Author: Nik Ranger

CSGO December 17 patch notes: “Donate” feature, Apollo & Elysion changes ValveCounter-Strike: Global Offensive’s latest patch on December 17 has finally added a long-requested “donate” feature, drawing inspiration from Valorant. A number of changes to new maps Apollo and Elysion were shipped as well. Operation Broken Fang has given CS:GO players some long-awaited attention and new content from Valve. The new operation has breathed some life into the FPS title, with a host of new maps, skins, and content for players to grind for. However, that’s not all. Valve are actually putting some nice quality of life changes into CS:GO to make the experience better. First it was stat trackers in the new Broken Fang update. Now, Valve is adding a new Donate feature, similar to Valorant’s request feature, CS:GO players can now use. Release Notes for today are up. We’ve updated Broken Fang Agents, fixed bugs associated with incorrect star progression, and added a donation key (CTRL) when purchasing a weapon to donate to teammates without dropping your primary weapon. This and more: https://t.co/DVfCkfQwRb — CS2 (@CounterStrike) December 18, 2020 New Donate feature added to CS:GO The Donate feature in CS:GO allows players to buy weapons for their allies without having to do a juggling act. All players need to do is hold down the “buy menu donation key,” default bound to Control, and buy a gun. This will donate your weapon to an ally without the need of dropping your own one. It’s a basic feature for now, but one that will still be used by CS:GO players. The next evolution of this would be a request and sell feature — just like Valorant — but there’s no timeline for this to be implemented. Map fixes for Apollo, Elysion, more Outside of the new Donate feature, no major game-changing updates were shipped. However, a few of the new maps were updated after a couple of weeks of release. Apollo is a bit less CT sided now, with less cover across popular angles and the spawn to “make it easier to clear.” Elysion has had a number of pixelwalks patched out too that let players get to places they weren’t meant to. Anubis and Guard were also changed, but they were simpler updates. Valve even gave a shoutout to YouTuber 3kliksphilip, who is bound to find “some other minor things” on Anubis. You can find the full CS:GO December 17 update patch notes here. CS:GO December 17 patch notes Operation Broken Fang Adjusted first person arm models for Operation Broken Fang agents. – Adjusted end of match animations for Operation Broken Fang master agents. – Fixed a bug that could allow extra stars to be earned from missions. Going forward players will be correctly limited to receiving the total number of stars available from all unlocked cards. – Kick player vote is now disabled in Broken Fang Premier pick/ban arenas. – Fixed kill distance in missions UI to be correctly rounded for display. – Miscellaneous Added 2021 Service Medal to be awarded for outstanding service and achievement starting from January 1, 2021 GMT. – Donate weapons to teammates in need! Hold the buy menu donation key (CTRL by default) when purchasing a weapon to donate to teammates without dropping your primary weapon. You can change the “Buy Menu Donation Key” in settings. – Game settings now have a search box to quickly find and jump to any setting or key binding. – Zeus restrictions in Casual, Wingman, and Competitive modes are now the same as all other weapons. – Adjusted Retakes clip areas in Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Train, and Vertigo – Maps Guard Repacked radar – Elysion Fixed a pixelwalk outside on the glass. – Fixed a pixelwalk on the Elysion sign on A site – Fixed a pixelwalk on the umbrellas outside. – Fixed the pixelwalks on the doorframes – Players were able to jump on top of the A sign on A site – Player were able to jump on top of the small palm plant – Players were able to 2 man boost outside and see into the site from an unfair position – Players were able to run boost on the windows railing on A site – The ladder outside has been removed – Reduced the foilage outside, players were able to hide – Waterfalls have been deleted from the white walls. Caused the smoke to become see through. – Apollo Reduced props that draw for people on very low and low settings to hopefully help FPS levels across the map. (Thanks Shavitish) – Reduced CT spawn Cover to make it easier to clear – Improved model shuttle collsions to make walking over nicer – Reduced non-designed headpeaks across map (Thanks CF-166) – Fixed car fade in CT spawn (Thanks Sylikoira) – Fixed a few boost exploits – Updated to radar to a more simple single layer one – Reduced foliage over key angle (Near moonroom/CT spawn) – Fixed a number of grammar and spelling mistakes (Thanks Dogman15 + Marisakiri) – Anubis Widened A main entrance – Simplified A connector area – Got rid of the deep corner below the windows on A – Got rid of the wall near the pillar at Waterfalls A site and reduced some corners to hide in as a CT – Some other minor things 3kliksphillip will probably find out –

CS:GO: December 13 update brings changes and fixes to Danger Zone, Blacksite, and more – Patch Notes Developers Valve have released a new game update for Counter-Striker: Global Offensive that has made improvements to several of the game’s features. The update was released on December 13, and it includes changes to the new Danger Zone battle royale mode, the Blacksite map, and more. One of the key improvements for Danger Zone has to do with time, as the waiting for players time in warm-up has been reduced and the matchmaking time has been improved. Three audio changes have been made to the mode, including the addition of a new sound cue for when explosives on the safe detonate. Additionally, volume of selected rappel destination sound and rappel helicopter have both been lowered and the incorrect parachute sound playing during warm-up has been fixed. Danger Zone is CS:GO’s brand new battle royale mode. The update also addresses several issues in the Blacksite map – the see-through model near the picnic area has been fixed, as well as the issue causing players to get stuck in tree in town. The underwater displacement have been smoothed out to fix players getting stuck, and the floating item spawn point near outlet has also been addressed. Blacksite is the first, and currently only playable map in the Danger Zone battle royale mode. As for all other changes, the scoreboard in the UI has been fixed after it was not populating correctly at times, and the Alpha on UMP-45 Momentum has been updated. This update has released in what has been a busy week for CS:GO developers and players. On December 6, the highly anticipated Danger Zone battle royale mode was launched, as well as a whole new set of weapon variants called the Danger Zone Collection. The game itself was also turned free-to-play, and a Prime system was implemented to offer exclusive perks, items, item drops, and weapon cases to players who pay for the upgraded status. The recently released Danger Zone Collection was one of the several new additions in CS:GO in the last few weeks.

CSGO community debates dropping Terrorist and Counter-Terrorist team names Members of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive competitive community have once again stirred up debate about altering the game to become more advertiser-friendly. There is no denying that CS:GO is one of the biggest esports titles in the world as it has a rabid fanbase and easy to understand concept compared to others. One team playing as the terrorist side is aiming to destroy a bomb site, while the counter-terrorists attempt to stop them, or defuse an active device. However, using the phrases terrorist and counter-terrorist can be controversial, even if the franchise does have roots that stretch back 20 years. This debate has once again raised its head, with some putting forward changes that could attract more sponsors and mainstream attention. Following the conclusion of ESL One New York, where victory was claimed by Evil Geniuses, ESL’s Michal ‘Carmac’ Bicharz ran a poll about changing the teams from Terrorist and Counter-Terrorists after Rod ‘Slasher’ Breslau argued that they could, and maybe should. At the time of writing, the voting has heavily favored the current iteration of names, with 69% of over 13,000 voters wanting to keep the names. Yet, not everyone has been unwilling to change. So @Slasher says @CSGO should rename Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists to Offense and Defence. Thoughts? — Michal Blicharz (@mbCARMAC) September 30, 2019 While many replied to the post with a straight-up no, others like former CSGO and Call of Duty player Alex ‘LeX’ Deily noted that there could be a positive impact. In fact, LeX stated that Counter-Strike could very well follow in the footsteps of CoD by using “attack and defend” instead, as it is “sanitized but more importantly, understandable.” Attack and Defend was always the COD standard. Sanitized but more importantly, understandable. — sasha (@TheUltraLex) September 30, 2019 Popular CS:GO YouTuber Anomaly also agreed with that stance, explaining that it could have a positive impact on his channel – as he wouldn’t have to use the word ‘terrorist’ in a video, therefore avoiding possible demonization. However, the Swede also saw the flip side of things, stating that there could be a negative reaction from long-time players as he wasn’t sure “everyone would be so happy” with a change. It would help with sponsors I’m sure and videos wouldn’t be demonetized for having ”Terrorist” in the title but after soooo many years of T & CT I’m not sure everyone would be so happy with it. — Anomaly (@anomalyxd) September 30, 2019 Despite some fans understanding the perceived need to change, Counter-Strike map designer FMPONE – who showed off the second iteration of Cache at ESL One New York – wasn’t too happy. The map designer claimed that “appeasement is absolutely futile,” and that “authenticity is worth fighting for.” Appeasement is absolutely futile, authenticity is worth fighting for. — FMPONE :cityscape::statue_of_liberty: (@FMPONE) September 30, 2019 Of course, any change to the game’s current system would undoubtedly be a sweeping one, and Valve would have to consider taking on the thoughts of everyone involved first. Whether they make a change remains to be seen, but there is clearly understanding from portions of the fanbase already that an update could launch the game’s competitive scene to a whole new level.

CSGO crackdown continues as Valve bans Steam accounts worth nearly $6 million ValveThe CSGO crackdown on accounts linked to gambling sites continues as Valve bans Steam accounts with inventories worth up to $6 million collectively. CSGO skin trading is currently in the midst of a massive ban wave. Despite the lucrative nature of the skin market, and even being a full-time job for some, Valve can ban traders’ accounts without warning. And it has been happening throughout 2023, as since May, traders who have dealt with gambling sites in the past are getting banned en masse, as Valve cracks down on certain sites. And on June 28, dozens of high-value accounts were hit with community bans. All of which were speculated to be in association with CSGO Roll. The following day, the bans are not slowing down, as a new wave just wiped thousands of high-value inventories off the market. In a Tweet by skin trader Pickle, they highlighted that in just the last 24 hours, 82 accounts have been banned, with a collective $5,885,195 USD worth of value in their inventories. According to skin database site Pricempire, there were many other bans afterward as well, showing the trend isn’t slowing down. However, many accounts are unbanned after appeal, if the community ban was due to simple infractions like commenting on profiles. The bans started when a rival site to CSGO Roll, CSGO Empire, shared a document alleging CSGO traders had been engaged in a scheme to “illegally launder” crypto through CSGORoll withdrawals. Following this post, a number of the accounts provided in the spreadsheet were banned. However, CSGO Roll’s owner refuted the claims and said that “things have gotten too far” after several skin traders who were allegedly innocent were caught in the crossfire, with millions of dollars worth of skins gone in a flash.

CSGO cracks down on griefing in July 21 update with harsher punishments ValveAfter trying to stop voice toxicity with reports, Valve is stepping up their game with CS:GO griefing on July 21. The latest update will more quickly ban players who get reported for trolling their teammates. We’ve all played with one griefer in CS:GO before. No matter if they buy a Negev and run down mid every round aiming at the sky, or deliberately try to get you to team kill them so you get kicked, they’re inevitable. Sometimes you get them once in a blue moon, and then get a string of them in matchmaking. It’s infuriating, but all you can do is report them and move on. Now, those reports will actually mean something. Valve is implementing a system similar to the one they did for toxicity to properly punish griefers in CS:GO matchmaking. The July 21 update tweaked the reporting algorithm, meaning “players that receive unusually high amounts of griefing reports will get a warning, followed by escalating competitive cooldowns.” While it doesn’t amount to a VAC ban, it’s very similar to how toxicity bans work. Players get warned first, then if it escalates, Valve mutes them in competitive games for a set period. Release Notes for today are up. We’re shipping updates to griefing reports and how those are acted on, Dreams & Nightmare submissions may be tagged on the Workshop, and Pitstop and Mocha have received updates: https://t.co/qnFRvHYPEv — CS2 (@CounterStrike) July 22, 2021 However, players are concerned this system could be abused by four-stacks in matchmaking who mass report their teammates, leading to unfair bans. That one game might not be enough to justify an “unusually high amount” of reports, but consistent griefing will — as long as players use the in-game report function to catch offenders. The CS:GO July 21 update also includes map changes for Pitstop and Mocha. You can find the full patch notes below. CS:GO July 21 update notes Dreams & Nightmares Added a checkbox for workshop submissions to be entered into the Dreams & Nightmares Contest. – Matchmaking Players that receive unusually high amounts of griefing reports will get a warning, followed by escalating competitive cooldowns. – Maps Pitstop Patched hole in clipping on upper balcony. – Improved skybox and fog. – Fixed broken collision model on bombsite tent. – Removed pixel walk on outside box. – Added dev texture. – Mocha Several windows opened in B site to allow for grenade throws. – Wall from CT spawn into Middle raised to remove a boost. – Added a trash bin in front of T spawn to self jump up. – Foliage platform above the A site plant zone is no longer clipped. – Truck near B site is no longer clipped. – Geometry adjusted to fix an angle from T side into CT side of Middle. – Minor clipping and optimization improvements. – Fixed multiple bomb stuck spots. –

CSGO continues to shatter all-time player records ahead of Counter-Strike 2 ValveCounter-Strike: Global Offensive continues to break its player count records on Steam ahead of the upcoming release of Counter-Strike 2. When it comes to Steam’s most popular games, no list can be made without naming the iconic shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. It stands as one of the most-played first-person shooters to ever exist, with millions of players globally. With Counter-Strike 2 on the horizon, its popularity only expanding. The shooter is constantly growing in terms of playerbase, despite random dips in player count here and there. CSGO’s initial release dates back all the way to 2012, meaning that its popularity over a decade later is even more impressive. Unsurprisingly, the tactical game has just broken another of its play rate records, hitting an all-time peak of over 1.8 million players. Its previous record break had been back in February of 2023 when the game had around 1.3 million players at once. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive breaks its play rate record again CSGO reached an all-time peak of 1,818,773 players today, May 6. This was a record-breaking number for the game, coming in after multiple drops and spikes in its player count. It is also currently the best-selling game on Steam’s storefront when it comes to in-game transactions. When compared to other competitive first-person shooters, CSGO’s concurrent players as an amount seem to dominate. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege reaches an average of about 45,000 active daily players, hitting about 75,000 during its peak hours. It is not hard to see then why Counter-Strike’s numbers are so impressive, especially when its age is taken into account. The tactical title sees over a million players engaging online actively, hitting almost two million at peak hours. When Counter-Strike 2 drops later this year, it will completely replace CSGO due to it being more of an engine upgrade than a full-on sequel as the name would imply. Whether or not CS2 can maintain the current upward momentum once it releases remains to be seen.

CSGO contest could help determine the game’s next new map TanookiSuit3/Huvaligen/JimWood/ValveThe finalists in a prestigious Counter Strike: Global Offensive mapping contest could help determine the next new level officially coming to the game. Valve has taken several community-created maps from the Mapcore Exotic Places Mapping Contest before and added them into CSGO, like Abbey, Biome, and most recently, Studio in Operation Shattered Web. YouTuber and CS:GO content creator TheWarOwl was one of the guest judges for the 2020 competition and filled fans in on his choice for the top four maps, along with their chance of making it into the game in a new video. “Valve watches these contests, and even gives special prizes to the winners,” WarOwl revealed. “We are most likely helping to pick the next official CSGO map.” To start things off, after the honorable mentions, in fourth place was de_jingshen, which has a peaceful Chinese hamlet as its backdrop, making for an ironic combination in a game like Counter Strike. “The calming atmosphere of a simple rural life is the perfect backdrop to blood violence and death,” the YouTuber mused. “Seriously, it’s like mixing Animal Crossing and Doom.” Jingshen itself is set up in a simple, four-square layout, but WarOwl thought it was “too simple,” with no way for teams to rotate other than backtracking through spawn. Third place – and our personal favorite for its looks alone – was de_mutiny, a pirate cove-themed map by TanookiSuit3, Huvaligen, and JimWood. Battling it out in CS:GO while surrounded by pirate ships and Caribbean ruins sounds amazing, but there were a few visual glitches that probably kept Mutiny in third, no matter how cool it looks. Read More: How Golden saved Fnatic CSGO twice – Gameplay-wise, it’s “slightly more interesting” according to WarOwl, with plenty of options for the Terrorists and for rotations out of the middle of the map. Second place went to de_chlorine from Lizard and TheWhaleMan, and it may take the cake for most creative setting, taking place in an abandoned, Aztec theme park. Another four square map, WarOwl admitted that Chlorine would probably never work at the competitive level, but pointed out it does have a lot of charm. “Really interesting idea, fun, different angles and gameplay possibilities, but too dark and grimy to see anything,” he pointed out. “Certain skins are virtually invisible on this map, and the last one (Mutiny).” Finally, in first place was Anubis by Roald, Jakuza, and jd40, which besides having the same name as an Overwatch map, also has the same Egyptian setting. ‘The whole point of the contest was to go to new and exciting locations, so we remade an OW map,” WarOwl joked. “It’s pretty obvious, this is the best-looking map.” He added that in his opinion, none of the maps (Anubis included) were ready to be a competitive CSGO map yet, but didn’t completely count it out. Other levels like Cobblestone and Overpass, faced similar issues when they were first released and WarOwl goes into much more detail about what each level needs to work, which definitely makes his video worth a watch.

CSGO config helps deaf players “see” footsteps ValveA CS:GO player has created a config that helps deaf players take advantage of the sound cues that offer important information. Sound is a major part of CS:GO, as the primary source of information after visual cues. The ability to hear footsteps can be crucial to success, both as a split-second warning before an enemy peeks, and as an indicator of where they’re going before they make contact. Players with a hearing impairment are therefore at a significant disadvantage, but u/iDexCS has come up with a way of levelling the playing field slightly, by creating a config that visualizes certain sounds. In addition to footsteps, the config also gives cues for bomb plant and defuse sounds, one of the other major pieces of information offered by sound that players with hearing impairments may otherwise miss. The information is printed out as text, and while it may not be as precise as the sound itself, it should at least make players aware that they’ve “heard” something, which can be crucial if, for example, you’re searching for the last enemy player, or trying to deny a defuse. [FOR DEAF CSGO PLAYER] This CFG make you see steps/defuse/plant sounds, Here is the CFG :https://t.co/YaDNRiHokS available in QWERTY and AZERTY VAC and FaceIt Safe. FaceIt AC™ told me its ok to use ,ONLY if the filters are unchanged in the cfgYou can rebind all keys ofc pic.twitter.com/iLil2cXtdj — iDex (@iDexCsgo) September 9, 2019 The trouble with developing tools for players with disabilities can often be finding the right balance so that the alternative doesn’t overcompensate and become more powerful than the default settings – to take an extreme example, a wall-hack would technically solve a player’s inability to hear footsteps, but would obviously give them an unfair advantage. Fortunately, it seems u/iDexCS’s solution doesn’t go too far – not only is it possible to use it for matchmaking, but third-party competitive platform FaceIt have also confirmed that the config, at least in the state shared by u/iDexCS, does not break any of their own rules. It seems likely, therefore, that competitive players wishing to use the config will also be able to do so on other platforms or at offline events, although it may be worth confirming with individual organizers if you’re planning to do so.

CSGO: CompLexity CEO “won’t tolerate” roster’s poor Berlin Major performance Facebook: Jason Lake/Twitter: ComplexityCompLexity founder and CEO Jason Lake has stated that he “won’t tolerate” his current Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster’s performance at the StarLadder Berlin Major – threatening a huge team overhaul. The Challengers Stage of the StarLadder Berlin Major is quickly drawing to a close, with teams who had hopes of progressing further crashing out already. One such team is compLexity, who surprised everyone with their showing at the FACEIT London Major, before failing to replicate their performance at IEM Katowice. Yet, entering the StarLadder Major, many fans and pundits would have expected the lineup to at least progress to the new Legends stage. However, with them failing to do so, the future of the roster is in severe trouble following strong words from Jason Lake. After compLexity were dumped out of the Challengers’ Stage by Grayhound Gaming in a 1-2 record match-up, Lake tweeted: “I love our players as individuals but these results won’t be tolerated. “If you’re a Tier 1 player looking for a fresh start at the best facility in the world, HMU (hit me up). I’ll pay your buyout and give you the world’s highest salaries. Let’s build a juggernaut. Spread the word.” I love our players as individuals but these results won’t be tolerated. If you’re a Tier 1 player looking for a fresh start at the best facility in the world, HMU. I’ll pay your buyout and give you the world’s highest salaries. Let’s build a juggernaut. Spread the word. — Jason Lake (@JasonBWLake) August 25, 2019 While some fans and onlookers questioned if the long-time compLexity CEO had acted rashly and tweeted without informing his players, he quickly set the record straight. He added: “To be clear, I discussed this tweet and our way forward with our players before tweeting it. I care about our guys but I also have a job to do. NOBODY in the world loves this game more than me and it’s time to win again.” To be clear, I discussed this tweet and our way forward with our players before tweeting it. I care about our guys but I also have a job to do. NOBODY in the world loves this game more than me and it’s time to win again. https://t.co/KOXKpGvDDI — Jason Lake (@JasonBWLake) August 25, 2019 What exactly compLexity will do with their roster remains to be seen, especially as the Major is in full swing and a true shuffle won’t come until the conclusion of the event. Of course, there are former Major winning talents like Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David and Will ‘RUSH’ Wierzba sat on the benches on MIBR and Cloud9 respectively, but as compLexity have historically had a majority North American roster, it would be a significant shift to see them go for a full international-mix.

CS:GO: compLexity add n0thing and Rickeh to roster for IEM Katowice Major After days of speculation, compLexity have finally announced the two new additions to the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster ahead of the IEM Katowice Major roster lock. Changes for the team have been on the horizon since December 20 when rifler Jacob ‘Yay’ Whiteaker was placed on the inactive roster. Only a few days later, on December 23, Brad ‘Android’ Fodor, joined Yay on the inactive roster. Rumors suggested that compLexity was going after former Major winner Tarik ‘Tarik’ Celik who has been benched by Made in Brazil (MIBR). However, it was revealed that the former Cloud9 and OpTic Gaming star was unlikely to join a team prior to the upcoming IEM Katowice Major. Now, compLexity have announced the new additions to their roster. Firstly by announcing Australian player Ricardo ‘Rickeh’ Mulholland and then announcing that former Cloud9 star Jordan ‘n0thing’ Gilbert would be joining for the Major run. Read More: Cloud9 CS:GO set to pickup another up-and-comer after Infinite ruled out over racist remarks – Rickeh, the 27-year-old Australian, who had most recently been a member of the Rogue roster, had been out of action with the North American team after running into some visa issues. He had to return to his homeland to renew his Visa during ESL Pro League Season 8 relegation, meaning Rogue had to find a replacement. You may have guessed it right, but now it’s official:#coLcs is excited to welcome its newest member @Rickeh! :fire: pic.twitter.com/wV2WY2zJbC — compLexity Gaming (@compLexity) December 29, 2018 A number of social media teases had pointed to the final member of the roster being n0thing but an announcement had not been made. The news that the Counter-Strike community had been waiting for came on December 29. In his announcement video, he stated that he is “super stoked” to be back under the compLexity banner for the upcoming Major run and was looking forward to “rocking the compLexity jersey” one more time. n0thing had a spell with compLexity between August 2013 and June 2014 before joining Cloud9. He had been inactive as a full-time player, despite standing in for mousesports at ESL One: Belo Horizonte 2018, since departing the active C9 roster in 2017. HEEEEEEE’S BAAAAAAAACK!! Welcoming @n0thing back home for a limited time only, joining #coLcs for one last run at the Major. Let’s get it! :fire: pic.twitter.com/D6tp2UucXi — compLexity Gaming (@compLexity) December 29, 2018 compLexity will enter the IEM Katowice Major at the New Legends Stage, which begins on February 20 and runs until 24, thanks to their top-eight finish at the FACEIT London Major earlier this year. You can follow the last remaining days of the Major roster lock via our dedicated transfer hub.

CSGO community wants improvement to the buy menu following Feb 24 update via TurboMotionZ YouTubeValve have made major stylistic changes to the buy menu in CSGO, but one player has redesigned the interface to highlight important info like a team’s money and equipment. The February 24 update for Global Offensive remade the buy menu during a match that now prominently displays a player’s character model, among other changes. But Reddit user ‘xDex_’ wasn’t pleased with how small the new team portion of the menu was, leading to an improved concept for the UI. XDex’s proposed view gets rid of the player model that takes up half the screen and replaces it with in-depth weapon stats and, more importantly, the economy as well as items the entire team is taking into a round. “I actually really like this,” user ‘HaPPSKI’ said. “Maybe the weapon wheel should be bigger and the box on the right should be smaller. Maybe change the font to the same as it is in the wheel so they are the same. But this should be in the game!” The menu could keep teams from costly in-game errors like buying multiple AWPs by seeing who already has one equipped, which teammate forgot to buy body armor, and more. While the newly improved menu in CSGO can already do that, players tend to quickly navigate the buying screen to make their purchases and could miss the small portion of the screen already dedicated to that information. In fact, some players have expressed their displeasure with Valve’s design for the menu, since it offsets the weapon portion of the screen to the left. “I accidentally bought an autosniper because I want to buy an ssg,” user ‘Cr4nkSt4r’ said. “Happened one time, but that’s one time too much. Never misclicked or misbought any item until this great update.” Critics have also questioned the need for having the character model in the buy menu at all, since it doesn’t provide any important information that players can take into a round. Not only would xDex_’s design remedy that concern, it would also let CSGO players equip themselves with everything they need to go before a round starts.

CS:GO community reacts to legendary IGL gob b’s retirement Gob b FacebookLegendary Counter-Strike in-game leader Fatih ‘gob b’ Dayik announced his retirement on August 2 and the community has had a lot to say about it. Gob b has been a prominent figure in the game’s competitive community since starting his career in 2006 in Counter-Strike 1.6, before moving onto Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in 2012. He has been a part of many top teams, including Mousesports, NRG eSports, and BIG, all of which he managed to lead to multiple trophies. He will now be moving onto a management role at BIG, and will likely transition into a coaching position in the future. As he has mentioned in the past, that is what he wishes to do after retiring. “This is not the end and I will of course continue to be with BIG. I just felt it was time for me to take on a new role” said Fatih, confirming that it was his decision to step down as a player and that he will stay on with the esports organization. Read More: CS:GO team accused of copying Immortals logo – The community showed a lot of respect for the established figure, with many pro players replying to the announcement with kind and heart-warming messages. Counter-Strike veteran, Nathan ‘NBK’ Schmitt was one of the first to comment, tweeting: “What a legendary career @gobelante you’ve helped so many people grow and you’re an example of dedication and passion to the game.” What a legendary career @gobelante, you’ve helped so many people grow and you’re an example of dedication and passion to the game. Can only wish you the best for the next page of your book, hopefully to bring German CS back to the very top and help the whole scene grow again :punch:— Nathan Schmitt (@NBK) August 2, 2019 Other players chimed in not long after. Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub tweeted: “You’ll be missed @gobelante beyond being a great and clever player you have an amazing personality. I had a lot of fun around you and your team. Beautiful career.” Meanwhile, Gabriel ‘FalleN” Toledo had a lot of respect for a rival IGL. “Gob B the mastermind! Congrats on everything you did, a lot of respect for your work. You are one of the best IGLs I ever fought,” said the Brazilian. Clearly, other players think highly of the Turkish legend and will miss him going forward. It’s easy to understand why as well. Some of them have been competing against him for over 10 years and have undoubtedly formed a bond. You’ll be missed @gobelante beyond being a great and clever player you have an amazing personality, I had a lot of fun around you and your team. Beautiful career :clap::skin-tone-3: — kennyS (@G2kennyS) August 2, 2019 Gob B the mastermind! Congratz on everything you did, lot of respect for your work. You are one of the best IGLs i ever fought. What comes next for you it is only going to depend on where you drop your passion. We will miss you — Gabriel Toledo (@FalleNCS) August 2, 2019 With gob b retiring, BIG looked to be down to four players, but the team announced some roster changes shortly after their initial announcement. Owen ‘smooya’ Butterfield and Johannes ‘nex’ Maget are returning to the squad, with Denis ‘denis’ Howell being moved to the bench. The new team will be jumping into action almost immediately, as they will be playing in the GG.BET New York Invitational on August 3-7.

CSGO community reacts to dev1ce’s impressive ‘top five player’ streak ESLThe Counter-Strike community gave its proper respects to Astralis star Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz after officially reaching an impressive milestone of consistent excellence across half a decade. Astralis and sustained excellence go hand-in-hand, so it only makes sense that the star and driving force for their success attains his own accomplishment in the midst of their run. Every year, HLTV does a top twenty players list of the best CSGO players based on the past calendar year. The list is a hotly contested subject within the community, and always sparks conversation when a new entry is revealed daily. On January 18, HLTV revealed the player who finished third in 2019 – renowned Danish AWPer dev1ce. With the inclusion in the list at number three, dev1ce stands alone when it comes to consistent top annual performance. THE 3RD BEST PLAYER OF 2019: @DEV1CE 💥 Six trophies and three MVP’s secures dev1ce a top 3 placement on the Top 20 Best Players of 2019 list! This marks his sixth consecutive time making the list – with a top 5⃣ placement EVERY year since 2015 😳 Congratulations, legend 🙌 pic.twitter.com/7pdjTlcaVR — Astralis Counter-Strike (@AstralisCS) January 18, 2020 He has now achieved a top-five rating for five consecutive years, and finished 3rd in 2015 and 2016, 5th in 2017, 2nd in 2018 behind Na’Vi’s Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev, and now 3rd again in 2019. While some fans are upset to see the pro has never claimed the top spot, numerous members of the community congratulated him nevertheless on the impressive achievement. Caster Jason ‘Moses’ O’Toole tweeted out saying that he believes one day, dev1ce will achieve the top spot. One day he’ll get that #1 spot he deserves https://t.co/Z5vqYF9DqX — Jason O’Toole (@MosesGG) January 18, 2020 Dev1ce attracted praise from both former and current teammates. His newest teammate in Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif, who made his own appearance in the top five for this year, called him “the best player all around,” and said that the amount that the AWPer contributes to the team is “unmatched and unknown.” For me you are the best player all around. The amount you contribute to the Team is unmatched, but also unknown. But we will keep taking home titles and I know that’s the most important thing for you aswell 😊♥️ https://t.co/bo1lBKJlbj — Emil Reif (@MagiskCS) January 18, 2020 His former teammate in in-game leader Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen, who now leads the red hot mousesports, called dev1ce a “GOAT player” and thinks it’s “insane” how he consistently performs so highly. What a GOAT player, insane how he can keep performing on a high level and get top5 placings in the TOP20 list few years in a row. https://t.co/tj8OArn4t3 — karrigan (@karriganCSGO) January 18, 2020 Back when karrigan led the dominant Danish core, dev1ce first appeared in the top twenty list in 2014 as a member of Dignitas, just sneaking in at the #20 spot. The next year, he finished in the top five after a year with TSM, before obtaining his next four top-five placements all with Astralis. During his run with Astralis, the team has won four majors, including the last three straight, and have trophy cases with other titles as well. The team has made a strong case for being the best CSGO of all time, with dev1ce’s consistent excellent play earning him consideration as the greatest player of all time. HLTV has two more spots to reveal for the 2019 best players list, which will presumably go to s1mple and the young Vitality star from France, Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut. Astralis will look to continue their championship run in 2020, with the BLAST Premier Spring series beginning at the end of January. They will also look to defend their title as reigning major champions at the ESL One Rio major in May.

