Author: Nik Ranger

CSGO superstar dev1ce returns to Astralis: “Home again” AstralisDanish CS:GO star Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz has re-signed with Astralis, the organization with which he won four Majors between 2017 and 2019, after less than 18 months on NIP’s books. The announcement marks a return to competition for dev1ce, who has spent the last 11 months out of action due to mental health purposes. dev1ce, who replaces Asger ‘Farlig’ Jensen in the starting lineup, returns to the organization that he represented during five successful years between 2016 and 2021. During that time, he established his reputation as one of the best players in the history of the Counter-Strike franchise, winning a deluge of titles, including four Majors, along with a host of individual accolades. “I can’t describe how happy I am to be home again,” he said in a statement. “Astralis is very close to my heart and everyone who has been here for a period of time knows that it is a very special organization with great values, lots of internal support, and I am more than ready to help build Astralis’ future!” Financial details of the transfer were not disclosed by Astralis, who said that dev1ce has signed “a multi-year deal” with the organization. dev1ce’s return comes less than 18 months after he left Astralis to join Swedish organization NIP in a blockbuster deal reportedly worth $700,000. In explaining the move, he expressed his desire to cement his legacy and win the PGL Major in Stockholm — NIP’s home and the city where he was living with his then-girlfriend. dev1ce became the face of a new era for a NIP organization eager to return to their glory days. But while results did improve after his arrival, international success remained elusive. At the Stockholm Major, NIP could not go beyond the quarter-finals, much to the disappointment of the home crowd and dev1ce himself. At the BLAST Premier Fall Finals, it became clear that all was not well with dev1ce, who looked dejected after NIP’s shocking loss to Team Liquid. On December 10, NIP announced that the player would be sitting out the remainder of IEM Winter due to health reasons. He would never play again for NIP, who remained silent on the player’s situation. A significant boost dev1ce’s return happens during one of the darkest periods in the history of Astralis’ CS:GO team. The organization is still trying to pick up the pieces after the team failed to qualify for the IEM Rio Major (the first Major that it will miss). The situation was so severe that it warranted a comment from CEO Anders Hørsholt, who normally stays in the background. The first step in their rebuilding process came with the termination of Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke’s contract after he broke an ankle during a fight in Malta, missing the Major qualifying event. It was later reported that this was not an isolated event and that the player had displayed “aggressive behavior” at IEM Cologne in an incident involving an unnamed member of the on-air team. dev1ce solves one of Astralis’ biggest problems: the evident lack of a world-class AWPer. The organization tried multiple ways to fill the void created by dev1ce’s departure to NIP, first putting the AWP in Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen’s hands. When that failed, they went for dedicated AWPers. But neither Philip ‘Lucky’ Ewald nor Farlig was able to deliver the kind of high-impact, consistent AWP output that the team had gotten used to with dev1ce, with both players quickly coming under criticism from fans. In June, Lucky returned to Tricked, the organization he had left to join Astralis. Farlig, too, will have to continue his career elsewhere, with Astralis Director of Sports Kasper Hvidt stating that the organization has “already started the work to find a good solution” for the former FunPlus Phoenix player. After almost a year on the sidelines, dev1ce is expected to come in rusty and not at the right intensity level. He has kept himself busy by playing pug games with other Danish players, but he might require a few months to return to his best. Elisa Masters Espoo, a small event in November in Finland with $200,000 on the line, could be seen as the perfect opportunity for Astralis to ease dev1ce back into action without the added pressure of a big title on the line. This will be the final stop of the season for Astralis, who will miss the last two big events of the year, the Fall Final and the World Final of BLAST Premier’s circuit. But the changes won’t stop with dev1ce’s arrival. Astralis still need to find a permanent solution to replace k0nfig (academy player Mikkel ‘MistR’ Thomsen is currently filling the vacant role on the roster) as well as a new head coach. At the same time, question marks continue to surround the future of Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth, one of the two players with whom dev1ce is reuniting in this second spell on Astralis. “Everyone knows that I have been through a difficult period, but I’ve taken the time out that I needed to recover and find the best version of myself,” dev1ce said. “That only gives me extra motivation and I want to focus my energy on looking forward. I have found the desire and joy to play again – I’m excited to get back to doing what I love, contributing to the team, and I can’t wait to get started.” Astralis CS:GO roster Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander – Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth – Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer – Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz – Mikkel ‘MistR’ Thomsen (stand-in) –

CS:GO superstar coldzera reveals multiple teams looking to sign him ESLCounter-Strike: Global Offensive star Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David revealed that up to four teams have already expressed interest in him as he looks to move on from MiBR. The CS:GO scene looks to be in a bidding war for the veteran’s services, as top teams look to bolster their rosters for a chance to break Team Liquid’s hold as the world’s undisputed best team. Even though he’s still on the MiBR roster, apparently that hasn’t stopped orgs from approaching the 2x HLTV best player of the year talent who could end his stint on his current org being benched. In an interview with ESPN Brazil, coldzera revealed a lot about what’s to come as his time in the MiBR organization appears to be coming to a rapid end. “I am still analyzing the offers I have received,” coldzera said. “After a Major there is always this game of musical chairs in the scene, so I still need to wait and see if I receive some other offers.” In the same conversation, cold said there were already “four teams” who are pushing to see him in their respective jerseys. While there are a ton of teams that could desperately use his services, the 24-year-old gave no indication as to who was courting him. While teams will undoubtedly be throwing large figure sums to acquire the Brazilian, it doesn’t look like money will be the first thing on his mind when looking for his next team. “The financial issue is the least of my concerns,” coldzera said. “My biggest concern is who I will play with, the kind of organisation I will play under, if it has a good structure or not.” He will obviously have his pick of the litter when it comes time to commit to an org, and it sounds like he knows it since he’s willing to hold off on a decision even if it costs months of inactivity. “There are many factors that need to be considered, and I need to do it with care.” coldzera said. “Every rushed decision brings problems in the end. I am very calm, even if I do not compete for two or three months.” As a big time signing, the CS:GO scene will hold its collective breath to see where coldzera ultimately decides to land.

CS:GO: Summit1g finally breaks the 1G molotov curse with hilarious kill Valve/Shorty AwardsTwitch star Jaryd ‘Summit1g’ Lazar might not be a full-time Counter-Strike: Global Offensive streamer anymore, but that might change after he finally squashed his Molotov demons. Summit, who has over 3.8 million followers on Twitch, can usually be found dabbling in GTA RP, World of Warcraft, and even PUBG, but when he isn’t, fans are begging him to go back to his roots and play CS:GO. Sometimes, he gives in to their wishes and showcases why he tried to go pro, yet whenever he does, the streamer can’t avoid the jokes about his infamous molly incident at DreamHack Austin 2016 where he embarrassingly died to his own flames, costing his team the game. It’s been a curse of sorts since, repeating his self-inflicted molotov deaths in other games, but Summit has finally managed to harness the power of the molly for his own gain. During his August 9 stream, the Twitch star had been playing FACEIT Pro League matches alongside fellow streamers and current professionals when he was left in a one-on-one clutch situation. Summit traded shots with his counter-terrorist counterpart before tossing a Molotov all the way down Inferno’s mid-map and scoring a kill with a hilarious direct hit. “Oh, I hit him with it!” the streamer called out, before bursting into laughter. “That’s a new 1G moment,” added summit, as the game’s next round started and his team took up their positions. “I’ve mastered it dude.” His teammates backed him up on those claims too. “Yo, that’s the new 1G dude!” called out Team Liquid’s Jake ‘Stewie2k’ Yip while Mohamad ‘m0E’ Assad added: “Wait, you’ve actually moved the 1G to him now.” Of course, one kill isn’t going to stop his chat spamming their favorite 1G emotes and joking about the infamous incident anytime Summit goes near a fire in any other title. Yet, at least he’s gone some way in trying to prove that his interactions with the flames are more than a long-standing joke.

CS:GO streamer’s team baited into surrendering in FPL despite massive lead Valve / FreepikA CS:GO player was streaming a match on Twitch on August 16 when his team was tricked into surrendering the competition despite their massive lead, and the reactions are hilarious. CS:GO games can be intense as the popular shooter can have matches that come right down to the wire. Despite the competition, there is often a gentleman’s agreement between teams when a player needs to take quick break. During a ‘FACEIT’ CS:GO match between two teams, confusion and anger broke out when Twitch streamer ‘WoznyTV’s team ended the game prematurely with a vote. Surrendering the game CS:GO has feature that allows players in the match to vote on whether a game is paused or ended. The match was 11 to 1 as it turned into a 3 vs 5 situation, when a player asked in the voice chat repeatedly if they could pause the match. “Pause please. Pause pause please,” a player named ‘Salim0’ spammed, before initiating the vote. Those in the match quickly agreed to the pause and voted, without realizing that it was not a vote for pausing the game, but a vote to surrender the match. The moment the streamer realized that the match was surrendered. WoznyTV’s own teammates were in shock and disbelief that he had surrendered the match. The surrendering streamer took a second for it to dawn on him, before laughing and throwing his hands over his face, as he leaned back in his chair realizing what had happened. It’s not clear why the surrender vote was initiated instead of pause, but it appears to have been a case of trolling. Unfortunately during matches when things are intense, players often don’t check what the vote is about, relying instead what is being said on through the voice chat. And since there were repeated calls to pause the game, it makes sense why players just assumed that would be the case. When the pop up for votes happens, it shows up in the left hand of the screen. Understandably when you are in the middle of the match, it’s off in your peripheral vision, and it’s generally accepted among players to immediately vote yes if a player is asking for a pause. Whether the surrender was an accident or an epic troll, the reaction from the streamer’s teammates was hilarious as their game was robbed from them by an accidental vote.

CSGO streamer trades in expensive skins for flashy $60,000 car YouTube: BusterRussian CS:GO sensation ‘Buster’ has more than his fair share of expensive skins in his inventory. Instead of just using them in game, he managed to trade them up into a flashy new $60,000 BMW, unveiling the new car to millions of fans on YouTube. CS:GO skins — and stickers, for that fact — can go for a fair chunk of change. Some are now worth upwards of six figures, and if you can somehow extract that value from in-game into the real world, you can find yourself on some fat stacks. The concept of trading up to inventories of this value is well-known. But what about trading up to something out of game? That’s exactly what Russian CS:GO sensation ‘Buster’ did to get a flashy new BMW. The YouTube and Twitch star — who has more than 5 million followers on the two platforms combined — didn’t just cash out the skins to get the money. He made a Steam trade with another user for their BMW. He put up a number of high value skins, including a Dragon Lore, some rare stickers, and a Sapphire Karambit. It totaled $57,000, but at the end of the transaction he had a BMW in his name. Buster’s new ride is slick with full black trim outside of the bronze rims. He put it on the back of a tow truck and took it home, ready for a joy ride or two. As far as trade-ups go, this is one of the biggest of all-time. While certain skins may pass hands for more amounts of cash, transforming $57,000 worth of cosmetics into a BMW certainly isn’t your typical trade. Was it worth it? Given the look on Buster’s face, it probably was.

CS:GO streamer RandomRambo highlights the solo queue struggle during hilarious match L: Twitter @RandomRamboTV, R: ValveAfter finding himself in a FaceIt CS:GO match with uncooperative teammates, Twitch streamer RandomRambo perfectly summed up the solo matchmaking experience. RandomRambo is a CS:GO streamer who plays at the highest level of the third-party matchmaking leagues, the FaceIt Pro League and ESEA Rank S, but that doesn’t save him from the dangers of solo queuing that many CS:GO players will be familiar with. Anyone who’s spent any time playing solo in CS:GO has likely experienced the occasional match in which your team simply refuses to cooperate. Some would perhaps even argue it’s the norm rather than the exception. Far from working together to defeat the enemy, it’s not uncommon for teams of unfamiliar players to turn on each other when things aren’t going well, in most cases only hastening an eventual loss and bad experience all around. For those playing in Europe in particular, such scenarios can be even more difficult to deal with, as you may not even speak the same language as your teammates, dashing the already slim hopes you might have had of calming things down and returning to productive communication. While streaming a FaceIt match on CS:GO, RandomRambo was unfortunate enough to end up in a game in which everything went wrong. Both teams ended up with a bot, but as RandomRambo’s switched to the T side the squad devolved into heated arguments and trash talk between the players. Resigned to his fate, RandomRambo expressed his feelings on the situation by playing Disturbed’s cover of “The Sound of Silence”, moving to stand in a corner and putting on his best 1000-yard stare. Only a slow zoom and fade to black-and-white could have possibly added further emphasis to the point. While the obvious solution to these scenarios is simply to mute your team-mates, it’s not exactly a perfect option. CS:GO relies heavily on teamwork and communication, especially as you move higher up the competitive rankings, so the choice between arguments with the occasional call-out and no communication at all isn’t always so clear.

CSGO streamer Gaules reveals he has paid millions for rights to tournaments ESLBrazilian CS:GO streamer Alexandre ‘Gaules’ Borba has revealed how much he has paid over the years to secure broadcasting rights to events. A former Counter-Strike pro and coach, Gaules has established himself as one of the biggest streamers in the world, with almost 4 million Twitch followers. He was the second-most watched streamer on the platform in 2022 with 160 million hours watched, only losing out to Félix ‘xQc’ Lengyel, according to Stream Charts. Gaules rose to prominence in the CS:GO scene after he began streaming esports matches to a loyal audience thanks to his laidback style. Over the last five years, he has streamed the biggest CS:GO tournaments in the scene, including IEM Katowice, BLAST Premier and the Majors. But that hasn’t come cheap. While recently co-streaming the Paris Major match between NAVI and FaZe, Gaules and Jean-Michel ‘mch’ D’Oliveira discussed the combined $20 million fee that BIG, Heroic, and FURIA paid in October 2021 to join the Louvre Agreement, which grants all partner teams a revenue share from the ESL Pro Tour. After giving a rough estimate of $6 million per team, Gaules said: “Do you want to know the other side of the coin? In these last five years, we have already paid that in broadcasting rights. And it’s paid for, I’m not talking about installments.” He then joked: “We could have a spot in the Louve Agreement. We could have a spot in BLAST [Premier].” On May 16, Gaules announced that he will travel to Paris to stream the playoff matches of the Major from the Accor Arena. It is the second time that he will stream a Major in person after IEM Rio, where his influence over the tournament became the subject of intense criticism.

CSGO streamer completely loses it after spectacular bomb defuse fail Twitch/tense198_v2Spanish Counter-Strike streamer Tense raged hard during a January 29 stream after failing to defuse the bomb in spectacular fashion. With the bomb armed and Tense’s teammates all killed, the streamer was on a mission to stop it from going off. It was a two-against-one situation for him with only seconds to spare. After clutching a kill on one of the terrorists with a nice scoped shot, he spotted another off in the distance. Tense showed off his incredible accuracy to flick onto his target and remove him from the game, leaving him tasked with just defusing the bomb. Read More: CSGO pro fox suspended for sexist comments – With the defuse in progress, it looked like the Spanish streamer had managed to clutch an impressive victory for his team. Unfortunately, he was a fraction of a second too late. As the green bars were seemingly just about to touch indicating the bomb had been successfully defused, the microseconds began ticking away to literally 00:00:01. WARNING: The following clip is loud. For his part, Tense looked anything but. He appeared calm and even put his arm behind his neck in a relaxing position before the unfortunate reality hit him like a tonne of bricks. “Clear the area!” the in-game voiceover said indicating the bomb was going off. He could not believe it and slammed his fist onto his desk in a fit of rage. The streamer then started to scream in Spanish with his arms waving around in confusion. Clearly shocked, the Twitch star didn’t even know how to sit and started jumping in his chair. Even when the next round started, he buried his head in his hands in both disbelief and disappointment. This isn’t the first time Tense has felt the pain of CS:GO. As we reported back in 2018, the streamer smashed his setup after he was kicked and suspended for team killing. The clip soon went viral and was viewed nearly 500,000 times on Twitch alone. At least this time the streamer controlled himself and didn’t completely destroy his setup.

CS:GO streamer accused of hacking after malicious cheat ‘injection’ VakarmFormer professional Counter-Strike player Sébastien ‘krL’ Pérez found himself bombarded with accusations of cheating after a number of damning clips from his stream emerged – but it transpires that he was not in fact responsible for the cheats at all. krL was streaming competitive matches on the FACEIT platform on April 29, when he was the victim of a rather embarrassing ‘bug’, which at first led members of the community to accuse the player of using wall hacks. Their accusations were understandable though, as the clip clearly showed the skeletons of character models and grenades through walls. Was krL actually hacking? Despite the clip showing what would appear to be krL being caught red-handed, it is believed he was actually the victim of a malicious ‘lobby raid’. This is a method used by trolls to inject cheats into the lobby of any player, typically a trick played on streamers, in order to have them embarrassed in front of their viewers. These trolls are able to enter the lobby and enable the ‘sv_cheats’ command in the console, before also enabling other commands such as ‘enable_skeleton_draw 1’ – which gives the outlines of players as shown in the clip. We live in a fascinating time where someone can get in your CS:GO lobby, turn on SV_cheats and even activate build in commands such as – enable_skeleton_draw 1 – R_drawothermodels 2Making you seing this whenever they want to mess with you. And your stream. Fascinating. pic.twitter.com/vGeyPt6wTG — HOONIOONIANIAY (@HOUNGOUNGAGNE) April 30, 2019 These lobby raids have also happened to other prominent streamers, including JasonR, who it is believed was raided by trolls using a ‘discord injection’ – and then proceeded to spam him with invites. There appears to have been a surge of these attacks in late April 2019, as other streamers are also being targeted similarly, as shown in a Twitter video from @DonHaci. TLDR: They found a way to enable “”sv_cheats”” in these games and are using commands such as enable_skeleton_draw 1 and mp_radar_showall 1(shows all enemies on radar) at specific times to make it looks as if streamers are cheating. — Haci (@DonHaci) April 30, 2019 Will Valve act on the new issue? There are now calls for Valve to act upon these lobby raids, which could cause serious problems with further cheating accusations, especially when streamers and pro players are being targeted. Update, May 1 2019, 6:10AM EST – Valve released an update for CS:GO shortly after this article was published, addressing the lobby raid exploit, which it is believed has fully resolved the issue.

Stockholm mayor’s last-ditch effort could save CSGO’s PGL Major 2021 PGL EsportsThe PGL Stockholm CS:GO Major is in trouble for 2021. However, Stockholm mayor Anna König Jerlmyr could save it, pleading with the Swedish government to let esports stars get visas to compete. Dota 2’s premier tournament, The International 10, was supposed to be held in Stockholm this year. However, it was moved to Bucharest after the government decided it wasn’t a valid sporting event and chose not to give it the exemption needed in order to take place during the global health crisis. Now, it seems like CSGO’s PGL Major 2021, which was also set to be held in Stockholm, could have a similar fate. But the city’s mayor is making a last-ditch effort that could save it. Anna König Jerlmyr penned an open letter — shared on the Ninjas in Pyjama’s Twitter account — to the Swedish government, urging them to allow esports to return to LAN in the Scandinavian nation. “We are proud about the fact that you, the organizers, chose Sweden and Stockholm,” she said. “It gives an opportunity for thousands of visitors to see their heroes from all over the world here in our capital.” “Esports is growing fast and letting the world come to Stockholm, for this reason, is considerable… I am determined to do everything in my power to avoid a situation where the government is about to repeat the same mistake it did a couple of weeks ago when The International moved abroad. Read More: How to watch IEM Cologne 2021 – “To solve the situation, I have, among other things, written to the responsible ministers to make them understand the seriousness of the situation. “Hopefully, we get a solution so that the event can be held in Avicii Arena as planned.” An open letter to @pglesports from @SthlmMayor.#räddaesporten pic.twitter.com/W0tiLbQZSD — Ninjas In Pyjamas (@NIP) July 16, 2021 In addition to contacting the relevant authorities, the mayor has also organized a meeting with E-sportförbundet, the Swedish esports federation, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and tournament organizers PGL to figure out the best strategy moving forward. Read More: The next CSGO pros switching to Valorant? – With CS:GO fans itching for a Major — the last one was Berlin 2019 after the Rio Major planned for 2020 was canceled — this could be the only way a Major takes place before 2022.

CS:GO: Stewie2k proves he’s still the ‘smoke criminal’ with insane clutch L: ESL / R: ValveCounter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Jake ‘Stewie2k’ Yip dominated his opponents in a Faceit Pro League match with an incredibly sneaky smoke push, reminding everyone why he’s called the ‘smoke criminal’. Stewie2k is one of the most decorated American CS:GO players, having played for multiple top teams and winning numerous premium events, including a Major. His career started with various small American teams, where he became famous for his unpredictable, aggressive play style. Since joining Team Liquid in 2018, the American has taken on an entry fragging role and reduced his aggression. However, on August 13, he showed fans a blast from the past as he made an extremely aggressive smoke push on his stream. The Liquid player ran through two smoke grenades and a flashbang and somehow ended up between three opponents that were converging on the Dust2 A bombsite. He was armed with only an AWP and an un-upgraded pistol deep within enemy lines. A quick no-scope saw Stewie pick off the first opponent near goose, followed by two incredibly quick AWP shots to take out two more Terrorists who were still scrambling to find out his position. One final shot towards long secured the fourth and final kill, giving his team an incredibly unlikely round victory. His teammates couldn’t believe what was happing, screaming “What?!?” and “oh my God!” throughout. The American seemed to be in disbelief himself, adding in a few screams as well as some joyful laughter. Fans were equally impressed with the skill on show, one saying “I’d like to say the timing is just lucky, but Stewie always ends up in these situations.. pure skill!” Read More: CS:GO app gives players instant utility tips – Others just enjoyed the vintage Stewie performance: “Don’t use smokes against young stew.” It will be interesting to see if the American is planning to bring back some more aggression to his gameplay in more serious and important games, or if this was just a bit of fun in an online match. The answer will likely be found at the Berlin Major, which is just around the corner, starting on August 23, where Team Liquid will head in as favorites, and the potential for Stewie to secure his second major is very real.

CSGO: Stewie2K makes dev1ce rage in FPL game ahead of Berlin Major matchup L: Dreamhack / R: valveCounter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Jake ‘Stewie2k’ Yip had Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz steaming from the ears in rage during a tense Faceit Pro League match. Stewie2k and dev1ce are two of the best CS:GO players in the world and are currently representing top teams, Team Liquid and Astralis respectively, in the StarLadder Berlin Major. They were battling it out in a Faceit Pro League match just two days before their playoffs match when one kill from Stewie pushed the Dane over the edge and made him completely lose his cool. Stewie2k and Team Liquid took the #1 spot from Astralis, and the two teams have been rivals ever since. The match, played on Overpass, was incredibly close with a tight 11-10 advantage for dev1ce’s team. Things started to go downhill, however, as they began to fall to a wave of pistols, and the Dane himself was forced to push into connector. The Astralis player could be heard screaming a frustrated, “What is he [Stewie] fucking doing!?” shortly after, with the kill feed showing him being eliminated by Stewie2k’s CZ75, likely in the smoke criminal’s infamous aggressive fashion. BIG’s Johannes ‘tabseN’ Wodarz was streaming the game on Twitch and unfortunately didn’t show the confrontation, but definitely enjoyed dev1ce’s reaction as he giggled uncontrollably. CS:GO fans also enjoyed the reaction, especially with it being so close to the Berlin Major playoffs. “Stewie getting in his head early”, one user said, another added “welp… better start betting on Liquid” -implying that the Danish star is already tilted ahead of their match. Dev1ce will have a chance to get revenge on Stewie2K on September 6 in the StarLadder Berlin Major quarter-finals, where Astralis face Team Liquid in one of the most anticipated matches of the whole event. You can keep up with the StarLadder Berlin Major on our dedicated coverage hub, with streams, schedule, and results.

CSGO: Stewie2K pulls off insane 1v4 ace clutch at StarLadder Major bootcamp Counter-Strike Global Offensive star Jake ‘Stewie2k’ Yip pulled off a stunning clutch to pick up a win for his FPL team including a jaw-dropping falling one-tap. As the competitive CS:GO scene gears up for the StarLadder Berlin Major, teams from across the world have descended on Europe to get in some practice ahead of the showpiece event. Some squads have already begun their Major run at the challenger’s stage, but others, like Stewie’s Team Liquid are waiting for the later rounds. While this gives teams extra time to get their strategies set and counter-plays in place, it also hands players a few extra days to perfect their aim and get their confidence levels up while playing games against potential opponents. That extra prep usually comes in the form of Faceit Pro League games, and with the Major coming to town, these lobbies are stacked with veteran professional talent. During his August 23 stream, Stewie had been taking part in a match on Mirage when his team looked to close things down. Despite getting the bomb down and him picking up an opening kill, the American’s teammates fell by the wayside – leaving him in a four versus one. Upon exiting the Mirage apartments, he quickly gunned down one enemy before falling off the ledge and hitting Gambit’s ‘Mir’ with a crisp one-tap. Another opponent quickly peeked him, looking to get some great timing, but Stewie kept his aim down sights and got rid of them too. When left in a one-on-one, the former Major winner set his crosshair over the planted bomb, waiting for any potential defuse attempt. He didn’t wait long, however, jiggling to his right and hitting Fnatic’s Twist with a clean headshot as he appeared behind the smoke. In celebration, Stewie jumped up and roared “What’s up!” clearly delighted by his clutch. With Liquid entering the Major as the overwhelming favorites, their legion of fans will be hoping the North American powerhouse can replicate their stunning form and finally claim a Major title. Whether or not they will be able to do so remains to be seen, but at the very least, Stewie looks set and ready to go.

CS:GO: StarSeries i-League Season 8 to use double-elim format StarLadderThe eighth season of StarSeries i-League CSGO will introduce a new format, dropping the traditional Swiss System for a double-elimination bracket. Moving to Belek, Turkey for Season 8, StarSeries’ shift away from the old format aims to improve the experience for both players and viewers. Again, 16 teams in total will take part, twelve invited and four securing their spot through regional qualifiers. Although the full list of invited teams has not been announced, StarSeries confirmed that seven teams from HLTV’s top 10 have been invited. The new format The group stage will feature two groups of eight, with the top two from each advancing to the upper bracket. Teams finishing third and fourth in each group will still continue on in the tournament, but in the lower bracket, where a defeat will mean elimination. All matches, regardless of stage, will be best of threes. This was also the case in Season 7, with the exception of the best of five grand final. When is StarSeries Season 8? The finals for Season 8 will take place on October 21-27, following the conclusion of the qualifiers which will decide the final four teams joining the 12 invitees. The location for the tournament, Belek, is on the Mediterranean coast, and StarLadder explains, “between the matches, our participants will be able to pleasantly spend some time on the beach of Belek and enjoy the beauty of Turkey.” Qualifiers will be hosted in Europe, Brazil and China, with the total prize pool amounting to $500,000. More details on the qualifiers is forthcoming.

