaM_’s footsteps after his @IEM Beijing win? pic.twitter.com/aNquN7mEiz — Dexerto (@Dexerto) November 23, 2020 Nivera on becoming Vitality’s super sub Nivera finished IEM Beijing as the third highest rated player of the event — falling short to fellow teammate, Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut and Na’Vi’s Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev. As Vitality’s sixth man, he has become their resident Inferno & Dust 2 specialist… Even pushing ZywOo aside when it comes to AWP duties. “If I want to take the AWP, I take it… I’m the main sniper!” Nivera was Vitality’s highest rated player in the series (albeit only playing two maps), after posting a 87.1 Average Damage per Round and a 45-31 kill-to-death ratio. So was the youngster the key ZywOo and co. finally overcoming their Grand Final jitters? Well, the pressure certainly didn’t affect him. “I didn’t feel a lot of pressure, honestly… I just give everything, I stay focused on the game — I just give my best and give everything for the team.” Vitality finally overcame their Grand Final jitters @IEM Beijing 🏆 @Nivera__ speaks on the pressures of being @TeamVitality’s super sub! pic.twitter.com/cLwEmmzPeG — Dexerto (@Dexerto) November 23, 2020 IEM Beijing was Team Vitality’s fifth Grand Final appearance in as many months, but the first for their super sub. And as fate would have it, the French squad finally overcame their second-place curse and secure their first event win of the year. Was Nivera the difference maker? Well he certainly adds a fresh dynamic to the roster in a best-of-five series. Team Coach, Rémy ‘XTQZZZ’ Quoniam, can utilize their latest signing to make it more difficult for prying eyes to strategize against them. But one thing’s for certain, only time will tell if Nivera can carry the Benrlitom torch in CS:GO.

CSGO’s most-hyped Major held hostage by the Gaules show ESLDexerto’s Editor-at-Large Richard Lewis reflects on the IEM Rio Major 2022, which has been marred by shots of empty seats in the stadium, and a heavy focus on Brazilian influencer Gaules. The dust has settled on another CS:GO Major, the pinnacle of the game’s competitive scene. Rio was the host city this time around, a setting that promised so much with the nation of Brazil having contributed so much to the history of the game. Sadly there has been little talk about the matches themselves and more focus has fallen on what should be secondary concerns. Crucially the legacy of this event will be one of a missed opportunity for greatness and a warning about what prices we should be willing to pay for an event to be “successful” in the loosest sense of the term. Here I will explain why, in my view, things came off the rails and we ended up shortchanged. For those not familiar with the business side of CS:GO, let’s establish a few things for your benefit. Many of the teams in attendance at this ESL major are in fact business partners of ESL as they are stakeholders in the company’s flagship league, the ESL Pro Series. This ultimately boils down to a revenue share for the teams contractually tied to the league but it comes at the cost of the obligation to not just meet media obligations but to also “promote and market” the league and other ESL circuit events. This contract was called the Louvre Agreement and was hailed as being historic by ESL when it also proved to be catastrophic for a number of smaller organisations who had their pro league slots taken away from them and turned over to those viewed as better commercial partners. This in part accelerated the demise of grassroots CS:GO in North America. Valve currently agree to facilitate the existence of two “Majors” a year at select dates in the calendar. Tournament operators are invited to essentially bid for the right to host one and Valve will make a determination as to who receives them after reviewing each pitch. From that point on they operate largely with a light touch, interfering minimally and increasingly empowering tournament operators in ways that improve their potential profit margins. However, be under no illusion, whatever the branding on the tournament itself, whoever is running it, it is Valve that has final veto approval over every aspect of the tournament. They can demand unsuitable sponsors are removed or prevent an exclusive broadcasting rights deal if they don’t think it works in their interests. The Gaules influence It’s important to be mindful of these facts before we even talk about the behaviour of Gaules at this event but let’s start with the root of the problem. Gaules is one of the world’s biggest streamers, to say he is immensely popular in Brazil would be understating his prominence. He is a national celebrity who mixes with sports stars and media icons. He has achieved this via a combination of factors which include a focus on his humble beginnings, financial support for several charities and community members, as well as pumping out hundreds of broadcast hours every month. By the same token, he has also been somewhat ruthless in ensuring he is the biggest show in town with many of the original Brazilian esports commentators complaining behind the scenes that they have been pressured out of CS:GO by him. His constant focus on Brazilian nationalism and an insistence that the rest of the world somehow look down on Brazil makes him worshiped as a man of the people but it also leads to incredible amounts of mob-driven abuse should he ever speak out against you. He knows he wields this power now and he is more than willing to use it to suit his own goals. I have written about this phenomenon before back in 2020 when he publicly accused a team that beat an MiBR roster of cheating. The predominant focus of his ire was a 16-year-old, Nathan ‘leaf’ Orf, who at his tender age didn’t have a lot of competitive experience. Of course, the MiBR roster was comprised of legendary veterans in the game but it just so happened they were more washed than an incontinent person’s underwear. Anybody could beat them and indeed it shouldn’t have surprised anybody that a form team in world counterstrike at the time were able to pick up a win. Now, by that time, Gaules was the de facto Portuguese language stream for almost every major official CS:GO broadcast. That he chose to make these allegations, even though he was operating simply in his downtime and not during an official broadcast, would be enough of a problem. For sure, he is entitled to an opinion and indeed I myself have looked critically at claims about the legitimacy of certain players on my own podcasts. However, I imagine I would have the sense to understand how inappropriate it would be if I was making these claims one day and was then an official broadcaster the next. Also, if I had a massive, easily inflamed fanbase that hung on my every word I might be careful about what I said and certainly where a teenager was involved. And just to refresh everybody’s memory, it wasn’t some throwaway allegation made in the heat of the moment. After the game he brought on a procession of players to talk about it, encouraging people who would be widely considered experts by the listeners to review the evidence and make the same allegation. He also brought on Vito ‘kNgV-’ Giuseppe to give an emotive interview where he said “Speaking for myself, I love Brazil, and I’m here in [the United States] playing the major’s qualifier without knowing if I’m going to see my daughter’s birth. I’m here doing my best for my mother’s dream, for my wife’s dream, so we don’t want to be the victim of injustice.” The implication being that Orf had essentially not just cheated against MiBR but had also personally wronged Giuseppe’s entire family. Well, you could see the reaction coming a mile off. Orf, his family and friends were inundated with threats of violence, bad in itself but for a teenage competitor potentially attending an event in Rio De Janeiro utterly terrifying. His team didn’t qualify in the end but it is still a commonly held belief today among many Brazilian fans that Orf did indeed cheat and was caught only by the vigilance of Borba and his community. Orf has since carved out a career for himself in Valorant playing for Cloud9, an esport that is indeed also coming to Brazil. One wonders whether Orf will want to risk joining it. That incident, along with all the other documented instances of him leveraging his fanbase to harass anyone he puts in his crosshairs, should have prompted some pause for thought about where this all might lead. However, this is esports, an industry that only cares about popularity and profits and so only a month later ESL entered into a three-year media rights deal with Borba’s company. “A partnership with ESL and DreamHack is great, since it allows us to expand the kind of content we offer to the gaming community” he said in the press release. “Let’s root together and have fun as fans.” Fun indeed. A Major on the side On to the major itself. For me, the majors have always been a celebration of Counter-Strike, a truly global game and one of the foundational titles on which all of esports is built. I’ve had the privilege to work a few down the years and I’ve always viewed the part I played as being part narrator and part custodian. I believe the broadcast is sacred as it is both shared history unfolding in real-time and permanent record of those occurrences. The focus, more than crowd size or decibel level, should always be on those players, their sacrifices and stories, their achievements and shortcomings. That is what it is all about. Historically the majors have done this as well as anyone in the space. Documentaries about legendary players, tournament operators featuring sit-down interviews, analysts focusing not just on stats but storylines. These days, for it’s not just ESL guilty of this, you get no additional content whatsoever. There’s more value placed on pandering to fans, influencer clout and quick throwaway live content that no one remembers by the end of the tournament. Still though, you can usually rely on ESL to put the attending teams front and centre for their tournaments. I knew we were heading to something else entirely as soon as the first announcement video dropped, a short trailer bookended by a close-up of Gaules grinning face like something out of an Aphex Twin video. Later it would be revealed that running concurrently to the event there would be a “Fan Fest with Gaules” which even featured a map like it was a theme park. Remember, this is Valve’s World Championships for CS:GO we’re talking about. I have never seen an influencer placed front and centre at any esports event like this before and I go back to the days when Stracraft 2 tournaments at DreamHack were played on the “Day9 Stage.” It was very clear who the star was here in Brazil and it certainly wasn’t the traveling teams. As we would later find out, not even the greatest player of all time Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, a title codified at a pathetically empty ceremony where ESL even spelled his name incorrectly, could usurp Gaules from his throne. One has to believe this “Fan Fest” had to be part of some previous commitment because as an idea it’s beyond stupid. You put Brazil’s largest esports influencer outside in the glorious Brazilian sunshine next to a beer tent and then you have him in front of a massive screen showing the game with a better view than you could get in parts of the stadium. Oh, and the tickets to attend this were cheaper too. What did ESL think would happen? Empty seats were guaranteed and the terrible optics that came along with them. The Jeunesse Arena seats 12,000 which would be a staggering crowd to sustain for an entire tournament but to create a more appealing option to local fans and place it outside? Incredible. I initially thought it was just profiteering from ESL, that they were happily double-dipping on the tickets and didn’t care whether people were in the stadium or not. Incompetence seems much more likely though as once they realised what was happening they walked it back and announced that Gaules would be inside for the remainder of the playoffs. Spare a thought then for the other commentators now deprived of the opportunity to cast a stadium match of CS:GO, another victim of the Gaules First policy ran by ESL. As it would turn out that would only partially help and while the event did achieve a few iconic shots of a full stadium and an uproarious crowd the reality was it will be largely remembered as disappointing. This was mostly an event for Brazilians to meet and interact with Gaules. What event it was didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that it was the CS:GO Major. It could have been any game with Brazilian teams competing in it and you’d have pretty much the same outcome. Our world championships were now a sideshow event at the Gaules Fan Fest and the fact they had to tell people where he was at any given time only underlines the point. IEM Gaules It must be hard to stay humble with such adoration and influence so I’ll try and have that in mind as I detail the multiple incidents that spoiled the major for many. It had become apparent after the first few days that the local fans were going to be somewhat over-exuberant in their support, their desire for their team to win translating into actual assistance for canny players who know how to use crowd noise to their advantage. Certainly not the first time it has happened and certainly won’t be the last, the previously most egregious example being Astralis fans in Denmark. It was clear though that ESL were going to have to do something about it to preserve the integrity of the tournament and so they made the decision to turn off x-ray for that game. This seems a reasonable compromise but unfortunately, it meant that temporarily Gaules was also without x-ray. Now, usually, the industry rule for broadcast talent is that you cover for production because production covers for you. I’ve known commentators continue with their monitors being turned off. I’ve known hosts muddle through to the break while only being able to hear a floor manager in their ear. You trust whatever it is will get fixed and you do your best for the viewers. Here’s how Gaules handled this inconvenience. He told the assembled crowd the following: “It’s a shame that the biggest CS broadcast in the world doesn’t have x-ray and that the ESL doesn’t have the structure to put X-ray for internet and without X-ray for the arena. If they think we’re calling but they don’t understand any Portuguese, it’s time for them to learn Portuguese… They’ll never understand what it’s like to be Brazilian.” He then proudly demanded that someone translate it and make sure ESL knew that he said it. This is when I realised who was actually in charge of the event. It may well be a valid criticism but it isn’t one you publicly announce to the audience, especially to go so far as to imply the person running the event is somehow serving up an inferior experience due to their incompetence. To then follow that up with a defence of the crowd cheating that absolutely did take place and to undermine ESL’s integrity measures is equally unforgivable. The implication that it is somehow linked to nationalistic grievances is the cherry on top. Classic Gaules. In this business, maybe in any entertainment business, that would absolutely get you pulled off air. There’s plenty of examples but you can have two involving one of the hosting greats James “2GD” Harding to whom it happened twice. The first back in 2011 for making a joke about how much better DreamHack were while on an MLG broadcast and the second and much more infamous time in 2016 when he made a series of jokes about Chinese censorship and pornography at the Shanghai Major. But of course, you can’t fire Gaules in Brazil at an event that includes a stage dedicated to him that people have paid tickets for. You can’t even verbally sanction him because if he gets on the mic and says so then you’re really going to have problems. This is the downside of the Faustian pact ESL have made. They literally have no control over an influencer that, in the eyes of the average Brazilian fan, is more important than ESL, Valve and anyone else in the esports ecosystem. Worst of all, he absolutely knows this and that there will be zero consequences for anything he does or says on stream. Making someone like that the face and voice of your product is insanity but it’s seen as the way to the hearts and minds of Brazilian fans and their huge viewing numbers so it wouldn’t surprise me if the ESL executives actually apologised to him for their transgressions. Another first for a major was that periodically Borba would deliver speeches to his legion of fans. One in particular had all the hallmarks of a political rally with him animatedly waving his arms around while his colleagues either side clapped in sycophantic synchronicity. “You had to save money, came from other regions of Brazil. They will never understand our country is bigger than their whole continent” he said to applause from the crowd. “Some people are in college, are working, we came here to do a party for everyone, that’s our visit card, they have already shown they are desperate [to be here]. Tomorrow, inside is going to be full, outside is going to be full, all in the same vibe to make this the biggest party in the world and the party is for Brazil. This is not CS, this is not a major, this is fucking Brazil! Tomorrow is ours!” Now, I’m happy to ignore the claim that everyone else in the world cannot grasp basic geography and the implication that every non-Brazilian fan lives in a life of extravagant decadence simply choosing which event they wish to order their chauffeur to take them to. Let us instead dial in on two parts. You will of course notice the return of the “they will never understand,” a phrase that might seem harmless enough on the surface but one that is clearly intended to not only alienate fans from one another but to encourage Brazilian fans to embrace that alienation. Sentiment such as “they are not like us” would be considered a “mask off” moment if it were spoken by a right-wing politician and yet at this major it became a mantra that served its sad purpose. Fans attacked one another on social media divided not by the team they support but by where they were born. I don’t know how anyone in good conscience can excuse that. From a business perspective though the sign-off would be the cause for concern. The party is only for Brazil? I thought everyone was invited. This is not CS? It surely is. This is not a major? I thought that’s what Brazilian fans had wanted for so long. This here is pretty much an encapsulation of all the issues, that Valve gave ESL permission to run their world championship event for them and ESL, terrified at the prospect of low metrics, essentially handed over control to someone who has absolutely no interest in anything outside of Brazil and his position within it. In this moment he made it absolutely clear what this event was about. It wasn’t a celebration of global Counter-Strike. It was just another platform for him and anyone else he deemed worthy of sharing it with him. Prior to the quarter-final match-up, he would post a video of the speech from another angle with the words “They will never understand! This here is Brazil! Tomorrow this is going to become hell!” By now it should be clear how keen he was to use this event to stoke tensions by presenting CS:GO’s world championships as Brazil against the world. The phrase “they will never understand” has been repeated tens of thousands of times and segments of his strange speeches have been repeated almost verbatim by the fans. Why, after promising a party, he would want the tournament to become “hell” is beyond me. For me that has too many echoes of the “welcome to hell” slogan synonymous with Galatasaray’s dark past association with football violence, not something we should ever want near our competitions. During the quarter-final match Na’Vi, a Ukrainian-based organisation who are facing their own problems following the Russian invasion, were spat at between maps. These were the scenes as they exited the arena and behind the scenes some are even saying fans tried to grab players and had to be stopped by security. I’ll let you decide how much the rhetoric of Gaules played a part in the hostility that continued even after Na’Vi lost to the home team but I’ll also pose a question. If I’m one of ESL’s partnered teams how should I be feeling about ESL allowing an official partnered broadcaster to encourage this behaviour towards my players? Attending teams had gone out of their way to ingratiate themselves to Brazilian fans, especially the smaller market brands that could use the additions to their fanbase. Several teams for example had special edition jerseys using Brazil’s national colours and their social media channels were abrim with examples of fan meetups, autograph signings and praise for the Brazilian fans. One such team was Mouz who, despite having one of the most inexperienced teams at the tournament, managed to defy the odds and make it to the semi-finals. This match was played in a mostly empty stadium with the Furia game some hours away and the crowd that was there seemed only mildly interested in the proceedings. Borba of course knows what fans want and so he decided to help get them animated with some chanting. “FURRRRRIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” I want you to comprehend what it must be like for Mouz and Outsiders players, to be playing in the biggest match of their careers at that time and to have the fans in the stadium chanting for a team not even in the room, to know ultimately their presence didn’t really matter at all. I’m sure they had more important things to think about at the time but it does beg the question – why wouldn’t Gaules start a chant for one of the teams playing, or interact with the crowd in a way that got them engaged with the game? Well the answer is simple, remember? For Gaules this wasn’t a major. It was his party. Sign on the door – Brazilians only. The optics of this are terrible and I imagine the owners of the organisations aren’t too pleased at their crowning achievements being presented to the world as barely being of interest. Ridiculous enough that one of them was playing under an assumed name anyway but that’s for another time. Just know that ESL was content to allow some of their Louvre agreement partners at a global Valve event to be presented as the warm-up act no one wanted to see. Understand, I don’t blame the fans. They were presented with a choice of supporting the game they love or the influencer they love and they made the choices they wanted to. ESL certainly holds much of the blame for the construction of the event and what it prioritised. But yeah, I of course lay a lot of the blame at the feet of Borba. He had the largest platform in CS:GO and he used it to stoke division between fanbases, parrot nationalistic points and steadfastly refused, with one exception when prompted, to promote the other teams attending. His voice undoubtedly influenced some of the unsavoury moments at a tournament that could have been the best. He has shown that if given anything other than the responsibility of a co-stream he will not rise to the occasion. If he had taken the lead, his fans would have followed but he wanted to put himself and his views first. Instead of IEM Rio we got IEM Gaules. This could be every other event in Brazil for me and I’d not bat an eyelid. If Gaules is so influential to Brazilian esports that every event held there must pander to his whims and essentially be constructed as a temple to his greatness then fine. If that’s the price to make inroads to the market then at least we all know that. But never again can this be the model for a major which, no matter what Gaules says, IS for everyone.

