Author: Nik Ranger

Astralis find unique use for IEM CSGO Beijing trophy For many, trophies are something to be treasured and kept safe in order to commemorate victory, but legendary CS:GO squad Astralis found a different way to use their hardware from their victory at IEM Beijing 2019. For years, Astralis have been regarded as one of, if not the greatest teams to ever compete in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and showed off their incredible skill in a 3-0 demolition of 100 Thieves during the IEM Beijing 2019 grand finals. Victories on Vertigo, Nuke, and Train saw them flatten the Australian squad as they marched to another piece of silverware, raising it high as they celebrated another tournament win for the Scandinavian juggernauts. With the shield secured and ready to come home with them, the boys at Astralis decided it wasn’t time to pack it up ready for travel just yet, instead choosing to have some fun with the item. In a short clip uploaded to Reddit, Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz and Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth can be seen taking part in a friendly game of table tennis, however while dev1ce is using a normal paddle to play, Xyp9x is swinging around the IEM Beijing trophy, hitting the ball back and forward with it instead. Of course, Astralis won’t be able to practice their ping pong skills with every trophy they win, but the shape and size of the shield definitely gave Xyp9x an advantage over his teammate when it comes to hitting the ping poll ball. The team should be careful though as they have a long history of breaking trophies. The team have managed to break 3 different pieces of hardware in their spell together, most recently at the StarLadder Berlin Major back in September, when dev1ce hoisted up the massive trophy, only for the bottom of it to fall off with a bunch of wires spilling out.

Astralis fall to Furia in surprise upset at ECS London Finals Furia / ECS / via VIP-betThe ECS Season 7 Finals are currently underway as some of the top Counter-Strike: Global Offensive have been falling and the latest group to join that trend is none other than the Danish dynasty of Astralis. Matches have been ramping up their intensity as the final teams in the tournament have been at each other’s throats to cement their place in the semifinals. After all the dust settled, the final brackets have been sorted that will have a glaring omission in Astralis. After losing to Furia in the Upper Bracket best of one, the Danes pushed past the Ninjas in Pyjamas with a convincing 2-0 scoreline, eventually earning their rematch with the Brazilians on June 7. Astralis is typically known for putting opponents in a stranglehold, but that wasn’t the case as they simply got outclassed by the up-and-coming Brazilian team Furia. While Astralis were able to get a commanding 14-5 lead on Inferno, they were almost overcome by a sudden resurgency led by Furia’s Yuri ‘yuurih’ Santos as they closed the gap 12-14. The Danes did manage to close out the first map just two rounds later, but the narrow victory gave Brazilian coach and Furia hype-man Nicholas ‘guerri’ Nogueira a lot to build on. Next map in line for the heated contest was Mirage, where Furia came out of the gates running going up 5-0, until Astralis found their footing midway through the half ending 7-8. Astralis’s T-side was starting to pick up steam on the second half of the map, but their small string of wins was emphatically shut down by Furia in a seven-round streak to close out the map and tying up the series 1-1. With everything on the line for a side who aren’t familiar with desperation in big matches, Astralis recalibrated after a jarring loss on Mirage. The final map started off like a sparring match between two titans as the teams were trading blows in the first eight rounds before Astralis managed to reassert their winning ways ending their CT-side 9-6. Upon switching sides, Astralis got the first step over their opponents but Furia made sure not to give them much to smile about putting together yet another seven-round stunner before the Danes could answer. Read more: Sources: yay joins Lazarus CS:GO team – Even though the scoreline stayed tight, all the momentum was on the backs of Furia as guerri didn’t let up with shouts or rallying calls for his squad. His efforts were well rewarded as the entire team picked up their share of the load in the final map, all netting double-digit kills above 15. While Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen and Nicolai ‘device’ Reedtz put up stellar numbers in the last map, there was too much of a disparity from the rest of the Astralis team to keep up with the scorching Brazilians. With an Astralis loss, that now means the Danes will be watching from the sidelines as the rest of ECS Finals move forward. Meanwhile Furia now earned the right to play against North in the semifinals on June 8 at 2pm CEST / 5am PST.

Astralis and The Era That Almost Was ft. Thorin Part 2 Astralis have held the banner of Counter-Strike’s top elite team for ages, and while the 2016 iteration had gone from Danish dark horse competitors to Major champions, it never could quite cement its era even at their height. While the black and red jerseys are now seen as beacons of success and dominance in the CS:GO pro scene, it took a lengthy episode of transfers as well as risky gambles before Astralis became the powerhouse team fans know today. Team Dignitas had impressive talent in René ‘cajunb’ Borg, Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz, Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen, and Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth which would eventually make up the core for a championship caliber Team SoloMid roster along with Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen. 600In 2016, the team transitioned into Astralis but were still lacking firepower to thrust themselves into top contention. Which is when they added Markus ‘Kjaerbye’ Kjærbye from Dignitas, replacing CajunB. Something in the formula still wasn’t clicking to push them to be the Champions that their potential indicated on paper. 600At that time the org made the controversial move of replacing in-game leader karrigan with Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander, a gamble to be sure and one that would see a complete change of roles for the players on the team. It was this collective of five young guns that would shake up the Counter-Strike competitive landscape, but their legacy wouldn’t quite hold until much later.

Astralis era coming to a close as Team Liquid CS:GO pass another milestone ESLThe honors for most dominant Counter-Strike team has quickly passed from Astralis to North American powerhouse Team Liquid as they added yet another major milestone in their dominant streak. CS:GO is in one of its most competitive eras, but Team Liquid has been standing on top of the dog pile for months with incredible first place finishes at events like DreamHack Masters Dallas, ESL One Cologne, and more. While the wins are starting to pile up for the Liquid side, a more impressive feat lies in the team’s absolute reluctance to lose a matchup against their opponents when meeting up with them on LAN events. In a Reddit post, user ‘ofrire1’ noted Liquid’s dominance in their era of being the top CS:GO team around which has now beat out Astralis’ previous record for consecutive LAN match wins. “Liquid are on an 18 LAN matches winning streak, beating Astralis’ own record of 17,” ofrire1 said. “Interesting to note Astralis’ run was ended by none other than Team Liquid, when they won iBP Masters, their first tournament win with this roster.” It’s even more impressive to see that a highly competitive 16-13 loss against North during the ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals stopped them from achieving the milestone sooner. Even still, the stacked Liquid roster bulldozed their way through a bevy of top teams to pick up yet another milestone for what’s becoming one of the most impressive runs of any CS:GO team in the modern era. What’s next for Team Liquid? With four consecutive first place event finishes since DreamHack Masters Dallas, the NA roster only has one more box to check to silence naysayers who doubt the current Liquid era. Read more: NBK responds to criticism of Vitality’s ‘disrespectful’ ESEA CS:GO Global Challenge performances – That last feat comes in the form of adding a Major tournament win to their name, but will have that chance when they play at the Starladder 2019 Berlin Major. Even though Liquid have already asserted their dominance against most of their competition participating in the upcoming Berlin event, CS:GO fans are going to be eager to see if this iteration of the team can bring NA its second Major win in two years.

Astralis floored by ENCE in dramatic BLAST Pro Series Grand Finals BLAST Pro SeriesThe BLAST Pro Series had an epic conclusion May 11 as Grand Finals underdog CS:GO Danish powerhouse Astralis to take home the top honors in Madrid. The tournament series invites some of the very best CS:GO teams in the world such as Astralis, Natus Vincere (NaVi) and more, for a grueling weekend tournament to see who comes out on top. Astralis have continuously remained the favorites in the pro CS:GO landscape despite missing major events, making the showdown in Madrid all the more spectacular. While ENCE undoubtedly came into the tournament as one of the stronger teams, no squad in the world is expected to perform against Astralis like they did in the Grand Finals. Throughout numerous rounds in the matchup, ENCE expertly weaved explosive individual play and fearless team executions against Astralis that continuously made the Danish squad look uncharacteristically out of sorts. The crowd were hyped in the early goings of the Grand Finals as ENCE were able to put up a stingy defense to hold Astralis’ advances, quickly going up 6-0 against the Danes. Even though Astralis were showing some signs of life in the second half of their map pick, ENCE made quick work of their opponents in a 16-9 victory. The defeat ends Astralis suffocating 31-game win streak on Nuke, keeping them one victory short of tying the Ninjas in Pyjamas’ longest win streak on LAN of 32-0 on the same map. ENCE close out against Astralis The second map, Train, was a different story with a similar ending. Astralis came out firing with a quick 5-0 lead on CT, but it was a hotly contested half which ended 8-7 in favor of the Danes. Though it seemed like Astralis were finding their footing, BLAST Pro Series Madrid MVP Jani ‘Aerial’ Jussila shutdown any hope for a comeback getting 25 kills on the second map to end the series and tournament. The victory marked the first time ENCE has raised a championship trophy in a BLAST event, but also marks the second BLAST tournament in a row where Astralis didn’t manage to take it all. Astralis will have a month to regroup before competing in the Finals for ECS Season 7 in June, while ENCE and their fans will be sure to cherish a monumental chapter in their young history.

Astralis dominate 100 Thieves to win IEM Beijing 2019 – Final Placements Astralis have continued their fine form with another CS:GO tournament win, this time at Intel Extreme Masters in Beijing, after strolling to victory over 100 Thieves in the grand final. The former Renegades roster can still be proud of their first outing under 100 Thieves, which saw them reach their first grand final in almost a year. Astralis were peerless throughout though, and after the humiliating destruction of FaZe Clan in the semi-finals, in which they lost only two rounds over two maps, they proved too much for the majority Australian line-up. 100T did put up a fight in the first map, Vertigo, tying a back and forth match at 14-14, but Astralis had enough in the bank to close out the last two rounds. It was plain sailing for the Danes after this point really, as they returned to their old stomping ground on Nuke and made it look easy, winning 16-5. And the final map of the series, Train, wasn’t any easier for Nadeshot’s new lineup, as Astralis proved they were simply a cut above, winning 16-3 to close out the 3-0 sweep and bag first place. FaZe Clan have perfect responses after brutal loss to AstralisDespite coming up short, the performance bodes well for Nadeshot’s re-entry into CSGO, and they will look to go one better at DreamHack Winter in Jönköping, Sweden at the end of November, with a lesser field of competition to go up against.

Astralis’ dev1ce explains how CSGO’s Krieg meta is hurting AWPing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz has explained how the Krieg meta is hurting AWPing and his play-style amid the ongoing debate about the powerful weapon. The SG553, also known as the Krieg, has been a hot topic in the CS:GO scene lately, with many top pro players such as Richard ‘shox’ Papillon and Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo calling for the gun to be nerfed. On October 24, Astralis star dev1ce gave his thoughts on the matter, claiming that the rise of the Krieg has had a negative effect on AWPing in general, as well as his own gameplay. “Tough night for me personally, struggling to AWP against the Krieg. Not even sure if it’s worth buying the AWP anymore” said dev1ce on Instagram following a win over BIG Clan. Meanwhile, his teammate Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen showed some support, stating on twitter that “the Krieg meta is getting out of hand” before putting up a poll, asking his fans what they think is worse, the Krieg or the AUG meta. 600The Krieg-meta however, is really getting out of hands. @CSGO — Peter Rasmussen (@dupreeh) October 24, 2019 A growing amount of players seem to be concerned with the SG553 as the gun is a relatively cheap alternative to the AK-47, which excels at both short and can even challenge AWPers at long-range thanks to its scope. Read More: Call of Duty. With even more players speaking up about the subject, it will be interesting to see if the game developer decides to comment on the matter. –

Astralis’ dev1ce set to play first CSGO tournament after year-long break AstralisAstralis star Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz is poised to make his long-awaited return to action after taking a break from competitive CS:GO due to mental health reasons. dev1ce moved back to Astralis at the end of October after less than 18 months in NIP’s ranks, bringing an end to a disappointing stint with the Swedish giants that fell short of everyone’s expectations. The 27-year-old AWPer missed Elisa Masters Espoo, a 12-team tournament in Finland, where he was replaced by Astralis’ academy player Kristoffer ‘kristou’ Aamand. Kasper Hvidt, Astralis’ Director of Sports, said that the organization had time “to do things right” without rushing the player back into action. Check out the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals on Amazon Last week, he took part in Astralis’ tour of Denmark, which culminated in a signing session at the Royal Arena, the venue of the BLAST Premier Fall Final. Astralis have now announced that dev1ce will return to the server in the playoff stages of CCT North Europe Series 2, an online tournament that began on November 24 and will run through December 7. The $50,000 competition, which will also feature teams like OG, GamerLegion and HEET, will mark dev1ce’s return to action after almost a year out of the game due to mental health reasons. He played his final match for NIP on December 5 in the quarter-finals of IEM Fall 2021 before returning home due to medical reasons. In a recent interview with Dexerto, dev1ce said that he still believed his ability is “at an elite level”, though he warned that it could take some time to rediscover his best shape. The Danish player has the second-most MVP medals in the CS:GO scene at 19, only two behind record-holder Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev. If you click on a product link on this page we may earn a small affiliate commission.