CSGO community reacts as pros delay BLAST Fall Finals over voice comms BLASTThe Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association disputed tournament organizer (TO), BLAST, for their past handling of voice communications and video recording, while expressing concern for the Fall Finals. Mousesports and Team Vitality delayed the start of the event, and the larger community took notice. At the core of the issue, CS:GO players wanted to open a dialogue with BLAST on how sensitive voice comms can be used, stored, and deleted prior to, during, and after an event. Additionally, teams want BLAST to find a solution to the video screen recordings for players that “severely affect performance of the PC.” The CSPPA couldn’t reach BLAST about the “harmful and illegal” measures the TO implemented for the Fall Finals, the player’s association said. Player representatives from every BLAST Premier Fall 2020 Finals protested the event, though later began play as both groups opened a channel of communication to this point. CS:GO community divided There are a few camps on this issue across the CS:GO community. Some back the players and want to hold the competitive integrity of the event to the highest possible standards. “TOs should not be recording Comms without player permission,” esports trailblazer Adam Apicella said. “Additionally, if they are recorded, there needs to be explicit parameters around their use. Players should worry about competing, not wondering what strategies they’re exposing or worried about speaking properly.” TOs should not be recording Comms w/out player permission. Additionally, if they are recorded, there needs to be explicit parameters around their use Players should worry about competing, not wondering what strategies they’re exposing or worried about speaking properly — Adam Apicella (@MrAdamAp) December 8, 2020 The TS content from BLAST was probably the best thing added to a broadcast this year and we should find a way to keep it a part of it. That being said, having been on the wrong side of these recordings myself at BLAST LA, protecting the teams is the priority before all else. https://t.co/YDorDrRvaP — Janko Paunovic (@YNk) December 8, 2020 It’s very important for TOs to have an open dialogue with us players (through CSPPA) about our concerns, we support this decision. Hopefully there will be no need for rough measures in the future, dialogue solves it all. https://t.co/lIJIMqWNZO — Andrei Piovezan (@arTcsgo) December 8, 2020 Others believe that, while an important issue to discuss, this united front among CS:GO players and teams is far too late or a half-hearted attempt to actually ensure fair playing conditions and rights of those in the esport. “I get players not wanting to be recorded,” CS:GO’s Erik ‘fl0m’ Flombut said. “But where the f**k was this stand for players when you guys agreed to halve Pro League and unemployed literally half of Pro League overnight and then let ESL push it as some good thing for the scene.” We tried our best in that situation but sadly couldn’t get it all the way how players wanted. Sorry we in don’t have full control over @ESLCS fl0m. But I agree it was weird to “”push”” it as only a good thing eventhough it hurt so many players. — Chris de Jong (@chrisJcsgo) December 8, 2020 Stacked with players that are boycotting a 400k USD tournament over a non-issue because they’ve been told to by a bunch of leeching losers who are trying to justify their paychecks somehow. https://t.co/dJCsDk5rN1 — Semmler (@OnFireSemmler) December 8, 2020 In a year where online competitive integrity has been severely compromised by the coaching bug and stream sniping I’m a bit perplexed by the angst towards recording voice comms. Such recordings have the ability to be exculpatory for those who actually don’t cheat. — Jason Lake (@JasonBWLake) December 8, 2020 Meanwhile, onlookers like Call of Duty legend, James ‘Clayster’ Eubanks, was surprised to see the extent of voice comms integrated in BLAST’s production, specifically in the BLAST Pro Series Los Angeles. “This whole BLAST thing is kinda nuts,” Clayster said. “Listen-ins are a fun part of CoD in certain game-modes, but I just saw this clip and honestly I’d be furious if something this specific was broadcast live. Curious how the CDL stores all our comms/cams.” BLAST and the CSPPA are expected to begin discussions on the best way to align their interests as it pertains to player video screens and voice recordings.

CSGO community raises money for player who passed away Twitter: @cs_codexAfter an Irish Counter-Strike player passed away during a trip to Holland, the Ireland and United Kingdom CS:GO communities came together to raise money for a small tournament in his honor. At the end of the day, despite any amount of toxicity or drama, an esports community is still a community. And recently, a small section of the Counter-Strike community that is rarely talked about demonstrated exactly what it means to be a community. Earlier this month, an Irish CSGO player and member of the Irish Challenger League hub on FACEIT, Pat ‘PDOGG’ Kelly passed away, at only 23 years old. Kelly was traveling near the town of Tilburg in the Netherlands when he was struck by an automobile. Players who had the opportunity to play with him regarded him as one of the most fun people to play Counter-Strike with. In memorial of Pat ‘PDOGG’ Kelly, we will be holding a remembrance tournament in conjunction with the UK Circuit. This will take place on Saturday 21/9 6pm. We ask that everyone donates at least €2 to the justgiving to play. https://t.co/7a6QKn56HK — Irish Challenger League :flag-ie: (@hub_icl) September 19, 2019 The UK Circuit and the ICL asked each player who planned to compete to donate €2, with a goal of reaching £300 before the tournament begins to give to Pat Kelly’s family. The UK Circuit are providing the resources and playerbase for the tournament. Still two days away from the tournament, the JustGiving crowdfunding page has already doubled their goal. £600 isn’t a large amount of money, but it’s not the financial value that means something to these players and this community. Irish CS is very rarely talked about up at the highest level, and the biggest LAN event seemingly held in Ireland was held at a small university. .@ucddublin vs Better than you – lower bracket final now live at https://t.co/6MCoeXYUIh! #OTLV pic.twitter.com/GDJ1s4ZUvG — One Tap LAN V (@onetaplan) February 10, 2019 But two relatively small FACEIT hubs in a part of the world where esports is nowhere as big as it is in places like the U.S. and China and Korea, came together to honor a fallen friend in a way that would surely make him proud. The Pat Kelly remembrance tournament takes place on Saturday, September 21st, and you can still donate to the crowdfunding page before then. A number of streamers, such as Zerpherr, Ferexx, and kas will be streaming the event and donating their proceeds to Pat’s family. RIP Pat. May the road rise up to meet you.

CSGO community mocks new player count record as bots flood deathmatch lobbies for cases ValveThe CSGO community is mocking the game’s new player count record as bots flood casual deathmatch lobbies to farm cases and service medals to sell. It seems CSGO is in the midst of a gold rush as Counter-Strike 2’s release is imminent this summer. The decade-old game has seen record-breaking player counts since the new port was announced, along with a massive spike in its in-game economy, and renewed interest in its esports scene. However, it seems the renewed interest is leaving a bad taste with certain parts of the community as a number of CSGO’s problems have now been exacerbated. In particular, bots are now flooding the casual deathmatch servers to farm cases and service medals before Counter Strike’s transition. In a Reddit post, one player showed a deathmatch lobby filled to the brim with bots moving and spinning around, walking to one single player only to get knifed. The reason why they are allowing one person to farm kills is to guarantee a case drop and bonus XP for the account. The Redditor then goes into the account to see it had played a jaw-dropping 333.6 hours in the past two weeks. There are only 336 hours in a 14-day stretch by the way. Amid the post, several commenters mocked the fact CSGO’s recent player count number, teasing it was most likely inflated by bots farming for service medals and cases before the game’s transition. And of course, no complaint about the state of CSGO is complete without the community bemoaning CSGO’s anti-cheat system which has been a point of contention for years. The farm botting comes during a period where prices for cases are soaring. Cases that used to sell for just cents are now going for $1, or even more. These cases aren’t particularly rare either, as these are relatively new cases you can get from a regular drop. In addition, it would not be too far-fetched to claim that older CSGO accounts with rare service medals would become much more valuable in the account marketplace when the game transitions into CS2. And even if a player isn’t looking to sell their account, it does bring a lot of bragging rights.

CSGO community calls on ESL to change IEM Rio Major venue as tickets sell out Stefan Petrescu/PGLCounter-Strike: Global Offensive stars are calling on ESL to change the IEM Rio Major venue from Jeunesse Arena to a bigger stadium after quickly selling out of tickets for the event. The arena for the next CS:GO Major came under some scrutiny after fans crashed the website where tickets were sold. Tickets went on sale at 1 p.m. EST on May 25 and were sold out a mere hour after. Prominent Brazilian CS:GO voices like Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo have tweeted that the tournament should be played in a football stadium instead, with some pointing toward Maracanã Stadium, the largest sporting venue the region. Brazil has yet to host a CS:GO Major in the esport’s history as the tournament scheduled to be held in Rio in 2020 was canceled due to the global health crisis. Overwhelming! Thank you. All tickets for the #IEM Rio Major 2022 were sold out within 60 minutes. 🙏 For all event updates, sign up here: https://t.co/43q5jXMjN2 pic.twitter.com/rGpoOcgYw8 — ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) May 25, 2022 Other CS:GO teams and players are also requesting the ESL to change the venue as #MajorNoMaracana trends on Twitter in Brazil. Maybe you need to book a bigger venue @csgo? …🚶🚶🚶🚶🚶🚶…#OMajorÉNosso #IEM #RioMajor https://t.co/mhew1rUoNL pic.twitter.com/p4nmvuDoGt— HEROIC (@heroicgg) May 25, 2022 Fans that purchased tickets for the cancelled event in 2020 and held on to them can still use them for the upcoming tournament in Rio, so seats are even more scarce. Jeunesse Arena has room for more than 15,000 people during sporting events and over 18,000 for concerts, according to its website, while Maracanã Stadium boasts almost four-times the capacity at 80,000 seats. IEM Rio Major compared to PGL Major Antwerp Compared to the recent PGL Major Antwerp, the upcoming tournament in Brazil has less seating available. The tournament that saw FaZe Clan take the trophy was held in Antwerps Sportpaleis which has a maximum capacity of 23,359. Read More: ESL confirms IEM Rio 2022 CSGO Major – Brazil has one of the most dedicate fan bases in the scene and has seen home-bred rosters lift trophies in some of the biggest tournaments in CS:GO history. But the region has never seen a Major at home. Hey, @ESL & @CSGO let’s have a little chat later today? 👀🤙🏻 pic.twitter.com/oayc2z5b9l — Allianz Parque (@AllianzParque) May 25, 2022 ESL has yet to respond to the demands of a venue change from fans and CSGO pros alike.

Anonymo CEO accepts Flashpoint’s NiP rematch decision: “We will play” NiP/Flashpoint/ValveAnonymo CEO and the org have accepted Flashpoint’s decision to replay the third map of Mirage against NiP, and has asked for calm in the CSGO community in light of the TO’s decision. Update May 18 Anonymo Esports CEO Mateusz ‘Sowek’ Kowalczyk accepted Flashpoint’s decision to replay the third map of Mirage against NiP. “We will play,” he said. “There is always the possibility of Valve interfering, but if they won’t – We will play the match, FIGHT and deliver the show that this storyline needs.” NiP and Flashpoint have been at the center of criticism and hate in response to the ruling. Sowek is asking for calm in CSGO community. It will be the best conclusion of what happened in past few days, and a result which can be universally accepted. I would also like to ask you to stop the hate. Literally. Stop hating each other. Life is as it is, and it’s often not what we wish for. — Sówek (@Sowekpl) May 18, 2021 “I would also like to ask you to stop the hate,” Sowek said. “Literally. Stop hating each other. Life is as it is, and it’s often not what we wish for.” Original story follows below The big Counter Strike news of the weekend wasn’t the Saturday or Sunday matches of Flashpoint, but rather the tournament’s choice to apparently go back on an earlier decision and grant NiP a rematch against the Polish team. Anonymo were the first party to make a statement, accusing NiP of “pressuring” Flashpoint and FACEIT organizers to get them to agree to a rematch. Despite follow-up statements by Flashpoint and NiP confirming the rematch and laying out the timeline of events (from one side of the story, at least), multiple pros and personalities took the side of the underdogs Anonymo. Flashpoint made this decision yesterday, but still didnt publicly communicate it until 30 mins before the game. How can shit like this happen in 2021? Did they know they were wrong, or why did they not announce it prior? They have also denied any contact with CSPPA. — cadiaN (@caspercadiaN) May 16, 2021 Heroic star Casper ‘cadiaN’ Møller criticized the lack of communication from Flashpoint, apparently in disbelief at how something like this could happen in modern CSGO. “Flashpoint made this decission yesterday, but still didn’t publicly communicate it until 30 mins before the game,” cadiaN said. “How can s*** like this happen in 2021? Did they know they were wrong, or why did they not announce it prior? They have also denied any contact with CSPPA [Counter-Strike Professional Players Association].” ENCE’s Marco ‘Snappi’ Pfeiffer also blamed organizers, adding what happened to NiP was “unfortunate,” but that shouldn’t justify basically calling for a redo. “This game should not be replayed,” Snappi stated. “Not today, not next week. It sucks nip was treated unfair, but you can’t make one right by more wrong.” This game should not be replayed. Not today, not next week. It sucks that nip was treated unfair, but you can’t make one right by doing more wrong. https://t.co/jY1XeTbfio — Marco Pfeiffer (@SnappiCSGO) May 16, 2021 Indeed the fact Flashpoint just seems to be going back and taking away a win that was already in the books for Anonymo seems to be what’s rubbing most people, including Team Liquid’s Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski who called NiP “sore losers” for lobbying for the rematch. “Actual craziness. Can’t believe they are trying to get match replayed LMFAO. If NiP had a problem at the time then DONT PLAY or find a solution,” EliGE wrote. “You can’t take away someone’s win days later. F*** off with sore loser s***.” Actual craziness. Can’t believe They are trying to get that match replayed LMFAO. If NiP had a problem at the time then DONT PLAY or find a solution at the time. You can’t take away someone’s win days later. Fuck off with that sore loser shit — Jonathan Jablonowski (@EliGE) May 16, 2021 Astralis captain Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander simply referred to Flashpoint as “Trashpoint,” not leaving much room for interpretation. Even former CSGO pros now plying their trade in Valorant took the chance to take some jabs, This included Nicholas ‘nitr0’ Cannella who’s now playing for 100 Thieves Valorant side. After they failed to qualify for the shooter’s first Major in Iceland, nitr0 asking “is it too late to get a rematch for my chance at Iceland I was lag.” is it too late to get a rematch for my chance at Iceland I was lag https://t.co/EtG5s0WA0X — M80 nitr0 (@nitr0) May 16, 2021 Currently Anonymo doesn’t seem to be on board with Flashpoint’s descision, and while the rematch was set for May 16, no official date or time for when the match will actually happen have been revealed. Even when that happens, and the match is over and done with, this controversy will probably still stick around in the minds of many CSGO and esports fans.

Fake s1mple, shroud & Stewie2K CSGO streams are still scamming on Twitch StarLadder / ValveTwitch has been seeing a growing number of scammers impersonating popular CS:GO players promoting “free” in-game items, and fans are starting to wonder why the trend hasn’t been stopped. For a long time, these scammers have infiltrated categories like OSRS, DOTA and the like while seemingly using viewbots to climb the ranks and make their channel seem like they’re popular. But for the CSGO category, there have been channels that go so far as to impersonate high-profile figures. The likes of French phenom Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut, Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev, Jake ‘Stewie2k‘ Yip, and shroud have all been featured on the top of the CS:GO Twitch page – sometimes using past clips/streams to keep the content going. The community is perplexed at Twitch’s response – or lack thereof – to the persistent issue since it could put the younger, more impressionable viewers at risk. “It has been like that for at least 3 month,” Reddit user ‘SeaszonCSGO’ said. “[Four to five] accounts running every single day on both Dota and CS:GO. Sometimes they get banned and come back in less than 1 hour, it’s all automated and I do believe that lots of people are getting scammed by this otherwise they wouldn’t keep doing it.” The problem has been happening on other sites like YouTube’s live streaming vertical, but people logging into CSGO were even more surprised to see one scammer promoted under the “Streams” tab inside of the game. Though the section seems to just go off what is trending on other sites at the moment, it’s a sign that the scammers are starting to make leeway in extending their reach. In May of 2019, Twitch responded to flurry of streaming accounts broadcasting the New Zealand mosque terrorist attack on the category for Artifact, Valve’s digital collectible card based on the DOTA 2 universe. The company expunged those accounts and temporarily suspended the ability for new creators to stream, later resulting in a mandatory Two-Factor Authentication. It’s unclear what action Twitch will take with this growing trend of channels violating the site’s Terms of Service agreement since the scammers have been prevalent for months with new accounts popping up as soon as others are taken down. The pro players like s1mple being impersonated have even spoke out against the platform for not taking steps to prevent their viewers from being targeted. “I see my live fake profiles on twitch scamming people everyday, wtf?” s1mple said. “Isn’t it your responsibility to protect your own people?” I see my live fake profiles on twitch scamming people everyday, wtf? Isn’t it your responsibility to protect your own people? — Sasha (@s1mpleO) December 4, 2019 How to avoid scammers on Twitch Audiences should be wary of these scamming channels and avoid clicking out of Twitch’s site for any offer or login prompt that may appear. If your favorite streamer is verified on Twitch, make sure that the channel you’re seeing them on has a checkmark next to their name that says “Verified User” when hovering over it. Reporting the channels will alert Twitch of their presence to hopefully take them down, but site-goers and streamers will be eager for the company to sort out a long-term solution.

CS:GO Commentator Moses Discusses the Best Route to Becoming a Pro Player: “[CS:GO’s] equivalent of college sports” ELEAGUECounter-Strike: Global Offensive analyst and commentator Jason ‘moses’ O’Toole has shared his thoughts on the likes of FPL and Rank S, stating that he believes they are now the best pipeline into the professional scene. FPL (FACEIT Pro League) and ESEA’s Rank S are the highest levels of PUG matches that you can play in CS:GO and have become a place where virtually all top players hone their skills in a more relaxed environment to their team practice. But just how important are they when it comes to discovering new up-and-coming talent? When you consider the fact that players like FaZe Clan’s Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač, SK Gaming’s Jake ‘Stewie2K’ Yip, and Mousesports’ Robin ‘ropz’ Kool all got their big breaks due to their performance in PUGs, it seems like the answer is “very”. During a recent debate on Twitter, CS:GO commentator Roy ‘StrongLegs’ Ahad told former Torqued player Ricky ‘floppy’ Kemery that he believes up-and-coming should concentrate more on finding a spot on an MDL team and proving themselves there than in FPL or Rank S. You have to prove yourself way more in MDL before any pro team can take a risk on you — Strong Legs (@RealStrongLegs) May 2, 2018 Being in Rank S and FPL isn’t enough anymore man. It’s just the truth 🙁 — Strong Legs (@RealStrongLegs) May 2, 2018 FACEIT’s Milos ‘Mikey’ Nedeljkovic eventually responded to the thread, pointing out that most teams that have taken a risk on FPL or Rank S prodigies have seen more success than teams who tried to recycle old talent endlessly. Moses, a former professional CS 1.6 player and current commentator and analyst for CS:GO, then threw his hat into the ring, saying that he believes players with a strong work ethic and good attitude will do better from FPL/Rank S than they will from playing with lower level teams in lower divisions. He went on to explain that he sees FPL and Rank S as CS:GO’s equivalent to college sports and said that they are now the “best and most effective way into pro divisions”, citing poor scouting and talent development from top teams as one of the reasons. as long as theres a good attitude and a strong work ethic being a top player in fpl/rank s beats being a playoff contender in MDL or lower league divisions. you can teach the willing how to read the game and be a teammate. players in this route dont have to rely on 4 mates either — Jason O’Toole (@OnFireMoses) May 3, 2018 to me the fpl/rank s systems have become cs’s equivalent of college sports. probably the best and most effective pipeline into pro divisions. especially with how minimal talent development and scouting is in top teams, likely it provides the most eyeballs on new players as well — Jason O’Toole (@OnFireMoses) May 3, 2018 The discussion is certainly an interesting one and it could go around in circles for an age but recent history would certainly favor moses’ opinion on the matter. Of course, StrongLegs’ argument that players cannot wait around forever and should be able to balance playing for a lower level team while also grinding out Rank S or FPL matches is certainly a valid one. The start of the Twitter thread, and all of the replies discussed in this article, can be found here. by the way, i wish it was different. i wish premier/mdl would be the better path, i think it’d be way better and healthier for the scene but it’s just not for a variety of reasons. — Jason O’Toole (@OnFireMoses) May 3, 2018

CS:GO Commentator HenryG Responds to UFC Legend Mark Hunt’s Call Out Video in Hilarious Fashion at IEM Sydney Credit: EPICENTER / Mark Hunt InstagramPopular CS:GO commentator Henry ‘HenryG’ Greer has responded to mixed martial arts and kickboxing legend Mark Hunt’s call out video in brilliant fashion. HenryG enjoyed a successful career as a professional Counter-Strike: Source player between 2006 and 2012 but he is best known now as a CS:GO commentator. However, that doesn’t mean that his competitive drive has disappeared and he has thrown himself into the pre-match trash talk for his showmatch against Chad ‘SPUNJ’ Burchill with a force that can only be admired. Due to take place on Sunday May 6th at IEM Sydney, the showmatch will see HenryG and a team of Brits take on SPUNJ and his Australian comrades in a game that promises to be both exciting and hilarious. HenryG started the trash talk with a hilarious video on April 28th where he burst into a room with a deck chair and floored his opponent in typical WWE fashion but things got really serious on May 2nd when MMA legend Mark Hunt announced that he would be in SPUNJ’s corner and made it clear that he doesn’t like bullies. Never one to back down, HenryG mocked Hunt and a number of other fighters that also commented on the announcement before deciding to truly light the touchpaper with this hilarious video shared on the Intel Extreme Masters Twitter account. IT. IS. ON. THE FINAL SHOWDOWN IS COMING UP. The Caches II Sunday, May 6th#IEM @markhunt1974 @HenryGcsgo @SPUNJ pic.twitter.com/4sKL1nGrBl— Intel®ExtremeMasters (@IEM) May 3, 2018 After throwing a cup of tea (hopefully cold) in SPUNJ’s face, HenryG continues with his WWE persona by shouting down the camera at Mark Hunt, saying “you’re not here to protect him now, are you? Let’s hope he makes it to Sunday.” On a scale of 1 to stupid, we’d put “mocking Mark Hunt” right at the top of the scale, even if we were only joking, but HenryG has already made it clear that he isn’t concerned, saying “I hope he’s ready to put it all on the line against 200lbs of 100% british beef”. So, I’ve got to know… Is this @markhunt1974 character a big deal in Australia? I hope he’s ready to put it all on the line against 200lbs of 100% british beef while looking out for his little @SPUNJ on Sunday. #caches #IEMSydney — HenryG (@HenryGcsgo) May 3, 2018 Of course, we don’t want to be the ones to break it to him that Hunt’s left leg probably weighs more than his entire body so we’ll just sit back and enjoy the carnage. Never change, HenryG, never change. Seems like poor little Chad had to call in his body guard :’) https://t.co/II9P1taHie — HenryG (@HenryGcsgo) May 2, 2018 These ‘fighters’ are so cute. Bring all your boys down @SPUNJ! https://t.co/QYCgWnvlOW — HenryG (@HenryGcsgo) May 3, 2018

CS:GO Commentator HenryG Makes “Colossal Error” While Travelling to StarLadder Season 5 Finals EPICENTERPopular Counter-Strike: Global Offensive commentator Henry ‘HenryG’ Greer made a “colossal error” while travelling to the StarLadder i-League Season 5 Finals, losing a number of important items. The StarLadder i-League Season 5 Finals started on May 28th with a Swiss Style group stage. The $300,000 event will conclude on June 3rd and features some of the biggest names in CS:GO, including Na’Vi, SK Gaming, and Team Liquid. A high profile event with high profile teams usually means a high profile broadcast team will go along with it and it doesn’t get much more high profile than the likes of Duncan ‘Thorin’ Shields, Sean ‘seang@res’ Gares, Henry ‘HenryG’ Greer, Anders Blume and co. Unfortunately for one member of the on-air talent, HenryG, the event in Kiev, Ukraine, got off to the worst possible start before the Brit even made it to the studio. Taking to Twitter on May 27th, HenryG stated that he had made a “colossal error” and that his backpack had been lost or stolen at the airport after he had landed in Ukraine. This left the former Counter-Strike: Source professional without his laptop, mobile phone, or even his passport, but he made it clear that the show would go on. Just to be clear… Everything is cool and shit can and will inevitably happen. Things are replaceable and it’s not like I’m stuck here forever. Just a pain in the ass and this won’t affect the show in anyway! — HenryG (@HenryGcsgo) May 27, 2018 HenryG initially believed that there was no British embassy in Kiev but a series of replies to his Twitter post from Team Secret’s Director of Operations, Matthew Bailey, put those concerns to rest. We wish HenryG the best of luck in recovering his missing possessions and urge anyone that might have heard anything to get in contact with him.

CS:GO: Coldzera vents his frustrations with MIBR after fan event StarLadderCounter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David revealed his frustrations with MiBR following a fan event in São Paulo. Coldzera is one of the best Brazilian players in the world and has played a key part in the MiBR squad’s rise to fame ever since he joined the team in 2015, when they were playing for Luminosity Gaming. In July 2019, the player announced his wish to step down from the squad. Since then, he has been removed from the active lineup, but remains a part of the MiBR organization. From August 3-4 MiBR hosted an event in São Paulo, where fans could meet the team, watch them play, and hear the latest news from the Brazilian team. The Brazilian star was invited to attend the event, but claims, via an Instagram post, that while there he “wasn’t invited onto the stage” where the rest of the team spoke to fans and introduced MiBR’s new Rainbow Six Siege squad. He also added: “I only got a 30-minute space to sign your guy’s stuff and I know it wasn’t enough to all of you. Unfortunately, it was the only thing they let me do” and seemed disappointed with how the organization treated him and likely would have wanted to do more at the event. 600Since his departure from the squad in July, the Brazilian has been linked to a few top teams, but, it is likely the player won’t be going anywhere as he still has two years remaining on his contract, and his buyout is reportedly “double the amount anyone has ever paid for a player in Counter-Strike player“. It’s possible that his role at the event was limited due to his request to leave the MiBR CS:GO team, but the reason behind it is unknown as the organization has yet to make a statement about his claims.

CS:GO: coldzera reportedly requests to leave MIBR for ‘new challenge’ Brazilian CS:GO star Marcelo ‘coldzera‘ David has reportedly requested to be placed on the bench for MiBR, informing the organization of his desire to leave. Following MiBR’s disappointing showing at ESL One Cologne, HLTV has learned that coldzera, widely considered one of the best individual players in Counter-Strike over the past few years, is “seeking a new challenge”. His move will not be immediate though, as he will apparently play out both BLAST Pro Series Los Angeles and IEM Chicago with the roster, before moving to the bench. HLTV’s source has claimed that coldzera has grown frustrated after MiBR’s string of poor results, with roster moves unable to fill the gaps. The roster lock for the StarLadder Major on June 24 means that MiBR will most likely be forced into playing with their coach, Wilton ‘zews’ Prado for the event, which starts on August 23. Coldzera’s performance individually has perhaps coincided with a drop off in his team’s performances too, as despite boasting an all-star core, they have struggled to maintain any kind of consistency. Their top sixteen finish in Cologne was their second poor result in a row, after they managed only top eight at the ECS Season 7 Finals, despite bringing in the addition of Lucas ‘LUCAS1’ Teles, on loan from Luminosity. Since returning to an all-Brazilian lineup, following the departure of Tarik ‘tarik’ Celic and Jake ‘Stewie2k’ Yip, MiBR has managed middling results at best, now resulting in codlzera’s move to seek out a new ‘challenge’. MiBR roster (rumored) Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo – Fernando ‘fer’ Alvarenga – Epitacio ‘TACO’ de Melo – Lucas ‘LUCAS1’ Teles (on loan) – Wilton ‘zews’ Prado (coach) Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David (bench) – –

CSGO code found in Dota 2 hints at smoke grenade fix in Source 2 port ValveA long-awaited fix to the smoke grenade outline bug could be on its way to CS:GO after the Source 2 port, after strings of updated grenade particles were found in a recent Dota 2 update. Source 2 is coming to CS:GO soon. The new engine is set to modernize the almost-decade-old FPS title, and help improve the game in the long run. Players shouldn’t expect a drastic change from the Counter-Strike they know and love. However, it should iron out some kinks and, most notably, there’s reason to believe a major bug with smoke grenades is going to be left in Source 1. new “”csgo”” strings in the latest MAJOR dota 2 update: csgo_show_indexed_light_indices csgo_show_lod_origin csgo_show_nonfogging_cached_lights csgo_single_light_fast_path_sun_cascade_vignetteplus, there is new particle effect for “”smoke grenade”” entity pic.twitter.com/u2V9FPtcRw — Gabe Follower (@gabefollower) May 25, 2020 The code shows some new lighting and particle effects for CS:GO being added in the recent Dota 2 Battle Pass update. The four string they uncovered are as follows: “csgo_show_indexed_light_indices” – “csgo_show_lod_origin” – “csgo_show_nonfogging_cached_lights” – “csgo_single_light_fast_path_sun_cascade_vignette” – All of these point towards possibly fixing some of CS:GO’s lighting issues, as well as implementing an entirely new system for shadows. However, dataminers like ‘wickedplayer494’ have told players to be somewhat skeptical of the ‘new’ commands. “It’s more likely that these were systems adapted from CS:GO itself forward into Source 2 versions in Dota 2,” they said on Twitter. Yes, some “”csgo_”” prefixed console commands are present in Dota 2 – but it’s more likely that these were systems adapted from CS:GO itself forward into Source 2 versions in Dota 2. Many of them have been around for months already as a Blame would reveal: https://t.co/TbpLr4kfF1 — wickedplayer494 (@wickedplayer494) May 25, 2020 There were also some changes to grenade particles. New effects were added for all grenades — from molotovs to smokes. This has gotten the community’s hopes up for a possible fix to a long-standing bug with smoke grenades in CS:GO. In some occasions where you are standing on the edge of the smoke, you can see the outline of enemies in the smoke. This makes for an easy kill, and there’s nothing much the enemy can do about it. While the source of the bug is unknown — it could be lighting, or the smokes themselves — a new particle update could squash it for good. However, what it will entail remains a mystery until it actually gets ported into CS:GO. While there’s no set date for the Source 2 engine port, it’s expected to be in the coming weeks, or even days. Players shouldn’t expect the game to completely shift on its head right when it drops. However, in the long run, it’ll make CS:GO a lot nicer to play.