CSGO star ZywOo pulls off insane 1v5 Deagle ace clutch in FPL Vitality AWPer Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut demonstrated his prowess by kicking off 2020 with a ridiculous 1v5 Deagle clutch in CS:GO. ZywOo has been widely regarded as one of the breakout players during 2019 since joining Vitality and has quickly put himself in the conversation against names such as s1mple. The French rookie has been seen carrying his teammates to deep tournament runs at times and putting up performances that made many fans believe he was the best CS:GO player in the world. The 19-year-old still seems to have remained in top form over the holiday season, pulling off an unbelievable 1v5 Deagle clutch during an FPL match to kick off the new year. After finding himself stranded alone on Dust 2’s Catwalk during an offensive round, ZywOo opted to put away the Scout sniper rifle in favor of the classic Desert Eagle, with it’s one-tap potential. It did not take him long to put it to good use, as he quickly dispatched of the approaching opponents with sharp flicks resulting in headshot kills for the French star. After eliminating the first three players, ZywOo crept his way to the A site before disposing of yet another enemy and planting the bomb. Unfortunately for the final opponent, there was little he could do, the vitality star baited him into peeking wide and he was instantly met with the same fate as his teammates. After ZywOo managed to complete the flawless ace clutch, everyone in the lobby could only admire his play and claimed the players were simply “Zywooed.” Many Vitality fans will be happy to see ZywOo pulling off incredible clutches such as this one in the run-up to BLAST Pro’s 2020 season that kicks off in London on January 31.

CSGO star ZywOo in talks with Vitality over new deal ahead of CS2 release João Ferreira/DexertoFrench CS:GO star Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut has opened discussions with Vitality about renewing his contract, according to his agent. The 22-year-old AWPer still has over 12 months left on his contract but is already in talks with Vitality’s management about a new deal, his agent Jérôme Coupez revealed on Wednesday, September 27, on Sébastien ‘KRL’ Perez’s stream. The agent’s comments come amid rumors that Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen, Vitality’s head coach, could be leaving the team when his contract expires, at the end of this year. Sources have told Dexerto, however, that negotiations between the Danish coach and the Vitality organization are still ongoing. Asked by KRL if ZywOo wants to commit to Vitality and become the face of the organization’s Counter-Strike team, much in the same manner as Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev has become synonymous with NAVI’s squad, Coupez said that it’s all up in the air at this point. “Today, I can’t say anything,” he said. “Honestly, I think he’s happy, things are going well, and it’s the best team in the world. However, like any contractual relationship, discussions need to take place and we’ll see what happens. “We’ll see what happens with the roster, the coaching staff, if everyone wants to stay. That I don’t know. There are definitely discussions; we’ve seen the news. I don’t have any info, I don’t represent Zonic. “And ZywOo, he’ll decide what he wants to do. he needs to be happy. The player decides and I’m here to guide him, to see what the best options are and to say what I think, and he’ll make his decisions. In any case, yes, discussions are certainly taking place.” An ever-present figure in Vitality’s team ZywOo has been with Vitality since the organization entered the CS:GO scene in October 2018. He has gone on to establish himself as one of the best players in the history of the franchise, making HLTV.org’s Top 20 Player of the Year Ranking every year between 2019 and 2022 in either first place (2019 and 2020) or second place (2021 and 2022). At the end of 2020, ZywOo signed a new contract until the end of 2024. Fabien ‘Neo’ Devide, Vitality’s co-founder and owner, said at the time that the organization wanted to create a new cycle around ZywOo and give him the necessary tools to win a Major, Counter-Strike’s most coveted title. His wait for a Major trophy finally ended this year as Vitality won the BLAST Paris Major, which turned out to be CS:GO’s last Major as the scene will transition to Counter-Strike 2 soon. He is on track to be named the No.1 player of 2023, having already picked up three MVP medals this year, two more than any other player.

CSGO star Woxic erases Evil Geniuses with nasty AWP ace Mousesports’ primary AWPer Özgür ‘woxic’ Eker proved why he’s worthy of holding the legendary rifle with an electrifying ace against Evil Geniuses in front of a raucous crowd at the ESL Pro League finals. Who would win in a fight: a team full of Evil Geniuses or one Turkish boy with a single AWP? The answer might surprise you if you hadn’t already read the title. As amazing as an ace in CSGO is on its own, there’s something special about each kill being accompanied by the roar of a crowd. In their quarterfinals matchup at the ESL Pro League finals, mousesports took an early advantage with a commanding victory in their first map, winning on Train 16-6 on the shoulders of mousesports veteran Chris ‘chrisJ’ de Jong. Toward the end of the first half of map two on Inferno, Evil Geniuses looked to correct their course to avoid elimination, but mousesports’ primary sniper woxic had other plans for the North American squad. Woxic first eliminated the Genius in underpass, then grounded Vincent ‘Brehze’ Cayonte who came flying out of the Boiler room. After dropping two more players who tried to peek him from boiler and Mid, Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik lept from balcony, over the hay cart, onto a bench where he promptly took a seat as woxic finalized the ace. Woxic is no stranger to being clutch, however. And he loves doing so against North American teams. The Evil Geniuses squad could only put their hands on their head in disbelief as woxic single-handedly won the round for his side. The Odense, Denmark crowd went absolutely wild. The Danish crowd firmly planted behind the mousesports squad led by Danish in-game leader Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen. But the ace didn’t completely break the backs of the Evil Geniuses yet, as both teams traded rounds throughout the second half to force overtime. Both teams showcased exceptional defenses on the CT side, but Evil Geniuses finally broke through with a masterful fake on the last round to take Inferno 19-17. With that finish, the teams will square off in one more map, on Nuke, with a trip to the semifinals on the line. WE’RE GOING TO NUKE! This series is going the distance! 🇺🇸 @EvilGeniuses 1 – 1 🇪🇺 @mousesports 📺 https://t.co/ZvDWXMCAnq#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/oIxonPsN1x — ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) December 6, 2019 If mousesports do advance, karrigan and mous are unlikely to retain that support when they meet Astralis, the dominant all-Danish roster, and karrigan’s former teammates. If Evil Geniuses claim the third map, they will be one step closer to winning their third major tournament in less than three months. Here’s hoping it’ll be rife with highlights on par with woxic’s ace, which you can follow on our ESL Pro League finals coverage hub.

CSGO star wins IEM Cologne match after bringing crystals with him to stop “negative energy” Carlton Beener/ESL Gaming via ESPATCS:GO star Dmitry ‘sh1ro’ Sokolov brought along some crystals with him for Cloud9’s 2-1 wain against GamerLegion at IEM Cologne. Esports pros have been known to bring things on stage with them during official matches for good luck. Some have brought plushies and stuffed animals to place alongside their setup, while others have donned masks, like FaZe Clan’s Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen, to psych out their opponents. At IEM Cologne, Cloud9’s sh1ro added a new wrinkle to these on-stage antics and brought along crystals to his team’s match against GamerLegion. The Russian player, who joined Cloud9 when the squad was acquired from Gambit Esports on April 24, 2022, brought along five different rocks to the match. He set them aside on his left and played the match like he normally would and has not addressed the crystals at the time of writing. The rocks were first spotted by CS:GO broadcaster Alex ‘Mauisnake’ Ellenberg. Cloud9 CS:GO player wins match with crystals at his side Mauisnake explained some of the crystal’s meanings in a segment after Cloud9’s win. He identified two of the rocks as amethyst and aventurine. Amethyst, the broadcaster said, is used to ward off negative energies while aventurine balances erratic emotions. The crystals must have worked because Cloud9 won the match 2-1, and sh1ro himself had a monster game. He ended the series with 78 total kills across three maps, 41 of which were AWP frags, and notched the highest HLTV 2.0 rating in the server at 1.42. This is Cloud9’s first event with its new roster after acquiring the former NAVI duo of Ilya ‘Perfecto’ Zalutskiy and Denis ‘electroNic’ Sharipov during the player break. The squad started off the event with a 2-1 loss to Fnatic, but have since rebounded and are on a three-game winning streak. The win against GamerLegion qualified Cloud9 for the playoff stage of IEM Cologne where they will match up against Team Vitality in the quarterfinals.

CSGO star Tarik weighs in on “overpowered” Krieg meta Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is in the middle of a power struggle with the prominence of the SG 553, more commonly known as the Krieg, and Evil Geniuses superstar Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik thinks it’s time to adapt. The T-sided rifle has been at the center of mixed opinions since its rise in popularity across the casual and competitive CSGO scene. It’s short-to-long range capabilities, along with its single shot to the head kill potential, has made it extremely useful to buy into. Though it might be a bit too effective seeing as a ton of pros have been calling for a nerf to the scoped rifle – splitting public perception on the weapon’s need for an update. In an interview with VPGAME (published by VPESPORTS), the 2018 Boston Major MVP gave his thoughts on the Krieg, saying that it’s influence on the meta is just something people are going to have to get used to. “In my opinion, it’s the meta right now so everyone has to adjust and everyone has an equal chance to use whatever is available,” Tarik told VPGAME. The EG star said that teams need to “play with what you’re given” and the rifle’s uptick in use simply means more people need to adapt to the playfield. Pros were reluctant to try out the rifle back when an October 2018 update made slight adjustments and gave it a reduced cost to rival the AK-47. But the weapons slow rise has been highlighted by the gun’s scoping ability and instant kill pressure that it puts on the other team. Players like Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo, Richard ‘shox’ Papillon, Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski and more have expressed the need for a nerf to the weapon in some capacity. With that in mind, Tarik suggested putting a slightly higher price point for the weapon to at least give the T-side something to mull over instead of having two one-shot headshot weapons readily available in their starting arsenal. “I think the common thing in the community right now is everyone is saying it’s a little overpowered and it probably is the case,” he said. “So maybe increasing the money on it would probably help.” Putting a bigger dent in the T-side economy could be an even trade-off for a rifle that’s been dominating the CSGO landscape, but it remains to be seen what Valve decide to do about the Krieg, and whether the ‘over-powered’ weapon will receive a nerf.

CSGO star Stewie2K announces break from competition Former Major champion Jake ‘Stewie2K’ Yip is taking a break from Evil Geniuses competitive roster but will remain with the org to stream Valorant and CSGO. One of North America’s greatest player products is stepping away from the team and will focus on content creation and streaming while deciding what to make of the rest of his career. Stewie joined EG’s CSGO team at the start of 2022 and appeared in a handful of events as one of the leading voices in a team filled with fellow C9 Major winners and promising talent. Unfortunately, Evil Geniuses wouldn’t see the success they hoped for after they put together a squad with years of experience and big name recognition. Stewie2K steps away from CSGO The Smoke Criminal, Stewie2K, announced on July 28 that he would no longer feature in EG’s CSGO team, and will pursue content creation for the time being. A fierce competitor and longtime face of North American CS, Stew will now be seen streaming the game on Twitch while ramping up his content in Riot’s FPS, Valorant. “I’m hype to announce that I’ll be streaming [Valorant and Counter Strike] for EvilGeniuses Creator Collective,” he said. “For now, I’ll be stepping away from competitive CS and focusing on streaming. “Thanks to those who tagged along and to many more! My future isn’t determined, so stop by tonight’s stream.” Stewie previously opened up about the rough times he had while in-game leading for EG, as the pro and one of his former coaches traded contentious words about their time working together. Overall, the Boston Major champ called the decision “bittersweet” as fans look forward to what’s next for the 24-year-old. As he streams more Valorant, it’s worth noting that Stewie once adamantly said he would “eventually” make the switch to Riot’s emerging esport. Whether or not he fully leaps into Valorant remains to be seen, but what is clear is that Stewie is ready to embark on the next chapter of his decorated career.

CS:GO star s1mple’s Porsche found badly damaged by vandals ELEAGUE / UnsplashCS:GO star Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev’s Porsche Panamera GTS was revealed to be severely damaged by vandals on May 1. S1mple is one of the most popular CS:GO players in the world and his mechanical skill and talent has led him to incredible success both on and off the server. However, it was revealed that one of the Na’Vi pro’s prized possessions, his black 2018 Porsche Panamera GTS, was severely vandalized on the night of May 1. S1mple had revealed earlier in the year that he had only recently picked up the new Porsche after selling his old Audi for an upgrade. While many details remain unknown, the Porsche was found in a Kiev paid-parking garage with both rear-view mirrors and front headlights completely removed as well as damage to the body, as shown in a post by dtp.Kiev.ua on Instagram. The page that posted the images also suggested that the car could have been vandalized for parking in a spot reserved for disabled people, but this was denied by s1mple’s brother, Alexey Kostyliev. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_nPwQbA_jr/ Kostyliev, who is also creative director at Na’Vi, responded to the post, claiming that the car was not parked there before it was vandalized. He added that it had been parked closer to the guard and was likely moved to the disabled parking spot after it was initially damaged. “They moved to a disabled place after, closer to the guard, the guard asked,” he explained, “someone tried to pull out the headlights and took off the rear-view mirrors and beat the car.” Until further details are shared, it is still unclear who the vandals were and their motivations behind the severe damage. s1mple himself is yet to comment publicly on the situation that occurred on May 1, although he is set to compete against Virtus Pro in the ESL Road to Rio tomorrow.

CSGO star s1mple slams Virtus.pro after shock RMR player swap BLASTNAVI superstar Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev has lashed out at Virtus.pro following their decision to change a player in the middle of the European RMR. Heading into Saturday’s crucial match against MOUZ in the European RMR, and with their qualification hopes hanging by a thread, Virtus.pro shockingly replaced Aleksandr ‘KaiR0N-’ Anashkin with benched player David ‘n0rb3r7’ Danielyan. The announcement came as a shock in the CS:GO scene, not least because KaiR0N- had been brought in just three months earlier. The team had decided to move on from n0rb3r7 despite their recent victory at the IEM Rio Major while playing as Outsiders. In announcing n0rb3r7’s return for the elimination match, Virtus.pro CEO Nikolai Petrossian suggested that KaiR0N, 19, had struggled to cope with the pressure. “Young players do not immediately adapt to the pressure of LAN events, especially important ones like RMR,” the CEO said. With n0rb3r7 back into the fold, Virtus.pro lost to MOUZ 2-0. This means that the team will not defend their Major title in Paris, with questions hanging over KaiR0N’s head before the 2023 edition of IEM Rio, which will start in a week. s1mple slams Virtus.pro over shock swap Shortly after the RMR was over, s1mple, whose NAVI team qualified for the BLAST Paris Major with a perfect 3-0 record, posted a series of voice messages to his Telegram channel talking about various topics. In some of those voice messages, he openly criticized Virtus.pro for replacing KaiR0N- mid-tournament and laying the blame on the player. “I think they acted like pieces of sh*t,” s1mple said. “To change a player before an elimination match in a qualifier for a Major, pick up a sub, buy him tickets and still f*** up. “First, they made up excuses about documents [visa] and then said that he was nervous. Yesterday we talked. We were standing with [NAVI Head of Esports] Amiran in the smoking area. KaiR0N- came over and we asked if he was nervous or something. He said, ‘Nah. The team decided so. What can I do?’ And I’m thinking, ‘What a great team you have.’” KaiR0N- is regarded as one of Russia’s most exciting young players. This is his first tier-one challenge after he played for teams like EC Brugge, Spirit Academy and Aurora earlier in his career. In a recent interview with HLTV.org while at IEM Katowice 2023, KaiR0N- had claimed that his settling-in process was going well. “I knew that it was not going to be as hard as people think,” he said. After this, though, it remains unclear if he will play for Virtus.pro again. In a Vlog recorded before the elimination match, team captain Dzhami ‘Jame’ Ali said that he felt the roster change at the start of the year was “a mistake”. “To sign a contract with Outsiders you should do it for a maximum of a year,” s1mple said. “Otherwise, this org, if you can call it that, will eat you. Such an attitude towards the players is unacceptable. How can you sign a deal with Satan? “After we spoke to him, I thought, ‘This guy is actually capable of something, and they treat him like this.’ I can’t recall such bullsh*t happening in the history of CS:GO, of 19 Majors, that such a sh*tshow happens in a qualifier. Well-deserved f***up on the part of the organization, which doesn’t give a sh*t.”

CSGO star s1mple pens new NAVI contract Helena Kristiansson/ESL Gaming via ESPATNAVI CS:GO star Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev has signed a new contract that will keep him with the organization until the end of 2025. The announcement puts an end to speculation about s1mple’s future as the Ukrainian prodigy had just two months left on the contract that he signed with NAVI at the end of 2020. s1mple joined NAVI in August 2015 after a short stint in North America with Team Liquid. He has since established himself as a global phenomenon, both inside and outside of the game. He is the current holder of the most MVP medals in the scene at 21, two more than his closest suitor, Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz, who is currently inactive due to mental health issues. He has sparked NAVI to multiple titles over the years, though he had to wait until 2021 to finally win a Major trophy. During the summer, s1mple revealed that he was considering taking a break from the game due to not having a permanent place of residence since the start of the war in his homeland. “I need to set up my life, I want to play and stream and not worry about other things, not travel with the same bag for six months,” he said at the time. s1mple missed the start of the BLAST Premier Fall Groups due to personal reasons, joining up with the rest of the squad in time for the Play-In stage match against Vitality, which NAVI won 2-0 to secure a spot in the Fall Finals. After placing 5th-8th in ESL Pro League Season 16, NAVI easily booked a spot at the IEM Rio Major by going 3-0 in the European RMR B tournament. They are one of the eight teams already through to the Legends Stage, which will begin only on November 5. “We believe the upcoming Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major 2022 tournament will end up another victory for our team, and Brazil will be the place for s1mple to once again become one of the architects of NAVI’s success!” NAVI wrote in a statement.

CS:GO star s1mple embarrasses NiP pro Rez with hilarious knife kill L: ESL / R: ValveCounter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev embarrassed his opponents in a Faceit Pro League match with a hilarious knife kill. S1mple is a veteran CS:GO player that currently plays for Natus Vincere and is widely considered to be one of the best players in the world. The Ukrainian is often found playing FPL pick-up games where he shows off his incredible skills and occasionally likes to have a bit of fun. August 18 was one of the days where s1mple decided to take his match less seriously and pull off a hilarious play. Na`Vi’s star player was hiding on the A-bomb site of Overpass as he spotted an enemy through a tiny gap and began to relay information to his team, who were already amused by his sneaky position. He could have easily taken the shot and secured a kill, but he decided to make the round more interesting by attempting something very unexpected. S1mple pulled out his knife and ran at his opponent, leaping over a truck and landing on his head, before finishing him off with the knife in the blink of an eye. Read More: ENCE set to replace Aleksib with suNny – The Ukrainian’s teammates erupted with laughter as he somehow managed to close the gap and secure an extremely unlikely kill, transforming from an FPS player to some kind of ninja assassin. Although his team ended up losing the round, s1mple didn’t seem too bothered, joyfully saying “man that’s worth it” and following with more laughter. The next time we see the Ukrainian may be in a more serious setting, as the StarLadder Berlin Major is just around the corner, starting on August 23, and even one silly play like this is a big risk to take, one that s1mple is likely to avoid as he has already been punished for something like this, when a knife attempt ended up allowing Team Liquid to make a comeback at ESL One Cologne.

CS:GO star s1mple destroys fellow pros with insane AWP play StarLadder/ValveOleksandr ‘Counter-Strike: Global Offensive ability, but he has gone a step further with these two sensational plays. The Natus Vincere star showed that he is fine form ahead of his team’s run the IEM Katowice Major, where they will be hoping to build on their second placed finish at the FACEIT London Major – by winning the whole thing. While the team’s form has been rocky since that great run in London, s1mple showcased why they can’t be written off as long as he’s wearing the yellow and black of Na’Vi – as he destroyed his fellow pros with a few flicks of the AWP. Playing in a Faceit Pro League game, the #1 ranked player in the world dominated his opponents as they tried to burst onto the A Site of the map Cache – finding three quick kills with ease. Read More: How to watch the IEM Katowice 2019 CS:GO Major – Multi-stream, schedule, results and more – Operating from electric box, s1mple quickly took down one with a quick scope, before eliminating another enemy without scoping at all. A few seconds later, after resetting himself, he found his third kill – again, with a ridiculous quick scope. However, s1mple wasn’t finished there. With the game coming to a close and his team behind, the CS:GO superstar stepped up. He delivered a killer blow to MIBR’s Fernando ‘Fer’ Alvarenga using his trusty AWP, finding a wall bang through the garage wall in mid-map. The ridiculous play set his chat off with the calls for ‘VAC’ – referring to Valve’s VAC ban system for in-game cheaters. It remains to be seen if s1mple can help propel his team to another glittering run at CS:GO’s most prestigious event, but he’s clearly ready for any challenge in front of him. Read More: Richard Lewis explains why the IEM Katowice CS:GO Major could break Twitch’s viewership record – The Na’Vi squad go off to a hot start in Katowice, dominating French hopes G2 by a 16-7scorelinee, giving themselves a perfect 1-0 start in the New Legends stage.

CS:GO Star Pimp Announces Hiatus from Streaming in Emotional Post Following the Loss of His Father DreamHackProfessional CS:GO player and streamer Jacob ‘Pimp’ Winneche has posted an emotional message on Twitter following the death of his father. After a brief period as a Counter-Strike: Source pro, Pimp burst onto the CS:GO scene in 2012 as part of Anexis eSports and remained within the Danish scene until 2016 when he joined Team Liquid and moved to North America. Things didn’t go to plan with Team Liquid and the 22 year old was benched in March of 2017 after requesting to be benched. During his time on the bench he discovered a new passion for streaming and quickly became one of the most popular CS:GO players on Twitch. In January of 2018 he returned to his old home at Team Dignitas but not as a player. Instead, the Dane chose to concentrate on his growing streaming presence and he hasn’t looked back since. Unfortunately the likeable player and entertainer announced on May 4th that he would be taking some time away from playing and streaming following the tragic news about the death of his father. Pimp stated that his father had passed away peacefully in his sleep on May 3rd, leaving a “proud son”, a wife, and a daughter who had recently given birth to her first child. Yesterday I lost my beloved dad, he died in peace sleeping till his end. He leaves a wife everyone loves, he leaves a daughter who just gave birth to her very first child, and he leaves a proud son. I don’t know when I will return to play & Stream, but I will. Take care, R.I.P. pic.twitter.com/3ySyA5SvTn — Jacob Winneche (@Pimp_CSGO) May 4, 2018 The heartbreaking news has understandably hit Pimp and his family hard, especially considering the news about the recent addition to the family. Regardless, it is never a good time for this sort of thing to happen and we would like to send our condolences to Pimp and his family at this difficult time. Pimp has promised his loyal fanbase that he will definitely return to streaming but he understandably needs time to process things and be with his family.

CSGO star Oskar reveals why he’s not giving up on his career Counter-Strike: Global Offensive star Tomáš “oskar” Šťastný was signed to Sprout earlier today, and revealed that he almost did not return to professional play after leaving the HellRaisers lineup. Oskar has been a legendary part of the Hellraisers and other CS:GO lineups for most of the game’s storied history. All of that almost came to an end after he departed the Hellraisers roster on the back of their disappointing finish at the StarLadder Berlin Major. We could hardly wait and you all have been waiting for it too: It is an exceeding pleasure for us to welcome the Czech #csgo prodigy @CSGOoskar in the Sprout family and add another extremely valuable player to our roster.Ahoj Tomáš, let’s show them what you got!#GrowSprout 🌱 pic.twitter.com/4GceyJyJY3 — Sprout (@sproutGG) January 3, 2020 “I’m not going to lie, I immediately wanted to return and play, but I didn’t play as much CS as I would have imagined, I’d be surprised if I played more than 30 hours after the Major,” Oskar told HLTV in an interview. “It was a tough period, I even had a plan that took a surprising turn, and that took away a lot of my motivation to come back. I was considering whether it was still worth it to keep playing, but I decided I wouldn’t give up that easily. I still like to play and I want to give it my all.” That ended up not being the case as Sprout picked up the 28-year-old AWPer to round out their roster and continue his impressive playing career. Had that not been the case, the Czech player said that he may have built and all Czech Republic team, but that plan will have to wait now that he’s signed on with Sprout. Read More: Summit1g’s infamous Molotov fail voted worst CSGO play of the decade “I’m really happy about the opportunity to play with the guys,” he said. “There’s an experienced coach here, the talented faveN, and two legends from mousesports. I think it’s going to be a good experience for everyone and I’m looking forward to getting it on the road.” Sprout’s new roster consists of Timo “Spiidi” Richter, Josef “faveN” Baumann, Denis Howell, and Niclas “enkay J” Krumhorn as coach. They’ve yet to announce their fifth player, despite being ranked in the top 30 worldwide as a squad. Despite the newness of the roster, oskar is excited to get to work. “Actually, I’d say communication has been on a surprisingly good level, people give quick info and react in time, all of that has been there from the start and that’s important,” the AWPer said. “It’ll take some time to sync up and perfect communication, but, all in all, I was positively surprised.” Read More: CSGO hits new average player record, breaking two-year old peak Career, Oskar has a 1.18 K/D Ratio, 79.4 damage per round on average across 977 maps. According to HLTV’s stats engine, he has a 1.26 impact rating, which the site considers a “good” rating. Sprout’s next challenge, after they find their fifth, will come as they attempt to build off their momentum from winning the ESL Meisterschaft Winter ahead of the upcoming CS:GO Major season. They will be up against stiff competition to qualify out of the European region, as they did not qualify for the last Major cycle.