G2 Esports loses match at Berlin Major after forgetting how CSGO works Astralis/StarLadder/G2 EsportsIn the last round of their StarLadder Berlin best-of-one match, Astralis got the bomb down against G2 Esports. And despite G2 killing all of them, the bomb still went off. As if Astralis needs any help, G2 Esports gifted them a round in their matchup on Nuke. Unfortunately for G2, it was the 16th round for Astralis. It was embarrassing. And everyone saw it. Astralis and G2 were very close heading into the second half of their 1-0 pool match, with the Danes maintaining an 8-7 lead. But the former number one team dominated their second half on the T side, winning seven straight to set up map point at 15-7. Astralis quickly made their way into the lower B site and promptly got the bomb down, and just a minute later. Something extraordinary happened. With the bomb down, Astralis looked to hold off the French retake, but were unsuccessful due to the AWP skills of Richard ‘shox’ Papillon, who picked up three kill, including the final one on Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz on ramp. With all the T side players dead in less than 20 seconds after the plant, it should be an easy defuse. Well, it should have been. Despite plenty of time, no one on G2 went back into the B site to defuse the bomb. On the call, Anders Blume couldn’t stifle the giggles as he exclaimed ‘this can’t be real.” Jason “moses” O’Toole did a poor job of holding back a “holy shit,” and lots of laughter could be heard in the background, assumably from the players of Astralis. The bomb detonated, and that was it. Astralis won, moving into the 2-0 pool, and G2 will have another best-of-one against another 1-1 team. The CS:GO community exploded in delight and dismay, cracking jokes and trying to understand what happened. G2 wasn’t even safe from their own CEO and founder, Carlos ‘ocelote’ Rodríguez, who parodied a post from compLexity owner Jason Lake: I love our players but not defusing the bomb won’t be tolerated. If you’re a Tier 1 player looking for a fresh start at the best facility in the world, HMU. I’ll pay your buyout and give you the world’s best salaries and defuse kits. Let’s build a juggernaut. Spread the word. — Carlos – ocelote (@CarlosR) August 29, 2019 Keep your heads up G2, there’s still plenty of Counter-Strike left to play.

Astralis CS:GO players respond after FaZe NiKo Tweet sparks smoke exploit accusations Astralis’ Counter-Strike: Global Offensive stars have responded to suggestions that they are using video settings that allow them to see through smokes better than other players. The controversy first reared its head when FaZe Clan’s Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač responded to a kill that Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth picked up against MIBR at the ECS Season 6 Finals, saying: “How the hell did Xyp9x see him there through the smoke?” The Bosnian player went on to retweet a clip of the kill before tweeting the CS:GO developers and saying: “I’m not calling anyone out and they are not the first players which are using it and it’s not their fault. I hope @csgo_dev will look into it and try to fix it somehow.” I’m not calling anyone out and they are not the first players which are using it and it’s not their fault. I hope @csgo_dev will look into it and try to fix it somehow. — NiKo (@fazeniko) November 22, 2018 Twitter and Reddit users quickly were quick to suggest that both Xyp9x and Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander are good at picking up kills through smokes due to some ‘special’ Nvidia settings, prompting both of the players to respond on Twitter. “Btw i saw some people talking about Nvidia settings to look easier thru smokes,” said gla1ve, the team’s in-game leader. “I can say for sure that no one from our team would ever use something like that and none of us have any idea what that bug even is. We use our radar and gamesense.” Btw i saw some people talking about Nvidia settings to look easier thru smokes. I can say for sure that no one from our team would ever use something like that and none of us have any idea what that bug even is. We use our radar and gamesense. — Lukas Rossander (@gla1ve_csgo) November 23, 2018 Xyp9x responded to NiKo directly, saying: “I have never known of those “nvidia settings” I could see his feet from my screen.” He also explained that he had seen the opponent’s feet and reminded people that there have been spectator bugs with smokes for years: “Don’t know why the clip doesn’t show it. Super sad that pro players jump to these conclusions. They should know that smokes bugs while spectating after all those years.” I have never known of those “nvidia settings” I could see his feet from my screen. Don’t know why the clip doesn’t show it Super sad that pro players jump to these conclusions. They should know that smokes bugs while spectating after all those years https://t.co/QHfVQSY1sl — Andreas Højsleth (@Xyp9x) November 23, 2018 MIBR’s Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo came to Astralis’ defence, asking fans to stop hating on the Danes and doubling down on Xyp9x’s comments about spectator bugs with smokes. The Brazilian team’s coach, Janko ‘YNk’ Paunovic, confirmed the sentiment, saying: “Completely agree, for example, watching cold’s screen on Mirage, I thought he can be seen on the edge, spectator client can be different.” Completely agree, for example, watching cold’s screen on Mirage, I thought he can be seen on the edge, spectator client can be different. Astralis are great competitors and we don’t have ANY doubts about their fair play. People should just relax and enjoy the matches :victory::call_me_hand: https://t.co/EM2h00zBBI — Janko Paunovic (@YNk) November 23, 2018 The observer for the match, Connor ‘Sliggy’ Blomfield took to Twitter to say that his graphics settings are always set to ‘very high’ for aesthetic purposes, saying: “What you see is not always exactly what they see.” Team Liquid’s Epitácio ‘TACO’ de Melo responded to NiKo’s initial comments, confirming that there are settings that some pro players are suspected of using, but stating: “I never thought Astralis was using tho.” My observer settings are literally all on very high guys. By far not the best for actual competitive play. Just purely for aesthetics. What you see is not always exactly what they see. — Sliggy (@Sliggycsgo) November 23, 2018 Superman big balls. But i’m gonna help you. Players don’t talk about it but we all know that certain players have been using it for months now. I never thought Astralis was using tho. — Epitácio (@TACOCS) November 22, 2018 Astralis have dominated the 2018 CS:GO season and are widely regarded as one of the best teams the game has ever seen. After such a strong year, the suggestion that they could be using settings to gain an advantage throws doubt on their performances and explains why they are so keen to squash the witch hunt. Jesper ‘JW’ Wecksell, who faced similar scrutiny with his Fantic teammates when they were on top of the world, also responded, saying: “When you are the undisputed number #1 people will start to find reasons to downplay you.” When you are the undisputed number #1 people will start to find reasons to downplay you, or even try to take things away from you. You guys are the only ones who know if there is any truth to it, just dont care and keep doing your thing. GL tomorrow — Jesper Wecksell (@JW1) November 23, 2018

Astralis CS:GO player Xyp9x embarrasses North with a 1v5 ninja defuse at IEM Chicago Astralis player Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth pulled off an epic 1v5 clutch to close out a match against North at IEM Chicago. At 15-4, Astralis were just a round away from closing out a game on Nuke when Xyp9x found himself the last alive against all five North players. To make the situation even more difficult, North on the T side had already planted the bomb in the lower site, while Xyp9x was stuck in the upper area having already given away his position. As the time ticked down, however, Xyp9x spotted an opening. Sprinting through to the vents, he managed to make his way down to the bomb site that North had now evacuated, catching the defuse just in time and clutching a 1v5 for the game without even firing a shot. The clutch made for an emphatic end to a dominant win for Astralis, winning the map 16-4 and taking the series 2-0 over North, with the first map having been an equally crushing 16-5 on Inferno. It also came after Xyp9x had secured the previous round with a 1v1 win to reach match point in the first place. Despite being known as arguably the best clutch player in CS:GO, this was also a first for Xyp9x, who according to HLTV has never won a 1v5 in an official game before. The win locked in Astralis’ 22 consecutive offline win on Nuke, extending what is already one of the longest streaks on a single map for any team in the history of CS:GO. Fortunately for North, their tournament run won’t end on that note. The double-elimination groups mean they will have another opportunity to progress, taking on LDLC next in the lower bracket. Astralis, meanwhile, advance to face FaZe Clan for the chance to go straight to the semi-finals.

Astralis’ crazy Nuke streak reaches incredible milestone ESLThe Astralis era of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive shows no sign of coming to an end as the team passes another incredible milestone. Astralis have been the dominant force in CS:GO for over a year now, during which time they’ve won twelve offline events, including back-to-back Major victories, and never gone more than one event without a title. The squad are now widely considered the greatest team in the history of CS:GO. While there are obviously a lot of factors that go into such an insane run of success, one has been the team’s absolute dominion over Nuke. Following a victory over the ex-3DMAX team at the ESL Pro League Season 9 group stage, Astralis has now won 30 offline games on Nuke since their last defeat on the map. To put Astralis’ streak into perspective, another classic map win streak was that of the Brazilian SK Gaming on Train when they were the number one team in 2016. That streak – which was broken by Astralis themselves, incidentally – ended at 17 maps. 30 NUKE WINS IN A ROW! And with that, we take home the 2-0 win vs. ex-3DMAX, good game! See you back here tomorrow for more #ESLProLeague action :uk:#ToTheStars pic.twitter.com/XyDbhs8r9L — Astralis (@astralisgg) April 23, 2019 Astralis’ second streak While Astralis’ Nuke streak is their longest and therefore gets the most attention, it’s not the only map on which they’ve wracked up an incredible run of victories. The team has also won their last 18 offline games on Inferno. While the number might not be quite as incredible as their Nuke streak, Astralis’ unbeaten Inferno run is an enormous achievement in itself and arguably speaks to their dominance even more so than the Nuke stat. Nuke is much less popular as a home map for most top teams, whereas almost every elite hopeful is comfortable playing Inferno. Read more: Dekay on CS:GO: Top five inactive players – That Astralis can maintain such an incredible record on their second-best map, despite routinely playing it against other top-5 teams, is indicative of just how far above the rest of the competition Astralis are right now. Astralis’ map pool buffed by Valve? If Astralis’ map pool wasn’t formidable enough over the last year of competition, it’s possible that it could be set to become even more so. Valve recently announced a change to the active competitive pool that introduced Vertigo, a map never before seen in professional play, removing Cache to do so. While it remains to be seen whether Astralis will integrate Vertigo into their own map pool – and how strong they might be on it if they do so – the removal of Cache can certainly do them no harm, as it has long been their default ban. So far the Astralis era has shown little sign of coming to an end, and at the very least it seems challengers cannot rely on a map pool change taking away one of Astralis’ strengths.

Astralis could withdraw from BLAST CSGO tourneys over NEOM partnership BLAST / RFRSH EntertainementAstralis have said they could withdraw from BLAST CSGO events over the tournament organizer’s ties with Saudi Arabian project NEOM, as fierce opposition to these types of deals grows. CEO of the Danish esport org Anders Hørsholt told Politiken.dk that the deal is “unacceptable” and condemned the partnership with Saudi Arabi, noting that “esports is and must be for everyone.” There has been a major wave of backlash toward esports entities tying themselves with the $500 billion project. “We always want to solve this kind of problem directly with our partners and give them a fair chance to solve this in the right way,” Hørsholt said in a translated statement. “At the same time, however, we have made it clear that we can in no way stand up in a context where our brand, players or partners are connected with companies of this type, and we naturally expect Blast to find a solution.” Since BLAST announced the deal, everyone from on-air talent to big names in the scene decried the move. Multiple teams participating in BLAST events have reportedly banded together to push the parent company to cancel its deal with NEOM, per HLTV. At least as far as Astralis goes, the Danish group said that their company nor players could align with partners that are tied to entities such as the ones backing the NEOM city. On a practical level, if BLAST goes through with its partnership, Hørsholt’s statement would mean that Astralis could be missing from future events. That would be a massive blow to BLAST, seeing as those events have long been associated with Astralis and the team has been a major draw for audiences. Both organizations used to be a part of the same company under RFRSH Entertainment, though Astralis parted ways from them in 2019. This comes on the heels of other esports companies announcing deals with NEOM that have been met with similar public dissent. Fans as well as industry figures contested the deals, primarily citing Saudi Arabia’s stance and actions against the LGBT community. Riot Games recently overturned its deal with NEOM earlier in the month – although sources indicated that while the deal was nullified, there hasn’t been much change within the company despite Riot saying they were “committed to reexamining our internal structures to ensure this doesn’t happen again.” Astralis will wait to see if BLAST comes up with a resolution to this predicament involving NEOM, but lack of action could result in at least one team skipping their events.

Astralis could claim $1 million extra if they win the ESL Pro League S8 finals DexertoAstralis have an opportunity to win the Intel Grand Slam at the ongoing ESL Pro League Season 8 finals. The Intel Grand Slam is a bonus challenge that offers teams a $1 million dollar prize. To claim it, teams must win four participating major events. The latest tournament that counts towards the Grand Slam is the ESL Pro League Season 8 Finals, which itself offers a $750,000 prize pool as sixteen teams compete in Odense, Denmark for the title from December 4-9. Winning the Grand Slam isn’t quite as simple as lifting four trophies, however. The events that count are only the premier tournaments put on by ESL (including IEM events) and DreamHack, so there’s always competition from many of the world’s best teams for each victory. Teams must also claim the four titles within a window of ten events. After their first win, they have nine more opportunities to claim the other three they need, after which that victory will fall off of their count. Right now, Astralis are the only team with three wins to their name. If they lift the trophy at the EPL Season 8 finals, they’ll become the first recipient of the IEM Grand Slam prize. Astralis’ opportunity also opens up a chance at a bonus prize for other teams, however. Should they reach the final of the tournament but lose, then the team who denies the Grand Slam would themselves receive a $100,000 bonus prize. Read more: Upsets galore and broken curses as DreamHack Winter and SuperNova Malta come to a close – Results and recap – The Intel Grand Slam has been running for over a year, having kicked off with ESL One Cologne on July 4-9, 2017. During that time, there have been 14 events that count towards the challenge, with the ESL Pro League Season 8 finals being the 15. Despite so many opportunities, no team has yet claimed the bonus prize, with those 14 titles spread between nine different squads. Astralis aren’t the first team to come within reach of the Grand Slam, however. FaZe Clan previously had an opportunity to claim the $1 million bonus prize, but weren’t able to secure the final victory they needed before one of their titles expired, returning them to a current total of two contributing wins. This won’t be Astralis’ last opportunity to claim the Grand Slam, however. Should they fall short at the Season 8 finals, they’ll have one last shot – at the IEM Katowice Major, no less – to secure their fourth win, after which their DreamHack Marseille win will fall away and they’ll be two trophies from the prize.

