Author: Nik Ranger

BLAST reveal why Fnatic and Mousesports weren’t invited to premier series Tournament organizer BLAST shared their thoughts on CSGO events and revealed why some of the best teams are missing from their Premier Spring Series 2020 event. BLAST are the newest event organizer in CSGO, having hosted the majority of their events in 2019, aiming to bring fresh tournaments featuring the top teams. However, they were criticized by the community due to their event formats, which featured mainly best-of-one matches. Because of this, many fans and players considered BLAST Pro Series events to be unimportant and less competitive. In an attempt to shake things up, the organizers announced a whole new format named ‘BLAST Premier‘. This format acts like a league, with 12 teams competing with each other over two seasons, with the best of them qualifying for a global final at the end of the year. The first season, Spring, begins in London with a 12 team LAN event, in which the top six teams will advance to the finals of the season, while the remainder will play “showdown” matches. Only two teams will advance from the “showdown” stage and will play in the eight-team season grand finals. With just 12 teams being invited, it was certain some fan favorites would miss out, however, few could expect Fnatic and Mousesports to not be at the event. BLAST director of product Nicolas Estrup shed some light on the situation in an interview with HLTV. “We couldn’t solely be reliant around what the lineup of a team is right now… the organization behind teams weigh in just as much and maybe even in some cases more because it is a long play.” He then continued, speaking about the aforementioned teams in particular and why they were not chosen: “It might look like there was a more obvious choice than Complexity, but knowing Jason Lake and knowing the way he operates, the passion he has when he operates, was a positive factor for us.” It would seem that BLAST did not solely rely on rankings or just teams alone, but the organizations as a whole as they are planning for the long term. Their choice is understandable as teams can fall off after a good run, such as ENCE, who were gunning for the top spot in the world in early 2019, and are now struggling to even make a dent in the international scene. Although, there is still some hope for any team that didn’t make it, as Estrup revealed that things can change in the future.

BLAST Pro Series partners with new Terminator film for Moscow CS:GO event Paramount/RFRSH EntertainmentThe upcoming Terminator film from 20th Century Fox is partnering with RFRSH Entertainment and BLAST Pro Series for their upcoming Moscow CS:GO tournament in September. When some of the world’s best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams descend on Moscow in September for another installment of BLAST Pro Series, they won’t just be eliminated if they don’t make finals, they’ll be terminated! For legal reasons I am obligated to ensure you that the players’ safety is not in question, but the newest film in the illustrious Terminator franchise, “Terminator: Dark Fate” will be an official sponsor for the BLAST Moscow event. BLAST Pro Series Moscow will be the fourth BLAST event of 2019, after Los Angeles, Miami, and Madrid earlier in the year. BLAST is owned by RFRSH Entertainment, who at one time was also the owner of famed Danish CS:GO team Astralis. Astralis and RFRSH have since parted ways. Read more: RFRSH Entertainment agree sale of Astralis – Astralis won’t be attending Moscow, but plenty of extraordinary CS:GO teams will be there: Made in Brazil, Natus Vincere, ENCE, Vitality, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and either forZe or AVANGAR. Those two teams meet in a play-in just before Moscow begins. According to Dexerto’s own Jarek ‘DeKay’ Lewis, ENCE is expected to be debuting Miikka ‘suNny’ Kemppi at Moscow, replacing current in-game leader Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen. In addition, MIBR is also expected to debut Vito ‘kNgV-’ Giuseppe in Moscow. Anastasia Polyakova, Acting Marketing Director of 20th Century Fox, said in a press release: “We are sure that “Terminator: Dark Fate” will win the hearts of the audience, and BLAST Pro Series guests will be the first to be convinced of this by watching exclusive film materials.” Leo Matlock, Head of Commercial Solutions at BLAST Pro Series, is also excited about the partnership: “Having a unique, holistic partnership with such a high-octane film franchise as The Terminator, and the legendary entertainment company 20th Century Fox, will help make sure the fans at our first-ever Moscow tournament have an incredible experience.” BLAST Moscow will be the first premier offline event after the conclusion of the StarLadder major in Berlin. All the attending Moscow teams will be competing at the major in some capacity.

BLAST Premier World Final headed to Abu Dhabi as part of 3-year deal with ADGaming BLAST PremierBLAST have announced that the 2022 BLAST Premier World Final will take place in Abu Dhabi. They have also revealed a three-year partnership with ADGaming, an initiative funded by the Abu Dhabi government to help create an “esports and gaming ecosystem” in the region. On June 30, CS:GO tournament operators BLAST announced a new partnership with ADGaming, an initiative funded and overseen by the Abu Dhabi government in order to cultivate esports and gaming culture within the region. The #BLASTPremier World Final has found a home… 💰 $1m prize pool 🏆 The best 8 teams 📅 14-18 December 2022 🌴 Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi 👑 HEROES will be crownedTickets and event information coming soon pic.twitter.com/KdiYt5WD90 — BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) June 30, 2022 The deal will see BLAST’s 2022 World Finals take place in Abu Dhabi from December 14-18, in the Etihad Arena on Yas Island. The finals will be the first-ever esports event to take place at the arena, which has previously hosted multiple UFC events and the 2021 World Swimming Championship. It will host eight of the world’s best CS:GO teams, qualified from the Spring/Fall Seasons and the top four teams from the Race to the World Final Leaderboard. The event will have a live audience, with the arena’s maximum seating capacity sitting at 18,000 – ticket prices have not yet been announced. Partnership with ADGaming With the partnership between BLAST and ADGaming, BLAST have shown a “deep trust in the growth and untapped potential that Abu Dhabi has to offer”, which will likely see them hold multiple events in the region throughout the duration of the partnership. BLAST Managing Director Charlotte Kenny explained that the tournament operator was “committed to bringing our best-in-class shows to all corners of the globe” and were “proud to be working with AD Gaming to provide the BLAST Premier World Final in Abu Dhabi.” ADGaming have previously formed partnerships with multiple game developers, including Ubisoft and After Work Games, providing a “support system” for esports and gaming in the region. Read more: How to watch IEM Cologne 2022 – It’s not clear yet what the full extent of the partnership will look like. This isn’t ADGaming’s first partnership in the esports space – they currently work with tournament organizer EStars, esports organization Nigma Galaxy, and esports agency Zawaya Gaming.

BLAST Premier World Final 2022: G2 Esports win title Viktor Funch Beck/BLASTThe BLAST Premier circuit culminated in the World Final, live from Abu Dhabi. Read our recap of the event. The CS:GO season came to a close with the BLAST Premier World Final. The event was held in Abu Dhabi as part of a three-year agreement between BLAST and ADGaming, an initiative funded by the local government to help create an “esports and gaming ecosystem” in the region. The tournament featured eight top teams, including reigning BLAST Premier World champions, NAVI, and the current Major winners, Outsiders. But it was G2 Esports who came out on top, pocketing $500,000 after defeating Team Liquid 2-0 in the final. FaZe headed into the event as the main favourites to lift the trophy, especially after Heroic announced that they would have to attend the event without star player Martin ‘stavn’ Lund. But the PGL Major Antwerp winners were sent packing in the semi-finals after losing to Team Liquid, who were no match for G2 in the final. The BLAST Premier World Final was the first tier-one event to feature Anubis, the community-created map that was added to the Active Duty map pool last month. You can find more information about how Anubis was created in our in-depth interview with the three creators of the map. Catch up with all the event info here, including the results, the qualified teams, and the prize money distribution. Contents BLAST Premier World Final 2022: Results & format The BLAST Premier World Final took place between December 14-18, with the eight participating teams split into two double-elimination groups. The group winners progressed to the semi-finals, while the runners-up and the third-placed sides advanced to the quarter-finals. The bottom-placed group finishers were eliminated from the tournament. The playoffs featured a single-elimination bracket. All matches were played in a best-of-three format. Playoffs (December 16-18) Day 1: December 16 Day 2: December 17 Day 3: December 18 Group Stage (December 14-15) Day 1: December 14 Day 2: December 15 Group A Group B BLAST Premier World Final 2022: All qualified teams Of the eight participating teams, three (G2 Esports, OG and Team Liquid) were determined by the BLAST Global Leaderboard, a global ranking that factors in performances in a series of top-tier tournaments. The other five teams were invited after winning tier-one events throughout the year: NAVI (BLAST Premier Spring Final), Heroic (Fall Final), FaZe Clan (ESL Pro League Season 15 and PGL Major Antwerp), Vitality (ESL Pro League Season 16) and Outsiders (IEM Rio Major). As Dexerto reported on November 29, the IEM Rio Major champions attended the event as ‘Outsiders’ – which has been the team’s name since the war in Ukraine broke out. And NAVI academy player Andrii ‘npl’ Kukharskyi made his first appearance for the main team.

NAVI win BLAST Premier CSGO World Final 2021 BLASTThe BLAST Premier World Final wrapped up the CS:GO tournament season for 2021. Here’s how you can relive the event, the teams who have qualified, and when to tune in. NAVI takedown Gambit 2-1 to become Champs – Major champions will face Gambit in an all-CIS title decider – NAVI walks away with $500,000 in prize money – The BLAST Premier World Final returned after a successful first run of the circuit in 2020. With $1 million up for grabs, and a strict invite making sure only the best of the best are in attendance, it’s Counter-Strike at its finest. With the best teams in the world fighting for the championship, including PGL Major Stockholm champions NAVI, you didn’t want to miss it. Contents Premier CSGO World Final 2021 recap The final day kicked off with NAVI taking on Team Vitality for a ticket in the final against Gambit. S1mple and company proved to stronger for the French squad as they rolled through them in a quick 2-0. Gambit got a chance to watch that series and game plan for the Grand Finals. They would come out strong and take Mirage off of NAVI to go up 1-0. However, star player s1mple stepped up once again delivering for NAVI to take the next two maps rather convincingly and end 2021 on top of the CS:GO world. BLAST Premier World Final 2021 schedule Here’s the full schedule for the BLAST Premier World Final 2021: Day 1: December 14 Day 2: December 15 Day 3: December 16 Day 4: December 17 Day 5: December 18 Day 6: December 19 BLAST Premier World Final 2021: prize money distribution BLAST Premier World Final 2021: teams Eight teams qualified for the double-elimination finals through a variety of different events. There are invite slots for the winners of the BLAST Spring, as well as ESL Pro League Season 13 and Season 14. PGL Major Stockholm and BLAST Fall champions NAVI were already qualified for the World Final, and two more leaderboard spots were added. The BLAST Global Leaderboard is a ranking that takes into account results from a series of top events across the year.

G2 and Gambit win BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2021: Final placements & recap BLAST / DexertoThe BLAST Premier Spring Showdown has officially wrapped up. With two Spring Finals spots up for grabs and 16 teams in the showdown, it was definitely a cutthroat, action-packed event. Here’s a full recap of what went down. G2 qualified for Blast Spring Finals after taking down Spirit in first semifinal matchup. – Gambit qualified after beating Heroic 2-1 in second semifinal match. – Spring Finals start June 15. – BIG, Complexity, Na’Vi, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Evil Geniuses, and FaZe Clan all made it through to the BLAST Premier Spring Finals through Groups earlier in the year. With only two spots at the Finals left, the Spring Showdown was going to be fiercely competitive, but G2 and Gambit managed to punch their ticket there. BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2021: Placements & prizing The $162,500 prize pool was split between the 16 participating teams, with the top two (G2 and Gambit) qualifying for the BLAST Premier Spring Final. BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2021: Schedule & results The BLAST Premier Spring Showdown started on April 13, with G2 and Gambit securing their spot in the Spring Finals on April 18. They managed to beat out Spirit and Heroic, who both just fell short. Other squads, like Vitality, Astralis, and Liquid bowed out early in embarrassing fashion. Tuesday, April 13: Round of 16 Wednesday, April 14: Round of 16 Thursday, April 15: Round of 16 Friday, April 16: Quarterfinals Saturday, April 17: Quarterfinals Sunday, April 18: Semifinals BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2021: Teams & rosters 16 teams took part in the Spring Showdown. Read More: How to watch ESL Pro League Season 13 – Here are the full line-ups for the squads competing.

BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2023: Full results as top six teams punch tickets to Spring Finals BLASTThe BLAST Premier Spring Groups has ended, with the top six teams qualifying for The Spring Finals. Here’s our full recap of the event if you missed any of the action. The BLAST Premier Spring Groups marked the beginning of the CS:GO season (at the highest level, at least), picking up where the 2022 World Final left off. BLAST’s 12 partner teams gathered in a studio setting for a ten-day event, with almost $180,000 and six spots at the Spring Final on the line. The tournament featured a brand-new format, including only best-of-three matches, two stages, and served as an appetizer before the first major event with a crowd of 2023, IEM Katowice. A handful of rosters made their first appearance at this event after the off-season. A lot of eyes were on the new Astralis lineup in particular as Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz makes his first LAN appearance in over a year. The event also marked Danyyl ‘headtr1ck’ Valitov’s debut for NIP, and Jerric ‘wiz’ Jiang’s debut for Evil Geniuses. Here are all the details you need to catch up on BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2023, including the schedule, lineups, results, and prize money. Contents BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2023: Final standings Below you can find the prize pool distribution and the final standings. The top six teams have qualified for the Spring Finals, and the bottom six will play in the Spring Showdown to play for additional spots at the Spring Finals. BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2023: Schedule & results The BLAST Premier Spring Groups began with a double-elimination group stage, with the 12 teams split into three groups of four teams. The group winners advanced to the Spring Final, while the remaining teams are seeded into the next stage. The Play-In stage consisted of three single-elimination gauntlets, each featuring a group runner-up, a third-placed side, and a bottom-placed side. The gauntlet winners booked spots in the Spring Final, while the other two teams qualify for the Showdown tournament. Play-In Stage (January 27-29) These are the match results for the Play-In Stage. Day 1: January 27 Day 2: January 28 Day 3: January 29 Group Stage (January 19-26) These are the match results for the Group Stage matches. Day 8: January 26 Day 1: January 19 Day 2: January 20 Day 3: January 21 Day 4: January 22 Day 5: January 23 Day 6: January 24 Day 7: January 25 BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2023: Teams & players The BLAST Premier Spring Groups featured the 12 teams with which BLAST has partnered for its event circuit. Three of the participating teams had undergone roster changes since their last appearance at a LAN event, with Astralis being the only one to swap more than one player as they picked up superstar Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz (who has already featured for the team in online tournaments) and rookie Christian ‘Buzz’ Andersen. Danyyl ‘headtr1ck’ Valitov made his first appearance for NIP after leaving NAVI. The Swedish team hopes that the Ukrainian will help solve their chronic problems in the AWP role despite his lack of experience at the highest level. And Jerric ‘wiz’ Jiang will made his debut for Evil Geniuses’ main team, stepping into Tsvetelin ‘CeRq’ Dimitrov’ shoes on the North American side. On January 18, FaZe announced that Håvard ‘rain’ Nygaard missed the tournament due to the birth of his child. He was replaced by NIP benched player Patrick ‘es3tag’ Hansen. On January 25, NIP revealed that Hampus ‘hampus’ Poser missed the rest of the tournament because of “unforeseen personal circumstances”. Academy player Max ‘maxster’ Jansson played for the team in hampus’ stead. BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2023: Stream The tournament was streamed live on BLAST’s Twitch and YouTube channels, which we’ve embedded below for your convenience. If you’ve missed a match, you can catch up on the action with BLAST’s VOD section. Fans were able to follow the tournament on BLAST.tv, a viewing platform launched last year. It was developed to improve the fans’ viewing experience through a range of “innovative features”, including live stats, interactive timelines, and polls.

Vitality, OG & FaZe come out on top of BLAST Premier Spring groups BLAST PremierBLAST Premier Spring Groups 2022 was the first big CS:GO event since the off-season, and a test of who would start the year out strong. There were 12 teams who battled it out for nearly $200,000 USD and spots at the Spring Finals — we’ve got the full results right here. OG, FaZe, and Team Vitality finish top 3 and earn 2400 points, plus top Spring Finals seeds – G2, NAVI, and BIG also qualify for Spring Finals through Last Chance matches – Bottom half of table will have to fight through Spring Showdown – The player break is over, and CS:GO is gearing up for another massive year. It was a big one to get things started, with BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2022 kicking off the yearly tournament circuit. It was a good first look at 12 big teams and how they stack up after the roster shuffle — some changes major, others much smaller. Here’s how it all went down, along with daily results as they happened. Contents BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2022: Recap The big story of the group playoffs was NAVI dropping a map to Astralis in Group B, sending the 2021 Grand Slam winners down to the first round of the Play-In stage. That wasn’t s1mple and the gang’s only hiccup though, as they also lost 2-1 to NIP during the Play-In semifinals stage. However, NAVI would get the last laugh, beating NIP 2-0 in their Last Chance match to earn a Spring Finals berth, while the Ninjas will have to play through the Spring Showdown. Vitality, OG, and FaZe ended up finishing at the top of the table, and will receive the highest Spring Finals seeds as a result. G2, NAVI, and BIG also earned an automatic Spring Finals appearance, but the rest of the group will have to try and fight through the Spring Showdown for a chance. This first tournament is probably too little to base a prediction about the entire year, but early struggles by NAVI just might mean there’s room opening up for another contender waiting in the wings. One thing’s for sure though, we should have a much better idea of where teams stand following the BLAST Spring Finals. BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2022: final placements BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2022: schedule & results Play-In Stage Day 1: February 3 Day 2: February 4 Day 3: February 5 Day 4: February 6 Group Stage Day 1: January 28 Day 2: January 29 Day 3: January 30 BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2022: teams The 12 BLAST Premier partner teams were invited — as per usual — to the Spring Groups to kick off the 2022 circuit. This included Major winners and World Final champions Natus Vincere, Major runner-up G2 Esports, as well as the new look Astralis and Vitality. You can find the full list of teams competing in BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2022 below, as well as their new rosters following the off-season.

BLAST Premier Spring Finals: Stream, schedule, teams, more BLAST / Dexerto[jwplayer o9fRcL4b] Following the conclusion of BLAST Premier Showdowns in both Europe and North America, we have our 12 finalists. Here’s everything you need to know so you don’t miss a beat of the action. The BLAST Premier Spring Finals are scheduled to take place between June 15-21. Eight teams from Europe and four teams from North America will each compete in their respective regions for the lion’s share of the prize money. With $335,000 and $160,000 up for grabs to the European and American winners respectively, there is plenty to play for on both sides of the pond. Here’s the low-down on BLAST’s season closer. How to watch BLAST Premier Spring Finals Action for the BLAST Premier Spring Finals will kick-off with the European division on June 15 at 7:30 AM (PDT) / 10:30 AM (EDT) / 3:30 PM (BST). Meanwhile, the North American bracket will get underway on June 16 at 2:30 PM (PDT) / 5:30 PM (EDT) / 10:30 PM (BST). Each match will be livestreamed on BLAST Premier’s official Twitch channel (embedded below). BLAST Premier Spring Finals format The format for both regional playoffs are as straightforward as it gets. Each match will be a best-of-three series, meaning that the first team to two maps will progress to the next stage. Both European and American brackets are double-elimination, meaning that each team gets one life. If teams lose in the Lower Bracket, you’ll be sent packing. To get through to the Grand Finals on June 21, the easiest route for European teams is to win three matches in the Upper Bracket, while American teams’ easiest route is to win twice in the Upper Bracket. Here’s a breakdown of both European and American Tournament Circuit Points and prize pool that’s up for grabs depending on where teams finish. Europe 1st place — $335,000 & 2,400 points (qualify to Global Final 2020). – 2nd place — $65,000 & 1,200 points (qualify to Global Final 2020). – 3rd place — $30,000 & 900 points. – 4th place — $20,000 & 600 points. – 5-6th place — $15,000 & 300 points. – 7-8th place — $10,000 & 150 points. – North America 1st place — $160,000 & 1,600 points (qualify to Global Final 2020). – 2nd place — $65,000 & 800 points. – 3rd place — $15,000 & 600 points. – 4th place — $10,000 & 400 points. – BLAST Premier Spring Finals schedule Europe Three teams claimed their spot via the European Showdown, after failing to make it from the Regular Season. Team Vitality, ENCE and either Ninjas in Pyjamas/MAD Lions all made it after scrapping in the Showdown playoffs. The five remaining teams all qualified via the Regular Season, after Europe dominated all three groups. FaZe Clan, Natus Vincere and G2 Esports each won their respective groups, while Complexitywere swept aside by Navi (losing 0-2) and OG Esports fell short to G2 (losing 1-2). North America Three teams qualified for the Spring Finals via the American Showdown, with Brazil dominating the headlines as both MIBR and Furia finished in joint pole position. Evil Geniuses claimed the third and final qualification spot after edging out Gen.G in the play-in match. Meanwhile, Team Liquid have been waiting in the wings after qualifying from Group A during the Regular Season.

BLAST Premier Spring Finals: Moses on his favorites and players to watch BLAST / Dexerto BLAST Premier Spring Finals will host twelve of the world’s best CS:GO teams to crown the two regional champions. But who’s destined to take the top spot? Between the Spring 2020 regional seasons and the regional Showdowns, the teams are locked in for the Spring Finals. Eight teams will be competing for top honors in the European Finals, while four teams will go head-to-head for the lion’s share in North America. With a combined prize pool of $750,000 split between the two regions, there’s plenty to play for. So who are the teams and players to keep an eye on between June 15-21? Together with Jason ‘Moses’ O’Toole, we delve into the competition from each region. BLAST Premier Spring 2020: European Finals Who are the favorites? Given their newfound form heading into the tournament, it’s difficult not to go with G2 Esports. Alongside comfortably making the European Grand Finals in the DreamHack Masters Spring tournament, the team’s star player in Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub has found a new lease of life in recent times — with glimpses of the Kenny of old returning to the server. Speaking exclusively with Dexerto, Moses added that G2’s Main AWP has “found a new style of play” while the addition of In-Game Leader, Nemanja ‘nexa’ Isaković and Nemanja ‘huNter-’ Kovač has ensured that the squad are now “finally hitting their stride” after a turbulent start to the year. Who are the dark horses? Meeting G2 Esports in their first match is French rivals, Team Vitality. After storming through the Playoffs in the European Showdown, Vitality are another team who seem to have picked up the pace as the year has progressed. With Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut leading the way in the server – earning himself a positive kill swing of +103 across 12 maps – it’s no wonder why Vitality can be considered as one of the teams to watch. In fact, Moses contests that there’s plenty of teams who can rub shoulders with Vitality as the dark horses, with the likes of ENCE and Complexity seemingly finding their stride in recent times. Who are the players to watch? While the majority of the teams are pretty evenly matched across the board, there are a few players who could prove to be the difference-maker… One of which is Complexity’s Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke. While his raw talent is indisputable, his actions outside of the server have previously overshadowed the heights he can reach in-game. Under the leadership of fellow Dane, Benjamin ‘blameF’ Breme, the 23-year-old has been a pivotal cog in the well-oiled machine that is Complexity. Alongside k0nfig, Moses believes that FaZe’s latest addition in 16-year-old, Aurimas ‘Bymas’ Pipiras, is a talent that shouldn’t fly under anyone’s radar. “The guy that I’d look out for is Bymas. He’s that new addition who’s stepping into the shoes of Olofmeister – who’s one of the greatest to ever touch the game of Counter-Strike – so he’s got a big role.” BLAST Premier Spring 2020: American Finals Who are the favorites? Moving across the pond to the American Finals, Team Liquid are the only team to make it through via the Regular Season. While that alone doesn’t stand for much, their recent run of results does. In DreamHack Masters, the all-American squad have strung together an impressive flurry of results against Gen.G, Cloud9 and 100 Thieves to net themselves a place in the Grand Finals against Brazilian team, Furia. While Moses also supports that Liquid are the number one squad in North America going into the event, he also believes that this is a “do or die” tournament for the roster — whose current form is a stark contrast to what they were displaying almost a year ago, when they pulled together a historic run of event to bag the Intel Grand Slam. “I think that this is a do or die moment for them, not in terms of being able to compete with Astralis (and being able to compete with the best in the world), but whether they can actually keep this roster together… It’s do or die in the sense that we know that they had some issues towards the end of last year – coming down the stretch — and those don’t seem to have been resolved.” Who are the dark horses? So who could spoil Liquid’s party? Well it goes without saying that Furia are hitting an all-time peak in their form of late. Under the guidance of Andrei ‘arT’ Piovezan, the squad has been reaching a level that many thought wasn’t possible. While Furia has had Liquid’s number in their previous four encounters, it’s difficult to ignore the pure potential that lies within the Evil Geniuses roster. After an incredible end to 2019, the squad haven’t quite found their stride as we moved away from LAN events. Moses agrees that should Peter ‘stanislaw’ Jarguz and co. find their groove once again, it will be difficult for any of the four teams to get in their way. “You could put EG as the dark horse. As a team that has looked pretty shattered coming into this, I think with their coach, Zews – who has experience taking a dysfunctional North American team to the top – at a certain point, EG’s going to have the same jump that I just mentioned Complexity will have, just because their coach is going to start figuring stuff out.” Who are the players to watch? Given that EG could pop off at any given time, it’s hard to ignore the raw potential that Tsvetelin ‘CeRq’ Dimitrov holds. As EG’s Main AWP, the young Bulgarian can single-handedly turn the tide of a round in his favor in the blink of an eye. There’s no doubt that should EG get off on the right foot against MIBR in their opening match, CeRq will be at the forefront of the team’s tactical approach and will be a centerpiece in their strategy. Which teams have you got your money on? With a mouth-watering cash prize for both regions and a stacked lineup on both sides of the pond, BLAST Premier Spring Finals is shaping up to quite the event.

BLAST Premier Spring Finals EU & NA: Results & final placements Dexerto After months of enthralling Counter-Strike action, the BLAST Premier Spring season has reached its explosive finale in both Europe and North America. Here’s how the teams ended up. The BLAST Premier Spring season drew to a close, following months of action that started back January with the Regular Season. With over $1.3 million shared between the teams from the Regular Season right through to the Finals – alongside those all-important Tournament Circuit Points – there was plenty up for grabs. Let’s look at how each region finished. BLAST Premier Spring European Finals Starting on the European side of things, eight teams made it through from either the Regular Season or EU Showdown. For the Finals alone, there was $335,000 available as well as 2,400 Circuit Points for top honors. Both Grand Finalists were also permitted a golden ticket to the Global Final 2020. Both FaZe Clan and Team Vitality met in the Loser’s Bracket Final after meeting in the Upper Bracket Semifinals (where FaZe swept Vitality aside in dominant fashion). This time, Vitality were better prepared and took down their rivals in a close 2-0 to book a grand final spot vs coL. Despite coming in as the dark horses, Complexity ran through OG Esports, Natus Vincere, and FaZe Clan to earn their Grand Final spot, and followed it up by taking down Vitality to be crowned BLAST Premier EU Spring Final champions! Here’s how each team clocked out of the European Finals: BLAST Spring EU placements BLAST Premier Spring American Finals Moving across the Atlantic and four teams battled it out in a tighter bracket for their share of the $250,000 prize pool and those coveted Circuit Points. Despite flying under everyone’s radar, MIBR were a force to be reckoned with on their way to the Final — taking out their Brazilian counterparts, Furia, as well as edging past Evil Geniuses. EG saw off both Team Liquid in their opening match, and then Furia (after being pushed down to the Loser’s Bracket by MIBR) to make the Grand Final. With former MIBR coach, Wilton ‘zews’ Prado, at the helm for EG, there is more on the line than just revenge from their earlier loss. The North American roster was able to recover from their earlier 2-1 loss at the hands of their grand final rivals, and claim the BLAST crown with a 2-0 victory. It wasn’t as smooth as the two-game sweep suggests, however. Evil Geniuses were able to edge past their Brazillian rivals on Dust2 in a 16-14 thriller. Things then came down to the wire in what would end up being the final match of the event. MIBR was able to send Inferno to over-time, but EG came up clutch when it mattered to close out the 19-15 win and bag themselves $160k and 1,600 circuit points. Here’s how the teams ended up.

NAVI win BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022: Full recap, scores, results BLASTThe BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022 is officially in the books — eight teams traveled to Lisbon to fight for a spot in December’s World Final. Here’s what you need to know about the event, including the schedule and the latest results. NAVI dominate Vitality with 2-0 win in Grand Finals – Vitality make it to finals with win over G2 – NAVI beat OG to book first final spot – The BLAST Premier series has cemented itself as a mainstay on the CS:GO calendar, and the Spring Finals brought its first arc for 2022 to its conclusion. In the aftermath of May’s PGL Major Antwerp, eight teams travelled to Lisbon to fight for the first prize of $200,000 and a spot in December’s $1 million World Final. Here’s what you need to know about the BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2022, including a recap, the full results, and scores. Contents BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2022: Recap The BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2022 started with Group Stage matches on June 15. Eventual champs NAVI only finished tied for second in Group B, though that was where their final opponents Vitality finished in Group A as well. Come playoff time though, s1mple and company were in full form, sweeping FaZe 2-0 in the Quarterfinals. The Semifinal match against OG would prove to be their biggest test of the playoffs, but NAVI were able to survive with a 2-1 win to reach the final. On the other side of the table Vitality easily handled ENCE in the Quarterfinals, while barely making it out against G2 in a match that came down to the wire on Nuke. At the Grand Finals it was all NAVI. Despite a massive shakeup to the roster, the Ukranian side was seemingly untouchable on the final day of BLAST Spring 2022. After taking Mirage with a score of 16-8, they outdid themselves on Overpass, dominating Vitality 16-5 to wrap things up. It was a wild few weeks leading up to the tournament for NAVI, who parted ways with IGL Boombl4 due to personal issues. This doesn’t seemed to have slowed them down in the slightest though, with s1mple leading the way to yet another first-place finish. BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2022: Final standings BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2022: Full results BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2022 playoffs (June 17 – June 19) Day 1: June 17 Day 2: June 18 Day 3: June 19 Group A Group B BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2022 group stage (June 15 – June 16) Day 1: June 15 Day 2: June 16 BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2022: location & format The BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2022 took place between June 15 and 19 at Altice Arena, the same venue that staged the BLAST Pro Series event in the Portuguese capital in 2018. The eight teams were split into two double-elimination groups, playing each other in BO3 series. The top three teams progressed to the playoffs, with the first seed in each group automatically qualifying for the semifinals. The six-team playoffs featured a single-elimination bracket, with the winners of the semifinals progressing to the grand final. There was also a third-place match for the losers of said semifinals. The winner of it all will automatically qualify for December’s World Final. BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2022: teams Eight teams took part in the BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2022 LAN in Lisbon, Portugal. Most of them qualified through the Group Stage earlier this year, including Stockholm Major champions NAVI as well as G2 Esports, Vitality, and FaZe Clan. European rising stars ENCE climbed through the Spring Showdown in Europe to book the seventh seed, while Brazil’s paiN Gaming won over in the Americas for the final spot. You can find the full list of teams below.

Gambit wins BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2021: Final placements & recap BLAST The final event of the season, the BLAST Premier Spring Finals, is finally in the books, and after eight of the best CS:GO teams duked it out for $425,000 and a spot at the World Finals — Gambit proved why they’re considered one of the very best. Here’s everything you need to know. Gambit sweep NAVI 2-0 to win the BLAST Premier Spring Final – Dmitry ‘sh1ro’ Sokolov named BLAST Spring Finals MVP – Gambit take home $225,000 and a spot in the BLAST Premier World Final – Months of qualifiers and preparation had led to this. In the end though it would be Gambit booking their ticket to the 2021 BLAST Premier World Final, set to be held on LAN in December. Each of the eight teams were brimming with talent and each had a shot, although there were some notable names missing from the line-up. Check below for everything you need to know about how the Spring Finals played out, including full results and scores. BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2021: Final Placements https://twitter.com/BLASTPremier/status/1406713954534035460?s=20 This is shaping up to be one heck of a year for Gambit Esports. Not only did they walk away from BLAST with another first-place tournament finish, they did so only dropping one map the whole time — Ancient to NAVI in the Upper Bracket Final. As we mentioned, Gambit’s winning ways earned the team a cool $225,000 and a guaranteed spot in the BLAST Premier World Finals, taking place in December 2021. Not too bad at all for one week of CSGO. BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2021: Final Results Day 1: Tuesday, June 15 Day 2: Wednesday, June 16 Day 3: Thursday, June 17 Day 4: Friday, June 18 Day 5: Saturday, June 19 Day 6: Sunday, June 20 BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2021: Teams Eight teams qualified for the Spring Finals from the Spring Groups and Spring Showdown. Among them were Natus Vincere, G2 Esports, and eventual champs Gambit Esports — three teams who have been at the top of Counter-Strike in 2021. Notable absentees were the dev1ce-less Astralis, Vitality, and the rising stars: mousesports. You can find the full list of teams (and their rosters) down below.