CSGO star NAF wants major AWP nerf ahead of 2022 season ValveTeam Liquid player Keith ‘NAF’ Markovic thinks the AWP needs a major nerf in CSGO that could balance it in time for the 2022 season. The AWP is the most “go big or go home” weapon a CSGO team can invest in. It deals massive damage but has a glacial firing rate, reload speed, and even slows down the player wielding it. It’s also one of the most expensive weapons to buy at $4750. However, veteran player NAF doesn’t think that’s quite high enough, and wouldn’t mind seeing the price tag bumped up. NAF starts at 1:03 for mobile viewers. In an interview with Pley about what he would change in CSGO, NAF explained why he wouldn’t mind seeing the AWP made more expensive, and therefore even more pivotal for teams. “As you can see a lot of players at the top, statistically that are the best, a lot of them are AWPers,” he said. “So, in my opinion, I think they should raise the price of the AWP. I was thinking something around 6K or something like that.” This might not be the end-all, be-all solution to the AWP meta we see at the highest levels of CSGO but NAF thinks it could help shake things up. “At the end of the day it just seems like the AWPers, if they’re set up correctly and everything, it’s just all them on top,” the Canadian explained. “The only rifler you’d see up there is probably niko, and the rest are just AWPers.” Not everyone agrees a change in price is needed, however. The top comment on Reddit chalked up NAF’s idea to Team Liquid struggling in the AWP department for the last few years. “What years of playing without a competent AWPer does to an mf,” it read, with plenty of users in agreement. Liquid, however, could be on track to change all that, after signing AWPer Joshua ‘oSee’ Ohm to try and jumpstart the org’s CSGO rebuilding process. If the team can change it’s fortunes with the gun, who knows? NAF could change his opinion on it too.

CS:GO star kennyS carries his teammates with vintage AWP ace StarLadderCS:GO star is currently visiting Shanghai, China for the massively popular “ChinaJoy” Digital Entertainment Expo and conference, which will feature multiple upcoming releases from the likes of Sony. However, the legendary AWPer continued to brush up on his CS:GO skills while visiting the city and even streamed a couple matches on the Chinese servers for fans to enjoy. KennyS was streaming on one of his friend’s setups for a couple matches, when he managed to rapidly produce five incredible AWP kills to clutch up the round for his team on Mirage. After his teammates dropped around him, the AWPer held off the A bombsite completely by himself pulling off insane flick shots and no-scopes, even by his standards, on the rushing players to quickly seal the round. His in-game teammates also seemed to be highly impressed with Kenny’s mechanical skill, as they all began shouting for him when he finished his ace with a no-scope shot, “Holy shit kennyS, what the fuck.” KennyS and G2 Esports will be attending the StarLadder Berlin Major alongside some of the other top teams as “Returning Challengers” to compete in the challenger stage. He will be looking to perform well at the million dollar tournament and bring home yet another major win after his win at DreamHack Cluj-Napoca in 2015. The 2019 Berlin Major is set to kick off with the Challenger Stage on August 23 and will span for over two weeks before the Grand Final in the Mercedes-Benz Arena on September 8.

CSGO star Fer speaks out following inexplicable Twitch ban via MiBR Twitter[jwplayer 3EyfiByz]Counter-Strike: Global Offensive star Fernando ‘fer’ Alvarenga responded to his Twitch channel ban and is looking for answers as to why the action against his account was taken. Fer is one of the most well-known Brazilian CS talents of all time. Lately, he’s been getting a lot of traction in his Twitch streams, which consist of high-level CSGO matches that garner thousands of enthusiastic viewers. However, his broadcasts have come under scrutiny by onlookers and his own organization, MiBR, in the past for offensive or racist comments made while he was live on the air. ❌ Twitch Partner “”fer”” (@fer) has been banned! ❌https://t.co/Xk9QNpArZV#twitch #ban #firstban #partner #twitchpartner 👮 — StreamerBans (@StreamerBans) June 30, 2020 Although he’s faced action from his club for these incidents, the cause of his June 30 ban from the streaming platform has him confused. “I woke up now and apparently I was banned from Twitch,” fer said in a translated tweet. “I received no message, no email explaining or stating the reason.” The 28-year-old entry fragger later indicated that the ban would span seven days, a typical length for streamers without numerous strikes against their channels. Dexerto contacted fer for comment but did not receive a response. In his initial reaction, he said that his ban came as a surprise and didn’t have information on how long it would be until much later. It’s unclear why he could have received the ban, but public perception points to his alleged use of an offensive term during a June 29 stream. “I think it’s because he said ‘m*ngoloid’ on stream,” one user wrote, speculating on the likely cause of fer’s Twitch ban. “It’s similar to ‘r****ed’ but toned down a lot, and apparently Twitch has been banning for that. It doesn’t have anything to do with the racist comments.” There are people who are split on the term’s purpose or potential xenophobic connotations, but something on the border of racism in his predicament could have landed the final blow from the ban-hammer. An incident earlier in June led to MiBR imposing a fine on him for comments the org found could be “interpreted as having racial tones.” Twitch did not take action on fer’s channel. At the time, fer apologized for any sort of offense or meaning that could have been taken from his comments. “I apologize if I somehow gave an impression of racism in my stream,” he said of the comments that led to his fine. “Everyone who knows me knows that I have no prejudice and that I am open to any kind of opinions and debates.” Now that his channel has been banned, people are waiting on an official reason from either Twitch or fer once he gets word from the streaming company.

CSGO star dupreeh becomes first pro to reach $2m earnings milestone Stephanie Lindgren/ESL Gaming via ESPATPeter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen has become the first CS:GO player to pass $2 million in career earnings after Vitality won ESL Pro League Season 16. The Danish player solidified his position at the top of CS:GO’s highest earners on October 2 as he helped Vitality to beat Team Liquid in the grand final of ESL Pro League Season 16 — a marathon of a best-of-five series that went the full distance. dupreeh’s share of Vitality’s $200,000 prize was enough to make him the first CS:GO player to pass $2 million in career earnings. He’s now at $2,014,331, according to esportsearnings. By the looks of it, it could be a while before another player passes this mark. Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth is the closest at $1,977,550 but his Astralis team have been in disappointing form of late and could miss the IEM Rio Major after Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke fractured his ankle — an injury that will keep him out of the upcoming RMR qualifying event. Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz is third on the list of all-time earners at $1,921,931. But ‘Mr Consistent’ has been inactive on NIP’s bench since December 2021 due to mental health issues. dupreeh has been competing at the highest level since the launch of CS:GO, making every HLTV.org Top 20 player of the year ranking between 2013 and 2020. In August, he was named the tenth-best player of the decade by Dexerto. He is one of just three players who have attended all CS:GO Majors, along with Xyp9x and Richard ‘shox’ Papillon. He will be looking to qualify for his 18th Major later this week as Vitality attend the European RMR in Malta. Top five CS:GO earners: dupreeh – $2,014,331.07 – Xyp9x – $1,975,880.23 – dev1ce – $1,921,931.54 – gla1ve – $1,828,042.41 – s1mple – $1,663,721.98 –

CS:GO star DickStacy gives hilarious explicit interview at Katowice major qualifier ESL/HELENA KRISTIANSSONAustralian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad Grayhound Gaming qualified for the IEM Katowice Major New Challengers stage with a 2-1 win over Vici Gaming in the Asian Minor event. Fans of the team will now be able to purchase the team’s stickers once they become available and considering their popularity, they’ll be one of the most popular to purchase. One of the Grayhound’s squads most popular players, Ollie ‘Dickstacy’ Tierney, will make his sticker debut and as he usually does, it should be in comedic fashion. The Australian could not contain his joy during his post-match interview, as he said: “I don’t know man, we just had to dig deep. It feels fucking amazing though boys, we got the diggers out. The juice is just flowing through me right now. I’m just too happy, I’m over the moon. “Well played to ViCi. The first map I was like ‘ooh boys, come on, what was that, are we really going to choke these Dick Stickers for the Fams?’ I don’t know man, I’m too hard right now.” However, his comedic interview wasn’t finished just there. Asked about now being able to have his own sticker, DickStacy added: “It makes me feel like I was born to do this, like it feels natural to me. If you’re not going thick and pumped and deep and long boys, what are you doing? Feels good man. Feels like a dream come true coming to a Major.” Grayhound will start their Major ambitions will be at the main qualifier – the New Legends Stage -, starting on February 13. The qualifier runs until February 17 and you can keep up with all the action from the Minor qualifiers and IEM Katowice CS:GO major on our event hub.

CS:GO star DickStacy has hilarious NSFW sticker design for the Major rejected by Valve ESL/Damian GątkiewiczAustralian CS:GO star Ollie ‘DickStacy’ Tierney has had his hilariously explicit personal sticker design for the IEM Katowice Major rejected by Valve – prompting him to need his mom to come up with a more PG idea. The Grayhound Gaming fan favorite recently qualified for the IEM Katowice Major with his squad after overcoming Vici Gaming in the Asian Minor event. As one of the more popular pros, DickStacy stickers had been set to be one of the more in-demand designs on offer, with fans expecting him to implement some not safe for work features into his personal design. However, Valve has put their foot down and let him know that he won’t be able to try any funny business with his sticker. After submitting what he had planned for his sticker, the Australian pro received a response from the game’s creators. He tweeted a screenshot of their answer, with the caption: “You hate to see it my friends. I did send in the worst first. Was worth a shot. Going for a more clean artistic approach.” A few hours later, the Grayhound Gaming star then shared that initial design with fans on Twitter, showing how he’d taken the D from DickStacy and turned it into a penis – just as some fans thought he would. This was the Signature I sent on the first attempt. Sleek and inspirational design from a good man @ThisIsKrakenTTV pic.twitter.com/2XLuVMYVTB — Ollie Tierney (@DickStacyy) January 31, 2019 However, he had to wrangle in his mom for an alternative design, after Valve had said no, that he also showed to fans via social media. Unlike his first attempt, there has been no news from Tierney on whether or not he has been allowed to use the new, less explicit design. My Mum wanted to help with making a more PG version of the signature. Thanks Mum. pic.twitter.com/LOoMlPsCzC — Ollie Tierney (@DickStacyy) January 31, 2019 Grayhound and DickStacy will begin the first leg of their Major run at the New Legends Stage starting on February 13. The team’s stickers are sure to be released sometime before then. The New Legends Stage runs until February 17 and you can keep up with all the action from the upcoming CS:GO major on our event hub.

CSGO star dev1ce breaks monitor during tournament out of frustration Twitch/ESLCSGO legend Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz took out his frustration on an innocent monitor during an ESL Pro League match against Entropiq. Closing out a match in Counter-Strike can be a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for the team in front. No one likes having a lead vanish before their eyes, but that’s what was happening on September 2 when Ninjas in Pajamas took on Entropiq. Despite being down 13-10 the Czech team stayed in the fight, being a bit of a thorn in the side of NiP. After dev1ce managed to score four consecutive frags with some incredible plays, it looked like his team was going to take a commanding round lead. That was until Vladislav ‘Krad’ Kravchenko took him out resulting in Entropiq defusing the bomb, much to the chagrin of the Danish superstar who did so much to help his team. dev1ce smashes a device Even after getting pat on his back for his efforts, Reedtz wasn’t having any of it and proceeded to pound his monitor with his fist. Now, to be fair, it wasn’t the most aggressive hit you will ever see, but may have been enough to pause the game as his monitor appeared to be malfunctioning and the pro even started rubbing his hand after impact. “We do have a technical timeout so you guys can speculate as to why that might be the case,” the caster explained. Luckily, the match continued shortly thereafter with NiP clutching out the win, but clearly the CSGO star wasn’t too happy with how the round ended up going, especially given his efforts to get the ace. The condition of the monitor remains unknown. Maybe if we get lucky, dev1ce will sign it and auction it off.

CS:GO star ‘coldzera’ refusing to stream after stream-snipers try to get him banned with dick pics Brazilian CounterStrike: Global Offensive player Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David has found himself in a very odd predicament regarding his live-streaming. The MIBR pro has announced that he will not be streaming for the foreseeable future due to stream-snipers intentionally trying to get him banned on Twitch. Not only is the fact that they’re trying to get him banned alarming, it’s the way these stream-snipers are going about it that’s even more jaw-dropping. Apparently, while coldzera is live-streaming CS:GO matches, they are putting images of nude men and women as their profile picture on Steam and joining his game lobbies. Read More: CS:GO legend GeT_RiGhT shares ominous story about angry fan that called his mother every night – As soon as the images appear on the live-stream, even for a brief moment, these snipers are then reporting coldzera for showing nudity on his channel, a bannable offense according to Twitch’s terms of service. The image he quotes is a message he has written in his own stream’s chatbox, in which he talks about how the community has no respect for anyone and that, if he streams he will be doing so without a camera, chat, and maybe even a microphone. PAREI DE STREMAR DURANTE 1 ANO POR CAUSA DISSO E VOCES AINDA NAO APRENDERAM ENTAO TEM QUE SER ASSIM TODA VEZ! pic.twitter.com/5HTHVAS5um — coldzera (@coldzera) January 24, 2019 Some have commented that he can avoid this issue by disabling certain elements of his HUD in the settings menu, but others have said that the images will still show anytime the in-game scoreboard pops up. Either way, while there might be ways to circumvent this sort of trouble, it’s not fair for coldzera to always feel pressured by the risk of nudity popping up on his stream at any given time. It’s rather unfortunate that arguable the best CS:GO pro player in the world may no longer stream his gameplay because of some troll stream-snipers. Source – Reddit

Controversial CSGO spectator glitch that got coaches banned is back ValveThe CSGO spectator bug that led to the bans of 37 coaches in September 2020 has resurfaced just months later. It comes after Valve reportedly patched out the issue after the ESIC investigation wrapped up. 37 CS:GO coaches were banned by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) in September 2020 for abusing a spectator bug in-game that gave them more info than was allowed. Valve promised players that the bug had been patched out. However, with many of the coaches still serving out their suspensions, the bug has cropped up again. CSGO coach Sergey ‘lmbt’ Bezhanov — who wasn’t banned in the September wave — was surprised to see the glitch reappear in the game. How the fuck it’s still there? Wasn’t in a coach sport for a while but now I see this ?!!!! @CSGO I though it was fixed… pic.twitter.com/GbkpiUqDhj — Sergey LMBT Bezhanov (@LMBT_CSGO) May 15, 2021 The clip above is from the coach’s perspective fixed at the top of mid on Mirage. This was an identical angle that was known to be used by some coaches to get information on enemy rotations and the like. “How the f**k it’s still there?” lmbt asked. “Wasn’t in a coach spot for a while but now I see this?! CSGO I thought it was fixed.” Many shared lmbt’s confusion, and are speaking out to make Valve aware of the issue, especially since RMR events have resumed in lead up to the Stockholm Major. Unfortunately, despite the September fix, it was believed that more spectator bugs existed in CSGO. Veteran CSGO referee Michael Slowinski — who also assisted in ESIC’s investigation — explained that more exploits of the same nature could still be in the tactical shooter. “Unfortunately I think there might be more,” Slowinski told the HLTV Confirmed panel about the bug. “I think there might be two more different instances that we are looking into right now.” Despite the promise of a fix, it seems like the CSGO community are still waiting for a meaningful fix to stop this infamous coaching exploit. While CSGO devs might still have a few loose ends to tie up as far as the spectator exploit is concerned, coaching staff and pros alike who might be tempted have been warned plenty about the severity of using the exploit, and have already seen the consequences that come with using it.

CS:GO Sources Say: Who TSM is Pursuing? Also latest news on ScreaM, Ex6tenz and huNter The IEM Katowice 2019 CS:GO Major is now in full swing, but of course moves are still going on behind closed doors. This week we’re focusing on TSM, Ex6tenz, ScreaM and huNter. “Sources Say” is a regular column that focuses discussions and behind-the-scenes developments I can confirm or plainly just feel confident are happening, even if they don’t lead to any official moves. “X team are targeting Y player,” or “A player has been practicing with B team,” — that type of stuff. The Challengers Stage of the IEM Katowice Major has by and large exposed some of the veteran lineups in the field. It is depressing to see G2 Esports face off against Fnatic in a 1-2 elimination match, when so much talent and experience exists between the two. Read More: How to watch the IEM Katowice 2019 CS:GO Major – Multi-stream, schedule, results and more – Ninjas in Pyjamas are in the same boat and their form leaves much to be desired thus far. It seems almost unreasonable to think these teams are capable of such a low level of play. That is how professional competition works though, it will leave you behind. The game doesn’t care about what you’ve accomplished, the only thing that matters is the present. Regardless of how these teams finish, I believe the three organizations are overvaluing their older players. The two could use an injection of youth and/or a change in leadership, in my opinion. I don’t understand why consistent under performance has become so acceptable as of late. Do you want to win Majors or just sell mouse pads? With that out of the way, plenty of talk is occurring away from the Major. TSM reaches out to tarik and smooya TSM has reached out to a number of benched individuals, including tarik and Smooya. The latest rumor has been that tarik has an offer from TSM that includes building a team around himself. It is a bit unclear if he will take them up on it, but making him a central piece of the organization will be tough to turn down. As with all roster moves in the works right now, most decisions won’t be made until after the Major finishes. Ex6tenz and ScreaM in talks with Draken and Hampus Ex6tenz and ScreaM have been in talks with players from Red Reserve, including Draken and Hampus. Last I was told they hadn’t even practiced yet or tried anything out, so I would assume it was purely discussion. Maybe an option if nothing better presents itself for all parties. One would have to imagine Hampus will have an offer from a Swedish team based on how Fnatic and NiP have played thus far. huNter facing issues with Valiance huNter seems to have a few offers but he is in a tough spot with the Valiance organization. Prior to the Katowice Minor he signed a new contract, meaning they were able to place a hefty buyout figure on him. I’m told Mousesports and FaZe Clan have reached out to Valiance to work out some sort of deal. FaZe being interested shows they may not plan to keep AdreN long term. huNter joining their lineup would be particularly interesting considering he is the cousin of NiKo.

CSGO Source 2 engine update could be coming very soon ValveCounter-Strike: Global Offensive could be ported to the Source 2 engine in as little as two months, according to leaks from various members of the game’s community. CS:GO’s old Source engine has kept the game incredibly simple, but as time wears on, the FPS is struggling to keep up with more recently-released competitors. Games like Valorant have put Valve on notice, and things need to be spruiked up. An engine update to Source 2 has been what players have called on Valve to introduce for years, and now, they might be getting their wishes. In a recent video, Valve News Network owner Tyler McVicker let loose Source 2 was coming in as little as two months — give or take a few weeks for ‘Valve Time.’ This was backed up by ‘Nors3’, who said “reliable sources” told him it’s coming. Read more: ESL Rio CS:GO major delayed – “About Source 2 being released in CS:GO in 2 months: it seems trustworthy because I heard from reliable sources,” he said, “but with Valve you can never be 100% confident with unofficial dates.” https://twitter.com/Nors3/status/1242173798201294851 While the speculation might not come as a surprise to players — after all, rumors have been circulating for months, and even years — with more people coming forward with a release window in mind, it might actually become reality. Two months from now puts us directly after the originally planned dates for the Rio Major in May, so the Source 2 update wouldn’t have disrupted any major tournaments if the window is to be believed. Read more: MIBR set to join ESL Pro League Season 11 – However, while Source 2 is reportedly coming, players shouldn’t expect the release to be all smooth sailing. The update will introduce a lot of bugs that will need to be patched out. A year-long beta period is being touted for the new engine. There are already aspects of Source 2 in CS:GO. While there’s no gameplay altering elements of the updated engine in the almost-decade-old shooter, the Panorama UI update in 2018 was the start of the game’s port over. Since then, various leaks have confirmed more elements on their way. A Dota 2 update in February 2020 included strings of code for CS:GO Source 2, including updates to rendering, shadows, and skyboxes. While none of these changes have been shipped in the FPS yet, it’s a look forward to what players should expect from the update. The game won’t look that different, but it’ll feel smoother to play with new physics and rendering. https://twitter.com/Nors3/status/1224437858515079168 Of course, without any official word from Valve — which we won’t get until just before the engine is shipped — it’ll be impossible to put to rest any doubts about Source 2 arriving into CS:GO soon. However, given the current state CS:GO finds itself in, a new engine could be what brings new players for years to come, instead of flocking to other games.

CSGO Source 2 could release “by end of next year” ValveFollowing recent reports that Valve’s highly anticipated Source 2 engine had been canceled, Tyler McVickers of Valve News Network has said that it is “very possible” it launches by the end of 2021. VNN previously stated that due to the “massive library” of community content for CS:GO that would need to be ported over, the development on the engine was halted. Although the base maps weapons will be easily ported to the new engine, more work was still required to work out a system of porting over community-made maps and skins. According to McVickers, “the core porting job” of CS:GO from the original Source engine to Source 2 is “pretty much done, but it’s the roll-out that matters.” He suggests that there may have to be public beta tests, lasting as much as “a year or two,” to smooth out inevitable bugs, as well as the challenge of retaining the community-made content. What will Source 2 CS:GO be? VNN was very keen to temper expectations about what Source 2 will actually entail for CS:GO. As far as the average CS:GO player is concerned, the change from Source 1 to Source 2 will not bring sweeping changes that are immediately noticeable. Rather, he argues that it will be “95%” the same, both visually and in terms of gameplay. But, where the big changes will be are for map makers, and others who use the community tools, as these will receive the biggest upgrade. “Source 2 still retains that backwards compatibility to Source 1, meaning even if a lot of the core mechanics change, ever so slightly, and upset the competitive side, the casual side — expecting ‘CSGO remade’ — will be disappointed as well. “The only major change you’re going to see is the toolset, and unless you make maps for CS:GO, that’s not going to matter,” he concludes. “It’s very possible that this will happen by the end of next year,” McVickers states, “so unless you can come up with a really good reason as to why this needs to be released, maybe just wait for another Counter-Strike game, a couple of years from now.” Dota 2 was the first game to be ported over to the Source 2 engine, and VNN suggests that Valve may next release a Source 2 version of Left 4 Dead, as somewhat of a test for CS:GO, which itself is “built on top of” L4D.

CSGO players slam Valve after Trust Factor fix doesn’t stop rampant cheaters via Virre CSGOCSGO players are slamming Valve for the state of the game, especially after the developer issued a fix to the game’s Trust Factor matchmaking system. Matchmaking, even in Trusted games, has been rough in CSGO. Queuing in competitive either mismatches people with griefers, toxic players, and that’s not to mention the problem with rampant spinbotters and hackers. The CSGO player base has been at arms with Valve recently over their lacklustre approach to cheaters, turning a blind eye for the most part. Valve is looking though, having implemented an undisclosed fix for Trust Factor on April 27. However it hasn’t inspired much confidence in players, with some reporting the same problems persisting with getting constantly matched with cheaters. If you’ve had bad matches recently, it may have been because Trust wasn’t working right. We fixed it yesterday and confirmed that it is now working as intended. Thanks to everyone who provided useful feedback. — CS2 (@CounterStrike) April 29, 2021 “If you’ve had bad matches recently, it may have been because Trust wasn’t working right,” Valve said on the CSGO Twitter account. “We fixed it yesterday and confirmed that it is now working as intended. Thanks to everyone who provided useful feedback.” While that should have been a great news, there’s been a mixed reception among people that have seen the worst of CSGO’s matchmaking. “Trust factor working or not doesn’t change the massive amount of spinbotters/cheaters that are still not banned and ruining matches,” user ‘necromantzer’ said on Reddit. “Played a cheater 15 [minutes] ago in matchmaking I don’t think it’s fixed,” YouTuber ‘CykaHotFire’ said in response to Valve’s update. “The real question is for how long was it off A day? A week? A month?,” user AR771 said. “From my personal experience.. about 6-8 weeks,” another person said in response. Valve hasn’t been very popular among its CSGO players lately. Recently they got rid of a loophole that let people stream with OBS while Trusted mode was on. Driven by discontent with the service and its negative side-effects, players started petitioning for Valve to get rid of Trusted Mode altogether. For reaching the developer’s goals, Trusted Mode has apparently been a big success. But it’s clear CSGO players are hoping for more meaningful changes to the system.

CSGO skins worth millions allegedly stolen with help from Steam Support staff Twitter: zipeLOver the past two years, millions of dollars worth of CSGO items were stolen and sold off, both by, and in conspiracy with, Steam Support staff, it has been alleged in a series of videos. Skins and other items in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive range from a value of $0.03 to millions in real-life currency. As such, it is a space rife with scammers and thieves. However, a very concerning set of allegations have been released, alerting CS:GO players with high-value inventories that Steam Support itself has been complicit in the theft of expensive items. It is important to note at the outset that Valve employees are not implicated, but rather support staff working for companies to which Valve has outsourced support. At least over $1 million in items has been stolen, but the value could be much higher. Steam Support allegedly uses account data to steal items First brought to light by Russian YouTuber Mzkshow, it is alleged that an initial hacker, given the fake name ‘Alexander’, coordinated with at least one member of Steam Support to gain access to, typically inactive, Steam accounts with at least $100,000 in their inventory. It is alleged: Using information about the account from an accomplice at Steam Support, ‘Alexander’ would pose as the account owner to Steam, claiming that he had lost the login details and would provide the necessary security information. Once access had been granted, he would move all the high-value skins to another account and proceed to sell them. The items would be sold on third-party websites or to cash traders (professional CS:GO traders and middlemen), who were unaware that the items were stolen. These traders included popular CS:GO content creators Anomaly and zipeL. Once the heist was complete, Alexander would delete the original hacked account and the account to which he transferred the items before moving on to the next victim. Note: video is in Russian but has been given a full English translation using YouTube closed captions. It didn’t take long though until other Steam Support staff apparently caught on to the scam – and exploited it themselves. Alexander said that in some cases, before he was able to gain access to a victim’s account, it was already recovered by someone else, indicating another person pulling the same scam. What CSGO skins were stolen? Some of the stolen skins include a famous M4A4 Howl with iBUYPOWER and Titan Holo stickers from Katowice 2014. The skin belonged to a high-tier investor from China, and after it was stolen, it was sold for $35,000. It is currently in the inventory of NAVI player Valerij ‘b1t’ Vakhovsjkyj, who is borrowing it from the new owner – who bought it full price, unaware it was stolen. Countless Dragon Lore AWPs, Case Hardened AK-47s, gloves, knives and stickers were also stolen. Some of these items are worth over $100,000 individually. Other famous CS:GO skins worth tens or even hundreds of thousands were also stolen or attempted to be stolen. In some cases, Steam would be alerted to an inventory hack and delete all the items temporarily before restoring them. Valve itself is said to have been made aware when an account whose owner had connections to Steam was hacked. It was quickly resolved, and Valve asked the outsourcing company to investigate suspicious activities. According to Mzkshow, this company fired every employee who worked in Steam technical support. One of the hacked accounts was that of HFB – a Saudi national famous in the skins community who has an estimated inventory value of over $3 million and owns some of the most well-known items in existence. In this case, Valve was able to recover the items and reversed the trades, admitting fault on their behalf. Steam sent a message to users who had bought the skins, many of which had spent thousands and now had nothing to show for it: “The items in question were removed from your account because they were received from an account that was compromised through a support help request, for which the CS:GO team takes responsibility. We have reversed the trades and removed them from any account which received them.” Other high-tier investors were not as fortunate as HFB, however. One in particular, named Qkss, had their account with over $1 million in rare and expensive items hacked and then community-banned. All of the items were lost and the account was deleted. This is consistent with Alexander’s method as accounts would typically be deleted after the hack was complete. How can the hack be prevented? Mzkshow argues that in order to fully prevent this type of attack from being possible, Valve would need to stop outsourcing support. However, this is would be a nearly impossible task, given it would require thousands of employees working in many regions and languages. There are a total of 1.5 billion registered accounts on Steam – a mammoth task for Valve to provide support in-house. If you are worried about your own Steam inventory, though, the alleged criminals would typically target only six-figure accounts, and those that were inactive. If an account was not logged into for a hundred days or more, it was much easier to pretend to be the owner who had just forgotten their password. CS:GO trader and Twitch streamer zipeL recommends that players log in to their accounts regularly but also avoid buying Steam accounts. It is common for high-tier skin investors to buy ‘OG’ Steam accounts, to get a desired username or to have a coveted ‘years of service’ badge with over 10 years. These accounts are then easy targets for scammers, as it’s unlikely that the new owner of the account will know all of the security details to regain access because they simply bought the account. It is also against the terms of service to buy or sell accounts, making the owners potentially reluctant to contact Steam support. What action Valve has taken or will take remains unknown, and is likely to remain so, to prevent other loopholes or exploits from being found. But outsourced support is certain to continue, meaning more checks and balances may be required for account recovery.