Astralis continued working relationship with HUNDEN despite ESIC ban DreamhackAstralis have officially confirmed that they have maintained a working relationship with Nicolai ‘HUNDEN’ Petersen despite him currently serving a two-year coaching ban for leaking confidential tactics. The organization says that he has been working with their players to create a series of tutorial materials as an element of a partnership with esports training program Aim Lab, but sources that contacted Dexerto stated that he has actually been working with the team in a role that he would be precluded from doing in an official capacity at events under the conditions of his ESIC ban. Astralis deny these claims. Astralis found themselves in the middle of a controversy after it was revealed that HUNDEN, who was on course to join the Astralis organization as a coach, had leaked to them “anti-strat material” from his then team, Danish rivals Heroic. The two teams were due to play each other at 2021’s IEM Cologne competition, which, due to what was cited by Heroic as “severe trust issues”, HUNDEN ended up not attending. These actions saw him receive a two-year ban from operating as a coach in CS:GO by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) and subject to a lawsuit from Heroic for “breach of contract”. This came after he had already received an eight-month ban for cheating via the use of an in-game spectator bug. What followed was a war of words between HUNDEN and the Heroic organization, one in which he accused the players of knowing about his cheating. He repeatedly attempted to get players to self-incriminate so he could then pass on this information to ESIC in order to have the players banned. It was revealed that, in cooperation with HUNDEN, the Heroic organization had gone as far to create a non-disclosure agreement that specifically prohibited any talk about cheating the team could have engaged in. In the end, though, the only player to receive any form of sanction was the then OG player Nikolaj ‘niko’ Kristensen. Many at the time speculated that HUNDEN’s actions were driven by the fact that he was joining Astralis as a replacement for outbound coach Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen. The ESIC ban ended the viability of that move. Earlier this year, Dexerto was contacted by several sources that work in the Danish esports scene, all of whom requested anonymity for fear of reprisals from Astralis, with evidence that HUNDEN was still working with the Astralis organization. “Once the ban happened, they knew that HUNDEN would need a job and he had shown them loyalty,” one source said. “So they found a way to pay him to work there without him being a coach so they wouldn’t have to say anything. He has been there working with the players and they will give him an official job once his ban is over.” The source also said that HUNDEN had been seen interacting with players at the Astralis office in what they believed to be a coaching or analytical capacity. Partnership with Aim Lab Another source indicated that HUNDEN’s involvement with the organization was set up through strategic partner Aim Lab, with whom Astralis said in November 2021 they would “be co-developing a new tool to help players improve through Aim Lab’s Playerbase platform” and “launch a series of video lessons that will help players improve at CS:GO and other games.” This, the source said, would give HUNDEN access to the players but in a way that would appear to not be in violation of his ESIC ban. We contacted Aim Lab to ask if they were aware of HUNDEN’s involvement with the project and they provided Dexerto with the following statement. “State Space Labs is working on an open video content platform called Playerbase that would allow anyone to create their own gaming content; think like the Patreon of gaming,” Aim Lab said. “It’s in the early stages, but a number of teams will have content available when the platform launches. Our partners are free to vet and choose their own talent and resources for the production of their content, subject to their compliance with our Terms of Service and community guidelines.” They added that they do not have a contract with HUNDEN. Dexerto contacted Astralis to ask if it was true that HUNDEN had been working with the organization. In a lengthy statement, they confirmed that he had been, although they disputed that he had been working in any coaching capacity. They added that the payments were made through Danish production company PIXEL.tv, a company in which Astralis acquired a majority stake earlier this year. “For the sake of good order, there is nothing clandestine about Mr. Petersen’s involvement in the project, which is a part of our partnership with Aim Lab, as you say,” Astralis said. “ Your information is correct, but as the project and our obligations towards Aim Lab have already been finalized, his work is done and his contract with Pixel TV is set to expire by the end of this month. “While he was contracted by Pixel TV (in which we hold a majority stake), Mr. Petersen has been in the very open Astralis office on several occasions to discuss the deliveries to our partner. He also worked out of the Pixel TV office, and since everybody in the industry here knows his face, it would be quite a task to keep his presence and work for Pixel on behalf of Astralis a secret… He has not been a part of ‘the Astralis operation’ but worked as a subcontractor under Pixel TV with a specific and limited task. He was offered the contract because he is by far the most qualified for the project.” When asked why HUNDEN would be interacting with the players, the Astralis representative answered with the following: “The players are the main “characters” in the content he has developed and instructed, so he has indeed been in contact with them during this project and worked with them. The release of this whole project – including the content – is up to Aim Lab, I would guess it is for release later this year. They work with different contributors from other teams as well.” Astralis also added that they would never have announced Petersen’s involvement publicly due to the nature of his work stating “we never announce the hiring of temporary contractors. Freelance resources and independent contractors are a part of our day-to-day operation, and so far this year we have worked with more than a dozen different contractors without announcing a single one.” Despite HUNDEN’s reputation having taken multiple hits in recent years, Astralis wanted to add that they would be happy to have him work in a more direct capacity with their players once his ESIC ban expires on August 24, 2023. “We would like to comment in general, though, that once Mr. Petersen’s ban has expired, should we have the need, we would not have any second thoughts about offering him a position as an analyst or the like,” Astralis said. “Nor should any other esports organization. He should not be treated any different than any other coach or player who has received a temporary ban. Not during the ban and not after the ban has expired. “We condemn cheating of any kind and nature and will not accept any of such anywhere in our organization, but we also strongly believe that nobody should be punished beyond their action and any sentence received. It’s simply not the way we believe the world or our industry should work.” Although there is nothing wrong with banned coaches and players continuing to work within the esports space during a suspension period, the fact that HUNDEN was employed by Astralis after doing all he could to sabotage a local rival organization will certainly raise some ethical questions. The Danish powerhouse is no stranger to controversy, having found itself at the center of conflict of interest claims due to its relationship with tournament operator BLAST. It also came under fire due to its handling of players in the lead-up to and during the global health crisis.

Astralis edge out Team Liquid to win ECS Season 8 – Final Placements Twitch: FACEIT TVThe FACEIT ECS Season 8 Global Finals saw eight of the world’s best CS:GO teams battle it out in the Esports Stadium, Arlington for their share of the $500,000 prize pool. As the 2019 season is beginning to come to a close, many CS:GO fans were tuned in to see which team would come out on top in one of the final events of the year. After months of the regional ECS pro leagues in Europe and North America, only eight of the top teams worldwide had earned their chance to compete at the playoffs in Arlington, Texas. One team which stood out to many fans leading into the tournament was the Brazilian Challenger side of Sharks Esports, who had qualified by snatching the 4th NA seed over some of the bigger organizations with their consistent performances in the months prior. Unfortunately for the underdogs, they fell in the group stage with an 0-2 record despite bringing the Danish powerhouses, Astralis, all the way to overtime in their opening match of the tournament. As for Astralis, the Berlin Major champions managed to secure their place in the grand finals of the ECS Season 8 Finals, after topping Group B and coming out with an impressive win over a strong Evil Geniuses side in the Semi-Finals. https://twitter.com/ecs/status/1201305309488328704 The Danes were scheduled to face an equally impressive Team Liquid roster, who were also one of the favorites to win the event, in the grand finals of the playoffs in a clash that many fans always look forward to between these two star-studded rosters. Liquid shocked viewers before the series started, selecting Vertigo, an Astralis favorite, with their map pick. Liquid jumped to a hot start, dominating the first half on CT 11-4, on the shoulders of NAF and nitr0. Astralis responded with their own strong CT side, tying the map at 13-13, and then tying it again to force overtime. Liquid showcased the T-side rounds they were looking for in regulation, taking their map in overtime 19-15. Team Liquid looked to carry that form onto Astralis’ pick of Nuke, bursting out with a solid start to their CT-half. However, Astralis brought it back by the end of the half, managing to scrape together seven rounds for themselves. Moving onto the CT-side for the second half, Astralis put Team Liquid to bed, stringing together a solid run of rounds to take out the map 16-11 and forcing a map three decider. While many were expecting Team Liquid to keep up their dominant Dust 2 run, Astralis rode their map two momentum into their T-side, breaking out to a quick 9-1 lead. Team Liquid were looking to get back into the game with some close rounds, but struggled to get points on the board after solid starts. IS THE NA DREAM STILL ALIVE!?? @Twistzz SAVES THE ROUND 💪#ECS8 📺 https://t.co/PeC6Aed3so & https://t.co/mFWmo2rBUR pic.twitter.com/TpurzCE3qm — Flashpoint (@Flashpoint) December 2, 2019 Heading into the second half down three rounds to 12, Team Liquid needed to find some magic to look at forcing overtime, let alone win the map. However, after dropping the pistol round, the game was all but wrapped up. They managed to salvage a few rounds, but Astralis put Team Liquid to bed 24 rounds into Dust 2, resetting the NA squad’s economy on match point and walking away with the map 16-8. ECS Season 8 Final Placements Additional reporting by Dexerto’s Scott Robertson and Andrew Amos

Astralis announce Xyp9x replacement as he takes leave ELEAGUEPopular CS:GO organization Astralis has announced Marco ‘Snappi’ Pfeiffer as their replacement for star player Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth, following his surprise exit on May 27. Astralis has revealed that they will be making yet another change to their roster after Gla1ve stepped down from the star-studded Danish lineup only a week prior, due to ongoing stress and burnout. Following a report from DBLTAP, which revealed Xyp9x would also be taking a step back from competition, Astralis has now addressed the surprise moves, revealing how their roster will look for some of the upcoming tournaments. In a statement on May 28, Astralis announced that they would be bringing in former Heroic player Marco ‘Snappi’ Pfeiffer in place of Xyp9x for future events. Astralis’ director of Sports, Kasper Hvidt, shone some light on the latest change, explaining why yet another Astralis member is taking a break from competing. “”Andreas @Xyp9x is in the need of a pause from competing. The timing isn’t optimal, but we can’t compromise when it comes to giving the players the best possibilities to maintain a healthy mental balance and to perform in the long term.”” – Kasper Hvidt, Director of Sports — Astralis Counter-Strike (@AstralisCS) May 28, 2020 “Andreas is in the need of a pause from competing.” he shared, “the timing isn’t optimal, but we cannot compromise when it comes to giving the players the best possibilities to maintain a healthy mental balance and to perform in the long term.” They also highlighted the new addition of Snappi to the lineup, for the time being, claiming that their 7-man roster was still being put together to allow players the time they needed off. “That’s the reason we have signed two additional players for the roster, however, as Patrick ‘es3tag’ Hansen will only join us in July, I am happy that Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer has agreed to step in immediately.” As Patrick @es3tag Hansen will only join the team in July, we are happy that Marco @SnappiCSGO Pfeiffer has agreed to step in immediately.#ToTheStars pic.twitter.com/zC3rqYqwgk — Astralis (@astralisgg) May 28, 2020 Snappi has been known to be a strong in-game leader on many of his past teams and could be a strong voice for Astralis following the recent departure of two of their most experienced players. Astralis also revealed that Snappi is already familiar with many of his fellow Danes, particularly his former teammate JUGi, who is one of the latest players to join the team after their 7-man roster reveal. While it is still unclear how the roster will shape up throughout the summer, their current lineup still looks set to be a strong contender despite the absence of two of their core players. New Astralis CS:GO roster Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz – Jakob ‘JUGi’ Hansen – Marco ‘Snappi’ Pfeiffer – Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif – Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen – Danny ‘Zonic’ Sørensen (coach) –

Astralis add JUGi to CSGO roster Astralis/HLTVOut of nowhere, Astralis announced they’ve signed Danish player Jakob ‘JUGi’ Hansen as their CSGO squad’s seventh player, effective immediately. JUGi had been playing with North since signing in May 2019, but things never really clicked and he was benched in January of 2020. After not playing competitive CSGO for several months, the AWPer has now found a new home at Astralis, according to TV 2 Sport, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be replacing any of their starters. JUGi was one of the hottest new names in CSGO in 2015 and 2016, in part because of his raw skill on the AWP, which you can see a clip of above. He spent time on Optic in 2018 before being picked up by North in 2019, but for whatever reason, he’s never become the star that he seemed destined to be all those years ago. It’s a bit of a strange move by Astralis, who typically sign high-profile, marketable players, while JUGi has remained fairly low-profile throughout his career. Astralis recently signed Patrick ‘es3tag’ Hansen from Heroic as a sixth player to fill out their roster, so as the team’s seventh player, JUGi will probably spend most of his time on the bench in a backup role. The organization already has veteran AWP legend Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz in their starting squad, so the chances of JUGi seeing playtime while he’s available are slim, but we’ve seen stranger things happen. CSGO is a 5v5 game, and teams typically don’t mess with their starting five for a variety of reasons, the main one being team cohesion and how comfortable players are with one another, which means it could be some time before JUGi sees the spotlight. Neither Astralis or JUGi has commented on the reported pickup yet, but it will be very interesting to see what the Danish esports org ends up doing with their newly expanded roster.