Heroic win BLAST Premier Spring Final 2023: Final placements and recap YouTube: Blast PremierThe BLAST Premier Spring Final has concluded, and Heroic has taken yet another BLAST Premier trophy. Here is all you need to know about the final placements and a recap of the event. BLAST has wrapped up the final CSGO tournament before the player break, and it has concluded in the second LAN victory for Heroic, and once again, another BLAST trophy under their belt. The path to the trophy lift was smooth sailing for the Danish powerhouse, only dropping two of the ten maps they played in the tournament, and no series’ lost on the way to the trophy. The squad would eventually meet a Team Vitality fresh off a Major Win in the grand finals, which saw the series going to all three maps. Eventually leading to a 2-1 in Heroic’s favor. The grand finals saw a few firsts for the Danes. It saw Haroic’s rifler Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard gain his first ever HLTV MVP, with Casper “cadiaN” Møller taking the tournament MVP. It also saw Team Vitality’s star awper Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut perform his worst-ever map on Vertigo, ending it with a 0.66 rating. With Heroic’s trophy lift, it also means the team has secured their spot in the BLAST Premier World Final happening at the end of the year, joining the already qualified Team Vitality and FaZe Clan. Below is everything you need to know about the BLAST Premier Spring Final 2023. BLAST Premier Spring Final: Schedule and results The event took place between June 7 through 11 at The Entertainment and Sports Arena, in Washington, D.C, and featured the top six teams of the BLAST Premier Group Stage and the winners of the Showdown qualifiers in Europe and in the Americas. The eight teams were divided into two double-elimination groups, with the top three teams per group advancing to the single-elimination playoffs. The group winners skipped the first round of the playoffs. The winner of the playoffs hoisted the trophy and qualified for the BLAST Premier World Final. Below are the final standings of the BLAST Premier Spring Final: BLAST Premier Spring Final: Prize and standings BLAST Premier Spring Final Playoffs (June 9 — June 11) Day 1: June 9 Day 2: June 10 Day 3: June 11 BLAST Premier Spring Final Groups (June 7 — June 8) Group A Group B Day 1: June 7 Day 2: June 8 BLAST Premier Spring Final: Teams and rosters The event featured some of the best CS:GO teams in the world, including the reigning Major champions, Vitality, who did not attend IEM Dallas last week. Many fans were disappointed with the absence of NAVI, who could not attend the event due to visa issues. North American side Complexity filled the vacant spot in the tournament. BLAST Premier Spring Final: Stream and VODs The tournament was broadcast live on BLAST Premier’s official Twitch and YouTube channels. We have embedded the VOD of the grand finals below for your convenience. All the VODs for the BLAST Premier Spring Final can be found on the BLAST Premier YouTube Channel. Alternatively, CS:GO fans could also follow the tournament on BLAST.tv, a viewing platform that was launched last year by the tournament organizer. It was developed to improve the fans’ viewing experience through a range of “innovative features”, including live stats, interactive timelines, and polls.

BLAST Premier Spring 2020: Final Placements and Results BLASTThe first Spring Series of the 2020 BLAST Premier is done and dusted, with six teams already locked into the Spring finals later this year. Here are the final results, as well as placement, and prize pool/Premier points distributions. The landscape of CS:GO has changed dramatically heading into the new decade. With the upcoming debut of the B Site League, the premiere of the newly formatted ESL Pro League, and with BLAST moving from hosting weekend tournaments to full-blown league, it’s an exciting time for players and fans alike. In September 2019, BLAST Premier was announced for 2020. The new structure two regular seasons in the Spring and the Fall, as well as Showdown events, finals for each season, and another Global Final. Across all of their 2020 events, the organizer intends to distribute $4.25 million in prize pool winnings. The BLAST Premier Spring 2020 season began on January 31 and concluded on Februry 16. Jump to section: Recap In Group A, FaZe Clan look like they’ve reached the final form they had in mind when Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David arrived. They didn’t drop a single map during the three-day event, and closed out both of their dominant 2-0 wins over Liquid with one-sided maps, (16-5 on Inferno, and 16-2 on Dust II). The new NiP roster looks potentially promising with a comeback win against MIBR, and a close series loss against Liquid. Although Natus Vincere would top Group B, the story of the ‘group of death’ was the juggernaut performance of Complexity. The NA-European hybrid roster put together by Jason Lake stunned fans and teams, winning 2-0 against Astralis and Team Vitality to secure a Spring Finals spot. The lackluster play by Astralis, who went into the event considered number one in the world, was also stunning. During a weekend which saw G2’s LoL team struggle in the LEC, the organization’s CS:GO came alive, beating 100 Thieves and OG 2-0 to secure their finals spot. But OG would withstand the loss and deliver two victories in separate back-and-forth series against Evil Geniuses, before G2 finished off their weekend with a third victory to top the group. Final Placements and Prize Distribution Schedule & results GROUP A (Jan 31 – Feb 2) Final Results: 1st – FaZe Clan (advanced to Spring Finals) 2nd – Team Liquid (advanced to Spring Finals) 3rd – Ninjas in Pyjamas (advanced to Spring Showdown) 4th – MIBR (advanced to Spring Showdown) GROUP B (Feb 7 – Feb 9) Final Results: 1st – Natus Vincere (advanced to Spring Finals) 2nd – Complexity (advanced to Spring Finals) 3rd – Team Vitality (advanced to Spring Showdown) 4th – Astralis (advanced to Spring Showdown) GROUP C (Feb 14 – Feb 16) Final Results: 1st – G2 Esports (advanced to Spring Finals) 2nd – OG (advanced to Spring Finals) 3rd – Evil Geniuses (advanced to Spring Showdown) 4th – 100 Thieves (advanced to Spring Showdown) Teams & rosters

BLAST Premier Spring 2020 CSGO Stream: How to watch, schedule, more BLAST BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 will see some of the world’s best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams duke it out for a chance to claim qualification points and big money prizes. Here, you can follow along with a schedule, stream, and much more. With LAN events canceled for the foreseeable future, esports titles like Counter-Strike have had to revert to playing online. This has shaken things up considering LAN events usually see the best of teams in Europe, North America, and beyond doing battle on a level playing field. Instead of that, BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 will see teams confined to their own regions and compete in online play. Here, we take a look at everything you need to know – including schedules, standings, streams, and much more. When is BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 The European portion of BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 kicks off on June 1 with Vitality taking on ENCE in the first group play match. This game gets underway at 2:30 pm BST/3:30 pm CEST/9:30 am EDT/6:30 am PDT and marks the first of five matches. As for North American play, that also starts on June 1 but there are only two matches per day. You’ll be able to see FURIA take on MIBR as the opening game at 9:30 pm BST/10:30 pm CEST/4:30 pm EDT/1:30 pm PDT. BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 stream Thankfully, you won’t have to split your attention for different matches, as only one game will be played at a time regardless of the region that is playing. That means that you can kick back and watch the main BLAST broadcast that we have embedded below. Alternative language streams also available. BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 Groups and Brackets As already mentioned, 18 teams will be competing in DreamHack Masters Spring 2020, with ten teams competing in Europe and the other eight in North America. The groups for the event were determined ahead of time and you can take a look at them all below. Europe Americas BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 Format The format for BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 is pretty simple and doesn’t change depending on whether the teams are playing in the European or North America event. The group stage will be played in round-robin best-of-ones, with the top three teams from each group progressing in North America, while the top four from each group will move on in Europe. The playoffs will then move to a single-elimination format with teams playing best-of-three matches. There will be no grand finals, however, there will be a third-place match. BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 Schedule and Scores Bracket Play Group Play

Is this player really holding G2 CSGO back? BLAST Premier Review With BLAST Premier Spring Finals now behind us, the best Counter-Strike teams in the world are settling in for a run at the major to round out 2021. Gambit, G2 Esports, NAVI, and more are all in contention, with Richard Lewis and Anders Blume highlighting why. Gambit Esports took down their CIS rivals Natus Vincere yet again to take home the BLAST Premier Spring Finals, but this time, it was an ultra convincing performance from the new #1 team in the world. However, there were some standout performances across the board. From G2 Esports’ signs of life, to whether Olof’s return was really the right call for FaZe Clan, Lewis and Blume break it all down in the BLAST Premier Review Show. Evil Geniuses falter, but “there’s something to work with” That’s if you ask Anders, who believes Evil Geniuses can bounce back despite not winning a single map at BLAST Premier Spring Finals. With Damian ‘daps’ Steele rejoining the CS:GO scene as a coach for Evil Geniuses, and stars like Vincent ‘Brehze’ Cayonte slowly working back to their top form, it could only be a matter of time before the EG of old explodes back onto the scene. However, they need to stop making changes. Dropping Wilton ‘zews’ Prado wasn’t the right call, according to Lewis, and the only way they’ll find success is with stability. Olofmeister return didn’t renew FaZe Clan at all Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer Gustafsson’s return to FaZe Clan was a delight for fans, but Richard Lewis believes the “interview carousel” around it was “regressive” in mindset. They threw the series against NAVI, and failed to capitalize on their chances. Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dulken was highlighted as a weak link of the squad, having one of his quietest performances since joining FaZe Clan. G2 Esports showing signs of life again Both Anders and Richard felt vindicated about their predictions for G2 to win the tournament, given it came down to one amazing Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev clutch to keep NAVI in it. Francois ‘AmaNEk’ Delaunay was a highlight for the G2 squad, pulling out the AWP in kennyS’ absence and really making it work for the Frenchmen. Despite his critics, he is a key part of the team. However, Audric ‘JaCkz’ Jug’s inconsistency could be holding G2 back, especially when he doesn’t have a fast start. NAVI’s wins too close for comfort Despite NAVI finishing as runners up, Richard Lewis believes the roster is too good to be having scares against the likes of FaZe Clan and G2 Esports. While they have a “mental block” against Gambit, their other results are concerning if they want to push for a major title in 2021. “NAVI should be where Gambit are,” Lewis said. Anders has the same mixed feelings with their slower style of play, often leaving executes to the last second where any mistake costs them the round, or the game. However, if the team elevates to s1mple’s level of performance in the server, there’s nothing stopping them from getting the Ukrainian his first major trophy. Gambit are more than “onliners” now The argument that Gambit is only good because of the “online era” is now invalid, if you ask Lewis and Anders. With LANs starting back up again soon, the duo believe the CIS team can prove they are the best team in the world. “This is the squad that has the right balance. They are all phenomenally talented, they have an appreciation of work ethic, and they have the right personalities to cope with the pressures of LAN tournaments,” Lewis said. “You run out of superlatives with a team like this.” No matter their position in the game, they somehow find a way to work back in if they are behind. They are truly “unstoppable”, as Anders put it, and if trends continue, they’re favorites for the rest of the year. Discover More: “There will never be a NAVI era, unless…” | Richard Lewis Reacts

Mouz & FURIA win BLAST Premier Fall Showdown: final placements & results Blast Premier The BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2020 has all wrapped up as Mousesports and FURIA claimed the final qualification spots for the main event at BLAST Premier Fall Finals. The event hosted sixteen teams from around the world, including invited and qualified squads alongside the teams that failed to reach top-two in their groups at the BLAST Premier Fall Series The top two teams, Mouz and FURIA, earned $25,000 each as well as a direct invite to the main event in December and the chance to compete for $750,000. Everything you need to know about this event can be found below, including all of the scores, finalized brackets, and the full final placements. BLAST Premier Fall Showdown brackets Group A Group B The tournament will consisted of two, single-elimination brackets meeting in the middle, with every match being a best-of-three. The brackets were seeded based on rankings for each team. Some of the most anticipated games included FaZe vs MiBR, with Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David facing his old team, and Liquid vs MAD, as the North American giants returned to international competition. BLAST Premier Fall Showdown match scores Tuesday, 24th November Wednesday, 25 November Thursday, 26 November Friday, 27 November Saturday, 28th November Sunday, 29th November *There was no Grand Final for this tournament since the winners of the two semifinals tie for first place and automatically qualify for the BLAST Fall Finals. BLAST Premier Fall Showdown Final Placements BLAST Premier Fall Showdown teams The BLAST Premier Fall Showdown included a mix of European and North American teams, the latter of which traveled to Europe to get a better connection to the online tournament. FURIA, NiP, FaZe, and Complexity found themselves here after BLAST Premier Fall Series, where they failed to qualify for the finals, placing 3rd-4th in their groups. Heroic took Evil Geniuses’ spot after the NA squad was denied travel to Europe due to health restrictions. Mouz, Virtus.pro, Sprout, and Spirit received invites to participate in the event. While Team Liquid decided to not take part in the group stages, their partnership with BLAST landed them an invite to the Showdown.

BLAST Premier Fall moves CSGO event to Europe & replaces 100 Thieves BLASTBLAST has announced that BIG and Furia will be replacing 100 Thieves and Team Liquid in the BLAST Premier Fall series, with all teams competing from Europe. During the online CS:GO era, teams in different regions have been unable to face each other due to the travel restrictions and all tournaments being moved online. This has led to an interesting, but not entirely desirable, separation of the competition. The BLAST Premier Fall Series will finally bring together the two main regions, Europe and America, to compete under a single tournament once again, as German’s BIG and Brazil’s Furia replace the outgoing 100 Thieves and Team Liquid. The Fall Series was initially planned to be another split tournament, with eight European teams, and 4 American teams, playing in their own separate events. However, with 100 Thieves pulling out of CS:GO, it would have left only three teams in the NA event. Rather than simply filling the spot with Furia, BLAST are bringing together both events, and adding BIG into the mix as well. BIG are certainly deserving of a spot, considering their impressive form over the online era. Team Liquid will make way, and instead join up in the Fall Showdown in November. BLAST says they agreed to this with Liquid “to limit the amount of cross-continental travel for players.” “The Fall Series will throw up some of the most exciting match-ups this year with Americas-based teams FURIA, MiBR and Evil Geniuses now able to rekindle old and new rivalries against Europe’s leading Counter-Strike teams,” BLAST said. BLAST Premier Fall teams: Astralis – NiP – G2 Esports – OG – Vitality – NAVI – FaZe Clan – Complexity – FURIA – MiBR – Evil Geniuses – BIG – All teams will be based in Europe for the tournament, starting on October 26 with the first group matches. The top two from each group advance to the Fall Finals, bottom two to the Showdown, for a second shot at making it to the finals. After the finals are concluded, winning teams will advance to the Global Finals in January. “The Counter-Strike scene has been crying out for both regions to renew rivalries in recent months and we’re delighted that we can deliver this for fans.” said BLAST CEO, Robbie Douek. You can catch all the action from the BLAST Premier Fall Series starting on October 26.

NAVI, OG and Team Liquid come out on top of BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2022 Stephanie Lindgren/BLASTThe BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2022 was the first big CS:GO event of the new season and the opportunity to see some of the new rosters for the first time. We’ve got the full results here. NAVI, Liquid, and OG win the gauntlets and grab Fall Final spots – Heroic, Astralis and Vitality drop down to Fall Showdown – Fall Showdown scheduled for October – After a month-long player break that felt like an eternity, the new CS:GO tournament season is finally underway. Twelve teams, all partnered with BLAST, took part part in the group stage of the fall season with hopes of securing one of the six spots at the Fall Final that were on the line. The BLAST Premier Fall Groups was the first opportunity to see some of the new rosters in action as we get closer to IEM Rio Major. Here’s how it all went down, along with daily results as they happened. Here’s what you need to know about the BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2022, including how you can watch and the latest schedule. Contents BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2022: final placements BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2022: Format & schedule The BLAST Premier Fall Groups ran from August 19 through August 28 and followed the same three-stage format of the Spring season. The 12 teams have been split into three double-elimination groups, with each match being played in a best-of-one format. The teams will then advance to one of the three single-elimination gauntlets, the winners of which will advance to the Fall Final. The second and third-placed teams from each gauntlet will have another shot at qualification via the last-chance stage. Play-In Stage Day 1: August 25 Day 2: August 26 Day 3: August 27 Day 4: August 28 Group Stage Day 1: August 19 Day 2: August 20 Day 3: August 21 BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2022: Participating teams The BLAST Premier Fall Groups officially marked the addition of Heroic to the group of partner teams. The Danish team replaced MIBR, whose parent company, Immortals Gaming Club, sold its league spot in April for an undisclosed fee. Complexity, Evil Geniuses and OG all debuted their new rosters after making summer changes. G2 Esports made their first appearance with Justin ‘jks’ Savage and Rasmus ‘HooXi’ Nielsen, while Team Vitality played with their newest signing, former ENCE star Lotan ‘Spinx’ Giladi. You can find the full list of teams that competed in the BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2022 below along with their rosters:

BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2021: Fall Final placements & full results BLAST PREMIERTwelve of the best CS:GO orgs in the world have battled it out to decide who goes straight to the Fall Final, and who goes to the Fall Showdown. Here’s everything you need to know about who made the cut at Blast Premier Fall Groups. NAVI dominate Group C, FaZe sneaks into second. – NIP win Group B, BIG take second place. – Vitality takes top spot in Group A, Astralis finishes second. – BLAST Fall Groups could very well be one of the last CSGO events held exclusively online, as the Fall Finals are expected to take place at LAN in Copenhagen. IEM Grand Slam winners NAVI were looking to continue their history-making run at BLAST, and they had no problem doing so, easily overcoming OG, Complexity and FaZe to take the top spot in Group C. Astralis, Vitality, and FaZe were all looking to take s1mple and co. down a notch, and they’ve all qualified for Fall Finals following the Group bracket, which means they could each at least have a shot to do so. BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2021 recap We began the action in Group A, and right out of the gate it looked like Astralis would once again be a force to be reckoned with. That was until they stumbled against Vitality, who would go on to win the group instead. The Danish org still qualified for Fall Finals, but not with the coveted top seed. In Group B it was all NIP. The Ninjas seemed to have their game together, taking down G2 and BIG to sweep the group without dropping a match. BIG managed to come in second, so they qualified for the Finals as well. Finally, in Group C as we mentioned it was a continuation of the NAVI show. The best team in CS at the moment had no trouble against OG, FaZe, or Complexity. In fact, the real story of Group C might be the impressive showing we saw from FaZe that earned them a Finals spot as well. Teams that failed to make the cut during this tournament will get another chance to qualify at the Fall Showdown, which starts on October 10. After that all eyes will be on the BLAST Premier Fall Finals, which get going on November 24. Won every team from the group, ggwp @FaZeClan Proud of my team! #navination #BLASTPremier— Sasha (@s1mpleO) September 26, 2021 BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2021: Final placements BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2021: results Group A Day 1: September 16 Day 2: September 17 Day 3: September 18 Group B Day 1: September 20 Day 2: September 21 Day 3: September 22 Group C Day 1: September 24 Day 2: September 25 Day 3: September 26 BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2021: Format The BLAST Group Stage consisted of three double-elimination format groups. Each group had 4 teams, which are all listed down below: Groups Group A — Astralis, EG, Vitality, Team Liquid – Group B — G2, MIBR, NIP, BIG – Group C — NAVI, OG, FaZe, Complexity – All matches played were best of 3. The top two teams from each group advanced to the Fall Finals, while the bottom two advanced to the Fall Showdown for another shot at qualifying. BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2021: Teams Twelve teams from across the world took part in the BLAST Fall Groups, all trying to earn their spot in the Fall Finals. If you’re a fan of top-tier professional CSGO, there were plenty of great matchups to watch. Vitality were be looking to redeem themselves after falling short in the ESL Season 14 Finals, and teams like OG, Astralis, and Liquid were looking to make their mark as well. Read More: Top 20 highest earning CSGO pros of all time – You can find the full rosters of all the participating teams down below:

NAVI win BLAST Premier Fall Final 2021 Bart Oerbekke/DexertoThe BLAST Premier Fall Final 2021 was the final chance to get points ahead of December’s World Final. With four spots up for grabs, and seven teams still in the running, the Fall Final results determined who will make it to the LAN. NAVI loses Nuke streak but wins Grand Final 2-1 over Vitality – Vitality take down Astralis on Nov. 28, and take on NAVI in Finals – World Final slots finalized with Vitality, Liquid, and Astralis locked in – Contents BLAST Premier Fall Final 2021: Recap We’ve had Fall Groups and Fall Showdown, and now the final tournament between now and the BLAST Premier World Final is officially in the books. NAVI added to their already impressive 2021 with a win at the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2021. NAVI sent Vitality to the lower bracket finals before facing them again in the Grand Final, where they actually dropped Nuke, the first time in over 20 matches played on the map. However, with the deciding match coming down to Inferno, s1mple and NAVI circled the wagons to pull off yet another championship run. While they dominated the competition, it was still one last chance for other teams to earn crucial points and make it to the World Final LAN in December. Those teams were Vitality, Team Liquid, and Astralis. BLAST Premier Fall Final 2021: final placements BLAST Premier Fall Final 2021: schedule & results Day 1: November 24 Day 2: November 25 Day 3: November 26 Day 4: November 27 Day 5: November 28 BLAST Premier Fall Final 2021: teams Eight teams were fighting it out in the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2021 for the final four spots in December’s World Final. Three squads have already locked their place: Stockholm Major winners Natus Vincere, Heroic, and G2 Esports. The other five squads are all in contention though, and a good result in the Fall Final could see them qualify. You can find the full list of teams below.

BLAST Premier Fall Final 2022: Heroic best FaZe with narrow 2-1 victory Michal Konkol/BLASTThe BLAST Premier circuit returns to Denmark with the Fall Final event, live from Copenhagen. Follow all the action here, with our coverage hub. Heroic bested FaZe in a nail-biter of a Grand Final match with a 2-1 victory – Team Liquid were bested by Heroic in the Semifinals – FaZe edged past NIP in the other Semifinal match – With the IEM Rio Major in the rearview mirror, the CS:GO community now turns its attention to the final two big events of the year, both of which will be hosted by BLAST. The Fall season of the BLAST Premier circuit will culminate in a five-day tournament in Copenhagen, with the playoff matches being held in front of a live crowd at the Royal Arena. The Brazilian Major has come and gone, an event in which Outsiders defeated Heroic in a one-sided final. Heroic would turn their luck around and overcome FaZe to win the Grand Final for the Blast Premier event. Several teams traveled to Copenhagen with a point to prove, including G2 Esports, who are still reeling from the shocking failure to qualify for the Major. FaZe and NIP gave a poor account of themselves in Rio and also be seeked out redemption at the BLAST event. FaZe was close to taking a first place finish, but still managed to get second and look much closer to their form in their last Major win. Catch up with all the post-event info here, including the complete schedule, the qualified teams and the prize money distribution. Contents BLAST Premier Fall Final 2022: Stream The BLAST Premier Fall Final will be broadcast live on the company’s Twitch and YouTube channels. If you’ve missed a match, you can catch up on the action with BLAST’s VOD section. On November 17, BLAST launched its own live viewing platform, called BLAST.tv, aimed at improving the viewers’ experience with a range of “innovative features”, including live stats, interactive timelines, and polls. BLAST Premier Fall Final 2022: Schedule & results The BLAST Premier Fall Final will see the eight participating teams split into two double-elimination groups, with the group winners progressing to the semi-finals, while the runners-up and the third-placed sides will move on to the quarter-finals. The bottom-placed teams will be eliminated from the tournament. The playoffs will feature a single-elimination, best-of-three format, with the semi-finals and the grand final being held in front of a crowd at the Royal Arena. As well as collecting a $200,000 cheque, the winner of the event will secure a spot at the BLAST Premier World Final, which will be held next month, in Abu Dhabi. Group Stage (November 23-24) Day 1: November 23 Day 2: November 24 Playoffs (November 25-27) Day 1: November 25 Day 2: November 26 Day 3: November 27 BLAST Premier Fall Final 2022: All qualified teams Six of the eight participating teams at the BLAST Premier Fall Final came from the group stage event, featuring the 12 partner sides. The tournament was held in Copenhagen in August. The final two teams, Heroic and Fluxo, came from the BLAST Premier Showdown tournaments held in Europe and the Americas, respectively. Fluxo’s team, which beat Evil Geniuses, 00 Nation and MIBR en route to Copenhagen, was put together in the summer by the renowned Brazilian organization as it was looking to enter the game before the IEM Rio Major. (The team ended up not qualifying for the event.) BLAST Premier Fall Final 2022: Prize money distribution Note: * The winner also secures a spot at the BLAST Premier World Final, next month, in Abu Dhabi.

G2, OG, Vitality winners at BLAST Premier Fall 2020: results & brackets BLAST The world’s best Counter-Strike is taking place in Europe right now. BLAST Premier Fall 2020 is set to kick off on October 26, featuring 12 top teams from around the world duking it out for $150,000 USD. [jwplayer 6XbfP9ah] BLAST have condensed their Premier Fall series from two regions to one. North America has been left on the sidelines as the world’s best teams move over to Europe to compete. That doesn’t mean the competition is going to be any less fierce though. 12 top squads from across the globe are converging on the region to duke it out over $150,000, as well as points towards the BLAST Premier Global Finals. THE EU VS NA RIVALRIES ARE FINALLY BACK!😍 We are thrilled to welcome the NA teams to Europe and once again settle the score on which continent holds the best CS:GO team 💪 Read more: https://t.co/N5mEzEZm5U#BLASTPremier Fall Series will begin on Oct 26th 💥 pic.twitter.com/dEhfkDT9Ak — BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) October 14, 2020 BLAST Premier Fall 2020 streams BLAST Premier Fall 2020 will be streamed live on the Blast Twitch and YouTube channels. The action is expected to kick off on October 26 at 8:30am PT / 11:30am ET / 3:30pm GMT. Most days will have the same start time. For your convenience, we’ve embedded the stream below. BLAST Premier Fall 2020 teams 12 top teams from across Europe and North America are taking part in BLAST Premier Fall 2020. Most notably is obviously the four-time Major winners Astralis, although the competition will be hot on their heels. North American champions FURIA have flown across the Atlantic to make their presence known in Europe. The new-look Complexity and MIBR rosters will also be taking to the stage for the first time. IEM New York winners FaZe Clan are in attendance too, as well as numerous other top 10 teams. BLAST Premier Fall 2020 brackets Group A Group B Group C

BLAST Premier now viewable in 157 territories following new deals BLASTTop-tier Counter-Strike: Global Offensive circuit BLAST Premier is now available to watch in 157 territories following eight new broadcast deals. Danish company BLAST run a year-long event series that includes many of the world’s top teams, such as Astralis, Team Vitality, Natus Vincere, Team Liquid, and G2 Esports. As the competition grows, so too does its availability for viewers. Following a batch of new media rights deals, BLAST Premier is now available across 157 territories in 18 different languages. The newly-announced deals include local broadcasters in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Iceland, Canada, Kosovo, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India and the Caribbean. BLAST claims that these new partnerships take their roster of media partners to over 35 members and follow a period of viewership growth for their events. BLAST are early in their 2021 season with only one event under their belts. Their next CS:GO competition is the Spring Showdown, which will lead directly into the Spring Final. The Fall season of the 2021 campaign will follow, culminating in the World Final across December 14-19. Media rights deals are one of the main sources of income for many sports, including football, but are not yet at the same level in esports. With ESL, Riot Games, and BLAST leading the way in the industry, this is a promising sign for tournament operators and production companies. The #BLASTPremier Spring Showdown kicks off TOMORROW! 12:30 @AstralisCS vs @OGcsgo 15:30 @G2esports vs @TeamEndpoint 18:30 @TeamLiquidCS vs @dignitasLive on Twitch and YouTube 💥 See you there… pic.twitter.com/8KPx6g5SZS — BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) April 12, 2021 “We are thrilled to see so many new partners join the BLAST network of leading TV and online channels,” said Alexander Lewin, BLAST’s VP of Distribution and Programming. “These deals will offer even more fans the opportunity to tune in to watch BLAST Premier from around the world, which is now accessible in over 150 territories and 18 languages. We expect to continue our path of expansion during an exciting period of viewership growth at BLAST Premier and in esports.”

BLAST Premier coming to BBC iPlayer to show CSGO on demand BLAST/BBCCounter-Strike event series BLAST Premier will be broadcast on BBC iPlayer for the remainder of the 2020 season. [jwplayer sBWzp2of] The Danish tournament organizers have partnered with the British broadcaster for their remaining three events, in which over £1.5m will be awarded to participating teams. The events that fans can watch through the BBC are the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown on November 24-29, the BLAST Premier Fall Final on December 8-13, and the BLAST Premier Global Final on January 19-24. The action will still be available to watch on Twitch and YouTube for fans outside of the United Kingdom, or simply for those who prefer the traditional streaming platforms. BLAST recently wrapped up their Premier Fall event, which featured 12 top teams battling for $150,000. OG, Team Vitality, and G2 Esports each received $25,000 and 1600 BLAST Premier points, while Natus Vincere, BIG, and Astralis earned $12,500 and 800 points — all of them, however, booked their spot in the Fall 2020 Finals. Ninjas in Pyjamas, Complexity, MIBR, Evil Geniuses, FaZe Clan, and FURIA all performed underwhelmingly and will have to duke it out in the Fall Showdown. Only two of these sides will eventually find their way to the Fall Finals. “The BBC is admired around the world for its standard of excellence, and its digital platforms provide the perfect destination for BLAST Premier’s fans based in the United Kingdom to watch the world’s best Counter-Strike players go head-to-head,” said Alexander Lewin, BLAST’s VP Distribution and Programming. Watch live coverage from the opening day of the league stage at the League of Legends UK Championships. Here 👉 https://t.co/dkTA3J4v70 #esports pic.twitter.com/Q3cN92ezix — BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 14, 2020 Over the course of 2020, presumably due to the absence of many major sporting events, BBC have embraced esports across their digital streaming platforms. This year alone, they broadcasted the Rocket League European Spring Series, sim racing competition W Series Esports League, and League of Legends tournaments UKLC and NLC. In previous years, the broadcasters have opted to pick up Gfinity’s Elite Series and Dota 2 major ESL One Birmingham.

BLAST partners with three alcohol brands for Paris CSGO Major BLASTBLAST has announced that it has signed a partnership agreement with three alcohol brands for the upcoming Paris CS:GO Major. The esports event organizer has welcomed Absolut Vodka, Ballantine’s Scotch whisky and Jameson Irish Whiskey as partners of the Paris CS:GO Major in what represents the “first group-wide esports move from leading Pernod Ricard-owned spirits brands”. As part of the deal, the brands will sponsor BLAST’s Overtime Show, featuring members of the on-air team, and behind-the-scenes content with “key players”, who will be sharing “untold stories of past legends, current champs and the broader Counter-Strike community”. The brands will also collaborate with BLAST on multiple activations throughout the event, including “immersive one-off experiences at the tournament, fan-led watch party activations in multiple markets, digital branding, broadcast content integration to BLAST.tv’s 100+ global territory reach and social giveaways.” “We are delighted to have Absolut, Ballantine’s and Jameson onboard for the BLAST.tv Paris Major, their first large-scale, collective esports partnership,” Oliver Clarke, Commercial Director at BLAST, said in a statement. “We look forward to working together to deliver unique content, digital integrations and activations to the global gaming community at one of the world’s most revered and popular esports events.” The announcement has been met with puzzlement in the French community because of Loi Evin (Evin’s law), a 1991 law that enforces a ban on alcohol sponsorship of sporting and cultural events in France. “A bit weird as alcoholic ads are under strict rules and mostly forbidden in France, especially during sporting, festive or cultural events,” French journalist Guillaume ‘neL’ Rathier wrote. Contacted by Dexerto, a BLAST official said that the company is aware of the restrictions in place and local regulations in France. The three brands will not be visible in the arena bowl or on French broadcast feeds, and will appear only on official international streams. The BLAST.tv Paris Major will take place between May 8-21, with the Accor Arena, located in the Bercy area, staging the playoffs with a crowd in attendance. It will be the final CS:GO Major before Counter-Strike 2 takes over Valve’s esports circuit. Last week, BLAST announced a multi-year global partnership with esports betting platform unikrn. The deal includes the Paris Major and the BLAST Premier CS:GO circuit.