CSGO coaches break silence on ESIC bug investigation: ‘Like being in the world’s worst jail’ TwoGNation/StarLadderSeveral coaches spoke with Dexerto about their experiences dealing with ESIC, criticizing the organization’s methods and raising questions about the investigation into the use of the coach bug. “Thank God for my ex-girlfriend. Had I been alone at that time, I probably would have committed suicide,” CS:GO coach Anton ‘ToH1o’ Georgiev tells Dexerto. “That’s how bad I felt.” ToH1o’s descent into darkness began on the morning of September 28, 2020. He was woken up in a hurry and told to check the latest announcement from the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC), a not-for-profit members’ association established in 2015 to help protect the integrity of esports competitions around the world. The announcement included a list containing the names of 37 CS:GO coaches who had been banned by the esports watchdog for periods ranging from under four months to three years for the use of the spectator bug for competitive advantage. His name was on the list. ToH1o couldn’t believe his eyes. Like the CS:GO scene in general, he knew that the release of the list was forthcoming, but he had never suspected that he was being investigated. He had no recollection of encountering the bug and had never been contacted by ESIC regarding this matter. The night before, he had gone out to a shisha bar with Nikolay ‘pNshr’ Paunin, a fellow Bulgarian CS:GO coach. By then, pNshr had been in talks with ESIC for some time regarding a single instance of spectator bug use involving him. When they met that night, pNshr knew that he was getting suspended for 3.75 months, his confession having resulted in a 25% reduction to his initial six-month ban. “I told him, as a joke, ‘Imagine if I’m on the list’”, ToH1o says. “He was like, ‘No, that’s not even possible’”. ToH1o sat on his bed for a while, gathering his thoughts. He asked pNshr for an email address to contact ESIC and tried to open a dialogue. And then he waited. Appealing against the ban ToH1o was banned for 10 months for two instances of bug use, both dating back to late 2017. He was found to have come across the bug in one round of ex-Outlaws’ IEM Oakland open qualifier win against hASSeLsNOk in September 2017, and in all 30 rounds of Windigo’s Inferno victory against Tricked in CS:GO.NET Cup 1, three months later. ToH1o submitted his notice of appeal on November 30, 2020, but it wasn’t until May 7 that he was finally heard by a three-person independent appeal panel chaired by Alfonso León Lleó, a Spanish lawyer specialized in sports law. After spending months collecting evidence and preparing his case, ToH1o felt as ready as anyone could be. His plan was to explain to the panel that when he experienced the bug for the first time, he didn’t know what it was and it had no impact on the outcome of the round. As for the second occurrence, it happened during a bootcamp in Serbia while he was standing behind his players and not sitting in front of his computer. When he finally appeared by video conference in front of the panel, he spoke for over two hours without any interruptions, showing all sorts of images and videos to support his case, including surveillance footage from the bootcamp room, car rental receipts, and proof of hotel booking. He also provided written statements from two ex-Outlaws players confirming that he did not provide any information about the position of the opposing team. It was, by his account, a slam dunk. “I showed them everything, down to the smallest detail,” ToH1o says. “They were like, ‘We have nothing to say. We don’t have any questions.’” According to him, the panel turned to ESIC Integrity Commissioner Ian Smith, who was also present in the hearing. Asked why ToH1o had been banned, Smith allegedly pointed to ESIC’s sanction matrix, the system created to deal with the high number of cases of coaches who had encountered the spectator bug by attributing demerits points to coaches based on frequency and duration of bug use. What did I said ???!?!?! Yes it took me 7 months but hey!!! I DO WHAT I PROMISED!!!! 👊👊👊👊🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 https://t.co/ZIPzG9t8MZ — ToH1o (@ToH1o) June 15, 2021 But the explanation did not wash with ToH1o, who alludes to a difference in treatment that coaches received based on their status in the CS:GO scene. He mentions the case of Sergey ‘lmbt’ Bezhanov, who has a much higher profile in the CS:GO scene than him. lmbt, the only other coach among the 37 to have had a ban rescinded by ESIC, did not have to go to the same lengths as ToH1o to prove his innocence: His ban was lifted within three weeks without an independent appeal panel being set up, his evidence deemed conclusive by Smith. “I told Ian, ‘If you had contacted me before you punished me, this would have been a very easy process,’” ToH1o says. “He was sad that he had not contacted me. I could tell that from the look on his face.” ToH1o’s case is not unique, though. Another coach, who spoke to Dexerto on the condition of anonymity, also complained about being ignored by the esports watchdog. He said that he only received a response to one of the three emails he sent to ESIC about his 2020 ban. He is still waiting for a reply to his last email, sent in October 2020. “From day one I have never had any support [from ESIC],” the coach told Dexerto. “I’m going to send them another email, but I think they won’t give a shit. They have never given a shit.” Like ToH1o, this coach, who is working for a top-30 team, learned about his ban from ESIC’s announcement. He had come across the static variant on numerous occasions, reporting it to the tournament organizer each time. “I thought there was a problem with the server,” he said. “I didn’t know there was a problem with the game.” lmbt speaks out After almost two years, lmbt is finally ready to break the silence about his story. A key reason for that is the ongoing war in his homeland of Ukraine, which has relieved him of any fears. “Will I be alive tomorrow or in a week?” lmbt says in a surprisingly light-hearted manner. He kept it to himself all this time because he didn’t wish to disrupt ESIC’s investigation into the use of the coach bug or damage the credibility of an organization that was attempting to clean up the scene. But as he watched ESIC hand out provisional suspensions to three coaches (Luis ‘peacemaker’ Tadeu, Rafael ‘zakk’ Fernandes and Sergey ‘hally’ Shavaev) just days before PGL Major Antwerp, he couldn’t sit idle any longer. The announcement brought back memories of his own case, which ended on October 15, 2020, when ESIC cleared him of any wrongdoing in four cases of bug use. Despite the favorable ruling, the Ukrainian coach is still aggrieved about the way he was treated by the esports watchdog. When the bug became the talk of the CS:GO community in August 2020, lmbt recalled coming across it. Together with the manager of forZe, the organization he was working for at the time, he found out that he had first encountered the bug five years earlier while coaching HellRaisers in a FACEIT League closed qualifier match against NAVI. The other three cases were from August 2020 with forZe’s team, one from a FunSpark ULTI qualifying match against Nordavind and two from an Eden Arena Malta Vibes Cup 9 series against MIBR. Acting on his own initiative, lmbt emailed ESIC on September 5 about his cases and provided evidence supporting his claims that he had not abused the bug. Five days later, ESIC responded saying that they would look into the matter. “I will ask our investigators to confirm and you will hear from me if there is an issue,” Smith, ESIC’s Integrity Commissioner, said in an email. “But otherwise, you can relax (I hope).” However, he didn’t hear from ESIC again until the night of September 27, when he was told about his imminent ban and given 12 hours’ notice to prepare a statement. “The investigation only started after I got banned,” he says. “They wrote to me saying that it was because they didn’t have enough resources. Like, what the f***? If you don’t have enough resources, then do it properly, step by step. You have to investigate first and only then can you punish people and make it public.” On October 15, less than three weeks after releasing the list of the 37 banned coaches, ESIC announced that lmbt’s sanction had been lifted “due to the compelling nature of the evidence” provided. According to Ian Smith, ESIC’s Integrity Commissioner, the Ukrainian coach proved that was not at his computer in the MIBR series and that, in the games against NAVI and Nordavind, he “did disconnect timeously and seek admin assistance, neither seeking or gaining any unfair advantage through exploitation of the bug.” Today we got an email from ESIC regarding the case with @LMBT_CSGO saying that “”the original findings and sanction are hereby rescinded and he is free to coach in ESIC member events.”” We’re glad that justice has been served and Sergei is now able to work with our squad as usual😊 pic.twitter.com/YHZz2MYQD4— FORZE Esports (@forzegg) October 15, 2020 At the time, Smith told HLTV.org that ESIC was looking at evidence from other coaches who had been banned. But besides ToH1o and lmbt, Faruk ‘pita’ Pita is the only coach of the 37 who has successfully appealed against a ban. In January 2021, the former NIP coach saw his initial 10-month ban reduced by 45 percent after an appeal hearing. lmbt believes that the reason why ESIC analyzed his case so quickly, without the need for a hearing, was that it was being threatened with legal action. “Together with forZe’s owners, we decided from day one that we would not let it go,” he says. “The reputational damages to me and the club were huge.” But ESIC’s methods aren’t the only thing that lmbt has a hard time accepting. He also takes issue with the timing of the bans that the esports watchdog hands out. He recalls that the first wave of bans came right before a round of Major qualifiers. He had to miss three group matches of IEM New York CIS because of it. The provisional suspension of three coaches before PGL Major Antwerp left Imperial, 9z and Team Spirit without the chance to find a replacement: By the time ESIC made the announcement, the registration deadline for coaches had already passed. Team Spirit ended up being the surprise package in Antwerp, reaching the semi-finals; who’s to say they would not have gone farther with a coach guiding them in the tournament? “You cannot come out with this evidence three days before the event,” lmbt argues. “Even if all those coaches were banned forever, the organizations could be ready and change coaches, and teams could work normally. “It’s not normal to make this kind of announcement right before the biggest tournament of the season, especially if you have had this evidence for some time.” When a paradigm shifts lmbt’s story bears some similarities to the recent case involving peacemaker. The Brazilian coach faced a ban of up to 24 months after encountering the free roam bug — the most serious of the three variants of the bug — yet he was only suspended for 22 days (time served under his provisional suspension) for failing to take appropriate action during the game in question or report the bug to a tournament admin. peacemaker, who hired a lawyer to respond to the charge, provided evidence that Smith, the ESIC Commissioner, deemed to be “compelling” — including expert testimony and character evidence. In a statement, ESIC said that it treats the free roam bug (and only this variant) as a potential cheating offense. Because of this, it explained, establishing that an unfair advantage is achieved is “a necessary precondition for the charge being established”. It’s a rather puzzling explanation, considering that in the other two, less serious variants of the bug, the mere potential for exploitation resulted in a ban, whether an unfair advantage was achieved or not. This is how OG coach Casper ‘ruggah’ Due was notoriously banned for 3.75 months for encountering the static bug in only one round of a 2016 game against Virtus.pro. Or how FaZe coach Robert ‘RobbaN’ Dahlström was banned for 5.5 months for encountering the same bug in a game his team lost 16-1 and had to miss two Majors, including the one his team won in Antwerp. Despite the mental gymnastics performed by ESIC to justify its controversial ruling, peacemaker’s case has created the perception that ESIC will walk back on sanctions at the mere threat of a legal battle. “You’ve just told the world you actually don’t have any authority,” Dexerto Editor-at-Large Richard Lewis said on the Revenge of By the Numbers show. Dexerto knows that other coaches — buoyed up by the outcome of peacemaker’s appeal — have sought legal help, which is likely to further delay an investigation that has dragged on for nearly two years. One of those coaches is Allan ‘Rejin’ Petersen, who was part of the first wave of 37 bans in September 2020. His initial three-year ban was slashed to 19.8 months after he helped veteran tournament admin Michal Slowinski with the investigation. After almost two years out, he returned to activity on May 25, joining British organization Endpoint as its new CS:GO head coach. The evidence provided by peacemaker included testimony from Danny ‘mahone’ Hsieh, a content creator and analyst who has worked for NIP and BLAST. In a video posted on his YouTube channel, mahone analyzed the one round in which peacemaker had the free roam bug. “There is no clear evidence”, mahone concluded, that suggests the Brazilian coach shared information with his Heroic players. Rejin says he can mount a similar defense for each of the 116 rounds for which he was banned. “I did not relay any information to the team, I was just an idiot to not get out of it [the bug],” he says, adding that the outcome of peacemaker’s case has changed the rules of the investigation halfway through. “We all agreed that if you were in this [the bug], you’d get punished. That was the agreement from the start. It didn’t matter if you relayed information or not. Now, you are allowed to defend yourself.” Rejin maintains that he was rightfully banned for what he did, but he argues that he was not given the chance to defend himself. He also says that ESIC did not follow due process, claiming that he was never provided with his notice of charge. Despite receiving assurances from his lawyers that he has a strong case, Rejin still doesn’t know whether he will pursue legal action. “I don’t want to harm anyone,” he says, admitting that he should have reported the problem to admins or left the server when he found himself in a bugged state. “I f***ed up, I need to live with the consequences.” All that he wants, he adds, is to have the chance to coach at CS:GO Majors again. In January 2021, Valve announced the extent of the punishments handed down to coaches who had used the bug during the initial wave. Using ESIC’s sanctioning system, Valve determined that bans ranged from a minimum of one CS:GO Major all the way up to a permanent ban from its events, depending on the frequency of the abuse. Today, Valve (@CSGO) ratified ESICs sanctions against coaches who exploited the Spectator Bug. Below is the table from Valve translating demerits issued by ESIC to majors missed by offending parties. Read the full release from Valve: https://t.co/zr9IPgLWOp pic.twitter.com/d0RrRXqD4w — ESIC (@ESIC_Official) January 28, 2021 The news helped legitimize ESIC’s work at a time when the organization was also dealing with investigations related to a match-fixing scandal in ESEA MDL North America, betting-related offenses in Australia, and stream-sniping at the highest level in the scene. Many welcomed Valve’s involvement in such a hot topic, though critics pointed out the introduction of lifetime bans and the lack of clear channels of dialogue between the community and the developer as major concerns. ESIC has shown signs of its annoyance with the lack of communication from Valve and how it has slowed the investigation into the historical use of the bug. Despite ESIC’s attempts to convince Valve to reconsider some of its sanctions, the developer seems inflexible. “Our method for determining bans hasn’t changed from the original one we posted, and we don’t have any plans to update it,” Valve told Dexerto in February. To this day, ToH1o still doesn’t know if he’s eligible to coach at Valve-sponsored events despite having been cleared of all charges by ESIC. In the absence of a public official database, voluntary community-based project Liquipedia remains the go-to website for the updated list of all bans related to bug use. It shows him as barred from Majors until the end of 2023 due to a lack of confirmation from Valve. According to him, his pleas to ESIC for help have been ignored. “I keep waiting, and waiting, and waiting,” ToH1o says. No progress Almost two years after the start of ESIC’s investigation into the historical use of the bug, there’s still no light at the end of the tunnel. On May 1, ESIC wrote on its Open Investigation Register that it was “in the process of finalising notices of charge” with the intention of issuing them later that week. But besides the three provisional suspensions on the eve of the Major, there have been no updates about the state of the investigation. On June 25, Dexerto revealed that ESIC had lifted its suspension of zakk, the 9z coach. The Brazilian still faces a ban from competition, but it’s unclear when ESIC will make a final determination on his case. According to ESIC, there are still almost a hundred coaches left to charge for the use of the spectator bug, including one who attended PGL Major Antwerp. This coach had the third-person view variant, which did not warrant an immediate suspension from ESIC member events. Due to its less serious nature, this variant will have its own penalty mechanism, with coaches facing 30-day bans per instance of bug use. On May 5, ESIC also announced that the two other coaches who had encountered the free roam bug were being provisionally suspended from all member tournaments. However, Dexerto knows that this is yet to happen. Contacted by Dexerto, four coaches who experienced the third-person variant of the bug all said that they are yet to hear from ESIC. With appeals possible and a great number of cases still pending, it seems unlikely that ESIC will put an end to this protracted saga anytime soon. At the same time, the lack of coherence in the penalties handed down, the constant delays and the apparent procedural errors have undone a lot of the good will ESIC had built initially. And this is just one of the many investigations that ESIC has in its hands, some of which involve law enforcement, including the FBI. “If you can’t do it properly, you shouldn’t be doing it at all,” Richard Lewis said. “When the North American match-fixing report eventually drops in 2026, no-one is going to care. They’re going to be like, ‘It’s ESIC, they’re incompetent.’” The lack of progress in the investigation has only fuelled the esports community’s skepticism of ESIC’s ability to achieve what it set out to do. That sentiment has also grown among coaches, although most are hesitant to speak out. ToH1o understands why coaches might feel that way: For eight months, while he waited for his hearing, he remained silent, despite the anger he had pent up inside of him. “It’s like you’re handcuffed in the worst jail in the world,” he says. “That’s how it feels. You’re not allowed to speak. I was scared. My girlfriend told me not to speak out or get angry on Twitter because they could use it against me and keep delaying the process.” ToH1o is slowly starting to find his feet again. In April, he signed with Strife, a North American organization competing in ESL Challenger League. But when the qualifiers for the IEM Rio Major begin, he might not be on the server coaching the team, afraid that he might still be blacklisted by Valve. Experience gained, few more days and we’re flying back home and start preparing for our ECL matches! 👊👊👊 pic.twitter.com/7jnMbnLxzm — ToH1o (@ToH1o) June 18, 2022 The sense of injustice still burns in him. He doesn’t forget how he blew through his savings just to survive after being left without work, how he was branded a cheater by the community, or how, during the darkest period of his life, he felt like crying every night when he sat on his couch, thinking about how his life had been upended by something he was not guilty of. “My case is not closed,” he says. “I need a statement from ESIC and Valve regarding my case. How can I be happy if I’m still waiting? Are they not ashamed? Two years!” ESIC was not available for comment in time for publication

CSGO coach Rejin returns to activity following near 20-month ESIC ban StarLadderFormer mousesports coach Allan ‘Rejin’ Petersen has joined Endpoint after serving his near 20-month ban for using the spectator bug for competitive advantage, the British organization has announced. Rejin was among the 37 CS:GO coaches who were banned in September 2020 by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) for the use of the spectator bug in competitions. He was found to have used the bug in seven matches between December 2017 and February 2019, during his time coaching Danish team Tricked. His initial three-year ban was reduced to 19.8 months following his confession and assistance in the investigation. A Pro League champion 🏆 A Danish CS veteran 🇩🇰 A coach to take us to the next level 📈Please welcome @RejinCS 👏 pic.twitter.com/Ta90p4xMJL — Endpoint CeX (@TeamEndpoint) May 25, 2022 His ban was the second-longest punishment that the esports watchdog handed out in the scandal, behind only Russian coach Aleksandr ‘zoneR’ Bogatiryev’s three-year suspension. During his time away from coaching, Rejin worked with MAD Lions as a team manager and then with Entropiq as the analyst for their secondary team, called Entropiq Prague. Rejin named new Endpoint coach The Danish coach will take over from Allan Hender, who leaves Endpoint after an eight-month stint with the organization. The British CS:GO analyst and content creator has announced his intention to be a full-time broadcaster again. Rejin said that he is determined to repair his reputation after being involved in the coach bug scandal. Prior to his ban, he was widely regarded as one of the best coaches in Europe, helping MOUZ to win a number of international titles between April 2019 and September 2020. “When Endpoint reached out and told me about their project and future, it was a no-brainer for me to say yes,” he said in a statement. “ I’m so excited to make my comeback on the server and guide the lads to greater success. “I know in many eyes I have betrayed the scene and the community that I dearly love so much. I have learnt many valuable lessons the past two years. I need to earn my way back, and I will keep grinding and give back to the community.” The news comes amid a period of uncertainty for Endpoint, whose team has been depleted to just four men following the benching of Jordanian player Mohammad ‘BOROS’ Malhas. Read more: ESL confirms IEM Rio 2022 CSGO Major – On May 19, Endpoint took part in the first European open qualifier for ESL Challenger Valencia 22 with two high-profile stand-ins: former Astralis and North player Markus ‘Kjaerbye’ Kjærbye, and ex-MAD Lions player Thomas ‘TMB’ Bundsbæk. The pair replaced Guy ‘Nertz’ Iluz, who was at a wedding, and BOROS. Endpoint CS:GO roster Max ‘MiGHTYMAX’ Heath – Kia ‘Surreal’ Man – Joey ‘CRUC1AL’ Steusel – Guy ‘Nertz’ Iluz – Allan ‘Rejin’ Petersen (coach) – Mohammad ‘BOROS’ Malhas (benched) –

CSGO: Cloud9’s Mixwell wins insane 1v5 with the Krieg vs. FURIA L: Valve/R: ESLCloud9’s main AWPer, Óscar ‘Mixwell’ Cañellas, has shown why he is one of Europe’s finest CS:GO talents, as he posted up a swift 1v5 vs. FURIA — even taking down his teammate for good measure. Cañellas is now reunited with former teammate Damian ‘daps’ Steele, and the pair will be looking to rekindle what brought about their success under OpTic, and perhaps emulate the prior successes of Cloud9, who were triumphant at the ELEAGUE: Boston Major at the beginning of 2018. Albeit a relatively new roster, Mixwell and co. are already making significant headway as they’ve already notched some impressive results versus the likes of NRG, MiBR and FaZe at the BLAST Pro Series back in July. Fast-forward to September, and Mixwell was showing his worth yet again, this time versus the upcoming Brazilian talent, FURIA. The match was evenly poised at 10 rounds apiece, and in a round where FURIA were invested in planting the bomb at all costs, Mixwell initially found himself alone on the B bombsite. Smoked-off and with the Brazilians making the charge towards him, Mixwell picked off each of the Terrorist squad one-by-one — even taking down his teammate Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo along the way. After Mixwell’s first trip across the pond with OpTic Gaming came to an abrupt end in 2018, the Spanish AWPer found himself at a loose end, with a trial at G2 Esports and an attempt at forming an all-Spanish team with Movistar Riders falling short of Cañellas’ expectations. Following a short spell back on home turf, Mixwell is back in North America competing for Cloud9, and the 23-year-old appears to have rediscovered his groove. At the Arctic Invitational, the Spaniard was leading the charge, being the only member of Cloud9 to have both a positive impact swing and a positive K/D ratio across both maps against the Brazilians. Although Cloud9 came up short against FURIA, Cañellas certainly looks to be showing glimmers of the Mixwell of old; one that could mix it with those at the very top of their game.

CS:GO: Cloud9 to field stand-in for in-game leader Golden at ECS Finals ELEAGUEJust as Cloud9’s CS:GO team looked to finally find some stability, another change appears to be on the horizon. This time though, it’s not a permanent change but rather a temporary one. As the American-European mixed roster heads into ECS Season 6 finals in Texas, in-game leader Maikil ‘Golden’ Kunda Selim looks set to miss the event, with coach Soham ‘valens’ Chowdhury stepping in. The news came about when a message posted by Cloud9 rifler William ‘RUSH’ Wierzba in Faceit’s pro-league hub was screenshotted and posted to the Global Offensive subreddit. “Mikey add valens he’s ready to que man,” reads RUSH’s post. “He’s our player for this event.” There is no official word from either Cloud9, Faceit or Golden himself on his status, but with the IGL nowhere to be seen on the team’s media day photos, it looks as if he will miss out. Few more @Cloud9 behind the scene shots from @ecs media day :camera_with_flash: pic.twitter.com/NOsLBzcXdd — C9 | Jonathan Tran @ ECS S6 Finals (@jonathanaktran) November 21, 2018 It’s not the first time that valens has stepped in for Golden. At the recent Blast Pro Series Copenhagen event, the former pro player played in place of the Swedish IGL for a day as Golden dealt with a medical issue. At the Copenhagen event valens performed valianty in his two appearances, helping Cloud9 push Natus Vincere all the way despite falling to a 16-13 loss before turning around and defeating MIBR 16-13. Despite only qualifying for the ECS finals on the back of Renegades not being able to participate, C9 would have been looking to play another lan event with their new roster after recent addition of French player Fabian ‘Kioshima’ Fiey.

CS:GO: Cloud9 reportedly making swoop for Mousesports star BLAST Pro Series/Adela SznajderCloud9 are reportedly targeting Miikka ‘suNny’ Kemppi of Mousesports to join their Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster with the team now looking for two players following the end of the IEM Katowice Major. The North-American based organization has had some roster troubles since the departures of Jake ‘Stewie2K’ Yip and Tarik ‘Tarik’ Celik – pivoting from a full North-American roster to adding European talent. Former Fnatic star Robin ‘Flusha’ Rönnquist joined the team back in September of 2019, but announced he would be taking a break from CS:GO following the end of the IEM Katowice Major. With Zellsis, who stood in for Maikil ‘Golden’ Selim in Poland, also departing, the team is desperate to pick up another star player. Now, according to a report from HLTV, Cloud9 harbor an interest in Mouseports star Miikka ‘suNny’ Kemppi, and could be looking to make their roster a majority European team. The report also states that the two organizations have discussed the potential move, but nothing is imminent just yet. If these reports prove to be true, Mousesports would be left in the awkward position of losing virtually their entire 2018 roster. They recently benched former in-game leader Chris ‘ChrisJ’ De Jong and Martin ‘STYKO’ Styk and could now be losing their Finnish star player to Cloud9. Yet they are trying to make additions. According to Dexerto’s own Jarek ‘DeKay’ Lewis, the German-based organization are close to acquiring Finn ‘Karrigan’ Andersen from FaZe Clan. If all the reported moves materialize, Mouz would still be left them with just three active players – Karrigan, Robin ‘ropz’ Kool and Tomas ‘oskar’ Stastny – while looking for two more players before the start of ESL Pro League action in early April. If the reported interest turns into a full move, Cloud9’s roster would consist of: Timothy ‘Autimatic’ Ta – William ‘RUSH’ Wierzba – Maikil ‘Golden’ Selim – Fabian ‘kioShiMa’ Fiey – Miikka ‘suNny’ Kemppi –

CS:GO ‘Championship belt’ is held by a very surprising team ESLIf CS:GO was to have champions in similar style to Boxing and MMA, one of the most unlikely teams competing at professional level would still be in possession of the ‘lineal championship belt.’ The current CS:GO team rankings are comprised of all tournament results across a variety of international competitions, which only recently saw Team Liquid move into first place, partly due to Astralis’ lack of events attended. Although if the CS:GO community was to hold a lineal championship, where only one on one matches were counted for the belt to be transferred over rather than tournament wins, many fans would be surprised to find out that the current world champions would be Ghost Gaming. In a Reddit post by “develo”, a particular set of guidelines were followed to determine who the current lineal champions would be, such as if a team disbands or does not attend a LAN within 6 months the lineal championship belt would be transferred back to the previous owner. The list of lineal champions saw the ‘belt’ change hands 175 times since it’s start with NiP’s legendary 87-0 run, with the most recent transfer which saw current lineal champions, Ghost Gaming defeating ENCE 16-14 in a close match at CS_summit 4. The Ghost Gaming line-up consists of some North American stars such as steel and freakazoid and fans of the organization took advantage of the opportunity to claim this as period as the “Ghost Era,” meanwhile other CS:GO fans viewed the lineal championship in a more realistic manner, calling it “ridiculous and meaningless.” Ghost Gaming is currently ranked at around the #20 spot in the current world rankings, which is why this result may come as a shock to many CS:GO fans, who would expect one of the top teams such as Team Liquid or Astralis to be holding the crown. The result was primarily due to the unusual “Round Robin” format for CS:GO, which was in place during the CS summit, as with most cases the team who wins the tournament are usually the ones the claim the “lineal championship.” Ghost Gaming have no LAN’s scheduled in the near future, which means they might hold onto this title for quite a while.

CS:GO Caster Sadokist Set To Return For ECS Season 5 Finals Following Racial Slur Incident ESLOne of the most high profile esports casters, Matthew “Sadokist” Trivett has announced his return to commentary after a lengthy break. Sadokist made the decision to step away from CS:GO casting after he was heard using a racial slur when intoxicated on live stream. Many in the community recognized that it was out of character for the fan favorite caster, and welcomed his decision to take time off to reflect. Sadokist had in fact hinted at possibly leaving the Counter-Strike and esports community as a profession entirely, but many fans will be pleased to hear he has decided to return. Of course there were others who were less sympathetic about his transgression, but on the whole his return to casting has been recieved positively. He was announced as part of the talent lineup for the ECS Season 5 finals, which will take place on the weekend of June 8 – 10th. It is unknown if Sadokist will be involved in any other events prior to the ECS finals. TALENT ANNOUNCEMENT If you can find them, you can hire The ECS Team @jamesbardolph@followddk@HenryGcsgo@Sadokist@tomi@n0thing@onfiremoses@MACHINEgg@Pala#ECS5 Finals – 8-10 June TICKETS: https://t.co/dfnxoc7g90 pic.twitter.com/tspjWfXtWD— ECS (@ecs) May 18, 2018 Sadokist himself hasn’t said much about his return to casting, simply tweeting out a waving emoji to his followers. Fellow CS:GO Caster James “JZFB” Bardolph has in fact taken credit for bringing Sadokist back on board, responding to an esports attorney unhappy with the decision. It is unclear if Bardolph is being sincere or not in this claim, but the CS:GO talent pool is known to be a close knit group of friends, happy to stick up for each other. The ECS Season 5 finals will take place in London on June 8 – 10th, where you will be able to catch Sadokist back where he belongs.

CSGO caster Sadokist breaks silence over IEM Rio Major incident Stephanie Lindgren/ESL Gaming via ESPATCS:GO commentator Matthew ‘Sadokist’ Trivett has spoken for the first time about the incident that saw him removed from the IEM Rio Major broadcast team halfway through the event. The Canadian caster was reportedly involved in an altercation with a group of people that included famous streamer Alexandre ‘gAuLeS’ Borba at the player hotel the night before the start of the Legends Stage. As the argument escalated, Sadokist, who was reportedly under the influence, smashed a TV before being involved in a heated argument with Michal ‘Carmac’ Blicharz, ESL’s VP of Product Development, with police called to the scene. In the aftermath of the incident, ESL fired Sadokist from the broadcast and booked him the first flight out of Rio de Janeiro. Veteran caster Anders Blume, who was part of the broadcast in an “in-depth analyst” capacity, will fill in for Sadokist as Jason ‘moses’ O’Toole’s casting partner for the remainder of the event. On Twitter, Sadokist said that he has no interest in talking about the incident, which he labeled “a private issue”. “I’m happy to move on, which is why I didn’t bother to correct any of the articles or make a statement,” he said. “It’s a private issue, hence ESL and I agreed to keep it that way on our end.” Questioned by a follower about his next steps, Sadokist said: “Who knows? Nothing but time to figure it out.” This was not the first time Sadokist has been involved in a controversial incident. In 2018, the Canadian caster faced fierce criticism after using a racial slur while intoxicated on a live stream. At the time, he hinted at leaving the Counter-Strike scene and esports, but he ended up returning to broadcasts less than two months later. The IEM Rio Major will continue on November 10 with the Champions Stage, featuring the last eight teams, live from the Jeunesse Arena. Follow the tournament with our coverage hub.

CSGO caster Launders denies ex-girlfriend’s allegations of assault YouTube: Northern ArenaCS:GO caster Mohan ‘launders’ Govindasamy has responded to allegations from his ex-girlfriend Melanie ‘Passionite’, who claims that he had sex with her without consent when they were in a relationship in 2017. On June 24, Melanie shared the story of the alleged assault and a handful of screenshots of text messages between the pair. She claims that she had been in physical pain and so refused his advance, but that Launders ignored this rejection. On June 26, Govindasamy shared his response, denying that he had ever had non-consensual sex with Melanie throughout their relationship. Their relationship began in 2017, when Launders was 26 and Melanie 18. In her Twitlonger, she claims: “I didn’t want to have sex one day (I wasn’t feeling well). We both agreed the night before, and again the same day. we were sitting on his black futon when he started touching me. I told him directly to his face I did not want to have sex. “His response was ‘I don’t care. I want it now.’ The look he gave me was terrifying.” Launders responds to allegation Although Launders does not address the specific incident raised by Melanie, he explains that he first heard her make the accusation after he said he was calling the police to check up on her, due to threats of suicide. “I told her directly that I would call [the police] if she didn’t seek professional help. This is when she accused me of sexually assaulting her. She has not mentioned it since. I would like to make it very clear that I take the issue of consent very seriously, as I did throughout our relationship and I believe that every time we had sex, it was consensual.” He claims that the allegations she made on June 25 follow a “pattern” of behavior, where she makes “false” accusations or threaten to hurt herself “to stop me from calling the police.” My reply to recent allegations – 25/06/2020https://t.co/Bq3g3S7j77 — launders (@launders) June 26, 2020 Concluding his response, Launders says: “I take responsibility for my lack of judgment in instigating the relationship. She was young and was dealing with mental health problems. “I wanted to help her but it should also have been clear she wasn’t ready for a relationship. She needed a friend who could help her get the medical assistance that she needed, not the additional stress of a partner.” The allegations are just one of many in the past two weeks, which have seen countless streamers, developers, esports talent, and industry figures accused of various transgressions, covering the entire scale of harassment and assault. Some of the biggest names caught up in serious allegations include YouTuber Syndicate, another CS:GO caster HenryG, and Dota personality TobiWan. Both Syndicate and HenryG have denied the allegations.