As the CSGO season begins, all eyes remain on NAVI Michal Konkol/BLASTAfter a long break, the CS:GO season is back, and many teams will debut their new rosters. What can we expect from the pretenders to NAVI’s throne? With the BLAST Premier Spring Groups officially kicking off the Counter-Strike season, one topical question lingers: Can anyone take the crown from NAVI? The CIS giants were the dominant force in the scene in 2021, sweeping trophies and individual awards, and setting a new record for the most prize money won in a single calendar year. It will be hard for anyone to top what NAVI did last year, when they won all four LAN events they attended – including the Major –, an Intel Grand Slam, and a handful of online competitions. There is a perfect blend of experience and youth in NAVI’s team, which has an average age of 22.4 years – the joint-second-youngest in the top 10 of HLTV’s world rankings at the moment. Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev and Denis ‘electroNic’ Sharipov have been playing at the highest level for so long that sometimes it’s easy to forget that they’re only 24 and 23 years old, respectively. All of NAVI’s players have plenty of great years ahead of them, so there’s no reason – bar an injury or a deterioration of the relationship between the players – that this formula cannot continue to bear fruit. And if for some reason things go awry, NAVI have the most efficient producer of young talent in their academy project. Success stories like those of Valerii ‘b1t’ Vakhovskyi and Ilya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov, sold to G2 Esports for a reported fee of $600,000, make everyone think that NAVI are covered for every possible scenario, that even the slightest deviation from their master plan will be dealt with swiftly and strongly. Read more: Who is m0NESY, G2 CSGO’s new AWP prodigy? – The envy of all teams, NAVI enter the 2022 season a good couple of levels above everyone else. There were a handful of power moves in the offseason in an attempt to knock NAVI off the perch this year. But will anyone succeed? The heavy hitters The new season will begin not with an arena or a studio event, but with an online tournament. It’s a less-than-perfect scenario, given the thrills and excitement that fans and players experienced in the second half of 2021 for the first time in what felt like forever. But for the new teams – and there are many of them -, this can actually work in their favor as they will have the chance to shake off the rust in a lower pressure environment before the stakes get higher. On paper, FaZe are probably the biggest threat to NAVI at the moment. Robin ‘ropz’ Kool offers a huge firepower upgrade over Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer and the ability to seamlessly plug-and-play right away. Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen has already worked with the Estonian star in the past and knows how to get the best out of him – something that could set FaZe apart from teams like G2 and Vitality at this early stage. It could be that Vitality will take a while to find their rhythm as it is not easy to get everything harmonized after going through such radical changes. Their ceiling is now much higher with the additions of Major-winning talent in Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen, Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif, and head coach Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen, but it’s impossible not to feel that this tournament will come too soon for them. G2 have their own issues to address, most importantly the weight of responsibility on m0NESY’s shoulders. At just 16, the Russian AWPer is still very much wet behind the ears and has never played at this level, yet he is now expected to be a difference-maker in a team that has been designed with one purpose: Win a Major. Discover more: S1mple: “After CSGO? Maybe VALORANT!” | 20 Questions – Luckily for m0NESY, he won’t need to hit s1mple-esque levels right off the bat, provided that Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač continues to put up stellar numbers. For now, the Russian youngster can simply be an upgrade over François ‘AMANEK’ Delaunay and a reliable AWPer who can unlock defenses and hold down bombsites on his own. With Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen having only recently joined the team and Rémy ‘XTQZZZ’ Quoniam still getting to grips with the job and the task of communicating with his troops in English, G2 might look a bit rough around the edges in the first few tournaments. Question marks and sentimentality The Nordic duo of NIP and Astralis both head into the BLAST event with dark clouds hanging over their heads, albeit for very different reasons. The Ninjas will play their second full tournament without Nicolai ‘device’ Reedtz – who remains sidelined for an unknown period of time -, with academy player Love ‘phzy’ Smidebrant filling in for the Dane. 2021 was already a rough year for the Ninjas, and without ‘Mr. Consistency’ to bail them out, it’s hard to see them having the firepower to go toe-to-toe with the big boys. And Astralis, after a promising first tournament with Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke and Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer, have been nothing short of underwhelming. They wrapped up 2021 with a 9th-12th place at IEM Winter and a 5th-6th place at the BLAST Premier World Final, and began 2022 with a 5th-6th place in the Funspark ULTI 2021 Finals. It has proven difficult for Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander to get the best out of his pieces, and if the slump continues, the clock will be ticking on Philip ‘Lucky’ Ewald, who is seemingly back to AWPing duties. The lack of clarity about the roles in the team and the handling of the AWP like it’s a hot potato raise some serious concerns about their prospects of success. And then there are the North American teams. The region took quite the beating in 2020 and 2021 with an exodus of talent and organizations amid the rise of Valorant and the global health crisis. Things seem to be on the up again, in part because of the support pledged by the Louvre Agreement teams, but some of the region’s offseason moves made were fuelled by nostalgia and longing. The worst offender was EG, who decided to bring back the core of Cloud9’s Boston Major-winning lineup, made up of Jake ‘Stewie2K’ Yip, William ‘RUSH’ Wierzba, and Timothy ‘autimatic’ Ta. It seems nigh impossible to see three players in the autumn of their careers, and who couldn’t keep the Cloud9 team functioning four years ago after the region’s biggest achievement, suddenly deliver success to a team whose star players, Vincent ‘Brehze’ Cayonte and Tsvetelin ‘CeRq’ Dimitrov, are going through a slump. Liquid brought back a familiar face in Nick ‘nitr0’ Cannella, who, like autimatic, is returning to CS:GO after a Valorant stint, in the hopes that he can once again guide the team to the top. It is a move that evokes memories of better times, but can ‘Captain America’ get up to speed quickly enough to avoid a poor start to the year? And can Josh ‘oSee’ Ohm live up to the hype after years farming stats in North America? Much to everyone’s surprise, it was Complexity who lucked out. After watching the team fail to qualify for the Major, the organization decided it was time to wipe the slate clean and pulled the plug on the ‘Juggernaut’ project. They now have a well-rounded, NA-based squad with the core of the Extra Salt team plus Paytyn ‘junior’ Johnson and Michael ‘Grim’ Wince, two players eager to prove themselves after a bittersweet year. They are one of the potential dark horses for the BLAST tournament along with BIG, who strengthened their team with Josef ‘faveN’ Baumann but may still be one roster move away from being an elite contender. Getting the new season underway It’s quite likely that we won’t be seeing a NAVI team at full strength in the BLAST Premier Spring Groups. They ended the 2021 season running on fumes, showing clear signs of fatigue after a long and demanding year. At the BLAST Premier World Final, they began their campaign with a defeat to a ‘dead’ Team Liquid before, and while they went on to win the tournament, it was not as clear cut as some of their other title runs. NAVI can afford to approach this test with a more relaxed attitude given the nature of the tournament, which basically serves as a qualifier for the Spring Finals, and the fact that it won’t be held on LAN, where their true strength lies. With no trophy at stake, they might want to save their strength and focus for IEM Katowice, the first real challenge of 2022, safe in the knowledge that even their B-game will be enough to get the job done. The buzz that comes with the start of a new season is back. There will be no great conclusions drawn from this tournament, no accurate measurements of where each team stands, and even though Counter-Strike might not always be of the highest quality, the excitement is guaranteed. After a busy offseason that restored some semblance of normality, it is clear that some teams want to do more than just make up the numbers and play second fiddle to NAVI. But some of the moves still provide more questions than answers. For all we know, this is still NAVI’s world.

As PGL CSGO Major Antwerp nears, coach bug dominates the conversation PGLPGL Major Antwerp will begin in only a few days’ time, but instead of discussing the amazing storylines leading up to the event, we find ourselves discussing another chapter of a saga that drags on with no end in sight. All of a sudden, the discussion has shifted. We’re no longer talking about Bad News Eagles’ remarkable journey, Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen’s chances of breaking his Major duck with the best FaZe roster in history, or NAVI’s ability to defend their Stockholm crown. For the past 24 hours, the infamous coach bug has been at the forefront of the CS:GO scene’s consciousness. It all began with an announcement from the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) that three unnamed coaches attending the upcoming Major in Antwerp had been provisionally suspended after using one of the more serious variants of the spectator bug. A fourth coach, also unnamed, was found to have used the third-person view bug, but due to the low risk that this variant poses he will be allowed to coach in Belgium. The suspense began brewing immediately after the news broke, even though by then it was already common knowledge that Luís ‘peacemaker’ Tadeu was one of the three suspended coaches. The Brazilian had encountered the free roam variant of the bug – the most powerful of the three, which gave coaches the ability to ‘fly’ undetected around the map. Dexerto knows the manner in which ESIC announced the suspensions, without immediately naming the coaches involved, created tension among teams attending the Major. Some coaches began to wonder whether they were getting suspended as in the past there had been instances of coaches not being contacted by ESIC before it communicated its findings to the public. If it sounds strange that a coach who should have nothing to fear feels this way, it is important to keep in mind that the cases can go as far back as 2016. In those six years, coaches were involved in hundreds of official games, not to mention daily scrims, and until August 2020, when the spectator bug was made public, few people had a comprehensive knowledge of what this glitch was. Adding to this climate of uneasiness is the shoot-first, ask-questions-later policy that was the norm in the first wave of bans and in the Australian investigation (remember about that?). Over the past two months, Dexerto has reached out to a number of coaches who have experienced the spectator bug in some form and are being investigated by ESIC. Most of them expressed surprise after being presented with evidence and insisted having no recollection of these cases. They claimed that they regarded the bug as just an abnormality when they encountered it and thought nothing of it. An endless story On the afternoon of May 6, ESIC finally confirmed the names of the three coaches who had been provisionally suspended. Imperial’s peacemaker, 9z’s Rafael ‘zakk’ Fernandes, and Spirit’s Sergey ‘hally’ Shavaev have all been presented with notices of charges and an intended sanction. The trio has been given an unspecified amount of time to respond to the charges. Before that, however, Spirit and 9z had already come out to confirm that their coaches were being suspended for the Major. In a statement also posted on Reddit, the CIS organization accused ESIC of “attacking coaches who simply cannot defend themselves” and questioned the legitimacy of the association. 9z founder and CEO Francisco Postiglione then added to the noise as he urged the team’s fans to express support by using the hashtag #FreeZakk so that PGL would take notice. Without getting into the argument of whether these suspensions are justifiable (that itself is another discussion), it is easy to see why the timing of ESIC’s announcement couldn’t have been worse: teams had until five days before the start of the Major to change their coach. With the May 5 announcement happening after that deadline, the affected teams were left without the option to find a replacement. If ESIC had informed teams/coaches of these findings 5 days prior to the beginning of the major instead of 3/4, then teams would have been allowed to change their coach+sub roster submission prior to the lock.https://t.co/1Y4U4tHTlr Major oversight, or intentional punishment? pic.twitter.com/xlOykGkGvJ — Graham Pitt (@messioso) May 6, 2022 And then there’s also the question of why ESIC sat on this information for over a year, with Michal Slowinski (the tournament admin that played a central role in uncovering the bug scandal in 2020), stating that by the end of March 2021 he had completed his investigation and provided ESIC with the list of all cases. This is something that ESIC will eventually have to answer for and that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth: Charged with one and one and a half rounds of the static bug, respectively, hally and zakk would have been able to attend the Antwerp Major if ESIC had published its findings in a timely manner. Even if found guilty, they would have been banned for the Stockholm Major only. But this is still not over, far from it, with almost a hundred coaches left to formally charge. Many chapters are to follow, and like a Mexican telenovela, it will have many twists and turns, the suspense and the noise continuously sucking the life out of the esport. Until all this is done and we get some sort of closure, we are bound to keep revisiting this story, each time with different protagonists. This is what we are doing right now, instead of talking about 9z making history for South American CS, IHC Esports being the first Mongolian representative at a Major, or Imperial’s Last Dance. Monday can’t come soon enough.