CSGO’s average player count breaks all-time record to kick-off new year ValveValve’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has surpassed a major milestone for the first time as it approaches its eighth year as a premier esport. CS:GO has stamped its place firmly as the gold-standard for first-person shooter esports. Despite being a multi-platform title, the vast majority of its player base stems from PC. While Valve’s flagship FPS has retained the traditional model of open circuit competition, the bridge between the casual and competitive gameplay is pivotal to its success. Even Seven years after CS:GO’s release, the player base is continuing to grow — and at a rapid rate. New content in Operation Shattered Web has pushed it to new levels of popularity in early 2020. On January 26, CS:GO surpassed half-a-million average players for the first time in the game’s history, after clocking 504,128 average players in a 30-day period. Data via Steam Charts. After a dip in player interest throughout the first half of 2019, Valve’s flagship FPS steadily crept its way back towards the major milestone. Read more: New Fnatic logo leaked ahead of rebrand – After a string of major tournaments and the release of Operation Shattered Web towards the backend of November, player interest spiked and Global Offensive smashed its previous all-time average player record. A major part of this success is CS:GO’s renowned competitive play, with the Elo system at its core. Elo is a method of calculating a player’s skill level relative to their competitive environment, while counterbalancing for a player’s opponents strengths/weaknesses. Put simply, it allows players to seamlessly transition between casual and competitive games. Meaning that the appeal (to an otherwise taboo game mode) is far greater, so ultimately more people are enticed to play. On top of this, player interest is likely still overflowing from Valve’s decision to move to a free-to-play model back in December 2018. The peak concurrent viewership record of 850,485 still remains untouched from April 2016. However, with Valve’s new competitive schedule set to be implemented during the 2020 season, perhaps it’s only a matter of time before the previous record is broken.

CS:GO: ZywOo’s insane 1v3 is one of his best clutches ever L: StarLadder / R: ValveCounter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Mathieu ‘ZywOo‘ Herbaut showed off his skills with an amazing 1v3 in a Faceit Pro League match. ZywOo is one of the youngest professional players in CS:GO at just 18 years old, and he is already talked about as one of the best players in the world. The French AWPer showed why people think so highly of him as managed to clutch a 1v3 with ease in an FPL match on Overpass. His team was one round down in the final stages of the map, and the Team Vitality star was left defending the A bomb-site alone against three rapidly approaching Counter-Terrorists. ZywOo switched to his Desert Eagle and moved in for a close-range battle. One CT peeked around the A-long corner and immediately found himself headless as the Frenchman displayed his pinpoint accuracy. The remaining two players moved in together from stairs, relying on strength in numbers. ZywOo spotted the players approaching and adjusted his positioning slightly, then opened fire and took them both down with two lightning-fast headshots, securing a crucial round victory for his team. The community caught wind of this play and showered the French star with praise. One user commented “The first kill is the best. The way he adjusts his position and crosshair is pitch-perfect. How can you be this damn good?” While another added, “How the actual fuck can you play against someone who can basically see the future.” Many users agreed that ZywOo is an incredible player, and his recent performances seem to be living up to their statements. The Frenchman will play his next official match at the StarLadder Berlin Major on August 23, where he will be able to show if he can continue to live up to the hype.

CSGO star ZywOo gets insane pistol ace at StarLadder Berlin major Twitter: @borodasltv / StarLadderWith his team on their last legs in the Challenger Stage, the young star Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut put Team Vitality on his back in their first round against Grayhound Gaming. This has certainly not been the most impressive Challengers stage for Team Vitality. The French squad (with lone Brit Alex ‘ALEX’ McMeekin) came into the StarLadder Berlin major as the number two ranked team in the world, and were an overwhelmingly popular pick to go 3-0 and advance with ease to the Legend stage. That’s not what happened. The Challengers stage kicked off with an upset that sent shockwaves through the CS:GO community, as Syman Gaming knocked off the French favorites in a commanding 16-8 win on Dust II. Maksim ‘t0rick’ Zaikin dropped 30 kills on Vitality to secure the upset. As many scrambled to alter their Pick’Em selections on Photoshop, Vitality rebounded with a win over INTZ Esports, but would again get upset in a best-of-one in round three, losing 16-14 to DreamEaters. Semyon ‘kinqie’ Lisitsyn was pivotal in that map, with 29 kills and vital triple kill in round 30 to secure it for the Russian team. Down 1-2 and on the brink of elimination, ZywOo raised some hell against some HellRaisers with 31 kills on map one on Inferno. Veteran Nathan ‘NBK-’ Schmitt carried the torch in the second map, setting up Vitality for a round five, best-of-three, last chance opportunity against the Aussies in Grayhound Gaming to qualify for the Legends stage. It’s fitting that Vitality plays the last series of the stage after opening the stage with such a dud. But ZywOo made it clear from round one on Dust II that he’s not interested in this being Vitality’s last series of the tournament: Well, well, well… The match is starting on a ace from @zywoo :starstruck: #VforVictory #BerlinMajor :tv: https://t.co/gZROp2L63c pic.twitter.com/J3riGY3BN0 — Team Vitality (@TeamVitality) August 26, 2019 As Grayhound rounded the corner onto long A during their first T-side, ZywOo met them with two USP pistol headshots in quick succession, with a couple of flashbang assists from Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire. Chris “dexter”‘ Nong got eliminated when he tried to push in from short, and another flashbang from apEX allowed ZywOo to pick off the final two panicked players next to pit. Vitality had a dominant T side, and their momentum carried them to a 16-5 map one victory.

CS:GO YouTuber McSkillet Reportedly Killed in Crash Involving His McLaren Super Car It has been claimed that an 18 year old YouTuber known in the CS:GO community under the alias, McSkillet, has died in a fatal car crash. On the afternoon of August 23, a young male, drove his McLaren super car at 100mph into oncoming traffic on a highway in San Diego. A number of San Diego news outlets have reported that the McLaren collided with an SUV going the opposite way, killing the driver of both cars and a passenger of the SUV. The crash ended up becoming a messy fireball involving eight cars in total, with eight more people injured on top of the three dead in the primary collision. Concerns were raised in the hours after the crash that the driver of the McLaren was YouTuber and CS:GO skins expert, McSkillet. At the time of writing it has not been confirmed by authorities the name of the driver, however, a number of his friends have taken to Twitter to claim that it was McSkillet behind the wheel. One of his uploads in December 2017 showcased him revealing his black McLaren. The majority of his videos focused on CS:GO skins, but he hadn’t uploaded a video since March 2018. He was later trade banned by Valve in mid-2018 due to his involvement in skin gambling website, CS:GO Magic. It is important to note that it has not been confirmed that McSkillet was the driver and we’ll update the story when more information is released.

CSGO YouTuber Anomaly explains how he sold a weapon skin for $32,000 YouTube: Anomaly / ValvePopular content creator and CSGO personality Ludwig ‘Anomaly’ Lagerstedt revealed the details behind an insane skin sale worth $32,000. Weapon skins are a hot commodity in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, with some of the rarest ones selling for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Very few people ever get their hands on these incredibly rare skins, but the ones that are lucky enough to find one in a case can make massive profits. However, traders have to be incredibly careful to not get scammed, and Anomaly has revealed the lengthy process of selling one of his most valuable skins. In a YouTube video, the Swede explained the whole process, from first finding the skin, to the lengthy auctions, and finally the sale. “The first step I did is research the value. What you need to do first is research similar skins… look at previous sales, speak to people who know about skins. Then I got in contact with some high tier skin collectors,” he began, before revealing that he held a lengthy auction with tens of thousands on the line. “[The auction] started off with like 10 people. The first guy said $10,000, then another $11,000, and it just kept going up. The winner came off as being very, very, very rich, he had a translator because he didn’t understand English… it was crazy.” In the end, Anomaly didn’t feel confident that the buyer was legitimate, and explained how he ensured that he wouldn’t get scammed. “I ended up telling him that there’s no way I’m sending the skin first… and I said bank transfer specifically because there’s many different ways to refund a transfer online, but with banks, you cannot,” he said. The trader did actually agree to the terms, shocking Ludwig as he could have easily taken the $32,000 and not sent the skin. However, Anomaly did send the skin and safely completed the trade, earning himself an impressive $32,000. The reason the weapon was so valuable is because of its insane rarity. Players have opened millions of cases throughout CS:GO’s lifespan and only eight similar ones have been spotted in-game. On top of that, only two of those were in as good condition as Anomaly’s, making it quite the collector’s item.