CSGO skins & map makers pay revealed after Anubis & Tuscan payments leaked ValveFollowing a surprise leak of CS:GO files, it has been divulged for the first time how much users with successful workshop entries have been paid from Valve, for both maps and skins. Valve has made CS:GO a very community-oriented game when adding new content. Many of the maps and skins that are added are creations from the Steam Workshop, where anyone with an account can make a submission. Those few who are successful in having their submission accepted will not only see their work reach the millions of players in-game but also be entitled to a financial reward from Valve. Until now, the exact amount that a successful skin or map submission would make was shrouded in mystery. Following a leak from CS:GO’s item schema API, though, the curtain has been raised. CS:GO map payments leaked On March 9, it was found that the CS:GO files included two lines of code that were not expected, revealing “one-time payments” made for two new maps, de_anubis and de_tuscan, at $150,000 each. In December, Dexerto spoke to the creators of the map Anubis, and touched on the subject of payment. They said the money was “not life-changing,” but was “a really nice bonus.” Given there were three creators of the map, it’s likely the payment was split three ways. In the case of Tuscan, this wasn’t in fact a totally new map but rather a visual overhaul of a classic map from CS 1.6. How much does Valve pay for a CS:GO skin? But what about skins creators? Following the leak about the map payments, a handful of map and skin creators spoke to Twitch streamer ohnePixel, and while they were coy about their own earnings, they did reveal the average a skin maker will earn for a successful entry. Almost every skin in CS:GO is added to a ‘case’, which players receive as drops, and then pay around $2 (currency dependent) to acquire a key to open the case. This means the amount that a skin maker will earn varies depending on the popularity of the case in which their weapon design is included. But, according to the workshop makers, the average a skin maker would earn is over $400,000. That’s according to Danger Zone map maker TR3x3r, whose calculations are up to August 6 2022 – meaning the amount will be higher now. “The average skin made, a year ago, which now will be higher, of course, $414,288.” Payment is made from Valve monthly and is a percentage of the keys sold for the case. This means that some cases will be outliers. The Clutch Case is opened millions of times every month, and thus was an “extreme positive outlier,” while the Hydra Case, which is less popular, is an “extreme negative outlier.” This is likely why there is a discrepancy between maps and skins, as skins are an ongoing revenue driver, while a map is a one-time payment. The skin makers also explained that there is no rule on the workshop that prevents them from talking openly about how much they make, but many prefer to keep quiet about it. In the last CS:GO case, a skin was removed and replaced after it was revealed that it included stolen artwork. With the amount of earning potential, users may be tempted to make their own skin submissions – but everything uploaded to the workshop must be the sole creation of the user.

M4A4 Howl CSGO skin reportedly sells for world-record $100,000 [jwplayer 3EyfiByz]It’s no secret that some CS:GO skins are literally worth their pixels in gold, but a recent sale of one skin for around $100,000 could take the cake as the most expensive transaction in the game’s history. A vast amount of skins in CS:GO can already fetch thousands of dollars apiece due to their rarity, or other factors, but none come close to insane price one Chinese collector apparently paid for the StatTrak M4A4 Howl with 4 iBUYPOWER Katowice 2014 stickers. To put things in perspective, the price for a Factory New (0.009136963) wear rating StatTrak version of the M4A4 Howl (without IBP stickers) is pegged at roughly $5,180 currently, which is chump change compared to this version. According to prominent CS:GO economist ohnePixel on Twitter, the Chinese collector in question forked over $100,000 cash for this ultra-rare cosmetic, and has now turned around and is asking $130,000 in resale. UPDATE: He now clarified that $130,000 is the price he would sell it for – he bought it for some less (I am assuming around $100k which still sets the record) — ohnePixel (@ohnePixel) July 4, 2020 Previous reports had set the sale price at $130,000 but the $100,000 that was apparently actually paid is still more than enough to set the record for the most expensive CS:GO skin ever. For instance, in our CS.Money list of the 20 most expensive CS:GO skins, the top item was the Souvenir AWP (Dragon Lore) at $19,632.80, which doesn’t even come close to the six-digit price tag for this $100,000 StatTrak M4A4 Howl. The reason it’s so expensive compared to other similar skins is because of the iBUYPOWER stickers from Katowice 2014, which are rare simply because, back when they came out, the player base was smaller, with fewer people to buy them. Now with the worldwide appeal of CS:GO, they’ve become some of the hottest collector items on the market. This isn’t to say that your M4A4 Howl skin (if you have one) will eventually be worth that much, because this whole situation seems to be a result of the rare stickers that were included, and the wild world of Chinese CS:GO skin trading, which could be a whole other story in of itself. If anything, what we can all take away from this $100,000 CS:GO skin purchase is: if you have a fairly valuable skin, and some fairly valuable stickers, it might be worth hanging on to them and seeing what you can get a little way down the road, instead of just cashing in right away.

Six people arrested in relation to CSGO match fixing L: UNSPLASH, R: ValveSix people have reportedly been arrested in Australia in connection to suspicious betting activity around CS:GO matches. According to Victoria police, six men between the ages of 19 to 22 have been arrested in relation to “conduct that corrupts or would corrupt a betting outcome of event or event contingency, or use of corrupt conduct information for betting purposes.” The offences can carry a potential sentence of up to 10 years imprisonment. The identities of the men arrested have not yet been revealed. The report states that the arrests come following an investigation that began in March 2019, after police received information from a betting agency relating to betting activity around a CS:GO tournament. It is alleged that players were arranging to throw matches and bet on the outcome, with at least five matches affected. The men have since been released pending further inquiries, with the investigation still ongoing. Assistant Commissioner Neil Paterson commented on the investigation, stating that the police will continue to take allegations of criminal activity in esports seriously. “Esports is really an emerging sporting industry and with that will come the demand for betting availability on the outcomes of tournaments and matches. “It’s important that police and other agencies within the law enforcement, gaming and betting industries continue to work together to target any suspicious activity. “These warrants also highlight that police will take any reports of suspicious or criminal activity within esports seriously, and we encourage anyone with information to come forward.” This wouldn’t be the first instance in esports of matches being thrown with the intention of capitalizing on bets, with the most infamous example being the iBUYPOWER scandal which saw one of North America’s top Counter-Strike teams permanently banned from competition in Valve-sponsored events in January 2015. This is, however, one of the first examples of law enforcement getting involved with esports match-fixing, although in South Korea several people were arrested in 2016 over match fixing in StarCraft II. Going forward, it seems the consequences of such activity – certainly for players in Australia – could be much higher than simply being banned from competing.

CS:GO: Shroud and OGC forced to forfeit their IEM Katowice Major dreams The fan favorite ‘Old Guys Club’ players were forced to give up the possibility of qualifying for the IEM Katowice CS:GO Major on December 13, much to the disappointment of the Counter-Strike community. The players, predominantly retired Cloud9 legends like Mike ‘shroud’ Grzesiek and Jordan ‘n0thing’ Gilbert, have been streaming their impressive run through the online qualification stages but the dream was cut short when they were forced to forfeit their lower bracket round one match against TeamOne in the Americas Minor Closed Qualifier. OGC won the first map against their Brazilian opponents and were up 15-13 (match point) on the second map but prior commitments for shroud meant that they would not be able to play in the next round with their full team. Unfortunately, the team had no substitute on their roster and they were not permitted to reschedule their lower bracket round two match; forfeiting and allowing TeamOne to proceed was the only option that remained. While the IEM Katowice qualification run began as a bit of fun for the popular ex-pros, the fact that they had to forfeit after coming so far was a massive disappointment to both the players and their thousands of fans. The situation likely became even harder to stomach for the veterans when they saw TeamOne blast through Spencer ‘Hiko’ Martin’s Rogue squad and earn a spot in the lower bracket semifinal of the closed qualifier. The Brazilians will face Swole Patrol on December 14 and the winner of that best-of-three match will qualify for the Americas Minor LAN. The Minor is the last step for teams hoping to play at the IEM Katowice Major. Read More: Top 20 Highest Earning CS:GO Pro Players – Shroud had previously committed to a sponsored event in Los Angeles and had been playing the qualifier matches at Tyler ‘Skadoodle’ Latham’s house while he was there. While the team’s IEM Katowice dreams ended prematurely, fans will be hoping that the success and popularity of their qualification streams will convince them to try again for future competitions.

CSGO: Shox no longer the favorite to join Team Vitality StarLadderTeam Vitality are currently shaking up their Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad, and have reportedly changed their focus from French star Richard ‘shox’ Papillon. Vitality announced that Nathan ‘NBK’ Schmitt was removed from the squad on September 7, after a disappointing quarter-finals exit from the StarLadder Berlin Major. They have since been looking for a replacement, with reports suggesting that G2 Esports star shox is the team’s number one choice after he was reportedly removed from the active G2 lineup. However, talks have allegedly broken down between the two teams and Vitality are looking at an alternative option. According to 1pv.fr, Team Vitality were after shox due to his skill and experience, but they feel that G2’s asking price for the veteran is too high. Therefore, the French team have decided to look towards free agent Fabien ‘kioShiMa’ Fiey. KioShiMa is no slouch himself, having represented top teams like LDLC, Envy, and FaZe Clan over his lengthy career and even winning two Majors in the early years of CSGO. He would be available almost immediately and not cost a large transfer fee, giving the team ample reasons to sign him. Many fans have been eagerly awaiting Kio’s return to the competitive scene after his short spell with an international Cloud9 squad came to an end in March 2019. With the French scene looking to shake things up, he may finally have a chance to compete again. Vitality have not yet commented about their potential replacement for NKB, and after pulling out of BLAST Pro Series Moscow, the team has ample time to decide on their new member, as their next event starts almost three weeks away on October 1.

Shox, FalleN and more call for popular CSGO rifle to be nerfed ASAP L: Starladder / R: ESLMultiple top Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players have called for a popular rifle to be nerfed following months of dominance by the gun. The SG 553, also known as the Krieg, was rarely used in CSGO until October 2018, when the gun received multiple adjustments and a reduction in price. Just a few weeks after this change, professional players began to experiment with the gun, and it has become a staple in the Terrorist side. Things seems to have reached a breaking point, however, as multiple players have spoken out about the gun on Twitter, calling for Valve to nerf it. Richard ‘shox’ Papillon was the first to comment on the matter, asking the official CSGO twitter account “when will the Krieg nerf come? We had the AUG nerf, now it’s time for this… Can we get back to the CS identity please?” Other pros were quick to show their support, with Rustem ‘mou’ Telepov, Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke and Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo all giving signs of approval. Hey .@CSGO , when will come the Krieg nerf? We had AUG, now this… Can we back to CS identity please? :sneezing_face: — Richard Papillon (@shoxCSGO) October 15, 2019 The problem many players see with the SG 553 is that it is incredibly powerful in both close and long-range situations due to its scope, giving the Terrorists little reason to buy the iconic Counter-Strike AK-47. Additionally, the AUG, which is the Counter-Terrorist equivalent of the scoped rifle, was nerfed in June 2019, meaning that now one side has access to a vastly superior arsenal of weapons. If the Krieg is nerfed the game could see a return the classic AK-47 vs M4 battles, as well as other guns being tested as a potential replacement. Valve have yet to comment on the matter. However, the company has been shaking things up in CSGO in 2019 with Cache being remastered and many guns seeing changes throughout the year, so it is possible they may already have something in store.

CS:GO: Semphis reveals “unacceptable” rule imposed by TSM in 2016 In the wake of serious accusations made about NiP by ex-CS:GO pro Fifflaren, fellow retired pro player Kory ‘semphis‘ Friesen has revealed that TSM also tried to enforce a similar rule about girlfriends when he played for the organization. During an interview with Richard Lewis on July 23, Fifflaren claimed, among other even more serious accusations, that Ninjas in Pyjamas would require players make a written application to have a girlfriend. The organization was apparently concerned about the potential for relationships to negatively impact the players’ performance, and according to semphis, they weren’t the only ones. In a Reddit thread on Fifflaren’s revelations about NiP, semphis claimed that TSM were equally strict, even ruling that players could not have girlfriends visit the team house. Read More: Thorin’s Take: Too hard for ENCE – Semphis, despite not having a girlfriend at the time, says he informed the organization that such a rule was “unacceptable”, and that after a discussion the rule was eventually dropped. “I just told them it was unacceptable to have me live somewhere full time and dictate who visits,” semphis explains, “I would have left and I didn’t even have a girlfriend at the time, just unacceptable.” Semphis went on to clarify that the team did not even train or work together on competitive play in the team house, but rather at an office a few minutes away. Semphis played for TSM for almost 12 months, and although the team had limited success, they did manage a handful of top 4 and top 6 finishes. The Canadian left the organization in January 2017, joining Splyce, where he remained until mid 2018, rounding off his career. Presumably, TSM has never attempted to implement such a strict rule since, as semphis says they “dropped it” after discussion. On July 24, NiP responded to some of the claims made by Fifflaren and questions surrounding them from the community, explaining that they are learning from the mistakes of the past, albeit those that were made under a different management team. With the claims made by Fifflaren a potential watershed moment, some are expecting more current and former players to come forward with their experiences which have perhaps been suppressed previously.

CS:GO: ScreaM proves he’s still the headshot machine in ace clutch vs OpTic Gaming DreamHackCS:GO pro Adil ‘ScreaM’ Benrlitom reminded viewers why he’s known as the ‘headshot machine’ with an incredible ace clutch in a crucial round against OpTic Gaming. It’s been some time since ScreaM has appeared at a tier one event, with his last appearance for a top team having been as a stand-in for Fnatic at ESL One New York in September 2018. That doesn’t mean he’s no longer capable of some of the incredible highlight plays he made his name with, however. Most recently, ScreaM has been competing for Team GamerLegion, an international line-up led by veteran in-game leader Kévin ‘Ex6TenZ’ Droolans. The team recently scored a notable upset by taking down Furia, who have been on the rise with some massive results in recent months, in the Moche XL Esports tournament. The team are currently competing in the GG.Bet Chicago Qualifier, the winner of which will secure a spot at IEM Chicago in July. During their first match against OpTic Gaming, ScreaM demonstrated what he’s capable of with an ace ending in a 1v2 clutch to tie the game at 13-13. Though he finished all five kills with headshots, ScreaM didn’t rely on his infamous one-taps for most of them, instead downing his opponents with quick bursts from the AK-47. Unfortunately for GamerLegion, the play wasn’t quite enough to push them over the top on Mirage, with OpTic Gaming ultimately securing the win 16-13. GamerLegion still have a chance to reach the playoffs, however, although it will require beating Avangar and then taking revenge on OpTic Gaming to escape the group. For OpTic Gaming’s part, they’re looking to secure another spot at a premier event as the future of the team remains uncertain. With OpTic Gaming now being part of Immortals Gaming Club following their acquisition of parent company Infinite Esports and Entertainment, the OpTic CS:GO squad is looking for a new home so as not to conflict with the Immortals-owned MiBR. Having won DreamHack Summer, OpTic is due to appear at DreamHack Masters Malmo in October, and qualifying for IEM Chicago as well could make them an even more attractive option for prospective organizations.

CS:GO: S1mple terrorizes in 1v5 against ScreaM and other top talent Valve / StarladderCounter-Strike pros are gearing up for the 2019 season by keeping their wits sharp in high-level matchmaking environments, but Natus Vincere’s Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev seems to always stand above the rest even in a casual environment. S1mple found himself in a one-versus-five scenario in a FACEIT match on Inferno, a situation that changes the game plan where most players would try to deal as much damage as they could before ultimately conceding the round. The 21-year-old Ukranian, however, had other plans. After his last teammate had fallen, he was stranded in enemy territory near the Arch where he found his first kill. Knowing there was at least one at A, he pushed to CT spawn to find another isolated player who was in the middle of rotating. S1mple expended just one bullet to their face, narrowing it down to a one-versus-three. Ever vigilant, he backtracked to the Top of Mid where he got the drop on an AWPing opponent. After learning of another AWPer on A site, S1mple baited the shot. He got tagged down to 25 HP but still thought to fake the plant. The ruse worked, as it gave the opponent the confidence to take one more shot, leaving him wide-open for a counter play. It was now one-versus-one, Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom against s1mple. As s1mple planted the bomb, he heard ScreaM pushing up to the site. With only a quarter of life remaining, s1mple took a cheeky angle atop the double boxes on the site to find a defenseless ScreaM. A single bullet to ScreaM’s head sealed a bleak round. S1mple gave a modest fist-pump to his stream and another round for his team. The 21-year-old Ukranian is keeping his skills sharp as his Natus Vincere squad are gearing up for the new season starting with IEM Katowice in February 2019

CS:GO: s1mple reveals how Na’Vi can dethrone Astralis StarLadder/ESLNatus Vincere Counter-Strike: Global Offensive superstar Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev revealed his team’s plan to bring down Astralis following their impressive win at StarSeries i-league season 7 in Shanghai. Astralis have run roughshod over the competitive CS:GO scene for a year, picking up 12 trophies from LAN events – including back-to-back Major wins, back-to-back ESL Pro League successes and consecutive victories at ECS season finals. While some players, like Mousesports’ Finn ‘Karrigan’ Andersen, have called upon a higher power to help knock the dominant Danes down, teams are still doing their best to play catch-up and knock Astralis off their perch. What is Na’Vi’s plan? After admitting that they didn’t practice all that much ahead of their recent IEM Katowice run, s1mple shed some light on his team’s seemingly simple plan to bring down Astralis – by going about their business with an added level of seriousness. Since Katowice, the organization has made a switch, adding former Gambit coach Andrey ’B1ad3’ Gorodenskiy as an esports director, a move that s1mple is relishing working under. “Now, we’re trying to get a new system with B1ad3 and we’ll try to get new people into our team, a dietologist and a psychologist as well,” s1mple told HLTV in Shanghai. “ We just want to see what’s going to happen when we are at 100% preparation and work that we’re going to put in in the next month.” How will B1ad3 help Natus Vincere? B1ad3, a former in-game leader and teammate of s1mple’s, will be tasked with completing transfers, developing Na’Vi’s team and making sure their schedule is locked in with plenty of notice and preparation in the coming months – similar to how other organizations operate. While it’s an overhauling move to catch and mimic Astralis, similar to how the Danes added a sports psychologist in 2017 to fix their issues, improvements will have to be made in the server to take down the Danish squad. Moving to an increasingly professional set-up, similar to how Astralis employ physiotherapists, dieticians and make scheduling decisions of their own, will help in the long run. We are extremely glad to announce the appointment of Andrey @B1ad3__R Gorodenskiy to the position of NAVI esports director. Please, welcome! :raised_hands: :newspaper:: https://t.co/agvvIptwWw#NAVINATION pic.twitter.com/kMnogjlNoY — Natus Vincere (@natusvincere) March 30, 2019 In actual fact, Astralis may have gotten a slight boost with Valve removing their perma-ban map, Cache, from the Active Duty map pool – with teams still playing catch-up on other maps. Just which team steps up to the next level and finally challenges the Danes consistently in a final remains to be seen, but at least Na’Vi recognizes that going about things a bit more seriously is the first step they need to take.

CSGO: s1mple outsmarts enemy team with incredibly sneaky clutch L: StarLadder . R: ValveOleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev got one over on his Counter-Strike: Global Offensive opponents with a sneaky clutch in a Faceit Pro League match. Simple is widely regarded as one of the best CSGO players in the world. He currently represents Natus Vincere and has been playing at the highest level since 2014. The pro player occasionally gives fans peek into his practice when he streams his Faceit Pro League matches, and showed off some of his skills with an insane clutch during his latest stream. The Ukrainian was streaming on September 17, playing a FPL match against other professional players. He stood out from the rest as he managed to amazingly take down multiple opponents to secure his team a round. S1mple was on the Terrorist side of Train with his team struggling to get any rounds on the board. It was down to a 2v3 and he managed to secure a precise headshot just a second before his teammate died, leaving him in a tough 1v2. The Na`Vi star lurked around the A-bomb site looking for the last two Counter-Terrorists. He managed to sneak behind the first and executed him with an instant headshot, then swung around the back of the site looking to close out the round. Once again he was able to get the drop on his opponent and instantly eliminate them, securing a key round for his struggling team while showing off his game sense and tactical play. S1mple is likely to continue streaming his practice as he won’t be in competitive action until October 1, when his team takes on some of the best in the world at DreamHack Masters Malmo. However, with Danylo ‘Zeus’ Teslenko retiring and Na`Vi changing leadership, Oleksandr’s next competitive match could see the star player taking on some new roles and maybe even playing a completely different style of Counter-Strike.

CS:GO: s1mple leads Na’Vi to victory at StarSeries i-League Season 7 – Final placements Natus Vincere have won their first CS:GO tournament of 2019 at StarSeries i-League Season 7, with a dominant grand final win over Fnatic, and unsurprisingly Oleksandr ‘s1mple‘ Kostyliev stole the show. Despite a bad start, where they were upset by ViCi, Na’Vi slipped into gear and began to show their dominance over their next group play opponents, taking down BIG, NiP and NRG to book a quarter final spot. More: Renegades CS:GO star Gratisfaction gives ‘fans’ the finger for ghosting during StarSeries Shanghai playoffs – Their grand final opponents Fnatic also looked strong throughout, although admittedly looked shaky in their 2-0 win over NRG in the semi-finals, where they forced to overtime on both maps, winning 19-17 both times. But, with s1mple playing at the peak of his powers, he alone made Na’Vi many fans’ favorite to lift the trophy, as he come into the final with a +155 K/D differential at the tournament – just shy of his record of +161. He would go on to beat his own record, finishing the tournament with a +166 overall K/D differential, which means he now holds the top five event K/D’s of all time, further cementing his legacy. Likely his finest play of the tournament was a ridiculous ace clutch and 1v4 with the AWP, single-handedly controlling the A bomb site on Inferno. A highlight reel of moments could have centered around the Ukranian himself, but his teammates also showed up when it mattered, with Egor ‘flamie’ Vasilyev arguably the best player in the grand final, in terms of raw statistics.

CS:GO: s1mple humiliates opponent with game-winning knife kill at BLAST Madrid Counter-Strike: Global Offensive superstar Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev took his own collection of highlights to the next level, pulling off a ridiculous game-winning knife at BLAST Pro Series: Madrid. Scoring a knife kill at the top level of CS:GO is usually reserved for the pre-game warmup or a tournament showmatch, as it’s something that fans don’t get to see on a regular basis. Even though professional players do, quite often, tease viewers with the potential for a knife kill, they end up being blasted away – leaving onlookers disappointed. However, s1mple really disappoints and even laughed in the face of an M4A4 spray down to secure a game-winning knife kill. Usually when teams take on Natus Vincere, their first concern is making sure that they know where s1mple is and just how he’s going to try and take them down. But, it’s hard to be on the lookout for him when, well, he’s actively hiding and waiting to strike. With Na’Vi looking to close out their Dust 2 win over Vodafone Giants, the CS:GO superstar made himself pretty scarce and hid inside of a bloomed smoke grenade as his teammates took down the remaining player on the Portuguese squad. As the final player, Ricardo ‘fox’ Pacheco, tried to salvage something by bursting out to the mid-doors, s1mple patiently let him past before sneaking behind and trying the backstab. The Ukrainian could only get one swipe in before fox fired back and realized what was happening. Yet, he was powerless to resist s1mple’s second slash as Na’Vi closed the game out with a 16-14 win. Na’Vi still struggling at BLAST Despite the genius of s1mple, NaVi’s faith at BLAST Pro Series: Madrid ended up out of their own hands after dropping two matches – including a devastating 16-4 loss to ENCE Esports in their opening game and a tight 16-13 defeat to Astralis. Read More: Top 20 highest earning CS:GO pro players – However, they can at least take some solace in the fact that the best player in the world remains on their roster and is so easily capable of pulling out highlight plays whenever they need him too.