BLAST Paris Major sets new record for most delayed CSGO sticker release BLAST / AquariusThe BLAST TV Paris Major is now only days away, but the in-game viewer pass, Pick’Ems, and team and player stickers are still not released – setting a record for the latest release of these items before a CS:GO Major. Unlike Valve’s other big esport, Dota2, the CS:GO Majors do not feature a crowdfunded prize pool. Instead, teams and players are supported through in-game items like stickers, souvenir cases and the viewer pass, revenues from which are split 50/50. Sticker money, in particular, is a crucial revenue stream for many of the teams competing in CS:GO, delivering seven-figure sums to orgs in years gone by. But, as the Challengers Stage of the BLAST TV Paris Major is fast approaching on May 8, none of the items are available yet in-game. When will BLAST Major stickers be added? For past Majors, these items have been released anywhere from three weeks to five days in advance. At the time of writing, we are four days out from the first matches in Paris, and still no stickers are in-game. This now marks the longest delay for Major items to be added, before a Major begins. Despite a poorly received joke from NIP’s CEO that there were in fact no stickers, they are indeed coming for this year’s major, and players have been excitedly submitting their autograph designs. The majority of the community expected the items to go live on May 3 at the very latest, and streamers stayed up late in some cases waiting for the announcement. Even BLAST itself appears to be in the waiting room with the rest of the pro scene and player base, judging by their social media posts. It is now expected that the items will go live on Thursday, May 4 – as a Friday / weekend release would be a risky move. Last year’s Rio Major stickers required a series of updates, and so Valve would likely want to give themselves time to resolve any such issues before the weekend hits. There is also the not-insignificant matter of the Pick’Ems, where players can predict which teams will qualify from the Challengers stage, and rank up their tournament coin with correct picks. At most, players will have only a few days to lock in their selections. As for a time for the drop, it’s purely guesswork. Previous releases, like the Rio Stickers and the Anubis collection case released between 4pm and 5pm PT (Valve’s timezone in Seattle). Part of the delay could in fact be related to the recent release of the Anubis collection case, which has been very lucrative at $2 each, earning Valve over $10 million already. When the Major items release, players may lose some interest in this new case.

BLAST Paris Major makes history as first TikTok-streamed CSGO event BLASTEsports tournament organizer BLAST has announced that it has partnered with social media platform TikTok for the ongoing Paris CSGO Major. The partnership will see the tournament streamed on TikTok, marking the first time that a Counter-Strike event has been featured live on the platform. TikTok users have access to a dedicated in-app page with exclusive content that promises to bring “a unique perspective on the Paris Major,” according to BLAST. LittleBigWhale, Raramuathra, SwammyXO are some of the creators who will be creating exclusive content around the Major on the dedicated page. With this partnership, BLAST aims to cater to a young demographic that is interested in esports. The hashtag created specifically for the Major (#BLASTTVMajor) has already racked up over 100 million views on TikTok. “The esports world will have their eyes firmly fixed on Paris this week when the world’s best Counter-Strike teams descend onto the French capital to compete for the coveted last-ever CS:GO Major trophy,” BLAST CEO Robbie Douek said in a statement. “Teaming up with TikTok will allow us to bring fans even closer to the experience with a number of integrated features and exclusive content on the platform.” The BLAST Paris Major is heading towards its conclusion, with only six teams remaining in the $1.25 million tournament. This is the final CS:GO Major before Counter-Strike 2 is released and takes over the competitive circuit. PGL will organize in 2024 the first Major in the franchise’s new installment. TikTok becomes the latest partner to join forces with BLAST For the BLAST Paris Major, which is being broadcast globally in over 100 territories and in 24 different languages. The event’s list of partners includes alcohol brands Absolut Vodka, Ballantine’s Scotch whisky and Jameson Irish Whiskey, betting firm unikrn Esports, car manufacturer Alpine and peripheral company ZOWIE.

BLAST Paris Major had the third-highest viewership peak in CSGO history BLASTThe recently concluded BLAST Paris Major ranked third for the highest peak viewership of all time in CS:GO events, according to data firm Esports Charts. The grand final of the French Major, between Vitality and GamerLegion, had a peak viewership of over 1.52 million, putting the event only behind PGL Major Stockholm 2021 (2.75 million) and PGL Major Antwerp 2022 (2.11 million) when it comes to the peak number of concurrent viewers. The title decider was the event’s only match that cracked 1 million viewers, which can be explained by the fact that many popular teams were eliminated early. The second most-viewed match, between FaZe and NAVI, was a Legends Stage series before the arena, that knocked the latter out of the event. Four of the top five matches by peak viewers in CS:GO history involve the Ukrainian team, according to Esports Charts. The large number of upsets in Paris could help explain why this Major averaged only 507,688 viewers, the lowest in the top five of the most popular CS:GO events. The previous Major, IEM Rio, had a slightly lower peak (1.43 million) but a considerably higher average (548,100). Esports Charts has confirmed to Dexerto that its data does not include viewership from BLAST.tv, the viewing platform launched by the tournament organizer at the end of last year. According to BLAST, its platform had a 27,000 peak viewership during the Major. The grand final ended with a swift 2-0 victory for Vitality, who added their name to the long list of Major winners in CS:GO history. The next Major, scheduled only for 2024, will take place in Copenhagen and will be played in Counter-Strike 2.

BLAST Paris Major 2023 for CSGO confirmed BLASTBLAST’s Paris Major 2023 has been confirmed for CSGO, with the tournament organizer hosting the big event for the first time ever. It will take place on May 8 to 21, with qualifiers starting in February. After speculation was rife around BLAST potentially getting their first Major, the news has been confirmed on September 11: the BLAST Paris Major 2023 is on. The event is set to be held on May 8 to 21 with qualifiers taking place from February through to April. The event is expected to be a celebration of CS:GO as the title reached its tenth anniversary earlier in 2022. “BLAST has always had an ambition and dream to be involved in a Major, an event that is rightly viewed as the pinnacle of esports and competitive gaming,” CEO Robbie Douek said. “We’ve been watching and waiting for the right moment to deliver an unforgettable Major. The time is now.” It comes after Dexerto reported the tournament organizer was planning on hosting the first CSGO Major of 2023 in France in May. There was a big push by the French government to get the Major to France, with President Emmanuel Macron even releasing a statement on the Paris Major: “From next year… in less than 10 months, our country will host an event that will celebrate [CS:GO’s] tenth anniversary.” Macron has previously endorsed getting esports titles into the Olympics for Paris 2024, as well as linking traditional sports and gaming through the global event. “It is up to us to take advantage of it to make the link between the Olympiads of the two worlds by hosting the biggest sporting events in the world that year: a [CS:GO Major], League of Legends Worlds, and The International,” he told French outlet The Big Whale in May. This was backed up by Douek who added in the September 11 release: “Paris is the world-class location to host the tournament and will precede another high profile international event in the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics. “Next year marks 10 years of Majors and we are highly confident of marking this occasion by delivering the greatest Major to date for CS:GO fans to experience and enjoy.” Before the BLAST Paris Major 2023, CS:GO’s brightest will be descending on Brazil for the IEM Rio Major 2022, taking place in November.

BLAST’s director of operations on maintaining integrity with online CSGO BLAST“This time last year our rulebook and our whole setup were based on LAN events,” BLAST’s director of operations and production Andrew Haworth told Dexerto. “We hadn’t really done a huge amount of work on how that would be replicated in an online world.” Earlier this year, with the global health situation emerging, governments all around the world were forced to reduce the feasibility of hosting events, and thus, they were moved online — halfway through a tournament, in some cases. Prior to the restrictions, tournament organizer BLAST managed to host their first big competition of the year in February, impressing many and unknowingly hosting what would be one of the only prominent offline events in the 2020 Counter-Strike calendar. They didn’t have the same privilege later in the year, however, as limitations had yet to be permanently relaxed in many locations. Nonetheless, they went on with their plans to host the BLAST Premier Fall Series, albeit online. Another layer of absurdity was added as a factor of hosting an event, and that was the revelation of a spectating bug that spanned multiple years. With the Esports Integrity Commission — a body devised to maintain the integrity of competitive gaming — issuing bans to dozens of coaches, integrity questions were more prominent than ever during an online era, no less, where it’s harder to monitor the activity of teams and their coaches. Haworth’s background working on major music festivals and the Olympics Games means he’s no stranger to crafting contingency plans to put in place in case of a problem arising. Prior to hosting the Fall Series, they went through sessions of scenario testing with key department leads to devise numerous methods of still getting the job done. Considering BLAST have deployed everything at their disposal to maintain competitive integrity within their events, Dexerto spoke with Haworth to see how they adapted their processes to move to a remote production while monitoring the gameplay itself both in and out of the server. Going back to esports’ roots “We were fairly lucky in the timing of the outbreak, we just finished our Spring Series in February and didn’t have another live event till the end of May,” he said. “Other tournament organizers didn’t and were thrown into that halfway through a show. We had a bit of time, purely by luck, to have a look at what we need to do for our Spring Showdown and our Spring Final.” While esports, like most other sports, is fundamentally an entertainment product, the need for competitive integrity is essential. Fans tune in to watch the best players in the world face off against each other, and that’s no different during an era of online competition. “If the fans don’t have faith in what we’re putting on if our broadcasters and sponsors don’t have faith in what we’re putting on, and the teams ultimately lose faith in it, then none of us can stand behind it proudly,” Haworth said. “So competitive integrity is in integral to what we do, none of us are arrogant enough to think that we’re perfect in that. “There may be things that we’re doing now that we’ll review and determine haven’t worked quite as well or are not effective. Some of the things that we have done we want to ensure, while maintaining competitive integrity at all times, doesn’t affect the performance of play. We don’t want to be taking up computer performance for the matches because that isn’t going to gain the right tone with anybody.” With a change in circumstance comes a need to change the parameters in which events are run, and that filters all the way down to the gameplay itself. BLAST saw the need to adapt their guidelines early in the year, when LAN events no longer seemed possible, so all of the teams were on the same page. “The rulebook gets issued at the start of every season, we generally review it and update it after every event,” Haworth said. “We did less of that last year — I think we only made one or two slight revisions from Spring Series into Spring Showdown because the former was very much for a LAN. We also have our competitive integrity policy, which is broadly drawn out of the rulebook and is a short, sharp summary to articulate to what we do. That’s on our website. We’ve worked with experienced tournament officials that have worked with other tournament organizers and in other settings, it’s important to us that they can see elsewhere what has worked, and equally what hasn’t worked, so we can pick up best practices.” From bad to worse All partners of ESIC — including the likes of ESL and DreamHack — vow to enforce rulings decided upon by the commission, and that was no different for BLAST. The spectating exploit utilized by at least 37 coaches rocked the CS:GO community and certainly begged the question as to what tournament organizers are doing to ensure fair play is had at all times. Moving online adds another layer of difficulty to constantly and accurately monitoring the matches played, especially considering tournament officials can’t be present to see how teams are operating with their own two eyes. BLAST believes they’ve reached the pinnacle of monitoring at this precise moment. “Some of the measures we put in place aren’t perfect but they’re the best available solution we’ve found so far,” Haworth told Dexerto. “There are methods that we’re developing and evolving. We are confident that the measures we have in place currently are giving the desired result in not allowing anybody to manipulate the system or take advantage of it. “From a coaching bug point of view, the player cams that we’ve put in place have been a really useful feature. That’s something that we looked at, to start with, as a broadcast feature that had some great context and depth. It grew into something that we now utilize to ensure we can see what players are doing. “We’ve worked with players on camera angles, we have down-the-line shots, coaches have cameras on them and we listen to TeamSpeak for both a broadcast feature and in terms of integrity,” he continued. “The MOss system is far from perfect but it allows us to know what’s open on someone’s computer, there’s a report sent to us post-match with that information. Moving forward in the face of adversity Despite having what they believe is a solid solution to both playing online and safeguarding the integrity of the tournament, it would be understandable if a tournament organizer decided to postpone an event due to the recent exploit revelation and subsequent disciplinary rulings. Haworth ensured Dexerto, however, that that wasn’t an eventuality BLAST considered. “We’ve never really moved our date around. We put our 21 days in the international calendar [that’s shared by all CS:GO tournament organizers] in April this year to try and provide full transparency,” he said. “We worked on this straight after the Spring Final, there were a couple of bits that we thought we could include like the coach cams but there were also a couple of things that weren’t ready for the Fall Series. We played around with them but wasn’t sure if it would cause performance issues on players’ PCs so we didn’t want to risk it.” There’s not the only difficulty in providing a fair and stable environment for the players, BLAST have plenty of staff that are needed to execute a full production. Having staff at home using personal internet lines isn’t the most confidence-inducing prospect, but the company has managed to execute a means of working that allows for maximum efficiency given the circumstances. While online play, and the copious amount of events that are taking place, may not be ideal, esports has proven to be resilient in the face of extreme and unpredictable challenge. The Fall Series was revered by industry professionals and Counter-Strike fans alike, but it’s clear that BLAST are not resting on their laurels leading up to the next phase of the competition.

NAVI win BLAST Premier Global Final: Final placements & recap NAVI were crowned the champions of BLAST Premier Global Final, taking home the lion’s share of $1 million! Here’s how the event developed. NAVI defeated Liquid, Vitality, and Astralis for the title – Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev claims the MVP – NAVI go all the way from the lower bracket – BLAST Premier Global Final: Final Placements Eight teams are battling it out for their share of $1 million… Additionally, BLAST are gifting the winners an exclusive TW Steel watch to complement the $600k in cash. BLAST Premier Global Final: Results & recap Day 1 — Tuesday, January 19 Astralis & G2 edge through to semi-finals Astralis opened by taking on Evil Geniuses in a three-game series, with the first map (Inferno) going the way of EG (16-14). The North American’s ability to convert pistol rounds was not enough to guarantee a second map, as both Overpass (16-8) and Vertigo (16-6) were claimed by the Danes. Xyp9x’s AUG proved too hot to handle on Overpass — will we see it again? G2 Esports vs FURIA was a much closer affair. G2 took the initiative on Inferno (16-12), snatching FURIA’s map pick. After falling short on Mirage (14-16), G2 bounced back on Nuke (16-10) to clinch the series. NiKo shined, as he clocked out with +20 frags, going 70-50 in three maps. Day 1 of the #BLASTPremier Global Finals was full of crazy plays 🔥 Here’s our top 5: 🔹 @Brehze — @EvilGeniuses 🔹 @G2NiKo — @G2esports 🔹 @Xyp9x — @Astralisgg 🔹 @h0ndaog — @FURIA x2 👀 pic.twitter.com/qlhM9O2Ej0— DEXERTO.COM (@Dexerto) January 20, 2021 Day 2 — Wednesday, January 20 FURIA bow out early, FalleN’s Liquid surprise Na’Vi Complexity were unable to perform in their first series of the year, being swept on Mirage (9-16) and Dust2 (8-16). ZywOo shined, delivering 46 kills over two maps. A new-look Team Liquid pull the upset against NAVI, dispatching the CIS squad on Inferno (16-6) and Nuke (16-14). S1mple’s 36 kills on Nuke were not enough to keep his team in the upper bracket Despite a convincing win on Inferno (16-9), FURIA fell short on Mirage (14-16) against Evil Geniuses. Stanislaw and co. followed up with a swift win on Nuke (16-6) to keep their tournament hopes alive. Day 2 of #BLASTPremier Global Finals saw some top-class plays 💪 Here’s the top 5: 🔹 @cerq — @EvilGeniuses 🔹 @yuurih — @FURIA 🔹 @arTcsgo — @FURIA 🔹 @RUSH — @Complexity 🔹 @s1mpleO — @NatusVincere pic.twitter.com/XymkNlZdUl— DEXERTO.COM (@Dexerto) January 21, 2021 Day 3 — Thursday, January 21 Astralis and Vitality secure top-4, Complexity knocked out Complexity were eliminated by NAVI after a 1-2 series. Electronic was the star of the show with 75 kills over three maps. Astralis took down G2 Esports following a thrilling series. The Danes followed Dust2 (14-16) with wins on Vertigo (16-8) and Inferno (16-4) with Dupreeh displaying an impressive 91.5 ADR across three maps. Team Liquid failed to overcome Vitality falling short on Vertigo (11-16) after a close game on Nuke (14-16). ZywOo seemed unbeatable in clutches across both maps. Day 3 of #BLASTPremier Global Finals gave us some crazy plays 😅 Here’s the top 5: 🔹 @s1mpleO — @natusvincere 🔹 @JUGiOfficial — @Complexity 🔹 @zywoo — @TeamVitality 🔹 @s1mpleO — @natusvincere AGAIN 😎 🔹 @electronicCSGO — @natusvincere pic.twitter.com/nL6WF6DkGH— DEXERTO.COM (@Dexerto) January 22, 2021 Day 4 — Friday, January 22 G2 and Evil Geniuses fall short, NAVI and Liquid trough Team Liquid send Evil Geniuses packing after two swift wins on Inferno (16-12) and Dust2 (16-8). NAF shined for the North American team, delivering 51 kills over the two maps. NAVI take down G2 Esports, looking unstoppable on both Train (16-6) and Mirage (16-8). Everyone on the CIS squad was on point, with s1mple standing out with an impressive 94.3 ADR across the series. Day 4 of #BLASTPremier Global Finals saw @TeamLiquid dominate EG 🔥 They also make up 3 of our top 5 plays: 🔹 @G2NiKo — @G2esports 🔹 @NAFFLY — @TeamLiquid 🔹 @s1mpleO — @natusvincere 🔹 @FalleNCS — @TeamLiquid 🔹 @NAFFLY — @TeamLiquid 👑 pic.twitter.com/ZNW3VfTosh— DEXERTO.COM (@Dexerto) January 23, 2021 Day 5 — Saturday, January 23 NAVI survive, Astralis through to another Grand Final Astralis secure a spot in the Grand Final after beating Team Vitality 2-1, managing to steal Dust2 (16-14) and stomping Inferno (16-5). Shox shined on Overpass (16-10) delivering 28 kills and displaying an incredible 122.5 ADR. NAVI continue their lower bracket run as they take down Team Liquid after two incredibly close maps. B1t helped NAVI edge out Inferno (16-13) while flamie ran the show on Nuke (16-14). Day 5 of #BLASTPremier Global Finals gave us a contender for CS:GO clip of the year! 🚨 Top 5 plays from Day 5: 🔹 @zywoo — @TeamVitality 🔹 @NAFFLY — @TeamLiquid 🔹 @ELiGE — @TeamLiquid 🔹 @zywoo — @TeamVitality 🔹 @dev1ce — @AstralisCS 🥇 pic.twitter.com/BFfewDhilP— DEXERTO.COM (@Dexerto) January 24, 2021 Day 6 — Sunday, January 24 Natus Vincere claims the trophy taking down Vitality and Astralis NAVI opened the series by edging out Nuke (19-17) after an incredible comeback in the second half to secure overtime. Team Vitality managed to take Overpass (16-12) with ZywOo dropping 28 kills. NAVI responded by taking control of Dust2 (16-12) and securing their spot in the Grand Final. The star of the show was s1mple, the Ukrainian hit a +29 K/D across the three maps. The Grand Finals saw NAVI open up with a great win on Nuke (16-12) and follow up with a dominating performance on Inferno (16-5). Boombl4 led by example, delivering 22 kills on Inferno on his way to the championship. Blast Premier Global Final: Teams & players Eight total teams will be in attendance at this year’s BLAST Global Final, all of them qualifying through a variety of competitions, such as the Spring Finals, Fall Finals, and BLAST Premier Circuit. Lots of eyes will be on Team Liquid, who will be with their new star acquisition, FalleN, after the Brazilian legend joined their ranks to replace Twistzz. The stand out players were expectedly Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev and Mathieu ‘ZywOo‘ Herbaut, however, credit must be given to NAVI’s IGL Kirill ‘Boombl4‘ Mikhailov. The Russian stepped up massively in the tournament, impacting every round that NAVI won.

Heroic and Team Liquid qualify for BLAST Fall Finals 2021: Fall Showdown placements & recap Riot GamesBLAST Fall Showdown 2021 dictated who got the final two Fall Finals slots in November. As the race towards the World Finals heats up, we’ve got the latest results, schedule, and final placements at BLAST Fall Showdown 2021 right here. Liquid beat MAD Lions for last Fall Finals seed – Heroic take down OG for Fall Finals slot – Liquid end Virtus.Pro’s run 2-1 in Round of 8 – The final push for BLAST World Finals qualification happened at the Fall Showdown. With six teams already waiting in the Fall Finals, we now know Heroic and Team will be joining them from this 16-team event. With December just around the corner, there wasn’t much time left to qualify for one of CS:GO’s biggest events of the year. Here’s what you need to know about BLAST Fall Showdown 2021, including scores, results and final placements. BLAST Fall Showdown 2021: Recap Heroic absolutely flew through the Fall Showdown, not dropping a single map during their matches against Dignitas or OG, easily securing a Finals spot. Liquid also had mostly smooth sailing, except for a Semi Final match against Virtus.Pro that could have gone either way at one point during the final map. The NA team would survive though, and make short work of MAD Lions in Final B to take the remaining qualifying spot. BLAST Fall Showdown 2021: Final placements BLAST Fall Showdown 2021: Schedule & results Day 1: October 12 Day 2: October 13 Day 3: October 14 Day 4: October 15 Day 5: October 16 Day 6: October 17 BLAST Fall Showdown 2021: Teams 16 teams qualified for BLAST Fall Showdown 2021 from across the world. Big names like Liquid and G2 Esports missed out in Fall Groups and had a second chance here, while fresh faces like Lynn vision and Team Fiend pushed hard through regional qualifiers to make an appearance as well. Here’s the full list of teams who played in the BLAST Fall Showdown 2021:

Blast CSGO casters strike over “disgraceful” partnership with NEOM Adela Sznajder for DreamHack / BlastBlast has come under fire for signing a partnership with Saudi-backed “future city” NEOM, with numerous popular CS:GO casters including Harry ‘JustHarry’ Russell, Hugo Byron, and Frankie Ward refusing to work with Blast unless they rescind the deal. Blast’s partnership with NEOM was described as a “record deal” by CEO Robbie Douek. It included helping the Saudi future-city build an esports academy, and even creating a CS:GO map based on the development. “This is a record deal for BLAST and testament to our recent growth and standing in the industry right now. We have a strong track record when it comes to producing global events that encompass a leading broadcast product and inspire lovers of esports,” Douek said in a July 28 statement. Today we announce a global partnership with @NEOM, an ambitious project that includes building a major esports ecosystem in the heart of what will be the new future of living! We talk about the future of esports, so let’s get to it. #BLASTPremier #DiscoverNEOM pic.twitter.com/rjJdMxer9w — BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) July 28, 2020 However, since penning the deal nearly two weeks ago, the CS:GO community has been in uproar. With their criticisms falling on deaf ears, casters are taking it a step further — by refusing to appear on Blast broadcasts until the deal is rescinded. JustHarry, Hugo, Frankie, and Vince Hill are just some of the names who have spoken out against Blast and NEOM. All of them have stated they will not help Blast in any capacity. “The BLAST x NEOM deal is an opportunity to educate ourselves so that we no longer work with people who would kill our friends,” Frankie said on Twitter. She included a link to a “map of countries that criminalise LGBT people.” “Blast x NEOM is a disgrace to the Blast brand, an organisation I know is filled with wonderful, talented & loving individuals. The idea that this could be “silenced” through ignoring it is not a standard or precedent that should be set either,” Russell added. “I join my friends and colleagues in saying that I won’t be working with BLAST while this partnership stands. This isn’t an issue that will simply be forgotten about.” The BLAST x NEOM deal is an opportunity to educate ourselves so that we no longer work with people who would kill our friends.https://t.co/OY5lnFtcVK — Frankie Ward (@FrankieWard) August 5, 2020 If you don’t support human rights then I can’t support you. BLAST partnering with NEOM does not align with what they claim to stand for. I stand by Harry, my colleagues and every person who has been persecuted by archaic Governments for being themselves. https://t.co/D50AosBYVz — Hugo (@HugoTV) August 5, 2020 https://twitter.com/OnFireVince/status/1291047913385320450 JustHarry and Hugo casted for Blast during the Pro Series in Moscow last year, while Frankie has frequently appeared as a host and interviewer during the tournament organizer’s events. Vince last appeared on a Blast broadcast in 2017. The NEOM mega-city development is publicly backed by Saudi Arabia, with the Kingdom providing more than $500 billion in funding for the “future-proof” city. The project aims to attract a million new residents. NEOM also penned a deal with European League of Legends tournament LEC to feature as a sponsor on the Riot broadcast. However, before the ink even dried on the deal, the community revolted, forcing Riot to overturn the partnership less than 24 hours later. The LEC talent, including Indiana ‘Froskurinn’ Black and Trevor ‘Quickshot’ Henry, also refused to show on the broadcast unless Riot canceled the NEOM partnership. Blast are yet to comment on the situation. We will update you as more information arises.

BLAST confirm LAN and live audience for 2021 CSGO Fall Finals BLAST/Stephanie LindgrenBLAST have confirmed that their BLAST Premier Fall Finals will be played in front of CS:GO fans as they return to a crowd-setting for the first time since February 2020. For the last year, esport events across the globe have moved online, thanking away the fire and excitement of LAN events. As the world starts to open back up, a few LAN events have started to take place as more and more esport scenes are starting to return to normal. A few of these LAN events have lacked one key element – the crowd – but that’ll be changing in Counter-Strike in the future, especially with the BLAST Premier Fall Finals. That’s right, BLAST have confirmed that their Fall Finals – which are set to take place between November 23 and November 28 – will be played on LAN and in front of a crowd in Denmark, with $425,000 up for grabs. The event will be the first BLAST event played in front of a crowd since February 2020, with fans packing the 12,000 capacity Royal Arena in Copenhagen, which has already staged BLAST events before. “BLAST has been eagerly awaiting this day for some time now, we’ve hugely missed arena events and being able to take our shows to CS:GO fans all around the world – nothing can replace the feeling of players entertaining and interacting with a live audience,” said BLAST Premier Commissioner Andrew Haworth. THE NEWS IS OUT! #BLASTPremier is headed to an arena for the first time 🔥 3 full show days. A BRAND NEW stage, built especially for you. You’re worth it. Pre-sale tickets live in 2 days.Whose coming? 💥Sign up for PRE-SALE https://t.co/SHSv3Jy2H4#BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/LtmhHmpOWA — BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) June 14, 2021 The Fall Finals will be contested by six teams, four of who will qualify through the Blast Fall Groups stage. The other two sides will come through the Fall Showdown to gain entry to the tournament. Aside from competing for a slice of the $425,000 prize pool, a spot at the BLAST Premier: World Final 2021 is also on the line. That event has a $1,000,000 prize pool with $500,000 going to the victors. Heroic have already qualified on the back of their win at ESL Pro League Season 13, and it’s sure to be a top-tier event.

BLAST confirm 12 CSGO teams for BLAST Premier 2020 season BLAST have announced the 12 partnered teams that will take part in the first BLAST Premier series for the 2020 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive season. BLAST have made their mark in the CS:GO scene by putting on their unique Pro Series events, which sees a smaller number of teams than normal competing in a different format than they’re used to. They planned to take things one step further in 2020 with the $4,250,000 BLAST Premier, which was announced back in September. Since then, things have been a little quiet but the tournament organizers have now confirmed the first 12 partnered teams as well as pulling back the curtain on how the season will be run. As expected, many of the teams that have taken part in Pro Series events have found themselves with Premier spots – as well as some teams with new line-ups that have yet to make their mark on the CS:GO scene. Read More: Thorin’s Take: device – The Coach’s Dream – Astralis, Team Liquid, and Evil Geniuses are the clear heavy-hitters taking part, with MiBR, FaZe Clan, Team Vitality, Natus Vincere, 100 Thieves, and G2 also being added to the list of teams. The list is rounded out by Ninjas in Pyjamas – who have shuffled their roster in recent months – as well as the new-look Complexity and OG esports, who only entered the CS scene for the first time in December. Welcoming in a new decade of Counter-Strike. Twelve partner teams, two seasons, $1M prize for the Global Final Champions. This is #BLASTPremier These are your teams pic.twitter.com/1qzrGthf7A— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) December 14, 2019 The dates for the schedule and subsequent host locations have yet to be confirmed by BLAST, with only a ‘studio series’ in London set to start things off in the Spring. Despite that, we know that the announced teams will be split into three groups of four, with each group taking playing in a specified week – seemingly similar to ESL’s current Pro League set-up, with best-of-three’s also promised. The top two teams from each group will move on to the Blast Premier finals, while the bottom two will play in the ‘BLAST showdown’ – which may seem like relegation, but it’s currently unknown as to what the showdown means. Regardless, there will be some serious money on offer for the teams involved, with the winners getting the biggest slice of the $4,250,000 pie.

BLAST bars Russian-based teams from future CSGO events BLAST PREMIERBLAST have announced that no Russian-based teams will be invited to play in their events for the foreseeable future as a result of the ongoing conflict with Ukraine. The decision, according to BLAST’s official announcement, comes in response to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces that began on February 24. BLAST have also canceled the CIS qualifier for the Spring Showdown event, stating that “we do not think it is appropriate that this event goes ahead at this time”. Among the teams invited to the qualifier were Virtus.pro, who made it to the quarterfinals of IEM Katowice only five days prior to BLAST’s announcement. Gambit, who are currently ranked second in the world according to HLTV.org, were widely expected to receive an invite to the Spring Showdown event. WePlay CIS Qualifiers The CIS qualifiers for the BLAST Spring Showdown were due to be hosted by WePlay Esports, whose European headquarters are based in Kyiv, Ukraine. On February 26, WePlay announced that they had terminated co-operation with all partners from the Russian Federation, meaning that they would not advertise any brands of Russian origin on their broadcasts or for their audience. WePlay Holding terminates cooperation with all partners from the Russian Federation:https://t.co/s1nrL15MiG#StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/VUfbhznwMX — WePlay Studios (@WePlay_Studios) February 26, 2022 They later confirmed on February 27 that they were terminating partnerships with Belarusian companies after “collaboration of the government of the Republic of Belarus in the war against the territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine.” BLAST events and the road ahead for CIS teams Contacted by Dexerto, BLAST confirmed that the decision will not affect fan-favorites NAVI, one of the league’s partner organizations. Despite the fact that they have a majority-Russian lineup, they avoid the ban because the team and the organization are based in Ukraine. BLAST are the first tournament organizer to formally ban Russian teams from competing in their events following the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Other CS:GO tournament organizers have not yet stated whether they will follow in BLAST’s footsteps. Both Virtus.pro and Gambit are due to compete in ESL Pro League 15, which will begin on March 9th in Cologne, Germany.

BLAST apparently considering mid-match substitutes for CSGO events BLASTBLAST are considering a rule change that would allow CSGO teams to substitute their players during the half of an active match, according to DBLTAP’s Jarek ‘Dekay’ Lewis. The proposed change would be a first for teams, allowing a dynamic use for BLAST’s maximum number of players required for a roster – up to five for a starting lineup and two more to be used as subs. Up to this point, a team actively using anyone outside of the main five players in CSGO has been more theory than application. According to section 6.7 of the Blast Premier Rulebook for the 2020 season: “Teams may field a different line-up for each map provided that they can set-up the Players in the Playing Area within the pre-scheduled break times.” Since CSGO is a five-per side game, teams typically eschew roster expansions that exceed that limit. Due to this, BLAST’s substitution rule already in place has yet to be used. There aren’t many teams in a position to innovatively use such a rule other than Astralis, who have already been loading up their CSGO linuep with assets exceeding the five starters, with reports suggesting they’re willing to sign even more. It’s an expansion rarely seen from orgs unless they’re getting ready for a major overhaul of their roster. With the Danish All-Star team having lackluster performances as of late, the new rule would be a great trial and error opportunity for head coach Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen to experiment with lineups, at least for BLAST events. Since exploding onto the scene in 2017, RFRSH, now BLAST ApS, has been creating unique experiences in CSGO that immediately earned them the Initiative Award of the Year at the Copenhagen Congress and Event Award 2018 in recognition of the BLAST Pro Series: Copenhagen 2017 event. With a rule like mid-match subs, BLAST could once again look to mix up the typical CSGO formats that allow for a new approach to the game.