CSGO YouTuber explains history behind every CS20 case skin Counter-Strike with the CS20 case, and YouTuber ‘3kliksphilip’ gave an explainer for every skin. In two decades of action, there have been incredible moments created by the CS community or the pro scene that have been captured and immortalized in the game. The CS20 case is filled with skins that commemorates either an element in the game’s past, or a thrilling moment in a clutch situation. Even though some are readily identifiable like the M249 ‘Aztec’ and the Tec-9 ‘Flash out,’ some have a bit more history in them that some players might not be completely familiar with. CS20 skins filled with history For example, the YouTuber noted that CSGO’s new Glock skin called ‘Sacrifice’ is an homage to Olof ‘olofmeister’ Gustafsson’s daring defuse during ESL One Cologne 2014. The play gave his team a huge round in a close match, as he stuck the defuse at the cost of getting eliminated by a molotov. A marking on the gun shows a man burning in flames with a defuser, and “tick tock, tick tock” is inscribed on the back “to represent the urgency of the situation.” Longtime CS callout “Popdog” has a couple of skin references in the CS20 case with the MAG-7 ‘Popdog’ and the AUG ‘Death by Puppy.’ While the shotgun takes its aesthetics from the original Barking Dog Studios map, the rifle features colors that pop more than the last. Then there’s the Mac 10 ‘Classic Crate’ which gets inspiration from the boxes that were spread across the original iteration of Dust 2. The design features the caution strip, and serial numbers that pays respect to CS as well as the ‘X’ marking found on the bombsites. If the Five-Seven wasn’t a CT staple enough, the ‘Buddy’ skin lets the defensive side take a friend designed right onto the gun into combat. The skin features the face and goggles of a ‘Polizei’ on the back of the pistol exclusive for the CT’s. There’s a ton of other easter eggs hidden throughout the skins, making 3kliksphilip’s video well worth a watch for a trip down Counter-Strike’s memory lane. All of the CS20 Case weapon skins Mag-7 Popdog – by ‘Apel’ and ‘Mad Polygon’ – Scar 20 – by ‘G-99 Factory’ with contributions from ‘Apel’ – Tec9 Flash Out – by ‘MultiHawk’ – Mac10 Classic Crate – by ‘Kai123’ – Dualies Elite 1.6 – by ‘G-99 Factory’ – FAMAS Decommissioned – by ‘Kai123’ – Glock Sacrifice – by ‘MutliHawk’ and ‘S1lent’ – M249 Aztec – by Sparkwire – Five Seven Buddy – by ‘Freddy’ and ‘Krueger’ – P250 Inferno – by ‘Shrike’ and ‘Sparkwire’ – UMP45 Plastique – by ‘Graff’ – MP5 Agent – by ‘Axerov’ – P90 Nostalgia – by ‘Denstarsk8’ and ‘Apel’ – MP9 Hydra – by ‘Frostbite’ – AUG Death by Puppy – by ‘Midnight Witch’ – FAMAS Commemoration – by ‘Ezikyl’ – AWP Wildfire – by ‘Vlek’ –

CS:GO: Woxic stuns fans with incredible 1v4 clutch vs Team Liquid ESL/DreamHackTurkish CS:GO professional Özgür “woxic” Eker stunned viewers with an insane clutch against Team Liquid, while playing at the ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals. After G2 cruised past NRG, Team Liquid came up against German organization Mousesports in the second semi-final, in a match they would eventually take 16-8, 19-17. Despite their eventual victory, Team Liquid were made to sweat as Woxic stepped up at 15-13 down, clutching an incredible 2v4 situation with an audacious bomb defuse. Woxic and ChrisJ were left on their own after Frozen, Karrigan and Ropz were all killed quickly. Woxic then took NAF out with the AWP, before giving Twistzz the same treatment, forcing the 2v2. However, ChrisJ was eliminated without having an impact, leaving Woxic in a seemingly impossible situation; outnumbered in a 2v1, with a bomb to defuse. As Twitch viewers spammed ‘EZ’ and ‘GGs’, Woxic snapped onto EliGE to make it a 1v1. He then smoked the bomb, and successfully defused as Team Liquid’s nitr0 failed to hit his spray through the smoke, finishing off an incredible clutch and keeping mouz in the game. The staggering moment was emphasized as Mousesports fans and coach, Allan “Rejin” Petersen, jumped around in disbelief at what Woxic had just pulled off. Despite the fact they weren’t able to complete the comeback and take the map off Team Liquid, Woxic reinforced his standing as a future star of the CS:GO scene, as he is currently just 20 years old. As Mousesports were ultimately sent home packing, Team Liquid are looking to secure another tournament victory, to add to their IEM Sydney and DreamHack Dallas crowns. The grand final of ESL Pro League Season 9 will see Team Liquid face G2 for the $250,000 prize, as two months of intense competition reach their culmination. The finals are live, starting at 9am CT (3pm BST) on Sunday, June 23.

CSGO will officially die in a week as CS2 takes over ValveCounter-Strike: Global Offensive, arguably the most iconic competitive shooter of all time, will officially be gone forever as of the start of 2024, with its replacement Counter-Strike 2 now established. CS:GO was released in 2012, and in the years since, grew into a behemoth, as by far the most-played game on Steam, and the world’s premier esport title. As it aged however, fans did become impatient for a new release, or at least a significant overhaul to a game that was still running on an outdated engine, and Source 2 was just sitting there. In September 2023, after much anticipation, CS2 was released, an overhaul of CS:GO on the Source engine. And, it entirely replaced the previous game. However, CS:GO remained playable through a launch option for CS2. Soon, that will be gone. CS:GO will be gone forever Shortly after the release of CS2, Valve clarified what the future of CS:GO would look like. Sadly, for those hoping to still play the old version, the developers confirmed that support for CS:GO will cease entirely on January 1, 2024. Until that date, CS:GO is playable through the CS:GO Legacy Version, available in the ‘betas’ menu of CS2’s properties. But, Valve explained, “After January 1, 2024 the game will still be available, but certain functionality that relies on compatibility with the Game Coordinator (e.g., access to inventory) may degrade and/or fail.” This means that the Legacy Version option will still exist, but with the dev team no longer looking after it, there is a good chance that it will be functionally unusable. So, if you are nostalgic already for the old classic, then you should try to use some of your holiday break to jump into a match or two. Unfortunately, though, servers aren’t online, so you’ll have to play against bots. In the meantime, all eyes shift to CS2, and Valve’s plans for future content there. The game had a rocky release, and player counts have fallen, but the community is hopeful that future updates will restore Counter-Strike to its former glory.

CS:GO: When will ‘new Cache’ be finished? Map creator drops new hint L: ValveCS:GO map creator FMPONE has hinted that the rework of Cache might finally be complete. Cache was removed from the active duty map pool on March 28, 2019 and somewhat controversially replaced with Vertigo, which was added for the first time instead of bringing Cobblestone back into the pool. Since Cache was removed, original map creator FMPONE has been working on an overhaul for the map, and it seems that it might finally be ready. FMPONE has been dropping hints about the progress for several months, but his latest update is simply the “you know I had to do it to ‘em” meme alongside a link to his previous post on the subject, which fans have taken as confirmation that the work is complete. Exactly when fans can expect the rework to appear in-game remains to be seen, although hopefully if it is complete it should appear relatively soon. The map’s return to the competitive map pool is another matter, however. Dust II, for instance, was removed in February, 2017 and the remake arrived in October of the same year, but it wasn’t until April of 2018 that it returned to active duty. At the very earliest, it’s certain that Cache won’t be joining the competitive map pool until the StarLadder Berlin Major is complete on September 8, but even then map pool updates are typically far less frequent, with more than a year separating the removal of Cache from the previous active duty update. Cache was one of the more popular maps in CS:GO, having survived in the map pool for years without a rework due to players rarely calling for it to be overhauled, while many other maps have undergone much more significant changes in the same time frame. Now that its time has finally come to be fully updated, many players will undoubtedly be keen to see exactly what new Cache looks like, especially as it’s being designed by the map’s original creator.

CSGO walk accuracy bug can still ruin games and players want Valve to patch it via Virre CSGOA long-standing bug in CSGO has the community pleading for Valve to finally patch the problem, as more evidence has been compiled with possible solutions that can be taken. YouTuber ‘Zoddom,’ along with a host of other CSGO analysts like Birkir, Altimor and SlothSquadron, have separately highlighted the walk accuracy glitch in the game in the past. Each time, they compiled their findings after testing out the CSGO glitch with hopes that Valve would patch it up as soon as possible. However, they’ve separately documented this for the past several years, and a patch has yet to be released. Zoddom has brought up the issue again after a video clearly showing the bug at work surfaced again in the CSGO subreddit, where more people started to see it for themselves. “When you’re pressing crouch, the game essentially thinks you are running,” Zoddom said after explaining the mechanics in the game that lead to the repeatable bug. Zoddom’s video, published back in February 2021 but thrusted back into the spotlight, compares and demonstrates how CSGO’s formula for inaccuracy after walking to then crouch-walking gets tampered with. They noticed that there’s a brief window that can span three or so shots where the inaccuracy wildly fluctuates when getting into a crouch. Read more: How To Be a CSGO Fan in 2021 – In application, the bug is only persistent for less than a second, but the implication that it has to the first few shots can be readily perceived. “IMHO this is one of the bugs with the biggest impacts on gameplay right now,” Zoddom said. “It can easily lead to losing a round that you should’ve won and technically it can happen much more often than let’s say the molo-smoke-bug. It can happen every single round depending on your playstyle.” Even though he recognized that this can be avoided by properly counter-strafing, he called the glitch “unintuitive” in nature and can lead to an “an exponentially higher disadvantage” than normal. As more people familiarize themselves with CSGO’s walk accuracy bug, the calls to fix it are getting louder. Now the community will wait to see if Valve addresses the problem soon.

CSGO visibility update appears to reveal opponents through walls Valve via Team LiquidThe visibility update for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive brought a ‘Boost Player Contrast’ option to help people see player models in low contrast areas, though it also makes it possible to see opponents behind walls. As far as the overall patch goes, players have been appreciating the subtle, yet present improvements to CSGO. But when Redditor ‘TimSchumi’ took a closer look at the new feature’s effects, they noticed there was quite a bit more visibility in-game. Their clip shows a subtle but crucial glitch that lets eagle-eyed players make out the figure of a Global Offensive model behind an object. Although it’s not overtly noticeable, in a slow-paced and test tactical shooter like CS:GO, the action routinely slows to the point where players can be focused on the same wall for 10-20 seconds at a time. These kinds of changes in the pixels are something that stand out like a sore thumb when a T is holding down a post-plant angle; just waiting for a CT to come around the corner. TimSchumi isn’t clear on a sure-fire way to recreate the bug, but they managed to do it at least once while they were testing out different methods saying that “it doesn’t always show up when watching the replay from the original clip.” Finding a way to reproduce the bug would go a long way for the devs to create a solution to the problem, although some people already have an idea of what could be causing the strange effect. “The only explanation I came up with: halo effect is applied (or meant to be) when the game assumes you have seen more than 50% of the enemy model,” user ‘TheStratum’ explained. “However this percent calculation goes wrong and halo is applied when you only see a little.” The consensus is that this bug is a bit too intricate to reproduce, so it shouldn’t create too many consistent problems. With that said, some people have been able to reproduce it for learning purposes, so it could be something the CSGO devs patch out in case the wrong players stumble across a reproducible method.

CS:GO viewership on Twitch sees a huge increase after release of Danger Zone battle royale mode CS:GO’s big announcement of a new battle royale mode called “Danger Zone” got enough people interested that the game shot to the top of the Twitch rankings, getting more than 210,000 concurrent viewers shortly after the reveal on December 6. Danger Zone was announced and released by CS:GO on December 6 featuring a new map and player interface for the franchise’s first foray into the battle royale genre. In addition to the battle royale mode, it was also announced that CS:GO would be going free to play, which made it easy for streamers on Twitch to try out the new mode right away. According to Twitchtracker.com, CS:GO reached a peak of about 216,000 viewers shortly after Danger Zone was announced. It didn’t hurt that the game got some help from big-time streamers, like former CS:GO pro Michael ‘Shroud’ Grzesiek, who had more than 100,000 viewers on his stream alone. Read More: CS:GO: Shroud discovers what happens when you start a fist fight with a barrel in Danger Zone – CS:GO managed to beat out Fortnite, which peaked at around 150,000 viewers according to Twitchtracker, on the first day of Season 7, no less. http://www.counter-strike.net/dangerzone Like other recently released battle royale games, CS:GO Danger Zone definitely caught people’s attention the day it released and now we’ll have to see if that interest continues, or if it will die down similar to Call of Duty’s Blackout. Opinions on the new battle royale mode were mixed, but CS:GO shouldn’t have any problem pulling in the viewers if Shroud decides to give the game another shot on stream.

CS:GO veteran shox starts new chapter with Team Liquid João Ferreira/DexertoFrench Counter-Strike legend Richard ‘shox’ Papillon has signed for Team Liquid as the North American organization continues the rebuilding of its CS:GO squad. The 29-year-old is the second signing made by Liquid in the off-season following the arrival of highly-rated AWPer Josh ‘oSee’ Ohm from Extra Salt on December 27. The announcement comes a week after shox bid farewell to Vitality, the organization he had represented since 2019. The French team have reportedly lined up moves for Peter ’dupreeh’ Rasmussen, Emil ’Magisk’ Reif, and coach Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen as part of a major off-season overhaul. During his two-year spell with Vitality, shox won a handful of international tournaments, most notably EPICENTER 2019. The team ended the year on a high note, IEM Winter and making deep runs at the BLAST Premier Fall Final and World Final events at a time when reports of impending roster changes had already surfaced. A new chapter in North America This will be shox’s first international project since a brief spell with TCM-Gaming in 2013 alongside players like Ladislav ‘GuardiaN’ Kovács and Dimitrios ‘stavros’ Smoilis. He went on to play for the biggest French CS:GO teams, including LDLC, with whom he won his first and only Major title to date at DreamHack Winter 2014. Welcome the legendary @ShoxCSGO to our starting roster! pic.twitter.com/KXMEIMuU5X — Team Liquid CS (@TeamLiquidCS) December 29, 2021 Shox, who has been competing at the highest level in Counter-Strike since the mid-2000s, and won the DreamHack Winter 2014 Major, told Dexerto ahead of PGL Major Stockholm that he wanted to continue playing for as long as possible. “I want to break the age limit and prove to the world that you can be 30, 33 or 35 and still compete on a tier-one level,” he said. His signing offers versatility and experience to a Liquid squad that will be looking to return to the top after a disappointing year. The North Americans picked up just one title in 2021, from cs_summit 8, and cut a frustrated figure at the biggest events, crashing out of IEM Cologne and PGL Major Stockholm before the knockout stages. Read more: Best CSGO players of 2021 – Liquid’s roster is expected to be rounded out by Nick ‘nitr0’ Cannella, who is reportedly returning to the team, and to CS:GO, after a Valorant sojourn with 100 Thieves. The 26-year-old played for Liquid between 2015 and 2020, notably leading them to victory in Intel Grand Slam Season 2 after a dominant run between May and July of 2019. Team Liquid CS:GO roster Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski – Keith ‘NAF’ Markovic – Josh ‘oSee’ Ohm – Richard ‘shox’ Papillon – Eric ‘adreN’ Hoag (coach) –

CSGO veteran s1mple banned from Twitch again CS:GO star Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev has been banned from Twitch for a second time following an initial ban in August. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished professionals in the history of competitive Counter-Strike, Natus Vincere’s s1mple occasionally shares his gameplay with the world outside of frequent tournament appearances. Through Twitch, the FPS sensation has grown to just under a million followers however his progress on the platform was first stunted on August 13 and has since been halted for a second time in 2019 following another ban. His Twitch account was removed from the platform on November 28 for undisclosed reasons. Neither Twitch nor s1mple’s organization Natus Vincere has issued any response on the matter. Twitch often refuse to comment on channel removals, thus it’s unlikely that the streaming platform will divulge any new information surrounding the punishment. Having been initially banned for one week on August 13, the pro player has lost access to his channel once again just a few months later later. ❌ Twitch Partner “”s1mple”” has been banned! ❌https://t.co/v9F3QiXMd9#twitch #ban #secondban #partner #twitchpartner 👩🎤 — StreamerBans (@StreamerBans) November 29, 2019 Originally banned for having used a homophobic slur during an FPL game, s1mple subsequently lashed out online and called Twitch “a joke.” Providing a screenshot of the reasoning behind his first ban, he confirmed reports that he was indeed enduring the consequences as a result of “hateful conduct against a person or group of people,” which goes in direct violation of the Twitch Community Guidelines. There’s no clear reason why the CS:GO veteran was issued a second ban. https://twitter.com/s1mpleO/status/1161567097979318277 The professional has been inactive on Twitter since November 19, and with very little information surrounding the circumstances of the ban, no one knows how long he will be off the streaming platform. Suspensions often vary from 24 hours to permanent, depending on the severity of the incident or repeated infractions. We will update this article when more information becomes available about s1mple’s second Twitch ban.