As IEM Cologne begins, a storm in the CSGO scene is brewing ESLIEM Cologne will bring the curtain down on the CS:GO season as the player break looms. For some teams, this moment is all or nothing. When the IEM Cologne champion walks on stage on July 17 and lifts the trophy in front of a raucous crowd at the LANXESS arena, roster mania will (officially) begin. Like an unkinked hose, changes will spray everywhere as a number of teams will look to address their issues ahead of the second CS:GO Major of the year, IEM Rio. Teams like FaZe, Cloud9 and Heroic are safe (whatever that means in esports), but for a slew of competitors, a lot is riding on the outcome of this tournament. A deep run at IEM Cologne, the most prestigious event on the CS:GO calendar outside of the Majors, will be the difference between pulling the trigger on changes and finding something — however fragile — to hang on to, if only just a little bit longer. CS:GO teams normally wait until the summer break to fine-tune their squads, but Heroic bucked that trend by signing Jakob ‘jabbi’ Nygaard, one of the most sought-after players in Denmark, ahead of IEM Cologne despite coming off a title-winning campaign at the Pinnacle Cup Championship. Heroic knew that their long-standing problems did not go away with that trophy and quickly moved to land the Copenhagen Flames player, who was also being courted by a number of international teams. jabbi could prove a masterstroke from the Heroic organization, which hopes that the 18-year-old’s addition will provide a spark to a team that has struggled to retain an elite status in the scene. We’re super excited about our newest addition to the CS:GO team, @jabbiCS 🔥 Find out how many hours he has in CS, what his role is in the team & more! #BeHeroic | #CSGO pic.twitter.com/blTamQGrtr — HEROIC (@heroicgg) July 4, 2022 With the summer break just around the corner, all eyes are on Mareks ‘YEKINDAR’ Gaļinskis, the eighth-best player of 2021. The Latvian prodigy is available for transfer after being benched by Virtus.pro and would be a perfect fit for many teams given his billing as one of the game’s premier entry-fraggers. In a normal year, he’d have the scene in his hands and a host of suitors lining up for his services. However, he is facing a market with very few options, not only because of his price tag (rumored to be in excess of $1 million) but also because of the general unwillingness to conduct business with Russian organizations in the current climate. https://t.co/LUCPyFVHgm and me agreed on terms and timing of my exit, hence I am ready for talks with other teams! I am super excited and eager to play again! 🔥🔥— YEKINDAR (@yek1ndar) June 17, 2022 A deal for YEKINDAR could require some creative maneuvering, but Cloud9 have proved that it is possible to pry talent away from Russian organizations without facing much backlash. They signed Gambit’s CS:GO team in a deal negotiated with Norway-based ULTI agency, with the financial details of the move unclear. IEM Cologne will be a good opportunity for prospective buyers to watch YEKINDAR in action in a different system: He will be playing for Team Liquid, who are in the market for a player to replace Richard ‘shox’ Papillon. YEKINDAR would be a massive coup for Liquid and help solve the team’s lack of firepower, but as Dust2.us recently wrote, fans should not hold their collective breath in hopes of seeing the Latvian donning Liquid’s colors beyond this event. Lacking bite There is a cloud of uncertainty hanging over a number of teams attending IEM Cologne, not least G2 Esports, who continue slipping and sliding through a disappointing year. The signing of Russian prodigy Ilya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov has given the team more reliability in the AWPing role, but recent events have shown that their issues ran deeper than that role. At the BLAST Premier Spring Final, when Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač disappeared on the final two maps of the semi-final clash against Vitality, G2 were found lacking. Stunned and distraught after the team’s elimination in Lisbon, Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen could not find an explanation for his team’s meltdown. “I just felt like, ‘How did we lose this match?’” he said. “We still have one more tournament, which is Cologne. Let’s see what happens next time. It just sucks.” Six months into Aleksib’s tenure as the team’s in-game leader, G2 have only one final appearance to show for it. That was at IEM Katowice, their debut tournament, which indicates that their progress has stalled. Another disastrous outing will most likely see G2 press the panic button. Vitality bought themselves some time with their grand final run in Lisbon, but the respite could be just temporary for the international team. They have looked disjointed and out of sync, a consequence of the struggles to adapt to communicating in English — a novelty for everyone involved. Vitality’s management has made it clear that it will give the team enough time to work through their issues, but that doesn’t mean that there can’t be a change. Even Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire admitted as much. “Of course I think that if we don’t get results we will have to do something at some point,” he told Dexerto. “It can be anyone on the team but ZywOo, I guess.” Hoping for the best Two other teams that may pull the trigger on roster changes in the event of another heartbreak are Astralis and FURIA. Both sides have failed to live up to the hype generated by their rosters, to the point that it wouldn’t be a surprise if neither made it to the playoffs. After showing some promise earlier in the year, FURIA have seen their form fall off a cliff ahead of the German event. They went out last at ESL Challenger Valencia, a disastrous tournament for the Brazilian contingent, following losses to Sprout and 00NATION. “Far away from what we expected, but this is the reality and we will deal with it,” head coach Nicholas ‘guerri’ Nogueira wrote on Twitter. Astralis’ double swoop of Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke and Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer brought hope back to the fan base after the departure of Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz, but eight months on, the team appears to be at an impasse. The signing of AWPer Asger ‘Farlig’ Jensen has done little to improve their fortunes, leaving them with much thinking to do in the summer. It’s impossible to find only one culprit for their poor season, with blameF the sole player who has offered any consistency. If Astralis struggle through IEM Cologne, it’s hard to see them not making at least one change, especially with Valdemar ‘valde’ Bjørn Vangså, a player they have been linked with in the past, available on the market. And then there’s also NAVI. Yes, they travel to Cologne on the back of a Cinderella title run at the BLAST Premier Spring Final, but doubts remain about whether Viktor ‘sdy’ Orudzhev is the right fit for the team in the long run. The Ukrainian organization will be able to make a better assessment of this roster’s potential at this event and use the summer break to analyse its options and look for a new permanent player if needed. For MOUZ and Complexity, IEM Cologne is expected to be little more than a formality. Such has been their disappointing season that they look like dead men walking, and they are likely to be among the first teams to exit the tournament. Complexity — who have failed to win a single match against top-30 opposition on LAN this year — are widely expected to move on from AWPer Paytyn ‘junior’ Johnson, who has struggled to regain the form that earned him a move to FURIA early last year. And MOUZ are looking at a summer rebuild that could go in a number of different directions, including replacing Australian skipper Christopher ‘dexter’ Nong, who has never really looked at home on this team. For a number of teams, IEM Cologne represents a battle for survival, the last chance to salvage a season that has been full of let-downs. For others, an opportunity for players to show what they can do before the inevitable clear-out. A lot of the summer transfer activity will depend on how the tournament plays out, but one thing is clear: the contours of the tier-one scene will shift significantly in the next six weeks. Let the roster mania begin.

As BLAST Premier viewership craters, is there cause for worry? Jak Howard/BLASTThe first big CSGO tournament of 2023, the BLAST Premier Spring Groups, drew unimpressive viewership numbers. But we shouldn’t sound the alarm bells just yet. As on-air talent James Banks announced Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut as the MVP of the BLAST Premier Spring Groups, the most surprising thing wasn’t that the French player received the award (although it could be easily argued that Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač, with a 1.48 HLTV rating, a 1.70 Impact and a 97.5 ADR, deserved it more). It was that the player was nowhere to be seen to collect his new hardware. “I’ll hold on to it for him for now,” Banks said. ZywOo and his French teammates had left Copenhagen days earlier to prepare for their next outing, IEM Katowice, which starts on February 1. The fact that a tournament MVP can be announced several days after he played his last match just speaks to the weaknesses of the format in question, which has come under criticism in many quarters. Under the new BLAST Premier format, the three group winners automatically qualify for the Spring Finals, skipping the Play-In stage altogether. Throughout its ten-day run, the BLAST Premier Spring Groups averaged 152,139 viewers, according to statistics website Esports Charts. This represents a decline of 110,000 viewers (42 percent) when compared to the 2022 Spring Groups and of 26,000 viewers (14.7 percent) when looking at the 2022 Falls Groups. The event, which was held in a studio setting in Copenhagen, peaked at 398,275 viewers, down 26.5 percent from the 542,016 peak during the 2022 Spring Groups, held entirely online. The trend of decreasing online viewership isn’t exclusive to CS:GO, with League of Legends’ LEC and LCS also losing viewers despite catering to new audiences with its watch party program, although to a lesser extent. (Mobile esports, meanwhile, is thriving, especially in Southeast Asia.) At the same time, a number of reasons help explain this sharp decrease. BLAST Premier no longer has any Brazilian partners after MIBR’s parent company, the Immortals Gaming Club, sold its slot to Heroic in April 2022. Peak viewership for Portuguese broadcasts dropped 69%, from 121,087 in the 2022 Spring Groups to just 37,067 in this month’s event. And there was also a 53 percent dip in the Russian broadcast’s peak viewership, from 178,980 and 84,127, which could be explained in part by the change in coverage studio from WePlay to Relog Media. In November 2022, BLAST also launched its own live viewing platform called BLAST.tv, whose audience is not accounted for by Esports Charts. Viewership figures for BLAST.tv have not been disclosed by the tournament organizer. Contacted by Dexerto, BLAST added that most of the numbers provided by Esports Charts don’t consider broadcast reach and exclude China, “which counts for millions of viewers during each event and is one of our strongest regions.” In an article published in December 2022, Esports Charts explained that “it is impossible” to calculate Chinese viewership numbers accurately using open data as the country’s popular streaming platforms do not show the number of viewers tuned in “but rather a quite abstract metric named The Heat.” When the tournament feels like a slog Despite some slight improvements to the format, the BLAST Premier circuit remains a disjointed product. The Spring Groups still felt like a low-stakes, drawn-out qualifier for an event that is months away and that will even be held on a different continent. By the time the Spring Finals begin in Washington, four months will have passed and several high-stakes tournaments will have been played out (including the BLAST Major in Paris). No one will even remember how those teams got there. Before the end of 2022, the BLAST Premier World Final averaged 162,465 viewers, a 47% decrease when compared to the 2021 World Final. The tournament came under fierce criticism for its Abu Dhabi location (which also made it so a number of matches, including the grand final, weren’t held during European prime time) and for a flawed Leaderboard system that seems tailor-made for partner teams. IEM Katowice will be an acid test for the health of CS:GO’s esports ecosystem. Not only will it feature a crowd during the playoffs, which makes for a better and more attractive product, but it’s also the sort of landmark moment that people circle on their calendars and tune in to, even those who may not be die-hard fans or players. And it also has, thanks to its qualifying system, all the best teams in the world, which isn’t even necessarily the case for Majors. But even then, we might still be reliant on a handful of popular teams making deep runs to match, or even come close to, last year’s Katowice viewership numbers. Underdog tales are cool and all, but when teams like NAVI, FURIA, G2 and FaZe underperform, viewership tanks. The IEM Rio Major final, between Heroic and Outsiders, peaked at 1,176,319 viewers, which is less than the same tournament’s quarter-final match between NAVI and FURIA (1,428,993) or the 2022 IEM Cologne final between FaZe and NAVI (1,249,426). And that figure also pales in comparison to the grand finals of the Stockholm or the Antwerp Majors (2,748,434 and 2,113,610 respectively). Enjoy IEM Katowice while you can. Ten days later, ESL Pro League Season 17 starts in Malta, a month-long affair destined to squeeze as many airtime hours as possible, a strategy that is not likely to go away anytime soon, especially if certain key metrics plummet during this testing year for esports.

Army National Guard CS:GO Missions: How to complete and earn points As part of the Army’s National Guard Community Challenge, CSGO players competing will have the chance to earn extra points by completing various missions. Here’s how missions work, and how to get them done. Throughout the duration of the CS:GO community nights and tournaments running until December, you can rack up points for each game you win – while having points deducted for a loss. But, it’s not just winning or losing you need to worry about – that’s where missions come in. Missions offer an extra opportunity to pick up points. If you’re not already signed up, make sure to head to our info page for everything you need to get started. CS:GO Community Night Missions Missions are a way for players to earn additional rewards for winning matches, by not just winning matches for points but also playing, getting headshots, clutches, bomb defuses, nade kills, etc. Players will enter a mission challenge and compete against themselves to complete a specific task. If you complete that task, i.e. 3 clutches in a game, you will win points that can be spent on the shop here. Hometown Soldier Campaign The Army National Guard started the Hometown Soldier Campaign on November 1, with missions that can be activated by any players with a CS:GO game account. There are currently two missions that everyone can complete until the end of November: Mission 1: Win 10 matches – 500 points – Mission 2: Win 60 matches – 20,000 points – At the end of the month, these missions will be replaced by two more on December 1, which will run until the end of December. This is all in addition to the bi-weekly tournaments, where players will be ranked on their wins/losses. The top players will proceed to the next stage of the tournament and will be rewarded with points, from a pool of 30,000 – full details here.