CSGO caster infiltrates broadcast in disguise to troll organizers for “underpaying” talent YouTube: SemiPr0nogoAn amateur CS:GO caster attempted and succeeded in making up a fake character, and blagged their way onto an official broadcast, in an effort to troll the tournament organizer, Relog Media and GRID esports. Esports commentator Jamie ‘Squid’ Stewart alleges in a YouTube video that Relog Media’s owner has run various companies which have all left players and talent out of pocket. He alleges that the company owes money to players from E-Frag, and that Relog has “been underpaying their CS:GO commentators all year.” Stewart wanted to show that the company was using “vulnerable” casters with little experience, and so tested if he could create a fake persona to appear during a tournament and cast a match. Creating the character ‘Domcasts’, Stewart wore a bald cap and put on an “eastern-European” accent, for his totally fictitious caster who didn’t even have any social media accounts. He managed to get Domcasts hired for the Funspark Ulti tournament, with a slot on May 6. Stewart appeared on camera for the stream, and cast a full match, all while putting on a very strange voice, and no one in chat any the wiser. Following his stint on the broadcast, Relog Media’s COO reached out and said that they wouldn’t be hiring him for any upcoming casts, due to a number of complaints they received. However, Domcasts, or rather Jamie Stewart, had no intentions of doing another cast. “A whole best of three, and I never got caught,” Stewart explains. “That shouldn’t be a surprise, considering Relog Media and GRID Esports do not care about their CS:GO broadcasts. All they care about is betting, and that their games go ahead without any politics or drama. Stewart also alleges that in GRID Esports’ eFire League, “GRID’s most senior staff setup zero-delay broadcasts, which were then used by bad actors to cheat and matchfix.”

CSGO caster HenryG responds to abuse allegations from ex-girlfriend DreamhackCounter-Strike: Global Offensive caster and former pro Henry ‘HenryG’ Greer responded to the allegations by ex-girlfriend Kelly Jean of abuse during their relationship. Her account detailed a series of instances described as emotional abuse and sexual misconduct throughout, and briefly after, their time together. Jean, a cosplayer and Twitch partner, described an encounter during New Years’ Eve 2019, which she says was not consensual. It wasn’t until she sought out help between March and April of 2020 that she felt better equipped to sort and deal with emotions in relation to HenryG, leading to her TwitLonger outlining the series of events. “I didn’t process any of this properly until March-April,” Jean explained. She has been working with a therapist who urged her to report what happened. “It was nice to be taken seriously and it helped me deal with a lot of these emotions.” Two days later, on June 23, HenryG published his response to the allegations expressing regret for things that were said between the two of them, but denied any sexual or physical abuse that his ex-girlfriend claims. This is absolutely terrifying for me to write and I am sorry to mutual friends I did not warn. It has been mentally taxing. To those that knew, thank you for your support. — Kelly Jean (@kellyjeaaann) June 21, 2020 His description of that New Years’ Eve encounter indicates that it was Jean who initiated acts that night, however, shortly after, nothing had transpired after she felt unwell and indicated as much. “As we started to separate, New Year’s Eve became a focal incident in her mind,” he explained in his reply. “Her complaints were that I didn’t take care of her, that I had been more interested in the prospect of s*x than taking care of her while she was intoxicated, and that I was being selfish.” “I can understand why the situation may have scared her because she didn’t feel like she was in control or safe, even though I would never hurt her.” Both parties used screenshots of private exchanges through WhatsApp, Discord, or other lines of communication detailing their accounts of the other’s behavior. Published messages show Jean had “acknowledged nothing untoward had taken place,” according to HenryG. “All I wanted was some understanding of how I felt at NYE,” a message from Jean says. “That we both know it was not r*pe. I also don’t feel it was an assault either, personally, but that you were aware what you did was hurt me, by accident, because of selfish impulses.” Henry also admitted that it was “absolutely understandable that she may have experienced trauma in connection with the events of New Year’s Eve,” given incidents from a previous relationship, but definitively stated “what happened between us was consensual, and ended when she decided she did not want to continue.” He also produced screenshots of a conversation that took place after she’d apparently “turned up uninvited to [his] home in London and attempted to force herself into [his] property because she wanted to talk about [their] relationship” after it had ended. Henry said that he and his current partner had a “difficult but necessary group conversation” at his home, in which “no allegations of assault were made,” after which they both felt they’d “resolved to move forward with separate lives.” Shortly after Henry’s long post was published, Jean reviewed it and found many entries to be “ridiculous,” noting how she refused to call the incident anything but a non-consensual interaction. “I’ve also never called once what happened r*pe for my own reasons,” Jean replied soon after HenryG’s response. “I have trouble accepting it as assault, which is why I wrote ‘had sex without my consent.’ He KNEW I was too high and he still had s*x with me anyway.” As far as public statements go, HenryG said that he’s confining himself to this single post on the matter, while Jean is expected to make another response, this time addressing what she says are inaccuracies in his side of the story. These allegations come at the heels of women in the industry having the courage to report and make public instances of harassment against popular content creators such as SayNoToRage and Syndicate, among others.

CSGO camera bug lets eliminated players see through walls A bug in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive can give players an unintended peek through walls after getting eliminated from the round. Valve’s timeless game has experienced bizarre bugs throughout its lifetime. The devs are usually quick to address major exploits or glitches that tend to come up, but it seems like a regular occurrence had a strange effect in this particular instance. While the legendary Valve shooter equips players with weapons and gear to overcome their opposition, the game’s top commodity is simply knowledge of what the enemy team might be up to in a given round. Teams on a broken or half buy can pull out a win by just having more information than the other squad. In an October 3 Reddit post, user ‘jtto1010’ and his teammates were at the B-site on a broken buy. While the Redditor was holding a cheeky angle to surprise the incoming T’s, he was quickly eliminated by a clean AK-47 headshot. But the brief death animation that followed must have clipped the player’s character model too close to the wall since they were able to see right through it. With the glitch, they were able to see that the T’s had two more players committed to the B-site. Read more: Thorin’s Take: The tragedy of k0nfig – Along with the person who eliminated jtto1010, the CT’s now knew that the majority of enemies were coming from Banana into that side of the map. Even though it looks like the T’s committed to the push shortly after which would have revealed the foes to the CT’s regardless, a bug like this could definitely have an impact on tight rounds. It’s unclear how the remainder of the round turned out, but a mid-round call after getting this much info could be crucial to reinforce the B-site for the coming attack. CSGO players should actually be accustomed to seeing small glitches like this after a death, but it’s usually just a passing look into a nearby object on the map or the like. A glitch like this in a similar situation would definitely have major repercussions on a match or a big game, so the CSGO devs could be quick to address it soon.

CSGO Cache update significantly improves FPS, fixes bomb stuck errors Valve / FMPONE & VolcanoA day after the Cache map returned to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on the Steam Workshop, FMPONE and Volcano released an October 11th patch with a huge list of fixed bugs and spots. Following the October 10 re-release of Cache, the community has been hard at work play-testing the updated map to help the map creators isolate and fix every bug and glitch that they can find. Just over 24 hours after the map officially returned to CS:GO on the Workshop, the map creators already released an update with a plethora of fixes and improvements. Improved FPS FPS and FPS go hand-in-hand. By that I mean, first person shooters and frames per second go hand in hand. With that, the frames per second performance for the CT, Tree room, Z Connector, and A site have all been improved. Less frame rate drops mean less excuses if you don’t clutch the round, so you better hit your headshots now. Multiple bug fixes It wouldn’t be a CS:GO map without bugs, and there were a plenty when Cache first hit the Workshop servers. This is in no way an indictment or criticism of FMPONE or Volcano, bugs are part of any aspect of game development and are to be expected on day one. The creators fixed several spots where players were getting stuck, including the doorways by Vent and B main, and the walls in the corner of A main and by Mid sandbags. Guns were also getting stuck in several spots like Mid sandbags and Sunroom, and there were numerous spots where the bomb was getting stuck as well. In addition to all of that, the creators fixed some spots where wallbanging was occurring where it shouldn’t have, as well as a handful of clipping and pixelwalking issues. This is not the end So is Cache 100% fixed now? Of course not, that’s not how this process work. Even now the Global Offensive subreddit and the discussions section of the Steam Workshop are still being populated with more bugs and issues being spotted by players. It’s important to remember that the initial wave of feedback and testing only came from pros, so in a way, these first couple of weeks or so is acting as a public beta for all fans to be a part of. Like we’ve seen with maps in battle royale games like Fortnite and Apex Legends, subtle and serious map changes continue long after its initial release, and that results in a better playing experience for us players. The full patch notes -Improved FPS at CT, Treeroom, Z Connector, and A Site. Various Bug Fixes: -Fixed Wingman game-mode clip brushes. -Improved hitbox collisions on doorways at Squeaky. -Fixed some bomb-stuck spots. -Fixed players not being able to break B glass from B main. -Fixed getting stuck under tarp on crate in B. -Fixed glass showing players through smokes. -Fixed angled/inconsistent grenade clip on wall inside B by Checkers. -Fixed cloth on Shroud bouncing grenades at a non-flat angle. -Fixed a pixel-walk at Highway. -Fixed target at Headshot B not being wallbangable. -Fixed target at Headshot B not showing bullet holes. -Fixed the ceiling A Main stairs not having collisions. -Fixed a broken DM spawn outside of B Heaven. -Fixed being able to see under the oil tub in A site. -Fixed an issue with black walls by T boost and B ramp. -Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in a doorway by Vent. -Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in a doorway by B Main. -Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in a wall in the corner of A Main. -Fixed wallbanging from B site into B main and vice versa. -Fixed wallbanging from mid into Checkers. -Fixed clipping on Mid sandbags. -Fixed getting stuck on wall by Mid sandbags. -Fixed guns getting stuck in wall by Mid sandbags. -Fixed guns getting eaten in wall by Sunroom. -Fixed gap in boxes at Shroud looking to Quad. -Fixed box under Vent eating guns. -Fixed weird collisions at edge of B site. -Fixed a one-way smoke at Mid. -Fixed pixel jump on shelves in CT Spawn. -Fixed unsmooth clipping at sandbags in Treeroom. -Fixed grenade clipping on beams inside Checkers.

CSGO: Cache map designer reveals fixes coming from pro player feedback ValveFollowing the debut of a revamped version of Cache at ESL One New York, Counter-Strike map creator Shawn ‘FMPONE’ Snelling has gathered pro player feedback in a bid to make the release of the makeover as smooth as possible. Cache has long been a staple map within Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, after its introduction during Operation Bravo. When its removal from the active map pool was met with a sour taste earlier this year, FMPONE and co. worked tirelessly to make some favorable alterations to the map’s design. Fast-forward to September 29 and a remastered version of the Chernobyl–themed map debuted at the Barclays Center, during a professional show-match. Both Sal ‘Volcano’ Garozzo and FMPONE talked through the creation of the new Cache at the recent ESL One event. Now a derelict rework of the Chernobyl–esque map, Cache has received a fresh lick of paint, alongside some changes to the map’s competitive flow. After the pro show-match, FMPONE gathered some invaluable feedback, which he has promised to build on before the official release of Cache. I’d like to thank @ESLCS and NYC for being so kind to myself and @SalGarozzo :heart:️ We got a LOT of feedback, thankfully the pro feedback seemed positive! But here’s what we’re going to fix before 10.10.2019 pic.twitter.com/WtfW0RMTOf — FMPONE :soon::clock10: (@FMPONE) September 30, 2019 Snelling tweeted saying: “We [have] got a LOT of feedback, thankfully the pro feedback seemed positive! But here’s what we’re going to fix before 10.10.2019.” Within the list, Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev’s name sits proud at the top — perhaps hinting at a reintroduction of the historic in-game graffiti art, which the Natus Vincere rifler earned at ESL One Cologne. Moreover, Snelling appears to be catering for pros tendency to stack digital vibrance, by reducing the color saturation of the map by 10-20%. Utilizing digital vibrance (e.g., Nvidia) allows for the colors on the map to ‘pop’, thus making it easier spot enemies due to the perceived contrast between map elements and enemy players. Pros tend to double stack digital vibrances (monitor +nvidia) this means we need to reduce the current saturation of several textures. This is a relatively easy process. I’m not a huge fan of using digital vibrance enhancers, but since most people do it, we can make adjustments. — FMPONE :soon::clock10: (@FMPONE) September 30, 2019 Alongside the potential for the bewinged AWPer making a reappearance, the map creator appears to have an extensive list of tweaks to make before the public get their hands on the overgrown rendition of the ramshackled map.

CSGO bug sees prices for all skins skyrocket on Community Market ValveA bug affecting the CS:GO Steam Community Market has seen prices for every item in the game skyrocket, with some skins, cases, and stickers doubling or even tripling in cost almost overnight. If you wanted to sell a few CS:GO skins on the Steam Community Market, you might want to wait. A bug has seen prices skyrocket, but it could lead to a massive market crash in the coming days. Players started reporting higher-than-usual prices on the Community Market early on March 30, specifically on the CS:GO marketplace. Since then, the issue has spread to other games, including Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2. All items, including weapon skins, agent skins, cases, keys, and stickers, have seen their prices on the front-end go up. According to community speculation, the reason behind the community market price hike is a high load on market servers. With more people using the market than ever, some listings are not appearing for a long time, or at all. As the cheaper items get snatched up, they don’t get replaced with the newly-listed items. Although these server issues usually iron themselves out after a few minutes or so, the community market has been bugged for a number of hours as of publishing. If you list an item while the market servers are under stress, it will take a while to appear. However, your listing should still go through, and people with buy orders will be able to grab their desired items if the price is right. The greatest fear out of all of this is a massive market crash though. The longer it goes on, the more artificially inflated the prices get. Once the new supply comes through, people desperate to get rid of items will have to put them up for a lower price than normal. This has been seen before in TF2, when an in-game glitch caused mass hysteria. Tons of legendary items flooded the market, devaluing entire inventories by hundreds, if not thousands of dollars within 24 hours. Valve are yet to comment on the issue, although it’s likely they are aware and working on a fix. They’ll be looking to avoid another market catastrophe, so getting a solution out ASAP will presumably be the number one priority. The advice for players for now is to not list any items on the market, and if you need to buy anything immediately, submit a buy order. Else, just wait for it to drop back to normal.

CSGO breaks record for highest player count all time ValveUpdate, February 9: One day after hitting a new peak, CSGO broke its record again, cracking 900k concurrent viewers. As Counter-Strike: Global Offensive enters its eighth year as top-tier competitive esport title, the latest installment of the iconic shooter franchise from Valve has hit a new peak of concurrent total player numbers. CS:GO begins a new decade of dominance in 2020. The classic franchise remains at the top of the list for not just shooters on Steam, but all games after releasing in August of 2012. On February 8 2020, SteamCharts charted a peak number of concurrent CSGO players at 874,875, its highest ever. The previous peak was 850,485, which was set in April 2016, around the time of the MLG Columbus major. Luminosity Gaming, the core of which now plays for MIBR, defeated Natus Vincere in the grand finals. The tournament also produced the memorable jumping double AWP kill from Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David, which was immortalized with a graffiti at the spot on Mirage. The new peak number is the latest in a string of record-breaking numbers for the game, and the cap to months of growth seen in the CSGO player base. The average player record was broken in August 2019, and then broken again in November, December, and January. The concurrent players peak has climbed since July 2019 from 578,933 up to the current peak number of 874,875. CS:GO leads in all active statistical categories for games on Steam for the last month, beating other popular multiplayer titles like Dota 2, GTA V, and Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds. There’s a long list of potential factors for the game’s stupendous player growth. Going free-to-play certainly helped, but clearly isn’t the sole factor, as it was months after it went F2P in December 2018 for the rise in players to occur. As the previous peak from 2016 indicates, Valve-sponsored majors draw plenty of attention to the game, and the StarLadder Berlin major in August 2019 helped get the momentum going. That mixed with the soon-after release of Operation Shattered Web brought players to CSGO in thousands, and with free-to-play taking away the financial barrier to entry, newer players were more likely to try with skins, cases, and custom agents available as rewards. While those same custom skins have had some trouble being integrated into the game’s esports scene, it’s that same highly-competitive and highly-viewed competitive field that has done wonders for attracting new players. Events like the ongoing BLAST Premier Spring series, as well as the upcoming ESL Pro League Season 11 and FLASHPOINT tournament series, keep fans invested in the state of the game, and with the ESL Rio major right around the corner, hitting a new peak in March isn’t out of the question.

CSGO bot ‘toggles on’ to clutch must-win round for team in a 4v5 ValveCS:GO’s AI can be the bane of every players’ existence in matchmaking. However, one special Bot Vladimir should be awarded for their incredible clutch, turning the game around for his team right at the death. Bots are dreaded in CS:GO matchmaking, and for good reason. No, we’re not talking about bad teammates — but actual AI filling in for your human teammate who has disconnected. They usually play at a much worse level, and you have to hope that they don’t get killed so you can revive as the bot and try and claw back the round. However, just sometimes, the bot can prove its worth by pulling out some clutch plays. None of these plays have proven more clutch than what happened to ‘Lassebender’ in a FACEIT match on April 26. After being down a man for most of the game, Lassebender and their team were holding on for dear life with the match deadlocked at 14-14. With Bot Vladimir holding CT spawn on Train from B, not a lot of hope was left. However, as the T-side flanked through CT spawn to surprise the defenders, the AI kicked into action. The first person went down to a quick spray down at chest height, while the next three filed on in one after the other. The bot traded up all three times, finishing the round with a 4k. Both teams couldn’t believe what just happened, spamming match chat and voice comms with variations of “what the hell” after the clutch. Read more: CSGO April 23 patch notes – With match point secured, and the T-side economy in tatters, it was as easy as securing the 16th round with a final ditch attack. While we haven’t been able to source down the FACEIT match history — one would hope that after a clutch like that, they took home the victory. The bot’s performance in that round was likely just a flash in the pan in an otherwise mediocre performance, but it was undeniably clutch. While bots were buffed in deathmatch a few months ago, these changes weren’t pushed to other forms of matchmaking. However, maybe these AI’s did get a soft buff after all, considering how good this play was.

CS:GO: BLAST under fire for cancelling tickets and quadrupling price for LA event BLAST Pro SeriesBLAST Pro Series are facing renewed criticism following a change in the venue and ticket price for their upcoming Los Angeles CS:GO event, despite efforts to appease fans with a format improvement. BLAST Pro Series have faced a lot of criticism in recent months on a number of fronts, with their tournament format and apparent business goals the primary targets. The organizer has been accused of pushing towards a kind of “soft exclusivity” by securing the world’s top teams for their own tournaments while scheduling in such a way that few other events see all of the top teams in attendance at once. In 2019, the teams signed up to the BLAST Pro Series must attend five of the seven events in the year, although reports suggest BLAST are looking to increase their number of tournaments for 2020. This has been particularly frustrating to many viewers considering the format of the BLAST events, which is the weakest on the circuit, featuring a best-of-one round-robin group stage leading directly into a best-of-three final. The next event on the BLAST Pro Series calendar is taking place in Los Angeles on July 13-14. In response to the criticism, BLAST have announced an update to the tournament format that will see the addition of best-of-three semi-finals directly following the group stage. While the change will undoubtedly come as a welcome one for viewers, it’s been somewhat overshadowed by another change to the event, which has seen the location moved along with a major price increase for attendees. Previously, BLAST Pro Series Los Angeles was due to take place at University of Southern California’s Galen Center arena. That venue has now been cancelled, and the event will instead take place at a venue that looks to be a significant downgrade. Meanwhile, the ticket prices for the event appear to have quadrupled, from $25 before fees for a day ticket to $99 for a day ticket, or $149 for a two-day ticket. About Blast Pro Series Los Angeles : Left-side (Initial location that got canceled) : 1 day ticket : 25 $ Right-side (New location) : 1 day ticket : 99 $@neLendirekt @DonHaci :sob: pic.twitter.com/hKxCxiLCGY — iDex (@iDexCsgo) June 5, 2019 Fans who had already purchased tickets for the Galen Center event have had their tickets refunded, and will have to buy tickets at the new price if they still wish to attend the event. BLAST Front Row Experience To account for the difference in price, BLAST are introducing the “Front Row Experience” in Los Angeles which will give fans new levels of access, with guided tours of event production such as producer, observer, and camera areas to give attendants a look at what goes on behind the scenes. BLAST promise that the Los Angeles event will offer an “exclusive and intimate experience for fans”, and do so “without sacrificing the premium feeling of BLAST Pro Series”. So far, however, the change does not seem to have been particularly popular, with the move seemingly resulting in another blow to fan perception of the tournament organizer.

CSGO: BLAST announce $4,250,000 BLAST Premier 2020 BLAST have announced their newest CS:GO competitive circuit, the BLAST Premier, a new global tournament series with a massive prize pool. BLAST is best known for the ‘Pro Series’ events, held worldwide with many of the best teams in Counter-Strike invited, but are introducing a new format for 2020. The BLAST Premier will offer $500,000 for winners of each of the two Season Finals, with a grand prize of $1,000,000 for the 2020 Global Final. Total prizing across the series is a whopping $4,250,000. Edward Snowden replies to Bardolph’s invite to cast Moscow CSGO eventThe tournament series will be played across a spring and fall season, starting with 12 teams in three groups, with a week of matches per group. The new play-in system will allow any team to try their luck and attempt to qualify. BLAST Premier 2020 full format FaZe CSGO reportedly find NEO replacement for ESL One New YorkThe tournament series also has a focus similar to that of the recently announced ESL Pro Tour – to enhance ‘storytelling’ in Counter-Strike esports. One common complaint among fans is the constant events and complex tournament structures, which can leave both new and experienced fans in a jumble. BLAST Premier sounds like a move in the right direction in this regard, aiming to be a “fan-focused experience” – but the competition for fans’ attention will still be stiff in competitive CS:GO.

CS:GO: BIG pros incredibly retake B on Dust II with double-AWPs ValveBerlin International Gaming (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive that are more difficult than others for Counter-Terrorists to retake, and it gets even trickier when they’re equipped with the long-range AWP going into close-quarters. That’s exactly the situation BIG were dealing with after three quick eliminations by HellRaisers put them in an awkward predicament, until the surviving members started to go off with the deadly snipers. During their GG.Bet New York Invitational best of three against the HellRaisers, smooya and tabseN were hovering near the A-site with AWPs in hand facing an improbable 2v5. Looking down A-long, smooya was able to pick off a player in pitt. While that made the round a 2v4, matters got a bit worse when the Terrorists managed to plant the bomb across the map on B. Playing off each other while creeping through CT-spawn, tabseN spotted the feet Issa ‘ISSAA’ Murad hiding behind the car in mid. After taking a shot, tabseN finished him off with his Deagle. Almost at the same time, smooya gets surprised by an opposing player who should have ended the Brit’s life if not for an insane flick shot to bring it down to a 2v2. This raised a red flag for the remaining HellRaiser players, who nestled up at B thinking it should be a routine hold to manage seeing as both BIG players were armed with long-range weapons. With only 20-seconds left before the bomb went off, the BIG pros set up a Smoke Grenade and Incendiary in the site to give them some breathing room. It turned out to be just enough too, as tabseN himself got a great flick kill on someone holding close door. Meanwhile, smooya demanded went high to split the aggro from the last surviving HellRaiser which gave tabseN a great chance to reposition for another kill. The successful retake left BIG with two seconds to spare to get the defuse in, capping off an unbelievable play to steal the round.

CSGO: Best smoke spots on Dust 2 and lineups Valve Corporation / Hidden Path EntertainmentA great smoke spot on CS:GO’s Dust 2 map can be the difference between winning and losing. It can bring your match to a new level by granting you some easy kills while the enemy’s blind to your movements. Here are the best smoke spots in CS:GO. The revamp and alteration of CS:GO’s Dust 2 has left players trying to find the best smoke spots all over again. Luckily, for the most part, the legendary map Dust 2 remains the same but the slight alterations have meant a few new smoke spots in Dust 2 have appeared. We’ve compiled some of the best smoke spots in Dust 2 for you and your team to stealth through the map unnoticed and get some great kills. Contents The Best Dust 2 CT smoke spots While each grenade will take practice and a good aim, the right throw and the right spot can change the tide of the game. It’s well worth having them under your belt when required. Protection to cross to B Protection to get across mid to B is vital to any CT round. It’s one of the deadlier places in all CS:GO due to the long sightline, so this can be a great smoke spot if you want to nullifying the T AWP. You’ll need to head over to the outside of mid for this smoke spot so be careful. It’s also worth letting your teammates in on your plan or you won’t have anyone to back you up. Here’s how to get that smoke spot: Head to Top Box at your spawn – Aim the crosshairs at the right of the archway in front of you – Take a few steps forward and do a running throw – Mid Cross While it may not be as popular as it used to be, the mid cross smoke from CT spawn is still a great smoke spot to try out. It doesn’t have the same effect as it used to due to the update but it’s still useful for blocking mid or the catwalk. Here’s how to do it: Look through the doors to mid by xBox – Left click throw through the doors to land just in front of them – Split push from Counter Terrorist Spawn There are so many great smoke spots in Dust 2 but this one has to be one of the most effective for any objective players and communicators. It requires an understanding from the whole team and careful planning but when executed correctly you’ll dominate the field. Essentially, you can throw this smoke from your spawn entrance that leads to the A Site. The smoke will cover enough to obscure the entry to A Long and A Short meaning you can split push. Here’s how to achieve it: Head to the cross patterns just left of A Long – Look up and aim the smoke to just above the left corner of the antenna – Left click throw – Blocking mid Blocking the middle of the map can have multiple benefits for the Counter-Terrorists. It enables them to push A or B at will, especially with a smoke shot like this one. If you go from A Long and throw the smoke grenade towards the B Site then it will end up obscuring both the Counter Terrorist’s spawn, mid in general and the A Cross which in turn helps you push for B. Here’s how to get that perfect throw. Head to A Long and find the blue barrel by the door – Look towards the streetlamp to your left and line up the crosshair to the shadow of the pole – Jump Throw for maximum height – Obscuring B from Upper Tunnels Obscuring B is a surefire way to get the upper hand when looking for kills. The only issue is the fact that B itself is a relatively open area and is often a deadly place to hang around in. Throwing a well-placed smoke, however, gives you a considerable advantage over the Terrorists. Here’s how to do it: Head to the Upper Tunnels – Look for the red B sign – Line your crosshairs up to the right-hand dot, as seen in the image – Left Click throw – Best Dust 2 Terrorist smoke spots A well-placed smoke is vital for a Terrorist. It can be the difference between success and failure, so make sure you get it in the right spot. CT spawn Pushing an enemy’s spawn is a simple yet effective way to either get some kills or guarantee that no one will spawn near you. Using a smoke spot like this will enable you to protect yourself on a push to A Long or Site, or if you just want to take some land away from the Counter-Terrorists. Here’s how to do it: Head to Counter Terrorist Spawn – Stand in between the Hotel Aurore sign and the opposite wall – Throw grenade using left click down the path near the entry – Smoke at A plant site When trying to plant the bomb there is nothing worse than doing it in the open air. Many players have succumbed to a lack of protection at the bomb plant site. Having a smoke near there can be a gamechanger. You want to throw the smoke as close to bomb plant as you can but far enough away that you can still protect yourself if a Counter Terrorist runs through. You will need other players keeping an eye out for the enemy despite the smoke. Here’s how to get that perfect smoke: Get as close to the bomb site as possible – Throw the smoke using right click to block the pathway – Block off A Long A Long is usually one of the first places people head to at the start of a game. This makes it both dangerous and useful if you’re looking to get a few kills. You can get the upper hand in that scenario will a well-placed and well-timed smoke, especially if you’re with the Terrorists. Here’s how to slow down CTs in A Long: Head to long doors – Look to the ceiling and line your crosshairs up with the bottom of the left pillar as seen in the image – Jump and left-click throw – Hidden Terrorists from A Short Given the traditional Terrorist spawn, A site is often the plan of attack unless it’s a B rush round. The best way to get there is to split down A Short, which is usually less dangerous than long – but can still be deadly. If you throw a smoke towards A Short before your team pushes, then they’ll be blocked from the sight of any Counter-Terrorists. It’s a simple play but one that can be the difference between that vital first objective. Here’s how to land that smoke. Head to the xBox and line up with the rope on your left – From there look straight up at the tower above you and line the grenade up to the right of it – Left click Throw – An xBox classic While perhaps not necessarily relevant to the console, the xBox on Dust2 refers to the famous set of boxes seen in the above smoke spot. And using these boxes as a Terrorist can set you at a fantastic advantage. The Terrorist spawn is useful in many ways but can be quickly compromised if the Counter-Terrorists are quick and skilled enough. This is why it’s vital to smoke the areas they’ll likely be coming from, or get an angle on you from. Throw the smoke like this if you want easy access to A Short. Stand as far away as you can from the catwalk – Right click Throw when the team are ready to cross and before the CTs get to position – Those are the best smoke spots on the Dust 2 map. Check out our CS:GO hub for more news and guides. Or, try out some of these: All Dust 2 map callouts | Top 20 highest earning CSGO pros of all time | Most expensive CSGO skins in 2022 | Best CS:GO weapon skins

CSGO: Astralis make history with win at StarLadder Berlin Major – Final Placements The StarLadder Berlin CS:GO Major 2019 has reached its conclusion, as Astralis takes the title with a dominant, record-setting performance against AVANGAR. You can find the full final placements of all teams, and their share of the prize pool, below. Astralis are back on top, and back in the history books as well. With their victory in Berlin, they set two records with three straight major championships (FACEIT London, IEM Katowice, and now StarLadder Berlin) and four overall including ELEAGUE Atlanta. Astralis got off to an 8-0 start on their map pick, Inferno, and never let AVANGAR get any momentum going, taking it 16-6. The great Danes didn’t take their feet off the gas for even a second, getting out to a 7-1 lead on Dust II, and maintained their lead en route to a 16-5 final score to take the series and the trophy. “There are different ways of preparing. Theirs is talking on interviews. Ours is actually preparing”@gla1ve_csgo talks to @getfrank about eliminating NRG at #BerlinMajor Powered by @TeamRazer | #ThisIsEsports pic.twitter.com/qh2w1tHFox — DEXERTO.COM @ Berlin Major (@Dexerto) September 7, 2019 With all that said, here are the final placements and prize shares for all of the teams at Berlin Major 2019. Biggest surprises in Berlin As with virtually all CSGO Majors, the tournament in Berlin has produced a couple of surprising storylines that will dominate conversation topics for the next few months. Powerhouse squads Team Liquid and Team Vitality facing early exits in the quarterfinals of the Champions Stage definitely fits that criteria, especially the way tournament-favorites Liquid was disposed of by Astralis. Read More: CR4ZY CEO accuses G2 of “poaching” – G2 Esports not even making it that far is another major surprise, as they went 2-3 in the Legends Stage and dropped out before making it to Champions. Last but not least, the manner with which FURIA Esports underachieved also raised many eyebrows, as they went 1-3 in the Challengers Stage and couldn’t even make it to Legends. “They are the team that can change their whole storyline”@Thooorin explains how @astralisgg can cement their legacy at the #BerlinMajor Powered by @TeamRazer | #ThisIsEsports pic.twitter.com/VNrjcx2slq — DEXERTO.COM @ Berlin Major (@Dexerto) September 6, 2019 With the Berlin major now wrapped up, the teams look ahead to the next major in spring 2020. The details and location of that major have not been announced yet. Congratulations again to Astralis.