CSGO veteran NBK- confused over “unfair” MOUZ kick Stephanie Lindgren/ESL via ESPATNathan ‘NBK-‘ Schmitt did not hide his shock at being removed from MOUZ’s CS:GO team just two months into his contract. MOUZ announced on March 18 that they had promoted academy player Jon ‘JDC’ de Castro to their main CS:GO squad to replace NBK-, who had been signed by the German organization at the start of the year. The decision came in the aftermath of a fourth-place finish in ESL Pro League Group A. MOUZ won just two of their five group matches, beating G2 Esports and LookingForOrg, and losing to Entropiq, NIP and Fnatic. In a statement, MOUZ head coach Dennis “sycrone” Nielsen explained that De Castro’s “attitude, positivity and communications will be vital” for the team as they prepare for their next tournament, the PGL Major Antwerp EU RMR A. This 16-team tournament, scheduled for April 17-20, will have eight spots at the Belgian Major on offer. NBK- puzzled by decision NBK- reacted to the news on Twitter, saying: “I have never been so confused about such an unfair and rushed decision.” I have been notified 20 hours ago that I have been put as inactive player by the management in the Mouz roster. I have never been so and confused about such an unfair and rushed decision. I will chill over the next days to calm down and will start streaming individual practice. — Nathan Schmitt (@NBK) March 18, 2022 The 27-year-old attended only two events with MOUZ, IEM Katowice and ESL Pro League, averaging a 0.97 HLTV rating. This was his first stint since returning to CS:GO after trying his hand at Valorant in 2021. A two-time CS:GO Major champion with LDLC and Envy, NBK- now finds himself without a team in the middle of the Major cycle. His removal from MOUZ, he said, will take some time to process. “I will chill over the next few days to calm down and will start streaming individual practice,” he added.

CSGO veteran and Na`Vi captain Zeus confirms retirement plan DreamHackCounter-Strike legend Danylo ‘Zeus’ Teslenko has announced that he will be retiring after BLAST Pro Series Moscow 2019 – leaving Natus Vincere with a few questions about their roster. Zeus is one of the most experienced Counter-Strike players in the world, having competed in the original game since 2004, followed by stepping into CS:GO when it released back in 2012. He has competed at countless events and even had the honor of winning a CS:GO Major in 2017, captaining Gambit to PGL Krakow glory, but has now settled on his last event after a long and successful career. The Ukrainian first revealed his plans for retirement in December 2018, when he spoke to HLTV, telling them that 2019 would be his final year as a player. On September 2, it was reported by Dexerto’s own DeKay that Na’vi were considering a roster reshuffle – with the belief that BLAST Pro Series Moscow would be Zeus’ final event with the team. This was confirmed through an announcement on September 9 on Na`Vi’s website, with his last event taking place from September 13 – 14. “It was a tough decision — I have been thinking about it for a while… I believed our new roster could win a Major, or make it into the finals at least. But we lost early on, and I realize I need to give way to the youth” said Zeus. ⚡️@ZeusCSGO is retiring Details: https://t.co/bjbBmhOvaG#GoodByeZeus #navination pic.twitter.com/6P1why6jkh— Natus Vincere (@natusvincere) September 9, 2019 He also spoke about his future plans, saying he wants to “develop esports in CIS, build a pro academy, and engage with the young.” A key detail he added is that he does not plan to go into coaching anytime soon, so it’s unlikely that we’ll see him taking on the spot of Na`Vi moving forward. No replacement has yet been confirmed for the Ukranian, however, it is likely that Kirill ‘Boombl4’ Mikhailov will fill the in-game leader role for Natus Vincere, as Zeus picked Kirill for the squad specifically to mold him as his replacement.

CS:GO: Upsets galore and broken curses as DreamHack Winter and SuperNova Malta come to a close – Results and recap DreamHack / Adela Sznajder | DexertoSunday, December 2, marked the conclusion of the DreamHack Winter and SuperNova Malta events in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Here’s what happened. DreamHack Winter, once one of most prestigious events on the CS:GO calendar, has become something of a sideshow in recent years, but the inclusion of teams like OpTic, G2 and ENCE ensured that there was still a good deal of interest in the $100,000 competition. Unfortunately for OpTic and G2 fans, neither team even made it out of Group B as the South African side of Bravado Gaming shocked everyone by posting a 2-0 record. OpTic failed to win a single match and ENCE bounced back from a 16-14 loss against G2 to defeat the French team 2-0 in the Group B diecider. Group A also had its fair share of surprises as x6tence Galaxy beat both compLexity and LDLC to secure a playoff spot along with Heroic. However, neither Group A team proceeded any further as x6 fell to Bravado and ENCE blew past Heroic. The Grand Final saw fan favorites ENCE finally put an end to the impressive run of Bravado with a convincing 2-0 victory. The Finnish team once again relied heavily on veteran AWPer Aleksi ‘allu’ Jalli and 16-year-old sensation Jere ‘sergej’ Salo throughout the tournament. Over in Malta, the $150,000 SuperNova event didn’t throw up nearly as many surprises, as Virtus.Pro, Kinguin, TyLoo and Gambit were the four teams to be eliminated in the group stage. The North American sides of NRG Esports and Team Liquid were in fine form all weekend and NRG dispatched HellRaisers convincingly in their semifinal match. On the other side of the bracket, Team Liquid’s firepower eventually overcame a plucky performance from the BIG players, confirming an all-American final. After a rough few months and the constant question of choking in finals hanging over their heads, the Team Liquid players looked determined in the Grand Final match, blowing past NRG 16-4 in map one. Keith ‘NAF’ Markovic was in particularly good form, leading Team Liquid to a much closer 16-14 win on the second map in order to secure the 2-0 victory. In the third place decider match, BIG defeated HellRaisers 2-1. The win is the first since cs_summit 2 for Team Liquid and breaks their curse of six Grand Final losses without a victory. The eyes of Counter-Strike fans will now be on the ESL Pro League Season 8 finals, which will begin on December 4 in Odense, Denmark. Team Liquid, BIG, HellRaisers, G2 and NRG will all be in action once again, but Astralis are sure to be favorites to take the title.

Latest CSGO update helps players perfect their grenades ValveThrowing out good utility in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is key to helping your team win a round, and the latest CSGO update is helping make perfecting these strategies easy. Being able to execute pushes on bomb sites with utility or defend angles with a clutch smoke is part of the parcel of being successful at Counter-Strike. Players often run into practice tools to help them line up new utility angles, but it can be a tricky test of trial and error for the most part. However, a new update to Valve’s popular first person shooter should help alleviate some of the messing around, and give players the chance to discover new grenade angles with ease. In their September 19 Release Notes for CS:GO, Valve announced new console commands for practising grenades. ‘cl_grenadepreview’ will give players a live update of the grenade’s trajectory before it’s released. This will help players plan their grenades from the get-go, rather than throw and track back the trajectory using ‘sv_grenade_trajectory’. Players will also be able to fly through and follow their grenades without having to manually throw them as well. The ‘sv_rethrow_last_grenade’ command allows players to redo the final grenade used on the server, allowing them to test how certain nades interact with players on different angles. Read more: Misfits looking at return to CSGO – Finally, players will be able to freeze the trajectory of their nades to analyze them with the ‘cl_sim_grenade_trajectory’ command. Previously, the ‘cl_grenade_trajectory_time’ line forced players to put in a finite time on being able to see the path of their utility, but now players can stop them from disappearing indefinitely. Initial player reaction to the changes have been positive. Popular Youtuber Brent ‘WarOwl’ said that the update will make “finding and practicing nade throws so much better,” while players in reply to Valve’s tweet about the update gave their thanks to the developer. This change has also been part of an upgrade to the quality of life of practicing CS:GO. Recently, Valve implemented an update to the framework behind their bots in Deathmatch servers, making them play more realistically. this update is amazing, will make finding and practicing nade throws so much better: https://t.co/Iwc3pJ3xr1 — War Owl (@TheWarOwl) September 20, 2019 If you’ve been wanting to learn a new flash angle on Mirage, or test out a few new smokes on Inferno, now you have the chance to perfect them easily before surprising the competition in matchmaking.

CS:GO update patch notes: Dust2 removed from map pool, AWP & M4A1-S nerfs ValveValve has announced changes to the active map pool by adding Anubis and removing Dust2 ahead of the CS:GO 2023 Paris Major. Weapon changes in the form of AWP and M4A1-S nerfs also came with the update. CS:GO will see a new map join the active map pool with Anubis joining in the most recent patch. The map will replace Dust2, one of the longest-standing maps in the active rotation. Dust2 will still be playable in casual, competitive and deathmatch in CS:GO, according to the Valve announcement. Dust2 has been a staple of CS:GO esports, going back to the Counter-Strike days. It was officially released in Counter-Strike Patch 1.1 back in 2013. The change comes right after the Rio 2022 Major and ahead of the 2023 esports season. The update also brings some big changes to weapons in the game, as the AWP will not only have 5 bullets in its magazine, and the M4A1-S has had its range modifier changed from 0.99 to 0.94. The changes should have a significant impact on pro play as well, as the AWP is still a popular power weapon for teams to pick up and the M4A1-S has been a strong option as a rifle. CS:GO sees the removal of longstanding map Dust2 The CS:GO community has reacted in a somber way to the news of the Dust2 removal. The map was a staple pick as a decider map in many esports series and even has a CS:GO esports publication named after it. Some have reacted positively to the news as many have been clamoring for an update to the active map pool. The game’s player base will see the changes implemented on November 18 and have a chance to acclimate to the new update ahead of the 2023 Paris Major which is set to start on May 8.

CSGO update makes smokes even easier on Vertigo: October 9 patch notes ValveThe latest CSGO update has seen Vertigo undergo a number of changes, from removing forklifts and doors, to adding new pathways and lights. One small addition seems to have even made using smokes and flashbangs on the map a whole lot easier. Valve first added Vertigo to Counter-Strike in March of this year, and the map divided pro player’s opinions after it bumped fan-favorite battleground Cache out of the active roster. Now the highrise arena has undergone some new adjustments with changes to passageways and the environment around the A bombsite, including the removal of the forklift at the bottom of the area’s ramp, and an exit to lower scaffolding. Interestingly, players soon discovered that the developers had also added something else — a series of small orange targets painted on the floors, roofs, and walls around the map. Read more: Valve awards CSGO hacker thousands – These added targets have all been placed in spots where players would previously use their smoke grenades, and seem to have been implemented to provide new and learning players a way to see where they have to throw their vital smokes and other projectiles. While some dedicated CSGO fans were annoyed that the developers were “streamlining” mechanics and taking away a ‘skill-check’ that many had taken months to learn on the new map, others believed it would be a benefit overall. “Memorizing smokes has always felt really annoying and arbitrary for me and I wouldn’t mind if Valve added more markers for common smokes,” bassistgorilla said on Reddit. “Yeah memorizing smokes takes time and dedication, but anybody can memorize a bunch of complicated “stand here aim at this, run and then throw”. The actual skill comes in when recognizing when to use the smokes, which smokes, when to buy the smoke, and so on.” As well as the map changes to Vertigo, the latest patch also saw minor bug fixes on Dust II and Nuke, while the latter also had an invisible collision space between ramp and toxic on the B bombsite removed. Minor miscellaneous changes were also implemented, including blocking new users from entering any playlist that isn’t Casual until they reach Private Rank 2, and a fix for the experience progress bar not filling to the end when players reached a new rank. Finally, Valve implemented a back-end program to improve shutdown sequences for the servers, to be used whenever they’re rolling over updates. The full patch notes for the October 9 update can be found below. CS:GO October 9 Patch Notes [MAPS] Dust II -Fix for VPhysics Displacement bug Nuke -Fix for VPhysics Displacement bug -Removed invisible collision that could block shots between ramp and toxic on Bombsite B Vertigo (post-Major gameplay update) –Removed forklift at bottom of lower A ramp –Tightened doorway leading to lower A ramp slightly –Closed gap in wooden fence by A site crane –Added new side-path from scaffolding to A site –Made scaffolding wider –Removed lower exit from scaffolding –Closed one of the exits from CT elevator room to A site –Moved drywall stack in exit from elevator room to A site –Widened tall cover on A site –Widened entrance to B site from CT spawn –Added blockers to ends of outer walkway around B site –Removed dark cubby by HVACs near T spawn –Removed door in mid, cleaned up mid geometry –Blocked gap in sandbags on lower A ramp –Re-colored bombsite boxes to red –Sliced corner in top mid –Removed boxes in CT spawn –Brightened interior lights overall [MISC] – As an onboarding experiment, some new users will be restricted to Casual and/or Deathmatch until they reach Private Rank 2. – Fixed the XP progress bar not filling to the end when ranking up. – Improved shutdown sequence of official servers when rolling over to the latest version.