BLAST announces new measures to prevent CSGO coaches from cheating BLAST BLAST has introduced new changes to their rulebook in order to prevent CSGO coaches from cheating in the upcoming BLAST Premier Fall Series tournament. [jwplayer P0zzFW0M] This comes directly as a result of the coaching bug scandal which hit the CSGO scene late in the summer after an ESIC found over 30 coaches who abused the exploit. New rules include the necessity for all coaches to stream their perspective to a Discord channel as well as making it compulsory for all coaches to install and maintain MOss Anti-cheat active during all games. Robert Mulgan, Esports Operations Manager at BLAST, communicated the changes to the public on twitter. Over the weekend we shipped two changes to the @BLASTPremier rulebook, we now require all coaches to stream their perspective to our discord as well as have MOss running on their PC during all games. MOss will provide us with screenshots and logs of their PC during live games pic.twitter.com/mszZOWSFa7 — Vitality Mulgan (@Mulgan95) October 26, 2020 “Although this isn’t a perfect system, it’s a fantastic step forward in improving the integrity of online games, and will give us more evidence if we need to review cases!” Mulgan wrote. The changes should prevent coaches from making use of any glitches present in the game or utilizing cheats as their perspective will be under constant supervision. While this could partially hinder coaches from potentially opening an official stream and see the enemy’s position in a practice called “stream sniping,” individuals would still be able to do so using another device. The MOss Anti-cheat is a software that constantly monitors the user’s PC, taking random screenshots and reporting any prohibited activities such as the use of macros. It has been active since 2010. While Valve patched the spectator bug soon after it became public, it was revealed that it had been present since at least 2016. Use of the bug compromised several matches, including qualifiers for the major and resulted in several teams having their Regional Major Ranking points removed. The coaching exploit scandal affected the entire CSGO scene and the initiative taken by BLAST, while not perfect, is the TO’s next step in combating the issue. These new rules will try to help prevent any further incidents throughout the BLAST Premier Fall Series.

BLAST announce $2.4 million CSGO World Final circuit for 2021 BLASTBLAST Premier Championship returns in 2021 with a $1 million World Finals and an all-new qualification process. Here’s everything you need to know for the 2021 season of BLAST CS:GO events. Despite the unprecedented circumstances that moved CS:GO into its online era, tournament organizers like BLAST, ESL, DreamHack and others haven’t stopped the unrelenting cycle of events. In 2021, the BLAST Premier Championship will host both the very first, and very last events of the calendar year. Running from February to December, and will be open to all teams around the globe, with BLAST touting it as “the most inclusive and competitive series of events on the scene.“ For the top teams who make it through, there will be big financial incentives on the line, with a total of $2.475 million in prize money to be dolled out. BLAST Premier 2021 event dates Here’s how the run of events will breakdown over the year: BLAST Premier Spring Groups – $150,000 (4-14 February) – BLAST Premier Spring Showdown – $162,500 (13-18 April) – BLAST Premier Spring Final – $425,000 (15-20 June) – BLAST Premier Fall Groups – $150,000 (26 August – 5 September) – BLAST Premier Fall Showdown – $162,500 (12-17 October) – BLAST Premier Fall Final – $425,000 (23-28 November) – BLAST Premier World Final – $1,000,000 (14-19 December) – How to qualify for BLAST Premier 2021 Aspiring teams will be able to qualify through the new BLAST Premier Qualifying Series, which is open to teams worldwide. Teams who are successful in their regional qualifiers will earn a spot at the Spring and Fall Showdowns. While BLAST says both Showdown events are open to all regions, “Spring Showdown will focus on Americas and Europe while the Fall Showdown will focus on Europe, Asia and Oceania.” Non-member teams (see below) will also receive a participation fee for competing. Member teams (Astralis, NiP, G2 Esports, OG, Vitality, NAVI, FaZe Clan, Complexity, MiBR, Evil Geniuses, Team Liquid) automatically slot into the Fall and Spring Groups. BLAST World Final 2021 For the BLAST World Final, competitors will be made up of the winners from: BLAST Premier Spring and Fall Finals – Flashpoint 3 and 4 – ESL Pro League 13 and 14 – Valve Fall Major – But, one more spot will be given to a team based on the ‘Race to the World Final’ Leaderboard. This point-scoring system will be based on team’s performances at “14 of the leading tournaments around the world.” “We will unite all leading tournaments and performers from across the calendar year,” said Robbie Douek, BLAST CEO. “with all roads leading towards December’s World Final where $1million in prize money will be up for grabs and a chance to be crowned the world’s best Counter-Strike team.” Read more: Xyp9x opens up on burnout – With the first Valve CS:GO Major planned for Spring of 2021 already canceled, it looks increasingly likely that there will be only one Major in 2021. This is set to take place in November, so the BLAST World Finals would come around one month after the prestigious Major. But, it’s possible that the prize pools of the two planned majors will be rolled into one, meaning a $2 million prize pool in November.

BLAST and ESL reinstate Virtus.pro after year-long ban over war in Ukraine Virtus.proVirtus.pro have announced that their esports teams have been reinstated in all ESL and BLAST competitions. The decision comes six months after Dexerto reported that both companies were reviewing the leadership changes in the Russian organization following the announcement of Armenian businessman Aram Karamanukyan as the new CEO of Virtus.pro and an investor in the company. In March 2022, Virtus.pro were banned by a number of esports tournament organizers as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Virtus.pro’s parent company, ESforce, was bought in 2018 by Mail.Ru Group Limited, now known as VK. The Russian technology giants have ties to Russian state-run insurer Sogaz, a company placed on several sanctions lists because of the war. While ESL banned only the Virtus.pro brand and allowed the organization’s CS:GO team to compete under a neutral name, BLAST went one step further, outright banning Russian teams from its BLAST Premier circuit. Such restrictions were not in place for the qualifiers for the BLAST.tv Paris Major, in which Russian teams were allowed to compete. (Virtus.pro’s squad did not have to participate in the qualifier as it was invited to the EU RMR after winning the IEM Rio Major). And while Cloud9’s Russian team was allowed to participate in the East European qualifiers for the BLAST Premier Spring Europe Showdown, questions remained about Virtus.pro’s ban and whether their team would have to continue to play under the name ‘Outsiders’ in the RMR, the LAN qualifier for the Paris Major. The decision from BLAST and ESL could be tied to the recent confirmation of the sale of Virtus.pro by VK. The company’s 2022 annual report shows that Virtus.pro was sold in Q4 in a deal worth 174 million rubles (approximately $2.8 million). This happened at the same time as Mr. Karamanukyan took charge of Virtus.pro as CEO. Before the end of the year, however, he was replaced by Nikolai Petrossian, a former CEO of Esforce. “We welcome the decision of BLAST and ESL to return Virtus.pro to their tournament as a result of their in-depth reviews that confirmed the club has met the requirements for reintegration,” Mr. Petrossian said in a statement. Virtus.pro’s CS:GO team will finish out the ongoing ESL Pro League Season as ‘Outsiders’, the Russian organization added. The team will take on NAVI later today in the second round of the tournament’s playoffs. Next month, the team will travel to Copenhagen for the EU RMR. The squad will be looking to defend the title it won in Rio de Janeiro as Outsiders in a victory that Virtus.pro celebrated as their own, much to ESL’s surprise and confusion. Questioned by Dexerto if ESL will recognize Virtus.pro as the winner of the Brazilian Major, an ESL representative said: “The IEM Rio CS:GO Major, as well as ESL Challenger Rotterdam, was won by Outsiders, and we congratulate the players on their achievements.”

Can BlameF stop Complexity’s CSGO crash? BLAST Global Finals preview with Richard Lewis & SPUNJ With BLAST Premier’s Global Finals just around the corner, Richard Lewis & Chad ‘SPUNJ’ Burchill discuss the top talking points going into one of CS:GO’s biggest events. The pair delve into the nightmare scenario Complexity find themselves in with Jakob ‘JUGi’ Hansen standing in for the injured Valentin ‘poizon’ Vasilev. The two sit down and debate whether Team Vitality will make quick work of Complexity, or if BlameF’s struggling side will shock Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut and co, also touching on Team Liquid’s new signing and Na’Vi’s form going into the event. Read More: GeT RiGhT announces Twitch switch from CSGO – BLAST’s event is huge for the CSGO scene, and Complexity’s current struggles are sure to become apparent during the event. With a phenomenal roster of teams that are playing for the win in 2021’s first major event, AWPer poizon recently underwent emergency surgery on December 18th, 2020. Unable to compete, how will the team fare without the vital piece of the team’s puzzle? In comparison, Vitality had a great end to the year, even monetarily holding the top 1 spot before Astralis was able to get ahead in the last week of 2020’s competitive season. Winning IEM Beijing, the team is in an incredibly sweet spot that will no doubt provide some fantastic plays. Read More: Cloud9 terminates woxic’s contract – Our preview also goes in to cover in further detail Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo joining Liquid, NAVI possibly starting BLAST with Bruno ‘bit’ Lima, and G2 as an upcoming dark horse to watch out for. For all CSGO events and news, make sure to head over to our dedicated hub.

Bizarre CSGO glitch prevents players from picking up guns on Nuke ValveA glitched spot on Nuke can prevent Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players from recovering dropped weapons on the map which can cause valuable items to go unclaimed. The classic multi-level arena from CS has seen many iterations in the history of the franchise. Though Nuke has been a favorite for a lot of the community, the map can sometimes make it hard for players to play on it. One instance of that was captured by redditor ‘jonnis_’ that showed them starting up a round of Wingman on Nuke when their teammate had a bit of fun that turned out to leave them worse for wear. Near T side spawn at the base of Secret, there are three canisters in Tunnels that sit atop of an elevated base off the ground. The round started, with the teammate named ‘Kunga’ dropping an AK-47 for the other half of the duo. A bit of trolling early in the round quickly turned into instant regret as the two realized that the “wall stole [jonnis’] gun,” as they noted. The teammate shot a few rounds to slightly skew the gun further from jonnis, but it doesn’t seem like any of them expected for it to bug into the yellow platform. Further into the clip, you can actually see the bit of space in between the floor and elevated platform. While it would make sense for weapons to slide through that opening, it was baffling to see the other side swallow the rifle. “The AK was banished to the shadow realm,” user ‘neonz09’ quipped. Players have reportedly come across this type of glitch on Nuke for at least a year. The tight corridors of the B site tunnels can get some of the shockwaves from the bomb if it were to go off. While jonnis’ clip shows a teammate causing the glitch, it remains to be seen if the bomb’s explosion can lead to a strange situation where a recoverable weapon gets swept under the platform by the blast. This obviously isn’t an intended interaction in CSGO, and it could be something that Valve addressed if they’re made aware of the problem.

Bizarre CSGO bug is turning certain players literally invisible ValveA strange Counter-Strike: Global Offensive glitch takes the issue of camouflage skins to another level with character models appearing to be completely invisible for some players. The launch of Valve’s latest operation for the game, Shattered Web, brought custom skins known as Agents for players to acquire and use for their games. While the new additions were generally positive, their integration has been less than ideal. There have been instances in the past where these skins appear nearly invisible to the other team, with some people suggesting that the skins are bad for the game since they give unintentional advantages to players using them. But now the skins went from practically camouflaged to literally invisible as seen in a clip uploaded by Reddit user ‘TinTin_cs’ that saw them take enemy fire from an unseen source. As the T-side in a casual game, TinTin was pushing through a smoke on Cat. After taking out a CT holding the site, the player took a peek into CT ramp. Moments later the player was getting shot at from the same spot they were already looking at. After dying, the replay showed that there was a CT there for more than a few frames. TinTin later showed that the player was actually using one of the new custom character models introduced in the Shattered Web update. They also pointed out that a T-side teammate was actually shooting back at the player, so it seems like the CT was only invisible to them. While the event seemed to be isolated, more people started to report their encounters with the glitch. “I saw something like this happen to me in an mm game,” user ‘Wuped’ said. “He was also using a custom model I saw him for a second then he just disappeared completely, killed me, then he reappeared but with default model.” It’s unknown what is exactly causing the skins to go invisible, but the incidents have been reported by more people. There have been a few complaints about the visibility for some of the new skins, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Valve address the issues sooner than later.

BIG sign faveN in German-record CSGO deal BIGBIG have announced that they have signed Josef ‘faveN’ Baumann to their CS:GO team in a record deal in the German scene. BIG did not disclose details of the transfer fee, but according to CEO Daniel Finkler, this ranks as “the most expensive deal for a German player” in the CS:GO scene. Widely regarded as the best German talent outside of BIG, faveN showed immense promise during his three-year stint with Sprout. He remained a key part of the team through multiple iterations, leading many to believe that it was only a matter of time before he earned a move to BIG, the country’s best CS:GO team. FaveN comes in as a replacement for Nicklas ‘gade’ Gade, who struggled for form during his five months in BIG’s starting lineup after joining the team to fill the void created by the departure of Turkish star Ismailcan ‘XANTARES’ Dörtkardeş. Get ready BIG Family, we are going to #GOBIG for 2022. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/5vaN9pGfOO — BIG (@BIGCLANgg) December 27, 2021 Bouncing back With faveN’s signing, BIG look to increase the firepower in their team after a disappointing year that saw them win just one international tournament, Funspark ULTI 2020 Europe Final. They have been outside the top 10 in HLTV’s world ranking since September, crashing out of PGL Major Stockholm in the Challengers Stage and winning just one match at their last two international events. “We are absolutely convinced that faveN, with his outstanding qualities and ambition to play at the world’s top level, is a perfect fit for BIG,” Finkler said. “At the same time, we would like to thank Nicklas “gade” Gade, who is transitioning to the bench for the time being, for his dedication and great work ethic over the past months. “We are very excited about the start of the 2022 season and will kick off the year with intensive preparation in Berlin.” BIG will make their first appearance with the new roster in the Funspark ULTI 2021 Finals, a $300,000 online tournament scheduled for January 18-24. Read more: Best CSGO players of 2021 – In February, they will attend the IEM Katowice Play-In Stage, where 16 teams will duke it out for eight spots in the main stage of the iconic Polish event. BIG CS:GO roster: Johannes ‘tabseN’ Wodarz – Tizian ‘tiziaN’ Feldbusch – Florian ‘syrsoN’ Rische – Nils ‘k1to’ Gruhne – Josef ‘faveN’ Baumann – Niclas “enkay J’ Krumhorn (head coach) – Nicklas ‘gade’ Gade (benched) –

Eternal Fire “Turkish super team” forms with CSGO stars XANTARES, w0xic, more Stephanie Lindgren/DreamHackA new CS:GO “super team” is in the works at Eternal Fire. The new organization has signed Turkish heavyweights like Ismailcan ‘XANTARES’ Dörtkardeş and Özgür ‘woxic’ Eker in a final push ahead of the 2021 Major. The Space Soldiers are back but under a new name. Eternal Fire is looking to rekindle the “Turkish super team” project with faces, new and old. The organization, founded by former mousesports AWPer woxic, comes after rumors of the super squad reforming following XANTARES’ departure from BIG. The squad features veterans of the Turkish scene woxic, XANTARES, and Buğra ‘Calyx’ Arkın. 21-year-old rising star Ömer ‘imoRR’ Karataş is getting an opportunity with the squad, having been a part of the old Space Soldiers core following their break-up in 2018. Hulk gerçek! Türkiye’ye ve Dünya’ya yepyeni bir soluk getirmek için geliyoruz! #forEF Hulk is real! We are coming to breathe new life into Turkey and the world! @XANTAREScsgo @w0xic @CalyxCSGO @imorcs @OG_ISSAA @bishopcsgod https://t.co/xnbqlSMOr9 pic.twitter.com/aoWt0DagZJ— Eternal Fire (@eternalfiregg) August 13, 2021 Jordanian player Issa ‘ISSAA’ Murad is the only non-Turkish player on the team. Formerly of OG and Hellraisers, ISSAA has previously played with woxic and has plenty of experience across his five-year career. “We made the decision to fulfill XANTARES’ wish and to prematurely dissolve his still-active player contract,” BIG CEO Daniel Finkler said in a statement following XANTARES’ departure on August 13. “Thereby, we would like to contribute to helping XANTARES continue his playing career with a Turkish team.” Thank you and goodbye @XANTAREScsgo! We have made the decision to release Can from his contract so he can pursue his wish of competing for a Turkish team. 📰 https://t.co/8AAfrVyCLR pic.twitter.com/1u0nq1JL0V — BIG (@BIGCLANgg) August 13, 2021 The Turkish super team has been teased since June when woxic announced he was “ready to compete and grind in CS:GO” again after taking a break following his Cloud9 stint. They were originally looking for an organization to represent but failed to find backing. Eternal Fire will be eligible to make a last-minute sprint to the PGL 2021 Stockholm Major, with two European RMR events still to play. This article was originally published as “BIG releases XANTARES amid ‘Turkish super team’ rumors”. Additional reporting by Dexerto’s Andrew Amos

Big names crash out as IEM Sydney CS:GO playoffs determined L: StarLadder, R: ESL/Sarah CooperAfter three days of group stage competition, the playoff bracket for the IEM Sydney CS:GO tournament has been set. IEM Syndey offers a $250,000 prize pool, and now half of the original sixteen teams have been eliminated from the battle to take the lion’s share of it. While most of the playoff teams are those that would be expected to make deep runs, the tournament hasn’t completely lacked for upsets. Notably, FaZe Clan were unable to advance to the playoffs, in no small part due to the lack of star player and in-game leader Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač, who was unable to compete due to visa issues. The team instead played with coach Janko ‘YNK’ Paunović, and were defeated by NRG Esports and Grayhound to be eliminated in the group stage. Likewise, Renegades were unable to reach the stadium portion of the event, crashing out early with losses to Ninjas in Pyjamas and Mousesports despite impressive showings at recent tournaments. In fact, of the Australian teams in attendance it was actually Grayhound who came closest to the playoffs, barely missing out following a narrow loss to Fnatic. The playoffs will take place on May 3-5, with two quarter-finals feeding into the semi-finals where the top team from each group awaits. Friday, May 3 – Quarter-Finals Saturday, May 4 – Semi-Finals Sunday, May 5 – Final IEM Syndey Final Placements: The final placements for IEM Sydney so far: The Intel Grand Slam The prize and prestige offered by victory at IEM Sydney isn’t the only thing on the line for this tournament, as it also counts towards the second season of the Intel Grand Slam. The Intel Grand Slam offers a $1,000,000 bonus prize to the first team to win four participating major events within a span of 10 attempts. The qualifying events are the premier tournaments under the ESL, IEM, or DreamHack Masters banners. The Grand Slam also offers a $100,000 “spoiler” prizes to any team that denies the Grand Slam by defeating a team looking for their fourth title in the grand final of a qualifying event, although that won’t come into play here as this is only the second event of the Grand Slam’s second season. Season One of the Grand Slam was won by Astralis, who are also the first – and currently only – team to pick up a title in Season Two following their win at the IEM Katowice Major. With Astralis not in attendance at IEM Sydney, however, this event will offer another team a chance to match them.

BIG, FURIA win DreamHack Open Summer 2020: final placements, results DreamHackThe first big event after the CS:GO player break has wrapped up, with DreamHack Open Summer crowning four champions across the globe. In Europe, BIG continued their online streak, while over in NA, FURIA surprised a revitalized Liquid in the final. After what seemingly felt like months of waiting for Tier 1 Counter-Strike to return, DreamHack Open Summer has come and gone. It was done in a flash, as some of the best teams in Europe, North America, and Asia duked it out — with their new rosters — to try and cement themselves at the top of the power rankings again. While many of the usual suspects reigned victorious yet again, there were some surprise packages on both the good end and the bad. BIG continue online dominance in DreamHack Open Europe BIG has once again put the CS:GO world on notice after yet another dominating online win in DreamHack Open Summer Europe. They only dropped one map in the event — to OG in the semi-final — to continue their hot run of form. They beat Heroic in the group stages of the event, before facing off against the Danes yet again in the Grand Final. The same result awaited them though, as Tizian ‘tiziaN’ Feldbusch and Ismailcan ‘XANTARES’ Dörtkardeş carried BIG to a 16-11, 16-12 win. ONCE again the BEST team in EU! @BIGCLANgg beat @heroicgg 2-0! 🔥 They are the #DHOpen Summer 2020 CHAMPIONS! 🏆🏆🏆 Congrats! @TizianCS, @k1tocs, @syrsoNcsgo, @TabsenCS & @XANTARESCSGO! 🏆🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/JL3UZihlxT — ESL Impact (@ESLImpact) August 16, 2020 Complexity were the fourth team to make the playoffs after finishing first in Group B, while MAD Lions weren’t so successful in their debut with Pawel ‘innocent’ Mocek in for Lucas ‘Bubzkji’ Andersen. They fell out of the event in straight sets, including a loss to UK team Endpoint. DreamHack Open Summer 2020 Europe final placements FURIA take down Liquid for DreamHack Open Summer NA win Over the Atlantic, it seemed like DreamHack Open Summer was Team Liquid’s for the taking. The new roster with Michael ‘grim’ Wince looked almost unstoppable throughout the event, not dropping a map on their run through to the final. Read more: How to watch ESL One Cologne 2020 – They were poised to take it in a 2-0 sweep after putting together a huge 8-1 comeback on Nuke to force an overtime. However, Furia had other ideas. Vinicius ‘VINI’ Figueiredo put in the performance of a lifetime, including dropping 37 frags on Inferno, to help the Brazilians claims the title. 2-1! Inferno is @furiagg’s! They beat @TeamLiquid and crown themselves as champion of #DHOpen Summer North America! 👑 Congrats @yuurihfps, @HEN1, @kscerato, @arTcsgo & Inferno MVP @FURIA_VINI! 🏆🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/MpBx6KZOcq — ESL Impact (@ESLImpact) August 16, 2020 Rising stars Team One and Chaos made it through to the playoffs, while Cloud9 yet again failed to make an impact, falling out in the group stages after a close loss to Team One. DreamHack Open Summer 2020 North America final placements Across the other regions, Renegades managed to take down Avant in the Oceanic Final 3-1 last weekend. Over in Asia, Tyloo once again cemented themselves as the team to beat, but it didn’t come easy against Vici. Tyloo pulled out the reverse sweep on Vertigo and Overpass to win the title and regional bragging rights.

BIG’s faveN to miss IEM Rio CSGO Major qualifier Stephanie Lindgren/ESL Gaming via ESPATBIG have announced that Josef ‘faveN’ Baumann will not attend the upcoming EU RMR B tournament due to health reasons. In a brief statement on Twitter, the German organization said that faveN will sit out the qualifier because of “a medical situation that requires him to rest at home.” Replacing him at the event in Malta will be Elias ‘s1n’ Stein, who was registered by BIG as a substitute for the qualifier. s1n has been a part of BIG Academy since January, averaging a 1.24 HLTV rating in the team’s third-place finish in WePlay Academy League Season 5 and a 1.32 HLTV rating (joint tournament-high) in the runner-up finish at Fragadelphia 17. It is unclear if faveN will recover in time for the IEM Rio Major, which begins on October 31. In July, he missed the final stages of BIG’s winning run in Roobet Cup and also did not attend IEM Cologne due to health reasons. In a Twitter post on June 27, faveN said that he had “probably one of the worst immune systems ever” and that he was laying “flat in my bed with abdominal influenza.” Two days later, he wrote that “there is no end in sight to my illness.” The list of absentees grows faveN is the second high-profile player to miss the Europe RMR after Astralis’ Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke, who suffered an ankle fracture earlier this month. In a newsletter released September 29, the Danish organization confirmed that academy player Mikkel ‘MistR’ Thomsen “will stand in k0nfig’s place.” Benched Heroes, a team made up of free agents from five different countries, will miss the event due to visa issues, ESL confirmed on September 29. Polish team Illuminar Gaming will take the vacant spot in the tournament. The European RMR will take place between October 4-9 in Malta, with the event split into two 16-team tournaments due to the number of teams in attendance. BIG will take on Sangal in the first round of the B tournament, which also includes teams like NAVI, Vitality and Outsiders. Even though the tournament has eight spots at the Major on offer, BIG’s qualification is not a certainty. Since the German organization was created in 2017, BIG have missed only one Major, the StarLadder Berlin Major in 2019. BIG’s EU RMR CS:GO roster: Johannes ‘tabseN’ Wodarz – Florian ‘syrsoN’ Rische – Karim ‘Krimbo’ Moussa – Nils ‘k1to’ Gruhne – Elias ‘s1n’ Stein –

BIG Fans Make Plenty of Noise Outside of ESL One Cologne Arena After Semi-Final Celebration BIG’s run to the grand final of ESL One Cologne has been nothing short of remarkable, and couldn’t be any better for the Cologne crowd who have been able to cheer on their German favorites all the way. The Cologne crowd never disappoints, but has certainly outdone itself this year and much of that is thanks to BIG, an almost all German roster, going the distance. https://glhf.rivalry.gg/get-started-csgo/?utm_source=dexerto&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=dexerto&utm_content=dexerto-csgo-esl-one-article The volume reached peak decibel levels in the ‘Cathedral of Counter-Strike’ when BIG came up against FaZe Clan for their spot in the grand final. As the BIG grew into the match more and more so did the fans, who were cheering every kill that went the way of their homegrown heroes. More: Everything You Need to Know About the ESL One: Cologne CS:GO Knockout Stage – Stream, Schedule, Results and More – One surprise package is the only non-German, Englishman Owen “Smooya” Butterfield who only joined the team a matter of weeks before the tournament and has inspired a certain energy in the BIG squad. He has subsequently become a favorites of the Cologne crowd too, who frequently chant his name when he makes a play – and it is clearly spurring him on given his performance. But it isn’t just in the arena that fans are making noise, as a video from after the semi-final of attendees leaving the car park shows. BIG may have upset every team they have faced so far to reach the final, but will still come in as underdogs to the best of five for the trophy and 1st place prize of $125,000. And Na’Vi also have a strong contingent of fans in attendance who will be making plenty of noise too, so the BIG fans may need to step up their game one last time.

BIG CS:GO player Tizian apologizes for “disrespectful and insulting tweet” towards Thorin BIG / ESLTizian Feldbusch, professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player for BIG Clan, has apologized to Duncan ‘Thorin’ Shields over remarks he made on Twitter. Feldbusch, who was replying to a tweet of a meme posted by Thorin questioning if BIG Clan had the firepower to become a top team in the CS:GO scene, fired back with a comment about the analyst having autism and ADHD. Shields, who revealed he has Aspergers back in 2012, immediately called out the BIG Clan player for using his condition as an attack on him, stating: “Just a professional CS:GO player mocking me for being autistic.” “We at BIG stand for an open and respectful community,” he continued. “Us players should hold ourselves to that standard.” I will donate €500 to a charitable organization of his choice, not only to make-up for my misbehavior more so to set a sign against discrimination. We at BIG stand for an open and respectful community and us players should hold ourselves to that standard. (2/2) — Tizian Feldbusch (@tizianCS) October 11, 2018 Tizian has confirmed that he will make a €500 donation to a charity of Thorin’s choice, with the analyst selecting the Autism Research Unit as his chosen institution. Shields has since matched Feldbusch’s donation to the charity. While Thorin says that he couldn’t “sit by while people act in a bigoted manner”, he feels that there is no reason to drag Tizian “over the coals,” and that people should move on.

BIG Clan CS:GO pro Keev shows crazy weight loss transformation powdski screengrab, RedditCounter-Strike: Global Offensive pro player Kevin ‘keev’ Bartholomäus has revealed his astonishing weight loss transformation and he looks to be in incredible shape. The German, who is currently a backup player for Berlin International Gaming (BIG), has posted a photo of himself to Instagram and he looks like a new man. “Nothing happens until something moves” he posted, before thanking his coach Nikita Udovichenko for helping him along the way. Nothing happens until something moves. https://t.co/bju93ZXWpR pic.twitter.com/Z1D9DbH3PZ — Kevin Bartholomäus (@keevCS) January 27, 2019 The pro CS:GO player has been working towards the goal of changing his physique for over a year, according to his post. As you can see in the ‘before and after’ photo below, his hard work has clearly made a massive difference and he seems to be delighted with his achievement. A number of people have been reacting to the professional gamer’s transformation since he shared his Instagram post to Twitter, with Team Liquid’s Jake ‘Stewie2K’ Yip, Chris ‘ChrisJ’ De Jong, BIG Clan’s very own Tizian Feldbusch and others reaching out to congratulate keev. Keev has been benched since February 2018, with BIG going from strength to strength on the international stage in that time – including a stellar showing at the FACEIT London Major among other events. Players have to show incredible amount of determination to make it as a pro player, especially in such a competitive scene as CS:GO’s, but it’s clear that keev has put that same effort into his quest to change his physique and the results are there for all to see.

BIG CEO: Why we invested seven figures into BLAST Premier’s CSGO circuit BIGGerman esports organization BIG cemented themselves among Counter-Strike’s best in CSGO’s online era. Now, they’ve invested heavily to become the latest partner in the BLAST Premier circuit. 2020 was unusual in CSGO, given that the majority of official matches were played online. But there’s no doubt that it benefited BIG’s German roster, reaching the top of HLTV’s world rankings midway through the year. After proving they’re among the best, they’ve now joined forces with one of CS:GO premium leagues. Sources have informed Dexerto that BIG’s investment in BLAST Premier was in the seven figures, parting ways with over $1 million to rub shoulders with the world’s best squads. This bold move sees them take over the vacant spot previously held by 100 Thieves, securing top-tier competition for the year ahead. As BIG’s CEO Daniel Finkler explained to Dexerto in this exclusive interview, this is firmly an investment in the future of the organization, as they look to establish themselves as a major player in the overall esports landscape. A BIG investment in BLAST Premier “BLAST has established itself in recent years as a world-class league that attracts top teams from all over the world. As a leading esport organization, you want to be a part of BLAST,” Finkler told Dexerto. “This membership and attendance at events will help us establish BIG as a force in CS:GO and continue to grow as a brand. “The fans are offered world-class Counter-Strike at the highest level at BLAST, which is again proven by the significant and rising audience figures. The tournament model focuses on investing in the ecosystem and teams competing in it, with their participation fees a prime example and this will help us to build a sustainable future for the organization. The investment we made is 100% worth it, because BLAST will shape esports in the coming years, and we want to be part of their success story as a permanent member team.” Read More: Top 10 BLAST Global Final Moments – It wasn’t as simple as just coughing up millions of dollars, though. With many tournaments that utilize franchising or long-term partnerships, tournament organizers are careful about the companies they allow into their ecosystem. BIG’s involvement in BLAST Premier as a partner. only came after a strenuous and stressful pitching process. “All applicants had to go through an intensive process,” BIG’s CEO said. “In addition to the financial bid, strategic business operations and esports aspirations were of course also important. To be honest, it was very nerve-wracking because the demand was very high, and we couldn’t be sure until the end. However, BIG has developed excellently in recent years, both in terms of performance as an esports organization and the business side. Fortunately, we were able to prevail over other top teams in the bidding process in the end.” There are narratives traversing the industry that CS:GO esports is in a rough patch. While the casual player base is has remained impressive, there’s no denying that the scene has gone through some changes. A lot of North American rosters have been dropped and plenty of professionals have transferred over to Riot Games’ Valorant — most notably, nitr0 departed Team Liquid to represent 100 Thieves in the new shooter. BIG CEO: “It’s a very emotional, but well-thought gut decision” Finkler isn’t worried about the future of the franchise, which is demonstrated by the fact that his organization is continuing to invest in the title. It’s not cheap to sign good players, nor to buy in to a circuit like BLAST Premier. He remains confident despite the changes 2020 brought upon the landscape. “Counter-Strike has been a leading esports title for 20 years, and there are good reasons for that. I firmly believe that CS offers many advantages that other games do not in the same way. For me, there is no other title that can create such emotions, and the entertainment factor is incredibly high. Even spectators who don’t play the game themselves are quickly captivated. “I firmly believe that Counter-Strike will continue to significantly influence esports in the coming decades. We can see that the demand is still clearly there with the number of viewers tuning in for every event, this month’s BLAST Premier Global Final showcased that, with the tournament posting the most-watched online CS match in history. We want to be a part of this continued growth in the years to come. The main reason we did it is simple: we just love the game, and we really want to play at the top in the coming years. So it’s also a very emotional, but well-thought gut decision.” Read More: Is Chess an esport? – A bet like this, a seven-figure amount, is no small feat. Especially in a title that some believe is “dying.” It’s actually symbolic of a wider play by BIG, who are looking to establish themselves in the conversation among the most prominent of organizations — alongside the likes of Team Liquid, Cloud9, TSM, and FaZe Clan. The fact they’re continuing to invest major amounts of capital into esports during an unusual, unforgiving time (the result of bans on travel and large-scale events) demonstrates how keen they are to raise their profile and be competitive. They’re being calculated in their moves despite their bullish behavior, however. “We will do whatever is needed to become one of the most prominent esports organizations in the industry,” Finkler told Dexerto. “That means we are willing to invest further in the future, but at the same time, we want to run a healthy business. We have succeeded with this approach since being founded in 2017. Marc Staperfeld, who supported our ambitions to invest in a membership slot at BLAST Premier and provided the budget, is also heavily involved. I am happy that we have so many passionate people on board.” 2021: Go BIG, or go home Now BIG have established themselves as one of CS:GO’s finest — at the time of publication they’re sitting in fourth place behind Natus Vincere, Team Vitality, and Astralis — what are BIG aiming for now? The aforementioned teams are used to being ranked at the top of the scene, but that’s not quite the case for BIG yet. They’ve had a taste of success and, understandably, hope to keep the ball rolling as LAN events (hopefully) start to return later in 2021. Read More: Valve bans worst CSGO coaching bug abusers – “We will continue on our path and learn from previous mistakes,” he said. “BIG has had difficult moments in recent years, but we overcame them and are now in an even better position. It is precisely these experiences that help us on our way. In Berlin, we now have an excellent infrastructure for teams, partners, and employees — which is a crucial success factor for the future. We will continue to build on this. It’s our goal to become the most successful Counter-Strike team in the world.” The jury is out on whether BIG can climb back up the rankings to reclaim their title as the best, but their investment in BLAST provides plenty of opportunities to practice and compete against titans. BLAST Premier has a bevvy of exciting events planned for the year ahead, and the German organization can now count themselves as a staple in the top flight of Counter-Strike.