Benched FaZe Clan CS:GO star karrigan finds new team ahead of NA Minor for IEM Katowice Major In a rather surprising turn of events, Danish-German professional CounterStriker: Global Offensive player Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen has moved to an unexpected team ahead of the Americas Minor. On December 31, news broke out that the former FaZe Clan in-game leader will be transferring to Team Envy for the upcoming Minor in Katowice, Poland. The deal is for a loan transfer only, which means that karrigan’s stay on Envy could only be for this lone competition. To make room for karrigan, Envy have parted ways with Matt ‘Pollo’ Wilson, who joined from Ghost Gaming on October 30 as a stand-in player for Kory ‘SEMPHIS’ Friesen. “Karrigan will be competing with us at the Americas Minor on loan from FaZe Clan,” Envy tweeted. “We’d like to thank Pollo for standing in for us over the past couple months, and wish him the best in future opportunities.” Unless there are anymore unanticipated roster moves for Envy, their roster heading into the Americas Minor will be karrigan, Taylor ‘Drone’ Johnson, Steven ‘reltuC’ Cutler, Noah ‘Nifty’ Francis, and Josh ‘jdm64’ Marzano, with Zaschary ‘Eley’ Stauffer as coach. #EnvyCS Update:@karriganCSGO will be competing with us at the Americas Minor on loan from @FaZeClan. We’d also like to thank @PolloCSGO for standing in for us over the past couple months, and wish him the best in future opportunities — Team Envy (@Envy) January 1, 2019 While karrigan’s departure from FaZe is not the least bit surprising, not many expected him to move to Envy, as evidenced by all of the remarks in comments section of Envy’s announcement tweet. However, with the Dane-German desperate for a move away from the red and black, this switch does allow him to compete in first major competition of the calendar year. Finishing in the top two spots would guarantee karrigan and Envy at least $15,000 and spot in the IEM Katowice Major 2019, which has a massive $1 million prize pool of its own. This loan move away from FaZe is just another chapter in the saga between the org and one of its longest tenured players. The two had been together since karrigan transferred from Astralis in 2016, forming a powerful roster that won numerous events, including ESL ONe New York 2017 and ESL One Belo Horizante 2018. However, after continually falling short at Majors and a string of particularly poor results in recent months, karrigan was benched in mid-December and the search to find a replacement for him began. While it remains unclear as to who exactly will replace the former in-game leader at FaZe, one thing that is for sure is that karrigan will not be returning to the org after his loan spell with Envy is over, although where he will end up on a permanent basis remains to be seen.

CS:GO: Belgian star ScreaM headlines new international roster DreamhackBelgian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive star Adil ‘ScreaM’ Benrlitom has found himself a new squad – lining up alongside a host of European talent. The team, which will play under the Uruguay tag until they strike a deal with an organization, includes former players from OpTic Gaming, Ninjas in Pyjamas and G2. ScreaM’s return to competitive CS:GO looked under threat when he revealed to fans that he had injured his hand while ice skating. However, his representative has since explained to Dexerto that the injury isn’t as bad as first feared. Now, he is set to return to action with an all-new international roster that holds experience of playing at CS:GO Majors. The Belgian star will play alongside former NiP AWPer William ‘draken’ Sundin, former OpTic member Kevin ‘HS’ Tarn and Hampus ‘hampus’ Poser – who had been playing alongside draken for Red Reserve. ScreaM’s former teammate and fellow Belgian player Kévin ‘Ex6TenZ’ Droolans will round out the roster after he was officially released by G2 following his benching in November. Today we say farewell to @Ex6TenZZZ and wish him the best of luck on his new adventures. Thank you for all your hard work, from everyone at the #G2ARMY! pic.twitter.com/uJXKJGw5ds — G2 Esports (@G2esports) February 21, 2019 The team are already competing in ESEA’s European Mountain Dew League – sitting seventh with a 5-3 record – by using the spot that was held by Red Reserve prior to the organization cutting ties with all members. As a new roster, any chance the squad has of qualifying for bigger tournaments will come in the way of grueling tournament open brackets. The full Uruguay roster looks like: Adil ‘ScreaM’ Benrlitom – William ‘draken’ Sundin – Kevin ‘HS’ Tarn – Hampus ‘hampus’ Poser – Kévin ‘Ex6TenZ’ Droolans –

CS:GO beats its all-time record player count – over 10 years after its release ValveCounter-Strike: Global Offensive is over 10 years old now, but despite this, the Valve tactical FPS has just seen its previous concurrent player record beaten, suggesting that the game has even more room to grow. It seems like the Counter-Strike formula is truly timeless as we are entering the second decade of CS:GO being live with a new concurrent players record. On February 11 the game experienced its all-time peak players number of 1,320,219 according to the SteamCharts website. The game stands among the only 4 games ever to break 1 million concurrent players in Steam’s history alongside PUBG: Battlegrounds, Lost Ark, and DOTA 2. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player record broken Replies to the news shared by Gabe Follower on Twitter were full of celebratory words and congratulations made towards the developers. “Well done lads, love the effort from you all,” comments one user in the thread. Followed by replies that read: “LETS GOOOO!!!!”, “NICE.” However, some took this time to show their dissatisfaction with the current state of the game. Comments like: “Yet, no operation or big update, just the usual boring updates,” or “damn this game is never gonna get updated,” were not an uncommon sight. Some also attribute the new record to renewed popularity thanks to the new Revolution case and the musical collaboration with Denzel Curry. The game’s esports scene is still one of the major factors that power its success, with the latest big tournament being IEM Katowice 2023 underway in Poland.

CSGO B Site League offers $100,000 open qualifiers & team ‘salary’ DreamHack / FACEITAhead of their launch in March, the FACEIT-supported and Los Angeles-based B Site League have announced their open and closed qualifier system, revealing a plan to provide extensive financial support to up-and-coming CS:GO teams. As the new competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive landscape takes shape in 2020, the various leagues that will dominate the top level of pro CSGO are rolling out information regarding qualification. The B Site League, for which FACEIT will support production while under the creative direction of Duncan ‘Thorin’ Shields, announced its open and closed qualifiers through FACEIT on Jan 31, providing ample opportunities to semi-pro and amateur players to earn revenue and qualify for the League. Beginning on February 5, FACEIT will host multiple open qualifier single-bracket tournaments for the North American, South American, and European regions. The open qualifiers will culminate in closed qualifiers for each region, featuring 32 teams in Europe and 16 teams in each Americas region. The top two teams from each region will head to Los Angeles to compete in the LAN Finals qualifier for a shot at competing in the B Site League. $100,000 will be up for grabs throughout the qualifiers, and teams without organizations can earn more if they make it all the way to the League. According to HLTV’s report on the B Site qualifiers, the league will provide a monthly stipend of $25,000 ($5,000 per player) to teams that qualify without organizational support for the duration of the first season. Everyone should have the chance to become a champion. Announcing Open Qualifiers, your path to the LAN Finals Qualifier, a shot at the $100K prize pool and a place in Season 1 They start February 5th in Europe, North America and South America Sign up 👉 https://t.co/sHvI5ZCEzU pic.twitter.com/UqiMnuYapk — Flashpoint (@Flashpoint) January 31, 2020 With this offer, the league can support teams that aren’t benefiting from a traditional team salary or the perks that usually come with it, like sponsorship and merchandise revenue. With direct financial support from the league, a roster that qualifies can focus on competing without worrying about trying to sign with an organization, reducing the risk of rushing to sign an unfair contract. This news comes on the same day ESL announced additional opportunities for teams to qualify for ESL Pro League, following backlash from their announcement from a week prior that numerous qualified teams had lost their Pro League slot. Teams that lost out on Pro League spots will be invited to regional qualifiers in April for a chance to join the league at Season 12. Those same teams can also compete in the Mountain Dew League, without having to pay participation fees. MDL culminates in a Global Challenge with more opportunities to qualify for Pro League. As mentioned above, the open qualifiers for B Site League begin at the beginning of February, and we’ll update with more information regarding the closed qualifier and LAN finals as it becomes available.

CSGO AWPer smooya joins Fnatic on trial DreamHackBritish AWPer Owen ‘smooya’ Butterfield has joined Fnatic’s CS:GO lineup on a three-month trial after being released from his contract with Movistar Riders. The 22-year-old impressed during his time standing in for Fnatic, helping the team to book a spot in the closed qualifier for IEM Winter with an average 1.35 HLTV rating in their final three matches. His addition should help solve one of Fnatic’s biggest problems in the last 18 months. Jesper ‘JW’ Wecksell and Jack ‘Jackinho’ Ström Mattsson both struggled in the AWP role, with the team also briefly playing with academy talent Iulian ‘regali’ Harjău. Fnatic’s announcement came just hours after smooya revealed that he had been released by Movistar Riders. The Spanish organization had benched the British AWPer in August to build an all-Spanish roster, which ended up sealing a historic qualification for the PGL Major in Stockholm. Free Agency – Thank you @Movistar_Riders for everything. Read: https://t.co/wiv885maOQ — Owen Butterfield (@smooyacs) October 15, 2021 Joining Fnatic On Fnatic, smooya will play alongside fellow British players Alex ‘ALEX’ McMeekin and William ‘mezii’ Merriman who were recruited in early August as the team moved away from their Swedish roots. Smooya will be hoping to make the most of this opportunity as he looks to kick-start his career. Despite his undeniable talent, he has found many doors closed to him since leaving BIG because of his reputation as a toxic player. CS:GO Roster Update: We’re excited to welcome back @smooyacs to our AWP position for a 3 month trial with extension rights. We’d like to once again thank @Movistar_Riders for allowing this to happen. Welcome to the Black and Orange family, Owen! pic.twitter.com/mk1eENC5Rp — FNATIC (@FNATIC) October 15, 2021 In a recent interview with Dexerto, smooya lamented that he was still being judged by his past behavior. He also vowed to do his utmost to stay at the top if given another chance, noting that he “over-performed in every situation possible” on the server. Despite previously saying that he wanted to be a “household name” in Counter-Strike, smooya teased a potential move to Valorant on October 15 by saying that he was open to offers from Europe and North America in both games. Such thoughts have now been put to rest, but there’s every chance that he will reconsider his options if his Fnatic trial is not successful. After missing out on qualification for PGL Major Stockholm, Fnatic will now turn their attention towards securing spots at IEM Winter and DreamHack Open November. The closed qualifiers for both tournaments will run between October 18 and 21. Fnatic CS:GO roster Ludvig ‘Brollan’ Brolin – Freddy ‘KRIMZ’ Johansson – Alex ‘ALEX’ McMeekin – William ‘mezii’ Merriman – Owen ‘smooya’ Butterfield (trial) – Jamie ‘keita’ Hall (coach) –

CS:GO: Kio, autimatic and more react as Cloud9 crash out of StarLadder Major qualifiers DreamHackCloud9 CS:GO were stunned in the qualifiers to reach the Americas Minor for the StarLadder Berlin Major, eliminated after suffering two massive upsets. The qualifying process leading into the next Major is only just beginning, but already one of the biggest names in North America and a former Major winner, Cloud9, have had their hopes of playing in Berlin ended. For those teams that didn’t reach at least “New Challengers” status at the previous Major, IEM Katowice, qualifying for StarLadder Berlin is a gauntlet that begins with online qualifiers for the regional Minors. Teams must then hope to finish in the top two of their respective Minor for a guaranteed spot in the Challengers stage of the Major, while third-place teams get one final shot through the 3 Place Play-In. Cloud9 did appear at IEM Katowice and did earn a spot in the Challengers stage for Berlin with a 9-11 finish, but due to roster changes since then no longer field the minimum three players who participated in that result. The team were therefore forced to begin their run in the online closed qualifier for the Americas Minor, but they’ve fallen at the first hurdle – quite literally, losing consecutive matches in the double-elimination bracket to open qualifier teams New Identity and The Quest to be eliminated from the competition. In the wake of such a disappointing result, Cloud9 stars Timothy ‘autimatic’ Ta and Will ‘RUSH’ Wierzba shared their thoughts on Twitter, with autimatic stating that “disappointment would be an understatement” and RUSH announcing “this is definitely the lowest point in my career.” Ultimately we chose this path and now we have to suffer the repercussions. Sorry to all the fans that have stuck with us through it all :pensive: — Will (C9) (@RUSH) June 13, 2019 Former Cloud9 player Fabien ‘KioShiMa’ Fiey, who was part of the squad that competed at the IEM Katowice Major, also registered his surprise at the result. It’s not the fact of being out the team but I find it pretty shocking that players of this caliber loses against these teams (not to disrespect New identity and Quest) but I would put c9 over these 2 teams — kioShiMa (@kiocsgoo) June 13, 2019 The elimination match ended in rather spectacular fashion for The Quest, who pulled off a 2v5, which concluded with a 1v3 for Jack ‘xCeeD’ Holiman, to defeat Cloud9 and eliminate them. The result caps off a series of underwhelming finishes for Cloud9, who have failed to achieve anything noteworthy since assembling this roster. Their results consist of fifth and sixth-place finishes at BLAST Pro Series events, failure to reach the playoffs of either the ECS or ESL Pro League, and a last-place finish at DreamHack Masters Dallas.

CS:GO August 8 update patch notes – Breach and Seaside changes, Weapon pick-up bug fix and more ValveWhile it’s not quite as major as the July 31 update, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive received an update on August 8 that addressed some bugs and updated both Breach and Seaside to their latest versions. Valve’s latest patch fixed a variety of graphical glitches in the two maps, but also addressed a bug that blocked players from picking up weapons. The bug would occur when the weapons were obstructed by grenades or other guns and it would cause the pick-up to actually fail, which is not an ideal situation to be in. Breach and Seaside changes Most importantly, the latest versions of these two maps are now in the game and with that came a bunch of polishing. Seaside, in particular, had spots with a boost exploit and places where the bomb could be stuck, but those have been ironed out with the August 8 patch, much to the delight of players. On the Breach side of things, we’re looking at a lot fewer changes but notably, there was a window removed on top of ladder. Outside of that, the map will feel more or less the same to players so there’s nothing crazy they have to adjust to this time around. Release Notes for today are up. Breach and Seaside have received updates and a pickup weapon bug has been addressed. Release Notes in full: https://t.co/PrhkT72d6p — CS:GO (@CSGO) August 8, 2019 If you found yourself taking a lot of damage from your teammates in Danger Zone matches from the Zeus-x27, you won’t have to worry as much about that anymore. This patch reduced the damage of friendly fire from that gun so while it’s still not recommended to troll with the Zeus, it won’t hurt as bad for friends. You can read the full list of patch notes below. CS:GO update for 8/08/19 – Patch Notes [MISC] – Fixed a bug where picking up weapons would sometimes fail when they were occluded by other weapons or grenades. – Reduced friendly fire damage from Zeus-x27 in Danger Zone matches. – fov_cs_debug will now respect floating point values. [MAPS] – Updated Seaside and Breach with the latest versions from CS:GO Steam Workshop. Breach: – Improved clipping – Fixed hole in bushes at mid – Removed window on top of ladder – Removed a bunch of pixelwalks Seaside: – Re-added trigger_bomb_reset to water zone – Fixed boost spots in T-spawn and outside B Deck. – Fixed some pixel spots on T-Side Bridge and behind Bombsite A. – Blocked various boost exploits. – Blocked various bomb stuck locations. – Fixed buggy door graphics. – Fixed misc graphical issues.

CSGO August 6 update adds Fracture case, more Swamp and Mutiny changes ValveA new skin collection is the hallmark of CS:GO’s August 6 update, with the Fracture case now available to players. Swamp, Mutiny, and Anubis also received some adjustments to help with performance. Finally, some new content that’s not maps. The CS:GO community can rejoice that new cosmetics are entering the game — so get ready to open your wallets for the Fracture Collection. Gameplay-wise, three of Counter-Strike’s newest maps are being adjusted. Swamp, Mutiny, and Anubis are all undergoing some layout changes allowing for new boosts, and a general performance overhaul to help with loading into the maps. Today we are shipping the Fracture Case, featuring weapon finishes from over 17 Community artists. We’ve also fixed VPK tampering exploits and made improvements to SDR networking protocol. Mutiny, Swamp, and Anubis have also been updated. Release Notes: https://t.co/zoTXVgcUO3 pic.twitter.com/s022yUtQ5d — CS2 (@CounterStrike) August 7, 2020 Fracture Collection and case adds 17 new skins After almost six months with no new skins, a new collection has finally dropped in CS:GO. The Fracture Collection and case adds 17 new skins into the game for a host of different weapons across CTs and Ts. The new collection featured Covert-Red skins for the AK-47 and Desert Eagle, and Classified-Purple skins for the M4A4, Glock-18, and XM1014 shotgun. Read more: Every skin in CS:GO’s Fracture collection – The cases are currently going for around $20 USD on the Marketplace, so maybe don’t dive in and buy one immediately. The prices will go down eventually. If you’re lucky enough, you can pick one up in-game too. Swamp and Mutiny undergo another map overhaul New maps Swamp and Mutiny have been adjusted once again. The changes are set to increase the game’s performance on both maps, as well as fix some of the exploits players on both sides have been abusing. On Mutiny, a lot of cover around the A site has been removed to make the map a bit more open. Other bits of cover around Mid have been adjusted to help with the problem. The ceiling has also been increased in various parts, allowing for new boosts on A site. Swamp also received a huge boost to performance, as well as changed the T entrance of mid. A clipping issue in T-spawn where weapons could fall under the map has also been patched up. You can find the full August 6 patch notes below. CSGO August 6 update notes Fracture Case Introducing the Fracture Case, featuring designs from over 17 community artists-designed weapon finishes, and the Shattered Web Knives as rare special items. – Maps Anubis Fixed some clipping, z fighting, invisible surface bugs – Fixed being able to spot enemies through wall near bridge. (thanks Chaelin!) – Removed palm tree shadow at bridge – Fixed wallbang at B main route – Fixed weapons falling through stairs and other parts of the floor. – Re-added the grenade windows to B. – New skin for double door at middle. – Various minor fixes. – Mutiny Optimization Significant improvement in performance in all areas of the map (Thanks Joaokaka1998 for testing!) – Adjusted fade distances to improve performance – Added more hint/skip brushes to separate certain visleaves – Added ivy models to prop combine to increase performance when multiple are rendered at once – Gameplay Lowered part of the wall on A Site – Modified rock formation at upper T to A into a brick wall to improve visibility and grenade potential – Added cover at mid to B connector – Removed cover at exit of mid to A connector – Removed cover at Side Path near the back of A Site – Adjusted position of cover at Catwalk – Adjusted position of cover at T to A Lower – Raised height of ceiling clipping around A Site & CT to A, allowing players to get on top of the wall on A Site – Raised height of ceiling clipping around CT entrance to B – Adjusted deathmatch spawn position near A Site – Misc Adjusted environment lighting to give a better visual contrast – Fixed flickering of multiple bush props across the map – Removed shadows for some foliage models, such as those seen at The Squid building – Fixed missing textures on various displacements around the map – Fixed various floating models around the map (windows, lamps, etc.) – Improved clipping of wooden pillars at Dock – Tweaked clipping around rock at T to A Upper – Fixed numerous bomb stuck spots (thanks Joaokaka1998!) – Bomb now teleports back to dry land if player drops it while stood on the small boat – Added multiple bomb reset triggers around A Site, B Site and Dock – Fixed incorrectly rotated tarp model at Dock – Removed foliage on A Site wall – Modified treasure map in T spawn ship to have a more accurate name applied to it – Updated overview – Swamp Main changes Swamp has now great FPS – Replaced water material – Made it brighter in some areas – Updated radar – Fixed some more clipping – Middle Closed the corner near the old saw blades by the backroom – Made recess in wall at T-entrance – B-site Made brighter background in corner near T-entrance – T-spawn Closed a gap where a weapon could fall in between – Networking Multiple improvements to SDR networking protocol: Improved SDR routing selection logic – Fixed SDR networking sessions to not be reused after expiration – Improved stability – – Misc Updated main menu movie for Mutiny. – Fixed several exploits related to VPK tampering. – The -untrusted launch option is no longer supported –

CSGO August 26 patch makes major changes to Mutiny A site, Cache, more ValveCS:GO’s latest patch on August 26 doesn’t include the release of Source 2 or a new operation, but it does include some major changes to Mutiny, Cache, and Swamp, as Valve looks to potentially push one of the three maps into the active pool. Mutiny and Swamp have been under the microscope for quite some time since their release. Valve are putting more effort into the community-made maps than they did with Chlorine and Anubis a few months ago, leading to potential questions about their future in the map pool. There were also updates to Cache — which could also indicate Valve wants to chuck the old active duty map back where it was. It hasn’t really seen the light of day since its 2019 rework, and as the 12 month anniversary of the Cache update approaches, it could be time. Release Notes for today are up. We’re shipping a few miscellaneous updates alongside updates to Mutiny and Cache: https://t.co/eagBuGeT3K — CS2 (@CounterStrike) August 26, 2020 Mutiny A site overhauled While Valve shipped changes to “improve performance in all areas” of Mutiny, they had a hard focus on A site in particular. They removed the foliage that lined the wall, which obscured visibility, and adjusted the cover available. They also tweaked the wall to make gameplay a bit smoother. They cleaned up some of the angles, as well as made it easier to jump onto, giving defenders an extra angle to hold the site from. Valve didn’t just make changes to the “CT” side of the map on the bombsite. The rock formation at Upper T has also been modified into a brick wall to “improve visibility and grenade potential.” They also made some minor adjustments to bomb reset triggers on B site. Additional changes to Cache & Swamp The recently-reworked Cache has also received some changes on the August 26 patch. The “door stuck” bug at Squeaky has been fixed, putting an end to the old 1.6 door stuck memes. Valve also patched out a molotov exploit at the dark spot in mid. Swamp is the final map getting changed in the update. Much like Mutiny, the new map has once again received upgrades to its performance. The ambient sounds on the map have been turned down, making footsteps easier to hear, and the invisible water splashes are now gone. They have also made a new path from mid up towards heaven to help make the map a little more T-sided, as well as closed up some abusable gaps from CT Spawn defenders could hold. You can find the full CS:GO August 26 patch notes below: CSGO August 26 patch notes Maps Swamp Improved performance – New radar – Raised the bottom of the water for better readability of players behind boats – Fixed invisible water splashes – Ambience sounds is quieter – To make mid more attractive and balanced we have added a new path from mid up to heaven – Heaven has now some more space towards the new path for better angles – Closed gaps in wood fence at A-long (T side) – Closed a sightline from CT-spawn to A-long – Mutiny Improved performance in all areas of the map – Tweaked and improved clipping – Adjusted environment lighting to give a better visual contrast – Removed foliage on A Site wall – Added multiple bomb reset triggers around A Site, B Site and Dock – Extended Dock and Moved T Spawn back slightly to give CTs more setup time – Adjusted cover around the map – Tweaked wall at A Site for cleaner angles and made it easier to jump onto – Made wallbangs through the door on B Site do less damage – Lowered part of the wall on A Site – Modified rock formation at upper T to A into a brick wall to improve visibility and grenade potential – Fixed various lighting and texturing issues – Cache Subtle visual enhancements – Fixed door stuck bug – Fixed molotov exploit at Dark Spot Mid – Updated .nav mesh – Restored functionality to soundscapes – Miscellaneous Fixed a rare case where coach camera could remain in free roaming mode. – Fixed net_dumpeventstats command to be cheat-protected. –

CS:GO August 19 patch notes – quick fix to newly discovered Olofboost, autograph sticker fixes ValveThe Counter-Strike: Global Offensive August 19 update will be introducing tweaks to some of the StarLadder 2019 Berlin Major stickers while implementing fixes to problems in Nuke and Overpass. While pros are gearing up for 2019’s second Major CS:GO event, the devs behind the game are working to make the legendary FPS run as smooth as possible by fixing any and all kinks or bugs that may crop up from time to time. Meanwhile, there’s been some apparent mix ups with signature stickers for the upcoming Major, but it looks like the developers are making steady progress of fixing the in-game items to better reflect what teams and players sent in. Revamped Olofboost is no more It seems like the devs were also quick to take out the strange new ‘Olofboost’ that has been making its rounds in the CS:GO community. The devs “recompiled Overpass” as they added a clipbrush to the back of A site which might prevent players from making use of the exploit that let them get crucial peaks into the B bombsite. Valve was sure to get any kind of trickery out of the popular map before the Berlin competitions were set to get underway. Berlin Major autographs cleaned up The new update will be giving some players updated stickers seeing as older designs might have made their way into the game. Players like Furia’s Yuri ‘yuurih’ Gomes, Vinicius ‘VINI’ Figueiredo, Kaike ‘KSCERATO’ Cerato, and Rinaldo ‘ableJ’ Moda as well as HellRaisers’ Kirill ‘ANGE1’ Karasiow and Greyhound Gaming Chris ‘dexter’ Nong all got updated stickers. The changes should now make the stickers properly reflect the signature and designs for their respective 2019 campaigns going into the Major. Previously, people from orgs like Team Liquid and Greyhound expressed their confusion for the sticker mix up, and it looks like the devs are hearing the calls as they start to fix the problems. To get the complete picture of what the August 19 update brought to CS:GO, check out the patch notes below. Release Notes for 8/19/2019 2019.08.19 – [ BERLIN 2019 ] – Updated autograph stickers for dexter, VINI, ableJ, KSCERATO, yuurih, ANGE1. [ LINUX ] – Updated Linux dedicated servers Steam Client layer to the latest version which significantly improves TCP reconnect timeout in case of upstream connection drop. [ MISC ] – Added client-side settings to limit incoming invite sounds: cl_invites_only_mainmenu, cl_invites_only_friends. [ MAPS ] – Recompiled Nuke to fix several lighting problems on static props. – Recompiled Overpass with an additional clipbrush at the back of A site.

CSGO August 17 patch fails to remove game-breaking wallhack exploit Valve / YouTube: SparklesA new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive patch was shipped on August 17, with players hoping it would contain a fix for a game-breaking wallhack exploit that can get around VAC. However, their prayers haven’t been answered. A new wallhack exploit has been doing the rounds in CS:GO over the last week. It exploded in popularity after YouTuber ‘Sparkles’ shared details with players back on August 12. The new exploit is a varied version of the old one, which allowed players to boot up CS:GO without vpk files active. Players could then overwrite certain files to break the game, giving them wallhacks, boosted sound, and more. Now, rather ironically, the exploit is even easier to use. It can bypass the “sv_pure” command needed to get onto matchmaking, is easier to do, and has more power. All you have to do is create your own custom vpk files for CS:GO and replace the old ones. There are a ton of values you can alter in the vpk files. You can change how sound works, making it easier to hear opponents. Smokes won’t render if you choose so. You can even make their entire player models show through walls — giving you the world’s best wallhack. Then, after creating a keybind that allows you to spam and overload sv_pure’s verification when booting onto a server, you’ll be able to bypass all the checks. Obviously, its impact speaks for itself. It can circumvent all VAC checks, and it won’t even be detected by ESEA or FACEIT’s anti-cheat. Of course while it can be manually reviewed by the Overwatch system, or Valve themselves, there’s no easy way to crack down on it. Valve shipped a patch to CS:GO on August 17, which got players’ hopes up about a potential fix to an exploit. However, the update contained nothing of the sorts. Release Notes for today are up. End of match scoreboard will now display which players were playing as a party when Skill Groups are revealed and more: https://t.co/hNulcqtJdd — CS2 (@CounterStrike) August 18, 2020 Given how quickly the previous exploit was patched out — only a couple of days after Sparkles’ first video on August 4 — this new one could be a hard nut to crack. It might be some days, or even weeks, before CS:GO returns to ‘normal.’ Read more: BIG, FURIA win DreamHack Open Summer 2020 – If you see someone using this exploit, or even suspect it, you can report them through the in-game function for wallhacks. While VAC might not detect it, it’s better than doing nothing. You can find the full CS:GO August 17 patch notes below. CS:GO August 17 patch notes End of match scoreboard will now display which players were playing as a party when skill groups are revealed. – Average wait times for finding matches on official game servers are now region-specific. – Rcon connection from client will now get established asynchronously. – Rcon address cannot be changed while connected to a dedicated server. – Added a setting “rcon_connected_clients_allow” to disallow clients from connecting to other dedicated servers via rcon. – Several stability improvements. –

CSGO August 16 patch adds 10th Birthday Sticker Capsule, Tuscan map, more ValveFor the 10th birthday of CSGO, Valve has shipped a new August 16 update packed with a new Sticker Capsule to celebrate the occasion, along with a few new features and limited-time items. A decade ago Counter-Strike: Global Offensive rolled out and forever changed the competitive FPS landscape. Now, to celebrate this milestone Valve has released a small update to mark the 10th birthday. Highlighting the patch is a new Sticker Capsule filled to the brim with 60 designs from the community along with the revival of Tuscan, and of course, a limited-time birthday coin for players to add to their collection. Here’s all there is to know about CSGO’s 10th birthday update. CSGO celebrates 10 years with new Sticker Capsule In recent weeks designers have been trying their hand at unique 10th-anniversary stickers to celebrate CSGO. Thanks to their effort, over 60 unique designs are now available through the 10-Year Birthday Sticker Capsule in-game. Among the designs is even a new tier of animated reward designated a “Lenticular” quality. As always, these capsules can only be purchased and drops are entirely randomized. To make things easier, however, devs have added new functionality to the system. Now, you can comb through all items in cases or capsules with a simple click of the new ‘inspect items’ option. Tuscan map officially joins the rotation Making its proper arrival on August 16, the Tuscan map has now been added across all regular game modes in CSGO. The classic CS map has been retooled and now functions in all available playlists. Additionally, Anubis and Breach both now appear in competitive queues, while Primetime and Blagai have been added to Wingman. CSGO 10th Birthday Coins Last but not least, players that jump in between August 16 and August 23 can earn an exclusive Birthday Coin. CSGO players with Prime status can level up and secure this limited-time Coin for themselves as their first in-game drop of the week.

CS:GO August 14 patch notes – Berlin 2019 viewer pass and more ValveThe Berlin 2019 viewer pass is now live in CS:GO as part of the August 14 patch and there is a ton of new content to dig through. Included in the pass is a Berlin 2019 Event Coin, new challenges to compete, Stream.TV flair, Berlin 2019 Souvenir Packages, and more. According to a CS:GO blog post, “Every time you upgrade your coin, you can redeem a Souvenir Package of the match of your choice.” Additionally, 50% of the proceeds will be going to players and organizations competing at the major. As we previously reported, Valve revealed the autograph stickers and sprays for the upcoming event. In a bit of a mixup, Team Liquid’s Berlin major sticker is from last year’s. Luckily, however, the problem has since been fixed. “Thank you to @CSGO for fixing our sticker in such a short amount of time! Super excited for the major and thank you everyone for all of the support!” Team Liquid’s General Manager Steve Perino said. Thank you to @CSGO for fixing our sticker in such a short amount of time! Super excited for the major and thank you everyone for all of the support! — Steve Perino (@jokasteve) August 14, 2019 The new patch also includes some server updates and optimization, which will be welcomes by many players. You can read the full list of patch notes below. CS:GO update for 8/14/19 – Patch Notes [ BERLIN 2019 ] – The “Berlin 2019 Viewer Pass” and the “Berlin 2019 Viewer Pass + 3 Souvenir Tokens” are now available for purchase. 50% of the proceeds go to the players and organizations taking part in the StarLadder Berlin Major. — With a Viewer Pass, you’ll get: — An upgradable Berlin 2019 Event Coin. — Access to the Berlin Pick’Em Challenge. — Unlimited team graffiti for the duration of the event. — Steam.tv team flair. — Access to Berlin 2019 Souvenir Packages. — All-new Viewer Pass Missions. — Ability to purchase additional Souvenir Tokens. — Team and player autograph stickers are available for purchase. [ MISC ] — Improved calculation of client packets processing time to account for dedicated server systems where clock can jump backwards. — Optimized client-side processing when kills are scored with StatTrak weapons. [ MAPS ] — Breach has been updated to the latest Workshop version.