CS:GO update for December 11 helps Prime players to avoid free-to-play spam accounts – Patch notes The developers of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive have released new update that features numerous quality of life improvements after the major free to play and Danger Zone update from December 6. This latest update, which went live on December 11, is a far cry from the massive changes that were implemented a week prior. We don’t get a new battle royale mode but we do get a number of bug fixes that should make the overall experience of playing much better. The key line that has caught the attention of many veteran players refers to the sv_prime_accounts_only setting, which will now work properly. This means that prime members will be able to choose community servers that are only open to other prime players and avoid some of the ‘spam’ free-to-play accounts that have been appearing. Danger Zone has been a popular addition with CS:GO’s more casual fans. Other changes include a fix for the precache error when loading into the Blacksite map and Danger Zone HUD glitches. The full patch notes for the December 11 CS:GO update can be found below. Fixed precache error when loading Blacksite map on clients with default settings. – Fixed Danger Zone exploration money progress HUD indicator from jittering when switching tablets or spectator targets. – Fixed viewmodel animation interpolation error observed on some high-latency clients. – Adjusted first-person rappel animation to accommodate widescreen aspect ratios. – Fixed a regression in weapons equipped by certain community training maps logic. – Fixed an error model appearing when applying a name tag to inventory items. – Fixed particle materials for rupturing money bags to match the money stack materials. – Fixed sv_prime_accounts_only setting not having effect on certain community servers. – Fixed searching tooltip showing incorrect prime status for lobby. –

CS:GO update fixes further issues with smoke grenades – February 15 patch notes Valve has once again issued an update to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive during their IEM Katowice Major event – fixing further issues with the game’s smoke grenades. A patch was sent out on February 13, the night before the tournament started, to fix an error with the radar that allowed players to see the dots of enemies before the smoke that separated them had dissipated. The quickly made changes followed an outcry from a number of pro players, especially MIBR’s Epitácio ‘TACO’ de Melo – who tweeted his frustrations about the exploit at tournament organizer ESL asking them to fix the error. Now, Valve has once again made further corrections to the smoke grenades, fixing an error that had floating smokes extinguishing fire while not coming into contact with the flames. A fix has also been made to the C4 explosives on the terrorist side. Some players were still seeing the holiday wrapping on the bomb when planting despite that being removed from the game some time ago. However, it remains to be seen if the update will be used for the Major event that is currently underway. ESL quickly opted to use the overnight update that fixed the radar exploit but with the Major now in full swing, new updates could lead to plenty more unforeseen technical errors. Read More: Sources: TSM exploring options in CS:GO – If you need to know about the ongoing tournament, you can follow everything that is going on and watch all the games right from our event hub. You can read the full patch notes for the February 15 patch below: [MISC] – Smokes that visibly fade off the ground now allow fire to spread under them without getting extinguished. – Fixed a rare occurrence of the C4 ViewModel sometimes being wrapped in last year’s holiday wrapping paper. – Added support for displaying correct picks for Katowice 2019 Major Championship after the Challengers Stage is finished.

CS:GO update fixes controversial radar exploit ahead of IEM Katowice Major – February 12 patch notes Following a very public discussion within the professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive community, Valve have released a new patch to fix a controversial radar exploit. CS:GO is no stranger to various exploits and glitches, but this particular radar exploit had been threatening to negatively affect the upcoming IEM Katowice Major set to kick off on February 13. Valve have taken notice of this and removed it completely from the game with a new patch on February 12. The exploit involves the use of a keybind that allows players to quickly zoom in on their radar and see opponents on the minimap before they actually appear through the smoke. The tactic is not technically a cheat but has been incredibly divisive among players, with many having voiced their frustrations over the widespread use of the exploit, most notably when MIBR’s Epitácio ‘TACO’ de Melo asked ESL to ban a popular radar exploit in a tweet posted on February 11. Unexpectedly, the debate caused by TACO’s tweet devolved into shocking territory when he posted an expletive-filled tweet towards Fnatic’s Jesper ‘JW’ Wecksell on the matter. With the technique now completely banned, though, players will no longer have to worry about the integrity of the IEM Katowice Major being compromised as a result of the exploit. The update also fixed a crucial issue for game client crashes that plagued players on the OSX and Linux platforms. For everything you need to know about the upcoming Major, be sure to head over to our official hub for streams, schedules, results, and more! You can read the full patch notes for the February 12 patch below: Release Notes for 2/12/2019 [MISC] – Fixed the ‘radar spotting enemies through smoke’ mechanic to behave the same regardless of the game server tickrate, and to not reveal enemies on the opposite side of the smoke until the smoke effect dissipates. – Increased size of rendering queues for OSX and Linux game clients to address crashes when playing Danger Zone.

CS:GO update brings more changes to competitive matchmaking pool – January 31 patch notes The developers of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive at Valve released another minor update for the incredibly popular PC game on January 31 / February 1. Here’s everything you need to know about the patch. As we stated after the release of the January 24 CS:GO patch, it is unlikely that we will see any game-changing updates until the conclusion of the IEM Katowice Major on March 3, but the devs seem determined to continue to tweak and improve the current maps in the matchmaking rotation. The last update focused on removing maps like Subzero and Austrian from official matchmaking – replacing them with the likes of Zoo and Abbey – and the January 31 patch seems to be dedicated to improving those replacements. Both Zoo and Abbey are now available in competitive matchmaking, rather than public matches alone, and have received numerous tweaks to their appearance and other improvements along with the new version of Vertigo, which was also added to the competitive matchmaking rotation on January 24. Abbey’s skyboxes have been opened up in a number of locations, offering a more diverse range of options for grenade usage. A number of minor glitches have also been addressed along with optimization improvements. Zoo’s changes are more visual than practical, with the developers noting that they have replaced and changed a number of small sections and even removed the ‘dead guy at T spawn’. The full January 31 patch notes for CS:GO are as follows: MAPS Zoo and Abbey are now available in Competitive matchmaking. Zoo: – Visual updates overall to match present standards – Replaced SWAT with FBI – Reduced the amount of corners/spots at B site – Removed glow effects from wall mounted fixtures to prevent smoke exploits – Replaced foliage at interior lower mid to improve sightlines – Raised ceiling in connector between T spawn and A mid – Moved swinging tire out of the way of sightlines – Increased infographics’ resolution – Removed dead guy at T spawn – Disabled collision on some foliage – Fixed minor visual glitches Abbey: – Opened mid skybox allowing T’s to throw grenades from river area – Opened mid skybox allowing players to throw grenades from A bombsites – Opened A skybox allowing T’s to throw grenades from right alley – Replaced window model with wider one in library (T’s side of middle) – Added block bullets brushes in some places to prevent full penetration – Optimization – Removed bomb stuck spots – Enabled collision on window models – Reduced size of clip brushes in some places – Added missing overlays – Fixed various clipping issues – Added new 3d skybox – Removed tiny mountain – Added some color to the map – Added building on mid Vertigo: -Made door into B site from CT side twice as wide -Improved collision model of large HVAC units -Blocked visibility under HVAC units -Tweaked layout of staircase leading up to B site -Blocked visibility from T spawn to B site catwalk -Added some props near staircase to minimize fall damage -Tweaked layout of bombsite B target -Brightened ambient sunlight MISC: – Fixed game state integration truncating long workshop map names. – Fixed localization strings in some languages displaying numbers with zeroes after decimal point.

CS:GO update 1.36.5.3 brings massive changes to competitive economy and weapons The latest update for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has seen Valve make a major change to how economy works in competitive games. The developers of the popular first-person shooter have made a key modification to the start-of-half economy, boosting the amount of money teams will receive for losing the pistol round. Valve’s decision to implement such a major update during the middle of the CS:GO season has not gone unnoticed, with some fans fancying the likelihood of an upset on legitimate betting websites such as BetEasy. Counter Strike Global Offensive Betting by BetEasy offers the latest odds and predictions on matches within different leagues across the globe. Best to keep an eye on it to see how this update changes the game for the players. Previously, teams who lost the pistol round would receive $1400 as their losing bonus. In the new update, teams will now receive $1900, giving them an extra $500 to play with heading into the second round The rest of the losing bonuses remain untouched, with teams receiving $2400, $2900 and $3400 for consecutive rounds losses following the pistol round. Valve hope that by making this change, they can “reduce the impact of a pistol round win on subsequent rounds”, giving players a better chance at winning should they lose the opening round of the half. Valve also made adjustments to some of the weapons featured in CS:GO. The CZ75a has been tweaked to “encourage semi-automatic fire at medium and long ranges” by improving the accuracy recovery rate of the pistol, while the Tec9 has had its fire inaccuracy lowered to make it more viable in mid-range gunfights. The biggest changes in the latest update are to the economy post-pistol round. The prices of both the AUG and the SG553 scoped rifles have been lowered in an attempt to encourage the use of these weapons in competitive play, while the map Austria has replaced Canals in the competitive matchmaking pool. The latest patch for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is live right now. The full patch notes for the update are available below: Release Notes for 10/09/18 Gameplay – Adjusted the start-of-half economy with the goal of reducing the impact of a pistol round win on subsequent rounds. — In Competitive Matchmaking, both teams are now considered to start the half with a one-round ‘losing streak’ that is reset following a round win. Instead of $1400, the Round 1 loser receives $1900, then $2400 for a subsequent loss, etc. — The start-of-half losing streak can be adjusted via “mp_starting_losses” – CZ75a: Adjusted the CZ75a to encourage semi-automatic fire at medium and long ranges. — increased recoil and fire inaccuracy — slightly improved accuracy recovery rate – Tec9: Adjustments to make the weapon more forgiving at medium rates of fire. — reduced fire inaccuracy — slightly improved accuracy recovery rate – SG553 price reduced to $2750 – AUG price reduced to $3150 Maps – Austria is now available in Competitive Matchmaking. – Austria has been moved into Group Delta in official Casual matchmaking. – New Community maps Biome and Subzero are now available in Casual matchmaking as part of Group Sigma. – Canals has been removed from Competitive Matchmaking. – Shipped and Insertion are no longer available in official matchmaking. Audio – Added a “VOIP Positional” audio setting. When this setting is enabled, in-game voice audio will be played from the position the player is standing at. Misc. – Enabled mouse bindings for voice chat to work in end of match scoreboard. – Fixed backlog of async events in scoreboard causing performance problems during gameplay.

Multiple CSGO Twitch streamers banned, reportedly for restreaming Berlin Major GFuel / StarLadderThe CSGO community on Twitch is experiencing a bizarre ban-wave as huge broadcasters are having their channels taken down amid the StarLadder 2019 Berlin Major. The second Major of 2019 has a lot of viewers hyped to see the biggest CSGO teams don the stage once again. As various storylines will undoubtedly unfold, Twitch streamers are tuning in to share the biggest moments with their audiences. But it seems like copyright strikes are stopping these channels in their tracks, as numerous streamers are pointing to DMCA takedowns from StarLadder as the reason for the unexpected bans. While StarLadder is putting on an incredible production to bring the Berlin Major to the homes of thousands, Twitch streamers have been tuning into the GOTV version of the matches found inside of the game. Major CSGO streamers like Erik ‘fl0m’ Flom, Andre ‘nooky’ Utesch, and more have been banned, apparently with no reason given, after streaming the Major on their channels. Full list of banned CSGO streamers UPDATE – Some of the streamers listed below have started to get their Twitch bans rescinded (* denotes unbanned) fl0m* – mch_AGG – pelaajatcom – metabro* – nookyyy – 1ukeofficial – maleK_CSGO – gabepeixe – dimaoneshot – viperdemon – mchfps – Ryu7z – The tournament organizers themselves have it written in their StarLadder Major 2019 Official Rulebook and Regulations that they have all broadcasting rights including “video streams (e.g. PoV streams), radio streams, GOTV, replays, demos or TV broadcasts.” Just got banned on @Twitch @TwitchDE and i dont know y – didnt even got a mail with a reason or something :/ WTF ??? — nookyyy (@nookyyy) August 24, 2019 In fact, ESL had the same stipulation for the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice CSGO Major, but that wasn’t largely enforced as it is being with the StarLadder Major. In StarLadder’s case, they’ve been handing crucial DMCAs to channels that Twitch has no choice but to oblige by. Although some streamers are saying that these harsh strikes to their channels came with no notice. “So to clarify StarLadderCSGO just DMCA’d me for streaming the GOTV,” fl0m said after having his channel taken down. “I had casters muted and my sponsors hidden. I can’t confirm 100% this next part but I believe starladder now has exclusive rights to the major and I need permission from them to be able to stream the major.” so this is different from the ESL dota 2 ruling as this major is exclusive to starladder. once again im still confirming this last point but im 99% certain this is why im banned. all i can say is sorry but the lack of communication on this front is astounding. — fl0m (@fl0mtv) August 24, 2019 Fl0m expressed his frustrations on Twitter since the DMCA marks the first time the streamer’s channel had ever got banned. “I’m so upset. First ever ban on twitch. Nobody from StarLadder reached out asked me to turn it off or anything. Just straight DMCA’d me for doing something we do every Major.” The CSGO community are holding their collective breaths to see how Valve and StarLadder will handle these DMCA’s as the debacle is souring the viewing experience for fans in only the second day of the Berlin Major.

CS:GO Twitch streamer banned after showing cheat menu on stream CSGOA CS:GO streamer known as ‘Tom Black’ has been banned from the Twitch platform after showing a cheat menu and toggling wallhacks during a game he was livestreaming. Twitch have a very strict policy when it comes to users violating their terms of service, with specific section dedicated to those “Cheating in Online Games” and have banned former pro players in the past for cheating in-game. Although Twitch have made questionable calls when it comes to issuing bans to those for “violating terms of service” in the past, they had no room for discretion in this instance, after the streamer clearly brought up a cheat menu during a match on CS:GO. The streamer is seen tabbing to his cheat menu at the start of his CS:GO game and even indicating to his teammate to check his stream, saying, “don’t worry I have a solution, look at this” consciously aware that it would also be seen by his viewers. After being asked by his teammate what his solution was, he then toggled on his wallhacking cheats on by pressing “enable glow” while he was on the cheat menu. The cheats allowed him to see the outline of opponent players across the map before he ultimately deciding against using cheats during the match and turning it off. When the cheat menu had been removed from the screen, his teammate was annoyed to find out Tom had displayed the wallhacks to his viewers and asked why he brought up the cheat menu. Tom could only chuckle in response to the question, seemingly not caring about the ramifications of his actions. He later stated that he believed the use of cheats on stream was fine as long as they weren’t used for ‘anything bad’, and that he did not use them to gain an advantage during the match in question. Regardless, his Twitch channel has since been removed and he is expected to have received a ban from Twitch for violating the terms of service. Twitch do not comment on TOS violations.