BIG bottle it vs G2! Richard Lewis reacts at IEM Katowice Richard Lewis reacts to BIG’s IEM Katowice exit after a tough two series. Losing 2-0 to Heroic, they dropped straight into the Lower Bracket, where they’ve now been knocked out by a G2 side who are far from their best. But why has this happened to BIG? Richard explains how they’ve let their Inferno form slip, and gives his opinion on what they can do going into their next event. Meanwhile, G2 has received a lifeline. Typically relying on Florian ‘syrsoN’ Rische as the AWPer — who Richard believes is almost at a god-tier level of play — the match initially looked to be going very well for the German team. Using a floating style of play that has succeeded in nabbing them wins before, G2 was ultimately able to one-up BIG’s typically lucrative methods by pushing fast and getting a read on where their main competition, syrsoN, was going to be. For Richard, it’s been a very weird couple of series for the usually on-form team, stating that, “they crashed out” and “they’re a better team than this.” What is BIG’s unfortunate fall, however, is G2’s ultimate lifeline, as they progress further into play. For all CSGO news and events, stay tuned over at our dedicated page.

BIG Advance to ESL One Grand Final With Victory Over FaZe Clan BIG had been the surprise package of ESL One Cologne, with impressive overtime victory’s against Renegades and MiBR, but FaZe Clan would be their toughest challenge yet. FaZe had been near flawless on their route to the semi’s expect being pushed to a third map against Fnatic, and were heavy favorites to snag a spot in the grand final to face Na’Vi. And FaZe unsurprisingly started the stronger of the two, and after dominating the CT side on Dust II they took the first pistol round of the second half and made a huge mountain for BIG to climb, down 4-11. BIG were resilient however and continued to show that they’re somewhat unpredictable playstyle could work in their favor, fighting to force overtime as FaZe seemed to lose focus somewhat. More: Everything You Need to Know About the ESL One: Cologne CS:GO Knockout Stage – Stream, Schedule, Results and More – But finally FaZe made the recovery, eventually shutting down a dangerous BIG who had the crowd on their side, with a 19-17 win. BIG started strong in map two, as the crowd continued to back them, but their early 6-1 lead coming off the first pistol round win was suddenly eaten up by FaZe, to take a 9-6 lead. BIG was able to wrestle momentum back to force the pivotal game 3 with a 16-13 win. It was all BIG from that point on as they continued their dominance in front of a delirious home crowd. FaZe was unable to recover and looked defeated from dropping the second set lead. Nex led the way with 26 kills en route to a blowout 16-6 final map score. BIG will go on to face Natus Vincere in the grand final, with the prestige of a grand slam win in front of a raucous home crowd plus $125,000 on the line, but s1mple and Co. will be in their way.

Best ways to use CSGO angles to win against opponents ValveUsing the maps in CSGO to help out your game is as simple as choosing the best angles for the CTs to hold a site or the Ts to pick off an unsuspecting opponent. By nature, CSGO is a slow and methodical game, with a lot of the tactical decisions actually coming before a single shot is even fired in a given round. That’s why it’s crucial for players, CT and T alike, to pay attention to their positioning by choosing the right angles to use. There are generally two types of angles: standard and off-angles, according to voo CSGO. For most players that means choosing standard ones and using them to their optimal potential. This can mean holding a single angle that can be played in multiple ways, or choosing a general sightline that lets you fall back to safety while still defending the same focus on the map. “The idea [with standard angles] is that you can easily get a kill on the first unsuspecting player because they’re walking into an angle where they’re expecting many different spots they have to clear,” voo explained. “But when you get that first shot off, you can easily [reposition].” Sightlines you can hold while staying generally covered can give you a better chance at getting a kill, as well as giving your team more time to react to potentially dangerous situations since you’re staying safe and alive. Voo explained: “When you’re positioning, oftentimes what you’re trying to do is put objects in the way from where your opponents are shooting at you so you can focus on specific spots.” But it’s when the timer ticks to the later portions of a round where the value of off-angles exponentially increases depending on what’s happened so far. Read more: How to fix VAC authentication errors in CSGO – Off-angles become really good because your opponents probably have less utility when you get to late round,” voo said. “It also means that they’re less likely to be in a position to trade.” Instead of standard spots, these off-angles can offer a way to secure a round rather than stalling or thwarting a push. It should be mentioned that the mentality behind choosing the right position should be heavily influenced by what your role in the round is. If you’re a lone player on a site or the person anchoring a rotation, you should be mindful whether to play aggressively or not. This only scratched the surface of voo CSGO’s in-depth look at the fundamentals of positioning for players to improve how they utilize the map.

Best CSGO players of 2021: Top 5 ranked DexertoThe best CS:GO players of 2021 comprise star players across the world’s best-performing teams over the past twelve months. There will no prizes for guessing the number one spot, but who has put up the best challenge to s1mple’s dominance in Counter-Strike this year? In a year of two halves for CS:GO, with a mix of online and LAN events, deciphering the best players is made more of a challenge, as some teams struggled to replicate their early form after reaching the LAN environment. Of course, one player who almost never misses a step is Ukrainian superstar Sasha ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev, who has not only dominated statistically but also lifted multiple trophies, including the PGL Major Stockholm. You can also check out our rankings for the best League of Legends players, best Call of Duty players, best Valorant players, and best Warzone players here. These were the best CS:GO players in 2021. Best CS:GO players – 2021 5 — Denis ‘electronic’ Sharipov Always a bridesmaid, never the bride, electronic was often in Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev’s shadow in a historical year for NAVI, but he was still a key cog in their engine, especially when the going got tough on LAN. The 23-year-old was never really in contention for an MVP award, such was s1mple’s brilliance, and oftentimes he saw newcomer Valeriy ‘B1T’ Vakhovskiy receive more attention from casters and analysts than him. But there shouldn’t be any doubt that electronic had a great 2021, even if s1mple’s feat and B1T’s rise to prominence have understandably demanded the headlines. Electronic was as influential as ever throughout the year, but he lifted his game to new heights every time he stepped into an offline environment. His LAN rating was only slightly better than B1T’s (1.23 to 1.21), but his 1.27 Impact was miles ahead of the rookie’s and underlines his importance to the team in their quest to build an era. 4 — Dmitry ‘sh1ro’ Sokolov Gambit ended 2020 as a team on the rise, but no one could have predicted the success that the team would have in 2021, when they cemented themselves as one of the best sides in the world. Sh1ro played a central role as Gambit enjoyed a meteoric rise during the first half of 2021, and he was rewarded with an MVP medal at IEM Katowice, one of the best tournaments of the year. As Gambit continued to win titles in the months that followed, Sergey ‘Ax1Le’ Rykhtorov and Abay ‘Hobbit’ Khasenov also burst into the limelight, but sh1ro remained as influential as ever. But Gambit’s problems began when the first LAN tournaments came around. It’s not like they went through a slump in form, but they lacked the experience, as well as the killer touch, to reach the same heights in an offline environment, and nowhere was that more apparent than at the Major, where they struggled against FURIA in the quarter-finals and were then battered by NAVI. Sh1ro picked up two more MVPs in the second half of the season, from IEM Fall CIS, an online tournament, and from the V4 Future Sports Festival 2021, a small LAN that didn’t have any other top-10 team in attendance. His struggles at the Big Events, where his Impact dipped to 1.05, explain why he is just No.4 on this list. 3 — Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut “That wasn’t the ZywOo we know the first two games, and I told him, I was completely honest, if he’s not there we’re not gonna qualify.” Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire’s call to action as Vitality stood on the brink of elimination had an instant effect as ZywOo took his game to a new level from that moment on. It’s not like the French AWPer had been a non-factor since the start of the year, though. But for a player named the best on the planet in 2019 and 2020, not being able to contend for titles came as a huge blow. After a third-place finish at the BLAST Premier Global Final, Vitality struggled for form for months on end, a runner-up finish in ESL Pro League Season 14 the only high point of an otherwise tame period. Everything changed after those remarks from apEX. He carried Vitality to the Major playoffs (1.25 HLTV rating against Evil Geniuses, 1.51 against Astralis and 1.49 against Entropiq) before they met their demise at the hands of NAVI after two closely-maps. When it became known that Vitality would undergo changes at the turn of the year, the team broke free from the shackles and became a genuine threat with their carefree mindset and loose playstyle. ZywOo regained some of his best form at the tail end of the season, averaging a 1.32 rating as he helped the team to win IEM Winter and make deep runs at the two BLAST events, taking some big scalps along the way. He ended 2021 with the second-highest Impact in the game – making one wonder what he would have achieved if his team had been a stable performer. 2 – Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač 2021 was probably one of the worst years of NiKo’s career. G2 struggled to find their rhythm and didn’t win a single tournament, losing the only two finals that they played, at IEM Cologne and PGL Major Stockholm, to the unstoppable force that was NAVI. But that shouldn’t take away from what was an incredible showing from NiKo all year long. The Bosnian player was already a solid performer during the first half of the year, and then he stepped it up a notch as LAN events became a reality again. NiKo was a joy to behold at the Major and one of the favorites for the MVP award before the grand final against NAVI. In a year when he averaged a sensational 1.28 HLTV rating on LAN and stood tall among AWP gods, NiKo truly deserved at least one big trophy. It’s a shame that his team couldn’t keep up with his brilliance. 1 – Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev Sometimes it feels like we’re running out of words to describe s1mple. Every time we think we have seen it all, the Ukrainian prodigy continues somehow to find ways to take his peak to the next level. After losing to ZywOo the title of the best player in the world two years in a row, s1mple hit a new plateau of excellence in 2021, racking up a record eight MVP medals over the course of the year. He has also equaled Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz’s record medal haul of 19 awards, and looks set to become the player with the most MVP honors in 2022. In a year when he finally broke his Major duck, s1mple was head and shoulders above everyone else, and there was never a sign of a flatlining of form, not even during NAVI’s bumpy period in the first months of 2021. He was in a league of his own with a 1.35 HLTV rating and 1.43 Impact (1.45 and 1.55 on LAN), even surpassing the standards he had in 2018, when he was first named the best player in the world. Three years later, s1mple is back to the Olympus of world Counter-Strike. No one knows what he will do to push himself to the next level in 2022. But there’s no doubt that he will continue to defy all logic. Be sure to check out the rest of Dexerto’s Best of 2021 series, for the best players, influencers and games of the year.

Best CSGO players going into IEM Global Challenge BLASTIEM’s Global Challenge is the curtain caller to CSGO’s 2020 calendar. With $500,000 on the line, there’s plenty to play for as eight of the world’s best teams coalesce in Europe. The online era of CS:GO has thrown a few curveballs into the mix. Remember when BIG was the world’s best team? It feels like that was so long ago. Regardless of there being no international action, there’s been plenty of stellar performances in the server. Now, all those theories will be put to the test at the IEM Global Challenge. The very best players will be looking to show they’re worthy of the #1 spot. Here’s the five you need to keep your eyes on starting December 15. Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev (Na’Vi) Look, there isn’t a flashier player to watch in CS:GO than s1mple… It’s as simple as that. He is probably the best player in the world right now, and he’s got the stats to back that up. He’s got the highest rating in 2020 against Top 20 teams (1.29) — supplemented by a whopping 1.42 K/D/A. Na’Vi’s gameplan right now is “no s1mple, no clue.” When s1mple’s been cold, they’ve been wiped. But those cold spots are few and far between, and you can bet your bottom dollar s1mple will put on a show during the Global Challenge to cement his place above a certain French phenom… Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut (Vitality) You can’t talk about one without bringing up the other. If online CS:GO has given us anything in 2020, it’s plenty of airtime between s1mple and ZywOo. The Vitality star has been neck-and-neck with his Na’Vi contemporary the entire year — both have 1.29 ratings on HLTV. And while Na’Vi started out 2020 strong, Vitality have clawed it back in recent times. It always feels like that if ZywOo has a quiet map — you know, anything below +5 KD — he will come out and drop a 30-bomb during the next outing. His explosiveness, as well as his consistency, makes him one of the most feared players in the world for good reason. He will be the key, once again, to Vitality’s success if they want to maintain their mantle at the top. Yuri ‘yuurih’ Santos (FURIA) FURIA are the kings of NA CS:GO right now. While they’ve had mixed results since flying across the pond, Yuurih has been their saving grace. He’s not a chart topper, but you can’t scoff at his ability to post better than average (1.0 rating) performances at 76%. He’s also cool in the clutch, winning 56 1vX situations in 2020 alone — complimented by a positive 1v1 win rate. It speaks to the incredible run of form that he’s managed to find in 2020, and the IEM Global Challenge is his chance to prove to the world that Brazilian Counter-Strike is well and truly alive. Florian ‘syrsoN’ Rische (BIG) Compared from the start of the online era to now, BIG themselves have slowly fallen off the radar. Heck, Chaos had to bow out (due to travel restrictions) for them to edge their way in. Yet, without syrsoN, they would have never reached #1 in the world. syrsoN is arguably the most lethal sniper in the world right now, and when he’s on fire, there’s no doubt about it. While the spark has waned recently, he still boasts a decent 1.10 HLTV rating. Leading into IEM Global Challenge, though, his stats are on the up, which means that we shouldn’t count the German organization out just yet. Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer (Complexity) There’s very few IGLs in CS:GO who manage to top frag while calling the shots… But blameF somehow does it. He’s one of 2020’s biggest revelations, and he’s become the core of Jason Lake’s juggernaut (not just because of his stature). He boasts the highest rating of his team, 1.20 — which is no easy feat when you’re stepping into the server with Valentin ‘poizon’ Vasilev and Justin ‘JKS’ Savage. While Complexity might struggle without poizon — who’s been ruled out because of surgery — blameF will need to step up again to really keep Complexity’s hopes alive. They’ve faltered as of late, having been on a downswing since taking home BLAST Spring, but a fired-up blameF has the potential to carry this team to a title to round out a relatively successful 2020. The IEM Global Challenge kicks off on December 15.

Best CSGO mouse, keyboard, headphones that the pros are using Valve / Zowie / LogitechThe top players in CSGO know a thing or two about the right peripherals to have in order to get an edge in the popular Valve shooter, and here’s what they’ve been using so far in 2021. Whether you’re trying to pick up a new mouse from a longtime trusted brand or want to experiment with a peripheral from a new player in the industry, there are a lot of things to consider when buying new gear. Counter-Strike players are always looking to strike that perfect balance between comfort, price, and, of course, features. But the pool of options isn’t exactly small. There are dozens of companies, who each have dozens of options in most price points. It’s why some people like to take a short cut and simply opt for what the pros are using in their setup. Esports database, ProSettings, compiled what they’ve recorded from the competitive CSGO community and are starting to see different equipment being used in everything ranging from mouses to keyboards. Although the year is short and new releases are sure to change some of these featured in the rankings, there are early trends for what professionals are carrying. Here’s the breakdown: Mouse Zowie EC – Logitech G Pro Wireless – Zowie FK – Logitech G Pro X Superlight – Keyboard HyperX Alloy FPS (+FPS Pro) – XTRFY K2 RGB – Logitech G Pro X – Razer Blackwidow – Headset HyperX Cloud II – Logitech G Pro X – HyperX Cloud Alpha – Sennheiser GSP 600 – Monitors Zowie XL2546 – Zowie XL2540 – Zowie XL2546K – ASUS PG259QN – Mousepads SteelSeries QCK Heavy – Zowie G-SR – Zowie G-SR-SE – Logitech G640 – As far as which one is best for you, there’s no better test than getting to use the equipment in person. But since that might be difficult for many, then you can at least get a cheat sheet for what the top tier players are already using. ProSettings said that in some categories, like mousepads, some of these stats could be attributed to what people are already used to. Regardless, if you are on the market for your next upgrade or simply don’t know where to start researching for the best CSGO gear you can get, then it’s good to see what the pros are taking into their games.

Besiktas Esports attempting to buy players’ silence regarding nonpayment issues, claims former player Besiktas EsportsIn a followup to a post from last week, a former Beşiktaş Esports League of Legends player shared screenshots of alleged conversations with BJK management, revealing alleged threats, lying, and attempts to pay for silence. Last week we reported on allegations that Beşiktaş had not been properly playing its players across multiple esports rosters, per former women’s LoL player Natalie ‘Stratospanda” Kristiansen. Stratospanda alleged that players experienced multiple delays on payments and that many players still have not been paid. BJK also allegedly threatened to withhold payment in exchange for public silence, allegedly going so far as shutting down the players’ Discord when they started to ask each other if they had been paid. In an August 28th follow up post, Stratospanda provided another update containing further allegations of players not being paid by BJK. UPDATE on BJK not paying their players Read: https://t.co/sVP3hhWnh0 — Nat (@Stratospanda) August 28, 2019 In the post, Stratospands shares alleged screenshots of conversations with members of BJK management, she is told that interviews and lawsuits “won’t get you anywhere,” and that they “won’t get the money.” The screenshots state that BJK found an investor and could make payments in a few days, but Stratospanda said that she’s had no response in five days, and that she’d been hearing that since March. In another set of screenshots, showing an alleged group chat with members of BJK management, it shows the group implying that she wouldn’t receive the €3k owed because she “damaged the company.” She then showed a screenshot of the group offering the €3k (that she claims is already owed to her from her contract) if she signs an NDA and takes down the post. Stratospanda also alleges that BJK received over $800K in investments, and yet still lost money and were unable to pay their players. Salih “Auspex” Kızıldağ, a former player for the BJK mens LoL team, replied to the Stratospanda post with critical words about the organization. they refused to pay in time when I was working with them last year, none of the players got paid at the time they were supposed to get paid. it’s a trash organization with a highly irresponsible management — Salih Kızıldağ (@auspexlol) August 28, 2019 Other players responded as well. Fortnite player rottha claimed that the Fortnite team is still waiting to be paid as well. Former Rocket League coach Ignacio Mendoza alleges that that squad is still owed €2k. We will provide more updates on the Beşiktaş situation as it unfolds.

Behind gob b’s CSGO return to coach BIG: “I felt the team needed me more than ever” WESGIn an exclusive interview with Dexerto, German Counter-Strike legend Fatih ‘gob b’ Dayik talks about his return to CS:GO to coach BIG and the decision to leave Valorant behind. gob b was exhausted from competing, but he wasn’t ready to walk away from Valorant. Not yet. Not until the team he had helped build in the summer of 2020 — extending his playing career into another game after he had reached the top in CS 1.6 and CS:GO — had a strong foundation. In the fall of 2021, as the BIG organization assessed its options after CS:GO head coach Dustin ‘DuDe’ Großmann stepped down from the role due to personal reasons, it turned to gob b for assistance. However, as much as it pained him, he could not take the job. He was not done with the Valorant team yet. But when he guided BIG to the VCT EMEA Challengers, the highest tier in Valorant in Europe, he knew that, if he returned to CS:GO, he would leave the team in a good place. The players understood his reasoning, even though the mood was somber. Initially, he had planned to compete one more season, but after some consideration, he knew that moving on was the right decision. It would give the Valorant team enough time to rebuild before VCT Stage 2 while allowing him to come to the CS:GO team’s rescue heading into PGL Major Antwerp — a season-defining tournament. “I felt that the CS team needed me more than ever,” he tells Dexerto. “I also felt that tabseN needed a deeper connection with the coach than before. The two needed to be more in sync. “[Going back to CS] was just a matter of time, and this felt like a good time because the CS team needed me and the Valorant team could begin a new chapter.” Brightening the mood gob b is affectionately known as the ‘godfather of German Counter-Strike’ for his role in some of his country’s most successful teams between 2006 and 2019. To this day he is still revered as one of the most astute tactical minds in the history of the franchise. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone in esports who doesn’t speak highly of him. The Gobfather is back. 👑 Please welcome home @gobelante as he returns to Counter-Strike as our new head coach! 🇩🇪 📰 https://t.co/wvuzyEl14J pic.twitter.com/oMdBaUmyAf — BIG (@BIGCLANgg) May 1, 2022 No surprise, then, that the announcement of his return to the team as a coach has been received with joy and enthusiasm by BIG’s supporters and the CS:GO scene at large. After peaking at No.1 in HLTV’s world ranking in the summer of 2020, the German team went through a long slump and fell out of the top 10, dropping down to 19th at the start of April, mere weeks before the Major qualifier event in Bucharest. Expectations surrounding BIG were modest in the lead-up to the RMR, with many doubting their ability to finish top eight in a stacked tournament in which they were only the ninth-highest ranked side in attendance. But they proved everyone wrong by going 3-0 in the tournament and booking a Legend spot in dominant fashion, averaging 8.5 rounds lost per map as they stormed past SAW and Outsiders in best-of-one games before beating world No.1 FaZe in a 2-0 series. “I think motivation was the biggest thing,” gob b says about the team’s issues. “I had been staying in Berlin for the past few months and I had a deep connection with the team. “I could see that their work was very good, that they had good ideas about the game. They were just lacking a little bit of leadership and belief in something bigger.” Fans were surprised to see gob b with the team at the RMR as he had not given any indication that he was stepping away from Valorant. He was cagey in interviews: A “maybe” was all he let out when asked if he would attend the Major with the team. The upswing in form and results was sudden, but gob b does not want to overstate his impact. He wasn’t involved much in the pre-event preparations but had numerous interactions with the players in the lead-up to and during the tournament to make use of a special trait he has: the ability to analyze mistakes and the reasoning behind them. “For me, it’s easy to see why someone is making a mistake and I can help them to fix it,” he explains. “For me, it came down to team spirit and motivation, and I tried to provide this. “While the tournament was going on, the practice room helped us a lot. I had one-on-ones, prep talks, I helped tabseN to go through the game plans… [Coach] enkay J and [analyst] jansen helped as well. It was a big achievement from all of us. “I was not too involved before the tournament but while it was going on I had a big impact on the players, I believe. I showed them that I understood what they were going through and talked to them about the problems they had and how to solve them. I just provided motivation and a good mood so that, as a player, you’re like, ‘Damn, I want to play today’”. Getting that extra edge One of the most exciting aspects about gob b’s appointment as head coach is his reunion with Johannes ‘tabseN’ Wodarz, BIG’s in-game leader. tabseN soaked up knowledge from gob b during the years they spent together on multiple rosters, eventually taking up the mantle from his friend in 2019. The burden of leadership has weighed heavily on tabseN at times, so fans will hope that, as a coach, gob b will be able to bring out the best in tabseN as he did when they competed together. “I may sound a bit arrogant for saying this, but I feel like I can help every player in the world by showing the path to reach their best form,” gob b says. “I have gained so much experience and I have worked with so many players [over the years]. I also feel that my time in Valorant has helped me grow as a person. “It’s funny because I told tabseN, ‘Maybe it would help you to play KovaaK’s [an aim traimer] because it will help you have better mouse control’. If you saw the last frag he got against Twistzz, which qualified us, he was moving his mouse very quickly on the pad. I believe that came from the practice on KovaaK’s. “That showed me that even a player like tabseN, who is world-class, can benefit from something that someone outside of the game tells him. He just needs to believe what that person is saying and test it out.” Another player that seems to have benefited from gob b’s guidance is rookie Karim ‘Krimbo’ Moussa, promoted by BIG from the academy squad in March. He was the team’s best performer in Bucharest, averaging a 1.35 rating — the third-highest overall, only behind NAVI’s Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev (1.40) and Heroic’s Martin ‘stavn’ Lund (1.37). Read more: PGL Major Antwerp coverage hub – As the tournament came to a close, tabseN hailed Krimbo as the “best talent” Germany has produced in years. Such comments came as no surprise to gob b, who already knew Krimbo from his short time coaching BIG Academy in early 2020. “I was involved in the decision to bring him to the main team,” gob b says. “Maybe it would have been better to give him a few more months in the academy circuit, but sometimes you need to jump into cold water. “I knew that, while he was probably not yet 100 percent ready, he would give everything in his power. He has a pretty good mind for the game for someone of his age. I knew that, once he got this experience of tier-one and tier-two CS, he could become one of the best.” gob b points to Krimbo’s clutching prowess in Bucharest as an example of the improvements that have been made in the short amount of time he has been with the team. There is a new clutch king in town! Watch back all clutches from @KrimboCS at the EU RMR. 🔥 #GOBIG pic.twitter.com/yideDInElM — BIG (@BIGCLANgg) April 26, 2022 Prior to the tournament, gob b suggested that Krimbo should change the way he plays clutch scenarios. And then in Bucharest, he led the RMR for clutches with seven, one more than his closest suitor, Dzhami ‘Jame’ Ali — whose team played over twice as many maps as BIG. “He’s definitely the biggest talent in the German scene,” gob b says. “And I’m here to show what he needs to do to have the right state of mind.” Major ambitions The excitement surrounding this new version of BIG is building, but gob b doesn’t want anyone to get carried away by the RMR run. For him, it is paramount to analyze what the team did well in Bucharest and why it was an improvement on what they had done before. BIG will have the luxury of skipping the first stage of the Major, giving the team extra days to prepare and alleviating some of the stress. Three wins and they’re through to the playoffs, and if there’s anyone the players would like to have on their side for this ride, it’s gob b, who jokingly calls himself the “king of best-of-ones”, in a reference to BIG’s playoff run at PGL Major Kraków 2017 after winning three best-of-one games. (Since the IEM Katowice 2019 Major, teams have to win at least one best-of-three to qualify for the playoffs) “I still have a good feeling for the kind of game plan that is good against certain teams,” he says. “It doesn’t matter who we play, it will be very hard to beat anyone. There are no easy opponents in the Legends stage, that’s for sure. Every game will be a bloodbath, but I have to say that I felt the same about our RMR tournament, which I felt was the stronger of the two, with much more interesting matchups.” gob b does not want to set any goals for the Major just yet, saying that “anything can happen” at a tournament like this. In a week or so, he adds, he will have a better feel for where his team stands. “I’m a very positive guy, you know?” he says. “I have really high expectations and dreams. So of course I’d like to win a [Major] trophy and maybe even start an era. “But I also know what needs to be done and the hard work required.” gob b doesn’t know exactly how to answer when asked if he considers himself retired as a player. He makes no secret of his ambition to be “the best coach out there”, but he’s still working to keep the reflexes sharp. He knows that there’s always the possibility that he’ll have to fill in for a player in case of illness or injury. But deep down, that’s not the only reason. He continues to display the same burning passion for the competition that he did when he began his career in the mid-2000s, when some of today’s rising stars weren’t even born. That’s a big part of why, at the age of 34, he was still able to be in the company of Europe’s best Valorant players and why he wasn’t pushed out of the game, but left it on his terms. “I have a theory that age is just a number, that it just depends on how much you want it,” he says. “I could see that I was more dedicated than other players. “I understand that, as I get older, I need to play more than I did before. That’s the only thing that has changed. I’m happy that I proved to myself that this theory is true.”

BANNED coach running CSGO academy? | First To 16 #1 w/ Richard Lewis There’s a lot going on in the CS:GO landscape. To make sense of every happening inside and out of the game’s servers, Richard Lewis sat down with veteran David ‘DAVEY’ Stafford to examine the 6-10 man roster trend, Complexity’s new lineup, MiBR’s resurrection, and a lot more. In the First to 16 format, the host and guest are only allowed 16 minutes to dissect all five topics on the board. This leaves absolutely no room for skirting topics, something both Lewis and DAVEY were happy to oblige. The two were singing the same song when it came to 6+ people in a roster. DAVEY was convinced that the concept simply “doesn’t work in Counter-Strike,” even as more teams are starting to submit expanded lineups. While the two found it to be somewhat plausible if the sixth player was a young talent that the team could insert for the sake of development, anything outside of that can’t be truly supported by CS:GO’s format. Something they both could hop on was Complexity’s pickup of Justin ‘jks’ Savage after Owen ‘oBo’ Schlatter. DAVEY is all in on the addition, calling it a “100% upgrade from oBo.” This catapults Complexity’s prospects not because oBo was a lesser player, but because jks perfectly fits the Juggernauts’ formula to a T, according to DAVEY. The entire conversation gives CSGO fans a chance to get rapid-fire analysis from veterans of the esport on the biggest talking points in the scene, including the situation with Forze’s banned coach, and it’s definitely worth a watch to catch up on the news.

CSGO interviewer Banks noted s1mple’s surprising lack of confidence at the Berlin Major StarLadderIn an interview between interviewers just before the Champions stage of the StarLadder Berlin major, James Banks told Frankie Ward and Dexerto about a rare lack of confidence he saw in CS:GO star Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev. In a series of interviews for Dexerto, powered by Razer, Frankie Ward has spoken to several members of the StarLadder Berlin major talent team. One of them is James Banks, who has been performing interviews with a number of prolific CS:GO players throughout the tournament. When Frankie asked James what the most surprising things he’s uncovered in his interviews are, he spoke candidly about his conversation with s1mple, who has famously never lacked in confidence. “I’ve been interviewing him for so many years and speaking to him as a friend, but I’ve never seen him not confident in his own ability… He said himself he’s not at his A game. He’s not the confident s1mple you normally get.” You can watch Frankie’s full interview with James Banks here: Which #CSGO team can cause an upset in the #BerlinMajor?@BanKsEsports shares his predictions with @getfrank ahead of the finals! Powered by @TeamRazer | #ThisIsEsports pic.twitter.com/veWdizyiVP — DEXERTO.COM (@Dexerto) September 4, 2019 s1mple has always gone the extra mile when it comes to mastering his craft, playing hours and hours of Counter-Strike and focusing solely on getting better, even during player breaks. In his interview with Banks, he acknowledged some new steps that he and Natus Vincere are taking, including spending more time together both in game and out. Despite his status as one of the world’s best players, s1mple is demonstrating a more team-focused approach, and this Na’Vi team is definitely one worth watching, both in Berlin and after. Jarek ‘DeKay’ Lewis has reported that Na’Vi are exploring options for replacing Danylo ‘Zeus’ Teslenko, and Banks said in his interview with Frankie that it’s apparent we’ll see Na’Vi and Zeus part ways after the major. Banks spoke at length about the potential of the team’s newest addition Kirill ‘Boombl4’ Mikhailov, saying that Na’Vi have everything they need going forward. With a young leader being groomed for greatness, a star still at his peak, and team chemistry at an all-time high, the future of Na’Vi is very bright, and they’ll be looking to win that elusive major title when the Champions Stage begins. Banks still has Team Liquid winning the major, adding that when he spoke to Liquid, they said the extra games they played in the Legends stage would be important to knocking off the rust.