Argentinian CSGO prodigy ‘try’ ready to wreak havoc again on return to Europe 9zSantino ‘try’ Rigal helped 9z pull off one of the biggest CS:GO upsets in recent memory when they beat Vitality earlier in 2021. In an exclusive interview with Dexerto, the 17-year-old star discussed that match and what he sees for his future in the game. 15 April 2021 was a day for South American esports to remember. Minnows 9z, then ranked just 88th in the world, shocked world No.8 Vitality in the first round of the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown. It was a less-than-ideal sendoff for Vitality’s Cédric ‘RpK’ Guipouy – who was moved to the bench after that match, as announced by the French organization days earlier. He ended up not playing anymore before confirming his retirement from the game a few months later. On the broadcast, CS:GO commentator Mohan ‘launders’ Govindasamy labeled it “one of the best upsets I’ve ever seen”, and rightly so: Vitality, the BLAST Premier Fall champions, were overwhelming 1.03 favorites to advance in the tournament. To rub further salt into their wounds, 9z were without Martin ’rox’ Molina, who missed the online event in Europe due to personal reasons. In his place was Rajohn ‘EasTor’ Linato, a Spanish AWPer playing in Europe’s tier two. The match featured two Majors winners and Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut, the best player in the world of 2019 and 2020, but it was try who stole the show. As 9z’s players leaped from their chairs and hugged each other in celebration after the 2-1 series win, all eyes were on the 16-year-old Argentinian, who had put in a series-high 1.57 HLTV rating to power his team to victory. “I don’t have words to describe it,” he told Dexerto. “It’s something that I never imagined could happen. “ZywOo is one of my references, like s1mple, for example. It made me very happy that I had a great performance against him.” Meteoric rise It’s startling how quickly try adapted to the highest level in South America after being promoted by 9z from their academy team in March 2020. The young Argentinian was named the 11th best player competing in Brazil in 2020 by DRAFT5, showing incredible promise with the AWP after initially struggling with the weapon. As 9z traveled to Europe for the BLAST tournament, the hype surrounding try was palpable. And if there were any questions about whether it was warranted, they were answered that day. “I think so,” he said when asked if he’s looked at differently since that match. “I think it was a surprise for many people. “I don’t know if people followed the Latin American scene, if they saw the tournaments I played in Brazil, but the game against Vitality was surely watched by many teams. “I definitely think there is a before and an after that match. Because winning or having a good performance against Vitality opens many doors.” Try knows just how important it is to make the most of these rare opportunities to compete abroad. Brazil may send the largest contingent to PGL Major Stockholm – in part because of the three teams that qualified via North America -, but the rest of the Latin American scene is still struggling to catch up. For 9z and other teams in the same situation, the excitement of facing the world’s best teams is followed by the frustration of reverting to a lower tier and losing whatever gains they made while on the road. “It’s very hard because we play against the best teams in the world, and back home they’re not even close to that level,” try explained. “It’s very stressful because you need to readjust to the game style in South America, which is very different from the one in Europe.” A new opportunity Now with their full roster in Europe, 9z will be looking to topple another giant in the first round of the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown. This time, it’s Team Liquid standing in the South Americans’ way. 2×1 @bravosgg y clasificamos a la #BLASTPremier, cerrando ojetes devuelta, orgulloso de mi equipo que nos venimos rompiendo el orto hace un montón. Cya in europe 😉 — Santino Rigal (@TRYZSE1) September 13, 2021 The two teams are over 50 world-ranking places apart, but that doesn’t seem to faze try. If anything, he is relishing the opportunity to test himself against Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo, the ‘Godfather of Brazilian CS’. “Just like everyone else, I followed SK when they were the best team in the world, so I feel very motivated to play against him,” try said. “I admired them when they were the best team in the world.” Try, who turned 17 on September 23, is still in the nascent stages of his career, but there will come a point when he will have to decide the next step for him. Other Argentinian players, like Ignacio ‘meyern’ Meyer and Luca ‘Luken’ Nadotti, have had to join Brazilian teams to further their careers. And while some of these players have endured mixed fortunes abroad, this seems to be a natural progression for try, who has unquestionably outgrown the South American scene. FURIA have been touted as a potential destination for the young Argentinian. The Brazilians have struggled in the AWPing department since Henrique ‘HEN1’ Teles’ departure in late 2020 and have had to make do with academy player André ‘drop’ Abreu after removing Paytyn ‘junior’ Johnson. Try believes that his future “will depend” on whether 9z will move to North America – a plan that was announced at the end of 2020 but that has yet to materialize. Questioned about a potential move to FURIA, he said: “It could be a great step forward in my career, but the contracts and all that stuff make it harder. “It would be a good move for me and I would like to play in a team like that. “A necessary step? I don’t know. It depends on what we do with 9z, and if we move to another region or not – my understanding is that we will.” To this day, Argentina’s second-place finish at The World Championships 2016, in Belgrade, remains the country’s biggest achievement in CS:GO. Many believed that Cinderella run could be the harbinger of a new chapter for Argentinian esports, but the country has struggled to remain relevant in the game. For try, looking abroad for talent – 9z feature players from Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil – is the only choice for a team like his to be competitive. “If we keep this roster, I think we have a good chance to qualify for the Major next year,” try said. “But if you’re talking about a full Argentinian team, I don’t think the level to reach a Major is there.”

April 25 CS:GO update patch notes – Ruby and Workout added, major changes to Vertigo, and more A new updated for CounterStrike: Global Offensive was released on April 25, and we’re here to make sure you’re caught up on everything there is to know. There were several important aspects of note in the April 25 update, chief of which were the addition of two new maps and a flurry of changes made to Vertigo, one of the longest existing maps in CS:GO. In addition to changes made to a few other maps, this update also implemented some adjustments to how bots work in-game. A full breakdown of the update, including the patch notes, can be found below. Two new maps added On April 25, it was announced that two new maps were added to the rotation – Ruby and Workout. Ruby is a bomb defusal map that’s set in a “scenic town” in Portugal,, and Workout is a “community favorite” hostage rescue map. Ruby is currently only available in the Defusal Group Sigma, and will be added to Competitive Matchmaking in the coming weeks, while Workout is available both in Competitive Matchmaking and Hostage Map Group. As a result of these two maps entering the rotation, the community-created maps Abbey and Biome will be taken out to make room. Major changes to Vertigo The April 25 update introduced numerous changes to Vertigo, a map that’s existed in CS:GO since 2012. In total, there were 19 changes made to the map, some more significant than others. Changes include: flattened bombsite zones, reworked Terrorist spawn, fixed some poor visibility spots, and more. The full list of all of these changes can be seen in the patch notes located at the bottom of this page. Adjustments to bots This update implemented a total of four adjustments to how the AI bots work in-game, including fixing an issue that was causing certain bots to have trouble planting bombs at A site on Overpass. Speaking of bombs, as a result of this update, bots will now have more areas to choose from when planting explosives. The full patch notes for the April 25 update can be viewed below: Release Notes for 4/25/2019 2019.04.25 – [ MAPS ] – Workout is now available in Competitive Mode and as part of the Hostage Group. – Ruby is now available as part of the Defusal Group Sigma. – Abbey and Biome which are no longer available in official matchmaking. – Updated radars for Assault, Cobblestone, Italy, Militia, Office, Vertigo. Cobblestone: – Added nav blocker entities for Wingman Inferno: – Added nav blockers for Wingman mode – Fixed a bug where fountain particle effects would sometimes not play – Brightened up gate-area at top of banana Overpass: – Added nav blocker entities for Wingman – Fixed C4 stuck spot inside connector – Balloons no longer block grenades or player movement Train: – Added nav blocker entities for Wingman – Changed ground material to a brighter version – Updated train car models with improved collision model – Added white background near T entrance to A main Vertigo: – Added nav blockers for Wingman mode – Removed spot where player could avoid death-trigger in elevator shaft – Fixed molotovs breaking on top of pipes near scaffolding on A ramp – Fixed some poor visibility spots – Added ibeam with construction markings for possible grenade lineups – Simplified grenade collisions on walls and bombsite crates – Decreased size of bombsite zones on both sites – Flattened bombsite zones – Lowered volume of some environment sounds – Reworked T spawn – Removed center cover in elevator room by A site – Removed pallets in elevator room near mid – Lengthened hallway-exit from elevator room by A site – Made T entrance to mid slightly tighter – Tweaked shape of sandbags in mid – Made catwalk near B stairs one section longer – Removed ibeam closest to B stairs – Updated elevator model – Blocked view from CT spawn towards bombsite B catwalk [ BOTS ] – Enabled nav blocker entities for bots to path correctly when playing Wingman. – Fixed bots from sometimes falling down from ladders and improved bots ladder movement in general. – Fixed bots having trouble planting bombs at A site on Overpass. – Bots now choose more areas available for bomb plants. Don’t Skip Leg Day 2019.04.25 – Today we’re introducing two maps to CS:GO: Ruby, a bomb defusal map set in a scenic town in Portugal, and Workout, a community favorite hostage rescue map! As these two maps enter, we’ll say goodbye to two other community-created maps: Abbey and Biome. Ruby is currently available in the Defusal Group Sigma, but in the coming weeks will be added to Competitive Matchmaking. Workout is currently available in Competitive Matchmaking, and the Hostage Map Group.

apEX compares “gifted” ZywOo to Lionel Messi João Ferreira/DexertoDan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire has heaped praise on Vitality teammate Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut, comparing him to football superstar Lionel Messi. Despite having only started his professional career in 2018, ZywOo has already etched his name into the Counter-Strike history books, such has been the level of his performances since bursting into the upper echelons of the game. ApEX has had the privilege of watching ZywOo’s rise to prominence from up close, as the pair have been teammates since October 2018. The French sniper was named the best player in the world in 2019 and 2020, but in 2021 he had to watch as NAVI’s Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev stole the show after a phenomenal year that surpassed even the wildest of expectations. S1mple and ZywOo have been at the Counter-Strike summit in the same way that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have in football. They are both in the prime of their careers and are expected to continue to dominate the game for many more years, but apEX believes that there’s something that sets the two talents apart. “He’s the chosen one,” apEX told Dexerto when asked about the fact that ZywOo was born on the same day that Counter-Strike was released. “I like football a lot, and for me, Messi is like ZywOo. Ronaldo is more like s1mple, a really hard worker. The other two are just gifted. “He [ZywOo] is like an angel coming from the sky.” ZywOo will play his first official match of 2022 on January 30 as Vitality will take on Evil Geniuses in the BLAST Premier Spring Groups. Discover more: As the CSGO season begins, all eyes remain on NAVI – It will be the first match of the new Vitality squad, strengthened in the offseason with the arrivals of Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen, Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif, and head coach Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen from Astralis.

Apeks release CSGO veteran shox after two months João Ferreira/DexertoDreamHack Winter 2014 Major champion Richard ‘shox’ Papillon is without a team after being released by Apeks, the Norwegian organization has announced. When Apeks announced shox to much fanfare on August 11, there was the feeling that the team had genuine dark-horse potential, with the French veteran joining a stacked roster that also included the ever-reliable Joakim ‘jkaem’ Myrbostad and former NIP AWPer Tim ‘nawwk’ Jonasson. But all of that enthusiasm quickly turned into disappointment. Weeks later, Apeks pulled the team out of all tournaments after a string of disappointing performances. Despite their blend of talent and experience, the team failed to qualify for the European RMR, ending shox’s perfect streak of Major appearances. At Fragadelphia 17, Apeks could not go beyond the semi-finals after losing to BIG Academy in the last-four stage of the North American LAN tournament. As the end of a Major cycle looms with IEM Rio on the horizon, Apeks have announced that shox will not be part of the squad moving forward, citing “a difference in vision on how to proceed with our in-game team development.” “After much deliberation, we have mutually agreed for shox to explore his options,” Apeks said in a statement. “Richard has been nothing short of a stellar professional throughout this process, and we are doing everything we can to help him find a home where he can thrive.” shox, who had joined Apeks after a disappointing spell with Team Liquid, has not given any indication of what he wants to do next. But his sudden availability will certainly lead to rumblings of a possible ‘French Last Dance’ project alongside players like Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub and Nathan ‘NBK-‘ Schmitt. The latter, his teammate on the LDLC team that won the DreamHack Winter 2014 Major, is currently playing for Falcons. Last month, Karmine Corp president Kamel ‘Kameto’ Kebir confirmed that the organization is interested in entering CS:GO ahead of the BLAST Major in Paris. He ruled out the possibility of signing a star-studded roster, adding that the organization could either put together a Last Dance project with veterans or sign a team that can grow over time.

Apeks pull off historic win at BLAST Paris CSGO Major Michal Konkol/BLASTApeks have made CS:GO history at the 2023 BLAST Paris Major, recording the third-ever 16-0 map win at an international major in their match against Australian side Grayhound. CS:GO Majors have seen their fair share of one-sided stomps, but a 16-0 win is still a rare sight to behold. At the final CS:GO Major, the 2023 BLAST Paris Major, the European side Apeks managed to pull off a dominant 16-0 win in the Challengers Stage against Grayhound. In the best-of-one matchup, the two teams settled on Mirage as their battleground for their second match of the tournament. Apeks took control of the match early and did not let Grayhound get a foothold in any of the rounds. Justinas ‘jL’ Lekavicius led Apeks in the match with a 23/4 Kills/Deaths ratio and a 2.01 HLTV rating. The win puts Apeks at the top of the Challengers Stage standings with a 2-0 record and a plus 20 round differential. Apeks put up historic numbers at final CSGO Major Apeks are only the second team to have ever pulled off a 16-0 map at a CS:GO Major as Astralis has managed the feat two other times. During their dynasty run, the Danish team managed to 16-0 both MIBR and Cloud9 in 2018 and 2019 respectively. There are still three more rounds to go in the Challengers Stage of the BLAST Paris Major as only the top eight teams will move on. Thanks to their historically dominant win, Apeks have put themselves in a great spot to advance to the next stage. Grayhound, meanwhile, is not out of the running to move on yet, despite the horrific loss, as the Australian team managed to win its first match against FORZE Esports. They now sit in the top half of the table with a 1-1 record and a minus 14 round differential.

Anubis to be featured in BLAST Premier World Final map pool Stephanie Lindgren/BLASTThe BLAST Premier World Final will be played on the latest CS:GO update, which added Anubis to the Active Duty map pool, Dexerto has confirmed. Valve released on November 18 an important update for CS:GO that nerfed the AWP and the M4A1-S, and added Anubis to the Active Duty map pool — the official set of maps selected by Valve for esports competitions — instead of Dust2. The update came too soon for the BLAST Premier Fall Final, which will begin on November 23, with Nicolas Estrup, BLAST’s Chief Innovation Officer, stating that the tournament would run on a pre-update version of CS:GO. There were mixed reactions to BLAST’s decision. Some agreed that there was simply not enough time for the participating teams to adapt to the changes in time for the event, while others, like FaZe star Robin ‘ropz’ Kool, said that it would be impossible for players to scrim on old versions of the game in the days leading up to the event in Copenhagen. This, combined with the fact that teams are now unwilling to play Dust2 as the CS:GO scene begins to adopt Anubis, has made practice for the teams attending the tournament ineffective to an extent. Contacted by Dexerto, BLAST confirmed that the upcoming World Final event will be played on the new CS:GO update, making it the first tier-one LAN event to include Anubis, a community-created map that was added to the game in March 2020. It will be curious to see how the update will affect the usage of the M4A1-S, which had its range modifier reduced from 0.99 to 0.94. The weapon has long been the go-to rifle choice for the CTs at the highest level of the game, making the M4A4 almost unused. The AWP had its magazine size reduced from ten to five bullets, but that nerf has been played down by most of those who use the sniper rifle. “Nothing has changed, to be honest,” NAVI star Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev said at a press conference before the BLAST event. “It’s only when you’re alone on the site [that it’s different]. You cannot miss if you want to kill all five.” The BLAST Premier World Final will take place between December 14-18 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi as part of a three-year partnership between the tournament organizer and ADGaming. NAVI, FaZe, Vitality and IEM Rio Major winners Outsiders are the first four teams confirmed for the $1 million event, which will also feature the winner of the BLAST Premier Fall Final and three teams determined by the BLAST Global Leaderboard.