CS:GO: Turkish star reportedly turns down FaZe Clan for move to BIG DreamhackTurkish Counter-Strike: Global Offensive star Ismailcan ‘XANTARES’ Dörtkardeş is reportedly in talks with BIG to join their active roster. XANTARES and his ex-Space Soldiers teammates have been without an organization since they departed from Space Soldiers in October. Since then, the Turkish team has maintained their spot in the ESL Pro League whilst also qualifying for the upcoming IEM Katowice Major European Minor event. While a change to the roster has not been rumored, it now looks as if XANTARES is set to depart the orgless team and the current roster will have to make a change before the January 1 deadline. According to a report from VPEsports and French-insider NeL, XANTARES is in advanced talks with German-organization BIG (Berlin International Gaming). NeL’s report also suggests that the Turkish star has turned the chance to play for bigger teams such as FaZe Clan and Mousesports. FaZe are on the search for a new fifth player after benching long-time in-game leader Finn ‘Karrigan’ Andersen on December 16. Since then, a number of names have been rumored to join the all-star squad but nobody, not even some of Counter-Strike’s biggest pundits, have been unable to come up with an answer. Being turned down by XANTARES means they will have to continue to look down their shortlist of players to find an answer, and quickly. You can follow all along with all the team moves and changes before the January 1st roster lock with our dedicated transfer hub here.

CSGO tournament organizers ban new Shattered Web skins Leading Counter-Strike tournament organizers ESEA and FACEIT have announced that players will be unable to use new character skins from Operation Shattered Web during competitive matches. The recent release of Operation Shattered Web on November 19 saw the introduction of custom in-game character skins for players to experience in CS:GO. However, although the change was welcomed by many fans, those within the competitive community noticed that some of the playable agents could be less visible than the original models. After the new operation was initially released, some pro players immediately identified issues, and it appears the Player’s Association have been in talks with TO’s to remove the character skins from competition. In order to prevent players from gaining an unfair advantage over their opponents by using certain skins, one of the leading tournament organizers, ESEA, revealed on November 24 they would banning the custom skins from competitive play. “In line with the CS Player’s association, ESEA and all other ESL CS:GO tournaments will be prohibiting the use of custom CS:GO skins.” stated the tournament organizer in their latest blog post. We’re banning custom @CSGO Character Skins from play.https://t.co/kGPQFff0UO pic.twitter.com/uw6FVB6YMu — ESEA (@ESEA) November 24, 2019 ESEA was not the only tournament organizer to ban the new character skins, as head of esports at FACEIT, Roald Van Buuren, also revealed they too would prohibiting the skins at all upcoming competitions. He revealed that the upcoming ECS season 8 finals would be opting to host the tournament without allowing the use of the new playable characters after there were concerns about player model visibility. “We will be playing the ECS Season 8 Finals on the latest CS:GO patch, however, we will be using the default character models due to concerns about the visibility of the new models.” After consulting with the @CSPPAgg & teams, we will be playing the @ecs Season 8 Finals on the latest CS:GO patch, however we will be using the default character models due to concerns about the visibility of the new models. Tune in on 28 Nov at https://t.co/2vBRpyG1dM! — Roald Van Buuren (@roaldvanbuuren) November 21, 2019 The announcements should come as good news to those who are competing in upcoming events, however, it will be interesting to see if Valve has any changes planned to make the new skins more visible for future use at events. Popular Twitch streamer shroud was also concerned after the release of the new CS:GO operation and even claimed that the game’s developers were “lost.”

CS:GO to be disabled in China for a day following death of former state leader ValveRecent patch notes revealed that CS:GO will be down for an entire day following the death of a former state leader, Jiang Zemin. Valve’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, commonly known as CS:GO has grown into a massive esport all over the world, with huge scenes in countries like North America and China. As such, Valve has to keep in mind global sensitivities when handling most aspects of the game, whether it be through updates or in-game content. Now, a recent patch note has revealed that CS:GO will be disabled for an entire day in China due to the recent passing of former Chinese Leader Jiang Zemin for one very particular reason. CS:GO to be completely disabled in China for one day According to patch notes from SteamDB, text included in patch 1.38.4.8, which was released on December 4, 2022, included the following Chinese text: “Dear players: In response to relevant notices: CS:GO will be suspended for one day from 0:00 to 23:59 on December 6, 2022 (Tuesday), thank you for your support.” The news likely coincides with the funeral of Jiang Zemin, who passed away at the age of 96 on November 30, 2022, according to BBC News. However, those living outside of China likely won’t know the reason why CS:GO must be suspended for an entire day. In Chinese law, State funerals are considered a national day of mourning, and restrictions are placed on various activities for the population to mourn those who’ve passed. As such, Valve must abide by Chinese law meaning CS:GO’s online services will be suspended for one day. While those in China will be affected by this change, players living outside the country will be able to access CS:GO as normal on December 6, 2022.

CS:GO: The first invited team for Charleroi Esports 2019 has been announced Organizers of the Belgian CS:GO event known as Charleroi Esports have announced Team LDLC as the first of four invited squads. The €100,000 tournament, organized by LouvardGame, will take place at the RTL Spiroudome, Charleroi from April 12 – 14 and feature eight teams. Two qualification spots will be open for European teams along with one for North America and one for Asia. These four qualifiers will then be split into two groups along with the four invitees. The format for the group stage will be a double-elimination GSL style with the opening and winners matches being best-of-one. The elimination matches will be best-of-three and the top two teams from each group will advance to a single-elimination best-of-three bracket. LDLC will certainly be popular with the Charleroi crowd thanks to Antoine ‘to1nou’ Pirard being on the roster. The 23-year-old Belgian is the team’s AWPer and is known for his impressive flickshots. LDLC were briefly seen as the number one French team in CS:GO after their impressive 5th – 6th place finish at IEM Chicago in November. The underdogs bounced back from a 16-14 loss at the hands of FaZe Clan in their first match of the tournament, going on a tear in Group A and eliminating Renegades, North and NRG Esports in impressive fashion. They finally met their match when they played Team Liquid in the quarterfinals, losing 2-1, but their performance made the Counter-Strike community sit up and take notice of them. Unfortunately, a disappointing outing at DreamHack Open Winter 2018 saw them eliminated with a 0-2 record after convincing losses to Heroic and x6tence Galaxy – effectively erasing their Chicago success.

TenZ reveals why Cloud9 CSGO benched him Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo has revealed the reasons behind his surprise benching at Cloud9. TenZ joined Cloud9 in July 2019 and was largely touted as a rising star in the North American region, having impressed on multiple teams at just 18 years old. However, things haven’t been going well for the team since, and after a string of poor results, they decided to make a change, benching the young Canadian on October 20. The announcement came as somewhat of a surprise to fans, who expected the team to stick together and attempt to make things work with a stable roster, but TenZ explained the reason behind his benching on one of his streams. “I was benched because… I was the only person arguing with people. I felt like our style wasn’t good and I didn’t believe in the system” he said. TenZ continued explaining the situation, stating: “I remember [Damian ‘daps’ Steele] told me this system isn’t going to work if everyone didn’t give 100%, but we were down 11-0 against Evil Geniuses and I was like, no, this isn’t working.” The Canadian then claimed that was his last complaint, right after the match was played on October 17, and he was removed from the squad just a few days later. Tyson now finds himself on the Cloud9 bench, having been replaced by Yassine ‘Subroza’’ Taoufik who is on trial for the team. His future is currently unknown, however, he is still a hot prospect in CS:GO, and would undoubtedly be a good pick up for many teams.

CSGO teases players with hidden message: What does it mean? ValveCSGO has teased fans with a hidden message on their social media accounts, but does it mean anything? CSGO players are always keeping an eye out for any news regarding the future of their beloved tactical shooter. On September 30, fans noticed that CSGO’s Twitter account had changed its banner to have a potential clue regarding the future of the game, with wild theories popping up everywhere about what it could mean. CSGO teases players with hidden messages CSGO fan Aquarius shared the discovery and said, “Ayo? CSGO changed the profile banner once more and with enough editing there is a hidden sentence on the picture.” Under the name ‘Counter-Strike’ the message reads, “It’s a banner. Nothing More. Promise.” Since then, the CSGO Twitter account has updated the banner to simply read as just Counter-Strike with blue and orange colors. Other CSGO fans did some digging and noticed that back in June CSGO social media channels used similar language regarding a recent blog post. As of now, it’s hard to tell if these are all just elaborate jokes or something to be monitored for a larger announcement. It’s possible CSGO could be rebranding to simply ‘Counter-Strike’, or a full shift over to Source 2. For now, CSGO fans should take all theories with a grain of salt as nothing is confirmed quite yet. Whether it’s a rebrand or a shift over to Source 2, no doubt Counter-Strike fans everywhere are eagerly awaiting more clues on the matter.

CS:GO Teams in the StarLadder Berlin Major with the most roster move potential With exactly two weeks remaining until the official StarLadder Berlin CS:GO Major roster lock, qualified teams now have their last opportunity to make roster changes leading up to the event. This deadline is more significant than it was for past Majors because “emergency” transfers will require documented proof as to why a player cannot play. Cloud9 took advantage of the previous iteration of the rule at ESL One: Katowice by submitting Jordan ‘Zellsis’ Montemurro as their coach and later subbing him in for Maikil ‘Golden’ Selim. This time around, Cloud9 has committed to re-qualifying for the Berlin Major with their new roster while sources have informed Dexerto that HellRaisers will submit a roster that includes Abay ‘Hobbit’ Khasenov or Bence ‘DeadFox’ Böröcz to retain their slot. To maintain Major qualification that was earned at the previous Major tournament, teams must have at least three of the five members from that event. With Cloud9 requalifying, an additional team will qualify for the event via the Minor cycle to make up for their open slot. With that said, there are a few teams to keep an eye on as candidates to make changes prior to the Major roster lock and after the Major itself. Had NRG Esports not already made a move prior to today, they would have been on this list despite still needing to make it out of the Minor. They wasted no time following their semi-final appearance at the Season 7 ECS Finals and have officially replaced Damian ‘daps’ Steele with Peter ‘stanislaw’ Jarguz. This is now the second time daps has been replaced by stanislaw, with the first time occurring in 2016 during their time with OpTic Gaming. Sources have explained to Dexerto that the move occurred quickly and took only 48 hours from start to finish, leading up to the announcement. Ninjas in Pyjamas are in prime position for a roster move if they can find a suitable player to acquire. Unfortunately for them, Robin ‘flusha’ Rönnquist has all but touched the game since announcing he would be taking time away from playing professionally. NiP reached out to flusha and Freddy ‘KRIMZ’ Johansson while Dennis ‘dennis’ Edman took a brief leave of absence earlier in the year, but both of them declined to join the team. It is unclear who NiP would replace even if they did find someone they liked, but the teams’ discomfort with the way in which dennis missed DreamHack Masters Dallas put him as a likely candidate. With losses to both Complexity and North at the Season 7 ECS Finals, MIBR cannot be happy with their performance. It is only a matter of time until Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo turns to new talent as a remedy for their issues. The most obvious route would be to recruit players from Furia but the Americas Minor Closed Qualifier on June 12 means they have next to no time to make that happen. Part of me has a feeling none of them would accept the offer anyway with how the rankings of the two teams compare. If MIBR make a move, it will happen after the Major and they’ll have to look elsewhere in Brazil.

CS:GO teams & players made “over $70m” from stickers in last 12 months, Valve says João Ferreira/PGLAs the 10th anniversary of CS:GO nears, Valve has praised the health of the esport’s ecosystem , saying that teams and players have earned over $70 million from in-game items in the past year. In a blog post celebrating CS:GO’s upcoming 10th anniversary on August 21, Valve said that the game “is stronger than ever”, pointing to its massive player base and recent viewership records as signs that the iconic FPS title has withstood the test of time. The developer has also shared more details about how much money the community has poured into the esport’s ecosystem in recent times. According to it, “over $70 million” had been raised in the past 12 months alone through in-game items. Valve added team stickers in 2014 before the EMS One Katowice Major as a way to support the growth of the esport, with organizations entitled to a portion of proceeds from the sale of sticker capsules. A year later, Valve also began releasing signature stickers, featuring players’ autographs, before every Major as a way to directly support the teams. Ahead of PGL Major Stockholm 2021 — the first Major in two years because of the global health crisis —, Valve only released signatures from the 40 players that reached the playoffs. The decision was widely criticized by the CS:GO community, with Valve dropping such restrictions for the Antwerp Major in May 2022. CS:GO fans will have another chance to support their favorite teams and players through the purchase of in-game items in two months’ time as ESL will host the second Major of 2022 in Rio de Janeiro.

CSGO teams agree to play in complete darkness at IEM Rio 2023 after lighting fault Radosław Makuch/HLTVHeroic and TheMongolZ agreed to play in complete darkness at IEM Rio 2023 after a lighting rig fault, with both teams opting to continue on despite the massive change in conditions. During 2020, when all CSGO events switched to online play, it became a familiar sight to see player cams that were completely dark, with esports superstars only illuminated by their monitors. It was only when we came back to in-person LANs that it became a much rarer sight in Tier One CSGO. But it seems viewers were treated to a small throwback to the online days when during an IEM Rio 2023 Group Stage match between Heroic and TheMongolZ, the lights in the stadium suddenly went off, shrouding players in complete darkness. The most surprising part? Nobody batted an eye. Not one of the players was startled, and nor were the casters. To be fair, both casters were off-site and not actually in the venue when the lights went out. In round 20 of the second map, as the observer is on BART4K’s pov, we suddenly see his player cam go dark and he is still fully focused on his screen. Shortly after MongolZ loses the round, a tech pause is taken. This intermission was rather short given the circumstance. It was only after the second map was finished, with TheMongolZ taking it to a third, when the casters revealed that the players all unanimously agreed to play in the dark during this brief pause in the action. HLTV writer, Nohte, posted a surreal picture of the stage, with the MongolZ players sitting in the dark. Pietro, a Senior Partner Manager for ESL, compared it to a “LAN sleepover party.” Harkening to the old days of Dreamhack LANs where gamers would play in the dark all night. Despite the lighting issues, it seems it did not faze the players whatsoever. Heroic would go on to take the series 2-1, and their next lower bracket match will be against NIP, fighting for a playoff spot in the elimination match.