CSGO August 1 patch resets all players’ ranks with matchmaking fix ValveCS:GO is undergoing a major rank reset yet again after Valve pushed “multiple changes to the competitive matchmaking algorithm” in the game’s August 1 patch. All players will have to win a game to see their new rank, which has likely changed a few tiers. CS:GO’s in-game matchmaking queues, especially for competitive, are seen as a bit of a meme. The matchmaker can often struggle to find balanced games, and players ranks are often skewed to the low side. This isn’t helped by the presence of third-party programs like FACEIT or ESEA often taking the very competitive players off the public queues. However, Valve is trying to entice players to push for Global Elite in CS:GO by making some major adjustments to in-game competitive matchmaking. In doing so, everyone has had their ranks reset somewhat. “Typically when we ship changes to CS:GO’s matchmaking system, the adjustments are small enough that we don’t include them in our release notes,” developers told players on August 1. “However, today’s update affects all CS:GO players so it requires some explanation.” “When you launch CS:GO, you’ll notice that your Skill Group is not displayed–you’ll have to win one more match to reveal your Skill Group. Most of you will notice a change to your Skill Group, but some of you may find that you were already in the right place.” While Valve didn’t specify the exact matchmaking changes — only that there were “multiple changes to the competitive matchmaking algorithm” — players are hoping it can fix some of the issues with how skewed ranks are. It’s not the first drastic rank reset CS:GO has gone under either. Valve pushed forward one very early in the game’s existence after players found themselves with highly-inflated ranks. Since that adjustment, players have been skewed very heavily towards Silver and Gold Nova. To find out exactly where you’ll land, you need to win one competitive game. After you do that, your new Skill Group will be revealed. On top of the matchmaking changes, Valve also updated the cannons on Ember as part of the CS:GO August 1 patch. You can find the full notes below. CSGO August 1 patch notes Maps Ember Changes to CannonsAltered the angle that the North cannon faces – Cannons can now be aimed upwards, and is now 2x faster – Now have 3 firing speeds (change with mouse2) – Reduced inaccuracy multiplier – Killfeed now shows weapon icon – Produce a beefy screen shake and more particle effects – Base model now also rotates – Added damage falloff to cannonballs after their initial collision – Fixed being able to bumpmine away from cannon and keep control – Fixed cannons continuing to turn when no longer in use – – Added bus to bus stop outside Industry – Miscellaneous Multiple changes to the competitive matchmaking algorithm, which will require Skill Groups to be recalibrated for accuracy. Your Skill Group will not be visible until you win your next match. – Game instructor should now correctly reload saved state if it is disabled and re-enabled. – Game instructor floating hints are disabled in competitive matches. –

CS:GO: Astralis wins ESL Pro League S8 finals – Recap, Standings and Placements Astralis comfortably took down Team Liquid in the ESL Pro League Season 8 Finals. The Danish squad, behind superb team play, continued their dominant streak with a 3-1 win over their North American counterparts. Winning the event also meant that they also claimed an additional $1,000,00 in prize money, capturing the Intel Grand Slam. Prior to winning in their homeland – which their current line-up had not done, the Danes had won three tournaments that counted towards the extra prize money. Had they fallen to defeat, they would have had to claim the Katowice Major to secure the Grand Slam. Kicking the Grand Finals off, Astralis delivered a curveball in the map veto process, selecting Train – a map that Team Liquid have not played on LAN since July. However, the North American side secured an early series lead with a 16-8 map win behind a stand-out 23 kill performance from Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski. From there, the series headed to Mirage – a map that has become a staple for clashes between the two teams. Astralis were able to level the best-of-five series at 1-1 with a 16-11 win. In-game leader Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander led the way with 31 kills, helping his team clutch out some incredibly-tight rounds. For the third map of the series, the two teams loaded into Inferno. The map has held some iconic matches between Liquid and Astralis over the last year – including a 16-12 back and forth brawl in the event’s group stages. Like they did earlier in the tournament, the Danes picked up victory by a scoreline of 16-11. Astralis wrapped up the victory on Dust 2 with a 16-10 win, shutting down the North American roster with an overall balanced performance as four players finished with over 15 kills.

CS:GO: Astralis stunned by Team Vitality at ESL One Cologne 2019 ESLCounter-Strike with the hopes of climbing back to the top of the mountain and proving that they are still one of the premier teams to beat. They had taken down BIG, Fnatic, and Ninjas in Pyjamas in their earlier matches – giving them a platform to build from as they entered the arena stage at the semi-finals – in the opposite side of the bracket to Team Liquid. That possible final match-up presented an incredibly mouth-watering prospect for many CS:GO fans. However, that won’t be happening now. The Danes were knocked out by Team Vitality following a thoroughly entertaining three map series that spanned across Dust 2, Inferno, and Overpass. Vitality kicked things off with a dominant 16-8 win on Dust 2 – their map choice – before falling to a 22-19 overtime defeat on Inferno. However, the majority-French roster closed things out on Overpass – picking up the 16-9 victory and kicking the Danes to the curb. It was the stunning play of Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut that led Vitality through as the young phenom pulled out 25 kills to 12 deaths on Dust Two before putting in a 30-28 performance on Inferno and 20-12 on Overpass. Read More: CS:GO: How to watch ESL One Cologne 2019 – His overall rating of +23 was double anyone else in the game, despite his teammate Alex ‘Alex’ McMeekin almost stealing the show by lending a massive helping hand to put Vitality into the grand finals. ZywOo’s absurd talent, even in one of the biggest games of his young career, was on full display as he ripped Astralis apart during the early stages of Dust 2 to show that he was prepared to drag his team through. While Astralis will have to go back to the drawing board and prepare themselves for the StarLadder Major, Vitality will be gearing up for a grand final meeting with either Team Liquid or Natus Vincere – looking to secure their third trophy in three months. Na’Vi, the defending champions, have been in stunning form in Cologne but taking on Liquid – the new top dogs – is no easy feat, especially when they have a chance to secure the Intel Grand Slam, and $1,000,000 in prize money, in record-breaking time.

CSGO April 25 update adds Anubis Collection skins, map changes to Danger Zone, more ValveCSGO’s April 25 update has just dropped, adding the long-awaited skin collection for Anubis, teasing cryptic map changes, and more. CSGO is seeing an all-time high in interest, thanks to the announcement of Counter-Strike 2. The decade-old game has recently seen peak player counts, renewed interest in the esports scene, and of course new eyes on its skins market. And with a new patch, Valve has announced a whole new skin collection for Anubis, almost half a year after it had been added to the Active Duty Pool, taking Dust 2’s place. In addition comes a rare update to Danger Zone as well. So here is all you need to know about the April 25 update in CSGO. CSGO adds new skin collection for Anubis It has been almost half a year since November 2022, when Valve made the divisive decision to change out Dust 2 for Anubis in the Active Duty Pool. But crucially, for the skin lovers out there, it left a lack of a skin collection for the newly added map. And it seems Valve is releasing the new Anubis Skin Collection ahead of the 2023 Paris Major for the sweet drops you can get. The Anubis skin collection features 19 new additions, featuring creations from both the community and the devs. All with the theme around Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god. Here is a slideshow of some of the new skins: CSGO gives a rare update to Danger Zone Danger Zone is a side of CSGO that most players have most likely forgotten. The game mode was Valve’s response in 2018 to the rise of the battle royale genre, creating a battle royale game with the mechanics of CSGO. It was, as many players have pointed out, an odd addition to the game even when it first came out. But it still has its fans, in particular one CSGO commentator SpunJ. And Danger Zone fans will be glad to learn that Valve has not entirely forgotten about the game mode, with some new changes to the map. Valve has increased the lava in the underground tunnels of Ember, leaving it a much more precarious place to hide. And, in a cryptic update, they wrote, “spring celebrations have ended in Ember Land”. Which is basically code for new visual changes to Ember.

CSGO April 23 patch notes: Cache update, new Warmup maps, Vertigo fix ValveThe Counter-Strike battlefield is changing — well, at least the maps are. Six maps have come under the microscope in CS:GO latest update, including an update to Cache, and two new Warmup maps for Overpass and Nuke in Wingman. With weapon balance in a seemingly good spot after April 10’s update, Valve has been targeting maps in the recent patches for CS:GO. April 16’s update shipped optimization changes for nine of the active maps, and April 23’s rendition is following on from that, with changes to another six battlegrounds. Release Notes for today are up. Nuke and Overpass have had the new 1v1 Warmup mode added in Wingman. This and updates to a number of maps can be found here: https://t.co/yRyNGgefWx — CS2 (@CounterStrike) April 23, 2020 Cache lighting fixes A number of visibility and lighting fixes have been shipped for Cache, raising suspicions about the map’s possible return to the Active Duty Pool. The map’s visual update back in October 2019 added a lot of greenery to the map, but made visibility with some of the new Agent skins close to zero. These changes have helped reduce the blending in some areas, especially in mid. Both of the bombsites, and the main entrances to them, have undergone lighting updates too. This is on top of some fixes to certain textures and elements, and an overall optimization update to the map. Nuke and Overpass added to Wingman Warmup Nuke and Overpass join Train and Vertigo as the next two maps to receive 1v1 arenas in CS:GO. The Wingman Warmup zones have proven to be a hit with players, and Valve is looking to roll them out across Wingman, and possibly other modes too. There was also a small clipping fix for Overpass pushed through in the update, so you won’t have to worry about getting stuck on the dumpster at A site. Vertigo received a couple of small map fixes, including squashing visual bugs and removing some gaps in textures. Anubis and Chlorine were also touched up in the latest patch, although it’s nothing game-changing. Chlorine will now use different default CT models, while Anubis has had its radar updated after last patch’s changes. You can find the full CS:GO April 23 patch notes below. CS:GO April 23 patch notes Maps Chlorine Changed default CT faction to FBI. – Anubis Latest version of radar. – Cache Improved visibility map-wide. – Brightened hiding spot near sandbags. – Brightened A Main. – Brightened B Main. – Brightened target placed in corner under B Heaven. – Reduced visual noise. – Reduced foliage clutter. – Speculative fix to ragdolls floating on the A Bombsite. – Optimizations. – Adjusted HDR settings. – Overpass Added 1v1 mode to warmup when playing Wingman. – Fixed clipping on dumpster at A site. – Nuke Added 1v1 mode to warmup when playing Wingman. – Radar now uses new graphical style. – Vertigo Fixed gap under box on B site. – Added ramp-clipping to side of box. – Fixed some minor graphical bugs. –

CSGO April 16 patch nerfs Deagle, adds Warmup mode, more ValveA new CS:GO patch has dropped on April 16 with a ton of changes. The Deagle has been nerfed just a week after its buff, a Warmup mode has been added, and a couple of quality of life features from Valorant are now making their way into the Valve FPS title. After a few weeks of silence, CS:GO’s developers have been hard at work balancing the game. Last week’s mega patch saw sweeping changes to the Krieg, Deagle, and more. However, some of those changes have been reigned in with this week’s update. The Deagle has been nerfed, maps have been altered, but some new content is on the way. Today we’re shipping a number of updates: -We’re testing 1v1 Warmup arenas which replace current Warmup. These are available now in Wingman on Train and Vertigo. -Added a new setting, “”Show Player Crosshairs”

CSGO April 10 update nerfs Krieg SG553, buffs M4A1, & more – patch notes ValveValve have released a new update for CS:GO on April 10, implementing some much-needed weapon changes, as well as tweaks to certain maps and other aspects of the game. The Krieg SG553 has undoubtedly been the most controversial weapon in CSGO over the past few weeks, and this April 10 patch has finally nerfed it, along with some nice buffs to both the M4A1 and Deagle. Guns aren’t all that developers tweaked though; several maps saw adjustments and there are a number of so-called ‘miscellaneous’ changes as well. Weapon Changes According to Valve’s April 10 patch notes, the SG553 now has a “reduced rate of fire and accuracy to bring the weapon’s value to be more in line with other rifles.” As one of the most complained about weapons in CS:GO as of late, plenty of people are happy to finally see the weapon getting tuned down. The AUG saw a major upgrade, with improved standing accuracy while unscoped, but at a tradeoff of slightly reduced scoped accuracy. One of the biggest winners from the patch could be the M4A1 though, which has seen its purchase price drop to $2900, which could make it a more viable option for teams going forward. Map Changes Along with weapon updates, there were also changes made to several maps, including one of the newest ones, the fan-made Anubis. The winning map of the Mapcore Exotic Places contest will be officially moved from Scrimmage to Competitive mode with the April 10 patch. Inferno, Overpass, Office, Chlorine and Mirage also all receive tweaks in the patch, some of which are significant changes, and others more minor, cosmetics fixes. Misc. Changes In the miscellaneous category, bots will no longer be chatterboxes during round warmups, allowing you to focus, center yourself, or however else you want to use the silence. Overall, the Krieg changes seem to be well-received by the community, with players praising Valve’s choice to finally nerf the weapon. On the flip side though, the buffs that the Deagle received may have gone a little too far, according to a clip showing how accurate it really is along with jumping following the April 10 update. LOLLL cant wait to get randomly killed in pugs pic.twitter.com/CAeBd9ocUd— Meg4n (@meg4ncs) April 10, 2020 Whether or not the Deagle will become the new SG553 (that is, the gun everyone loves to complain about) remains to be seen, but that clip does seem to be a drastic change. The full April 10 CSGO patch notes are listed below: CS:GO Release Notes for 4/10/2020 [ WEAPONS ] – SG553 – Reduced rate of fire and accuracy to bring the weapon’s value to be more in line with other rifles. – AUG – Improved standing accuracy while unscoped. Slightly reduced scoped accuracy. – M4A1-S – Price reduced to $2900. – Deagle – Improved accuracy while jumping, lowering the time to recover accuracy after the player lands. – Tec-9 – Reduced firing inaccuracy. – Bizon – Increased armor penetration. [ MISC ] – Compressed several textures for less memory consumption. – Silenced auto-vocalizations by bots during warmup. – Removed ‘Guardian’ from “Looking to Play’ tab. – Added a launch option -noubershader. Users on very old Intel hardware can set this launch option to improve their framerate. This option is not recommended otherwise as it is likely to cause stuttering on the overwhelming majority of GPUs. [ MAPS ] – Anubis: — Moved from Scrimmage to Competitive mode. — Fixed water reflection issues. — Fixed all reports regarding clipping and unintended boost spots. — Improved performance. – Inferno: — Wall by door to A site balcony is bingelibangable. — Tweaked HDR settings. – Office: (Changes based on pro player feedback) — Snow has accumulated by dumpster in back courtyard. — Beverage machines have been restocked. — Office is now a non-smoking environment. — Tidied up kitchen break room. – Overpass: — New collision model on dumpsters found around the map. — Fixed pixel boost #151 in water by B site. — Revised world lighting. — Reworked bombsite A backdrop. – Chlorine: — Changed environment light to brighter shades — Changed default CT player model to FBI — Added plywood on B bombsite for better visibility — Removed water puddles to avoid players being seen in smoke — Fixed areaportal on squeaky door — Added grenade clip on yellow tarp — Included missing material for glowy eyes — Fixed clipping issue near crazy river — Fixed few bombstuck spots – Mirage: — Fixed some clipping issues. — Blocked vis under truck on B site.

CS:GO app gives players instant smoke lineups, best flashbangs, and more via AlliedModsA Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tool is helping a ton of players learn new lineups for various utility nades in-game, all with the help of a clever mobile device app. Being an effective member of a team in Counter-Strike:Global Offensive definitely means knowing crucial nade lineups to help a squad either take or retake a given objective. Every CS:GO player can remember a time when someone on the team calls out a play, just for there to be a deafening silence when they ask: “Does anyone know A smokes,” “Can someone moly that spot,” “can I get a good flash here?” High elo and pro players typically know most alignments to take sites on popular maps like Mirage, Dust II, Overpass and more, but for all of us that aren’t CS:GO savants there are tools like Smoke Center. In a Reddit post, user ‘JoaoPedrOo4’ placed a screengrab of Mirage’s minimap, but with a ton of smoke, fire, flash and explosion icons. The user was showing their appreciation for an Android app that helps players if they “need to know the smokes while [they’re] in-game.” A deeper dive into the app shows the various ways that the app could be used by any player in a pinch, or to help grow their foundation of CS:GO knowledge. The app lets players choose a map in CS:GO, which will show them a minimap of the selected location with a ton of grenade icons on the overlay. By selecting any of the icons, a short GIF appears showing what the lineup looks like in game, with any other important info appearing in text description. By using it as a template or reference guide, the app can be used to assist players still learning a map and its strats by offering the basic ways to use all the different utility in CS:GO. There are numerous tools whether released or in-development like Skybox that aim to give players a new way to improve their game. It looks like Smoke Center is another entry in the long line of CS:GO tools, and could prove to be extremely useful for someone who, for example, was just nominated by their team to smoke Window on Mirage for a quick mid take. Players looking to improve their game could incorporate tools like Smoke Center to iron out their setups in Counter-Strike.

CS:GO: Anders to open up about his time on NiP, following player mistreatment allegations L: DreamHack / R: Ninjas in PyjamasAnders Blume is set to come forward about his time at Ninjas in Pyjamas, following Robin ‘Fifflaren’ Johansson accusation of player mistreatment, and encouraged former NiP players to do the same. Anders is one of the most popular commentators in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, having cast and analyzed countless matches at the biggest stages in the world. He has been part of the scene since early 2013 and is considered as a go-to caster for big events. In 2013 the caster joined NiP, becoming part of NiPTV which was most notably known for CS:GO commentary. He stayed with the organization for a year, before moving onto Room On Fire, and attending more events. The Dane initially remained quiet following Fifflarens accusations on July 23, but finally shared his thoughts on July 25 through Twitter. “My main reason for not saying much was that all I have is a lot of different stories I can’t really confirm, but Fiff did make a great point: if everyone adds whatever pieces of the puzzle they have, then maybe that’s a way forward in terms of figuring out just what the hell went on during 13/14” said Anders. He also added that he will be “having a talk” with Richard Lewis soon, where he is likely to speak about NiP in detail and get everything out in the open, similarly to Fifflaren. Now as for what Fiff and I talked about in LA, my main reason for not saying much was that all I have is a lot of different stories i can’t really confirm, but Fiff did make a great point which is that if everyone adds whatever pieces of the puzzle they have, maybe that’s a way — Anders Blume (@OnFireAnders) July 25, 2019 So i guess we’re having a talk at some point soon @RLewisReports — Anders Blume (@OnFireAnders) July 25, 2019 Anders is also leading the charge to “share whatever pieces of the puzzle” he has, and is likely hoping for ex-NiP players like Adam ‘friberg’ Friberg, Richard ‘Xizt’ Landström, and Mikail ‘Maikelele’ Bill to do the same, especially since the players have already had something to say on the matter. No date is yet confirmed for Anders’ talk with Richard Lewis, however, the Counter-Strike calendar is fairly clear at the moment as teams are preparing for the StarLadder Berlin Major, which is set to take place in late August, so more information may be revealed soon. What did Fifflaren say? Fifflaren was interviewed by Richard Lewis on July 22, there he spoke about many problems with NiP during his time on the team, including unpaid tournament winnings, the organization making roster decisions without consulting the team, and many unfair contract clauses, for example, one that allowed the organization to fire the players at any time.

CSGO analyst SPUNJ celebrates in style after Renegades upset at StarLadder Berlin major StarLadderFormer CS:GO pro player turned analyst Chad ‘SPUNJ’ Burchill celebrated on the desk after Renegades, his former team and fellow Australians, upset ENCE in the quarterfinals of the StarLadder Berlin major. Yeah the Boys are back in a big way, and their most dedicated supporter wasted no time in celebrating. After shocking ENCE 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the Champions stage, the stream cut back to the StarLadder analyst desk, where SPUNJ was waiting to celebrate with an Australian tradition. SPUNJ wisely removed his headset and jacket before attempting the shoey, as he proceeded to spill most of on his shirt and on the floor. SPUNJ then walked directly off the set, either to celebrate with Renegades or rinse his mouth out. Despite being down a colleague, the analyst desk pressed on and broke down the surprise result. ENCE were heavy favorite in this series among analysts, Pick’Em players, and various betting websites. They came into the series with 3-0 Legends stage record, and with Aleksi ‘allu’ Jalli and Jere ‘sergej’ Salo firing on all cylinders. For ENCE, this playoffs run was to be a great final run for the departing Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen. That didn’t happen, as the ENCE we saw against Renegades didn’t look the same as the one from the previous stage, or the one from the previous major playoffs. Allu was unable to have the same effectiveness with the AWP he had in the Legends stage, sergej didn’t produce, and despite being down a game, ENCE looked lifeless in the second half of their map pick, Train. For Renegades, this is a testament to their resilience. They were a common 0-3 pick for Legends stage, and started group play 0-2. But the Aussies crawled out of the darkness by winning three straight best-of-threes to qualify for playoffs, and now a fourth straight to make it to the semifinals. Justin ‘jks’ Savage was excellent on both maps, leading the Renegades in both kills and player rating. The team as a whole dominated on Mirage, only giving up one map on their CT side after commanding first half. ENCE had no answer for Aaron ‘AZR’ Ward’s window boost, which he utilized multiple times to catch ENCE off guard. Coincidentally, Renegades are following in the footsteps of ENCE at IEM Katowice, who went from 0-2 to 3-2 in their Legends stage, and then upset a 3-0 team in the quarterfinals against Team Liquid. ENCE ended up in the grand finals, falling to Astralis. Cloud9 did the same thing at the ELEAGUE Boston 2018 major, and they ended up winning the whole thing. With a semifinals match against either Vitality or AVANGAR, a grand finals appearance for the Australians is not out of the question. SPUNJ will need more beer, and more shoes.

CSGO team wins $1k ‘kassad Grand Slam’ after stunning Evil Geniuses in RMR qualifier ESL/Helena KristianssonThe North American RMR closed qualifier has concluded, with LOS + oNe claiming the $1,000 bounty placed on Evil Geniuses by analyst Aleksandar ‘kassad’ Trifunović after denying the North American team a spot at the Major qualifier. kassad has been openly critical of Evil Geniuses and the esports organization’s CS:GO project. EG signed two rosters, in addition to its main team, in June 2022 and said that it would be running a 15-man roster with three teams to nurture North American talent. So far, that experiment has yet to bring results on the big stage. However, Evil Geniuses has promoted two players to its main CS:GO roster since the project began, with Jerric ‘wiz’ Jiang and Jadan ‘HexT’ Postma making it to the top. kassad adds some spice to Evil Geniuses NA RMR qualifier run Evil Geniuses got their qualifying campaign off on the wrong foot, losing to yur, an unsigned roster ranked 204th in the world, in an overtime game. kassad then took to Twitter to pledge $1,000 to the team that eliminated EG from the qualifier. As the final day of the qualifier kicked off, EG only had to beat MIBR to secure a spot in the RMR. But a 0-2 loss to the Brazilian team meant that they had to play two more matches to have a chance to qualify for the LAN tournament. EG quickly dispatched Mythic, a streamer team featuring Erik ‘fl0m’ Flom, only to fall short against LOS + oNe in the decisive 7th-place match after two close maps. On Twitter, LOS + oNe partner and advisor Alexandre ‘kakaveL’ Peres said that he “will take the boys skiing” with the money sent by kassad. The failure to reach the Americas RMR means that Evil Geniuses will miss the BLAST.tv Paris Major. Head coach Daniel ‘vorborg’ Vorborg described this as the “lowest point in my career” and apologized to the team’s fans. EG’s next match will be in the group stage of the upcoming ESL Pro League Season 17 against Cloud9, on February 22.

CS:GO analyst & content creator Allan Hender turns to coaching with Endpoint FlashpointCS:GO content creator Allan Hender, who has also appeared on the broadcast of some high-profile tournaments, has taken up a head coach role in Endpoint as he looks to broaden his horizons. Allan Hender has taken over the vacant coaching position on the British team, replacing Ross ‘RossR’ Rooney, who transitioned to a General Manager role within the organization in late August. It’s the first foray into a professional head coach role for the British analyst, who has been part of the on-air team of several CS:GO tournaments, most notably Flashpoint seasons 2 and 3. He also has his own Youtube channel with esports-related content, including interviews with pro players. Allan Hender, who began working with the team in the summer as an assistant coach, revealed that he started thinking about this career move after learning that he would not be able to travel to Los Angeles to be on the analyst desk for Flashpoint 3. “The whole experience was a wake-up call that I needed to broaden my horizons both as a broadcaster and explore other avenues such as coaching,” he told Dexerto. “When I began working with Endpoint in June, with mezii as the focal point, the team clearly had the individuals to be further up the rankings and I felt by bringing a different perspective and taking pressure off Max to set up the team strategically, we could make strides forward. Please 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 welcome @allan_hender as our #CSGO coach 👋 🇬🇧 🇬🇧 🇬🇧 🇳🇱 🇯🇴 🇮🇪 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/xyP0hAcVFR — Endpoint CeX (@TeamEndpoint) September 22, 2021 “On reflection, I think we did make sizable gains heading into the final weeks before the player break and those improvements show in our results.” A new experience Allan Hender will have a baptism of fire in his new role, with Endpoint set to attend IEM Fall, the final Regional Major Ranking (RMR) tournament of the year. The event will take place from September 29 through October 10 and will feature 24 teams of the region’s best teams. He follows in the footsteps of Janko ‘YNk’ Paunović and Jason ‘moses’ O’Toole, other renowned analysts who have also dipped their toes into coaching, both with mixed results. YNk led MIBR and FaZe between 2018 and 2020, while moses had a nine-month stint as Liquid’s coach that ended in May 2021. “I cannot put into words how different broadcasting and coaching a professional-level team is,” Allan Hender said. “From the outside, it may seem many things translate as you are still surrounded by the same game, but they are completely different worlds, requiring almost polar skill sets. “For the other broadcasters who have tried coaching, I imagine the hardest aspect was dealing with player personalities, especially in pressured situations and in the tough moments following painful losses. “I have always been able to keep my emotions in check much better than most and, being fairly articulate, I am quite capable of leading conversations inside and out of the game. Of course I have much to improve upon in these people management aspects, but I stick to the right principles and continually push myself to become a better leader.” Endpoint have been drawn into Group B for IEM Fall alongside Heroic, Astralis, Complexity, Sinners, and Movistar Riders. Only the top two teams from each group will progress to the single-elimination playoffs. Discover more: Richard Lewis believes Vitality are “peaking at right time” – This will be the first big international event for Mohammad ‘BOROS’ Malhas, the team’s newest signing. The Jordanian player replaced William ‘mezii’ Merriman, who was transferred to fnatic.

CSGO pro AmaNEk alt-tabs mid-clutch and still pulls off an insane play ESLIn the decider series between CS:GO in the middle of the play, he still made the save for this team. Any player with serious hours in CS:GO matchmaking has heard a teammate curse and slam their desk at least once because of an accidental alt-tab. When those two keys are hit in that order, all the player sees is the Windows desktop screen, and a window into their own folly. But it’s rare to see someone alt-tab but still be able to come back and make the play. It’s even rarer to see a pro make that mistake and save. And it’s unbelievably rare to see it happen in overtime of a tournament game. But in overtime on Dust II in the decider match at ESL One NY between G2 Esports and ENCE, that’s exactly what AmaNEk did when he had to defend his team’s bomb plant by himself from three ENCE CTs. First he jumps onto the short A ledge to get his first kill; an AWP shot onto Aerial on the bomb site. After jumping down into the CT ramp, SuNny tried to go aerial and follow him, but get shout out of the sky from below. Then, he froze. For only two seconds tops, but that two seconds felt like an eternity to perplexed fans watching. But then he snapped back to reality, jumped onto one of the boxes on the A site, and pulled out his pistol to put an end to xseveN’s defuse attempt. Casters Anders Blume and Jason ‘moses’ O’Toole were as confused as anyone else watching. Anders believed that he had flicked his mouse completely off the table, while moses threw out the idea that he thought the round was over was celebrating early, à la Woshige at EVO 2015. But unlike Woshige, AmaNEk prevented disaster, and his teammates and coach could laugh about it in the moment. They had a lot to laugh about, considering their previous viral mistake. In an interview with Matthew ‘Sadokist’ Trivett after the series, AmaNEk finally revealed what really happened. “I alt tab.” As Sadokist said, he got away with it though. And that clutch helped propel G2 to win that map, and eventually take the series over ENCE in three maps. With that win, they’ve secured a playoffs spot in the tournament, and will take the stage in the Barclays Center on Saturday.

CSGO: All major changes on the new Cache ValveA remake of one of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s most popular maps, Cache, was released on October 10. The update massively changed some key sections of the map, and may have a huge impact on how it is played. Cache was removed from the competitive CSGO map pool in March 2019 to receive some updates, much like other staple maps such as Inferno and Dust 2 were over the last few years. The map was then previewed at ESL One New York on September 29 and the official return date was confirmed to be October 10. Now that the map has been released, here are all the major changes you’ll see when getting back on the classic map. Z-connector window added A new window has been added to the Z-connector, giving Counter-Terrorists an easier way to control mid and a whole new angle for the Terrorists to worry about. This elevated window also helps control the boost area, as the defenders will no longer have a massive height disadvantage in mid, and may completely change both teams approach on the mid-centric map. A-bomb site adjusted The A-site has received multiple changes that aim to give CT’s more options when defending. A new box and small boost has been added toward the truck side, allowing the defenders to get a new peek angle into A-main. The bomb site itself has also been tidied up, with an armored truck in the middle allowing for a few sneaky peeks, while the squeaky area became much brighter and more spacious. B-bombsite checkers changed Another major change comes to the other bomb site on the map. This time, the change is a bit less drastic, with the checkers area having its roof opened up. This change give more options to the defenders yet again, but also somewhat help the terrorists, as they will be able to get in grenades to work around the CT’s in checkers slightly easier. B-halls and toxic walls changed The final major change comes from the B-halls and toxic area, where some walls have been replaced with thinner walls or windows, allowing both sides to wall-bang a large part of the area, being able to disrupt their opponents from unexpected angles. With all these changes Cache is set to play very differently from before as almost every key area has been changed. There’s no doubt that fans and players will be discovering new tactics to months to come.