Banks confirms FaZe Clan funded CSGO team via skin gambling website FaZe Banks Instagram / Adela Sznajder BLASTFaZe Clan owner Ricky Banks revealed on May 10 that the organization had created a skin gambling site and used its lucrative success to initially fund the club’s CSGO team, as originally reported by Esports Talk. Wanting to expand into Counter-Strike, but without the cash to properly fund the team they had their sights on, Banks enrolled FaZe Clan into a project with other collaborators with the goal of creating an alternative form of CSGO skin gambling. “It was kind of like a grey area, because it’s a skin and there’s no actual value to it, and the government puts absolutely no value to it,” Banks said on an episode of the ‘BADNWZ’ podcast. “We came up with this idea, with these kids, for a different way to do it. We branded it the right way.” Banks found his cash cow to get FaZe the funding they needed to buy their CSGO team in 2016. He claimed that the gambling site was their way to “finesse” the major purchase as quickly as possible to get the most value out of the transaction. After finding their reliable income from CSGO skin gambling, FaZe were raking in about $200,000 a day from their novel business model. According to the exec, this was all done by the books. Banks and his partners flew to Antigua in the Caribbeans, where they faced less stringent regulations for creating a gambling site, allowing them to lawfully navigate their operation. “We were making $200,000 a day,” Banks explained. “We set it up on Antigua, it’s an island in the Caribbean where running a gambling website is completely legal if you have the permits to do it.” Read more: Astralis add JUGi to CSGO roster – Banks paid “the guy who runs the island” $100,000 to acquire the documentation they needed to be “the only ones who were doing it legitimate” before skin gambling was regulated. FaZe maintained the skin gambling site for a few months before shutting it down. The offshore company had raked in enough cash for the org to successfully fund their CSGO venture. Valve has since been strict around their CSGO cosmetics in response to the cascading governance in the skin gambling industry. It was around this time in the mid-2010s where worldwide governments were taking aim at skin gambling. In 2015, these casino-style gambling sites for skins generated nearly $3 billion, according to findings from gaming research firm Eilers and Krejcik Gaming and Narus Advisors.

Bad News Eagles are restoring CSGO to its purest form. Again. PGLBad News Eagles are once again in the top 16 of a Major after cruising through the Challengers Stage of IEM Rio. Theirs is the type of story that is growing ever so rare in the CS:GO scene. “They are not part of the circuit, they are not there with the big boys, but they are playing like them.” As Bad News Eagles’ players leaped up from their seats and gathered for a group huddle, joined by manager James Banks, after soundly beating GamerLegion in the third round of the IEM Rio Challengers Stage, Australian caster Chad ‘SPUNJ’ Burchill, like the CS:GO scene at large, was left in awe. There is an unmistakable, unique purity to an underdog tale, and over the years there have been many such stories at CS:GO Majors, from Luminosity’s 2016 win in Columbus, to Cloud9’s 2018 victory in Boston (where Quantum Bellator Fire also made an extremely unlikely run to the quarterfinals) after going down 0-2 in the Legends Stage, to ENCE’s 2019 grand final appearance in Katowice. Most romantic underdog stories in esports are one-offs, unable to be maintained because the special set of circumstances that went into them are never seen again. But that’s not the case of Bad News Eagles, who are continuing in Rio de Janeiro the captivating story that they began to write in Antwerp, almost seven months ago. There’s definitely something special about the Kosovar-Albanian team, the first to reach a CS:GO Major without the backing of an organization since dAT’s ESL One Cologne 2014 appearance. Bad News Eagles have gained many admirers in the scene not just because of their in-your-face approach — reminiscent of 2015 fnatic, according to analyst Janko ‘YNk’ Paunović — but also because of their unexpected success in spite of limited resources. The Bad News Eagles tag was set up in February 2022 after the players parted ways with BLINK following a breakdown in negotiations with the management over contract renewals. A team made up of players who came through the FACEIT Pro League — which explains their aggressive, pug style —, they overcame the odds when they qualified for PGL Major Antwerp in May and reached the Legends Stage, featuring the top 16 sides in the world. They had done enough, the players thought when they returned home, to secure the backing of an organization that could allow them to take the next step in their development. To find some stability in their personal lives. The reality, however, was very different. With gambling and sports betting illegal in Kosovo and Albania, most of the usual suspects — betting companies with deep pockets — were out of the picture. There were meetings with prospective international sponsors, but talks broke down as the marketing budget for Balkan countries is usually very limited. A number of esports organizations also came knocking, but that, too, was a dead end. Some clearly wanted to take advantage of the sticker money that the team would earn in the future, while others, despite being well intended, lacked the infrastructure that the players were looking for. Rather than make a deal with the devil that would come with a heavy price or settle for less than what they are worth, the players decided to continue their journey as Bad News Eagles, using sticker revenue and tournament winnings to support themselves. The team has just one sponsor to help alleviate the burden, Albanian electronic retailer gjirafa50. “For us as a team, salary is not the most important factor in this decision but the staff that an organization has and how they can help us develop in and out of the game,” the team wrote in August. “Another really important factor is the opportunity to bootcamp regularly without issue. This for us is where visas are also very important.” Running it back Between the Majors in Antwerp and Rio de Janeiro, Bad News Eagles competed in a raft of online tournaments to pocket prize money and remain relevant in the scene. There was also a small four-team LAN event in Prague, which they won. “It’s been a really busy schedule, having all these tournaments, every day a new tournament,” BNE player Flatron ‘juanflatroo’ Halimi said. “Trying to prepare for everything, not catching a break, being exhausted all the time.” Such is the life of a tier-two CS:GO team in the current landscape, where ESL and BLAST hold a tight grip on the scene with their franchise tournaments. The limited spots for non-partner teams are decided by complicated multi-stage qualifying systems that resemble a seven-layer cake. The CS:GO Majors, with their open qualifying system, offer the best chance for a team like Bad News Eagles to compete on the global stage. So they put all their focus on making sure they were in the best possible shape for the European RMR leading to Rio. It was the end-all, be-all, for the team, and they passed the test by beating Eternal Fire, Astralis and forZe in the RMR. It seemed like the team could finally catch their breath, but then their participation at the event came under threat due to visa issues. In the end, it took the timely intervention of Kosovo’s Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Hajrulla Çeku, for the team to overcome another hurdle. Nothing has ever come easy for Bad News Eagles, but that’s part of their charm and one of the reasons why many rejoiced as the Kosovar team booked a place in the Legends Stage with a flawless 3-0 record following victories over 00 Nation, BIG, and GamerLegion. Hard work, consistency and persistence are the keys to Bad News Eagles’ success, team coach Klesti ‘stikle-’ Kola says. James Banks, who is helping the team free of charge, told Dexerto that he sees many similarities between their mindset and the laser focus displayed by the Luminosity/SK team when they were on the rise in 2015 and 2016. Bad News Eagles have already equaled their result from Antwerp (where they went 3-2 in the Challenger Stage), and anything that they get from the competition now will be a bonus. They looked like a solid unit in the Challengers Stage: every player did their part (though Rigon ‘rigoN’ Gashi and Dionis ‘sinnopsyy’ Budeci were a clear step above the rest), and the team displayed a phenomenal CT side (their 82.7% winrate was the highest during the first two days of the event) that is heavily based on intuition. stikle-’s job is trying to find the right balance between aggression and discipline, but for now, this style seems to be working. And the team’s confidence is unshakable. “We’re not done,” sinnopsyy said after the victory against GamerLegion. Nobody expected a (relatively) ragtag bunch of players with almost no prior tier-one experience and no financial backing to make the top 16 of a Major, and to do it not once but twice is a remarkable feat. In a scene turbocharged by blood money where the gap between the elite and the rest has never been wider, Bad News Eagles are a good reminder of the beauty that can be found in open circuits and in the stories of underdogs. “The way I see our boys is as a passionate, dedicated, and determined family,” Banks said. “They have the hunger and drive, they know what they want to achieve, this is their dream and they’ve sacrificed so much to get here. But they are not done. We are not done!”

Back from CSGO retirement, Kjaerbye joins Endpoint EndpointFormer Astralis and North CS:GO player Markus ‘Kjaerbye’ Kjærbye has signed with UK-based organization Endpoint. The announcement comes two months after the Danish player revealed in an exclusive interview with Dexerto that he was coming back to competitive CS:GO after retiring from the game in June 2021. Kjaerbye joins Endpoint as a replacement for Mohammad ‘BOROS’ Malhas, who was moved to the bench in May. He has been practicing with the team for several weeks, even playing for them as a stand-in in an open qualifier for ESL Challenger Valencia. Some Legends rise once and then fade away. A true Champion comes back for more. From 🇩🇰 to the 🇬🇧 Welcome @KjaerbyeCS 👏#NeverStop #KjaerBACK pic.twitter.com/1C7KWycjja — Endpoint CeX (@TeamEndpoint) June 7, 2022 This is the second international challenge for Kjaerbye, who remains the youngest-ever player to win a CS:GO Major. Between August 2020 and January 2021, he played for FaZe before the North American organization acquired Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dulken from Team Liquid. “I’m delighted to say I have found the ideal place to pick up my rifle again with Endpoint”, Kjaerbye said in a statement. “The people behind Endpoint, and the culture they have created, have again and again shown they have the structures to allow players to maximize their potential, which is exactly what I’m looking for.” On Endpoint, Kjaerbye will be coached by fellow Dane Allan ‘Rejin’ Petersen, who returned to activity on May 25 after serving his near 20-month ban for using the spectator bug during his time in charge of Tricked. A new version of himself Kjaerbye told Dexerto in April that he was in a much better place after struggling with mental health issues in the years that followed the highly-scrutinized transfer from Astralis to North in 2018. He had reached the top of the game with Astralis, winning ELEAGUE Major Atlanta in 2017, but he struggled to find the same level of success with North. Even more stinging for him was that Astralis went on to become the best team in the history of Counter-Strike with Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif in his place. After hanging up his mouse and keyboard, Kjaerbye worked at his father’s café and at a psychology firm. But as the weeks went on, he could feel the hunger to compete return to him. Before the end of the year, after his application to complete Denmark’s four-month military training was turned down, Kjaerbye decided it was time to ‘unretire’, though he waited until April to announce his comeback as he wanted to make sure it was not a spur-of-the-moment action. Kjaerbye believes he has found the right balance for him after adjusting his daily routines, which now include meditation, physical training and proper nutrition. His new approach goes against the sort of grind mentality that is prevalent in esports, but he has in Endpoint a believer. “There is no denying the caliber of talent and experience he will bring to the lineup,” Endpoint CEO Adam Jessop said in a statement. “After having a number of conversations with him, I fully believe that he is as passionate and focused as ever, ready to continue his CS career again, and that we can help him along that journey. “His renewed focus on physical and mental wellbeing resonates with our own objectives and was a key factor in the decision for both parties.” Kjaerbye will make his official debut for Endpoint at ESL Pro League Season 16 Conference in Jönköping, Sweden. The tournament, scheduled for June 16-20, will have six spots in the main stage of Pro League up for grabs. Endpoint CS:GO roster Max ‘MiGHTYMAX’ Heath – Kia ‘Surreal’ Man – Joey ‘CRUC1AL’ Steusel – Guy ‘Nertz’ Iluz – Markus ‘Kjaerbye’ Kjærbye – Allan ‘Rejin’ Petersen (coach) – Mohammad ‘BOROS’ Malhas (benched) –

B Site announce MonteCristo as Flashpoint Commissioner & VP of Brand Flashpoint / Riot Games B Site have appointed former Overwatch League talent and esport veteran, Christopher ‘MonteCristo’ Mykles, as Commissioner of Flashpoint and Vice President of Brand following the organizer’s first CS:GO season. MonteCristo is a giant in the realm of esports. Having served in multiple esports (in various capacities), he has accrued over 15 years of experience. Now Mykles is opening a new chapter in his storied career, as he enters the B Site fold as VP of Brand while also taking on the role of Commissioner at Flashpoint, where he will oversee official announcements alongside Creative Director, Duncan ‘Thorin’ Shields. We spoke with MonteCristo following the news. MonteCristo on Flashpoint Season 1 Coming off the back of working on Flashpoint’s inaugural season as a Talent Advisor, the 33-year-old revealed that he’s keen on bolstering the rosters and talent within the league as the team look ahead to their second outing. “Obviously, one of the things that we’re focused on right now is making sure that we have better teams and better players within the league,” Cristo revealed. As the newly appointed Commissioner, he delved into how Flashpoint and their partner teams might go about achieving their goal. “I think the main thing is just spending a lot of money. That’s personally what I hope our team owners do… We believe that this is the only way to make the scene sustainable.” MonteCristo on taking Flashpoint to new heights Speaking exclusively to Dexerto, Mykles unveiled that Flashpoint 2 would be coming at some point during the Fall of 2020. As part of building on Flashpoint’s successful first season, MonteCristo delved into what he and his team will be hoping to achieve. “What we want to do is customize our content to really resonate with whatever audience we’re working with. And with Counter-Strike, the tone that I think we’ve hit with Flashpoint is unique. “We’re also not interested in emulating any kind of traditional sports; we’re going to be doing more kinds of skits and fun content with the casters — like what we were able to do with Anders and his kind of nature documentary.” Read more: Thorin: How GuardiaN became a CSGO legend – Given that Flashpoint is generally more tailored to a more mature audience, Mykles explained how he will be using their content as a driving force in their broadcast moving forward. “We have a bar built into our set that we do our post show in. No one else is doing that. We want to be there for fans who are 25-plus — we believe that this is a very important demographic in esports.” MonteCristo on returning to the mic “There are some really excellent casters in CS:GO – people that I’ve been friends with and admired for years – and frankly, I don’t really see myself as particularly necessary in terms of entering the casting fold,” MonteCristo clarified. “In a game with such excellent commentators already. I’d be trying to play catch up with people with 10 years of Counter-Strike experience… I think it’s better that I help enable these people who are already excellent at their jobs to make excellent content.” While the legendary caster hasn’t completely ruled out a return to his craft, his new role will see him acting in the best interests of Flashpoint as a product, which as Commissioner, will be acting as the primary link between Flashpoint and the fans.

Avangar claim CS:GO pro was joking after post saying he was attacked by Christians Avangar dispelled Ali ‘Jame’ Djami’s claim of being attacked while at Katowice for the CS:GO Major as a joke, and so far the community isn’t taking too well to the announcement. Avangar is a prominent fixture in the CIS region, and were recently eliminated from IEM Katowice 2019. Jame posted a photo on Instagram with a caption announcing his “attack,” which instantly rallied the support from those who believed his story. Jame’s Instagram post quickly made its rounds on the internet and, what was supposed to be a joke, slowly started to upset some members in the community. However, a February 25 tweet from Avangar said that Jame’s claim of being attacked by “radical Christians” was false, and the player was merely making a joke. If the situation wasn’t confusing enough, in their tweet to apologize to anyone that may have been offended by Jame’s false story, Avangar ended their statement with a joke of their own. Hello CS:GO fans,@JAMEPAIN has not been attacked by anyone in Katowice. It was a joke, so please calm down and stop these threads. We apologize to everyone who’ve been offended by his style of humour. Do your part — say something kind to your folks and subscribe to @pewdiepie. pic.twitter.com/LSG4CaHMVi — AVANGAR (@avangarkz) February 25, 2019 “[Jame] has not been attacked by anyone in Katowice. It was a joke,” Avangar said. “… We apologize to everyone who’ve been offended by his style of humour. Do your part — say something kind to your folks and subscribe to pewdiepie.” Notable figures from the CS:GO scene decried the statement, pointing to the attempt at being light hearted during a serious clarification was in bad taste. Although Jame’s story has been clarified by Avangar, it seems the org now faces another problem with a joke gone bad.

Australian Crowd at IEM Sydney Stand In Hilarious Protest To Support Evicted Fan The $250,000 IEM Sydney tournament was a fantastic event with high tier Counter-Strike battles, but it was the crowd who stole show. Loud and proud for the entire tournament, the Australian fans knew how to make the event lively, with some excellent player and team chants. So when one of their fellow fans was evicted for doing a “shoey” – the crowd would not stand for it. If unfamiliar, a shoey is when an individual drinks, typically beer, from the inside of their own shoe. An Australian tradition, it has become somewhat of a tradition now at Counter-Strike events, with infamous ‘shoeys’ being done during interviews at IEM Cologne and last year’s IEM Sydney. In a truly shocking turn of events however, one fan was in fact evicted from the premises after doing a shoey, and this didn’t sit well with the rest of the patrons. So in protest, fans arranged to protest, with one even posting on Reddit to orchestrate their plans. we need your help in taking a stand against the oppresive regime of Qudos Arena security. Arena staff are pulling out innocent shoeyers left and right, but together we can unite the crowd and send them a message. Tomorrow at the start of the Caches Showmatch, me and my 8 mates will be taking part in a protest shoey. Its a risk, but hopefully if enough people see this and spread the word we can get most of the stadium to have one big protest shoey together. If any of you are in the crowd with us, please help spread the word! And of course they pulled it off, with swathes of fans standing in protest, shoe in hand. Image: u/IzzyAnyGood A nation raises their shoes in solidarity to fallen shoeyites. This is weird phenomenon. #IEMSydney #shoey #Australia #esport pic.twitter.com/MX0wUOryji — Pala James (@OfficialPala) May 5, 2018 So despite the organizer’s best efforts, it looks like the shoey tradition is here to stay.

Aussie CS:GO team embarrassed by 1v3 ninja defuse because teammate was drinking a Red Bull Australian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team Avant Gaming were stunned when an enemy player managed to ninja defuse a bomb because one of their teammates was drinking a Red Bull instead of watching the site. The team were up against Grayhound Gaming in the group stages of the ESL AUGNZ Championship Season 2 Finals, facing off against their opponents in a best of one series on Dust II. Avant found themselves 8-4 down, but it seemed like they hard Round 13 wrapped up, with three players remaining versus Chris ‘dexter’ Nong, who was the last player standing for his team. With the bomb planted at the A site, the round seemed all but over, as dexter slowly pushed around the catwalk, hoping to make a miracle play to win his team the round. Elsewhere, Avant’s Tyson “pan1K” Missak was waiting in pit with an AWP to protect the bomb when he decided to take a sip of his Red Bull, giving dexter just enough time to sneak onto the site and start to defuse. Pan1k continued to drink, unaware that the round was slipping through his fingers, as the casters watched on in disbelief as dexter got the defuse and secured the round victory. “Oh my God,” screamed caster Tim ‘brainstorm’ Dunne, as pan1k looked at his teammates with a puzzled expression. “Put that Red Bull down mate! What have you done!” Unfortunately for pan1k, his Avant Gaming squad were eliminated after losing the map 16-6, with his team winning just two rounds after his unfortunate, but hilarious, mistake. The ESL AUGNZ Championship Season 2 Finals heads into the playoff stages on Saturday, November 10, as the four remaining teams from the group stages battle it out for a share of the $30,000 AUD ($21,000 USD) prize pool.

At PGL Major Antwerp, ENCE want to seize their place in the sun Stephanie Lindgren/ESL Gaming via ESPATAt PGL Major Antwerp, ENCE are fighting to prove that they deserve a seat at the big boys’ table again after a turbulent period. For in-game leader Marco ‘Snappi’ Pfeiffer, it’s also the chance to gain the recognition that has often eluded him. There was a time when it wasn’t certain whether ENCE would ever get back on their feet. The demise of their highly-successful Finnish roster in 2020 was an ugly spectacle of infighting and calamitous leadership that played out in public fashion, exposing deep issues in a squad that in 2019 had reached the grand final of the IEM Katowice Major and won a BLAST Pro Series event. But little by little, ENCE’s name is returning to its former prominence in the CS:GO scene. As the countdown to PGL Major Antwerp hits full throttle and fans are drawn into passionate discussions about each team’s chances, ENCE are emerging as an unlikely candidate to make a deep run in Belgium. ENCE are ranked fourth in the world — the highest any of their players has ever been — and are coming off a hot streak that includes a final appearance at ESL Pro League Season 15 and a victory in the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown. Much of their success is tied to the strong partnership between Finnish coach Eetu ‘sAw’ Saha, who took the team’s reins at the end of 2020 as ENCE shifted towards an international project, and Marco ‘Snappi’ Pfeiffer, a veteran in-game leader still chasing history. The Danish player, 31, still remembers the overwhelmingly negative response when ENCE announced their new team in January 2021. “No-one really believed in the team,” Snappi tells Dexerto. “That was pretty obvious from comments everywhere.” Reading the market correctly ENCE’s early results were nothing to write home about, but as time went on, the team began picking up form, especially after replacing Aleksi ‘allu’ Jalli, who had to take a break from the game due to mental health issues. To fill the void created by the Finnish veteran, ENCE turned to a young gun in Olek ‘hades’ Miskiewicz. The Polish AWPer, who had been released by Wisla Krakow, quickly signed a permanent deal after proving an immediate sensation as a stand-in. ENCE turned a few heads with a second place at IEM Fall, but that momentum quickly evaporated after an 0-3 run in PGL Major Stockholm’s New Legends Stage and a last-place finish at IEM Winter. By the end of 2021, it was clear that ENCE had plateaued and that another roster change was needed to breathe new life into the team. After benching Joonas ‘doto’ Forss, ENCE signed Pavle ‘Maden’ Bošković, who had shown promise during his time with FunPlus Phoenix. “Maden has brought a lot of energy to the team,” Snappi says. “His energy is infectious to the entire team and he is a very positive guy. “Everyone contributes, but if I had to mention a secondary caller on the team, it would be him. He’s also a very strong entry player, he’s not afraid to go in first.” The Montenegrin player has proved to be another shrewd signing by ENCE, who have not moved away from their model of giving talented-but-unpolished players a chance to shine. Snappi is the only player on ENCE who had been in the top 10 in the rankings before; Maden is playing his first Major in Antwerp, while hades, Lotan ‘Spinx’ Giladi and Paweł ‘dycha’ Dycha were debutants in Stockholm. There’s no secret, Snappi insists. It’s all about smart spending and having a good eye for talent. “We’re not in a position like FaZe, G2 or any of these other teams who can sign a proven top 20 player,” he says. “We cannot pick the obvious ones. “I think sAw and I have done a good job of scouting and agreeing on which players we should pick up. If you are good at it, it’s honestly pretty easy to spot talent that can work. There are multiple players out there that I’m sure could come in and improve most of the top 15, top 20 teams. “Some of those teams are very good at the moment, but [for others] there are obvious signings. I just think that a lot of organizations and people are blind.” A work in progress The CS:GO community at large began viewing ENCE in a different light after the second place at ESL Pro League, but Snappi points out that the team had already shown some decent signs at IEM Katowice, Maden’s third tournament with the team. Despite finishing last, ENCE had close three-map affairs against NAVI and Astralis. By the time the Pro League event came around, Maden and the rest of the team had gelled properly. Having toned down a gear to play less aggressively at times, ENCE came out almost unscathed from a very tricky group that also included FaZe, Vitality, Outsiders and FURIA. They then had an easier route in the playoffs (fnatic, Movistar Riders and NIP) before the final against FaZe, who ran out 3-1 winners. Still, Snappi believes that the team’s run didn’t get enough credit in the scene. “People said that we had a pretty easy playoff run, which is true, but I think most of the teams would have been eliminated in the group that we had,” he argues. “They wouldn’t have even made it out of the groups.” The defeat to FaZe was a reminder of the gulf in experience between ENCE and some of the other tier-one sides. It was the first big final for most of ENCE’s players, while their opponents were able to take it as just another match. “We played really badly because of nerves,” Snappi admits. Two weeks later, they had an off day against NIP in the RMR, which cost them a spot in the Legends Stage of the Major. These are the sort of problems that a team like ENCE has to deal with, and Snappi is well familiar with the process. He is happy with the improvements that the team continues to make and highlights the depth of their map pool heading into the Major. They are ready for whatever opponents might throw at them; the rest will only come with experience. Proving his worth as an IGL Seven months later, ENCE find themselves at another Major, this time as the highest-ranked team in the Challengers Stage. (In Stockholm, when they were No.10 in the world, Heroic and Astralis were higher up in the rankings.) It will be impossible for ENCE to fly under the radar now, but Snappi doesn’t think that all this attention will make opponents more wary of his team. “I think people were already looking at us and knew we were a scary team,” he says. “So I don’t think anything has changed in that aspect. I’m more nervous about us potentially not carrying our momentum.” Snappi says that it’s coincidence, rather than design, that ENCE are this high up in the rankings on the eve of a Major. He’s not setting any goals for the tournament, but he’s confident that the team can reach the playoffs. Doing so would allow his teammates to check off another box as they are yet to play in front of a crowd. The wait is almost over. Our Major opening match tomorrow at 16:45 EEST / 15:45 CEST 🔥#EZ4ENCE #PGLMajor pic.twitter.com/LPZPmkppzb — ENCE (@ENCE) May 8, 2022 The best attribute about ENCE is their strong and cohesive group of players without a star grabbing all the attention. Everyone is going through the same process and learning together, even Snappi himself. For all his experience (he began playing competitively in 2008), this is only his third Major, and leading a team that can contend for the biggest titles is still a bit of a novelty for him. Like ENCE’s history, Snappi’s trajectory in the game isn’t a straight upward line but a mix of highs and lows. Because of this, the community perception of his value as an in-game leader has fluctuated over the years. This begs the question: Does he deserve more recognition? “When I started leading in Heroic, I got a lot of recognition that maybe wasn’t deserved because it was my first time doing it, and I wasn’t really developed as an in-game leader,” he says. “Then I went to OpTic and I think I got a lot of flack that I did not deserve. People had expectations for us to reach the top five, but the player material wasn’t there, in my opinion. “Since then, I think I have been underrated. With this team, I think people are giving me recognition again. There have been times when I’ve been overrated and times when I’ve been underrated. “I have missed out on some opportunities due to age and people believing I was outdated or something. So I’m happy to prove them wrong. I will keep doing that for some time. “Winning a tier-one trophy on LAN is something I strive to achieve, and this is the first time in my career that I actually stand a chance of doing that.”

Astralis’ Xyp9x opens up on burnout & becoming CSGO’s Clutch Minister Twitter, @Xyp9x / AstralisKnown as CS:GO’s “Clutch Minister,” Astralis’ Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Hojsleth has revealed what it takes to come through in the clutch and how he has overcome the burnout that prompted a brief departure from Counter-Strike in May 2020. With Astralis back atop the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pedestal, Xyp9x has cemented his return to the forefront of CSGO’s collective consciousness. Within months of Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander and Xyp9x rejoining the roster, the team stormed to a DreamHack Masters Winter championship on the back of a clutch run through the Lower Bracket. Now, Xyp9x has delved into the nuances of his mindset as CSGO’s most notoriously clutch player and how he’s been able to seamlessly regroup with his highly esteemed club. The clutch mindset: Perspective and experience In sports and in esports, impactful qualities like the ‘hot hand’ and ‘clutch gene’ are visibly tangible yet simultaneously nebulous. In an interview, Xyp9x has revealed precisely how he is able to reign supreme in the clutch. He’s known as the ‘Clutch Minister’ 👑 @Xyp9x discusses his strategies in those clutch situations. pic.twitter.com/yJWccS790N — Dexerto (@Dexerto) December 12, 2020 While many fans may simply attribute clutch performance to composure and a cold-blooded nature, Xyp9x examines his production on a deeper level. Noting the importance of calculations and information when a match gets tight, Xyp9x said he tries to put himself in his enemies’ shoes: “What would I do as an opponent … What would I do to surprise me?” Referencing Gla1ve’s 1v4 at Dreamhack, he describes how a perspective shift can let you know your enemies are likely to push you, rather than sit back. Read more: Astralis win DreamHack Masters Winter 2020 – Further, Xyp9x touches on a simpler aspect of the clutch factor: experience. Whether it’s in practice or in a match, the 25-year-old explains that actively learning from your missteps and successes is key to clutch performance: “The reason why I can do this is also because I sit in these situations a lot.” Xyp9x and Astralis return: Overcoming burnout Back in May 2020, Astralis lost both their “Maestro” and Clutch Minister as gla1ve and Xyp9x decided it was time to indefinitely step away from CS due to poor health. Burnout has been a major subject in the esport and Xyp9x explained why time away from competition has proved so valuable. Sleeplessness, headaches, and fatigue…@Xyp9x opens up about his break from #CSGO. pic.twitter.com/9QDOWTtVkV — Dexerto (@Dexerto) December 12, 2020 Touching on how he suffered from “sleeplessness,” “headaches,” and an inability to concentrate, the Danish rifler advises how important it is “to be aware of what your body is telling you.” Further, he believes that if he had listened to his body sooner, he probably could have taken a two-month break instead of the five months. On another level, he mentions how vital it was to have a supportive team that he knew would happily welcome him back. Astralis is back on top, the Clutch Minister has returned, and, with him, important lessons for esports competitors. Xyp9x’s reflections provide both a useful cautionary tale about fatigue as well as proof that player breaks, when supported, can prove pivotal to performance.

Astralis win IEM Katowice CS:GO Major – Recap and final placements The underdog story came to a screeching halt as Astralis tossed aside ENCE to win IEM Katowice. The Grand Final started off wonderfully as fans thought they were going to get a competitive match. Astralis pulled away early, but ENCE won four straight rounds to make things interesting. The first map featured a few unorthodox weapons, including an auto shotgun on the side of ENCE that rattled the champs a little bit. In the end Astralis showed enough resolve to take map 1 by a score of 16-11. It showed as ENCE could not keep up with Astralis, dropping the first 10 rounds to dig too big of a hole. After finally winning a round, Astralis won another four straight to take a 14-1 lead into halftime. ENCE showed flashes of what got them to the Grand Final in the second half, but it was not enough as Astralis closed on Inferno with ease. Astralis now firmly enters the argument of greatest team of all time, winning back to back majors without dropping a single map.

Astralis & Vitality still better than NAVI | BLAST Global Finals review with Richard Lewis & Launders With BLAST’s Global Finals at a close, big brains Richard Lewis and Mohan ‘Launders’ Govindasamy sit down to discuss the event and CSGO in 2021. NAVI battled through the Lower Bracket to take the lion’s share of $1 million at BLAST Premier Global Finals, but does this cement them as the best Counter-Strike team in the world? Richard and Launders discuss this and a variety of other topics, including Complexity’s issues and whether Justin ‘jks’ Savage is the man for the job. The pair also touches on Evil Geniuses’s need to improve, and how Vitality needs to do better than third place going forward into 2021. The pair were originally sympathetic to Complexity’s struggles with Valentin ‘poizon’ Vasilev’s absence from the team due to major surgery, but now tend to lean towards being more critical of the team. As a replacement for Owen ‘oBo’ Schlatter, star-player jks was expected to do great things within the team – but does their still underwhelming performance highlight a deeper issue? Comparatively, with over a month to draw up new team-tactics to improve their fighting chances, they believe that when it comes to Evil Geniuses, ultimately, we got the very same team of old – and their performance still left much to be desired. For the full break-down of their views on BLAST and Vitality and NAVI’s performances, make sure to check out the full discussion in the video above. For all CSGO news and events, make sure to drop by our dedicated Counter-Strike hub.