CSGO’s dark horses: Spirit deserve more respect | Richard Lewis reacts at IEM Katowice [jwplayer qWwzF7w8] IEM Katowice is well underway, and there’s plenty to unpack. Richard Lewis sits down to discuss the action so far, and why Team Spirit is one that’s worth watching out for. Lewis explains why the elusive Team Spirit are the dark horses to keep an eye on, and why he believes that they’re ultimately one of the most improved teams in Counter-Strike. This has been proven with them already beating Cloud9 and BIG to reach the groups, where they’ll face an even bigger test. Looking at the event as a whole, though, so far it’s been slightly lacking in standout moments. Read More: Six players to watch at IEM Katowice 2021 – Breaking down why Best of Ones aren’t good for IEM Katowice’s structure, Richard Lewis argues it’s possible for teams to play two Best of Threes in a day. While not an optimal LAN environment, perhaps many of those top-tier teams that have seen losses could have had an extra shot at reclaiming their victory. For Spirit, though, Lewis was sure that they were going to dominate against Cloud9, saying that “results are results”. Whether it’s a play-style that’s hard to pin down, raw talent, or both, the roster is undoubtedly full of superstar players. Ultimately, though, they’re ones to watch throughout the tournament – and perhaps even beyond. To keep up to date with all the action at IEM Katowice, stay tuned over at our dedicated event hub.

CSGO team shockingly cuts player mid-series in pro tournament ESLNorth American CS:GO team Strife made the stunning decision to remove Danny ‘cxzi’ Strzelczyk from the roster mid-game, during their ESL Challenger League match against MIBR on March 17. Strife elected to cut cxzi in the aftermath of a 16-5 defeat to MIBR after only the first map of the best-of-three series in ESL Challenger League, a $50,000 online tournament for teams based in North America. cxzi finished the game at the bottom of the scoreboard with 5 frags and 17 deaths to his name, which contributed to his 0.45 HLTV rating – one of the worst performances of his career. Austin ‘AAustiN’ Urb came in as a substitute for the second map of the series, Dust2, where Strife were also soundly beaten by MIBR, this time by a 16-6 scoreline. After a lengthy break between maps, the removal of cxzi mid-series was announced on stream by the casters, who could not hide their shock at the decision. According to Dust2.us, Strife will add Matthew ‘D4rtyMontana’ Paplawskas as their new fifth player. Following the defeat to MIBR, the team currently sit in fifth place in ESL Challenger League’s Group B with a 2-3 record. A subsequent story from Dust2.us revealed that Strife and several team members were accusing cxzi of being inebriated during the match based on erratic plays and alleged slurred speech. The player acknowledged that he had “five drinks” hours before the match but denied being intoxicated. “At the end of the day I’m the only one that will actually know how I felt people can make assumptions about how I was speaking or so on and get the ‘evidence’ against me but that doesn’t prove anything,” he told Dust2.us. The decision to remove cxzi came as a surprise to many given Strife’s recent burst of success. The team, currently ranked 54th in the world by HLTV.org, won Fragadelphia 16 at the start of the month and then beat Evil Geniuses in the first open qualifier for PGL Major Antwerp American RMR. However, they would not be able to secure one of the 16 spots at the LAN event, which will feature teams from all over the Americas.

CS:GO: Team Liquid’s Stewie2K fires shots at ENCE ahead of IEM Chicago final DreamHack / ESLPopular CS:GO star Jake ‘Stewie2K’ Yip fired shots back at ENCE after pro player Jani ‘Aerial’ Jussila revealed that he was relieved to face Team Liquid in the Grand Finals of IEM Chicago. IEM Chicago has already been full of upsets, such as MiBR taking down teams with their coach zews standing in and ENCE’s Aerial believes they can add to the list heading into grand finals against the #1 ranked team, Team Liquid. However, Stewie2K was not impressed after perceiving a lack of respect from an ENCE star ahead of their much anticipated grand finals clash and quickly responded, firing back at the Finnish team. In an interview with HLTV, Aerial expressed that he was hoping to see Team Liquid come out on top over Team Vitality in the semi-finals due to their problems with the French side in past tournaments. Aerial recalled their past experiences with Team Liquid, claiming that the matches have always been close and within reach for the ENCE roster, “We won against Liquid at the Major and I think we are winning on the score, still it is very close.” He followed up by admitting that Vitality’s star AWPer ZywOo was the main reason they wanted to face Team Liquid, stating that Liquid does not have a player who is individually as good as ZywOo, “ZywOo is the problem for us, he’s always shutting us down and Liquid doesn’t have that kind of player. Stewie2K, who has been actively carving out a role as Counter-Strike’s best trash talker of late, wasn’t about to take Aerial’s comments about Team Liquid lying down, though, quickly firing back at ENCE mockingly ahead of their Grand Finals clash: “Afraid of ZywOo.” Stewie exclaimed. “We have no ZywOo because we have 5 better ones together and it just blends.” Afraid of Zywoo. We have no Zywoo because we have 5 better ones together and it just blends. Good luck tomorrow pic.twitter.com/POdhehUeWF — Jake (@Stewie) July 21, 2019 Unlike most of the pro CS:GO players, Stewie2K does not shy away from trash talking his opposition ahead of big matches and often seen trying to get inside their heads. Trash talk aside, Team Liquid are still expected to come into the series as heavy favorites against the Nordic side, ENCE, after recently securing the Intel Grand Slam at ESL Cologne 2019 and a win at BLAST Pro: Los Angeles.

CS:GO: Team Liquid set to complete trade for North American Major Champion The CS:GO community is buzzing with news of a potential roster move that could bring some widespread changes to the entire scene. When MIBR rounded out their roster with the inclusion of Jacky ‘Stewie2k’ Yip, many thought that the team would be set for a dominant second half of 2018. Since then, however, the results have been less-than-stellar and it looks like there might be a roster move on the way in the near future. On December 11, Stewie posted a single Tweet containing three words that has set the community on fire. The Tweet alone was enough to set the community abuzz, but then his former Cloud9 teammates added fuel to the fire with Tweets containing old pictures of their time playing together with Cloud9. It looks as though all of their Tweets were but a ruse, however, as ESPN’s Jacob Wolf has reported that Stewie is on his way to a different North American organization altogether. Wolf reports that MIBR are set to trade Stewie to Team Liquid in exchange for Epitácio “TACO” de Melo and head coach Wilton “zews” Prado. The move will give Liquid an all North American roster while reuniting TACO and zews with their former MIBR (then SK Gaming) teammates. Both Liquid and MIBR had been struggling throughout the year, falling short without a significant wins and hope that this exchange will give them what it takes to finally best the dominant Astralis. MIBR is also reportedly looking to deal Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik in an effort to return to having an all-Brazilian roster, explaining tarik’s own cryptic Tweet on December 11. Neither team has officially commented on the matter, but we can likely expect an official announcement at some point in the near future.

Team Liquid re-sign CSGO coach adreN after parting with Moses Team Liquid / ESLTeam Liquid have announced that Jason ‘Moses’ O’Toole – head coach, former pro, and longtime Counter-Strike figure – has left the organization, and have re-signed Eric ‘adreN’ Hoag. Team Liquid and Moses have parted ways after loss to Dignitas. – Moses first joined Team Liquid back in August 2020. – TL have a 36-22 record in all competitions since Moses joined. – Team Liquid’s CSGO team is going to be on the lookout for a new coach after they announced the departure of Moses on May 3. This comes on the heels of Liquid’s 0-2 loss to Dignitas that eliminated them from the BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown 2021 but kept them out of contention for the $425,000 BLAST Spring Finals. Under Moses, the team had a combined 36-22 series record and fell short of 1st place standings in all competitions. Today we say farewell to @MosesGG. Moses, you were a rock for the team when we most needed it, an amazing communicator with the TLCS fam, and an endless source of energy for the squad. Thank you for everything you gave to us and continue giving to the CS community. pic.twitter.com/xuMeQfyKKC — Team Liquid CS (@TeamLiquidCS) May 3, 2021 “Moses, you were a rock for the team when we most needed it, an amazing communicator with the TLCS fam, and an endless source of energy for the squad. Thank you for everything you gave to us and continue giving to the CS community,” Team Liquid wrote. Read more: Mouz victims of pathetic CSGO circuit – CSGO fans confused by Team Liquid dropping Moses Whether it was his choice to leave or not, fans are confused by the decision that removes Moses from the head coach position. It was a surprise when TL parted with Eric ‘adreN’ Hoag after their successful 2019 campaign and now Moses’ departure in the hectic nature of the online era has had the same sort of effect. Wait? Huh? I didnt see this coming if I’m honest. Imma miss his top tier reactions in the background — SeaTorio (@Sea_Torio) May 3, 2021 Wait. Am I dreaming? Seems kinda outta the blue. Especially seeing as they seem to be on the rise? — H0stile (@AmH0stile) May 3, 2021 your time at TL was pretty awesome Jason! really sorry to see you leave, but can we get to hear you commentating at LAN again at least? — Bill (@billb124) May 3, 2021 Team Liquid signs adreN Shortly after Moses’ departure, Team Liquid announced the return of head coach adreN, who took the team to the top spot in CSGO in 2019. There’s a lot of expectations for a leadership that got the org the Intel Grand Slam at ESL One: Cologne 2019. “I hope to bring NA back,” adreN said of his return. The org is going back to test tried-and-true methods with a coach they’ve had success with before. Team Liquid 2021 CSGO roster Jonathan ‘EliGE‘ Jablonowski – Gabriel ‘FalleN‘ Toledo – Keith ‘NAF‘ Markovic – Jacky ‘Stewie2K‘ Yip – Michael ‘Grim‘ Wince – Eric ‘adreN‘ Hoag (coach) –

CSGO: Team Liquid GM responds to NAF roster rumors ESLTeam Liquid’s general manager, CS:GO roster. It is an interesting time for the competitive CS:GO scene, as many new organizations, such as 100 Thieves, have revealed that they are looking to enter the space and build championship-caliber rosters. This period of roster moves, which has already seen the return of Evil Geniuses and popular Dota 2 organization OG Esports reportedly acquiring a CS team, has also come with many rumors on potential trades, including one that Team Liquid was considering benching their rifler, NAF, with Cloud9’s Timothy ‘autimatic’ Ta a possible replacement. Despite Team Liquid’s current slump, the North American roster is still regarded as one of the top teams in the world since securing the Intel Grand Slam at ESL One Cologne on July 7, which is why the initial report from RushBMedia came as a shock to many CS fans. However, after indications that the rumor was suspected to be inaccurate, especially as Stewie2k explained he was unaware of any change, Team Liquid’s general manager, Steve Perino, has put an end to the questions. Steve revealed that the messages about NAF had become too much for him to stay silent on the topic and addressed the roster’s plans for the future. Don’t usually reply to this stuff but the messages are getting out of hand.. We have 0 plans on any roster moves. When we read the NAF article it became a nice team meme. Now it’s getting out of hand. Yes we are in a tough stretch. Hard work will get us out of it not roster moves — Steve Perino (@jokasteve) October 5, 2019 “Don’t usually reply to this stuff but the messages are getting out of hand. We have 0 plans on any roster moves.” He explained. “When we read the NAF article it became a nice team meme. Now it’s getting out of hand.” He also admitted that he is aware of Liquid’s recent struggles and explained that there is no roster move needed to get the fan-favorite squad back on top. “Yes we are in a tough stretch. Hard work will get us out of it not roster moves.” Although NAF and Team Liquid are off the back of a poor performance at DreamHack Masters in Malmö, where they finished top 12 overall, fans are hopeful that they will return to form to be in contention for the next few events. In the short break following DreamHack Malmö, Liquid will now be looking to qualify for the ECS and EPL playoff finals at the end of the year.

CS:GO: Team Liquid take down FaZe to win BLAST Pro Series Los Angeles – Final Placements BLAST Pro SeriesThe BLAST Pro Series Los Angeles CS:GO tournament has come to a close, with Team Liquid securing the first place prize over FaZe Clan to continue their impressive run of form. Six of the best global CS:GO teams made the trip to the city of angels for yet another BLAST event – the fourth of 2019 – with a $250,000 prize pool on the line. The tournament was all set for a Team Liquid victory though, as the only teams capable of really giving them a challenge in previous events were not in attendance. MiBR were one to watch, as it was their first event with Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David sitting on the bench, while team coach Wilton ‘zews’ Prado filled his spot. FaZe Clan were similarly out to prove a point, and started well with wins over NRG and Renegades, and despite a trouncing at the hands of Liquid and a narrow defeat to the new Cloud9 lineup, bounced back vs a weakened MiBR to secure 2nd in the group stage. Cloud9 also snuck in to the semi-final thanks to that victory over FaZe Clan, but with Liquid to face next it would be a near impossible task to reach their first final since the ELEAGUE invitational in January. Cloud9, despite only playing together for two weeks, actually put up a valiant effort against Liquid in the first semi-final, battling back from a 13-2 deficit on the second map, Inferno, to 14-12, but Liquid eventually put them away, avoiding overtime, winning the series 2-0. Read more: Richard Lewis: Leaked email suggests relationship between Astralis and RFRSH had broken down, talks of developing a CS:GO league – For the privilige of facing the number one team in the grand final, FaZe Clan would have to see off a formidable NRG lineup, who they had already beaten 16-9 earlier in the tournament. They made relatively light work of their North American opponents on Train, winning 16-7, and although NRG showed flashes of brilliance on map two, Nuke, it wasn’t enough to stop FaZe securing a 16-11 win to close out the series. The final was another convincing affair for the world number one, taking Nuke 16-13 to open the series with a win before cruising to a 16-6 victory on Inferno to claim the series and the trophy. Team Liquid’s run of dominance continues, securing their fourth consecutive title without dropping a single map in Los Angeles.