CSGO: Aleksib explains how being dropped affected ENCE at StarLadder Berlin Major Sami RabinaCounter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen how ENCE have been affected by the news of his departure at the StarLadder Berlin Major. Aleksib is the in-game leader of ENCE, a Finnish team that rose to fame in early 2019 after a miraculous run in the IEM Katowice Major, taking second place after falling to Astralis, the world’s number one team at the time. Since then the team performed well, winning BLAST Pro Series Madrid and taking multiple second places. They shocked fans, however, as they announced that Aleksib would be leaving the team after the Major, and the player has now spoken about the matter. Aleksib was a key part of ENCE’s BLAST Pro Series Madrid win. It seems that ENCE are preparing for Aleksib’s departure with Aleksi ‘allu’ Jalli taking the in-game leader role, and have already begun transitioning with this event. Read More: ropz pulls off insane 1v5 CSGO clutch – When asked if he was still acting as IGL, or if Allu had taken the reigns, the Finn revealed: “It’s like 50/50, we are trying to play with the flow. You saw on T-side I was talking during the force and the first gun round then the rest allu took over. We are just trying to play with a good mindset.” The ENCE player was also asked about their boot camp, to which he replied: “Just a normal boot camp. We played a lot and my mentality was a bit off at first, but I have good composure now and I can keep it up.” While many question the move, ENCE’s performance didn’t seem to be particularly affected by it, as they demolished AVANGAR 16-5 to secure a strong start to the StarLadder Berlin Major. They’ll play their next match on August 29, although the opponent has yet to be determined.

CSGO AK-47 skin sells for $160,000 in one of the biggest skin sales ever ValveA coveted CS:GO weapon skin for the AK-47 has sold online for around $160,000, marking one of the biggest public sales in the game’s history. There are many CS:GO skins valued in the tens of thousands. These items are purely cosmetic, and provide no gameplay advantages, but are so coveted due to their appearance and rarity. Since skins were added to CS:GO in 2013, there has been constant inflation in prices, with even some rare stickers from 2014 now valued at over $50,000. On March 13, an AK-47 Wild Lotus skin was bought by a Chinese collector for €149,000, or roughly $160,000 USD. It’s not the most expensive skin, but it is likely now in the top 10. AK-47 skin sells for $160,000 in CS:GO The skin in question is called the ‘Wild Lotus’, a rare AK-47 skin added in 2019. In total, there are less than 3,000 of this skin in existence, and even fewer in ‘Factory New’ condition. However, a Factory New Wild Lotus will only cost around $10,000. The reason this particular skin sold for over $150,000 is due to the stickers applied. It has four Reason Holo stickers from the Katowice 2014 CS:GO Major applied, each costing around $40,000 today. Because this skin was released in 2019, the stickers were applied when they were already very expensive, so the buyer is expected to play close to the full value of the stickers. The stickers are a great color match to the weapon, but due to the scarcity of these items, there are only two other AK-47 Wild Lotus skins with these stickers applied. Each one would be valued at around the same price. The buyer is a Chinese collector, as is typical for most ‘high-tier’ items in CS:GO. However, this skin is likely to be on show at future Major events, as the owners will often lend these items to professional players to use at the biggest tournaments. In fact, this very AK-47 was used by FaZe Clan player Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dulken in 2022, borrowing it from the previous owner. On March 13, that owner sold the item on Buff, the biggest China-based marketplace for CS:GO trading, with a final sale price of €148,937.73 ($159,653.80 USD). Many expensive items are traded in private sales, so it’s often hard to know the exact transaction value, but this public sale is a glimpse into the exorbitant prices some items can cost. However, the most expensive AK-47 skin is still up for sale. A Case Hardened 661 pattern, with four Titan Holo stickers from Katowice 2014, is currently fielding offers of over $400,000 – although it is yet to find a buyer. The most expensive item overall in CS:GO is a Case Hardened Karambit knife, with an estimated price of over $1.5 million. For more of the most expensive skins in CS:GO, check out our full list here.

CS:GO AK-47 skin goes on sale for over $400,000 to set new record price Valve / LuksusbumsWhat is likely the most expensive weapon skin in all of gaming has officially gone up for sale, with a CS:GO trader listing their ‘Case Hardened’ AK-47 skin for sale at a price just shy of half a million dollars. CS:GO features a litany of incredibly expensive items. The most expensive skins are usually knives, but some weapon skins can also reach into the tens of thousands. Currently, the most valuable item in the game is a unique, one-of-one, Karambit knife, the owner of which turned down an offer of $1.5 million for. While this item isn’t for sale, possibly the second-most-expensive skin is now on the market. The skin in question is an AK-47 ‘Case Hardened’, which the owner has listed for sale at €431,000 ($447,000 USD). Why is the AK-47 skin so expensive? Whether the item actually sells for this amount remains to be seen, but it’s certainly likely, as previous sales of similar skins would indicate. While most ‘Case Hardened’ AK-47 skins will sell for only a few hundred dollars, there are a few characteristics that make this one unique. Firstly, it features pattern number 661, which is considered the best pattern for the skin, as it features the most ‘blue’ coloring. Next, it has four Titan Holo stickers applied to it – the most expensive stickers in the game with a value of around $60,000 each. Finally, it is a ‘StatTrak’ Minimal Wear condition. The best condition is actually StatTrak Factory New – but there is not a single one of these in existence with the pattern 661. There is one more factor that makes this skin so valuable. It is currently the ‘number one’ version in the game – meaning it is the best condition AK-47 Case Hardened in existence, with the pattern number 661. The seller, a Danish collector known as ‘Luksusbums’, bought the skin only just over a year ago, in 2021, for around $150,000. Now, the skin is so expensive, that CS:GO marketplace BUFF had to increase its price limit on the site to accommodate the listing. If the sale goes through, it is likely to be the most valuable cash trade in CS:GO history. The most likely buyer for this item will be a skin collector based in China. The Chinese market has become massively invested in high-tier CS:GO items, and any wealthy collector will be keen to add this AK-47 to their inventory, no matter the cost. Luksusbums owns a number of other expensive items, including a Souvenir Dragon Lore AWP, Factory New Vice Gloves, and a ‘Blue Gem’ Karambit knife. He is selling this AK-47 as he has a new favorite, the AK-47 Wild Lotus skin.

CSGO after the Astralis era | Richard Lewis reacts at ESL Pro League If Astralis’s era of dominance in CSGO is over, what can fans look forward to next? The greatest core to ever touch the game has been competing at the top for four years, but all things must come to an end. Richard Lewis says that it’s time to accept the reality of the situation, and for CSGO fans to begin to imagine a future without Astralis on top. Back at the ESL Quarter Finals, Astralis took on FURIA and lost. FURIA, to Lewis, is a “hit and miss team,” calling them streaky, yet they emerged with a 2-0 against the previous top dogs. Taking them down with a 16-2 on Train, he adds that it was an “unbelievable scoreline.” Though the fall of Astralis wasn’t a surprise to Richard — believing that it had to happen after four years at the top — they’ve done so much with their success to modernize the game. Read More: NAVI drop flamie – Calling this a “true tragedy” for Astralis fans everywhere, it would be the end of multiple eras. At the finals of BLAST Premier back at the start of 2021, they lost to NAVI, and performed poorly at BLAST Spring, too. Losing to NiP there, and ultimately being knocked out by BIG, they followed that up by finishing 5-6th at IEM Katowice. This is when a power shift within the scene began to emerge, and in the past couple of series, Lewis believes that they’ve lost their relevance, competitively, against their opposition. Astralis’ untouchable aura has broken down, and where they go next at Spring Showdown and beyond is anyone’s guess. For all CSGO news and events, keep it locked over at our dedicated main page.

CSGO adds Halo music and stickers to celebrate MCC debut on Steam Counter-Strike has shocked the world by adding a surprise Halo sticker collection to anyone who buys The Master Chief Collection on Steam. CS: GO revealed the collaboration in a Twitter post on November 26. The collection includes multiple Master Chief helmet stickers and a Spartan logo. Hilariously, one of the Master Chief helmet stickers is referred to as “Mister Chief” and features a cartoonish caricature of the Microsoft icon. “Today, we’re excited to ship the @Halo Sticker Capsule in CS:GO!” they said on Twitter. “As a bonus, users who purchase and play The Master Chief Collection on Steam will receive an exclusive Halo Music Kit in CS:GO.” Today we’re excited to ship the @Halo Sticker Capsule in CS:GO! As an added bonus, users who purchase and play The Master Chief Collection on Steam will receive an exclusive Halo Music Kit in CS:GO. pic.twitter.com/s41vyGqMhq — CS2 (@CounterStrike) November 26, 2019 In a reply, the Twitter account posted a sample of the classic rocking Halo theme in-game, and it shockingly fits the tone of Counter-Strike quite well. While it’s unlikely to be used in tournament play, it will surely be a mainstay of streamers and more casual observers of matches. According to the November 26 CSGO patch notes, “Owners of The Master Chief Collection on Steam, after they accrue sufficient playtime in the game, will also receive The Master Chief Collection Music Kit.” Unfortunately, the notes do not state exactly how long players will need to play to unlock the music kit. The Master Chief Collection is Halo’s debut on Steam and will be released on December 3. In total, the collection will come jam-packed with seven games in the franchise. Halo: The Master Chief Collection – Halo: Reach – Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary – Halo 2: Anniversary – Halo 3 – Halo 3: ODST – Halo 4 – The collaboration is undoubtedly one of the wildest in recent memory. Still, given the competitive ties between the two franchises, it’s bound to make a lot of gamers delighted to be able to listen to the iconic Halo theme while taking names in CS:GO.

CS:GO addresses laggy players issue in July 25 update – patch notes LifehackerA new update has gone live in CounterStrike: Global Offensive, addressing some of the network issues that have been plaguing the game. Few things are more frustrating in CS:GO then coming up against opponents who have a poor connection, which completely throws off movement and hit detection. Laggy players are often a lot more difficult to hit with shots than those with a normal connection, an issue that the developers looked to resolve in the July 25 update. The update has added a new game server setting called “net_chan_limit_msec,” which essentially limits the amount of time that each game server can spend when trying to process packets per tick for each client. Players whose systems sent packets that cause the processing time to exceed the new limit will now automatically get kicked from the server. For those who are not familiar with how CS:GO servers work, whenever someone is playing the game, their system and the game server are in constant communication by sending small pieces of data called packets at a very high frequency. If the player’s connection is poor, then those data packets will take longer for the server to process, which can ultimately cause what is commonly referred to as lag, if the processing time takes too long. Now, thanks to this latest update, a cap has been placed on how long the servers can spend on the processing of packets, meaning that players with bad enough connections will be forcibly disconnected from the server. You can read the full patch notes for the July 25 update below: Added a game server network channel traffic analysis framework for each client connection. – Added a game server setting, “net_chan_limit_msec”, which allows server operators to limit amount of processing time the game server can spend on processing packets for each client per tick. Clients that send packets causing server CPU processing time to exceed configured number of milliseconds will be kicked from the game server. Enabled CPU processing time limits on official game servers. – Added a game server setting, “net_chan_stats_dump” which, when enabled, will dump statistics of each network channel when that network channel is closed. Statistics include messages, bandwidth, and CPU processing time breakdown. –

CSGO’s 6th man: Why super subs proved key at BLAST Global Final ESLBLAST Global Final kickstarted CSGO’s 2021 calendar with a bang, as NAVI bagged some silverware and the bulk of a $1 million prize pool. They won the event using a 6th man on their squad, but was it the difference-maker? NAVI came into the Global Final event with a chip on their shoulder. Following their peak at IEM Katowice, the CIS squad ended 2020 with a flurry of disappointing results. So their 2021 needed to start strong if they were going to avoid one of CS:GO’s inevitabilities — a roster shuffle. After losing their first game to a refreshed Team Liquid, NAVI built up the momentum of their war machine on their way to the final — losing just two maps during their emphatic Lower Bracket run. BLAST Global Final: A tale of AUGs and substitutes A trend that might be worrying for some is the reemergence of the AUG. CTs were using the scoped weapon more frequently as the tournament progressed — allowing defenders to hold tighter angles. One of the most important points to take from the event, however, is the prevalence (and relative success) of teams using a sixth man across the tournament. In fact, other than FURIA — who were affected by Paytyn ‘Junior’ Johnson’s visa issues — all the teams that utilized an extended roster placed high at the Global Final. But is having a substitute in your ranks the secret sauce for Counter-Strike success in 2021? Let’s have a look at BLAST’s top three. Are Astralis doing it right? It’s fair to say that Astralis looked vulnerable all throughout the tournament, having struggled their way past both G2 Esports and Team Vitality. But their roster situation is complicated. In their hands, they have one of the most promising talents of 2020 in the form of Lucas ‘Bubzkji’ Andersen. With that said, the young Dane only appeared in one game of Nuke at the event. With Astralis slowly moving away from Nuke due to recent results, you have to wonder how much of Bubzkji we will see in the future. There’s only so much of being The Danes’ Nuke specialist a young talent can take, right? The world number one seem to have stagnated in their signature maps of Inferno and Nuke of-late. Their inability to ‘spice-up’ their setups using their aggressive, young prodigy could be considered one of their reasons for it. If Astralis are serious about keeping their young star, they’ve surely got to find a way of integrating him on more than just one map in an event. Bubzkji’s aggressive playstyle would no doubt suit the brand of online Counter-Strike we have become accustomed to. And when compared with Team Vitality’s way of dealing with a sixth player, Astralis have a long way to go. Nivera: Vitality’s not-so-secret weapon Vitality have built a great rotational system within their squad. Using Kévin ‘misutaaa’ Rabier and Nabil ‘Nivera’ Benrlitom, they’ve managed to slowly (but surely) flesh out their map pool. The effectiveness of Vitality’s experiment with a rotating roster should not be underestimated. They currently hold a positive win rate on every map in their current pool against top 30 opposition. While this statistic does not mean they have mastered every map, just being comfortable with their setups on a map their opposite number isn’t, is half of the battle. While Vitality’s super subs failed to perform during BLAST Global Final, the ways in which their coaching staff has been utilizing them has generally been successful. This should serve as an example for other teams experimenting with extended squads. What next for NAVI and B1t? The CIS squad is the most recent top team to embrace the sixth man approach, with Valerii ‘B1t’ Vakhovskyi subbing in for Egor ‘flamie’ Vasilev on Inferno. While not initially impressive in his opening game at the Global Final, the Ukrainian improved his performance significantly as the tournament progressed. Was B1t the key? No. Did he make a difference, I’d say yes. Just the added fluidity brought in by B1t’s do-or-die approach was enough to catch some teams off-guard. If we consider Vitality’s approach as the shining example, Head Coach Andrii ‘B1ad3’ Gorodenskyi should now look towards Mirage and Dust 2. As two of NAVI’s weakest maps, B1t might just be the upgrade in firepower they need to bolster their ranks. Your #BLASTPremier Global Finals champs are @natusvincere 🏆@s1mpleO is crowned MVP as NAVI make the Lower Bracket run! Final placements & event recap:https://t.co/tUtwbWFIbS pic.twitter.com/GGBbVTfcqa — Dexerto (@Dexerto) January 24, 2021 With all of that said, there is an argument both for and against six man rosters. On the one hand, a team that is well-drilled in their fundamentals and comfortable in their system could utilize a sixth player — an x-factor to throw opponents off-scent without significantly impacting their overall performance. On the other, a squad that draws their advantage from great personal chemistry on the server (such as Fnatic) could have their entire framework ruined by trying to force a rotation of players in their team. This is an exciting time for CS:GO… There’s no denying that mid-series substitutes add a level of excitability for the spectator — it’s been a long time since we saw a change in how teams are composed and organized. So far Vitality are leading the way in terms of innovation, but will anyone be able to surpass them?

CSGO update includes 20th anniversary weapon case and Cache’s return On October 18, Valve releases a new CS20 Weapon Case and Sticker Capsule to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Counter-Strike. Cache also returns to the servers but isn’t available yet in Competitive mode. Just a day after teasing the classic Counter-Strike 1.6 knife on the CSGO Twitter account, Valve wasted little time in officially bringing back the classic weapon, among other things. Valve released an October 18th update, officially titled Cache and Release, to reveal that the remade Cache map, updated by its creators FMPONE and Volcano, is now officially playable on official Casual, Deathmatch, and Scrimmage servers. However, the new Cache has not returned to the active duty competitive pool. Cache was removed from the active pool earlier in the year to begin its remaking process and was replaced with Vertigo. Vertigo has undergone several updates and changes since its initial release but remains in the active pool. This means it will not be used in official tournament play yet. Read more: Classic wallbang returns with Cache remake – But new Cache isn’t the only thing returning to Counter-Strike. Valve unveiled a new weapons case and sticker capsule, each with a bounty of new weapons skins and stickers to celebrate the franchise’s 20th anniversary. Counter-Strike was first released in November of 1999. The sticker range in rarity from High Grade to Remarkable to the most rare in Exotic, which includes one that immortalizes two great stuck door moments in Counter-Strike history: the legendary “DOOR STUCK” freakout from 1.6 days, and the more recent instance of a chicken blocking a door in a competitive match on Inferno, leading to mousesports player Robin ‘ropz’ Kool getting killed. The new CS20 weapon case features a total of 30 different new weapon skins, including 17 different gun skins, and 13 skins of the 1.6 knife, now known simply as Classic Knife. The rarest of the weapon skins are the golden Commemoration skin for the FAMAS, and the fiery Wildfire skin for the AWP. This is the first weapons case in over half a year. The most recent was the Prisma Case released with the March 13 update that also drastically altered the in-game CSGO economy by affecting how round loss bonuses work. With weeks still until the official 20th anniversary of Counter-Strike, many fans are still holding onto hope that more new content is on the way.

CS:GO update finally nerfs AUG, adds bizarre sticker kit for Counter-Strike’s 20th birthday ValveValve celebrated the 20 anniversary of Counter-Strike with a CS:GO update that includes a much-requested nerf to the AUG, a “retro” version of Dust II, and a new ‘Chicken Capsule’. As Counter-Strike hits 20 years old, Valve have taken the moment to address one of the biggest criticisms in the current game – the power of the AUG – with nerfs to its rate of fire and unscoped accuracy. For many pro players, who have spoken out about the power of the AUG, the nerf will come as a welcome change, and a fitting way to celebrate a Counter-Strike milestone by reducing the prominence of scoped rifles that feel less like classic CS. For FaZe Clan’s Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač, however, the change might have evoked some slightly mixed emotions. NiKo was one of the last top pros holding out against the AUG, but finally acquiesced and used the weapon to great effect in FaZe’s opening match at the ongoing ESL Pro League Finals, only for the nerf to then arrive on that very day. Read more: DeKay’s Sources: Ninjas in Pyjamas heavily considering roster change prior to CS:GO Major roster lock – Even Valve themselves poked fun at NiKo for the timing, tagging him personally in their tweet announcing the change. And today’s Release Notes. We’ve made adjustments to the AUG (@fazeniko), Dust II will switch between current Dust II and classic Dust II in Casual, and the Chicken Capsule is now for sale in-game. https://t.co/7b9Nb860XZ pic.twitter.com/52Oz8ZtVGz — CS:GO (@csgo_dev) June 18, 2019 In addition to the AUG nerf, players can also celebrate the anniversary by playing on a retro version of Counter-Strike’s most iconic map, Dust II, that veterans of 1.6 will be sure to recognize. Retro Dust II is available in the Casual Dust II playlist. Aside from the balance change and classic Dust II, the only other new content Valve released to mark the occasion was a new ‘Chicken Capsule’, which features a variety of chicken-themed sprays and is now available for purchase in-game. CS:GO June 18 update release notes: [20TH ANNIVERSARY] – Celebrate 20 years of Counter-Strike with a retro version of Dust II, currently available in the Casual Dust II map group. – The Chicken Capsule is now available for purchase in-game. [GAMEPLAY] – Adjustments to the AUG to bring its utility more in line with other rifles. — Slightly reduced rate of fire. — Reduced accuracy while unscoped. [DANGER ZONE] – Fixed an exploit involving duplication of items dropped by disarming another player. – Players in warmup spawn closer to their teammate. – Players in warmup now spawn with a random pistol.

Team Liquid win cs_summit 8 after holding off late-breaking FURIA: final placements & results BTSTeam Liquid have claimed a $17k slice of the cs_summit 8 prize pool, and 1600 RMR points, after beating FURIA in a tight 3-1 series on Sunday evening. Here’s everything you need to know to know about The Summit’s eight-team tournament. Liquid crowned cs_summit 8 champions. – FURIA mounted third-game comeback, but TL close in fourth. – EXTREMUM’s lower bracket run was ended by FURIA. – Eight of North America’s best teams came together to battle for $50,000 and a hefty haul of Regional Major Ranking (RMR) points in cs_summit 8. In the end, it was Team Liquid that emerged victorious, edging FURIA in four in the grand final. Liquid charged to two quick victories on Overpass (16-7) and Nuke (16-11) before FURIA staged a late-series comeback on Inferno (16-14). The new cs_summit 8 champs were able to close it out in the fourth on Mirage, 16-5, to win their first event since ESL Pro League Season 11 all the way back in April 2020. Aussie contenders EXTREMUM finished third after a stunning lower-bracket run, falling 2-0 to FURIA. They were handed $7k and 1400 RMR points for their efforts. O Plano — made up of the former MIBR core — rounded up the top 4 to net themselves $5k and 1300 points. The qualifier runs directly into the Stockholm Major, set to be CSGO’s first Major since the pandemic hit. cs_summit 8: Stream VOD cs_summit 8 was streamed on the Beyond The Summit Twitch channel, which you can find embedded below. cs_summit 8: Schedule & results cs_summit 8: Group Stage Day 1: Thursday, May 20 Day 2: Friday, May 21 Day 3: Saturday, May 22 Day 4: Sunday, May 23 Day 5: Monday, May 24 cs_summit 8: Playoffs Day 6: Wednesday, May 26 Day 7: Thursday, May 27 Day 8: Friday, May 28 Day 9: Saturday, May 29 Day 10: Sunday, May 30 cs_summit 8: Teams Eight teams took part in cs_summit 8. Four were invited after their previous RMR performances in 2020: Evil Geniuses, EXTREMUM (ex-100 Thieves), FURIA, Team Liquid. Read More: How to watch Flashpoint Season 3 – The other four made it through Closed Qualifiers, which wrapped up on May 18. You can find the full list down below.

Cryptic CSGO dev tweets fuel rumors of operation coming soon Valve[jwplayer R0xi5fTN]The CS:GO Twitter account went rogue today — and no, it wasn’t because of the bitcoin hacks. Instead, there were three very purposeful messages put out across July 15, leaving players hyped for a potential operation coming soon. Could a new CS:GO operation be coming soon? Well, Valve certainly is leading players on. The developers of the two-decade-old FPS franchise made some cryptic tweets on July 15 that have sent the community into overdrive. While the messages were relatively innocuous, CS:GO players have been through this rodeo before. Valve tweets some funny message from the game account, and then all of a sudden a new massive update drops. Last time, it was Operation Shattered Web, which was presented to players after Valve proposed a poll between a new operation or Krieg nerfs. Players ended up getting both. Now, it could potentially be many things, with players trying to decipher the messages. The three tweets were as follows: “When playing Competitive, purple is the best color to be.” – “Mirage is, without a doubt, the best map in the game.” – “AWPing is just using the SSG 08 in EZ mode.” – On top of sending the three tweets, the CSGO account briefly changed its profile picture and header to images of Mirage. This has only added fuel to the fire, as people expect Mirage to be the next map dragged from the Active Duty Pool for a rework. Breaking each of these down, there are a few possibilities. Some are expecting for the Cobblestone rework to be revealed. After all, the Cobblestone logo in-game is purple, and Valve took it off the Active Duty Pool some time ago for its rework. It could come on to replace Mirage in the Active Duty Pool, however, most expect Cache will receive that accolade. After having its rework revealed at IEM New York last year, players have been waiting for it to be re-added to the competitive map rotation. https://twitter.com/CSGO/status/1283630541351288833 The last tweet about the AWP has players the most confused though. Could the AWP be receiving major changes? What about the Scout? CS:GO’s two bolt-action snipers could look very different in the coming weeks. Read more: Thorin’s CS:GO World Rankings as of July 14 – Valve ‘apologized’ for the rogue tweets. “Seems like someone else may have been tweeting from our account,” they said. However, if this is anything to go by, CS:GO players should have their eyes peeled for big news in the coming days, because something is definitely brewing.

CR4ZY CEO claims ESL is planning CSGO franchise league backed by Valve ESLCEO of esports organization CR4ZY, Antonio Meic, has revealed details of a planned CS:GO franchise league he claims is being planned by ESL and supported by Valve, with a reported $2 million buy-in. Franchise leagues have become the new trend in esports, with League of Legends and Overwatch trailblazing with the LCS, LEC and Overwatch League. In 2020, the Call of Duty league will also move to a franchise model. However, according to Meic, Call of Duty will not be the only FPS esport starting a franchise league, as ESL apparently has a $2 million buy-in league in the works for Counter-Strike, backed by publisher and developer Valve. Talks of CS:GO embracing the franchise system have been little more than rumors, but according to Meic, in an interview with HLTV, it could soon become a reality. Meic states that “the player union “is now negotiating with ESL in the US for this, let’s call it, ‘Valve-supported league’. I think the information is out there because a lot of people are talking about it.” He also clarifies that the prospective buy-in for a spot in the league would be $2 million, explaining: “I think that a league that would be supported by Valve and that would have a buy-in slot would make sense, but only if Valve knows how to do their job. If they leave the job to be done by ESL, who am I going to pay the $2 million buy-in to, ESL?” ESL and DreamHack have officially announced the ESL Pro Tour, a new circuit starting in 2020 with a $5 million prize pool. Meic’s claims that ESL has a franchise league in the works have been disputed. Jarek ‘DeKay’ Lewis states there is “absolutely no ESL/Valve franchise league in the works. CR4ZY CEO needs to give me a ring so he can get his rumors straight There is absolutely no Valve/ESL franchise league in the works LOL Valve help for Majors and then disappear for half a year. That hasn’t changed. — DeKay (@dekay) September 3, 2019 CSPPA weigh in on new league rumors The Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association commented on rumors surrounding “new/updated/redesigned tournament/league formats”, and that they have “been presented with significant proposals for such tournament/leagues and we have engaged in good faith talks with key stakeholders in the industry.” CSPPA has been presented with significant proposals for such tournament/leagues and we have engaged in good faith talks with key stakeholders in the industry. #notwithoutplayers — Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association (@CSPPAgg) August 29, 2019 Although the term franchising is not used explicitly, the CSPPA continued by stating that they “welcome any new initiative which seeks to elevate professional CS:GO”, and “recognizes that there is a need to create stability and sustainability in the CS:GO ecosystem”. CSPPA is the sole independent and world-wide collective of professional CS:GO players and we want to be clear and transparent about our position with respect to any new/updated/redesigned tournament/league format: pic.twitter.com/EX5tcyckMY — Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association (@CSPPAgg) August 29, 2019 Meic also claims that the league is primarily focused on the US only, where the city-based franchise system works best “because of the topology of the US, the demographical situation where 90% of the population lives in huge metropolitan areas.” “So I know it is starting in the US,” Meic states, “and I know that nobody is talking about Europe, where the strongest teams are.” The CR4ZY CEO describes the current landscape of CS:GO esports as the “Wild West”, where players are “kings” and organizations are “in a very bad position”. He also explains that he believes sponsors are put off by a “shooting game”. For these reasons, he thinks the success of the franchise system depends on the game and the developer. Meic highlights Apex Legends, Fortnite FIFA and League of Legends as games they have “a clear vision of the market and of the timeline we can have a team ready for a franchise spot.” Meic’s CR4ZY team outperformed expectations at the Berlin Major, despite falling in the New Legends stage, with wins over NiP and FaZe Clan, and putting up a valiant fight against the likes of Astralis and Na’Vi.

CR4ZY CEO calls out G2 Esports for attempted player “poaching” StarLadder/G2 EsportsAntonio Meic, CEO of CR4ZY, took to Twitter to call out G2 Esports and founder Carlos ‘ocelote’ Rodriguez on alleged poaching of players while in Berlin. The StarLadder CSGO Major in Berlin isn’t finished yet, but the roster moves that will take place after are sure to be interesting. Teams such as Virtus.Pro, FaZe Clan, Natus Vincere, and Fnatic are rumored to be making big changes. 100 Thieves is returning to CS:GO. MiBR has already made moves. But it’s important to go through the proper channels when approaching new players, and according to the CEO of CR4ZY, who made a surprising New Legends stage appearance in Berlin, someone’s not abiding by the rules: It’s hard to build esports with healthy eco-system when you are constantly muscled out by veterans of the industry. Not the first time orgs are approaching our players behind our backs but it’s hard when the one you look up to does it! C’mon @CarlosR , I expected more from you pic.twitter.com/adyNuiDAfs — Antonio Meic (@antoniomeic) September 6, 2019 Meic claims that G2 esports and ocelote have gone behind the CR4ZY owners backs regarding one of their players, and later in the replies appears to claim that it happened 30 minutes after he left the G2 office. Meic is obviously upset, but as Scott “SirScoots” Smith of the CS Professional Players’ Association tells him, it’s typical for interested teams to go to players first, and SirScoots even says that it’s preferable that way. Too many team owners get approached first and immediately shut it down and the player NEVER even hears about the possibility. This initial player first convo stops you from keeping the player in the dark. — Scott Smith (@SirScoots) September 6, 2019 SirScoots and others in the replies weighed in that what’s allegedly happening to CR4ZY is just part of the CS:GO environment. In professional sports, and even other esports like the LCS and the LEC, there are anti-poaching regulations and rules that prevent this sort of thing. But those don’t exist in CS:GO. G2 themselves were accused of tampering in the LEC, and Riot had to address them because their league has those anti-tampering rules in place. Even if CR4ZY players were interested in G2 Esports, they’re not able to just cut and run and leave CR4ZY behind. If they signed contracts, they have to reach out to their owners about a buyout or a release or a trade. Mousesports player Robin ‘ropz’ Kool apparently doesn’t buy what Miec is claiming either, saying “everything you’ve tweeted so far is just off brother.” So far there has been no response from ocelote or G2 Esports. Miec was in the news earlier when he claimed ESL’s new league would be Valve supported and feature franchised teams. ESL Pro Tour was announced that day, but not with Valve support or franchises.