CS:GO: s1mple immediately regrets trusting teammate in clutch situation L: Dexerto / R: Valve/TwitchOleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev trusted his teammate’s word in a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive match and immediately paid the price. S1mple is widely regarded as the best CS:GO player in the world, competing with Natus Vincere and occasionally streaming his solo queue Faceit matches on Twitch. In one of these matches, the Ukrainian was left in a 1v1 with time quickly running out. He didn’t know the location of the last enemy, but his teammate was quick to help, pointing out where the final opponent was. S1mple believed him, only to be punished for it almost straight away. It all started with Na`Vi’s star player in a 1v4 on Mirage. He pushed the A-bomb site and quickly executed three opponents with his AK-47, before searching for the final Counter-Terrorist. He wasn’t able to find anyone, so he began to retreat to pick up the bomb. “Short, short, short! You see him!” shouted his teammate. S1mple, believing his newly-found ally, put his weapon away to sprint to the bomb, knowing if his opponent was on short, there was no way for him to be stopped. The Ukranian responded with “I believe you” as his character pounded his way to the bomb. Almost immediately after voicing his support to his comrade, S1mple turned the corner to A ramp, and was taken out by the final enemy who was waiting there, and definitely not on short. “I don’t know… sorry” was all that s1mple’s teammate could mutter out at that point, seemingly embarrassed by making the wrong call, meanwhile all the 21-year-old could do is sigh in annoyance. While the Ukrainian seemed frustrated at the situation, his chat couldn’t help but enjoy it. Viewers immediately began to spam “LOL”, “short you see him” and “JeBaited” emojis, poking fun at his teammate’s incorrect call.

CSGO superstar s1mple makes Forbes ’30 Under 30′ alongside Ibai, mimi, more PGL / ForbesCSGO superstar Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev made the 30 Under 30 list alongside Twitch star Ibai, G2’s Michaela ‘mimi’ Lintrup, and Team Heretics’ founders on Forbes Europe 2022 Sports & Games category. The Forbes shortlist highlights industries figures under 30 years of age who’ve impacted their respective field or have made a name for themselves through accomplishments and success in their career. The new class joins esports/streaming figures from previous 30 Under 30 lists like Pokimane, Jason ‘WildTurtle’ Tran, Ninja, and many more. Other legends from esports have featured on Forbes’ list such as Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz (2020) and Luke ‘Perkz’ Perkovic (2021), Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut (2021). Now s1mple, who’s recent past includes capturing his first CSGO Major trophy and separately delivering a powerful message of peace amid the conflict in his native country, has been recognized as an industry leader. Former CSGO and current Valorant pro Michaela ‘mimi’ Lintrup was also featured in the Sports & Games category for her achievements as a content creator and player for G2 Esports. Among players were also a few executives at the helm of growing brands who’ve recently made waves in League of Legends, CSGO, or other aspects of the business. Org founders for major esports teams like Team Vitality and Team Heretics also made the list, alongside KOI Esports owner and popular Twitch stream Ibai Llanos. Forbes’ Sports & Games category covers a wide net of talent that includes football phenoms like Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappé and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah to games industry shakers at Electronic Arts and Square Enix. From NBA players to the minds working inside of TikTok, take a look at the full list of the Forbes Europe 2022 Sports & Games members below. Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe Sports & Games 2022: Kylian Mbappé (23): Center Forward, Paris Saint-Germain – Bella Collins (29): Rower, Ocean Sheroes – Fabien Devide (29): Cofounder, Team Vitality – Georgina Felce (28): Cofounder, Talewind – Rudy Gobert (29): Center, Utah Jazz – Arthur Guisasola (27): Strategic Partner Lead, Sport, TikTok – Alex Jolliet (28): Manager, Principal Security Architect, IOC – Piers Kicks (23): Founding Partner, Delphi Ventures – Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev (23): Esports Athlete, Natusvincere – Charles LeClerc (24): F1 Driver, Ferrari – Michaela Lintrup (24): Esports Athlete, G2 Esports – Ibai Llanos Garatea (27): Content Creator – Angela Marinica (28): Finance Manager, Electronic Arts – Lee McNeil (26): Founder, Tebex – Pruthvikar Reddy Mosali (29): Cofounder, Motion Metrics – Aaron Naisar (28): Chief of Staff, leAD Sports & Health Tech Partners – Lawrence Okolie (29): CEO, Okolie Boxing – Luca Pferdmenges (20): Juggler – Carlota Planas (29): Cofounder, Unik Sport Management – Emma Raducanu (19): Tennis Player – Iga Swiatek (20): Tennis Player – Mohamed Salah (29): Winger, Liverpool FC – Robbie Singh (28): CEO, Omeda Studios – Dmytro Suiarko (25): Paralympic Athlete, Team Ukraine – Antonio Poderoso, Jorge González, Arnau Vidal: Team Heretics Cofounders – Gustaf Smith, Robin Åström (29, 28): Cofounders, Wehype – Kat (Katherine) Welsford (28): Digital Analyst, Square Enix – Vera Wienken (29): Brand Manager, Riot Games – Charlotte Worthington (25): BMX Athlete, Team Great Britain – Amanda Zahui Bazoukou (28): Center, Los Angeles Sparks –

CS:GO: s1mple dominates ENCE with insane AWP ace clutch StarLadder/ValveUkrainian star Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev is well-known for his jaw-dropping Counter-Strike: Global Offensive ability, but even he can surprise fans by taking his highlights to the next level. S1mple continues dominant run at StarSeries i-League S7 The Natus Vincere superstar, who was ranked as the #1 player in the world for 2018, has been dominating competitive CS:GO games since 2014 and continues to treat tournament matches as if they’re normal matchmaking games – running through plenty of opponents with ease. However, s1mple had to reach deep into his bag of tricks to clutch up for his squad during a half-buy round on Inferno, as his team saw themselves trailing Finnish upstarts ENCE Esports in their StarSeries Shanghai quarter-finals match-up. S1mple ruins ENCE’s CT hold Operating from the apartments position, s1mple quickly gunned down Aerial as his teammates began falling one-by-one during a stagger bomb site hit. He added a second by finishing off an already weakened Aleksib. Diving off the balcony of the apartments, the NaVi superstar nailed sergej with a quick flick after he moved out of pit. Left in a two-on-one clutch situation, s1mple quickly ran towards the downed bomb, picked it up and planted the explosives with the round clock ticking towards its conclusion. With the final two ENCE players closing him down, s1mple ditched the sniper scope and fired two extremely precise, close-range no-scope shots onto Allu and xSeven to clutch out the round and finish his Ace in style. NaVi advance to StarSeries Final Behind s1mple’s incredible individual play, NaVi went on to pick the map victory by a scoreline of 16-12 – leveling the series at one map apiece. The Eastern European squad then rolled that win into a series victory, claiming Overpass with a 16-11 scoreline. That series win propelled them into the StarSeries Shanghai semi-finals, where they dispatched of Renegades in three maps to move into the grand final – where they will face Fnatic for the tournament crown.

CSGO: s1mple destroys dev1ce and smooya in insane clutch L: RFRSH Entertainment / R: ValveCounter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev showed why he’s considered to be one of the best players in the world as he dominated a Faceit Pro League round with an insane clutch. S1mple is a veteran CS:GO player that currently plays for Natus Vincere, and consistently practices on the Faceit Pro League servers against other professional players. He showed off his insane skills as he managed to win a mind-blowing round against other top pros Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz and Owen “smooya” Butterfield. CS:GO streamer ShaneyTV shared a clip of the Ukrainian’s incredible play, as he dipped and dived around the A-bomb site on Overpass picking off players with his AWP. S1mple found his first two kills almost instantly as he maneuvered around the pillar to eliminate a player at monster followed by one at short. His opponents kept coming, and his team was whittled down to just him against two other players, dev1ce and smooya – an incredibly scary duo. “There’s no way he wins this man” said Shaney as he watched from beyond the grave, however, the Na`Vi star proved him wrong as he found an incredibly quick flick onto dev1ce, before sneaking up onto the bombsite and hitting an unbelievable long-ranged no scope to finish off smooya. The streamer couldn’t believe what happened, simply uttering “what!?” while s1mple walked away like it was just another day at the office. S1mple and Na`Vi will next be in action on September 6, playing against NRG Esports in the quarter-finals of the StarLadder Berlin Major. The American squad seem to be the favorites going into the match, but with Oleksandr showing some incredible form, fans may be in for a very exciting series.

CS:GO star s1mple calls out racist player and gets perfect response ELEAGUECounter-Strike: Global Offensive star Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev has been commended for not putting up with a racist teammate during his May 13 stream. Just having offensive names and images pop up on stream can be pretty troublesome for streamers, as they can land themselves in hot water with Twitch. Back in March, Valve dropped the March 6 update, which allowed fans to alter their communications with players in-game. That meant giving players the ability to hide profile images and sanitize any names of players that aren’t on their friend’s list. Yet, it clearly wasn’t something s1mple opted to do as he ran into one particular player with an extremely offensive name during his stream. S1mple had been playing a competitive matchmaking game on Vertigo, when he grew tired of one teammate’s in-game name that included derogatory terms. “Man, you have really bad name, you know,” started the Na’Vi star. While the teammate replied by pleading ignorance, S1mple wasn’t buying it. “I mean you are a bad person. Fuck you.” It didn’t take long for S1mple’s teammates to chime in, voting to kick the offensive player from the game before the 13th round could get underway. “We are good humans, boys,” added the Ukrainian once the player had been removed from the match – delighting his viewers who celebrated the kicking. [Viewer warning, the below clip does contain racist terms on-screen] S1mple receives praise It didn’t take long for the clip to go viral, with praise coming in for s1mple and his teammates after moving to kick the player from the game. Veteran esports journalist Richard Lewis tweeted: “Great to see s1mple, someone who overcame his own youthful shortcomings to become the best CS player in the world, take the right approach to dealing with racists online. How many would have said nothing and played out the game?” Great to see s1mple, someone who overcame his own youthful shortcomings to become the best CS player in the world, take the right approach to dealing with racists online. How many would have said nothing and played out the game? pic.twitter.com/bda0TYQt8X — Richard Lewis (@RLewisReports) May 14, 2019 Members of the Livestream Fail and Global Offensive subreddits also commended s1mple’s actions and ridiculed the offensive name. Read More: Top 20 highest earning CS:GO pro players – One commenter, going under the username reginsso, posted: “S1mple really tries to be a role model these days. It’s amazing to me how much he changed, what a great guy, driven by the passion for the game. Hopefully, he fucking wins something significant soon” “Imagine naming yourself that and thinking it was cool and edgy,” added another Redditor. After kicking the player, s1mple carried on with his stream, other teammates names still remained as he hasn’t quite taken up the option to use the features added with the March 6 update. While he might not choose to alter enemy players names with the needed code, it might be something he considers if he, unfortunately, runs into another offensive player in the future.

CS:GO Roll gambling site banned in Australia for illegal practices CS:GO RollCS:GO skins trading and gambling platform CS:GO Roll has been prohibited from operating in Australia, after authorities found it to be in “breach of Australian gambling laws.” On May 17, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), a branch of the Australian Government, announced that it had take “action against illegal ‘skins’ gambling site” CS:GO Roll. The ACMA said that it had issued a warning to Feral Holdings Ltd., which operates CS:GO Roll, and that the site had been “withdrawn” from Australia. The authority, which regulates “communications and media services in Australia,” said that they had conducted an investigation, that concluded “CS:GO Roll was providing casino-style online games, which are illegal under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 if the games are played for money or anything else of value.” “CS:GO Roll allowed users to deposit ‘skins’ from popular video game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in exchange for in-game coins that could be used to gamble on casino-style games,” the announcement continued. “Winnings from CS:GO Roll would then be paid out in the form of skins, which could be converted into real money using third-party platforms.” ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said, “Skins gambling services are particularly concerning as they tap into a youth market and have the potential to convert gamers into gamblers.” The announcement concluded, “Feral Holdings has been issued with a formal warning for contravening Australian gambling laws.” CS:GO skin gambling controversy heats up Although nothing new, skins gambling has been under increased scrutiny in 2023. Ahead of the BLAST Paris Major, G2 Esports, one of the most popular teams and among the favorites for the event, announced a partnership with CS:GO Roll. Valve, the publisher of Counter-Strike, has taken a dim view of gambling sites in the past, issuing cease and desist letters to 23 sites in 2016 for breaking the Steam Subscriber Agreement. However, this didn’t stamp out gambling entirely, and the value of skins being bought and sold has increased exponentially. CS:GO Roll specifically was also criticized by another gambling site, CS:GO Empire, who accused them of running an “illegal operation” and using “predatory business practices.” Also on May 17, Steam banned some CS:GO traders who had traded with gambling sites.

CSGO reveals brand new logo amid Source 2 update hype ValveThe official Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Twitter page has updated its banner once again, this time revealing what appears to be a brand-new logo, as the community waits for confirmation of a Source 2 update or beta. Throughout the month of March, there have been numerous leaks and rumors about an impending Source 2 update for CS:GO, potentially with a beta. The strongest indication we had was from veteran esports journalist Richard Lewis, whose sources said a beta for ‘Counter-Strike 2’ would release in March, or April 1 at the latest. There has been no confirmation from Valve itself, but new trademarks for Counter-Strike and CS2 were registered by the company. On March 21, the official Twitter page updated their banner, revealing a new logo that said ‘CS’. Immediately, players began to speculate that this logo will be used as the new logo for the game, potentially rebranded to simply ‘Counter-Strike’ along with the Source 2 update. There’s also no doubt that CS:GO knows the community pays a lot of attention to their banner. Previous updates have set off lots of rumors and speculation, and at one point, they even added a note saying “It’s just a banner. Promise.” So, using the banner update without an official announcement is clearly another deliberate move to ramp the hype machine up – if it wasn’t already at full speed. Valve is also set to speak at the Game Developer Conference soon on March 21, with some hope that more details will be revealed there.

All CSGO Ranks: Matchmaking ranking system explained & how to rank up ValveCS:GO, like many other competitive games, has a ranked system that players can grind to reach the top ranks. Here’s everything you need to know about ranks in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, how to rank up, and how your rank is determined. Ranking up in CS:GO is not an easy task. There are a total of 18 ranks, although you could be placed somewhere in the middle after your placement matches, skipping a few ranks. Unlike popular shooters like Valorant and Rainbow Six Siege, Valve keeps the data about elo gained or lost after each match hidden. If you’re wondering how the ranking system works and what the ranks are Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, don’t worry – we have all the information you need to know. Contents How many ranks are there in CS:GO? As we mentioned earlier, the game has a total of 18 ranks starting from Silver 1 to Global Elite. The skill level of your teammates and opponents should increase with each rank up. many players also prefer to play on FACEIT servers instead, which has its own ranking system with 10 levels, separate to Valve’s matchmaking. Here’s a rundown of all the ranks in CS:GO in ascending order: How does CS:GO’s ranking system work? One of the most distinctive features of Counter-Strike is that the MMR number is hidden from the players. Valve has always kept it private and as a result, players are left having to guess how close they are to their next rank-up. Over the years, players have formulated a universal theory related to the ranks in CS:GO. Your rank depends upon multiple factors in-game like your kill-to-death ratio, MVPs, bomb plants & defusals, damage per round, as well as the match result (win, draw, loss). If you want to rank up at a steady pace or get a good placement after the first 10 matches of playing competitive, you need to have a good all-around performance. This means you need to try to maintain all the things mentioned above on the positive side as much as possible. At first, don’t worry about your rank too much – simply focus on getting better at the game over time. Your rank should eventually reflect your skill level. We all know how difficult it can be especially when there are smurfs and cheaters on the opposite side, but that’s an issue prevalent with almost every competitive game out there. Trust Factor plays a major role too In 2017, Valve introduced a system known as the “Trust Factor“. It helps to match up with players based on the behavior you portray in matches. This means the less toxic you are in matches, you should get teammates and opponents with a similar, positive Trust Factor level. Valve has not revealed the exact details, but certain factors apart from behavior also get counted like your Steam account age and hours you’ve clocked in CS:GO. This is only applicable when you’re not in a five-man stack. So, there you have it – that’s everything you need to know about ranks and how the system works in CS:GO. For more about the game, be sure to explore some of our other content and guides: All Dust 2 map callouts | Top 20 highest earning CSGO pros of all time | Most expensive CSGO skins in 2022

CS:GO pros at WESG 2018 Finals forced to play on new update – but old economy WESGThe ongoing WESG 2018 World Finals in China has been disrupted with the release of a major CS:GO update, which will now have to be implemented for remaining matches – but the pre-patch economy system will still be in play. CS:GO development team released a much anticipated update on March 13, addressing the generally disliked AUG-meta, as well as fixing some of the economy issues around loss bonuses and more. Typically, when such updates are implemented amid an ongoing tournament, organizers will use a ‘rollback’ version of the game, to ensure consistency throughout. In the case of the March 13 update however, Valve has not included a rollback version which the game client can revert to. The update is so significant though, with the AUG being reverted to $3,300, the M4A1-S getting a larger magazine size of 25 rounds, and of course the removal of ‘hard resets’ for loss bonuses, meaning winning a round does not completely reset the loss bonus. Fnatic’s Jesper ‘JW‘ Wecksell surprised fans when he posted on Twitter that WESG would be forced to use the new update for remaining matches, completely changing the game midway through the event. The update got released like 2 hours ago or something and the remaining matches here in WESG will be using it. Will be interesting :sweat_smile: — Jesper Wecksell (@JW1) March 14, 2019 However, at the players request, the new economy settings, which removed hard resets for loss bonuses, will not be used. That means there is somewhat of a hybrid system in play, with new weapon prices like the AUG back to $3,300, but loss bonuses only decreasing by one, with each round win. As HLTV reports, “The matches will be played with the new patch, but the new loss bonus changes have been disabled in a last minute decision.” At the time of writing, six teams still remain in contention for the $500,000 first place prize at the WESG 2018 World Finals in Chonqing, and it will be a case of managing mental arithmetic as well as skill, for whoever comes out on top.

CSGO pro’s technical troubles in ESL actually helps win a round ValveIn a best-of-three during ESL Pro League Season 14, Almaz ‘almazer’ Asadullin from forZe experienced tech issues mid-round, making for a hilarious moment that caught the enemy team off-guard. While playing a best-of-three in ESL Pro League Season 14, one of CS:GO’s biggest events, one thing you don’t expect or want to happen is to experience some technical issues. With 24 top-tier teams from around the world fighting it out for $750,000, every round counts, and being at a disadvantage due to a technical issue would be infuriating, but what if the issue actually helped your cause? That’s exactly what happened to almazer from forZe in a best-of-three against OG Esports when his screen froze mid-round, ultimately perplexing OG in the process. In the first map of a close best-of-three against OG, forZe found themselves in a difficult situation, as in the final round of the first half, almazer’s screen froze, but he somehow still had control of what he was doing. At this point, viewers thought that he’d be completely useless for the round, as forZe were unable to call a timeout to fix the issue due to ESL’s rules. The round continued, but in fact, OG was in a weird position, as they didn’t know what to make of the strange situation. almazer began running through the site as a distraction, looking like he was playing on a console and his controller had died, spraying and looking at the sky. The distraction allowed forZe to wipe out OG and win the round, making it a hilarious situation to go down in the CS:GO history books. Casters immediately thought that it was just a simple mouse malfunction, but it turns out it was his screen that froze, as revealed by forZe’s IGL, Andrey ‘Jerry’ Mekhryakov, on Twitter. Almazer had his screen freezed , but he could move in-game xDDDD — Jerrycsgo (@Jerrycsgo1) August 24, 2021 Even with technical difficulties, forZe went on to win the map by a pretty convincing 16-8 scoreline, stating their case as a top-tier CS:GO team.

CS:GO pros debate Vertigo and Nuke audio following controversial map pool update Counter-Strike: Global Offensive professionals have already aired their feelings about the new map Vertigo, but some have been locked in a debate about its current sound issues. Why was Vertigo added to CS:GO? The game’s developer, Valve, made a huge change to the CS:GO active duty map pool with the game’s March 29 update as they removed Cache and replaced it with Vertigo – a surprising decision as Vertigo has never before been part of Counter-Strike’s competitive map choices. Adding Vertigo has been a controversial change, with plenty of pros, analysts, and fans complaining about its inclusion. Others, like Natus Vincere’s Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev, have just gotten on with the task at hand and adapted to Valve’s changes. However, that doesn’t mean that a majority of pros have accepted the changes. Plenty of players have remained vocal about the issues with the map – with the sounds of the map now coming into question. Comparing Nuke and Vertigo The sounds have been compared to Nuke, which has a somewhat similar vertical layout with its two bomb sites being so close together. While changes have been made to Nuke to help rectify the long-standing sound issues, no changes have yet been made to Vertigo. Some fans, however, don’t believe there are problems with Nuke – sparking a wider debate between pros. CS:GO analyst and esports historian, Duncan ‘Thorin’ Shields tweeted: “[Of course] morons on Reddit think the sounds on Nuke aren’t an issue, when I have personally spoken to dozens of active pros who still have issues with them to this day.” Ofc morons on reddit think the sounds on nuke aren’t an issue when I have personally spoken to dozens of active pros who still have issues with them to this day.#FanLogic — Thorin (@Thooorin) April 3, 2019 What do CS:GO pros think? Thorin’s statement started a debate between some current players within the professional CS:GO scene, with some supporting his claim while others believing that the ‘issues’ can be resolved with practice. Ghost Gaming in-game leader Joshua ‘Steel’ Nissan added: “I think there’s a list of stubborn pros who won’t switch to the 3D audio processing. Without it, directional sound is impossible. Legit every time someone can’t figure out if something is above or below or behind or in front I’ll ask if they have 3D audio on and they’ll say no.” I think there’s a list of stubborn pros who won’t switch to the 3d audio processing. Without it, directional sound is impossible. Legit Everytime someone can’t figure out if something is above or below or behind or in front I’ll ask if they have 3d audio and they’ll say no — steel (@JoshNissan) April 3, 2019 However, North star Valdemar ‘valde’ Bjørn Vangså disagreed with Steel’s reply, adding that all of his team’s players use the 3D audio processing setting and still have issues with Nuke. The Danish rifler also added that a LAN environment can also mess with the in-game audio, as a loud arena can overpower some noises and give advantages in certain situations. We all play WITH the 3D Audio setting and I can’t even tell you how many times we’ve had issues with the sound on Nuke – and other maps in general :/ — valde (@Officialvalde) April 3, 2019 Mousesports’ young Estonian star Robin ‘Ropz’ Kool disputed Thorin’s original claim, adding: “It’s actually very easy if you take your time to experiment the sounds (materials, hearing difference from a distance, behind a wall etc). It just comes from experience and we played the map quite a lot.” It’s actually very easy if you take your time to experiment the sounds (materials, hearing difference from a distance, behind a wall etc), it just comes from experience and we played the map quite a lot. — ropz (@ropzicle) April 3, 2019 What will Valve do with Vertigo? It remains to be seen just how long Vertigo stays in the Active Duty map pool. Pros will likely want changes to be made, not just to the sound but to the whole thing, if the map stays for the long-term. However, any decision on the map pool is made by Valve and Valve alone, even if they do take feedback from pros on a regular basis. Tournament organizers like ESL have already updated their Pro League map set to include Vertigo, but like the players, they are beholden to Valve’s wishes.

CSGO pros slam ESL over proposed changes to Rio Major ruleset ESLCounter-Strike: Global Offensive pros have criticized ESL over proposed changes to coach involvement for the Rio Major, saying the move will benefit some teams disproportionally. With CS:GO making the shift to full online events, coaches have had the chance to direct teams more than ever before. With competitive integrity rules becoming increasingly difficult to implement, ESL are reportedly cracking down on the involvement of coaches in-game. However, the move has been widely criticized by pros from all levels of play. The changes, initially reported by DBLTAP, would “bar coaches from participating in the server and will also disallow them from participating in the voice chat.” It’ll go to a player vote, where all teams must vote to keep the current rules in place, or the changes will be shipped through. It’s a further crackdown on how coaches can interact with their players in-game. Previously, coaches had open mics for the entire game, before sweeping changes in 2016 banned them from talking mid-round. However, since the shift to online play, it’s been harder to monitor just how much input coaches are having. For teams living under the same roof, they could just communicate by muting their mics between rounds, and admins won’t detect it. why would a team without a coach just say no to the vote to strategically screw over the other teams? it would just make the most sense if you don’t have a coach to say no so the vote doesn’t pass unanimously and I can already guarantee you that some team is already doing this — Jonathan Jablonowski (@EliGE) April 20, 2020 Team Liquid’s Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski has, however, criticized ESL’s implementation of the rule, saying it’s likely to pass thanks to just one team voting to change the rules. “Why would a team without a coach just say no to the vote to strategically screw over the other teams,” he said in an April 20 tweet. “It would just make the most sense if you don’t have a coach to say no so the vote doesn’t pass unanimously.” The Team Liquid star was backed up by Astralis AWPer Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz, who said too much power is being placed in one team’s hands. “That ESL coach vote is wack,” he added. “How doesn’t it go by majority at least?” EliGE also demonstrated just how easy the system is to cheat, saying “video loops” could be set up to throw admins off, even if webcams are enabled. The proposed changes, if they go through, would apply to the Road to Rio Major qualifiers, and could be implemented down the line for future online events. This would include the ESL Pro League, which both dev1ce and EliGE participate in. A verdict is expected to be handed down in the coming days, with the Road to Rio starting on April 22.