Astralis trio become first CS:GO players to break $1 million prize money mark – Top 20 highest earning players StarSeriesFor the first time in the history of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, players can say that they have made over $1 million in prize money. Breaking the million dollar mark in winnings for any game is an impressive achievement, and virtually every professional player to have ever done so has been a Dota 2 star. But November 25 saw three CS:GO players join the likes of League of Legends star Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok in that very exclusive list of esports millionaires that have never won Dota’s ‘The International’. If you follow Counter-Strike, you probably won’t be surprised to hear that all three of those players are members of Astralis – the Danish team that has dominated the 2018 season and continued to do so with a victory at the ECS Season 6 finals on Sunday. The longest serving members of the roster, Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz, Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen and Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth, all surpassed the $1 million threshold with their hard-fought victory over MIBR in the ECS Grand Final in Arlington – a win that netted the team $250,000. Interestingly, two of the men that they beat in that nail-biting match, Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo and Fernando ‘fer’ Alvarenga, are their closest competitors for prize money, followed by their in-game leader Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander and another MIBR star, Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David. Even Astralis’ newest addition, Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif has broken into the 15 highest earning CS:GO players, currently sitting just under $630,000 earned. This alone proves how strong the team has been since adding the former North and OpTic star in February (each player has netted over $450,000 in 2018). Xyp9x currently holds the number one spot in earnings from CS:GO, sitting at $1,038,721.90, with dupreeh just behind him with $1,035,922.74. Dev1ce is lagging behind his two long-time teammates slightly, but can still boast an impressive $1,003,423.21 despite a number of setbacks. Prolonged health issues marred the 23-year-old’s 2017 season and forced him to miss events like ECS Season 4 and BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen at the end of the year, meaning he missed out on a fair chunk of money that both Xyp9x and dupreeh were able to cash in on. The top 20 highest earning CS:GO pros on November 26 2018, according to esportsearnings.com, can be found below. As you can see, a number of legends, including the likes of f0rest, GeT_RiGhT, shox, TaZ and kennyS, are no longer anywhere to be seen.

Astralis Team and Fans Incredible Reactions to Winning the ECS Season 5 Finals FACEIT/YouTubeECS Season 5 has now come to a close with Astralis cementing themselves as unquestionably the world’s best Counter-Strike team with victory over Team Liquid. The London crowd provided an excellent example of how the UK audiences will help light up the events still to come this year, namely the FACEIT Major in September. And with $250,000 on the line for the first place prize the pressure was on for the worlds top teams, and Dexerto was there to capture all the reactions immediately after Astralis’ big win. The crowd especially stole the show once again, as things got particularly lively in the VIP sections, and of course the Astralis roster were on top of the world. More: Astralis win ECS Season 5 Finals Beating Team Liquid in Grand Final – Highlights and Final Placements – The job wasn’t done yet, but Astralis knew how much their narrow win on map 1 meant, just edging it out 16-14. g1ave looked particularly relieved to have prevented overtime. @Astralisgg react to winning map 1 16-14, with a huge final frag for @dev1ce Bet on the ECS with @RivalryGLHF // FREE $1.50, no deposit: https://t.co/3dLMQwWZzT pic.twitter.com/vCQ4nI6qDI — Dexerto.com (@Dexerto) June 10, 2018 And the squad celebrated appropriately after their win, as they clearly set themselves up as the team to beat in global CS. EPIC Player reaction, as @Astralisgg celebrate winning the @ECS Season 5 Finals in London, England.#Iconic Bet on the ECS with @RivalryGLHF // FREE $1.50, no deposit: https://t.co/3dLMQwWZzT pic.twitter.com/uCOQi6QwtI — Dexerto.com (@Dexerto) June 10, 2018 But of course it was the fans who really got into it, and the Astralis fans sitting in the front row couldn’t help themselves from a quick stage invasion. The hilarious fan reaction to @Astralisgg winning the ECS Season 5 Finals!!! Tops off, straight on stage. Bet on the ECS with @RivalryGLHF // FREE $1.50, no deposit: https://t.co/3dLMQwWZzT pic.twitter.com/PHJhhUZQo4 — Dexerto.com (@Dexerto) June 10, 2018 And the celebrations in the VIP section went on, with maybe a few of these gentlemen waking up with a sore head in the morning it was surely all worth it. Meanwhile in VIP… More fan react to @Astralisgg winning the @ECS Season 5 Finals Bet on the ECS with @RivalryGLHF // FREE $1.50, no deposit: https://t.co/3dLMQwWZzT pic.twitter.com/lv1njTWPqH — Dexerto.com (@Dexerto) June 10, 2018 The most significant moment though was Astralis finally hoisting the trophy and receiving their medals. Astralis’ Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander also explained how the team has cut out ‘choking’ and has begun closing out the important matches – something they will be hoping to replicate on their next trip to London in September. And finally, here’s the moment @Astralisgg lifted the trophy and received their medals for winning @ECS Finals Season 5. More fan react to @Astralisgg winning the @ECS Season 5 Finals Bet on the ECS with @RivalryGLHF // FREE $1.50, no deposit: https://t.co/3dLMQwWZzT pic.twitter.com/DMNdxvr0yN — Dexerto.com (@Dexerto) June 10, 2018 Interview with @gla1ve_csgo after his @Astralisgg team won the @ECS Finals. ► The evolution of Astralis ► The hyped crowd here at the ECS Finals ► Playing in front of his brotherBet on the ECS with @RivalryGLHF // FREE $1.50, no deposit: https://t.co/3dLMQwWZzT pic.twitter.com/wyuDwhzg8E — Dexerto.com (@Dexerto) June 10, 2018 FACEIT CS:GO will return to the capital for the Minor championships, taking place at the Twickenham Stadium in July. More: Cloud9’s RUSH Discusses the Future of the Team Following a Poor ECS Season 5 Finals Performance – And then the FACEIT London Major will take place in September 2018, which Astralis will go into as ‘New Challengers’ due to their 12th-14th finish at the ELEAGUE Boston Major. However if they can keep their current form, they will no doubt enter as favorites, following their recent string of dominant performances.

Astralis star Magisk surprises himself with insane CSGO play Magisk is part of a generation of young Danes that have taken over the Counter-Strike scene under the Astralis banner. Expectations of him are high, but he managed to surprise even himself with an insane play against Fnatic. Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif joined Astralis in February 2018 after a brief stint with OpTic Gaming and has since won and achieved more than many esports veterans could dream of, including three consecutive Majors and over $1 million in prize winnings. You would think there isn’t much that could shock Magisk – he knows how good he is, and he’s provided some outstanding moments in the last couple of years, but managed to surprise even himself with a play in the ESL Pro League. Coming up against Fnatic on October 16, tied 9-9 in the second map, Magisk hit a quick 3K with the Desert Eagle pistol. He took down Freddy ‘KRIMZ’ Johansson, Jesper ‘JW’ Wecksell and Maikil ‘Golden’ Kunda Selim, including a wallbang headshot on KRIMZ. What was best about the clip, though, was Magisk’s reaction afterward: clearly overjoyed and in disbelief at what he had done, laughing jovially and winking to the camera after fist-bumping his teammates. It’s rare you see a player beaming like that outside of winning a tournament, but it’s fair to say the play deserves it – not many people could hit a clip like that, especially not with just a Desert Eagle against a top-tier professional team. The two Scandinavian teams are amongst some of the most popular in Europe, with a rich combination of history and glory between them, but right now Astralis definitely edges out the Swedish team when it comes to winning. Next up for Astralis is BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen 2019, where they will face off against FaZe Clan, Natus Vincere and Ninjas in Pyjamas, as well as North American teams Cloud9 and Team Liquid. They currently sit in second place in the BLAST Pro Series standings on 22 points, behind only Team Liquid who has 26. That could change with a win in Copenhagen, but both teams have already confirmed their spots at the finals in Bahrain.

Astralis star k0nfig in doubt for IEM Rio CSGO Major qualifier Stephanie Lindgren/BLASTAstralis could be without the services of Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke for the upcoming RMR tournament leading to the IEM Rio Major. k0nfig is likely to spend a period on the sidelines after suffering “a complicated ankle fracture” that leaves him in doubt for the upcoming RMR, the qualifying event for the Rio Major. Mikkel ‘MistR’ Thomsen, who plays for Astralis’ academy squad, has been added to the main roster and could feature for the team at the event if necessary. It is unclear how long k0nfig will be out for, but even if he is deemed fit to play at the RMR, the news will certainly rock Astralis’ preparation for this season-defining event. If Astralis fail to finish top eight at this 16-team tournament, they will miss their first Major since the organization was launched, in 2016. k0nfig’s injury places even more pressure on Astralis, who have been unable to challenge for trophies this year. Since returning from the player break, the Danish team have placed 7th-9th in the BLAST Premier Fall Groups and 13th-16th in ESL Pro League Season 16. k0nfig has been with Astralis since November 2021, when he joined the Danish giants together with his Complexity teammate Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer. While playing for Complexity, he broke a wrist in a freak accident at an airport and ended up missing several weeks of action.

Astralis star k0nfig admits to Malta fistfight: “Scared I was about to die” Stephanie Lindgren/BLASTDanish CS:GO star Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke has revealed that he feared for his life during an altercation in Malta that resulted in a complicated ankle fracture. k0nfig had to sit out last week’s European RMR, the qualifying event for the upcoming IEM Rio Major, after fracturing his ankle in the lead-up to the tournament. News outlet Jaxon revealed shortly afterward that the injury had been the result of a scuffle with a nightclub promoter in Malta, where his Astralis team was staying for ESL Pro League Season 16. On October 10, Astralis announced that they had reached an agreement with k0nfig for the cancellation of his contract, in an effort to give the player “space and time” to recover, according to Kasper Hvidt, the organization’s Director of Sports. Despite initially labeling Jaxon’s story “mostly BS”, k0nfig has now confirmed that he was involved in a fight that began when he was denied entrance into a nightclub in Paceville where was due to join his teammates. “The entrance of the nightclub was at the top of this staircase leading into the club,” k0nfig wrote in a Twitlonger post. “I walked up the staircase and asked the guy who appeared to be in charge if I could join my friends and explained that they had already gone in. “Instead of just saying no, he dissed my tattoos and said that it was ‘his fucking club’ and that I was a “tattooed loser” and that there was no way he would let me in, except if I paid 5,000 euros for a table. He was aggressive and I felt humiliated so we got into an argument. “I told him he was the loser for standing in a nightclub queue and feeling better than everyone else and then suddenly he spat me directly in my face and kicked me straight in my face. It made me fall down the stairs and sprain my foot.” k0nfig added that, after sitting on the pavement outside the club, in a state of “total shock” and confusion, he spotted the nightclub promoter leaving the premises and chased after him. “When I caught up with him, I said I would report it to the police and he immediately spat at me once again and cursed at me, which infuriated me,” he said. “We got into a fight, and he broke my leg and I fell to the ground. He was kicking me multiple times in my head while I was laying down. I tried getting away from the situation but I couldn’t because of the broken leg. I tried to run away but I couldn’t put weight on my right leg. It just snapped and broke completely, dislocating my foot as well. He stopped kicking me because I dragged him down to me and I had to defend myself to make him stop kicking me. “I was so scared that I was about to die. I remember feeling like I was watching my own body from above laying there.” Looking back, k0nfig admitted that he “terribly” regrets the decision to confront the nightclub promoter again. “I should have walked away,” he said. “I should have just gone home and licked my wounds because then none of this would have happened.” k0nfig talks about his future Teamless and out of action for an undetermined period of time, k0nfig said that he has been “in a really deep dark place” since the incident. He returned to Denmark on September 22 and has since undergone two surgeries to fix his broken ankle. “When I came home I broke down crying, I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel,” k0nfig said. “It felt so fucking bad that I just wanted to delete everything and just give up. I couldn’t stop crying. I was in my own bed feeling empty.” k0nfig leaves Astralis after less than a year on the team, having been signed alongside Complexity teammate Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer in November 2021. The team has failed to live up to the hype generated by those two high-profile signings, with IEM Rio being the first Major that Astralis will miss since the organization was created, in 2016. One of the biggest ‘what if’ stories in the CS:GO scene, k0nfig is determined to return to action soon. He will start seeing a psychologist soon as he hopes to address some of the issues that have prevented him from realizing his potential. “My mindset is moving forward,” he said. “Moving forward but seeing the demon in the eyes. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll turn this downfall into something positive. “This is not who I am. I don’t give up. I’ll do what is needed to become the god-tier Counter-Strike player that I know I can be.”

Astralis Star Device Releases Statement on His Health Issues After Falling Ill Again at IEM Sydney DreamHack / Adela SznajderAstralis’ Nicolai ‘device’ Reedtz has released a statement about his ongoing health issues that have been plaguing him since the latter half of 2017. Widely regarded as one of the best CS:GO players on Earth, device was forced to miss the end of the 2017 season due to undisclosed health issues which occurred around the time of IEM Oakland. The Danish AWPer returned to action in time for the ELEAGUE Boston Major in January but still seemed to be performing below his usual high standards. It wasn’t until DreamHack Masters Marseille in April that he finally started to seem like himself again in the server. Astralis came into IEM Sydney as one of the heavy favorites to take the title and device helped to lead the team to the semifinals after going unbeaten in the group stages. However, on May 4th, just one day before their semifinal match, device took to Twitter to say that he would be missing the team’s scheduled autograph session due to feeling sick. A few hours later the 22 year old released a TwitLonger statement revealing that his ongoing issues are the result of severe stress-induced Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and acid reflux which has caused him to change his lifestyle significantly and often flares up when he is travelling and playing a lot. “The conclusion of these meetings were that I had stress-caused IBS, acid reflux – in general a really over sensitive stomach. Something that would change my lifestyle/way of living. After that I haven’t been able to put that many things into my body, it’s a constant struggle trying to figure out what triggers and being under immense stress and pressure with traveling and performance has surely taken a toll on me these past months. Even though in periods things are looking bright I get reminded every day that I haven’t found a balance of things yet. I still live in pain, being uncomfortable and feeling nausea/sick/vomiting is probably never going to go away while I am doing this.” Device went on to explain that he was releasing the statement due to feeling bad about missing out on certain things that his teammates have been working on. Unfortunately, with an issue like IBS, there is never any real cure and diet/stress management are the best ways of trying to keep it under control. Device’s lifestyle is certainly not conducive to keeping all of those factors under control but he seems determined to try to find ways around it. Hopefully the superstar player will feel better in time for his semifinal match on May 5th.

Astralis sign Staehr and b0RUP as part of CSGO team rebuild AstralisAstralis have announced that they have completed the double signing of Staehr and b0RUP as the CS:GO team undergoes a summer rebuild. Victor ‘Staehr’ Staehr joins Astralis from German organization Sprout for an undisclosed fee, while Johannes ‘b0RUP’ Borup was picked up on a free transfer. The two additions are part of an overhaul of Astralis’ CS:GO division that began on June 21, when the Danish organization parted ways with Director of Sports Kasper Hvidt and controversial Head Analyst Nicolai ‘HUNDEN’ Petersen. Making way for the two new players are legendary in-game leader Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander and young player Alexander ‘Altekz’ Givskov. The former has been placed on the bench, while the latter is returning to Astralis’ academy squad. Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth, who had been playing for Astralis Talent since April, has also been benched by the organization. This leaves Nicolai ‘device’ Reedtz as the only starting player left from the iconic Astralis lineup that won a record four Majors and dominated the CS:GO circuit in 2018 and 2019. With gla1ve removed from the starting lineup, the in-game leadership responsibilities will be placed on Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer, as reported by HLTV.org on June 21. Astralis sign Staehr and b0RUP The announcement brings an end to a protracted saga involving Astralis and Staehr. The 18-year-old, one of Denmark’s most promising players, had been on Astralis’ wishlist since the end of 2022, but the Danish organization had been unable to reach an agreement with Sprout. But with the player’s contract running out at the end of 2023, Sprout finally relented and agreed to a transfer. Astralis’ signing of b0RUP, on the other hand, comes as a huge surprise. The 23-year-old has struggled to find a stable team since being removed from Heroic’s team in February 2021. He last played for Copenhagen Flames, a Danish organization that filed for bankruptcy in May. “I am extremely happy that we have agreed with Sprout on an immediate transfer of ‘Staehr’, who is undoubtedly one of the biggest Danish CS talents of the past 5 years,” Astralis head coach Peter ‘casle’ Ardenskjold said in a statement. “It’s an open secret, we’ve had a good eye for him for a long time, and in terms of what we want with the team, he fits in perfectly. I am looking forward to working with him and helping him to really develop his potential further. “In relation to b0RUP, he is a player we know well. He has been brought in for the specific role in the system we want to play and I expect him to contribute a lot to the team and his teammates. He is only 23, but he brings in a lot of useful experience, and with these five players on the roster, I have a strong belief, we have found a better balance in the team and will come out with a lot of energy and firepower.” Meanwhile, Astralis have announced that academy coach Mathias ‘r0nic’ Pinholt has been promoted to the main team to assist casle. The new Astralis lineup will make its first appearance in the BLAST Premier Fall Groups, scheduled for July 13-23. Later that month, the team will also attend IEM Cologne 2023. Astralis CS:GO lineup: Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz – Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer – Victor ‘Staehr’ Staehr – Christian ‘Buzz’ Andersen – Johannes ‘b0RUP’ Borup – Peter ‘casle’ Ardenskjold (coach) – Mathias ‘R0nic’ Pinholt (assistant coach) – Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Høsjleth (bench) – Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander (bench) –

Astralis sign k0nfig & blameF to CSGO team AstralisAstralis have announced that they have bolstered their CS:GO squad with the addition of former Complexity duo Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke and Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer. The two players will join the Danish team immediately to replace Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif and Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen, who will be leaving Astralis following the expiry of their contracts at the end of the year. The two arrivals signed for Astralis on free transfers after being released by Complexity in October. K0nfig, who was out of action for almost two months after fracturing his right wrist, had been widely expected to sign for the Danish giants. Announcing @k0nfigCS and @blameFFFFF. Welcome to the #AstralisFamily — Astralis Counter-Strike (@AstralisCS) November 4, 2021 “In my previous organizations, I sometimes had the feeling of ‘being my own island’,” k0nfig told Astralis’ website. “In Astralis, though, it feels like you are stepping into a family with people around you who are all working for the same goal. “That’s something I think you bring to the server, and I will do everything I can to contribute with the same passion and energy, and hopefully to ultimately add a Major star or two to the jersey.” “When Astralis calls, you need really good arguments to hang up, and the conversations I’ve had just confirm my impression: This is where I want to be now and going forwards!” blameF added. “These are some huge shoes to fill in, but I feel I can bring something new to the team and that I can make a real difference.” Meanwhile, Astralis have announced that Alexander ‘ave’ Holdt will be taking over as the team’s new head coach. The 33-year-old, who was part of the iconic mTw squad in CS 1.6, was last seen coaching North in 2019. Ave, who will join the team “the soonest possible”, according to Astralis, will replace his former mTw teammate Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen at the helm of the Danish squad. HLTV.org had reported in July that zonic was considering his options as he was about to enter the final months of his contract with the organization. End of an era The news marks the end of the most dominant lineup core in CS:GO history. dupreeh has been part of Astralis since the organization was launched, in January 2016, with Magisk joining the team two years later, after Markus ‘Kjaerbye’ Kjærbye had left for North. With Magisk on the roster, Astralis reached a new level of performance, adding three Major crowns to the ELEAGUE Major Atlanta 2017 trophy, and winning countless other titles, including the $1 million Intel Grand Slam Season 1 title. After an up-and-down 2020 campaign, Astralis began 2021 on the wrong foot, and things went from bad to worse when star player Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz left for Ninjas in Pyjamas in a shocking move. With the other longtime players entering the final months of their contracts, there were doubts about what the team would look like in 2022. In July, Luke ‘gla1ve’ Rossander signed a new three-year contract, while Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth penned a four-year deal in October after flirting with the idea of exploring his options. But question marks remained over dupreeh and Magisk. The two players made their final appearance for Astralis at PGL Major Stockholm. The Danish team finished 12th-14th after posting a 1-3 record in the New Legends Stage. “Everyone in Astralis works hard to push the boundaries of what we can accomplish and to progress every single day. We aim to win with positive energy, chins up and chests out!” said Kasper Hvidt, Director of Sports at Astralis. “That is why we extended the contracts “gla1ve” and “Xypex” who are both strong bearers of our culture, and that is why we chose to bring in the young talent “Lucky”, when new energy was needed. “This is also why we now choose to advance the already planned change: To immediately eliminate the insecurities and to ensure the clarity and focus we need to create the best possible conditions for everybody on and around the team. “We add two world-class players and a new, strong coach profile who all bring a lot of energy and motivation to build on the strong Astralis legacy and to again be a contender for the biggest titles.” The new Astralis squad will make their official debut at the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2021, scheduled for November 24-28. The tournament will take place at the Royal Arena, in Copenhagen, with $425,000 on offer. Astralis CS:GO Roster: Luke “gla1ve” Rossander – Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth – Lucas “Bubzkji” Andersen – Benjamin “blameF” Bremer – Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke – Philip “Lucky” Ewald –

Astralis sign Farlig to CSGO team AstralisAstralis have completed the signing of former GODSENT and FunPlus Phoenix player Asger ‘Farlig’ Jensen, the Danish organization has announced. The Danish AWPer joins Astralis on a free transfer following his release from FunPlus Phoenix in January after a year-long tenure with the Chinese organization. He will take over the AWP from Philip ‘Lucky’ Ewald, who has struggled to make an impact for the team since joining Astralis in August 2021. In the group stage of IEM Katowice, he averaged a 0.95 HLTV rating and 0.23 AWP kills per round as the team crashed out of the tournament in 7th-8th place. Astralis will hope that the arrival of a more proven AWPer will inject new life into a roster that has struggled to live up to the hype generated by the high-profile signings of Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke and Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer in November. The team showed some promise in their first tournament, placing third at the BLAST Premier Fall Final, but results have been mixed ever since. Astralis are currently ranked 7th in the world by HLTV.org. “I probably say the same thing as most other players would say: Astralis is a team and an organization that most players can only dream of playing for, with a massive fan base who supports the team in thick and thin,” Farlig said in a statement. “I am really looking forward to being able to call myself an Astralis player and I will do everything to prove I am the right choice. I know, I will need to deliver relatively quickly so that we can get this team where we belong, and even though everyone is preaching “patience”, I just want to get started and help the team prove itself.” 🇬🇧 He is dangerous. 🇩🇰 Han er farlig.Welcome @farligcs to the #AstralisFamily. Read: https://t.co/bCbnmqLg6i pic.twitter.com/F7c3B3rtPg— Astralis Counter-Strike (@AstralisCS) February 22, 2022 Who is Farlig? Farlig burst onto the international scene in 2019 as part of Copenhagen Flames, a Danish organization that has developed a reputation in recent years for developing young talent. His strong performances with the AWP earned him a move to GODSENT in May 2020 as a replacement for Mikail ‘Maikelele’ Bill. At the beginning of 2021, GODSENT sold their team to FunPlus Phoenix, one of the founding partners of the Flashpoint CS:GO league. In November, however, the organization decided to pull the plug on the project following the team’s failure to qualify for PGL Major Stockholm. Farlig is now the third member of that FPX squad to have found a new home, after Pavle ‘Maden’ Bošković linked up with ENCE, and Martin ‘STYKO’ Styk joined Apeks. Jesse ‘zehN’ Linjala and Luka ‘emi’ Vuković’s future is still up in the air. Astralis are one of the seven teams already confirmed for PGL Major Antwerp’s European RMR A alongside NAVI, Heroic, Virtus.pro, Vitality, Copenhagen Flames, and ENCE. This means that they have the luxury of skipping the nerve-racking open qualifiers and can focus on their next tournament, ESL Pro League Season 15, which will start on March 9. Astralis CS:GO Roster: Luke ‘gla1ve’ Rossander – Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth – Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer – Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke – Asger ‘Farlig’ Jensen – Philip ‘Lucky’ Ewald (benched) –

Astralis sign 19-year-old Buzz to complete CS:GO roster for 2023 AstralisAstralis have added 19-year-old Christian ‘Buzz’ Andersen to their senior CS:GO squad as they continue to reshape their roster ahead of 2023. Over the last few months, Astralis have been reshaping their Counter-Strike roster as they look to get back to the top of the mountain and reclaim their spot as the dominant team in CS:GO. The Danes have injected some new blood to their once dominant core, but recently reunited Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander, Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth, and Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz when they brought dev1ce back from Ninjas in Pyjamas following the IEM Rio Major. That trio had been joined by the experienced Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer and newcomer Mikkel ‘MistR’ Thomsen, with the 18-year-old Dane standing in as a temporary sub from their Astralis Talent squad. Now, they’ve found a fifth in the form of Buzz. Astralis add Buzz to CS:GO roster The 19-year-old’s move to Astralis was confirmed by the Danish squad on December 22, as he joins up with them from MASONIC, who he’d been playing for since August. “I am very happy and really proud. I have studied and looked up to the players on the Astralis team for several years, and in many ways, that has shaped me as a CS player,” Buzz said upon joining up with the powerhouse squad. “The fact that I can now call myself an Astralis player on a team with several of those players and in the role I’ve always imagined is just crazy cool.” Buzz has been competing in CS:GO for almost 18 months, and has been on a number of Danish rosters to this point. He started out with AAB and AGF before joining up with MAD Lions for a short stint. The jump to Astralis will naturally bring plenty of expectation, given how the Danes had previously ruled Counter-Strike for so long and want to get to that point with their core trio. Astralis’ roster for 2023 looks like: Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander – Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer – Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz – Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth – Christian ‘Buzz’ Andersen –

Astralis set to acquire new CSGO player in shock move StarLadderDanish CSGO powerhouse Astralis are set to sign a new member to their ranks without the intention of replacing any of the starting five already on the payroll. A deal that would have sent Heroic’s Patrick ‘es3tag’ Hansen, along with the rest of the team, to Global Offensive newcomers FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) has fallen through, first reported by HLTV.org and 1pv.fr. Though the team transfer was officially announced by Heroics and FPX, Astralis managed to pry the 24-year-old AWPer and add him to their already impressive pool of talent. Even though CSGO supports a five-man team, Astralis will not announce any departures from their three-time Major-winning squad. Read more: Top 20 most expensive CSGO skins in history – Update, March 22, 11:05 AM EST: Astralis CEO Nikolaj Nyholm has confirmed that es3tag will officially join the team on July 1, 2020, at the end of his current contract with Heroic. Although they attempted to sign him early, Heroic asked for an $800,000 buyout for the three remaining months on his contract. Facts about Astralis’ signing of Patrick ‘@es3tag’ Hansen, who is signed as of July 1, 2020. Tweetstorm inbound, but also see screenshot: pic.twitter.com/wFKgAdTF8v — Nikolaj Nyholm (@nikolaj) March 22, 2020 The Danish devils haven’t made changes to their CSGO team since 2018, when the org parted ways with Markus ‘Kjaerbye’ Kjærbye and replaced him with Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif. In the year-and-a-half after the deal, Astralis went on a legendary tear through the Counter-Strike scene that saw them earn 16 trophies in stacked tournaments – all the while holding World Rank #1 for a record-breaking 406 consecutive days. However, the new decade has been less than kind to the dominant Danes, at least for their standards. Before earning the top honors at the StarLadder Berlin Major, 2019 had been shaky for Astralis. Though it seemed impossible at the height of their power, it actually looked like the rest of the CSGO scene had caught up to the team in terms of firepower and tactical prowess. Coming off a 3rd-4th finish at Intel Extreme Masters XIV, Astralis are currently 2-1 in group play at the ESL Pro League Season 11, sitting in fourth place. As for FPX, they have already been fielding the Heroics lineup, along with es3tag, in Flashpoint Season 1. Questions now remain in the aftermath of the Astralis acquisition: How will Astralis marry es3tag to their plans of becoming the world’s best again? What will become of the Heroic lineup as it becomes a four-man roster? Can the League of Legends Worlds champ FPX assemble another top team, this time in CSGO? With Flashpoint well underway and Astralis competing in the ESL Pro League, expect the answers to those predicaments to come sooner than later.

Astralis search for Xyp9x replacement as he reportedly steps down DreamHackDanish CS:GO legend Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth is reportedly no longer starting for Astralis, with the organization now exploring their options for a replacement. In a report from DBLTAP, sources say that Xyp9x has not been practicing with the team of late, with coach Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen stepping in for the meantime. The news comes only a week after Astralis’ veteran in-game leader Lukas ‘Gla1ve’ Rossander stepped down from the starting lineup due to health problems related to “burnout and stress.” Astralis has been playing with Jakob ‘JUGi’ Hansen in Gla1ve’s place, and Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif is expected to be filling the boots of IGL left vacant. But, with the clutch minister now also out of the lineup, Astralis are in an even trickier spot, and have inquired about NiP’s Jonas ‘Lekr0’ Olofsson and Heroic’s Patrick ‘es3tag’ Hansen (who is joining Astralis when his contract ends), according to DBLTAP. Toughest decision of my life. Read: https://t.co/iO61jvOMzV — Łukasz Rossander (@gla1ve_csgo) May 19, 2020 DBLTAP’s Dekay explains that the cause and length of Xyp9x’s absence from the team is unknown, but is expected to be out for the duration of DreamHack Masters. Although Astralis have tried to acquire es3tag’s services before his contract with Heroic officially expires, these negotiations have apparently failed. Another CS:GO insider, neL, reports that Astralis also asked Vitality about British player Alex ‘ALEX’ McMeekin, but were similarly turned down. They even asked Vitality for ALEX actually, but Vitality said no as they are in the same group in BLAST Showdown. Astralis is not in a good situation at all. https://t.co/jqb2vUIrIG — neL (@neLendirekt) May 27, 2020 Despite missing Gla1ve, the roster put their best foot forward in their group stage matches as DreamHack Masters Spring, finishing 2-1. Their next match is now not until June 9, so they do have some time to prepare, though it is possible zonic will be joining the server for this match, if a replacement can’t be arranged in time.

Astralis reunited: the stats behind their road to redemption at BLAST Fall Considered one of the greatest CS:GO teams of all-time, Astralis have broken records and history with their four consecutive wins. All in all, they’re regarded as five of the best players in the game. They stamped their legacy after winning the previous three Majors, but a jam-packed calendar caught up with their In-game Leader and Clutch Minister, seeing them take an extended leave of absence. But after months of waiting, the coveted five made their long-awaited return during BLAST Premier’s Fall Regular Season. The Danes were looking to make a splash during their comeback, but G2 Esports’ debutant, Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač, had something to say about that. Completing their roster with Emil “Magisk” Reif back in 2018, the team has never gained or lost players. Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander and Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth both decided to take an extended break in 2020, leading the team to try out fresh, new talent. Prior to gla1ve eventually returning after a 3-month hiatus, the team had a string of subpar performances, placing poorly at events including BLAST Premier Spring 2020. It’s clear that the team has struggled to adjust to this online era, going so far as 140 days without a single win. While the team managed to take down G2, they couldn’t quite manage it in the rematch against them. NiKo came in hot, dominating the plays with 85 frags, and a 1.40 HLTV rating. While this event was their first match together in some time, it was clear that their spark and synergy is still electric – highlighting the enormous potential for them to retake the crown as CS:GO’s best team out there.