Anonymo accuses NiP of “pressuring” Flashpoint to force controversial rematch Anonymo/NiP/FlashpointAnonymo and Ninjas in Pyjamas will be replaying their CSGO match from Round One of Flashpoint Season 3, after the results of the first matchup were contested by NiP. Almost immediately after Anonymo beat NiP 2-1 in the first round, the Swedish org put out a statement complaining they had experienced a number of technical issues during the match, and were basically forced to play with a handicap. NiP brought this up during the match which led to a lengthy pause in play, but tournament organizers decided at the time, according to the team, that they would just have to finish the best of three, packet loss or not. After the match, Anonymo initially seemed to back up the complaints, but a few days after the scores were officially in the books, the Polish team claimed NiP were “pressuring” FACEIT tournament organizers “on a business level” who were then pressuring them to replay the match. Anonymo accuses NiP of “pressuring” FACEIT “We are currently getting pressured from both Ninjas in Pyjamas and the organizers of Flashpoint to replay the match that has taken place on 14th of May 2021,” Anonymo said in their statement, which came out before the rematch announcement. “At the first timeout (1:1 in rounds) we offered to reschedule it as soon as we heard about the technical problems of NiP — they did not choose to do that.” The org’s release is adamant that they were more than willing to cooperate at the time, and are “very emotional about the situation” regarding the now-confirmed rematch. “We are under the impression that FACEIT is being pressured by NiP on a business level,” the org claimed. “We are very emotional about the situation — we know that something like that would not happen in any other sport and esports tournament. We wanted to do everything in the competitive spirit of fair play. NiP does not seem to care about that at all.” Roughly 45 minutes after Anonymo put out their statement, Flashpoint put out one of their own announcing a rematch between the two sides, originally set to take place just a half-hour after their tweet went out. Official statement about the @NIPCS and @FACEIT situation during the @Flashpoint 3 tournament: pic.twitter.com/KJQBA9jG3r — Anonymo Esports (@AnonymoEsports) May 16, 2021 Flashpoint announces a controversial rematch Perhaps because of this, or other difficulties making the match happen on such short notice, the tournament would put out another update stating the match was “originally scheduled for Sunday, May 16th, but is currently being rescheduled and no official re-match time has been confirmed.” Along with Anonymo’s earlier claims, many in the community were disappointed with Flashpoint and the FACEIT organizers for the decision. NiP releases timeline of events Following the announcement, then postponement of the rematch, Ninjas in Pyjamas decided to release a timeline of events, where they claim Anonymo refused to play on Sunday, and accused their statement of being “Shockingly misleading.” “17. Anonymo immediately posts a shockingly misleading statement on social media,” NiP said in their timeline. “Fueling a massive frenzy of speculation among esports professionals and the wider CSGO community.” NiP’s chief operating officer Jonas Gundersen went on to call Anonymo’s claims his org was somehow pressuring Flashpoint for a rematch “disgraceful.” Our players didn’t push for a rematch here – we did. All they want is acknowledgement that the playing conditions were unacceptable. They have been ready to play upper or lower bracket. We aren’t pressuring anyone. The lies put forward in the Anonymo statement are disgraceful. https://t.co/NpP3GRbUZA — Jonas Gundersen (@jonasgundersen) May 16, 2021 “Our players didn’t push for a rematch here – we did. All they want is acknowledgement that the playing conditions were unacceptable,” Gundersen wrote along with NiP’s timeline. “They have been ready to play upper or lower bracket. We aren’t pressuring anyone. The lies put forward in the Anonymo statement are disgraceful.” In addition to both NiP and Anonymo’s current Flashpoint progress basically being nullified, Hyenas will also have to wait until at least May 18 to face the winner of the rematch. Exactly when the rematch between the two teams is happening on May 16 has yet to be announced, but it will obviously replace the scheduled Hyenas vs. NiP lower bracket match originally scheduled then. We’ll be sure to update you with the latest info right here as soon we have the details on this developing story.

Anders and Moses Raise Concern Over New Defuse Sound Ahead of CS:GO Major CS:GO – Valve CorporationCS:GO commentators Anders and Moses expressed concern over the game’s new defuse sound effect during the 2018 Dreamhack Masters event. Stockholm’s Dreamhack Masters event, home to CS:GO’s CORSAIR tournament, spans from August 29th – September 3rd. During a match between team FaZe and team Heroic on the first day of Masters, commentators Anders and Moses noted Counter-Strike’s new bomb-defuse sound. The new sound effect is a far cry from its previous iterations. Instead of a short series of beeps or a muffled voice announcing the diffusion, the effect is now a mixture of cheers, party poppers, and applause in celebration of a successful mission. Team FaZe successfully defused team Heroic’s bomb, resulting in the sound effect and causing a raucous reaction from the Twitch chat. CS:GO commentators Anders and Moses weren’t too pleased with the change. “I keep forgetting that’s going to happen.” “What happens if we’re at the Major and it’s the most epic 1 vs 4 ever, and that little party sound goes off?” The commentators felt as though the sound would take away from the Major’s seriousness, stating that the effect could be an issue. “Yeah, can we disable it for the Major? That’s actually… that might be a problem.” The effect could likewise act as a taunt against an opposing team, or even prove a major distraction during clutch moments. The CORSAIR Major spans from September 1st – 2nd: with the major close at hand, the new sound’s effects are still yet to be seen on its competitors.

Almost perfect remake of iconic Counter-Strike map Dust2 in Fortnite Creative The new Fortnite Creative mode has only been available for a few days, but players have wasted no time creating their favorite and most iconic maps from other games – and this remake of Dust2 from Counter-Strike is the best yet. Fortnite Creative is the third mode now available in Fortnite, following Save the World and the ever-popular battle royale mode, and it gives players more freedom than ever. With their own private island, unlimited resources, prefabs and just about anything else you could wish for, players can create almost anything in their imagination, and then invite friends to join in too. First launched on December 6, alongside the massive v7.00 update and the start of Season 7, players quickly got to work making iconic maps. We’ve seen plenty recreations of the iconic CoD map ‘Nuketown’, and even some Pokemon remakes, but this recreation of Dust2 is perhaps the most complex, yet expertly done, remakes we’ve seen. Perhaps even more impressive is that the creator, u/VariousPurple claims they made the map in only seven hours – and considering the level of detail, it’s a remarkable feat. Of course, some of the proportions are slightly askew, but this is mainly due to the grid-like nature of Fortnite Creative, making it difficult to get scale accurate. Dust2 has been part of CS since 2001, as far back as Counter-Strike 1.1, and remains a popular map played in CS:GO to this day, recently replacing Cobblestone in competitive rotation. More: CS:GO viewership on Twitch sees a huge increase after release of Danger Zone battle royale mode – Fortnite players will now be hoping that they can play some bomb defusal custom games on some of these classic CS:GO and CoD maps. Epic Games recently added the “block” competition, where the best Fortnite Creative creations will be placed into the full Fortnite map for everyone to play, although they will possibly avoid these recreations of other game’s maps. However, Dust2 has been remade by fans in other titles such as Far Cry’s Arcade, and in Minecraft, and was made playable publicly in those games. Meanwhile, CS:GO recently added its own battle royale mode, inspired by the popularity of Fortnite, PUBG and Blackout.

Allu’s Incredible 1 vs. 5 Clutch Against Na’Vi is the Best Play of ESL One: Cologne so Far ESL / ENCEENCE eSports’ Aleksi ‘allu’ Jalli produced one of the most impressive moments of ESL One: Cologne 2018 so far with an insane 1 vs. 5 clutch against Natus Vincere. As one of the most experienced professional players in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, allu has played for the likes of NiP, FaZe Clan, Mousesports, and OpTic Gaming. ENCE surprised just about everyone with their ESL One: Cologne performance, defeating the likes of NiP and Mousesports and only narrowly missing out on a quarterfinal spot following a 2-1 defeat to Na’Vi. Read More: Everything You Need to Know About the ESL One: Cologne CS:GO Knockout Stage – Stream, Schedule, Results and More – The main reason that the Finnish side was able to take Na’Vi to three maps was allu’s incredible performance on Dust 2, which they eventually won 16-14, where he finished with a 32-16 score. This performance also included what is arguably the best play of the tournament so far where he somehow managed to win a 1 vs. 5 against the CT side of Na’Vi: GOD ALLU (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻@alluCSGO #ESLOne pic.twitter.com/lCayujgjY4 — ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) July 5, 2018 ENCE will take huge confidence from their performance in Germany and go into future tournaments with the knowledge that they can trade blows with the best teams on the planet. Despite allu’s stunning performance against Na’Vi, most people would argue that 16 year old Jere ‘sergej’ Salo was the star of the team at the tournament. Read More: Taco Responds to JW After He Reignited Feud Between the Two Following ESL One Cologne Exit – The youngster finished the event with a kill to death ratio of 1.32, despite the team’s losses to Astralis and Na’Vi, and an impressive 92.5 ADR. ESL One: Cologne will resume on July 6th with Na’Vi taking on Fnatic for a spot in the semifinals.

Allu steps down from ENCE CSGO due to personal reasons ESLCounter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Aleksi ‘allu’ Jalli is stepping down from the active roster on ENCE, citing the need to take a leave of absence for personal reasons. ENCE announced on Tuesday, May 12, that the packed CSGO circuit had taken its toll. “The first half of 2021 has quickly been going past us and the Counter-Strike circuit is as packed as ever in the online climate,” ENCE said. “We’ve had our highs over the past months, but most importantly we are truly proud of all of our players and their work ethic to push forward and give our fans excitement every time they compete. “Aleksi ‘allu’ Jalli has indicated a need to take a leave of absence for personal reasons.” Responding to the announcement, Allu said “This has been one of the hardest decision of my career but the end of 2020 & hectic years with minimal breaks has really taken a toll on me. Keeping going without proper time to heal & reflect has led me to being extremely drained & fatigued inside & outside the server.” This feeling inside me has made me realize that a timeout is needed to be able to continue playing and competing in the game I love. My goal is to be back sooner rather than later. Im extremely grateful for people who has supported me through thick & thin ❤️ See you soon 🙏— Aleksi Jalli (@alluCSGO) May 12, 2021 Olek ‘hades’ Miskiewicz will play as a stand-in to replace allu. ENCE CS:GO roster Paweł ‘dycha’ Dycha – Joonas “‘doto’ Forss – Marco ‘Snappi’ Pfeiffer – Lotan ‘Spinx’ Giladi – Olek ‘hades’ Miskiewicz (stand-in) – Finland Eetu “sAw” Saha (coach) –