CSGO pros slam divisive Vertigo, call for Valve to rethink “unfair” map A handful of Counter-Strike stars have lifted the lid on what they like least about the game’s current state, including the “unfair” nature of divisive map Vertigo, the powerful Kreig, and the game’s notoriously slow mobility. It’s no secret that plenty of CSGO professionals don’t always see eye-to-eye with the game’s developers Valve, especially with the recent drama around the over-tuned nature of the SG 553, more commonly known as the Krieg. In a new video released by ESL, several stars, including Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David, Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen, and Ian ‘motm’ Hardy, took aim at their least favorite parts of the title where they ply their trade, including Vertigo and the game’s mobility. Coldzera, who holds the ignominious title of being the first-ever pro player to fall off the skyscraper map at a competitive LAN event, was one of the most outspoken stars when it came to abolishing Vertigo, suggesting it’s “too random.” “The map pool should definitely be changed, I’m not satisfied by the map pool at the moment, and I think they should remove Vertigo,” he said. “I don’t know why they keep Vertigo. They had a few changes to the map, but it’s just too random. Things are random. Teams just play aggressive, re-peeking a lot, because no one knows how to play the map really correctly right now.” The Brazilian superstar suggested Valve could bring other, more popular maps into the fold if they shunted the incomplete Rizzleton Tower map from the pro scene. “They have so many good maps likes Cobblestone and Cache, and they’re not being in it, so I think that the map needs to be removed [to allow others in],” he added. Coldzera wasn’t the only pro that aimed their sights at Vertigo for changes, with ATK’s motm also suggesting the high-flying map could use a few more tweaks to make it more balanced for the team playing as Counter-Terrorists. “I feel like they need to change Vertigo, because the A-side just feels really unfair for CTs, because if the Ts just take the bomb site they [CTs] have to retake their one choke point and it’s really hard to flank on A-side Vertigo,” he explained. Vertigo wasn’t the only thing the stars were interested in seeing changed either, with newly-minted Renegades star Oliver ‘DickStacy’ Tierney suggesting the game could add a prone feature, which would be “f**king hilarious” and “a lot of fun.” Patrick ‘es3tag’ Hansen also joined in on mobility suggestions, though Heroic’s rifler said he was more interested in seeing the pace of the game “upped” just a bit, partially because he thinks it would change the skill gap between players. “I would love for there to be more movement, if Valve put up the acceleration — not too much because we don’t want to be as fast-paced as like Call of Duty — then that would be nice, a lot of players would be punished for it,” the Dane said. For mobile readers, the related segment in the video below begins at 0:29. Finally, mousesports star Karrigan, who has enjoyed a pile of success in recent times with his European lineup, including at the ESL Pro League finals, and more recently with two fill-ins against G2 Esports, returned the conversation to the Krieg. According to the CSGO veteran, despite a recent November update returning the SG 553 to its original price point of $3,000, up from $2,750, the Krieg is still just too much of an influence on the game’s current competitive meta. “It’s too much… I would get Valve to change the Krieg a little, and I think I’m not the only player who is saying that either,” he said. Whether or not Valve will listen to these ideas from some of the biggest names in the game right now remains to be seen, but it is interesting to hear the pro’s opinions on common issues that many CSGO players agree upon heading into 2020. And who knows, once the devs hear so many players calling for changes, maybe they’ll take a second look. We may have to cross our fingers, though, and hope they don’t listen to DickStacy’s wacky idea and add ‘prone’ to the game.

CSGO pros s1mple, dennis and more slam ESEA over alleged hackers StarLadder / ESEAA wave of backlash by CSGO pro players Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev, Dennis ‘dennis’ Edman, and more is targeting competitive matchmaking platform ESEA for not banning alleged hackers. ESEA has long been a popular fixture among the pro community to avoid the various hackers in regular CSGO matchmaking by loading up into their secure servers. One of the company’s slogans is “Hate Cheaters? CSGO Where the Pros Play.” But that doesn’t seem to completely be the case for some prominent members of the community, as recordings of a player allegedly in the process of buying CSGO hacks is so far going unaddressed by ESEA. In a September 10 tweet, dennis put the spotlight on pro player Kristian ‘akEz’ Kornbakk’s grievance against Alex ‘holmyz’ who could allegedly be heard buying cheats for the game. “Actual recording of our finalist opponents buying cheats,” akEz said. “This is a recording of holmyz buying cheats from a provider.” The player linked to a deeper analysis at holmyz’s reported ties to hacking for “competent anti-cheating aficionados” to take a look at the case. The thread is two months old, at the time of writing. Dennis brought back the accusations while calling ESEA’s attention to it since his team GamerLegion were on a collision course against some of them: “We play some of these guys today, perhaps you should look into this? Shouldn’t be allowed to play in the first place.” S1mple even hit out at the anti-cheat platform for their approach to banning hackers. “It’s funny when platforms like ESEA can’t ban cheaters immediately until they write about the players themselves,” s1mple said. “They don’t even think about ordinary players/teams who want to show their potential, but they can’t, because cheaters sometimes linger on platforms for months.” Read more: LIVE: CSGO roster shuffle post-Berlin Major – CSGO has long been a target for recurrent hackers of all forms, even before the Global Offensive iteration of the game was released. ESEA and FACEIT have been trusted platforms for competitive CSGO matches as Valve continue their waves of VAC bans. In December 2018, Valve reported over 500,000 VAC bans on Steam accounts, most of them associated with CSGO. It will be interesting to see how ESEA responds with the renewed backlash revolving around hackers using their platforms as more pro players voice their concerns.

CSGO pros EliGE, tarik, and more react to Ancient replacing Train in map pool ValveValve has revealed Train will be subbed out of the Active Duty map pool on May 3 for an updated version of Ancient, one of CS:GO’s newest maps, and it’s divided the community. To freshen up their tactical shooter, Valve is going to sideline Train for Ancient in the competitive map pool. While Train has its detractors, it’s one of the most recognizable maps in modern CS history. Ancient will be the first major switch to the map pool in a couple of years when it replaces Train, and it’s splitting opinions among the community. Valve has also shipped a host of changes to Ancient to give it a fresher design compared to its initial Operation Broken Fang release. Valve has made a host of edits that will introduce a new route from CT spawn to A site, giving them more rotate options. Similarly, they’ve opened a skylight inside of T tunnel to the A site, along with other changes that make Ancient more competitively viable. While regular players can choose whether they want to play Ancient, pros will have to contend with the new map regardless. Because it’s in the Active Duty pool, it will be added to pro play ahead of the Stockholm Major. While Train was the setting of countless highlights throughout CSGO, it’s only been the fifth-highest picked map (out of seven) in the last year. Inferno, Dust 2, Nuke, and Mirage have seen more games played. CS:GO pros have mixed reactions to Ancient’s addition With current RMR events occurring for qualification to the first CSGO Major in over a year, people naturally had questions about how the map change would affect esports. Valve confirmed that on-going events like Flashpoint Season 3 will continue using the old map pool for the time being. Future events will use the new pool. As expected, the reactions are mixed. While Liquid’s Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski is elated with the removal of Train, David ‘DAVEY’ Stafford called the move “absolutely pathetic.” TRAIN IS NO MORE. I REPEAT. TRAIN IS NO MORE 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳 https://t.co/WndVNZ0iRP — Jonathan Jablonowski (@EliGE) May 3, 2021 holy fuck the level of incompetence is SHOCKING. You guys are doing everything you can to make sure valorant overtakes your game. The most successful esport of all time by the way. Absolutely pathetic. https://t.co/0g9tDh9PL0 — DAVEY 🇨🇦 (@DAVEYCS2) May 3, 2021 Ancient’s addition to the Active Duty map pool weren’t the only changes made in CS:GO’s May 3 patch. A permanent stat tracking feature called “360 Stats” was added, building on the Premier stats from Operation Broken Fang. A new Snakebite case has been added, as well as various bug fixes.

CSGO pros express disappointment at missing PGL Major stickers ValveValve’s decision to limit player signature stickers to only those who reach the PGL Major playoffs has been met with almost universal criticism. Dexerto spoke with seven Major debutants to get their take. On October 21, after weeks of waiting, Valve finally released the highly-anticipated stickers for the upcoming PGL CS:GO Stockholm Major, the first event of this stature in two years because of the global health crisis. The announcement confirmed rumors and fan fears that only players who reach the playoff stage would be rewarded with in-game signatures – a departure from previous Majors, where every player who qualified had their own autograph item available for purchase. The change has been criticized by players, on-air talent, and fans alike in recent days, with analyst Janko ‘YNk’ Paunović, who is part of the Major’s on-air team, calling it a “depressing” situation. Every aspiring player dreams of being immortalized in the game, and for some of the 61 Major rookies in Stockholm, this was their only chance to add their name to the list of Counter-Strike legends with autographs. This whole sticker situation only for players who make top8 is just so depressing really, we haven’t had a Major for 2 years, so many young, excited players attending for the first time and you deny them a chance to be immortalized in a sense #PGLMajor — Janko Paunovic (@YNk) October 22, 2021 These in-game items, introduced in 2015 ahead of the ESL One Cologne Major, were created to “provide some of the experience a fan would have had if they attended the event and asked you [a player] to sign a mousepad”. But it’s also important to mention the financial windfall of a player getting their own autograph in the game as they earn a portion of the proceeds from the sale of these items. After the StarLadder Major, Valve announced that participating teams and players had earned “over $11 million” through the sale of tournament items. This is life-changing money for some players, especially those with lower salaries or from regions that are grappling with the financial impact of the global health crisis. With this change, the chasm between the elite and the rest is expected to widen even further as the players reaching the latter stages are very likely to be among the most popular and highest-paid in the game. Valve has not responded to requests for comment from Dexerto. Frustration over poor communication But player criticism isn’t targeted at the absence of player signatures as much as it is at the lack of communication from Valve and PGL over this matter. Rumors about a change in policy regarding autographs began to swirl early in October. As players from different regions were being asked to submit their autograph items at different stages, many feared that there would not be enough time to have everything ready before the Major, especially since Valve and PGL were busy running Dota 2’s The International 10 in Bucharest. Have a feeling players won’t get signature stickers this major – they would have requested the signatures a long while ago, before the RMR even started for example. — Graham Pitt (@messioso) October 10, 2021 As the countdown to the Major hit full throttle, some players were aware that there would not be autographs for everyone, while others remained in the dark. Hours before Valve revealed the team stickers and announced the Pick ’Em Challenge, a team contacted by Dexerto admitted that they still didn’t know whether there would be player signatures for the event. Players express disappointment “If we had known beforehand, it wouldn’t have been so bad,” said Renegades’ Joshua ‘INS’ Potter, one of the seven Major debutants who agreed to speak to Dexerto. This is the general feeling among the players, who wish they had been looped in on the process. Hampus ‘hampus’ Poser and Joonas ‘doto’ Forss both supported the idea of making the autographs more exclusive, but the Finnish player also lamented that the community was kept uninformed until the end. “The fact that they suddenly changed it to this is unfair for everyone,” doto said. One other player, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that it was unfair that organizations are getting preferential treatment. “With all due respect, the ones on the server playing are the players, and we are the ones who should have priority in having their name immortalized,” he argued. In January 2021, Valve released the 2020 RMR Sticker Capsules, featuring the teams that would have been invited to attend the Fall Major based on the results of the regional qualifiers. For those stickers, 50% of the proceeds went to the organizations as a way to financially support them after a rough year without LAN events. Even without autographs, it is important to mention that PGL Major players will still make money from the sale of team sticker capsules, team patches (a new addition), and the viewer pass. The percentage that players are entitled to is stipulated in their contracts and varies from organization to organization. Below you can find the comments from the seven players that Dexerto spoke to about this matter: Fredrik ‘roeJ’ Jørgensen (CPH Flames): “After we qualified, I was so happy, especially because I thought that we were getting a sticker. But then slowly we started to realize that it might not happen. They only asked for the team sticker, not the player sticker, and since the Major was in two weeks we could put two and two together, and it just really sucked because we didn’t get any real information about what was going to happen with the sticker. We kept asking our PGL contact but couldn’t get anything clarified. All we had were rumors and sources on Twitter saying that some teams in North America had submitted their autographs, but they still hadn’t asked any of the European teams. Overall, it’s a really sad experience, slowly realizing that one of your biggest dreams, of being immortalized in the game, was not secured yet. If I had known about it beforehand and if it had been communicated before the RMR I could respect the decision, even though I would be sad anyway. The problem is that I have this feeling where I don’t know if this change happened because they were short on time or simply because someone made a mistake and didn’t collect the signatures in time or something like that. If this is the case I just can’t respect the decision, but if this is going to be a permanent change and if this had been communicated beforehand then of course I could respect it. There were no reasons for this change, and I just see a lot of rumors going around that this is because of the short amount of time between TI and the Major as PGL is running both events. If we hadn’t pushed so much to get an answer we would have learned about it two days before traveling to Stockholm and it would have been even more devastating to know that you’re not getting the sticker that you thought you would. And it’s kind of sad to learn about it through Twitter and a CS update like everyone else. So it’s just a very, very sad and disappointing experience in general.” Lucas ‘Lucaozy’ Neves (Sharks): “I was very sad when I learned that we wouldn’t get stickers. I think that everyone dreams about having their name in the game, and it would have been good for monetary reasons as well, because there are teams coming from underprivileged regions when it comes to money, and the sticker money helps every player. There are many players debuting at the Major and they all wanted to have a signature sticker.” Anonymous player: “In my opinion, Valve’s decision was a mistake. I really don’t see a way in which players benefit from this decision. It has been two years since the last Major, and as a player, you qualify for the biggest tournament in the game that you so love, and the player signatures are a symbol of that feat and something that immortalizes it. This is something that has happened at every Major, so it makes no sense for them to make this decision. The worst part was that during the RMRs there was no information that this was going to happen, this was something that was decided overnight without the players knowing. If we had been told beforehand, it would have been easier to take the news, but no, we qualified and, less than a week before the tournament starts we get told… It’s almost hilarious. With all due respect for the organizations, who are not at fault here, the ones on the server playing are the players, and we are the ones who should have priority in having their name immortalized.” Alejandro ‘mopoz’ Fernández-Quejo Cano (Movistar Riders): “This is totally shameful on Valve’s part and painful to see. It is the first Major for many players, and they changed the rules after two years without a specific reason, this way shattering the dreams of players who have been dreaming about this since they started playing the game.” Joshua ‘INS’ Potter (Renegades): “It was very disappointing, especially considering how long I’ve been trying to qualify for the Major and get an individual sticker, and because of the poor communication on Valve’s behalf. If we had known beforehand, it wouldn’t have been so bad, but yeah, extremely disappointed but still privileged and happy to be playing at one of the biggest events in CS:GO history. Hopefully, this is a one-off and next Major they will be back.” Hampus ‘hampus’ Poser (NIP): “To be honest, I didn’t get that disappointed. I think it’s good that stickers are hard to get, so when you get them it means that you’ve really earned them. Now that there are 24 teams, I think that this is good. Perhaps the players who reach the Legends Stage could get better stickers, but I’m fine with this.” Joonas ‘doto’ Forss (ENCE): “I don’t necessarily mind that it’s only for the top-eight teams, but it should have been informed a lot earlier. The fact that they suddenly changed it to this is unfair for everyone. The fans also love the player stickers. They could have just made stickers for everyone and added some extra flair to the top eight’s stickers when the teams are set. Of course, it’s a huge bummer for us because I can guarantee that all 61 players were looking forward to getting the stickers since they have always been a huge deal for all the players. Getting your name in the game that everyone loves is, I guess, an amazing feeling that we’ve been deprived of.”

CSGO pros call out ESEA and DreamHack over alleged cheaters ESL/Valve/StarLadderDuring an online qualifier match for the DreamHack Rotterdam event, a player named ‘holmyz’ for Pharsyde hit a ridiculous running headshot on an enemy covered by smoke. While the kill itself is questionable, it has also raised conversation about whether he should be allowed to play, given his banned status on another platform. During the European Open qualifier for the DreamHack Open Rotterdam event that’s scheduled for later in October, pharsyde defeated The Dice 16-11 on Inferno to advance to the next round. Their next scheduled opponents, RADNICKI, forfeited due to refusing to play against pharsyde. This kill by Pharsyde’s holmyz has sparked yet another discussion about the legitimacy of this European squad: RADNICKI player Petar ‘HOLMES’ Demitrijevic made a point the address the illegitimacy when he announced their forfeiture: “you cannot beat completely unknown new upcoming talents with private profiles and barely played pugs on their ESEA/FACEit matches” Won against #1 seed @GambitEsports youngsters in @DreamHack Rotterdam Open Qualifier but you cannot beat completely unknown new upcoming talents with private profiles and barely played pugs on their ESEA/FACEit matches so we forfeit our match against them after first half in 1/4 — Petar Dimitrijevic (@HOLMEScsgo) September 21, 2019 On FACEIT, both holmyz and his teammate mauw1 have been banned for cheating, but they have not been banned on ESEA, which is the anti-cheat being used for these DreamHack qualifiers. Holymz has been linked to cheating in the past, when pro player Kristian ‘akEz’ Kornbakk provided an alleged recording of holmyz admitting to purchasing and using cheats: “I haven’t played legit in like two weeks. I been playing these shit tournaments and fucking won but someone is trying to expose me and they need to look demos etc, they wont find any cheat, but other things they might expose, its not good, but I think it will be fine.” After the forfeit by RADNICKI, Pharsyde have moved on to the closed qualifiers to face GamerLegion, which features CS:GO legend Dennis ‘dennis’ Edman, who has sounded off about this team in the past. When the most recent clip went viral, dennis called out ESEA and DreamHack directly about the alleged cheaters: “I’ve played so many of your tournaments and I’ve enjoyed them all but this is just too much. You need to get your shit together and ban these cheaters. Can’t believe you’re actually letting them play.” .@ESEA @DreamHackCSGO i’ve played so many of your tournaments and i’ve enjoyed them all but this is just too much. You need to get your shit together and ban these cheaters. Can’t believe you’re actually letting them play. — dennis (@denniscsgod) September 21, 2019 Alex ‘ALEX’ McMeekin, in-game leader for Team Vitality, also chimed in and suggested that FACEIT and ESEA share a cheaters database: This is bullshit, I’ve experienced it first hand (in a minor qualifier no less), it’s about time the main online qualifier organizers (Faceit & ESEA) have some shared database about cheaters or something to avoid having to ban the same people twice. https://t.co/sxc7PSQaqP — Alex (@Vitality_ALEX) September 21, 2019 Currently the match between pharsyde and GamerLegion is still scheduled for September 22. It will be a best-of-three series.

CS:GO pros aren’t happy about the schedule for the StarLadder Berlin Major StarLadderProfessional CS:GO players are speaking out after it was announced that the next Major will be taking place immediately following the scheduled player break. It was recently announced that the next CS:GO Major, which will be hosted by StarLadder in Berlin’s Mercedes-Benz Arena, will be taking place on August 20 to September 8, 2019. The event will therefore begin towards the end of the August player break, which for the last two years has seen most top players decline to take part in competition during the month. The break is designed to ensure that players have a rest period in an otherwise packed schedule of events throughout the year. With the Major falling immediately afterwards, players will have to choose between taking some much-needed rest, and maintaining a full practice schedule to stay on top form for the Major. This isn’t the first time the Major has fallen immediately after the player break. The FaceIt London Major of 2018 also took place in September, immediately following the August break, which some viewers cited as a contributing factor to what many saw as a lower quality of play, on average, than typically offered by the Majors. In the wake of the announcement, multiple players took to Twitter to voice their disagreements with the scheduling. Always liked @cssltv tournaments, hospitality and format but come on, this is just bad for the players in so many ways. I get that it’s not that easy to just rent a stadium and fix everything but this is just stupid and unfair — Miikka (@suNnycsgo) February 18, 2019 I am not a major player right now but I still care about the quality of CS as a player and as a viewer. Being prepared individually and as a team are the most important things going into a Major and thatss not possible with the current schedule. Think about the bigger picture :pray: — Miikka (@suNnycsgo) February 18, 2019 Hmm, depends. The industry is rough, scheduling is hard for teams/organizers.. Only thing I disagree on is having the most important tournament this close to the vacation. — Nicolai Reedtz (@dev1ce) February 18, 2019 The Counter-Strike Professional Players Association (CSPPA) has also put out a statement on the matter, echoing the feelings of the players. The CSPPA apparently spoke to Valve about Major scheduling at the FaceIt London major, and “made it clear the players feel the Major should always be held mid season or end of season.” The CSPPA has also reached out after the announcement about the Berlin Major, but has yet to receive a response from Valve. The CSPPA is as disappointed as the CS players are to hear that the dates of the next CS Major fall right after the player break. In our meeting with Valve at the Major in London, we made it clear the players feel the Major should always be held mid season or end of season. 1/2 — Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association (@CSPPAgg) February 18, 2019 Most certainly not at the start. When we heard the finalized Berlin dates, we reached out to Valve about the issue, but have received no reply as of yet. Valve must take control of the yearly calendar, they cannot keep trying to squeeze a Major into an already full year. 2/2 — Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association (@CSPPAgg) February 18, 2019 With the amount of planning that goes into scheduling an event as significant as the Major, it seems almost impossible that anything can be done to adjust the situation for the Berlin Major. It remains to be seen whether the players and the CSPPA can exert their influence to ensure that future Majors avoid the issue.

CS:GO pros apEX and s1mple lock horns following scrim debacle StarLadder / apEX TwitterTensions between CS:GO stars Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev and Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire have flared up once again, this time after Natus Vincere apparently failed to show up to a scrimmage on time. Fans of the Global Offensive pro scene know that the space isn’t without its dramas. While players tend to try to keep things within Valve’s servers, disagreements can sometimes spill over onto social media. This time around, the two pros in question have had their history of Twitter jabs aimed at each other and neither one was backing down for the next installment in their publicized bout. In a June 27 post, apEX was clearly heated since his team’s latest scrim partners had been late, and was not shy about shining the light on the org at fault. “I wish a team could be on time at least once in a year,” apEX said in a since deleted tweet. “But it feels like respecting the opposing team isn’t normal. Natus Vincere.” Not one to take a hit lying down, s1mple chimed in with a simple “yes yes yes,” which set apEX off. Fans think the Vitality pro’s next reply was alluding to a comment made by s1mple in years past in a separate spat with apEX. “Biggest r*tard on earth,” apEX replied to s1mple. “Don’t tell (your) manager to come to me next event to shake hands.” 600S1mple then pointed out that the comment seemed unwarranted: “Do you understand what you just wrote? I respect you but don’t disgrace yourself. Yes we were late but it’s not a reason to start insulting me.” The reply prompted two Vitality players in apEX and Alex ‘ALEX’ McMeekin to call out the CS:GO superstar for trying “to be the victim,” recalling a previous comment made by s1mple on private in-game servers. 600“Didn’t you say something else?” apEX said, before repeating what s1mple had apparently typed in-game. “Sh*t player, sh*t person.” “Don’t play this card on twitter man,” ALEX said. “Say what you said on the server and don’t try to be the victim on Twitter.” Don’t play this card on twitter man, say what you said on the server and don’t try to be the victim on twitter — Alex (@Vitality_ALEX) June 27, 2019 While the last comment by apEX sent fans in a flurry of confusion as to why he would burst out like that, the pro later clarified that he was simply reiterating what s1mple allegedly said prior. The entire spat didn’t seem to end on a conclusive note of understanding or lament, but hopefully the pros settle their differences before their next matchup.

CSGO pro uses teammate’s monitor to play after game crashes mid-match ESL_CSGO | TwitchBrazilian CS:GO pro HEN1 had his game crash in the middle of a round. But he made a last minute call to play on his teammate’s monitor to try and find a clutch play. Tech issues are an unfortunate reality when it comes to esports. Sometimes, they just happen, and there’s very little you can do about it. While some esports titles like League of Legends have a pause system as well as other countermeasures that can help counteract game-breaking bugs and peripheral failures, CSGO rounds go uninterrupted from start to finish, with pauses between rounds if needed/requested outside of very rare circumstances. And Brazilian CS:GO pro Henrique ‘HEN1‘ Teles was more than prepared to finish the round despite tech issues. CSGO pro uses teammate’s monitor to try and win the round MIBR had a man advantage in round 8 of the first game in their best of 3 match against BIG when HEN1’s game crashed mid-game. He was able to reboot the game and reconnect quickly, but, unfortunately, his monitor wasn’t working properly after the reboot. Without any other options, HEN1 used his teammate’s spectator screen to play with. Unfortunately, his effort and ingenuity weren’t enough. He managed to land a nice AWP flick onto one of BIG’s members, but the other was able to take him out before HEN1 could chamber another round. If HEN1 hadn’t crashed, this would have been a very different round for MIBR. However, his brief moment of ingenuity almost won the round for his team. This wound up being a critical turning point for that round as well, and it gave BIG the edge they needed to turn around the first match. BIG wound up taking the series win 2-1 over MIBR despite HEN1’s quick thinking through some serious technical issues.

CS:GO pro under fire after using racial slurs towards fellow player FACEITRussian CS:GO professional Tatiana ‘Sindi’ Gracheva is under fire from the community after sending racist remarks towards another player during a CS:GO pick-up game. One of many female pro players, Sindi is now receiving backlash after she used a racial slur repeatedly in the game chat of a FACEIT match of CS:GO. Although she has been inactive for some time, Sindi has notably competed on the London Conspiracy team who place second at Copenhagen Games 2017 after losing to Team Secret in the finals. Sindi was playing a pick-up game on CS:GO with her boyfriend and a friend when they began arguing with members from the other team including professional player, Robiin. A player named ‘Melonheadxp,’ then brought Sindi into the argument after telling her boyfriend “your gf has sent nudes to the whole fucking cs community.” Sindi then replied with abusive racial comments towards Melonhead numerous times, after he had threatened to share her alleged nude photos with members of his team. After the game melonheadxp posted some more photos of the chat log online. The full chat log from the FACEIT pick up game can be found here. No matter how upset or angry you get this is just crossing the line by far. I guess peoples show their real faces when they lose control… @FACEIT @sindicsgo pic.twitter.com/1AcYetawob — Noel Raki (@melonheadxP) May 25, 2019 Sindi has since released a statement explaining that she made mistakes, apologizing for her behavior and explaining her side of the story, claiming that her, Robiin and Melonheadxp were “truly good friends” prior to the argument. As of now, It appears that FACEIT has only issued Sindi a three day ban for using “abusive language” during the game but with recent backlash from the community. CS:GO has one of the most prominent female communities in all of esports and are often seen to host regular female only tournaments and events for those to compete in.