CS:GO: Team Liquid and MIBR confirm major roster swap ahead of 2019 season After weeks of rumors, Team Liquid and MIBR have finally announced a huge roster move just a few weeks ahead of the IEM Katowice Major in February. On December 21, it was confirmed that Team Liquid have traded both Epitácio ‘TACO’ de Melo and head coach Wilton ‘zews’ Prado to MIBR in exchange for Jacky ‘Stewie2k’ Yip. The move was first reported and detailed on December 11 amid widespread speculation throughout the CS:GO community and now both teams have officially confirmed the major shakeup. Hoje desejamos a melhor sorte do mundo pro @Stewie na Liquid e anunciamos o retorno à família de @TACOCS e @zews! Today we wish @Stewie the best of luck in Liquid and welcome back to the family @TACOCS & @zews!#SomosMIBR:flag-br: pic.twitter.com/QJAALfVnDm — MIBR (@mibr) December 21, 2018 For TACO, it will be a return to the former SK Gaming roster that he has spent the majority of his career with. While zews didn’t coach them for long, he did briefly coach SK Gaming back in 2016, making this a homecoming of sort for him as well. The move comes as rumors swirl that MIBR is looking to put together an all-Brazilian roster ahead of the upcoming Major. While Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik still remains on the MIBR, he is expected to be moved in the coming weeks to make room for João ‘felps’ Vasconcellos, who the team is rumored to be set on acquiring from INTZ. The transfer also will likely spell the end of Janko ‘YNk’ Paunovic as coach of MIBR. After the latest shakeup, Team Liquid back with an all-North American roster similar to what they have fielded in the past. Stewie2k will bring along his Major winning experience as Team Liquid looks to reach new heights in 2019 and beyond. MIBR Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo – Fernando ‘fer’ Alvarenga – Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David – Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik – Epitácio ‘TACO’ de Melo – Wilton ‘zews’ Prado (coach) – Team Liquid Nicholas ‘nitr0’ Cannella – Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski – Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dulken – Keith ‘NAF’ Markovic – Jacky ‘Stewie2k’ Yip – Keep up with all the latest roster moves ahead of the IEM Katowice major with out official transfer hub.

CSGO team forfeit Major qualifier match because player was asleep ESLNorth American semi-pro team Triumph were forced to forfeit their IEM Fall match against Evil Geniuses because one of their players, Jack ‘xCeeD’ Holiman, was asleep when the game was scheduled to start. Hosted by ESL, IEM Fall is the final Regional Major Ranking (RMR) tournament of the year across the globe. Teams are duking it out for RMR points in multiple regions for the chance to reach PGL Major Stockholm, the first Counter-Strike Major in over two years. Triumph had a 1-1 record in their group after beating Team One and losing to FURIA, and they certainly fancied their chances of upsetting the struggling Evil Geniuses. The match was due to be played on Nuke, Triumph’s best map and one of EG’s worst (0-6 record in the last three months). But much to everyone’s surprise, ESL announced that EG had been awarded a forfeit victory due to Triumph being “unable to field an eligible lineup within the time limit.” Player sleeps through match Triumph in-game leader Danny ‘cxzi’ Strzelczyk confirmed on Twitter a news report from HLTV about the team being forced to forfeit their match because xCeeD had slept through the start time of the fixture. The North American team were already playing with their registered substitute player, Wesley “viz” Harris, to replace Brendan “Bwills” Williams, who was moving, so they were unable to field an eligible lineup for the game. Read more: KennyS unsure of his future in CS:GO – Triumph, who are currently ranked 69th in the world by HLTV, were unfazed by that setback and, with xCeeD available once more, went on to beat Brazilian side 00Nation 16-11. Sorry for the mistake. While the 36% deduction is true, they can still make it to the Major if both EXTREMUM and Furia gain points https://t.co/8ajXmDbZIW — Liquipedia Counter-Strike (@LiquipediaCS) October 7, 2021 They are now third in Group B, but their qualification hopes now hinge on the results of FURIA and EXTREMUM.

CS:GO team accused of copying Immortals logo ahead of StarLadder Berlin Major L: Immortals / R: Syman GamingValve have accused Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team Syman Gaming of plagiarizing Immortals and GamersClub logo following their qualification to the Berlin Major. Syman Gaming are an up-and-coming esports team that was formed for CS:GO in late 2017. The team’s breakthrough performance came on July 28 2019, as they were able to qualify for the StarLadder Berlin Major by taking second place in the CIS Minor. The team released a statement on July 31, claiming that they have been asked by StarLadder and Valve to change their logo ahead of the Major, which starts on August 23. “After we entered Major, SLTV contacted us regarding the request to change our logo, due to having elements that are similar to those used for the Immortals and GamersClub logos” said the Kazakhstani team. The organization also seemed reluctant to change their logo, stating that “We believe that the plagiarism charges aren’t substantial, therefore we ask Valve to reconsider their decision.” After we entered Major, SLTV contacted us regarding the request to change our logo, due to having elements that are similar to those used for the Immortals and GamersClub logos. We have been using this logo since October 2018, and the idea of the logo belongs to one of our fans. pic.twitter.com/zA0Ruuqwm7 — Syman Gaming (@symangg) July 31, 2019 We believe that the plagiarism charges aren’t substantial, therefore we ask Valve to reconsider their decision. We agree to have an independent examination of our logos. — Syman Gaming (@symangg) July 31, 2019 It seems that Syman Gaming are looking to fight against Valve’s claim and keep their logo, meanwhile, Immortals and GamersClub are yet to comment. Read More: Is this the luckiest Deagle shot in history? – The community, on the other hand, seem to agree that the logo is quite similar to the other teams’ logos, and think that now is a “perfect time to redo it” so it will stand out more once the in-game stickers are released. With under a month until the Major, there is not much time for Syman Gaming to change their logo, but if they do decide to change, it will be the first time a CS:GO team has changed their logo due to pressure by Valve.

CS:GO: Tarik opens up on frustrations after MIBR’s loss to Team Liquid at ESL Pro League finals DreamhackCS:GO fans can usually rely on MIBR’s Tarik ‘Tarik’ Celik for good vibes, laughter and positivity but after another disappointing defeat, the rifler has again voiced his feelings about his team’s struggles. After MIBR were soundly beaten 2-0 by Team Liquid in the semi-finals of the ESL Pro League Season 8 finals, there was little reason to be in a jovial mood. Liquid cruised past MiBR with a 16-2 win on Cache and a 16-8 victory on Overpass. In the crushing two-map defeat, Tarik posted 17 kills and 37 deaths as MIBR were blown away by his former OpTic Gaming teammate Keith ‘NAF’ Markovic. This loss, especially after how well MIBR performed earlier in the season finals tournament, seemed particularly hard for him to take. “Sad about the loss and can’t help but feel there is a disconnect or missing element in our team,” the former Major winner posted on Instagram. “It was the last event of the year with our full roster and I really wanted to end on a better note. I’m not sure how we plan on fixing our problems yet, but I know that none of us want to play on a losing team. Sometimes I wish I had more of a voice. Anyway, there are still some positives to take away. Thanks to everyone who cheered for us, see you guys in Portugal.” Sad about the loss and can’t help but feel there is a disconnect or missing element in our team. It was the last event of the year with our full roster and I really wanted to end on a… https://t.co/vi74aZZK9g — tarik (@tarik) December 9, 2018 It’s not the first time the former Cloud 9 player has talked about his feelings on social media about MIBR’s performance at a tournament. Following the team’s heart-wrenching loss to Astralis in the Grand Final of ECS Season 6 Finals, Tarik posted a similar message to Twitter. However, Tarik and MIBR have a chance for a quick turnaround as they head to Lisbon, Portugal for the next Blast Pro Series event. Although, they will be without Fernando ‘fer’ Alvarenga as the Brazilian returns home for surgery. Current Swole Patrol player Braxton ‘Swag’ Pierce was announced as the stand-in for the MIBR squad. Both Tarik and his teammate Jake ‘Stewie2K’ Yip have plenty of experience playing alongside Swag and will be hoping for a winning performance in Lisbon to get the team back on track.

CS:GO: Tarik opens up about recent struggles following MiBR’s heartbreaking ECS loss to Astralis DreamHackTarik ‘tarik’ Celik is known for his positive vibes and can-do attitude, but the former CS:GO Major winner appears to be going through a crisis of confidence under the MiBR banner. The North American star has struggled to adapt to life with Made in Brazil since joining the roster in July of 2018, and their heartbreaking loss to Astralis in the Grand Final of ECS Season 6 seems to have hit him hardest of all. “Fuck bro. So close but something is really missing,” the 22-year-old said on Twitter after the tournament. “ I never had this feeling on a team where I’m so helpless during our games :/ sucks but hopefully we get better. Congrats to Astralis, they played great.” He went on to clarify that he feels powerless, stating: “It’s a feeling that I haven’t experienced on my previous teams before. Idk how to express this feeling, but anyway thank you all for the support.” Just to clarify a bit about what I mean when I say helpless. It was more of a general statement. I think powerless is a better word. It’s a feeling that I haven’t experienced on my previous teams before. Idk how to express this feeling, but anyway thank you all for the support. — tarik (@tarik) November 26, 2018 Jake ‘Stewie2K’ Yip was quick to offer some words of encouragement to his teammate, saying: “Be proud of how far we’ve improved in a new culture and experiencing a new philosophy of the game. Success comes through hard work and strength in mentality. Won’t be handed to us.” The team’s in-game leader, Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo, echoed those sentiments: “It’s not easy to change your game completely to play in a new environment. You are a different player here than the one your previously teams needed in the past. You are doing a good job. We are close” Be proud of how far we’ve improved in a new culture and experiencing a new philosophy of the game. Success comes through hard work and strength in mentality. Won’t be handed to us :punch: — Jake (@Stewie) November 26, 2018 It’s not easy to change your game completely to play in a new environment. You are a different player here than the one your previously teams needed in the past. You are doing a good job. We are close :yes::skin-tone-2::ok_hand::skin-tone-2: — Gabriel Toledo (@FalleNCS) November 26, 2018 Tarik captained Cloud9 to victory at the ELEAGUE Boston Major in January but the team’s results dropped off soon after and his partner in crime, Stewie, eventually decided to follow a new path with the Brazilian core of SK Gaming that eventually became MiBR. Read More: Astralis trio become first CS:GO players to break $1 million prize money mark – Top 20 highest earning players – Neither Cloud9 or MiBR found the success that they were hoping for as the season progressed and Tarik eventually followed Stewie to the Brazilian team, meaning the roster consisted of two US players and three Brazilians. The changes in culture and philosophy within the team that Stewie mentions have often been mentioned by pundits and analysts who point towards scenarios where communication seems to be an issue within the team. However, the improvements from the team in recent weeks and months have also been evident, and their 16-14, 22-20 loss to Astralis on November 25 couldn’t have been closer. With a little more time, and a boost in confidence for the likes of tarik, MiBR could well be the team to dethrone the Danish powerhouse that has dominated the 2018 CS:GO season.

CSGO superstar s1mple slams Berlin Major Observers StarladderThe 2019 CS:GO Berlin Major is in full swing, but fans and some players are already complaining about how the observers are showing matches. Teams are currently competing in the Group Stage of the 2019 Berlin Major, but already fans on Reddit and across the internet are wondering what’s going on with this year’s observers. Observers are responsible for in-game camera movement and positioning during esports events, and it’s up to them to catch all the action – which can get pretty crazy in the fast-paced world of CS:GO esports. Why are people complaining about observers? As matches got underway on Monday, August 26, people started wondering what the heck was going on with the observers at the Major. Reddit user Sydadeath said the observing almost seemed to be randomly automated, with key plays and kills being missed throughout the broadcast and provided a clip to show what they were talking about. “The observing practically never follows the action. It seems to be on a random shuffle whenever there’s a default setup,” Sydadeath explained. “Right before any action happens they seem to be indecisive on which player they should focus on and so lots of 1 taps or kills in general are missed.” “Just in this one clip they either missed the action and it is very confusing watching the deagle headshot because of the last second player switch,” Sydadeath explained. But fans on Reddit weren’t the only ones who are wondering what’s going on – CS:GO pro Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev was also confused by how the matches looked. “I have 1 question for observer ( Vitality-Grayhound),” S1mple wrote. “What the heck are u doing?” I have 1 question for observer ( Vitality-Grayhound) – What the heck are u doing? — Sasha (@s1mpleO) August 26, 2019 Will Berlin get better to watch? Starladder have yet to release an official statement or respond to the complaints about observing, but if you have pro players telling you something is wrong, it might be time to take a step back and see what’s going on. It’s still early in the tournament, so there’s hopefully plenty of time for Starladder to identify and fix the issue, for the fan’s sake at least. Observation problems or not, the Major still features some of the best CS:GO we’ll get to see all year. Hopefully it will be a little easier to watch in the future, though.

S1mple pulls off insane CS:GO AWP ace with ridiculous shots Starladder / ValveCounter-Strike: Global Offensive star Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev showed his Twitch stream exactly why he’s the most dangerous player in the game with an unbelievable AWP ace with every kill more impressive than the last. S1mple has been at the top of the CS:GO talent pool for years because of his immaculate precision and steamrolling hyper-aggressive play-style which makes any pro team think twice before hitting his site. During his May 13 stream, s1mple made the attacking Terrorist team quickly regret a straightforward B-site hit on Mirage after an electrifying ace shutdown what could’ve been a good chance of planting the bomb. With an AWP in hand and the only teammate in the site already dead, s1mple was looking to pop off as the only player holding down the B bombsite. After getting a quick trade and an even quicker scoped kill against the people on site, s1mple started to push up to the Apartments when he was cut off by someone poking out from the smoke. Read more: CS:GO: FaZe Clan’s Failed Era by Thorin – But with a sick readjustment, s1mple landed a shot clean on his head, making it four CT’s against two T’s. S1mple pressed on and hopped onto the Truck just as a smoke was dissipating to catch a Terrorist completely by surprise. To cap off his ace, s1mple scoped down to the corner of the Apartment hallway an barely caught a glimpse of the enemy player before finishing off the round. Na’Vi fizzle at BLAST Pro Series Madrid S1mple is typically a beast on stream and on LAN, but his team’s latest outing during the BLAST Pro Series in Madrid didn’t pan out so well for the superstar. The team started the event with a brutal loss to eventual champions ENCE in a 16-4 effort, but soon followed it up with a convincing win against Cloud9 with a margin of 16-7. But other than a dominating win against sixth place Giants Gaming, the event wasn’t a strong point for the Na’Vi squad. Read more: Sources Say by DeKay: Who FaZe considered, BIG exploring options, and changes in North America – Even though he was able to get one of the weekend’s highlights with an amazing game-winning knife kill, Na’Vi couldn’t string enough strong performances ending up only in fourth place out of six contestants. While his team might struggle at times, s1mple has remained a bright star for his organization and at 21-years of age still has room to get even better