CPH Flames to retain CSGO team as Complexity deal falls through João Ferreira/DexertoCopenhagen Flames have confirmed that they will hold on to their CS:GO team after talks with Complexity broke down. Dexerto had reported on December 20 that a deal was in jeopardy after Complexity had started looking at other options. The North American organization is in the market for a new team after parting ways with most of its players in the aftermath of a failed qualifying campaign for PGL Major Stockholm. Talks between the two organizations were at an advanced stage, with Complexity going as far as to begin discussing personal terms with the players. The deal appeared close to completion, but negotiations hit a brick wall when Complexity started to explore other options. HLTV.org reported on December 21 that the North American organization is looking to sign the core of Extra Salt and pair them with Michael ‘Grim’ Wince and Paytyn ‘junior’ Johnson. As the year is nearing its end; @dvorborg reflects on the status of our CS:GO roster and what’s ahead for us in 2022. Read the entire statement: https://t.co/qeBjoKHIQF 2022 looking 🔥 pic.twitter.com/BFTyJABRqf — Copenhagen Flames (@CPHFlames) December 23, 2021 No change of plans In a Twitter post on October 21, Copenhagen Flames co-owner Daniel Vorborg had said that the organization was powerless to retain the team amid growing interest in the players. The Danish squad went on to make a Cinderella run to the New Legends Stage of the Stockholm Major, where they were one map away from sealing a historical top-eight finish. The victories over teams like Astralis, Heroic and FaZe have cemented their status as one of the rising teams in the CS:GO scene — making the $500,000 price tag look like a prudent investment. With the Complexity deal now completely dead in the water, question marks hang over the future of the team. However, the CPH Flames chief stressed that the organization is as committed as ever to supporting the players. “Our plans haven’t really changed,” Vorborg told Dexerto. “The players could still change clubs and make more money, but luckily that’s not their only priority. “We will continue to develop our club around the team. I’ve always told our players that our most important job as a club is to provide better resources and conditions in six months than we can today – we have never failed to deliver on that promise, and we don’t intend to start now. “I think we provide a great environment to develop and perform under, and we will continue to focus on delivering that to the team.” Copenhagen Flames have been unable to sustain the level shown at the Major, sliding down to 15th in HLTV’s world ranking after a brief appearance in the top 10 in November. For the players, joining a famed organization like Complexity, with guaranteed slots in ESL Pro League and BLAST Premier, would have been a big step forward in their careers. As the year is nearing its end; @dvorborg reflects on the status of our CS:GO roster and what’s ahead for us in 2022. Read the entire statement: https://t.co/qeBjoKHIQF 2022 looking 🔥 pic.twitter.com/BFTyJABRqf — Copenhagen Flames (@CPHFlames) December 23, 2021 Vorborg admitted that some of the players missed out on opportunities as they were convinced that they would be able to stick together under Complexity’s banner. “I can’t comment on any specific clubs, but we did discuss with several really big clubs, and especially the ones that had franchise slots were of interest to the players,” he said. “The guys don’t really prioritize money that heavily but did put a lot of value on being guaranteed ESL and/or Blast participation. So it would have been nice for them to have that, but I don’t think they’ve ever seen staying as a bad option — but if an amazing opportunity would arise for them, they’d grab it, and we fully understand that. “Right now, I just think they’re all enjoying a small break, and are incredibly motivated to perform after the break, now that everything has settled. For 2022 we have tournaments like the IEM Katowice Play-ins to look forward to, which will be an incredible experience for all of us.”

Counter-Strike legend TaZ announces retirement after 20-year career GamezillaPolish Counter-Strike icon Wiktor ‘TaZ’ Wojtas has announced his retirement from competition with immediate effect. The 36-year-old announced his decision in a brief Twitter post with the caption: “I retire. See you around”. He did not mention his future plans or whether he intends to remain involved in esports. The announcement comes just two days after HONORIS ceased all operations due to financial issues. The organization had been created by TaZ and his longtime friend and teammate Filip ‘NEO’ Kubski in 2020 with the goal of nurturing young Polish talent. Oftentimes, TaZ and NEO ended up covering the team’s expenses out of their own pocket. “The players and associates always received their salaries on time and could count on the organization’s support,” HONORIS said in the statement announcing the organization’s closure. TaZ was one of the oldest and most experienced players still active in the Counter-Strike scene, with a career that went back to as early as 2001. He and NEO were part of what was dubbed the ‘Golden Five’, the Polish team that dominated the Counter-Strike 1.6 circuit between 2006 and 2008. During his time playing under organizations like Team Pentagram, Meet Your Makers and Frag eXecutors – and sometimes while competing under no organization at all – TaZ won some of the biggest 1.6 tournaments in the world, including World Cyber Games 2006, 2009 and 2011, ESWC 2008, WEG e-Stars 2010 and 2011, and Intel Extreme Masters I and VI. TaZ remained at the top following the transition to CS:GO, though it would take him some time to lift trophies again. Between 2014 and 2017, his Virtus.pro team won several titles, including the EMS One Katowice 2014 Major, ELEAGUE Season 1 and DreamHack Masters Las Vegas 2017. They also came close to winning a second Major title at ELEAGUE Major Atlanta 2017, but lost in the final to Astralis. In 2018, after a run of mixed results, TaZ was benched by Virtus.pro. He went on to play for Team Kinguin, devils.one and Aristocracy before creating HONORIS, whose team peaked at No. 43 in the world rankings. CS:GO community pays tribute to TaZ On Twitter, many community figures paid tribute to TaZ and thanked him for his contributions to the game over the last two decades. “Sad news in the world of Counter-Strike,” said Vitality coach Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen, who faced TaZ’s teams many times during his playing career. “[An] impressive and long career, my friend. Poland and the world are proud of you!” French CS:GO legend Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub said: “Happy retirement. You had an amazing career, legend! Prague will forever be one of my best memory as a player.” BIG captain Johannes ‘tabseN’ Wodarz said: “Legend. Thanks for all the memories.”

Counter-Strike Legend n0thing to Release CS:GO Course With Over 35 Videos and Tutorials Jordan ‘n0thing’ Gilbert has announced that he will be releasing a comprehensive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive course for players looking to improve. The veteran player will release over 35 videos and cover everything from the journey to becoming a professional player to setting up configs and in-game mechanics. n0thing will charge a small amount for the course but says that he also plans to continue offering free content on YouTube and Twitch so “nothing will really change”. I’m going to be releasing a CS:GO course with 35+ videos within a few weeks outling about my journey to pro, setting up configs, gun control/mechanics, movement, positioning, early/mid/late round play, and overall philosophies for approaching the competitive scene :D. — Jordan Gilbert (@n0thing) July 31, 2018 Definitely wasnt able to fit every single topic into this course, but I’m looking forward to releasing something like this. The course won’t be expensive, but I plan on continuing to offer free content on my YT/Twitch, so nothing will really change. — Jordan Gilbert (@n0thing) July 31, 2018 SprFPS on Twitter asked the former Cloud9 star whether the course will be beneficial for players or whether it will be focused more on people learning the basics. In response, the 27-year-old said that he believes at least half of the content will be useful for higher ranked players and reiterated that it “won’t be very pricey”. I think it’s worth listening to at least half of the videos if you’re higher ranked, probably. Also, it won’t be very pricey so all all bias aside, is probably get something like this in your shoes just like when I read pro player guides when I had already made pro league — Jordan Gilbert (@n0thing) July 31, 2018 n0thing turned pro in the 2000s, during the Counter-Strike 1.6 era, and continued to play at the highest level until 2017 when he was benched by Cloud9. Now he streams on Twitch and regularly uploads to YouTube, often concentrating on giving tips and advice to his viewers as he plays. Despite not actively competing anymore, n0thing played as a stand-in for Mousesports at ESL One: Belo Horizonte 2018, helping the European team to finish second place.

Counter-Strike 2 or CSGO? IEM Sydney 2023’s game in focus remains a mystery ESLWill it be Counter-Strike 2 or CSGO by the time of IEM Masters Fall 2023? As IEM Sydney comes into focus, the exact game in play after the break is still a mystery. Counter-Strike 2 is slated for a Summer release this year, but as of writing, we have no concrete dates. This is a problem for professional players and spectators alike as it naturally causes some confusion. Which game will be played shortly after its release? CSGO for a few extra months, or will there be an immediate transition to CS2? Of course, select players already have access to the CS2 beta and are most likely actively playing and even streaming themselves grinding Mirage over and over again. However, the closest thing to professional CS2 fans have been able to catch a glimpse of are show matches at recent IEM and BLAST tournaments. And so far, we already know one tournament is confirmed to be played on CS2,2024’s PGL Major Copenhagen, slated to be the first Major played in CS2. But what about the rest of 2023’s tournaments? With CS2 set to be released this summer, which game is the rest of the 2023 season being played on after the player break? With IEM Sydney being announced as 2023’s Fall Masters, we asked ESL directly to try and gain some clarity on the situation. Will it be CSGO or Counter-Strike 2 by the Fall Season? Ahead of IEM Sydney, we interviewed ESL’s Head of Sales and Marketing, Graeme Du Toit, and tried to get to the bottom of it all. Which game will be played by October? That’s “the million dollar question,” he responded with a laugh. “We don’t know, which is the best answer,” he admitted, with ESL not entirely certain at this stage, much like the fanbase around these blockbuster events. But Graeme assured that CS2 will definitely have a spot in the tournament in some shape or form. “CS2 will be part of the event obviously, even if it’s free for play like in DreamHack Melbourne, at [IEM] Dallas we had a show match. So whether it takes the form of the whole event runs on CS2? I don’t know about the likelihood of that, to be honest.” We also asked who at the end of the day gets to make the decision as to which game will be in focus. Graeme explained it’s a mix of both tournament organizers and Valve itself. “It’s a bit of both,” he said. “Valve, as the publisher, has to decide when their game is releasing and when it can be used in something like a competitive tournament, and then for [ESL], it would be deciding what we think is going to be a better fit for an event if we have Valve’s approval.” He proceeded to give a hypothetical of when ESL would decide to not play CS2 in a tournament: “Let’s say for example that Valve was okay but we needed to deal with things that would make it challenging, we might decide it’s not ready.” But he assured us that Valve is in contact with ESL as to the status of CS2’s arrival into esports play. So as for what game will be played for the Fall Season for CS, it seems not even ESL knows just yet. But it’s only a matter of time until Valve eventually releases it for the public to play. When that time comes, we will have better clarity as to what game will be in focus as 2023 winds down.

Counter-Strike 2: Source 2 CS:GO update, beta, leaks, and everything we know ValveFollowing countless hints and leaks, Valve has now officially revealed Counter-Strike 2. Here is everything we know about the new update to CS:GO, and all the leaks, hints and rumors about the beta. CS:GO has had a handful of major updates over its decade-long history, but nothing akin to a true sequel. Over that time, the player count has grown year after year, thanks to the strong core mechanics, popular esports scene, and a thriving digital economy of in-game items. For all of these reasons, a ‘sequel’ never seemed likely – why would Valve release a new version of such a successful and still-growing game? But, nonetheless, when ‘CS:GO 2’ executable files were found in an NVIDIA driver update, the rumors reached fever-pitch. Then, a report from Richard Lewis all but confirmed the release of a Counter-Strike 2 beta, due to release in the month of March. Now, that report has been confirmed, with Counter-Strike 2 officially revealed. Contents Counter-Strike 2 officially revealed – When will CS:GO 2 beta release? – CS:GO 2 beta leaks and rumors – What is the CS:GO Source 2 beta? – Will skins be deleted with CS:GO 2? – Counter-Strike 2 officially revealed Following all the leaks and rumors which you can see below, Valve finally lifted the lid on what they have been working on: Counter-Strike 2. The new version of CS:GO includes overhauled maps, improved lighting, changes to smoke grenades, sub-tick servers replacing the previous tick-rate system. You can read more details about Counter-Strike 2 here. It’s also confirmed that skins and other items from your inventory will transfer over from CS:GO, and benefit from the improved lighting. When will Counter-Strike 2 release? Counter-Strike 2 limited test will release on March 22. It will be open to selected players which Valve will choose. The full game will be available for all players, for free, in Summer 2023. Trademarks registered for just “Counter-Strike” have also indicated that “Global Offensive” could be dropped from the name. This has also sparked some rumors that faction names ‘Terrorist’ and ‘Counter-Terrorist’ could be changed, to soften the language. The always popular CS:GO continues to hit new player count records in 2023, more than ten years on from release, and that’s without any major updates. CS:GO 2 beta: Leaks and rumors Here are all the updates and hints that dropped regarding the Source 2 beta for CS:GO, some straight from Valve, and others from reliable figures like Gabe Follower and Aquarius on Twitter. March 21: New logo revealed on CS:GO’s Twitter page CS:GO finally gave the first official indication that something is on the horizon, by updating their banner with a new logo. We didn’t know exactly what this logo is for, but given CS:GO knows how much the community pays attention to their banner, this was clearly a deliberate move to drum up hype and speculation. March 20: CS:GO drops another teaser, more blog activity After a fairly quiet weekend, things ramped up again on Monday, March 20. First, Aquarius found more hidden blog posts and other CS:GO blog activity. Clearly, Valve are preparing something for the blog. Then, later on, CS:GO’s official Twitter account dropped another vague GIF teaser – but this time, it wasn’t the office. Rather, it was the classic ‘conspiracy theory’ meme from It’s Always Sunny in Philidelphia. Now we know Counter-Strike 2 will fully release in Summer 2023. March 17: Valve registers new trademarks It was noticed that Valve had submitted applications for two new trademarks: “CS2” and “Counter-Strike”. It wasn’t known what exactly these new marks will be used for, but players are convinced it relates to the Source 2 update. March 17: Valve developers change profile pictures This might seem like an innocuous update, but Aquarius speculates that developers at Valve are changing their profile pictures in order to take screenshots for promotional images. March 16: More blog activity and another CS:GO response Again, CS:GO replied to a tweet directly about Source 2, with another GIF from The Office. This time, they replied to streamer fl0m, who said Source 2 was “incredible.” This time, the GIF was Michael Scott on the phone. It’s anyone’s guess what this is meant to mean. Then, there was more blog activity. The blog activity continued on March 16, adding fuel to fire that developers at Valve are lining up the official blog post announcement to coincide with the release of the CS:GO Source 2 beta. March 15: CS:GO finally breaks silence On March 15, the official CS:GO Twitter account finally addressed the Source 2 beta rumors – sort of. They replied to an ESL tweet with a video segment about all the Source 2 speculation. However, the reply was simply a GIF from the office, with Michael Scott simply snooping through his office blinds. This reply was enough to send the CS:GO community into meltdown. March 15: CS:GO Blog Activity On March 15, Aquarius began posting alerts showing that activity was taking place on the official Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Blog. Of course, we expect there will be a blog post to accompany the announcement of the Source 2 beta, so this could be in preparation for that. March 14: Limited test build config added Next up on March 14 was a new executable, with the description “Limited Test Build” and the name ‘cs2.exe.’ This is still possibly our strongest indication that a new executable will in fact be called Counter-Strike 2. March 14: Source 2 added to Developer pre-release branch This was a solid indication that Valve developers are working and testing on a Source 2 version of CS:GO, getting ready for a public launch. What is the CS:GO Source 2 beta? The most obvious change for any new version of Counter-Strike would be an upgrade to the Source 2 engine. CS:GO currently runs on the original Source engine, which, although updated over time, dates back as far as 2004. Source 2 is Valve’s newest iteration of the engine, released in 2014, and is already in use for Dota2, Artifact, Dota Underlords, and Half-Life: Alyx. CS:GO is yet to be upgraded to the Source 2 engine, but that will all change with Counter-Strike 2. On March 5, veteran esports journalist Richard Lewis reported that the Source 2 version of CS:GO will release the same month, and feature 128 tick servers and an improved matchmaking system. One element of this was slightly off, as instead of a set tick-rate, CS2 will use a sub-tick system. The new engine will also improve graphical fidelity and optimization. In regards to maps, countless leaks and data mining has shown that Valve is working on a Source 2 version of maps, being tested as far back as 2020. Maps confirmed for CS2 include Mirage, Dust2, Overpass, Nuke, Ancient, Inferno, and Italy. In July 2022, leakers confirmed the list of maps that had Source 2 versions were also being worked on. What else Source 2 will do exactly isn’t clear. Valve couldn’t risk changing the core gameplay of Counter-Strike too much, but visual and technical improvements are on the cards. On March 7, 2023, references to CS:GO in Source 2 were found in a Dota 2 update. It was found in the game’s code, showing maps, player models, cases, and sprays being added to Source 2. Will skins be deleted with CS:GO 2? No, CS:GO skins, knives, stickers, and other in-game items would not be deleted. The CS:GO economy is an incredibly important aspect of Valve’s business model, and removing these items, or not porting them over to a new version of the game, would destroy millions of dollars of value, as well as the trust of players. It is estimated that around 30 million CS:GO cases were opened in February 2023, representing incredible revenue every month for Valve. Players are inclined to open cases due to the potential value of the items inside. However, while Valve would certainly work to keep the skins economy intact, it is possible that Source 2 would allow skins creators greater creative freedom, to create more intricate designs, textures, and pattern templates than currently possible. All Dust 2 map callouts | Top 20 highest-earning CSGO pros of all time | Most expensive CSGO skins in 2022 | Best CS:GO weapon skins | Best smoke spots

Counter-Strike 2 confirms CSGO skins transfer and benefit from new lighting and more ValveCounter-Strike 2, announced by Valve as the next game in the CS:GO franchise, will carry over all of players’ skins and cosmetic items, the publisher has confirmed. One concern players had with the move to Source 2 was how it would impact their skins, some of which are worth a significant amount of money. It should come as no surprise, but as a relief to many, that all of your inventory will transfer over. What will happen to skins in Counter-Strike 2? “Bring your entire CS:GO inventory with you to Counter-Strike 2,” Valve said on the official blog post. “Not only will you keep every item you’ve collected over the years, but they’ll all benefit from Source 2 lighting and materials,” the publisher added. This means that skin designs remain relatively unchanged, but some knife finishes for example, now have a lot more glow and shine to them. New weapon models in Counter-Strike 2 However, what is not unchanged are the weapon models themselves. Shown in Valve’s preview of skins, some weapons have slightly altered models, such as the AK-47, AWP, M4A1-S and M4A4. “In addition to supporting legacy models and finishes, all stock weapons have been upgraded with high-resolution models, and some weapon finishes take advantage of these new models,” Valve confirmed With more players coming into Counter-Strike, prices for skins may increase even more than they have in recent years. Other changes in Counter-Strike 2 include upgrades to the maps, smokes and tickrate. For more on Counter-Strike 2, check out the rest of our coverage: How to play Counter-Strike 2 limited beta test | Is Counter-Strike 2 going to be free to play? | What is sub-tick in Counter-Strike 2? | All smoke changes in Counter-Strike 2 | Can you play Counter-Strike 2 on Linux or macOS? | Can banned CS:GO players play Counter-Strike 2? | Will Counter-Strike 2 come to Steam Deck? | Valve officially reveals Counter-Strike 2 | Everything we know about Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 adds legs to characters and now players want shoe skins ValveCounter-Strike 2 has revealed a game-changing tweak, now enabling players to see their legs and feet, and fans have gone wild, calling for some brand-new shoe skins to be added when the game releases. With the shock announcement of Counter-Strike 2, aside from a few leaks and predictions, many fans are jumping at the chance to learn more about the upcoming sequel to CS:GO. Naturally, with the recent announcement, new features, limited beta tests, maps, and UIs have been revealed. However, one announcement has driven fans wild, with many calling for a brand-new feature to be added. Through a tweet, Valve has revealed that players will now be able to see their legs and, therefore feet. Now, players are calling for shoe skins to be added, giving each player another unique flair. Counter-Strike 2 fans are calling for shoe skins to be added after new feature Thanks to the announcement tweet, fans and players of the beta now know that you’ll soon be able to see your character’s feet when traversing the new maps. Instantly, fans began calling for brand-new shoe skins to be added, with some professional players highlighting the idea too. The comments mostly shared the same sentiment, with many asking, “shoe skins when” or “boot skins when” highlighting the desire for customizable footwear that’s circling among the community. Others, took a different approach, claiming that the smart shoes seen in the image were “shoe skins confirmed” rather hoping it was an already implemented aspect. Players that were lucky enough to get access to the limited beta test shared their own characters legs and feet, with some leaving the caption, “can’t wait for CSGO 2.” The shoes in that image were different from the ones Valve shared, and seem to highlight a variety in design. CSGO pro Pimp, also weighed in on the new feature explaining some reservations regarding skill jumping, going on to highlight that “It’ll be fun if you could choose different kinds of shoes, running shoes, football cleats, working shoes, clown shoes” with many of his chat agreeing. Needless to say, it seems the announcement of legs appearing in Counter-Strike 2 has got fans extremely hyped for the game’s release. Whether shoe skins will be added to the game is yet to be revealed, although fans are certainly calling for it.

CSGO’s 10th operation could be on the horizon according to leaks ValveA new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive operation seems to be on the horizon according to the game’s SteamDB page. It has been 220 days since the conclusion of Operation Shattered Web and players have been looking forward to new content ever since. CS:GO Skin Maker & Level Designer Julien ‘Hollandje’ Heesterman noticed a new entry in the database that appears to be almost identical to one released right before the announcement of CS:GO’s last operation. Picture 1: 18 hours ago on CSGO’s steamdb page, 1 day before Operation 10? Picture 2: Last year, 1 day before Operation Shattered Web was released (19 November) Picture 3: End of Operation Shattered Web (13 March 2020) I think it’s time to prepare for Operation 10 people 🧐 pic.twitter.com/XcZjtzalpX — Julien 🇳🇱 (@Hollandje97) November 6, 2020 According to Nors3, a seemingly reputable Valve insider, the tenth operation is close to release and most likely will be out by next week. As they explained on Twitter, the next operation is most certainly on the horizon: “Operation 10 is confirmed and it will be released really soon (set to this week but maybe the next Valve Time).” https://twitter.com/Nors3/status/1324803160016363521 As excited as we might be about the prospect of a new operation, it is important to not get carried away with the hype. It would not be the first time that reports of a big CSGO update are either too premature or outright inaccurate. What could we expect? Considering it has been a long while since the release of the last big update, we are hopeful that Valve will feel the holiday spirit and introduce something larger in scale than Christmas-themed chickens roaming around maps. Using previous operations as reference we could receive anything from new game modes to changes in the competitive map pool. Shattered Web interestingly added Jungle, a new map to CSGO’s own battle royale mode: Danger Zone. It is possible that in a new operation Valve could introduce one of the two high-profile winter-themed maps present in the Steam Workshop: Artic and Frostbite. In the last operation Valve introduced a battle-pass format (

Confusing CSGO bug randomly spawns players on the wrong side of the map ValveAn unfortunate CSGO glitch has players randomly spawning in the wrong spawns of maps, giving them no chance of fighting back at the start of a round. Getting the right spawn in a game of CSGO can make executing a round so much easier. Spawning that much closer to tunnels for a quick B-site execute on Dust 2 can make or break a round. However, what if you got a spawn that was so bad, you just started in the complete wrong location? Well, that’s a CS:GO bug one Redditor found out about the hard way during a regular game of Dust 2. During a game on March 17, Reddit user ‘hamfriggar’ was just going about his business after finishing the round. The enemy team was down a player, but they returned just after the next round started back up. Unfortunately, they found themselves a bit overextended on the map, dropping into the terrorist spawn instead of the counter-terrorist spawn on Dust 2. Read more: How to watch ESL Pro League Season 11 – This made for easy pickings for hamfriggar, who snapped up the kill within a second of the round starting. The enemy player was confused as to what happened, not realizing that he was on the wrong side of the map after spawning in. While hamfraigaar was playing on a community server at the time, players have reported the same issue happening in regular matchmaking, as well as other competitive servers like ESEA or FACEIT queues. The glitch happens after a player joins a game and gets a side selected for them during the respawn phase between rounds. The game can bug out, accidentally spawning them as if they were on the enemy team in the other spawn. Read more: How to watch Flashpoint Season 1 – It’s unclear as to whether it happens on maps aside from Dust 2, but either way, the bug would be absolutely infuriating to encounter in-game. Playing with a man down is hard enough, so when they rejoin only to spawn in the wrong area would be demoralizing to say the least. Comment byu/hamfraigaar from discussion inGlobalOffensive It’s also not a new bug, having been in the game basically since its release back in 2012. While you’d hope Valve would be aware of its existence, it still remains in the game to this day. There’s not a lot you can do other than hope you’re not on the T-side when this happens and your ally spawns in CT with the bomb — that would be a real tilter.

Complexity’s X-Factor: How An Injured Sniper DOMINATED @ BLAST Spring Groups Complexity’s dominance in the BLAST Spring Groups was fueled by AWPer Valentin ‘poizon’ Vasilev, who came back from injury to thrust his team to greater heights. In Group B, Jason Lake’s CSGO team faced Team Vitality, Evil Geniuses, and G2 Esports. It was the only group that didn’t have a clear-cute favorite to come out on top, giving Complexity a window to make a splash against bigger teams. Their performance against a surging Vitality roster was the first sign that poizon and co. weren’t going to roll over in the stacked event. The Bulgarian sniper was a menace after rejoining his team from injury, and that just seemed to power the rest of the comrades in battle. It wasn’t long before poizon’s effect was being felt around the team. The space he and the AWP created for the rest of his team gave Justin ‘jks’ Savage and the rest of the roster room to operate. Read more: Six players to watch at IEM Katowice 2021 – Later on in the group stage, we saw Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke activate against G2 Esports. Complexity were firing each other up in Group B, handling all of Vitality, G2, and EG in 2-0 fashion. While there’s going to be bigger competition in the BLAST Global Finals like FaZe Clan, Na’Vi, and BIG, the team’s 3-0 start to the group stage was indicative of their excellent form. Poizon is only one player, but he’s providing the X-factor that made Complexity an incredibly formidable team in their BLAST campaign.

Complexity’s k0nfig to miss ESL Pro League Season 14 with broken wrist Complexity CSGO pro Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke has announced he’d broken his wrist in a freak accident at an airport. As a result, he could miss the entirety of ESL Pro League Season 14. The 24-year-old was gearing up to help lead Complexity through their Group B ESL matches, starting August 21, but now it doesn’t look like he’ll be able to play at all. On Tuesday, August 17 k0nfig announced he’d broken and dislocated his right wrist while walking through an airport recently. Now, out of nowhere, he’ll be out for the next several weeks right as ESL group stages are starting. K0nfig confirms CSGO injury setback “My wrist is broken and dislocated. I will have surgery tomorrow morning at 7:30,” k0nfig announced. “I will have to wear a cast for about 4-6 weeks and then some training to get back on track.” this have really affected me and i feel awful just to talk about it, but lets pray for a good surgery and swift recovery. I do not wish this for my worst enemy. — Kristian Wienecke (@k0nfig) August 17, 2021 As mentioned, Group B of ESL Pro League Season 14 starts play on August 21. Unless k0nfig plans on playing with a cast, this news most likely means he’ll miss most if not all of these matches. Amazingly, k0nfig apparently didn’t know he had broken his wrist at first and played a few practice matches without even knowing. So, how did it happen? It’s so random it seems like it literally could have happened to anyone. “I was walking and looked at my phone in an airport and slipped in water on the floor, fell and slammed my hand into a handrail which caused the wrist to shatter,” the Dane explained. “Absolutely sounds like a lie and I can’t believe that it even is reality.” I went to Serbia and got it checked but they didnt notice the shattered wrist, so i still played a few praccs with the team. Still managed to dominate some teams with a broken wrist btw 😉 #42 f***** — Kristian Wienecke (@k0nfig) August 17, 2021 Who’s taking k0nfig’s place? This begs the question — who could Complexity bring in to fill in for k0nfig as he heals up? Luckily for us, the org has already announced his replacement: fellow Danish CSGO pro Niels Christian ‘NaToSaphiX’ Sillassen. What remains to be seen though is if Complexity will be able to overcome losing one of their star players. Fellow teams in their group like Virtus.pro, OG, and G2, are all chomping at the bit to make the playoffs. Out of the blue, Group B has just gotten a lot more interesting.

Complexity’s K0nfig reveals how CSGO team is improving after Obo’s exit DreamHackMixing up a CSGO lineup before an event is never easy, but Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke told Dexerto how Complexity’s juggernaut has been integrating Justin ‘jks’ Savage amid the Blast Premier. The surprise, but amicable, exit of Owen ‘oBo’ Schlatter earlier in September left Complexity without their rising rifling talent. But the org made ends meet by scooping up jks after 100 Thieves announced they were dismantling their CSGO division. “”He’s took a lot of oBo’s roles…”” @k0nfigCS says that @COL_jks “”fits perfectly”” for @Complexity ahead of their @BLASTPremier clash vs @FaZeClan.#BLASTPremier | w/ @GFuelEnergy. pic.twitter.com/IcQoXrFp4b — Dexerto (@Dexerto) October 30, 2020 While both oBo and jks bring a ton of firepower to a team, the latter has a few more years of development under his belt and could plug-in to the Complexity system even better than his predecessor after some growing pains. “It’s, of course, harder for us to play with a new player in the team,” k0nfig said about integrating jks into the lineup, though he sees how Complexity “are a really good team, even though we don’t have oBo anymore.” Though the team eventually bowed out of the Blast Premier in 7th-9th place after getting knocked down to the lower bracket by Team Vitality, k0nfig thinks that his team is still set up for long term success. “”He always plays great at the worst times… Against us, usually!”” @k0nfigCS says the key to beating Vitality at @BLASTPremier is countering @ZywOo.#BLASTPremier | w/ @GFuelEnergy pic.twitter.com/nfd0DX0vWv — Dexerto (@Dexerto) October 29, 2020 “We got some of the best players in the world as well, so we’re not really scared,” he said, comparing his team with the French powerhouse Vitality and their star player Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut. Though the CSGO juggernaut experiment has hit a snag in the road, Complexity has managed a healthy addition that might not take too much time to get up to speed.

Complexity stun Astralis 2-0 in first round of BLAST Premier CSGO event Twitch: BLAST / Complexity GamingAfter some tough losses in the Rio major open qualifiers, and being on the wrong end of jokes from the community, Complexity’s new ‘juggernaut’ roster pulled off one of the greatest CS:GO upsets of all time against reigning 3x major champions Astralis. If there was to be a 2-0 result in a best-of-three between Astralis and Complexity, few would expect the all-Danish side to be the ones on the losing end. But that’s exactly what happened as the first day of Group B play at BLAST Premier Spring in London came to a close, as the new international roster competing under the Complexity banner stunned Astralis in the opening round. An ecstatic Complexity roster celebrated their monumental win, with organization owner Jason Lake coming on stage to join his players in celebrating. He had been loudly cheering throughout the whole series as his team won on Dust2, then surprised Astralis on their own pick of Vertigo. Lake and his team will now get to experience some relief from the string of jokes that had been aimed at the roster and the organization since the end of the StarLadder Berlin major. After a disastrous showing at that major, the owner stripped completely dismantled his NA lineup and declared to his goal of building a ‘juggernaut’ roster. I love our players as individuals but these results won’t be tolerated. If you’re a Tier 1 player looking for a fresh start at the best facility in the world, HMU. I’ll pay your buyout and give you the world’s highest salaries. Let’s build a juggernaut. Spread the word. — Jason Lake (@JasonBWLake) August 25, 2019 Complexity’s current lineup of Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke, Valentin ‘poizon’ Vasilev, Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer, Owen ‘oBo’ Schlatter, and Will ‘RUSH’ Wierzba isn’t exactly what one would call a juggernaut, but their win over Astralis proved that they have the potential to exceed expectations. Expert analyst Duncan ‘Thorin’ Shields, who was on the broadcast desk while watching the match, said it was potentially one of the greatest upsets in CS:GO history. That coL > Astralis result is easily a top 5 CS:GO upset of all-time. Strong contender for number one.#BLASTPremier — Thorin (@Thorin) February 7, 2020 His fellow desk analyst, Chad ‘SPUNJ’ Burchill, credited Complexity for their “long con” of baiting Astralis into picking a map they could win. The best thing about this entire upset is the vertigo long con from complexity. Hiding it from Astralis to bait them into the pick is next level. — Chad Burchill (@SPUNJ) February 7, 2020 The upset could also prove to be a turning point for the roster’s goals of making the Rio major, after coming up short in two open qualifier tournaments just before BLAST. There are two more open qualifier chances left for them to take advantage of and the momentum from this victory might carry them one step closer to Brazil. This result means that Complexity move to the second round of Group B, where they will face Vitality on February 8 for a guaranteed spot in the Spring Finals. If they do make it to the Group B grand final, there’s a chance they could face Astralis again, whose path to redemption begins against Na’Vi in the lower bracket. The two teams who make it out of this bracket will join FaZe Clan and Team Liquid and two more teams from Group C in the Spring Finals. You can follow all of the competitive CSGO action by visiting our BLAST Premier Spring 2020 hub, which includes livestreams, the full schedule, scores, and more.