CSGO pro Tarik stunned after being humiliated by a bot in FPL match Valve/StarLadderCounter-Strike: Global Offensive professional Tarik ‘Tarik’ Celik couldn’t believe his luck as he was blown away by a surprise in-game bot, during a FACEIT Pro League match. CS:GO pro players are the best, non-hacking, talents in the world – and can typically dominate matches against lesser opponents without even breaking a sweat. However, they are human, and they can also slip back down from the very top and into that Gold Nova category with one simple death during a game – something Tarik managed to pull off, much to the amusement of his Twitch viewers. During his September 13 stream, the NRG Esports star had been playing alongside former teammate Stewie2k and m0e when one enemy player appeared to disconnect from the session. As Tarik was on a huge flank, passing through Monster and moving into T-spawn on Overpass, he spotted an enemy out the corner of his eye and tried to gun them down. However, he was too slow, and was blown away with insane accuracy. “What? Dude, there’s a bot in T-Spawn,” Tarik called out, after being stunned by the realization that he’d died to a non-player. However, even though he’d been embarrassingly killed by a bot, the former Major winner saw the funny side of things. “I just died to a fucking bot dog,” he added, with a smile on his face. Yet, that didn’t save him from the ridicule of his teammates. While some laughed, m0e asked: “Wait, are you kidding?” seemingly unaware if he was being trolled or not. “How do you die to a bot that isn’t human-operated? Ok, I need to know.” While it may have caused Tarik some brief embarrassment, it at least provided his chat with a hilarious highlight that they can laugh about for a while yet. Although, seeing as he is CS:GO’s self-proclaimed ‘King of Content’, he’ll probably turn it into a YouTube video soon enough – and everyone else, who wasn’t in the stream, will get to relive it over and over.

CSGO pro suspended for betting on matches he played in ESIC/Valve/Unsplash: Alexander JawfoxThe Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has provisionally suspended CS:GO pro Joel ‘joel’ Holmlund due to multiple breaches of its Anti-Corruption Code. The Swedish player, 18, was found to have placed bets between March 27 and 31 on matches that he was playing in, including two bets against his own team, GODSENT, in a series that they lost. After initially indicating that the matches in question were only from the BetBoom Playlist Urbanistic tournament, ESIC has rectified its statement to include matches that the team played in the IEM Dallas Closed Qualifier. Additionally, joel was found to have placed 17 bets on various CS:GO matches between March 29 and May 1. Valve stated in a 2015 blog post titled ‘Unnecessary Risks’ that professional players “should under no circumstances gamble on CS:GO matches, associate with high volume CS:GO gamblers, or deliver information to others that might influence their CS:GO bets.” joel was served with a notice of charge on August 30 and denied any wrongdoing, prompting ESIC to gather additional evidence to verify his claims. “Considering the gravity of the allegations, Mr. Holmlund’s current active participation in an ESIC-affiliated event, and being satisfied with the compelling evidence presented in its further investigation, ESIC has elected to suspend Mr. Holmlund via a Rejection Order Notice,” ESIC stated. According to ESIC, the investigation into joel’s betting activity includes “digital footprints, including IP addresses, device IDs, and browser information”, records of individual bets placed during events, and links between betting accounts and social media platforms. The Swedish player has until October 6 to present new evidence. After this, ESIC will make a further statement revealing the final outcome of the investigation and potentially imposing sanctions. joel responds to ESIC suspension On X/Twitter, joel said that his suspension is “[an] injustice” and argued that ESIC was “forced” to act after he helped Victory Zigzag qualify for the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown last week. “They are accusing me of several stuff I didn’t do, and that’s fairly obvious,” he wrote. “Still, if I come out publicly, I am breaking confidentiality. “I am still willing to cooperate with ESIC and will give my final answer around October 6 together with my lawyer.” The news of the suspension ends months of speculation about the player, who was suddenly benched by GODSENT in May despite being the team’s best player. The Swedish organization has issued a statement in response to ESIC’s suspension, confirming that joel’s removal from the team was connected to the investigation that was being conducted by the esports watchdog. His contract with the organization has since been terminated. The 18-year-old is widely regarded as one of the most exciting rising talents in Sweden and has averaged a 1.12 HLTV rating in 2023. Prior to joining GODSENT in January, he notably played for Galaxy Racer and Monte.

CSGO pro SuNny subtly roasts interviewer after very awkward “talk” An interviewer at the CSGO Asia Championships 2019 absolutely fumbled while talking with ENCE player Miikka ‘suNny’ Kemppi, creating an incredibly awkward situation. One of the biggest Asian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments is well underway, with the Asian Championships taking place from November 20-24. The tournament is held in Shanghai and gives two of the best Chinese CS:GO teams a chance to show what they’re made of against some of the best teams in the world. So far things have been going well in-game, but, the same can’t be said for one interview in particular. ENCE were able to overcome Mousesports in a tough series to top their group. Their newest signing, suNny, was called up for the interview and it was far from what players and fans are used to. Things got off to a rocky start as the player and interviewer stood in complete silence in front of the camera for thirty seconds, presumably due to a production error. Things only got worse from there, however, as the Fin was asked about his feelings on ex-ENCE player Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen’s new roster. “Well, Aleksib has a new team… what’s the thoughts on this new line-up?” asked the interviewer. SuNny asked for the full roster, and this is where things began to get really awkward. “It’s Aleksib, Nathan ‘NBK-‘ Schmitt, and ooh, uhh… I can’t” said the interviewer, before asking for support from his production crew – leaving suNny to stand there waiting. He then found out the third player is Valdemar ‘valde’ Bjørn Vangså. However, CSGO teams are made up of five players, so the ENCE player asked for the remaining two. Once again he was stranded as the interviewer asked for help from the Chinese crew. They couldn’t be of help this time, leaving the pair to awkwardly stand in front of the camera, waiting for a response. After a while suNny broke the silence, saying “okay, good talk” then the awkward silence carried on. Both stood there quietly for another thirty seconds with fans laughing and cringing at the situation in the chat. The interviewer then asked for his opinion about those three players, before quickly wrapping up the interview, no doubt feeling the pressure from forgetting the squad.

CS:GO pro seemingly leaks FaZe Clan’s unannounced fifth member Even though roster locks for the next CS:GO major was on January 1, mystery still abounds for who the fifth and final player on FaZe Clan’s team will be, until a pro player has seemingly offered that exclusive nugget of information on stream. FaZe Clan has been a dominating force in CS:GO since it entered the esport, but since benching and then loaning away Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen to Team Envy the search was on for a promising talent to fill the void. During a broadcast, CS:GO pro player Denis ‘seized’ Kostin said the FaZe Clan’s next fifth player would be former Gambit Esports star Dauren “AdreN” Kystaubayev. Seized was playing a FACEIT match with other top names in the game when fellow Russian Dmitry ‘hooch’ Bogdanov asked him who the final member of FaZe would be. At no hesitation and with a nonchalant candor, seized casually dropped the news that AdreN would be the final piece for FaZe’s team going into the major. Both Gambit Esports and AdreN announced that he was a free agent on December 1, which was met with resounding surprise and eager anticipation for where the 28-year-old would go next. On December 31, AdreN tweeted an upbeat message for the outlook of 2019 during the height of speculation for Faze’s last roster member due to the roster lock on the following day. Faze Clan has yet to make an official announcement although it is expected to come soon as the team will reprise their role at the IEM Katowice Major 2019 on February 20.

CS:GO pro s1mple hits out at Twitch after confirming cause of ban StarladderCounter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev has taken aim at Twitch following his ban from the streaming platform. S1mple is widely considered to be the best CS:GO player in the world, and occasionally streams his practice on Twitch. He was banned on the streaming platform on August 13 for reportedly using a homophobic slur while joking with one of his teammates. On August 14, he issued a response. “Twitch is a joke, sorry for such hatred @Boobml4CS” said the Ukrainian, who seemed frustrated with the reasoning behind the ban. He also attached a picture of the reason behind his ban, confirming it was due to using a homophobic slur. Na`Vi’s star player also had a bit of fun, joking about the ban the day before, saying: “Get Twitch Ban – Complete.” Twitch is a joke , sorry for such a hatred @Boombl4CS pic.twitter.com/P4SIVvjgsi — Sasha (@s1mpleO) August 14, 2019 Twitch have yet to comment on s1mple’s ban, however, they generally do not issue statements on channel removals, so it is likely the Ukrainian will simply have to do his time and stream when his ban expires. News of Oleksandr’s ban spread around the community like wildfire, and just a few hours after his channel was removed, other pro players and Twitch streamers were talking about it. Esports insider Rod ‘Slasher‘ Breslau was one of the first to find out the reason behind the ban, sharing it on Twitter. s1mple has been suspended from Twitch for one week source with knowledge confirms this is indeed because s1mple used a homophobic slur (pidor) jokingly during a July 29th FPL game to his NaVi teammate Boombl4 here’s the clip, a CIS editor even made a meme video two weeks ago pic.twitter.com/pQmx9kk7iR — Rod Breslau (@Slasher) August 13, 2019 Community members did not seem to be offended by s1mples language, and one user even made a meme video about it, however Twitch themselves are strict about these rules, and have punished him nevertheless. Due to the ban and the upcoming StarLadder Berlin Major, it is unlikely the Ukrainian will be streaming anytime soon, as he does not generally stream with big events around the corner.

CS:GO pro S1mple destroys enemy team with insane Deagle shots L: Starladder / R: ValveCounter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev took over a Faceit Pro League round as he single-handedly eliminated four enemies with his Desert Eagle. S1mple showed why he is considered to be the best CS:GO player in the world as he was able to completely dominate an FPL round against other pro players. Natus Vincere’s star player showed off his skills in a stream on August 6, where he led the charge for his team in the Terrorist pistol round on Dust 2. It all starts off with the Ukrainian pushing A-long, he is able to peek through the doorway and immediately take out a Counter-Terrorist with an incredibly well-placed headshot, before swinging out and executing another opponent by pit. Read More: Under fire NiP CEO leaves XTRFY board – Two quick kills see S1mple’s team in a very favored position for the round, but he still hasn’t had enough. “Where is the next mister” he says, as he continues to push toward the A-bomb site, hungry for blood. A careful peek into CT spawn lands S1mple his third kill, yet another impressive headshot, and he continues to look for more. He spots Özgür ‘woxic’ Eker on the short position and says “give me woxic” before charging in for the kill. One of his teammates takes the kill before the Ukranian is able to close in on his pray, but he keeps looking, and successfully finds a fourth and final headshot to secure the round for his team. “Man, what are you doing? That’s my ace man” said the Na`Vi star. He didn’t even seem bothered with the amount of skill he was able to display, he just wanted more kills.

CS:GO star Ropz reveals how he overcame a family tragedy to go pro Professional CounterStrike: Global Offensive player Robin ‘ropz’ Kool has spoken about how he overcame a tragedy in his personal life to fulfil his dream. Kool was interviewed by FACEIT for a series of player profile videos that they are producing for the London CS:GO Major, taking place between September 5 to 23. Each video provides an in-depth look at the life and the backstory of a professional CSGO player. Along with the Estonian, FACEIT has produced profiles for MIBR’s Jacky ‘Stewie2K’ Yip and G2 Esports player Richard ‘shox’ Papillon. In the video, ropz and his family speak about how difficult it is to balance both his schoolwork and his professional career, and his headmaster remarks at how impressive it is that he continues to perform at a high level in both fields. However, the 18 year old also took time to speak about a personal tragedy that affected his life immensely, the death of his father. Kool’s father owned large farms in Estonia, but a downturn in business saw the family lose their home to bankruptcy, and shortly after this, Kool’s father sadly took his own life. Ropz stated that if he could go back in time and speak to his father, he would tell him: “I could earn so much money playing CS, and to just wait. Things will work out.” Kool’s mother, Gea, is clearly proud of her son, and spoke about her joy at his success after an undoubtedly difficult time, saying; “He has found his way, he has found his work and hobby in this game, his way of life.” Unfortunately for ropz, his journey at the FACEIT London Major ended in the New Legends Stage, when mousesports were eliminated by FaZe Clan.

CSGO pro Ropz highlights major Dust 2 glitch at StarLadder Berlin Major StarLadder/ValveMousesports Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Robin ‘Ropz’ Kool has highlighted an extremely overpowered position on Dust 2 that could give terrorist players some serious headaches. The second and final CS:GO Major of 2019 is in full swing, with some of the best teams in the world descending on Berlin, Germany to compete at the StarLadder Berlin Major. There have already been some shocks, with teams like Complexity heading home earlier they had planned. Unlike some of the recent CSGO Majors though, this even has not been plagued by technical issues. Instead, players have been uncovering in-game problems of their own that may require some tweaks before the tournament is over. One such issue has been highlighted by Ropz, who tweeted out a video of the Dust 2 B site. It showed that counter-terrorist players can hide behind a blue box looking towards the tunnel with vision despite their character model being off-screen. The Mousesports star even showed that at certain angles, the player’s body even phases in and out of the object when the back of the model should still be on show to others. Hey @CSGO I love you but there’s something we need to fix // @DonHaci Productions pic.twitter.com/WRyStyiYbY — ropz (@ropzicle) August 30, 2019 While some fans suggested that is was purely a case of peekers advantage – where a player is rewarded for not hiding for too long or an issue with the game’s networking – Ropz explained that this isn’t the case. “The problem here is the model not the peekers advantage,” he tweeted, in a follow-up to his video. “The model makes slight turns based on where you look and it’s possible to abuse it that you make the model turn and still have vision but see no head at all like in this video.” The problem here is the model not the peekers advantage. The model makes slight turns based on where you look and it’s possible to abuse it that you make the model turn and still have vision but see no head at all like in this video. — ropz (@ropzicle) August 30, 2019 Whether or not Valve will address the issue, or if they’re even aware of the problem, is unknown at the time of writing. Yet with the Major in full flow, if it becomes an abusive position, they would likely have to act – just as they did prior to IEM Katowice in February with the smoke grenade and radar exploit.

CS:GO pro viciously roasts eUnited after clutch during ESL Pro League ESL TwitchCounter-Strike: Global Offensive players are no stranger to banter inside and out of Valve’s servers, and it was hilariously on full display after Ghost Gaming’s Joshua ‘steel’ Nissan clutched up a huge round. Tournaments in esports come in a couple of main varieties, online and LAN. While online allows for teams to be more readily available for a match, LAN events like the ESL Pro League brings players together that provide for incredible banter. During the series between Ghost and eUnited, the players were chirping at each other from the get-go, but Steel shutdown both the round and the smack talk from his opponents in one fell swoop. LAN events like this one give audiences a unique look at how pros interact during a game, which typically has a ton of lively banter. The two teams were locked in a best of three series, and it didn’t even take a whole map for them to start hurling hysterical trash talk at one another. But the most deafening instance came just after Steel had displayed some in-game heroics to bring his team on the verge of winning the first game. “Where’s the shit-talk now, you fucking pussies?!” Steel said with open arms, inviting eUnited to utter a word after completely denying them a chance for a comeback. That level of banter should be expected from someone who’s been through the trenches of Counter-Strike trash-talk since 2009, especially since he utterly suffocated eUnited on Mirage nabbing 28 kills. What led up to the brutal smack talk? Both teams were trading blows in the early stages of Mirage, being tied at 4-4 before Ghost were able to pull away. But before that point, it seemed like the two sides were flinging words to each other since ESL pits teams within earshot during their matches. What should have been an easy clean up for the CT, ended in Steel stealing the round and making sure the other team knew they’d messed up.600 What hyped up the game even more were the small runs each team had, as eUnited seemed like they were going to make it a close game when they got their seventh round when Ghost had 10. Eventually Ghost got the last laugh on Mirage, and were eventually able to close out the series against eUnited with Steel fittingly getting a double kill to end the series.

CS:GO pro players blast iBUYPOWER event after multiple issues Reddit/DexertoA number of prominent Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players have criticized the iBuyPower Masters event that took place from January 19 through 20. The tournament, which took place in California, ran into issues from the get-go with the first game of day one being delayed for close to three hours. A number of games had to be played off-stream to make up for the time lost. Players also complained about a lack of quality monitors and even the availability of noise-cancelling headphones so that they could play without hearing the crowd and other sounds in the venue. Read More: HLTV reveals the Top 20 CS:GO Pros of 2018 – There were also issues for spectators at the arena as they could only watch games on small TV screens. Team Liquid’s Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dunkel, Tweeted after his team’s first game: “Gg @Luminosity, this event is a joke and I feel bad for all players.” The Canadian went on to say: “Feels like they didnt have enough experience or time to make it what it could have been. Playing on a setup on a balcony over viewing the main game with a crowd behind us, no noise cancelling headphones, limited desk space and the monitors are below standard” Feels like they didnt have enough experience or time to make it what it could have been — Russel VanDulken (@Twistzz) January 20, 2019 Last thing i’ll complain about is the security, this happens at most small events, I trust our community but it takes one person to fuck everything up. — Russel VanDulken (@Twistzz) January 20, 2019 After being eliminated from the event, Cloud9’s Swedish star Robin ‘Flusha’ Ronnquist posted: “Glad to be going home from this trash tournament.” His sentiments were echoed by his fellow Swede, FaZe Clan’s Olof ‘Olofmeister’ Kajbjer, who said: “Done here at iBUYPOWER and we played poorly and it was the same conditions for everyone so I don’t want to take away anything from ghost but this event is one of the top3 worst events I’ve been too in my career.” Done here at @iBUYPOWER and we played poorly and it was the same conditions for everyone so I don’t want to take away anything from ghost but this event is one of the top3 worst events I’ve been too in my career. — Olof Kajbjer (@olofmeister) January 21, 2019 Team Liquid eventually claimed the tournament victory, coming back to defeat Astralis 2-1 in the best-of-three final after losing the opening map – Inferno – by a scoreline of 16-4.

CSGO pro play records: most kills, longest game, more ESL / DreamHack / StarLadder Counter-Strike has arguably the most illustrious history in all of esports. The franchise itself is over 20 years old, and the latest release, CS:GO, has been kicking around for about a decade. With a history that old comes plenty of big records. Billions of bullets have been shot across the last two decades, but it can only take one to swing the tides of a game, a tournament, and even a career. From the big clutches to the huge fraggers, there’s plenty of exciting moments to regale on in CS:GO’s history. However, who can claim the accolades as the most lethal player? Who was involved in the longest game in CS:GO history, and just how many times has a single map been played? We’ve broken down all the major CS:GO pro play records, leaving no stone unturned. Most kills (total): Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub (36,895 kills) The total kills list is dominated by veterans of Global Offensive. The gods from the early days, who still play to this day, have had the chance to rack up plenty of points for their StatTrak, and there’s none more so than kennyS. The French AWPer has been at the top of his game for years. He’s won a major and he’s got almost a dozen MVP awards. While he might be out of a team for now, it surely won’t be long until he finds one. Read More: What Next for CSGO’s AWP God kennyS? – When it comes to total kills, kennyS has a fair distance on the competition. Swedish veterans Patrik ‘f0rest’ Lindberg (36,710) and Nathan ‘NBK-‘ Schmitt (36,387) round out the podium, having also been around with kennyS since the start of CS:GO. Most kills (AWP): Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub (19,228 kills) If he has the most kills full-stop, it’s unlikely a rifler will have kennyS beat for most AWP kills in CS:GO history. He has been one of the best AWPers, if not the best. While his teams might have had their ups and downs, for the most part, kennyS has consistently fragged out, even as newer blood filters in. With over 19,000 kills with the magic stick, kennyS knows the weapon inside and out. It’s been nerfed and adjusted over time, but the Frenchman has always been the first to adapt and dominate — patch after patch, year after year. Across history, though, he isn’t in a class of his own — at least stats-wise. Ladislav ‘GuardiaN’ Kovacs joins kennyS at the top, around 1,000 kills back, with 16,214. However, the fall off from the French and Slovakian snipers to the rest of the field is massive. Highest average rating: Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut (1.28 rating, 808 maps) From veterans to young blood, ZywOo is, in a sense, kennyS’ spiritual successor. It’s rather fitting that the young French AWPer follows in the footsteps of his predecessor in claiming the highest average rating in CS:GO history. ZywOo has only been on the scene since late 2016, but he’s quickly risen to become one of the best players of all time. The Vitality AWPer has always punched above his weight, even when his team has crumbled around him. Read More: The biggest upsets in CSGO history – His 1.28 rating across his over 800 career games is testament to how often the 20-year-old star shows up in the server. He might be quiet in interviews, but he lets his mechanics do the talking, often hauling his team over the line by collecting frags and clutches from seemingly nowhere. It’s obvious ZywOo’s a once-in-a-generation talent for French CS, and the hopes for the future of the scene rest on him to keep his amazing form up. Most MVPs: Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz (18 medals) The HLTV MVP medal is regarded as the single-biggest individual accolade to receive in CS:GO, aside from a place in the Top 20 every year. It recognizes the big players who come up huge in the most clutch moments at the high-pressure events. If there’s one team that has done that time-and-time again, it’s Astralis, and their AWPer dev1ce is the ice cold man behind that. Astralis have won a lot of tournaments in their time, with four majors under their belt, and plenty more big events, and dev1ce has been the star man in 15 of them. Read More: Can Astralis survive without dev1ce? – He picked up his first in 2015 at the PGL CS:GO Championship Series while still playing under the TSM banner, and hasn’t stopped since. He picked up seven medals in 2018 — more than every player bar seven have earned in their entire careers, as Astralis took hold of Counter-Strike. Dev1ce’s contemporaries in Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev and ZywOo are far behind the Dane with 12 and 11 medals a piece, showing just how key dev1ce was for Astralis. Highest headshot percentage: Adil ‘ScreaM’ Benrlitom (68.1%, 27,501 total kills) In CS:GO, there’s one player who has mastered the art of the headshot greater than everybody else — ScreaM. We all know that player who is ‘all aim, no brain’ in matchmaking, but ScreaM is the living embodiment of that subject at the pro level. Sure, to get to the top of Counter-Strike requires a good amount of game sense. However, that’s not what Benrlitom was good at. He was good at tapping heads, and spent hours upon hours honing his lethal ‘one-taps’. His kills were so clean, and his skills so dirty, that the one-tap became synonymous with ScreaM. Across his 27,501 kills (26th-highest in history), 68.1% of them were by headshot. He still holds the highest total amount of headshots at 18,724, and the highest headshots per round (0.5) average to boot, even though he hasn’t been on a top team in years. Sander ‘Grusarn’ Iversen and Johannes ‘b0RUP’ Borup round out the podium with 64% and 63.9%. However, they still have a long way to go to topple the master of one-taps himself, and it’s unlikely anyone will. Most clutches won: Richard ‘shox’ Papillon (732 1vx rounds won) When it comes down to the death, having a cool head on your shoulders helps. Being able to put the pressure aside and get the job done is easier said than done. Well, that’s if you aren’t shox. The French rifler has pulled out plenty of clutches in his time, keeping his teams in the game when all hope seemed lost. He’s won 732 rounds as the last man standing, which is over 45 games worth of clutches across his career. Read More: Top 10 clutches in CSGO history – These round wins have led to major titles for the 27-year-old Frenchman, who after almost 15 years as a professional Counter-Strike player, still manages to keep his cool at the end of every round. Only one other player has more than 700 clutch rounds won — Janusz ‘Snax’ Pogorzelski (701). Given how much success the two have seen in CS:GO, it proves that sometimes it’s not always mechanics, but good mental, that’s the key to winning. Longest game: XENEX vs. exceL (88 rounds on Inferno, ESL UK Premiership Season 1, 2015) 16 rounds to win. It’s a concept as old as time in Counter-Strike. However, after the 30 rounds are up, some teams can’t seem to sort it out and we head into overtime. Getting one or two overtimes to finally determine a winner is pretty common, and makes for pretty exciting CS. However, for XENEX and exceL, they needed six overtimes, and an extra 58 rounds, to finally break the deadlock. During the ESL UK Premiership in 2015, the two squads faced off in a best of three that went for over four hours. On Inferno, they traded blows for 88 rounds to make for the longest game of professional CS:GO to this day. Every player in the server picked up a 50-bomb as both teams just couldn’t close out on each other. They also played a game of Cache straight after which went to double overtime before XENEX managed to take the series 2-0. One can only imagine how map three would have played out. At a major level, 60 rounds were played between Astralis and CR4ZY at the StarLadder Berlin Major in 2019 on Dust 2. CR4ZY managed to take down the four-time major winners 31-29, breaking the record Astralis tied with just the day before against NRG with a 59-round game. Most played map: Mirage (18,237 games) While Dust 2 might be the map most synonymous with Counter-Strike, it’s far away from being the most popular map in a competitive sense. That record goes to Mirage, with over 18,000 listed games on HLTV on the map. Mirage is the only map to feature in every major map pool, so it makes sense that it’s the most played. There’s been periods where maps like Nuke (8,986), Inferno (15,820), and Dust 2 (10,713) have been rotated out, so they’ve fallen well behind Mirage. If we limit to maps in big events only (majors, other big tournaments), Inferno (730) does reign supreme over Mirage (715) — barely. Either way, both Mirage and Inferno are decisively more popular than some of their counterparts, and between them make up for 35% of all professional CS:GO games played. Has a record we’ve recorded been broken? Let us know on Twitter @Dexerto, and we will update the list.

PashaBiceps can’t believe his luck after receiving temporary ban in CS:GO Valve / Pasha TwitchLegendary CS:GO player Jarosław ‘pashaBiceps’ Jarząbkowski got a temporarily competitive ban from the team-shooter after “punishing” a teammate during a Wingman match. Valve have a strict anti-cheat implemented in their game, but it was actually Pasha’s in-game conduct that came back to bite him in hilarious fashion after trying to give his teammate a friendly wake up call, nothing more malicious. The former CS:GO pro was warming up for the day’s FACEIT matches with some games of Wingman (basically the 2 vs 2 version of Matchmaking) when he noticed that his duo wasn’t moving in the opening round. Since his partner was inactive, pasha was forced to take on the first Terrorist round by himself. While pasha is no stranger to pulling out clutches, this was one he wasn’t too keen on taking. “What the shit is going on, baby?” pasha said being left with 8 HP after killing a CT. “Hey! I need your help, mister!” Even with low health, pasha moved into the bombsite to get the plant, but his teammate was still unresponsive after he called out: “Wake up, Johnny! Wake up!” The last CT was closing in, and while pasha was able to clutch out the round he had a burning issue to take up with his teammate in the second round. “Holy shit,” pasha said to his stream. “Where is my man, guys. He should be punished after this. There you go baby. Don’t you ever fuc–” Pasha had thrown a molotov at his AFK teammate’s feet while tossing a grenade for good measure, which instantly got him a “Disconnected: You have been kicked and banned for killing teammates at round start.” After being banned, pasha was hysterically stunned, claiming that he had never killed a teammate in Wingman. Apparently, the Polish veteran wasn’t aware of the consequences for doing so, but it still landed him a 24-hour competitive ban. Of course, anyone that has been watching pasha’s ever-entertaining CS:GO streams for long enough, will know that the former Virtus.Pro star has most certainly fallen foul of being punished for damaging teammates in matchmaking in the past! Luckily, bans from CS:GO’s competitive Matchmaking and Wingman modes for leaving or damaging teammates do not prevent players from joining casual matches of playing third-party competitive PUGs on platforms like FACEIT or ESEA. The streamer moved onto some custom games to warm up and should be well aware to not burn the feet of his own Wingman when his temporary ban comes to an end.