Stuchiu’s Standpoint: Astralis Return to Spite Liquid and Win the Major StarLadderThe StarLadder Berlin Major was supposed to be the crowning achievement of the CSGO circuit in the last few months. They won six of the seven tournaments they attended from May to July and crafted an era. But Liquid’s incredible form has woken Astralis, who made an incredible return to form at the Major. Astralis in Hibernation The beginning of 2019 opened with the IEM Katowice Major, where Astralis won their second Major to cap off their era. The lineup of Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz, Peter ‘Dupreeh’ Rasmussen, Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Hojsleth, Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander, and Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif had done the unthinkable. Astralis had established the most dominant era of CS:GO history and won back-to-back Majors. Those victories sealed their place as the greatest lineup of all time. Standing at the pinnacle of all CS:GO history was overly satisfying as Astralis lost their fire soon and took a prolonged break. They avoided attending S-Tier events and this caused their form to suffer and ring rust to accumulate. The Astralis machine had seemingly went into hibernation. In the vacuum of their absence, Liquid became ascendant. By the time Astralis realized what was going on, it was too late to stop them. Astralis failed to get back to their 2018 form and could only watch as Liquid speed ran through the IEM Grand Slam and become the best team in the world. While it was a bitter pill to swallow, Astralis knew that they still had one big chance to stop the hype train at the StarLadder Berlin Major. The Major Run Astralis started shaky in the Legends stage. They had two easy wins in their first rounds as they smashed through DreamEaters and G2 Esports, but lost 0-2 to NRG Esports in the third round match. NRG stole an epic map on Train that went to five overtimes, on incredible individual skill. This loss tilted Astralis mentally and NRG swept them out of the second game. Astralis went on to win their fourth round match against CR4ZY 2-1. It was a good performance, but was not anywhere close to their 2018 prime. So when the Astralis vs Liquid quarterfinals were drawn, it looked like Liquid was going to run away with the match. Liquid had also struggled in the group stages, but their overall form in the recent months and map pool seemed to be in better shape than Astralis. Things looked even worse in the map veto, as Astralis picked Vertigo into Liquid. It was a shocking move as underdogs had been using Vertigo to upset better teams. While Liquid weren’t great on the map, they still had a record of 5-0 on it. Before the match started, it looked to be a 50/50 coinflip. Liquid then got to pick Overpass, their best map. What looked to be a mistake from the outside was actually a clever trap on Astralis’ part. The Danes used Vertigo’s architecture and their utility usage to nullify Liquid’s individual skill. This netted them a 8-7 half on their T-side. On the CT-side, Astralis used aggressive smokes, timings, and setups to bamboozle Liquid. In one of the first rifle rounds, they smoked off A ramp and had Magisk do a quick flank to kill Liquid’s offense. Each time Liquid tried to move forward, Astralis pulled a new trick out ofthe hat, whether it was Dupreeh and Magisk catching Jake ‘Stewie2K’ Yip by himself near B stairs, performing a late flank, or switching up the AWP angles of dev1ce. In the second map of the series, Astralis tactically outplayed Liquid. The first half was Liquid favored as they went 9-6 on the T-side of Overpass. Going into the second half, Liquid looked favored to win the map as they were the best Overpass team and their CT-side was the best in the world. Instead the tactics of gla1ve came into play. Gla1ve is a master tactician, and one of his best attributes is making and ordering executes that can break the enemy’s morale. This is what happened in the second half of Overpass as he ordered hit after hit on the B site. The genius thing about gla1ve is the variation and execution of each subsequent hit. In the 19th round, he had the team do a dry contact play and slowly walk into the site. In the 20th, he used an execute that blinded the triple stack that Liquid had towards sewers. In the 22nd, he feigned mid control with two smokes and a molly. This ploy baited Liquid into rotating towards water and when the hit came in, the smokes and flashes isolated the three players at B and nullified any potential crossfires. Astralis then used the same smoke setup but went towards toilets instead. Gla1ve read that Nicholas ‘nitr0’ Cannella and Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablownski were playing a more aggressive setup to get more info and could rotate to B if Astralis made the hit. However, such a play made them vulnerable as they couldn’t play more passive positions. Gla1ve’s calling and executes were a masterclass of tactics. Liquid had no idea how they were supposed to adapt. Astralis mixed up their timings, variations, openings. Each execute blinded a player in the exact spot they happened to hold in each round. In the 28th round, Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dulken burned to a molly at barrels due to raw indecision. Astralis won the game with 10 rounds off their T-side. After beating Liquid, Astralis went on to play against NRG. NRG had beat them in the group stage and in terms of pure individual form, looked to be the best in the tournament. The analysts favored NRG to beat Astralis in the semifinals as their form was incredible and they had time to prepare. When Liquid went up against Astralis, Astralis hadn’t revealed their hand yet. They hadn’t played Overpass in the group stage and their one Vertigo game had them winning 16-5 against CR4ZY. While Liquid could have studied the T-side, many of the CT-side setups couldn’t have been scouted by Liquid. This preparation cut both ways though as Astralis could review their games against NRG and figure out what went wrong and fix it. Each team had one day to prepare and Astralis used their day better. On Train, Astralis recognized that they were holding back too much utility in the early round the first time around. In the rematch, they used it early on, denied NRG space and let them fall apart in the late rounds. As for Overpass, NRG had an informational advantage against Astralis, but didn’t use it. Theoretically speaking, the most obvious counter to Astralis B-executes was to deny them the chance to even get there. NRG could have tried aggressively attacking and denying monster and water, but instead played their usual game. Gla1ve couldn’t hide his disappointment as he said in an interview, “There are different ways of preparing. Theirs is talking on interviews. Ours is actually preparing.” Astralis then wrapped up their Major run with a swift 2-0 victory over AVANGAR in the finals. Astralis are Back With this victory, Astralis extend their legacy as the greatest of all time. It is this lineup’s third Major victory and they are they have won their majors back-to-back-to-back. For gla1ve, Dupreeh, dev1ce, and Xyp9x it is their fourth Major. Astralis now have the most Major victories of any lineup in history. Those four players have won the most Majors of any individual in history. This victory also extends Astralis undefeated streak in Major playoffs to 18-0. They have never dropped a single map in the playoffs of a Major. Astralis have returned to form and their return seems is built on three different variables. First, the individual form of the players is back on the rise. Dev1ce was a top five player throughout the year, but at this Major he played like he was the best player in the world. Magisk was also in impressive form, while Dupreeh, gla1ve, and Xyp9x are close to where they were in 2018. The second factor is Astralis’ new innovation . If you look historically, the only other five-man lineup who came out of a slump to regain their form was Virtus.Pro. They did it by shuffling roles and learning new maps. This renewed their identity over and over again across a long four year span together. In the case of Astralis, we’ve seen them change directions in their map pool from 2018. In 2018, they could play everything, but their specialties were Nuke and Inferno. In 2019, their Inferno continues to be the best in the world, but they lost their Nuke. At this Major, Astralis have taken Vertigo as a specialty map, rebuilt Overpass, and look to be one of the best teams on Train. This change in map pool also coincides with Astralis innovating tactics again. In 2018, Astralis set the meta through their utility usage. It didn’t take long for teams to copy them, but even so Astralis continued to stay a step ahead of the rest as they came up with more ideas between each tournament. That evolution stopped in early 2019, but it has returned with a vengeance at this Major. The third reason Astralis have made a return is spite. Liquid speed-running the IEM Grand Slam and creating an era has lit the competitive fire in the Astralis players. When Astralis beat Liquid, Dupreeh mentioned that his main motivating factor was stopping Liquid from winning the Major rather than winning the Major itself. Dev1ce echoed a similar sentiment in a post-Major interview saying, “My motivation is to knock Liquid off the top 1 spot” Liquid have woken a sleeping giant. Liquid’s success in 2019 has lit a fire in the Danes and that has motivated Astralis to return with full force. Astralis have extended their legacy as the GOATs by becoming the most successful Major team in CS:GO history. Now they look to end the young upstarts who have dared to take their place.

Astralis promote trace to CSGO head coach ahead of Antwerp Major AstralisAstralis have announced that academy coach Martin ‘trace’ Heldt will take charge of the main team ahead of PGL Major Antwerp. The 31-year-old will act as Astralis’ head coach in their upcoming tournaments, starting with ESL Pro League 15, which will kick off on March 9. He will be stepping in for Alexander ‘ave’ Holdt, who is unable to coach during this Major cycle, which includes the upcoming Regional Major Ranking (RMR) event in Bucharest. Ave is still suspended from Valve competitions for using the spectator bug in 2018, during his time coaching North, despite having already served out his six-month ban handed by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC). Ave, who joined Astralis on November 4, taking over from the outbound Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen, will return to his role after the conclusion of PGL Major Antwerp. Until then, he will be assisting trace while also working with Astralis Talent, the organization’s academy squad. .@mtwtrace will act as the official coach of the main team during the upcoming tournaments with the support of the regular Head Coach @avecsgo. Read: https://t.co/6HRi9DrI7A pic.twitter.com/piwF2bGqXQ — Astralis Counter-Strike (@AstralisCS) March 4, 2022 A successful competitor Trace was one of the best Counter-Strike players during the final years of 1.6 and a vital piece of the iconic mTw lineup alongside players like zonic and ave. He represented Fnatic in both 1.6 and CS:GO between 2012 and 2013 and made two unsuccessful comeback attempts as a player in 2015 and 2017. After wrapping up his playing days, trace embraced a coaching career in 2021. He coached Team Singularity, Lyngby Vikings, and ECSTATIC before being hired in January to oversee Astralis’ academy team. Discover more: The making of SPUNJ: The hidden truth behind CSGO casting – Astralis have been placed in Group D of ESL Pro League 15, alongside NAVI, Heroic, Complexity, Evil Geniuses, and AGO. The event will mark Asger ‘Farlig’ Jensen’s Astralis debut after he was signed as the team’s new AWPer, replacing Philip ‘Lucky’ Ewald.

Astralis players react to crazy reverse sweep vs Na’Vi in ESL Pro League AstralisThe best of five finals to cap off Season 12 of the ESL Pro League turned out to be a match made for the history books, as Astralis managed to come from behind and pull off the reverse sweep of Natus Vincere after finding themselves down 2-0. In the world of esports and Counter-Strike especially, there are few things sweeter than the reverse sweep. Just when it looks like a team is down and out, they start playing lights out and don’t stop until they’ve won the thing, and we love to see it. For example, Danish esports org Astralis capped off their most recent ESL Pro League championship run on Oct. 4 with a masterpiece comeback against Natus Vincere in the Season 12 finals. After a 16-12 loss on Dust II to start the series out, s1mple and the rest of NAVI looked more than ready to walk away with the title, but, Astralis wasn’t done yet. CHAMPIONS BY THE HAND OF NEW ADDITION @es3tag 🇩🇰 🇩🇰#ESLProLeaguehttps://t.co/ZvDWXMUbM0 pic.twitter.com/bCi6mfB4sw — ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) October 4, 2020 The Danes managed to claw their way back with three consecutive wins on Nuke, Train, and Overpass to somehow pull off the reverse sweep against NAVI. Almost immediately after as s1mple was downed for a final time, social media lit up with tales of the epic victory by the esports org against all apparent odds, including from the triumphant players themselves. “IT’S A F***ING REVERSE SWEEP!!! WE WIN 3-2 and that’s so fucking deserved,” Astralis captain Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif posted after his team’s feat. “So proud and happy about this win. CHAMPIONS OF EPL PRO LEAGUE.” IT’S A FUCKING REVERSE SWEEP!!! WE WIN 3-2 and that’s so fucking deserved. So proud and happy about this win. CHAMPIONS OF EPL PRO LEAGUE 😍😍😍😍😍 — Emil Reif (@MagiskCS) October 4, 2020 As we mentioned reverse sweeps are some of the best things to watch happen as an esports fan unless you’re for the team being swept, but based on how hyped Astralis players were it definitely seems like it feels even better when you pull it off yourself. “#lowerbracketwarriors REVERSE FKN SWEEP BABY!” rifler Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen bragged. “3-2 against NaVi and we’re champions of #ESLProLeague Season 12. WHAT A DAY.” #lowerbracketwarriors REVERSE FKN SWEEP BABY! 3-2 against NaVi and we’re champions of #ESLProLeague Season 12 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼 WHAT A DAY.— Peter Rasmussen (@dupreeh) October 4, 2020 With the current meta of professional CSGO being online-only play at the moment, it’s great to see that top-level play still has plenty of surprises for fans and players alike, even if we’re all forced to watch from home. The only way it could get any better is if you’re a diehard Astralis fan, basking in the glory of their come from behind win and looking forward to the start of ESL Pro League Season 13 on March 10, 2021.

Astralis pick up Lucky for CSGO roster AstralisEsports behemoths Astralis have signed rising star Philip ‘Lucky’ Ewald to their competitive CSGO roster, filling the void left by Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz. Astralis have signed Philip ‘Lucky’ Ewald to their CSGO roster. – He’ll be playing in the AWP position, taking over from dev1ce. – The deal is a transfer from his current team, Tricked Esports. – When it comes to dominance in CSGO, Astralis stand above the rest, but they have wobbled in recent months. The iconic roster has undergone a few changes and now they are injecting some fresh blood by adding 18-year-old Lucky to their starting roster. Moving over from Tricked Esports, the AWPer has risen to prominence during his short career and should help fill the void from dev1ce’s move to NiP. https://twitter.com/AstralisCS/status/1419569306518622210 Lucky: “people are going to compare me to dev1ce” Speaking about the transfer, Lucky notes that: “I have really enjoyed my time in Tricked and I have a lot to thank them for. When Astralis comes knocking, everything changes, though. It’s without a doubt one of the most professional organizations and I already feel welcome and part of the family. “I have a lot to learn at Astralis. From their extensive playbook to everything going on outside the game. It will be a new feeling to be at a place where people have strong opinions about everything, we do, but I’m super excited to get started. “Most of all I want to show the many Astralis fans that I’ll give it everything to help the team and my teammates.” He also addresses the elephant in the room, replacing Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz. “I know some people are going to compare me to ‘dev1ce’ but no one can do what he does. I hope I’ll be able to show who I am, though, and I will work hard to contribute to the team in my own way,” he added. What’s next for Astralis? With BLAST Premier: Fall on the horizon, Lucky and the team will be gearing up to secure their spot in the Blast World Finals. Astralis CSGO roster

Astralis set to part ways with RFRSH Entertainment ESL Pro LeagueDanish esports organizationCS:GO team, will soon operate independently from media company RFRSH Entertainment – but they aren’t the only ones splitting off from the group, either. Both Astralis and League of Legends brand ‘Origen’ are parting ways with RFRSH, as told by the company’s CEO Nikolaj Nyholm in a statement to HLTV on July 12. According to Nyholm, Astralis and Origen are currently operating under a new company called ‘RFRSH Teams’ – an organization that will soon go under a different name. Nyholm also stated that RFRSH will turn its focus toward “the BLAST Pro Series and other BLAST properties,” claiming that the “truly important parts of the teams’ and the tournaments’ organisations have already been separated” in regards to Astralis and Origen’s split. Despite this new venture, RFRSH Teams is confident that it will see ample activity and “interest from outside investors,” considering the success of Astralis in CS:GO and Origen’s League of Legends LEC 2019 Spring Playoffs performance. https://twitter.com/astralisgg/status/1148611671444852737?s=20In fact, Nyholm claims that this move with RFRSH Teams has been in the works for some time, admitting that the plan was put into action two years ago. “Two years ago we spoke about how, after a build-up phase of a model esports team, a tournament operator and a team should not have common ownership,” he said of the development, calling Astralis “a profitable business, unique to the esports ecosystem.” Thus far, Astralis’ move to RFRSH Teams appears to have been met with relative optimism, with fans and fellow players sounding off on the matter across Twitter. Read More: Coldzera explains why he’s been benched at MIBR ahead of BLAST Pro Series LA, IEM Chicago – “TBH I won’t mind it,” one user wrote of the development. “…If the format stays the same as previous majors and teams that are not contracted are invited, then it will be a great event.” TBH I won’t mind it. Their production level is top level but their format and contracts ideas were cancer. If the format stays the same as previous majors and teams that are not contracted are invited then it will be a great event. — Priyank (@Pr1y_NK) July 12, 2019 Even Nyholm himself Tweeted about the move, writing, “(RFRSH’s) relationship with BLAST might have tilted them the past months, but RFRSH helped create the Astralis era by investing in their sports performance.” Their relationship with BLAST might have tilted them the past months, but RFRSH helped create the Astralis era by investing in their sports performance :shrug:♂️ — Nikolaj Nyholm (@nikolaj) July 12, 2019 With both Astralis and Origen having already made a major jump, fans and critics alike are waiting with bated breath to witness how RFRSH Teams will perform moving forward.

Astralis moves Xyp9x to CSGO academy team as Altekz is called up João Ferreira/DexertoAstralis has announced some changes to its CS:GO lineup after failing to qualify for the 2023 Paris Major with Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth stepping down to the academy team and Danish talent Alexander ‘Altekz’ Givskov moving up to the main squad. Astralis has decided to make some moves in terms of its roster as the Danish CS:GO team failed to qualify for the 2023 Paris Major. The squad bombed out of the European RMR with losses to Team Vitality, Vertigo and Ninjas in Pyjamas. This is the second Major the Danish team has missed in a year as they failed to qualify for the 2022 Rio Major. The changes will see Astralis veteran Xyp9x move down to Astralis Talent, the organization’s academy squad, with Altekz taking his starting lineup spot. Altekz was listed as a substitute for the RMR but did not play in the qualifier. “Throughout 2023, Altekz has been performing on a consistent, high level, and he is currently one of the most talented players in his role. As such, and in continuation of the first team coaches’ desire to work with him in the coming period, we have had a good dialogue with Xyp9x, who has agreed to help the talent team,” Astralis Director of Sports, Kasper Hvidt said in a statement about the change. Astralis make big changes to CSGO lineup Xyp9x said in the Astralis statement that he is a team player, and is willing to do anything to help the organization succeed. He signed a new contract with Astralis in 2021, locking him in with the organization until 2025. “I am still super disappointed that we missed the qualification for the Major. That was my goal and everyone’s ambition. An organization like Astralis must participate in all Majors and ultimately be able to compete for the title. When we miss this opportunity for the second time in a row, it’s clear we have to look at all options,” the CS:GO veteran said. Astralis fans will get to see Altekz in first-team action on April 27 as the squad competes in the online event Brazy Party 2023.

Astralis vs Liquid delivers in three map thriller at ESL One NY ESL TwitchThe atmosphere at ESL One New York was electric as Astralis and Team Liquid faced off in another chapter of the high octane CSGO rivalry. A match deserving of Grand Final praise was scheduled earlier than most would have thought when the two juggernauts met up in the semifinals at the Barclays Center. Esports fans far and wide were excited to see the matchup unfold, since it was undoubtedly going to be a war of attrition between the two. Their three-map series delivered on all fronts as both elite squads pulled out “everything they had in the stratbooks,” as Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz noted during the post-game interview when the dust finally settled. Series start on Vertigo Opening up the StarLadder Berlin Major quarterfinal rematch, both teams displayed superb tactics and poise on a map known for confusing players during mid-round antics. Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski was an absolute force to be reckoned with in the opening rounds of Vertigo. He easily secured the first six rounds of the map before Astralis were able to respond with one of their own. A 9-6 half in favor of Team Liquid seemed to suggest the Americans were well on their way to steal Astralis’ map pick. But a perfect Astralis CT side shut down any of Liquid’s advances, giving the Danes first blood in the best of three. Map two on Dust2 There were early concerns in the Barclays Center that TL was deflated heading into the second map as their T-side aggression on Vertigo went unregistered against Astralis’ stingy defense. The Danish superpower tallied a quick four-round lead, but that would be the last time the crowd in the MSI Gaming Arena would fall silent during the second map. Liquid came roaring back to life, once again with EliGE helming the charge but this time backed with the heroics of every member on the star-studded Liquid roster. Astralis would eventually earn some more wins, but a sizzling 15-round streak from Team Liquid was too much for the team draped in black to fight back from. TL tied up the series, and were headed to map three on Overpass. Final map underway on Overpass Both maps in the semifinals ended with the defeated team earning only nine rounds. Neither side wanted to leave ESL One feeling like they could have done better. All guns were blazing on the final map. The slug-fest that fans were hoping for came to fruition on Overpass, as TL were able to find early success with a 5-1 lead. But Astralis answered in kind, winning the next four of five rounds. Going into the second half with a tight 8-7 scoreline, Team Liquid put up a strong fight on the T side but couldn’t find ways to effectively break Astralis when it mattered. The Danish defense held strong from one onslaught after another, holding back a late-game surge from the Americans and taking the map 16-13. North America’s champions were able to match Astralis’ firepower, but strats from Danish tactician Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander proved to be the edge they needed to win out against their opponents. On the whole, there wasn’t much separating the two teams in the semifinals. The first two maps ended 16-9, and in the final map TL tallied 96 total kills with 95 deaths, naturally meaning Astralis netted 95 kills with 96 deaths. With the loss, Team Liquid are eliminated from ESL One New York with a 3rd-4th placing earning them $18,000. Astralis now move on to the Grand Finals for a chance at the $100,000 prize against the winner of G2 versus Evil Geniuses.

Astralis’ Gla1ve takes shots at NRG after eliminating them at CSGO Berlin Major StarLadderAfter a dominant 2-0 victory over NRG Esports in the semifinals of the StarLadder Berlin CS:GO major, Astralis’ in-game leader Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander spoke to Frankie Ward and Dexerto about how both teams prepared for the series. The once dominant Astralis is in the middle of a resurgence, and the white hot NRG Esports team got cooled off by the great Danes in the semifinals of the StarLadder Berlin major on Saturday. After the win, gla1ve spoke to Frankie Ward and Dexerto, and continued to fire shots at NRG Esports long after he had left the server. “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 “I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed, but there’s different ways of preparing,” gla1ve told Frankie. “Their way is just talking a lot in interviews, and we actually prepare.” Actually preparing was a must for Astralis after getting surprised by NRG in the New Legends stage. The two teams needed six overtimes to settle their first showdown on Train, and when NRG took that first map, dupreeh said in a separate interview that Astralis was so mentally strained that they rolled over on Nuke. “We feel at home in the major” @dupreehCSGO tells @getfrank about @astralisgg‘s opportunity to make #CSGO history at the #BerlinMajor Powered by @TeamRazer | #ThisIsEsports pic.twitter.com/lzDIJwGRbG — DEXERTO.COM @ Berlin Major (@Dexerto) September 6, 2019 But this time, Astralis were prepared, and gla1ve outlined the strategy that went into their CT side. “What we talked about is that we need to hold them back in the beginning of the game,” the 24-year-old explained. “So we needed to use a lot of utility at the beginning of the round, don’t let them push outside, don’t let them get easy first picks.” He admitted that he was surprised to see such a relaxed CT side from NRG on Overpass, as he said he didn’t expect Astralis to be gifted entry to sites so easily. What he also did easily was accurately, almost scarily accurately, predict exactly how NRG would respond to their A push in the last round of the series. With that series wrapped up, Astralis looks ahead to AVANGAR in the grand finals, and gla1ve promises that they won’t be surprised. “I know that any team that can go into a major final can win it,” he said. ‘So we’re not going to underestimate anyone.” At the end of 2016, they replaced their widely regarded in-game leader Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen with a young, relatively unknown IGL who went by the moniker gla1ve. Despite continuing to struggle through most of 2017, the squad stuck by their new young leader, and proceeded to absolutely dominate the 2018 calendar year. At the end of the interview with Frankie, gla1ve said he doesn’t believe that Astralis are back to being the number one team in the world yet. With a major title and a resurgence in momentum and confidence, his sentiments may change very soon.

Astralis’ Gla1ve roasts OpTic after ESL One NY performance ESLAstralis CS:GO star, Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander, has criticized OpTic Gaming’s performance after beating them 2-0 at ESL One New York. After Astralis’ incredible win at the StarLadder Berlin Major over Avangar, many fans of the Danish side feel that they have reclaimed their place as the best CS:GO team in the world and were one of the favorites coming into ESL One New York. Astralis kicked off the tournament with a series against OpTic Gaming and, despite beating them 2-0, they found themselves matching up with their Danish rivals yet again in a decider match for the playoffs after falling to the new Evil Geniuses roster. Unfortunately for OpTic, the score of the rematch mirrored the first series, with Astralis closing out the series 2-0 in dominant fashion. In an interview with HLTV, gla1ve fired some shots at OpTic, after comments were made ahead of the rematch by OpTic’s in-game leader MSL, claiming that they were ready to display their deep playbook against the Berlin Major champions on Dust 2. “They said they have a deep playbook on Dust2, so I don’t know why they didn’t show it!” criticized gla1ve, “but it was a good match and I think we played it much better than we did against EG, although I think EG do have a little bit more individual skill than OpTic.” Gla1ve and Astralis will now have to look forward to a semi-final against the #1 ranked Team Liquid side who have shown a strong performance so far at ESL One NY, going undefeated in the group stage. However, despite their defeat to the former NRG squad in the group stage, gla1ve remained confident about Astralis’s chances of coming away with the win in New York. “I’m looking forward to it because we had a great game against Liquid in Berlin and I hope we can get the win, go through to the final, and get a winning streak going”, the Danish star expressed. If Astralis can get by Team Liquid it will be likely that the Danish side will get their chance at revenge on the new Evil Geniuses roster in the grand final. Follow all the CS:GO action in New York by checking out Dexerto’s ESL One NY hub.

Astralis’ gla1ve calls for CS:GO pros steel and Swag to be unbanned DreamhackCounter-Strike: Global Offensive pros have spoken out in support of wanting Valve to unban the currently permanently banned members of the infamous iBUYPOWER squad. The North American team were banned from Valve-sponsored tournaments in 2014 after being caught match-fixing against NetcodeGudes. However, since then, there has been a growth in support for the squad being unbanned. In-game leader Josua ‘steel’ Nissan and Braxton ‘Swag’ Pierce are still competing – with Steel taking his Ghost Gaming up squad the world rankings and even qualifying for the ESL Pro League Season 8 Finals. However, while he is banned, the team will not be able to play at CS:GO major under his leadership, as they’ve had to use their coach James ‘JamezIRL’ Macaulay as a stand-in. Despite what happened in 2014, there is still plenty of support for Steel and Swag to be unbanned by Valve. On February 22, Astralis in-game leader Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander tweeted: “Come on @csgo_dev – let’s get these players unbanned already. They have been in jail for 5 years for stealing candy, @JoshNissan @GODaZeD @brax1wnl and more.” Read More: How to watch the IEM Katowice 2019 CS:GO Major – Multi-stream, schedule, results and more – “I am happy that you stated an example and I am sure everyone by now knows that you don’t tolerate match-fixing.” Come on @csgo_dev – Lets get these players unbanned already. they have been in jail for 5 years for stealing candy. @JoshNissan @GODaZeD @brax1wnl and more. I am happy that you stated an example and I am sure everyone by now know that you dont tolerate match-fixing. https://t.co/4QOc1RREjc — Lukas Rossander (@gla1ve_csgo) February 22, 2019 The Astralis in-game leader’s comments were supported by popular CS:GO caster Matthew ‘Sadokist’ Trivett. “I completely agree,” added the caster. “While it was a horrible thing to do, there was no previous precedent set, so to instantly issue a lifetime ban was absolutely appalling.” “Considering how little involvement Valve choose to have with the esports side of things, that seemed extremely harsh.” I completely agree. While it was a horrible thing to do, there was no previous precedent set, so to instantly issue a lifetime ban was absolutely appalling. Considering how little involvement Valve choose to have with the esports side of things, that seemed extremely harsh. — Matthew Trivett :wolf_face: (@Sadokist) February 22, 2019 In a further reply, gla1ve thanked Sadokist for his supportive tweet, adding that he understands match-fixing is a terrible thing and there must be strict rules in place about it, but the players should be allowed to play. Well spoken! Match-fixing is a terrible thing for the industry and we have to be really strict about it. But taking into consideration all the things u just said, I believe they deserve to be set free :punch: — Lukas Rossander (@gla1ve_csgo) February 22, 2019 Former Fnatic player Marcus ‘pronax’ Wallsten also chimed in with his support, adding: “Totally agree. I think it goes for many kids that have been VAC banned as well, not really knowing the consequences of their actions.” He continued: “I think its quite pathetic that a player like forsaken (formerly of OpTic India) is not banned from playing in Majors, but a player that has cheated in public servers are,” adding a confused face at the end of his tweet. Totally agree, i think it goes for many kids that have been VAC banned aswell not really knowing the consequences of their actions, I think its quite pathetic that a player like forsaken is not banned from playing in majors, but a player that have cheated in public servers are :S — pronax (@GODpronax) February 22, 2019 While players can appreciate what someone like steel has been able to do with his team, the final decision still comes down to Valve to lift the ban.

Astralis, G2 & other BLAST teams surprised by CSPPA’s voice comm concern CSPPA / BLASTMoments before the BLAST Fall Finals were set to begin, the Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association (CSPPA) raised concerns of how the tournament organizer (TO) was handling players’ voice comms. CS:GO players supported the announcement, but the 14 teams at the event were blindsided by the dispute. A day after a three-hour delay kept the Fall Finals from running on schedule due to comms deliberations, teams including G2 Esports, Natus Vincere, Team Liquid, Astralis, FaZe Clan, Furia, Mousesports, and the rest of the orgs at BLAST contested the CSPPA’s claim. It’s not to say that there weren’t any concerns with the handling of sensitive voice communications among BLAST partners, but that the collective of teams had already resolved these issues with the TO prior to the Fall Showdown. “The teams and all Tournament Organizers, including BLAST, have worked, are working, and will continue to work together to ensure that any and all of our players’ needs pertaining their participation are met to the extent possible,” the 14-team collective said in a joint announcement. “As a result of this already successful partnership between the parties, BLAST resolved the issues raised around the usage of voice comms already on November 23rd.” In fact, the CSPPA’s involvement in the matter on the whole took the teams by surprise. “We fail to understand how and why CSPPA are involved in trying to raise concerns with an already resolved issue, without our knowledge or any form of previous communication,” the statement said. To be clear, organizations generally operate with their players’ interest in mind; but in this round of CSPPA’s problem-solving, teams weren’t aware of any concerns from pro players that weren’t already addressed. During the delay for the Fall Finals, plenty of CS:GO pros came out in support of the CSPPA’s message. While it’s a direction that teams could have also supported, they were kept away from these discussions. “While we continue to improve the quality of life of our precious teams and players, we urge both the community and our players to continue raising concerns through the proper channels, so that we can carry on improving their conditions in and outside the game,” the teams said.

Astralis fined $100k for conflict of interest over HUNDEN relationship AstralisThe Executive Board of the Louvre Agreement has imposed a fine of $100,000 on Astralis in a conflict of interest case involving CS:GO coach and analyst HUNDEN. The Executive Board of the Louvre Agreement, a partnership between ESL and 15 organizations, announced that an independent investigation found that Astralis “asked for and received services from a future employee between April and July 2021, which created a conflict of interest as that party held a position of authority within a competitor team.” The case in question refers to Nicolai ‘HUNDEN’ Petersen, who was coaching Heroic at the time, Astralis’ Danish rival. The 32-year-old was Astralis’ priority to take over the team as head coach Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen was entering the final months of his contract with the organization. Independent reporter Richard Lewis revealed earlier this year that HUNDEN was offered a coaching role by Astralis in March 2021. He would sign the document the following month. “It [Astralis] did not report this to league authorities and the competing team itself,” a statement from the Executive Board read. “This was found to be a breach of the regulations of the Louvre Agreement.” According to the Executive Board, the inquiry determined that “no competition or match results were impacted” by HUNDEN’s actions. HUNDEN was in August 2021 slapped with a two-year ban by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) for this case. According to the esports watchdog’s investigation, HUNDEN was found guilty of sharing sensitive information with a competitor ahead of IEM Cologne without Heroic’s knowledge. ESIC’s findings showed that, at the time the material was shared, HUNDEN was already negotiating a move to Astralis. Though the files were never accessed by the recipient, his actions still “created a threat to the integrity of the tournament” and to the “reputation and competitive integrity of esports, and ESIC’s member ESL.” In December 2022, ESIC announced that HUNDEN’s ban had been lifted following an in-person meeting between the two parties. The Danish coach agreed to undertake “relevant training”, while the esports watchdog pledged to “review its policies and procedures to ensure they are consistent with good industry practice and fit for purpose”. Astralis and HUNDEN respond to fine The CEO of Astralis, Anders Horsholt, admitted to being “surprised and disappointed” with the conclusion of the inquiry, but accepted the verdict, stressing that his organization “worked closely and collaboratively” with the ESL Pro League Commissioner’s Office throughout the process. In a statement posted on Twitter, HUNDEN stressed that the investigation “concluded that there was no ground for sanctioning me.” “I have cooperated fully with ESL and their third-party investigators in their examination of the events by providing all necessary documents and participating in relevant interviews, and I have spent a substantial amount of my own time and resources into this investigation,” HUNDEN said. The Danish coach added that his recent departure from Astralis is not connected to the outcome of this investigation. He left his post as Astralis’ head analyst on June 21 after six months as the Danish organization made a number of changes to its staff and CS:GO team. In August 2022, Dexerto reported that Astralis had maintained a working relationship with HUNDEN while he was still serving his ESIC ban.