CSGO pro nawwk fires jab at NIP after Major ‘revenge’: “Karma sure does exist” Stephanie Lindgren/BLASTApeks AWPer Tim ‘nawwk’ Jonasson couldn’t help but take a jab at Ninjas in Pyjamas after knocking out his former team from the BLAST Paris Major. The Swedish AWPer played an important role as Apeks beat NIP 2-0 to book a spot in the playoff stage of the Paris Major and knock the Ninjas out of the tournament. For nawwk, it was personal. The 25-year-old had to make way for Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz when NIP signed the Danish superstar in April 2021, and spent eight months on the bench before finally joining Apeks. In May 2022, Dexerto revealed that NIP were embroiled in a dispute with current and former CS:GO players over outstanding sticker money from the canceled 2020 Rio Major. nawwk was reportedly set to take legal action against NIP, who were the only organization that did not pay the players their share of the sticker sales, according to the Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association (CSPPA). Minutes after his team eliminated NIP from the Major, nawwk aimed a dig at NIP, saying: “Karma sure does exit.” His tweet prompted responses from many community figures and fellow pro players, including dev1ce. The Danish player, who also had a turbulent tenure with NIP, tweeted a crown emoji. Joakim ‘jkaem’ Myrbostad, who also plays for Apeks, wrote: “I can guarantee you will get sticker money this time, brother.” Apeks will face Team Liquid on Friday in the tournament’s quarter-finals in a rematch of May 8’s Challenger Stage game, which the European team won 16-12.

CSGO pro Jamppi sues Valve over permanent VAC ban Stephanie Lindgren for DreamHackRising CSGO star Elias ‘Jamppi’ Olkkonen has reportedly sued Valve for damages over a permanent VAC ban that prevented the player from signing with OG. Jamppi had his CS:GO career taken away from him before it even began. The rising Finnish star of European Counter-Strike was VAC banned in 2015, years before he started making waves in the professional scene. Now, at 18, almost five years on, the player alleges the permanent suspension from Valve is damaging his career, and preventing him from doing his job. According to a report by DBLTAP, Jamppi has filed legal proceedings against the multi-billion dollar developer over what the player claims is a false VAC ban. The lawsuit, filed in Finland where Jamppi lives, alleges the player bought a copy of CS:GO for a friend in 2015 so they could play together at a LAN party. After the party, Jamppi sold the account, but received a VAC ban months afterwards. When Jamppi contacted Valve to state he no longer had access to the account in question, the company allegedly told the player that the ban would remain. VAC bans prevent players from participating in Valve-sanctioned tournaments, but not ESL, Dreamhack, BLAST, or Flashpoint events. Jamppi alleges this was the reason he was unable to sign with OG, even after multiple attempts to contact Valve in regards to overturning the ban more recently. You’ve all been waiting for this! After 4 Majors and 2 TI on Dota 2 it’s now time to tame another colossus.Welcome to our OG CS:GO team:@NBK@Officialvalde@AleksibCSGO@m4ntuu @ISSAAcsgoDo you want to see more? It’s here: https://t.co/UMKKnD6S8q#DreamOG pic.twitter.com/f3my8Blrtl — OG Counter-Strike (@OGcsgo) December 4, 2019 Jamppi reportedly also reached out to the Counter-Strike Professional Players Association (CSPPA) to get assistance from the player’s union. While the union initially helped the Finn, discussions eventually went silent, according to reports. The CSPPA declined to comment on the situation, saying that “it has evolved to a legal proceeding which CSPPA is not a party to. “We have earlier been in dialogue with the manager and the lawyer of Jamppi and will continue the dialogue and follow the case,” the union said in a statement. “It is the position of CSPPA the integrity of the game is of utmost importance.” Under section 1C of the Steam Subscriber Agreement, users “may therefore not sell or charge others for the right to use your Account…other than if specifically permitted by Valve.” Jamppi is currently signed with SJ Gaming, but hasn’t represented the organization since December 2019. Valve are yet to comment on proceedings.

CSGO pro Jamppi sued wrong company over Valve VAC ban YouTube: ENCEProfessional CS:GO player, Elias ‘Jamppi’ Olkkonen, currently engaged in a legal battle over his ban from Valve-sponsored tournaments due to a VAC ban, apparently sued the wrong company in pursuing damages.[jwplayer c30d8Kdj] The 18-year-old player is hoping to see his Major tournament ban lifted, as well as seeking €268,092 in compensation for earnings missed out on due to the punishment. Valve responded to the lawsuit in May 2020, and their response has been obtained by Finnish website Ilta-Sanomat. The company that Jamppi sued, and who responded, was Valve GmbH – not Valve Corporation. Valve Corp is the company founded in 1996 that owns and operates Counter-Strike, while Valve GmbH is a subsidiary founded in 2016. In their response, Valve GmbH rejected Olkkonen’s complaint on all grounds, stating that he has brought an action against the “wrong company” and on “the wrong grounds.” Valve GmbH is focused on manufacturing and technology, not on the software of games made by Valve, and “does not own or manage the CS game or its licenses in any way.” The German company was not even around at the time of the VAC ban in question, in 2015. Additionally, according to the response, the District Court of Eastern Uusimaa has no jurisdiction to hear the case because Valve GmbH is based in Germany, and does not conduct any business in Finland. The reply also states that the claim for damages of over 250,000 Euros is also unfounded, because the company cannot be responsible for a third party organization not entering an employment contract with Jamppi. Valve GmbH argues that “The district court should therefore dismiss the case as inadmissible before incurring further legal costs.” Jamppi, who plays for ENCE, remains ineligible to compete in CS:GO Majors, because a Steam account previously associated with him was VAC banned in 2015. The player claims that he had not been using the account at that time, and is hoping his tournament ban can be lifted now that he is performing at the highest level.

CSGO pro inventories: NaVi’s skins revealed Dexerto Natus Vincere are currently one of the world’s best Counter-Strike team, but what goodies do they have in their inventory? Let’s take a look at s1mple and co’s players’ corner. NaVi soared to pole position in the 2020 CS:GO rankings. After a string of roster changes, the CIS squad seem to have found the perfect formula for success under the guidance of Counter-Strike legend, Andrii ‘Blad3’ Gorodenskyi. Aside from all of their successes, the five-man roster boasts an impressive array of skins in their loadout. So together with CS.MONEY, we take a peek at the squad’s impressive arsenal of cosmetics and highlight the hidden treasures in each player’s inventory. Kirill ‘Boombl4’ Mikhailov Starting off with NaVi’s in-game leader and entry fragger, the highlight of his skin collection is without a doubt the Slaughter Butterfly Knife (~$840 USD). With a float value of 0.039, the Factory New Knife is BoombI4’s feature piece in a pretty modest inventory. Supplementing his Butterfly Knife are the Slaughter Hand Wraps. With a wear of 0.121, the Minimal Wear gloves perfectly compliment the centerpiece of his collection. Take a look at some of the highlights of the 21-year-old’s inventory below. Denis ‘electronic’ Sharipov The feature of electronic’s collection are his Crimson Kimono Specialist Gloves. Since they’re on the more worn side (0.248; Field-Tested), there are some mild abrasions across the surface of the gloves. But that doesn’t take away from their value; if you’re looking to add these to your collection, they’ll set you back around $950. Although, if you’re looking to add the Factory New variation, they can set you back as much as $5,000! Electronic sports two knives (presumably one for each side). Both his Karambit Doppler and Classic Knife Slaughter are estimated to hold a combined worth of just over $1,000. Although that isn’t all that’s inside the Russian’s collection, which is summarized below. Ilia ‘Perfecto’ Zalutskii Perfecto came into NaVi with big shoes to fill, after replacing Ladislav ‘GuardiaN’ Kovács in the starting lineup — a player known for having an inventory brimming with goodies. The 20-year-old sports a comparatively low-key skin collection, with the M9 Bayonet Doppler being his most prized possession. With next to no wear and tear, his Factory New M9 (0.031) is accompanied by the traditional Bayonet in the same Doppler variation. Combined both blades are worth $825, and form the focal point of the youngster’s inventory. Egor ‘flamie’ Vasilev NaVi’s most long-standing member holds stock of some impressive skins, the highlight of which is his Paracord Crimson Web. Introduced in November 2019 as part of the Shattered Web Collection, the Crimson Web is the second most expensive knife that can be pulled from that case. Flamie’s specific variant (with two web centers on the play-side of the blade) will set you back north of $560, if you also manage to snag it in Field-Tested. Flamie possesses a Crimson Web Survival Knife, as well as a set of Specialist Gloves with the same lick of paint. Details for both of these and more can be seen below. Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev Last but certainly not least is NaVi’s star-man, s1mple. While the Ukranian holds an impressive list of accolades, his inventory is arguably equally as impressive. There’s no doubt that his one-of-a-kind Souvenir AWP Dragon Lore is the most coveted skin in s1mple’s collection. Commemorating the Group Stage match versus mousesports, the Field-Tested skin is marked with s1mple’s signature — who was dubbed the MVP of the round in which it was dropped. The estimated value for this piece is over $9,000 and rising… Which is no surprise, considering its rarity. Not only does NaVi’s frontman hold his very own Souvenir AWP, but he also rocks the AWP Gungnir — recently introduced as part of the Norse Collection. S1mple’s inventory is one which most players can only dream of, so take a look at some more of the 22-year-old’s skins below. So that wraps up NaVi’s stacked inventory. Which player’s inventory were you most impressed by?

CSGO pro interrupted by shirtless Dad during Major qualifiers Valve/The SummitOnline tournaments can always bring about some weird and wacky scenarios, but this CS:GO pro was interrupted by his shirtless father while trying to clutch up for his team during a Major qualifier. The past year has definitely caused some major changes to esports, mostly due to the loss of LAN events and everything being moved online. While LAN has started to crop up again, with Valorant and League of Legends tournaments heading to Iceland, this isn’t an option for most esports and tournaments at the time of this incident. So, playing at the Beyond the Summit CSGO event and fighting for some all-important RMR points, fans were treated to a very exclusive look behind the scenes of one player’s slightly unique perspective while trying to qualify for the PGL Major Stockholm. Every gamer the world over knows the pain of being distracted while trying to play, no matter what game it is. Not many, though, know that pain when there’s some serious cash up for grabs. At the Beyond the Summit event on May 23, while playing for Bad News Bears against the serious CS talent on Extremum, Gabe ‘Spongey’ Greiner got an unexpected visit from his father in true Dad fashion. In the second round of their opening match against Extremum, Spongey is chasing down the final kill when someone — presumably his Dad — walks in, without a shirt, Dad-bod on show, and not a care in the world. The casters absolutely loved it, joking that they “might see a timeout” and faux-whining to “Get out of my room, Dad!” Spongey himself didn’t look too entertained, but it’s fair to say that everyone watching the broadcast was. Bad News Bears ended up losing in two very tight maps to Extremum, but it probably wouldn’t be fair to pin that on Spongey’s dad.

CSGO pro’s match preparation goes haywire after hot coffee accident A CSGO pro player has demonstrated why you should always be careful when drinking at your desk, after breaking his keyboard at a LAN event. Liquids and electronics do not mix. They are as compatible for each other as oil and water, and usually spilling liquids over your keyboard, mouse, or headset spells the end for said peripheral. While most players can avoid mixing the two together, sometimes accidents happen. Maybe you misplaced the cup of water on your desk and it tipped over, or it went down the wrong pipe and you’ve accidentally spat it all back out over your desk. Most of the time, no one really knows you’ve done it — except when it happens on camera at a major LAN event. That’s exactly what happened to Johannes ‘tabseN’ Wodarz in the lead-up to BIG versus Ninjas in Pyjamas at the ESL Season 10 Pro League Europe LAN in London. As the players were warming up for the best of three, tabseN found himself scurrying to save his keyboard after spilling his coffee over his desk. Read more: Tarik weighs in on “overpowered” Krieg – An admin ran over with a bunch of paper towels, while the rest of his team laughed at the German frantically trying to save his precious peripherals. His Corsair K63 didn’t survive the pre-game coffee attack, with the player forced to go out the back and find a replacement. The game started without a hitch in the end, but there was no doubt tabseN was feeling a bit embarrassed about the whole situation. Sadly, tabseN isn’t the first victim of stray liquids at a LAN event, and probably won’t be the last. Cloud 9 League of Legends player Dennis ‘Svenskeren’ Johnsen spilled water over his keyboard not once, but twice at Worlds 2018. The team’s Twitter ended up making a meme out of it, with the ‘Spillskeren Sippy Cup’ being all the rage on social media during the tournament. While Cloud 9 did find success after Svenskeren’s accident, the same can’t be said for BIG, who weren’t prepared for NiP’s onslaught at ESL Pro League. The Swedes took down the Germans in convincing fashion with a 16-1 thrashing on Train, before rounding out the series 19-16 on Nuke. tabseN himself didn’t have a great day, managing a rating of only 0.79 over the two maps. He almost pulled off a 1v3 clutch on Nuke, but was cut short by Fredrik ‘REZ’ Sterner, which pretty much summed up BIG’s day. The result put them at the bottom of Group A without a win to their name, after G2 Esports took down North 2-0 in the other game on the day.

CS:GO pro hits out at eUnited over roster drama Professional Counter-Strike player Ryan ‘freakazoid’ Abadir ripped esports organization eUnited on stream calling them “snakes” for questionable recruitment practices. The pro Counterstrike player was on stream discussing the situation between him, his brother Austin ‘Cooper-‘ Abadir and eUnited. Freakazoid called out eUnited for hurting the relationship between him and his brother, saying “eUnited, fuck you too, you guys are pieces of shit.” “You know what me and brother were trying to do this entire time,” Freakazoid said, referencing eUnited. “Fuck you guys, next time don’t fucking do that shit. You have to bullshit all these contracts? Send him the good one first!” Read More: Could you be the next FaZe House Manager? – “Treat him like a good player, this wouldn’t have been an issue, fuck you,” Freakazoid rages at the screen. The drama comes from eUnited offering Cooper- a contract, causing him to leave the team he was on with his brother, Freakazoid. Their team was in the midst of an incredible run in the Mountain Dew Pro League, with a good shot at making it into the next season of the ESL Pro League. With Cooper- taking eUnited’s deal, though, the future of that team is now in jeopardy, which is what led Freakazoid to go on this lengthy rant. In the end, Freakazoid puts all the blame on eUnited, “You knew what we were trying to do, but you do that shit, you snakes, you guys are motherfucking snakes man.” eUnited have since been in talks with Freakazoid’s team and will be loaning Brandon ‘Ace’ Winn to them for the remainder of the MDL season. So after talking with @clerkie for awhile, @eUnitedgg will be loaning us @LetMeAce for the remainder of the @ESEA MDL season, and play-offs. Roster will be me, swag, marke, freakazoid, ace. — Zellsis (@Zellsis) November 2, 2018

Hiko explains why s1mple on Team Liquid’s CS:GO roster could never have lasted Adela Sznajder/DreamHackNorth American CS:GO pro Spencer ‘Hiko’ Martin has revealed why the Team Liquid line-up he played on with Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev was never destined to last longer than it did. S1mple spent two stints on the Team Liquid squad in 2016, and prior to the team’s more recent ascent as one of the top teams in the world they were the most successful periods in TL’s history in CS:GO. Unfortunately it wasn’t to last, and despite some ground-breaking results s1mple and Team Liquid parted ways, with the Ukranian super-star instead taking his talents to Na’Vi. Why did the Team Liquid line-up fall apart? What that Team Liquid line-up might have been capable of if they had remained as a squad throughout that period and going forward is one of the great what-ifs of CS:GO, but according to Hiko it could never have happened. Read more: Top 20 highest earning CS:GO pro players – S1mple’s ascent to his current position as the world’s greatest player was arguably delayed by his infamously difficult personality during his early years as a pro, and Team Liquid’s Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski has also been called out for being hard to work with in the past. According to Hiko, the clash between these two players was irreparable. “At the time, the way that S1mple’s personality was and the way that EliGE’s personality was, there’s no way that we would’ve been able to keep both of them. It just would not have happened. There were so many problems we had and so many fights we got into that were just stupid fights if you were on the outside looking in, that it just would not have worked.” S1mple has himself attributed his departure from Team Liquid to his own desire to return to his home country of Ukraine, but Hiko thinks that even if he’d chosen to stay in the US it would only have been a matter of time before the team broke apart anyway. “I don’t want to say that it ever came to a decision we had to make between keeping S1mple or keeping EliGE, but it would have gotten there eventually.” [Discussion begins at 28:33 for mobile users] By all accounts, both players have massively improved their attitudes when it comes to working with other players, with more recent teammates of s1mple and EliGE praising their respective transformations. It seems that at the time when they played together, however, having both on one team was never going to work for long. Team Liquid with S1mple While they never claimed a significant title, or even managed anything like the consistently elite showings of the modern Team Liquid, the s1mple-era TL did help raise the bar for North American performance, particularly at the most important events of all – the Majors. With the fragging power of the player who would go on to be near-unanimously hailed as the best player in the world, perhaps even the greatest of all time, Team Liquid were able to reach the quarter-finals of the MLG Columbus Major, then matching the record for the best run by a North American team. They were defeated in two maps by eventual champions Luminosity, with both going to overtime. S1mple would ultimately part ways with the team shortly after, with rumors suggesting that internal discord was the source of the fracture. After officially leaving the squad, s1mple did later return as a stand-in, most notably for the ESL One Cologne Major later in 2016. There, they went even further than in Columbus, becoming the first NA team to reach the grand finals in which they were again defeated by the Brazilians, who were now playing as SK Gaming. That was s1mple’s last tournament with Team Liquid.

CSGO pro Hiko baited by fans with hilarious Cache update prank L: DreamHack / R: ValveCounter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Spencer ‘Hiko’ Martin fell for a fake leak of the new DE_Cache map while streaming on August 8. Hiko is a veteran Counter-Strike player that has been active since 2011 and has played for top teams like compLexity Gaming and Team Liquid. He last played for a competitive team in May 2019 and has been focusing on streaming since that point. It was in one of his usual CS:GO streams where the American fell for a fake leak linked to him by one of his fans. The fan claimed that he had images of the new Cache update and Hiko immediately believed him. The Counter-Strike veteran opened up the image and saw a few side-by-side comparisons of the new and old Cache map. He began analyzing the map. “A-site is not terrible, it looks pretty normal,” noted Spencer. Looking at the next image, he added: “Mid looks like (Counter-Strike) Source to me. It looks exactly like Source.” The American seemed to like the look of the map so far and continued onto the last image before he realized that something was amiss. “Wait, is this source? Oh, ok good one chat, I was pretending of course.” Hiko finally figured out that it was a fake and he was being shown images of the Source version of the map. He tried to save face by saying he was pretending and laughing it off, but the chat knew that he got baited. His chat immediately filled with JeBaited and LUL emotes as his viewers were overjoyed by catching him out. Elsewhere, a Reddit thread on the subject quickly gained popularity with CSGO fans as users enjoyed his reaction – even though some were confused about how he could not tell that it was an old map. The real updated version of Cache is still a mystery, however, it is set to be revealed on September 29 at ESL One New York, where the creators of the map will discuss the changes, and an official show-match will be played. Yet, we can guarantee that it won’t look the original Source map.

CSGO pro Friberg explains why NiP CEO hate ‘is unjustified’ Twitter: FribergCS / ChahineHichamCounter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Adam ‘friberg’ Friberg became the latest ex-Ninjas in Pyjamas player to give his opinion about the organization after it was accused of player mistreatment. Friberg is a veteran Counter-Strike player who rose to fame with the legendary NiP squad that dominated the early days of CS:GO. He left the organization in 2017 and still plays at a high level, representing Heroic. NiP was accused of player mistreatment in July 2019 by ex-player Robin ‘Fifflaren’ Johansson, and has since been a point of controversy in the CS:GO scene. Other professional players also accused the organization and an investigation was launched in August. After a period of silence from other NiP members, Friberg has come out to share his experience with the Swedish company. The ex-NiP player spoke about his experience with the team during a stream on September 4, giving fans a small rundown of how things went over the years. He spoke in-depth about current CEO Hicham Chahine, telling his viewers: “When Hacham took over in 2016, NiP got a lot better. I don’t think the hate he’s getting is justified.” “But then he found a loophole in my contract that meant he didn’t have to pay my prize winnings, and that hurt a lot” added Friberg. The player was hurt by Hicham’s actions but made it clear to viewers that even with that, it was better than before. He recalled 2014-2015 as the worst period, claiming “management wise and everything else, it was awful.” Friberg then gave an example, saying that the management at the time used his brand for a “king of banana ice cream promotion” which he “didn’t see a penny from” and felt that they had ripped him off. Later in the stream, the Swedish player gave his overall opinion of the organization, stating that “NiP wouldn’t be where they are without me and the rest of the CS:GO team. We built NiP to what it is today… and it felt like they didn’t care about me or what I had done for NiP at all. It felt like a huge punch in the stomach.” He finished off by saying he had moved past it and that’s the reason he wasn’t keen to share his story. “I was young, I didn’t sign good contracts. It sucks, but I have to move on” said friberg, and he advised his fans to always pay attention to contracts.

CSGO pro fox suspended for sexist comments about ex-teammates girlfriend FraglideFormer G2 and FaZe Clan CS:GO pro, Ricardo ‘fox’ Pacheco, has been suspended by the Vodafone Giants, following comments he made about a former teammate’s girlfriend in a post-match interview. The 33-year-old was speaking in an interview after a win in the LPCS, when he said that if former teammate, João “KILLDREAM” Ferreira’s girlfriend was his girlfriend, he would have hit her because of her behavior. On January 28, Vodafone Giants confirmed that they would be suspending fox for a month without pay, prohibited from playing in any competition. KILLDREAM previously played with fox for Giants, before joining Keyd Stars in August 2019. Giant’s statement in full (translated from Spanish) reads: “After reviewing the interview by Ricardo Pacheco “Fox” and acknowledging that Ricardo made sexist comments, taking in consideration his twenty plus years of professionalism without any wrongdoings, Vodafone Giants believes this is a grave infraction and will suspend the player for a period of one month. “Ricardo has shown he is deeply sorry to his teammates and especially his female teammates.” Following his comments and subsequent suspension, fox responded and apologized on Twitter. He admitted that his comments were inexcusable, and regrets the incident. He also explained that he is aware children may have been watching, and as a father himself, was ashamed of his remarks. “Last Sunday I made some comments post-match that I would like to apologize for publicly,” he said. “I am not a violent person nor have I had any history of violence. In my 20 years of career, this has never happened before.” As minhas sinceras desculpas! 👍🏻 pic.twitter.com/FZr5C5CNIN — Ricardo Pacheco (@foxgringoCS) January 28, 2020 “What I said shouldn’t be said,” fox concluded, “I know there are kids watching and I am also a father, so I want to set a good example. I hereby apologize.” He finished by saying that he will accept any punishment which the team sets for him as a result. His suspension means he will not be able to participate in the Europe Minor Qualifier, the path to the ESL One major in Rio in May 2020.

CSGO pro fnx accused of leaking private video of Twitch streamer without consent ESL / Instagram: renataschozenProfessional CS:GO player Lincoln ‘fnx’ Lau has been accused by Twitch streamer and esports host Renata ‘Elfa’ Schozen of sharing private videos of them together without her permission. He allegedly shared them in a WhatsApp group. On January 5, Schozen explained that she and fnx had started a physical relationship in 2019. During the relationship, fnx recorded an intimate video of them together, which Schozen alleges he later sent to WhatsApp group without her consent. Schozen explains that she was made aware of the incident from three separate people, explaining that regardless of whether the video was made with consent, distributing it publicly was not. Alongside a screenshot of the video in question, the streamer shared a conversation with fnx via Instagram. Depois de ler tantas coisas aqui, me sinto na obrigação de fazer isso. ⚠️ EXPOSED – CS:GO:””Rei Delas”

CSGO pro Fer confirms he’s unhurt after car crash Adela Sznajder for DreamHackFormer MiBR CSGO star Fernando ‘fer’ Alvarenga has taken to social media to confirm that nobody was injured after images of his damaged car surfaced online. The Brazilian Counter-Strike star was reportedly involved in a road traffic accident on November 6, nearly destroying one of his prized possessions in the process. It is not clear what caused the accident but the player’s Instagram and Twitter posts state, fortunately, everyone involved escaped unharmed. The only casualty of the unfortunate event appears to the car. “Nobody got hurt,” read Fer’s IG story. Moving to Twitter, the 28-year old thanked everyone for “messages of concern” before saying it was time to bring the “[BMW] Z4 out of the garage.” Fer also commented on people that wished him ill on social media. “It is quite scary how many people hope for the disgrace of others. Instead of envying the other, use motivation to conquer your things,” he added on Twitter. F Uber Celta 🥵 Brincadeiras à parte, obrigado pelas mensagens de preocupação! Ninguém se machucou que é o que importa. E bem material nois corre atrás! Tirar a z4 da garagem e voltar pro uber 🤪😜 TMJ geral 🤜🏾🤛🏾 — Fernando Alvarenga (@fer) November 6, 2020 Images that surfaced on Twitter showed fer standing next to his damaged car by the side of a road with all passengers safe and most damage appearing in a material form. His Porsche is seen to have gone into a fence, and will definitely need to be taken to the mechanic as a result. Fer is an icon in the CSGO scene after his time in the Luminosity, SK, and MiBR teams in which he won numerous titles and two Majors. He was recently dropped from the MiBR roster, and has since taken a break from competitive play. Fer’s contribution to the CSGO scene is significant and we’re happy nobody got hurt in the incident. Hopefully he will be able to make a return to the server soon.