Allu shrugs off criticism for ENCE downfall: “I’m here to prove people wrong” ESLAt the age of 29, Aleksi ‘allu’ Jalli is looking to start a new chapter in his career. But he knows he will have many obstacles to overcome after what happened in his previous team. The Finnish player is itching to get back in the game after spending the last four months away from action due to personal reasons. Allu has been competing at the top in the Counter-Strike scene since 2013. He has played for a number of big teams, including NIP, FaZe and ENCE, and won over $400,000 in prize money, which makes him the fifth-biggest earner in Finnish esports. But that success came at a cost: the years out on the road and constantly on the grind took their toll on him and led him to feel overwhelming fatigue. A break was needed to recharge, protect his mental health, and rediscover the joy of playing the game. “From 2020 until I decided I needed to leave I felt like I was on borrowed time,” he told Dexerto. “Playing professionally can be quite stressful, especially with all the traveling and the constant need to perform. “There had been a lot of changes in my personal life, one of which was becoming a father a bit more than two years ago. I never really had the time to stop, think, enjoy, and put things the way they should be. You’re burning the candle at both ends all the time, so to speak.” Allu has no doubt that his performances suffered because of this. According to him, the game “felt really bad”, and even playing official matches “didn’t feel right.” “I kind of lost the flame to play,” he explained. “I thought about it for three weeks and then told my teammates that this was just not good enough anymore and that I needed to sort my head and figure things out.” During his time off, allu didn’t touch CS:GO at all, instead focusing his energy on getting back to a healthy place. After concluding that he still wanted to commit to the game, he began developing a balanced routine to prevent slipping back into his old habits. Allu is not the only player at the highest level in CS:GO who has had to take a break from the game due to burnout and mental health concerns — issues that have become even more acute during the ‘online era’ caused by the global health situation. Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander and Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth are the most prominent such cases, but only on September 15, it was announced that the Evil Geniuses duo of Peter ‘stanislaw’ Jarguz and Vincent ‘Brehze’ Cayonte would miss the BLAST Premier Fall Groups after requesting “time away to focus on their respective mental health.” In most cases, players find their roster spots waiting for them when they return to work, but it was different with allu. When he decided it was time to come back, ENCE had already moved on, having already secured Olek ‘hades’ Miskiewicz on a permanent basis. And given the team’s success with the Polish talent, allu holds no resentment towards ENCE. “I thought returning might be a possibility, but in my own head it was kind of already done,” he said. “I left at a bad time. There was a lot coming up and they found hades, who has been doing an amazing job, to be honest. “They’ve been doing well and it’s been going upwards, so I didn’t think there was a reason for me to come back.” Road back to the top Allu is focused on getting his form back after several months out of action. He is seen streaming FPL matches on a regular basis and is constantly watching top-tier matches to stay up to date on the latest tendencies, even though he thinks that not much has changed since his break. His recovery took a brief setback in August following a freakish accident while at home. He was doing pull-ups when the bar dislodged from the wall, sending him crashing to the floor. “My kneecap broke and the doctor said that I couldn’t sit for two or three weeks, so that was kind of unfortunate,” he said, laughing. “It was the craziest and the most unlucky situation.” With PGL Major Stockholm just around the corner, allu knows that most teams are holding off on making changes, so he’s not in a hurry to find a new home. His ENCE contract also expires in December, so it’s unlikely that he will return to competition before the turn of the year. In the past 12 months many unsettled CS:GO players have pursued a new career path in Valorant, lured by the riches on offer in the scene and by the promise of a stable competitive circuit backed by Riot Games itself. Allu’s former ENCE teammate Elias ‘Jamppi’ Olkkonen has enjoyed success in the game, as have Santeri ‘BONECOLD’ Sassi (Acend) and Nikita ‘Derke’ Sirmitev (Fnatic), two other Finnish players who also came from Counter-Strike. Allu admitted that while the thought of moving to Valorant did spark his curiosity at one point, he is not thinking about switching games. “The thought was in my head for like a minute,” he said. “I’ve never played the game. I did download it, but I recently removed it because I needed to free some space on my hard drive. “I’ve watched some streams just to see how it is, also because Jamppi plays it, so I was trying to see what was up there. But it just doesn’t… I can’t see myself playing that game. “I haven’t played it, so my opinion could be different if I had. But in the end, CS has given me so much. I truly love this game. I have no reason to switch.” ENCE issues It feels as though allu still has a point to prove in the Counter-Strike scene after the dramatic fall from grace of ENCE’s Finnish project. Things took an unexpected turn in December 2020, when allu appeared on the ‘HLTV Confirmed’ podcast to discuss the team’s struggles in the previous 18 months. While the show was running, former and then-current ENCE players claimed that allu’s account of the events was inaccurate, with Jere ‘sergej’ Salo going as far as to claim that the veteran’s “personality isn’t as simple or harmless as it might seem.” As the debate about the team’s downfall and allu’s role in it heated up, ENCE issued a statement taking “full responsibility for not understanding the severity of the existent problems”. They also vowed to investigate how they had allowed such deep-rooted issues to go unchecked for so long. Just three weeks into 2021, ENCE announced their new, international lineup, which included allu. In an interview with HLTV.org, Niklas Ojalainen, General Manager at ENCE, explained that allu had shown a strong willingness to improve as a person, and refused to single anyone out for blame, saying that “a lot of people” were responsible for the collapse of the team. But it’s inevitable for one to feel that allu’s career will be defined more by this episode and its impact on the public perception of him than by all that he has achieved on the server. And while he is not too concerned about the court of public opinion, he knows that his chances of finding a new team are inevitably tied to what is said behind the scenes. “What happened to me was kind of hard,” he said. “I think it’s something that I honestly did not deserve. I don’t mind the public speech, it has not been a concern of mine throughout my career, but it obviously affects me because you just hear stuff. “It’s just the narrative, like I’m the most terrible person. That’s just funny [laughs]. It’s not true. “Every coin has two sides, and I’ve kept my side of the story with me.” Does this mean that one day he will tell his side? “At some point, maybe. We’ll see.” Allu added that he is “here to prove people wrong.” Not just those who think he is a troublesome player who was at the root of ENCE’s problems, but also those who believe that someone of his age is too old to make an impact in the game. Taking a time out earlier this year has been very good but now its time to get back to work 😈 If there is a need for experienced & motivated player hit me up! — Aleksi Jalli (@alluCSGO) July 14, 2021 He is working hard to show everyone that he still has plenty of gas left in the tank. “I really don’t think that age is a determining factor,” he said. “I think it’s more about your mental state, how much effort and work you put in, your willingness, than about age. “In NHL, there can be a goalkeeper who is 40 years old. If a person in that competitive league can do it, why can’t someone who is playing CS, for example? “I just want to be out there competing.”

Allu Clutches 1v2 Against Former Team OpTic Gaming With Insane AWP Jump Shots ESLENCE eSports player Aleksi “Allu” Jalli pulled off arguably the play of the tournament at the FACEIT Europe Minor, with an insane 1v2 clutch in style, up against his former team, OpTic Gaming. Allu moved to Finnish team ENCE after his spell on OpTic came to an end in March, and the team have performed relatively well with Allu as the star player. In the semi-final of the FACEIT Europe Minor, he came up against his former organization for the first time since leaving, and although they ultimately lost the match, Allu provided some heroics on the first map. ENCE admittedly looked the far better team on Dust 2, opening up a huge 13-2 lead on the first side, and Allu’s highlight play prevented OpTic making any kind of comeback. Left in the 1v2 with the AWP and with the bomb planted at A, time was against him. But remaining calm, he made quick work of Snappi, before jumping and nailing the perfect headshot on JUGi. Unfortunately, the first map win wasn’t enough momentum to keep ENCE rolling through the next two maps, as OpTic closed it out 2-1, securing their spot in the FACEIT Major in London. ENCE had another chance as they dropped to the lower bracket to face NiP, another of Allu’s former teams, but once again came up short, losing the series in a rather one sided 2-0. NiP went on to secure the championship as well as the final major spot with their win over OpTic Gaming in the grand final, meaning they will be the two European sides qualifying from the Minor. More: Former OpTic Star Mixwell Creates New Roster With Movistar Riders: “Nothing is going to stop us” – The FACEIT London Major begins on September 9th, with playoffs at the SSE Arena, Wembley on September 21st.

StarLadder Berlin CS:GO Major teams confirmed after Minors finish up StarLadderThe full list of teams for the StarLadder Berlin CS:GO Major has been confirmed after the completion of the regional Minors. StarLadder are hosting the next CS:GO Major in Berlin from August 23 to September 8, and now all of the teams that will be competing for the game’s most prestigious title have been confirmed. A total of 24 teams will compete for the lion’s share of StarLadder Berlin’s $1,000,000 prize. Of those, 13 are returning thanks to their placements in the previous Major, IEM Katowice, while the other 11 have qualified through the various regional Minors. There have been four Minors in total, one each for Europe, the Americas, Asia, and the CIS region. The top two teams from each advanced directly to the Major, while the third-placed team at each reached the third-place play-in – a final chance from which three teams then made it to the Major. The Major will kick off with the Challengers Stage on August 23-26, from which the top eight teams will advance to the Legends Stage, where they will meet the Returning Legends. The top eight teams from the Legends stage will reach the playoffs. Challengers Stage teams The first stage of the Major will feature sixteen teams. Five are Returning Challengers, those that competed in the Legends Stage of the IEM Katowice Major but fell short of the top eight, while eleven came through the Minors. While there are usually six Returning Challengers, Cloud9 forfeited their spot due to no longer retaining the minimum three players necessary to hold a spot, and so an extra place was instead available through the Minors. The Returning Challengers Vitality – AVANGAR – HellRaisers – G2 Esports – Complexity – The Minor Challengers Mousesports – NRG Esports – forZe – Grayhound Gaming – CR4ZY – FURIA – Syman Gaming – TYLOO – DreamEaters – North – INTZ – Legends Stage teams The top eight teams from the Challengers Stage will advance to face the current Legends – the top eight teams from the IEM Katowice Major – in the Legends Stage. The Current Legends Astralis – ENCE – Na’Vi – MIBR – FaZe Clan – Team Liquid – Renegades – Ninjas in Pyjamas –

All new CSGO skins in Operation Broken Fang: four new collections ValveThe new CS:GO Operation Broken Fang has introduced nearly 100 skins into the game across four collections: Broken Fang, Ancient, Control, and Havoc. Here’s a peek at all of them, so you can try before you buy. Operation Broken Fang has arrived, a year after the release of the previous one in Shattered Web. It comes jampacked full of content, including seven new maps, a battle pass, and the Retakes game mode. It also comes with nearly 100 new skins spread across four different collections. Each of the Broken Fang, Ancient, Control, and Havoc skins have a distinctive theme. Before you decide which ones you want to spend your hard-earned stars on, have a look right here. Broken Fang Case Of course, there has to be a new case named after the operation. The Broken Fang Case has 17 new skins, including Covert skins for the M4A1-S and the Glock-18. The case is a mix of themes, featuring the bright and bubbly Five-SeveN Fairy Tale, to the monochromatic SSG 08 Parallax. M4A1-S | Printstream – Glock-18 | Neo-Noir – M4A4 | Cyber Security – USP-S | Monster Mashup – Five-SeveN | Fairy Tale – AWP | Exoskeleton – SSG 08 | Parallax – Dual Berettas | Dezastre – Nova | Clear Polymer – UMP-45 | Gold Bismuth – MP5-SD | Condition Zero – Galil AR | Vandal – P250 | Contaminant – CZ75-Auto | Vendetta – M249 | Deep Relief – G3SG1 | Digital Mesh – P90 | Cocoa Rampage – The Ancient Collection “Sneak in, run out, hit high and low.” That’s the motto behind the Ancient Collection, featuring patterns and relics from centuries past. It’s got a heavy focus on animal prints, including a sick Welcome to the Jungle Snake print for the M4A1-S. These skins aren’t in any cases yet, so you’ll only find them through in-game drops or by purchasing them in the Operation Broken Fang store with stars. M4A1-S | Welcome to the Jungle – AK-47 | Panthera Onca – P90 | Run And Hide – MAC-10 | Gold Brick – USP-S | Ancient Visions – XM1014 | Ancient Lore – AUG | Carved Jade – Galil AR | Dusk Ruins – FAMAS | Dark Water – Tec-9 | Blast From The Past – CZ75-Auto | Silver – P2000 | Panther Camo – MP7 | Tall Grass – G3SG1 | Ancient Ritual – R8 Revolver | Night – SSG 08 | Jungle Dashed – SG 553 | Lush Ruins – P90 | Ancient Earth – Nova | Army Sheen – The Control Collection The Control Collection is much the opposite of the Ancient one. It features bright, fluorescent colors, and even kits out the AWP with its own Fade. Read more: New CS:GO Operation Broken Fang revealed – The M4A1-S gets a Blue Phosphor Sapphire tint, while reds and other neons make an appearance across the 19 skins. As you go down in rarity, they get a little bit more dull though. AWP | Fade – M4A1-S | Blue Phosphor – USP-S | Target Acquired – FAMAS | Prime Conspiracy – Five-SeveN | Berries and Cherries – UMP-45 | Crime Scene – SSG 08 | Threat Detected – M4A4 | Global Offensive – SCAR-20 | Magna Carta – P2000 | Dispatch – MP5-SD | Nitro – MAG-7 | Carbon Fiber – Dual Berettas | Switch Board – Desert Eagle | The Bronze – P250 | Forest Night – CZ75-Auto | Jungle Dashed – MP9 | Army Sheen – AUG | Surveillance – XM1014 | Charter – The Havoc Collection The Havoc Collection is much like the Ancient one. There’s a heavy focus on animal prints, and even features a Glock-18 decked out in 100 dollar bills. AK-47 | X-Ray – AWP | Silk Tiger – MAC-10 | Hot Snakes – SG 553 | Hypnotic – Glock-18 | Franklin – Galil AR | Phoenix Blacklight – Desert Eagle | Night Heist – P250 | Bengal Tiger – Negev | Phoenix Stencil – P90 | Tiger Pit – Nova | Rust Coat – MP7 | Vault Heist – UMP-45 | Houndstooth – R8 Revolver | Phoenix Marker – M249 | Predator – Dual Berettas | Heist – Tec-9 | Phoenix Chalk – Sawed-Off | Claw Ambush – PP-Bizon | Death Rattle – You can pick up these new collections in CS:GO right now after the launch of Operation Broken Fang. If you’re lucky, you might just snag an ultra-rare AWP Fade to flog on the market.

All Dust 2 map callouts in CSGO ValveDust 2 is the most iconic map within CSGO and we’ve put together all the callouts you’ll need to master this competitive arena. There are plenty of brilliant arenas to compete within CSGO, but Dust 2 is undoubtedly the game’s most recognized map. Appearing in every installment of Counter-Strike’s multiplayer over the years, this bomb defusal map has an array of spots to become familiar with. It can be difficult relaying important callouts to your team in the heat of the moment, so here are all the vital Dust 2 callouts you’ll need in battle. Every Dust 2 callout in CSGO While Dust 2 may feel like a fairly small map, there are heaps of areas within it that players have labeled to make communication far easier. There’s no doubt it will take some time to remember them all, but here is every Dust 2 callout you’ll need in battle. A Default Plant – A Ramp – A Cross – A Plat – A Car – A Long – A Short – Back Plat – B Back Site – Be Plat – Double Stack – Fence – Big Box – B Window – B Default Plant – B Doors – B Car – B Closet – B Boxes – Close – CT Mid – CT Spawn – Scaffolding – Mid Doors – Close Mid Doors – Xbox – Catwalk – Stairs – Goose – Barrels – Elevator – Short Boost – Long Corner – Blue – Pit Plat – Pit – Side Pit – Long Doors – Outside Long – Top Mid – Mid – Palm – Right Side Mid – Suicide – Lower Tunnels – Upper Tunnels – Outside Tunnels – T Ramp – T Plat – T Spawn – Once you’ve got the hang of using these callouts on Dust 2, you’ll be able to communicate faster with your teammates. As we all know, communication is the key to victory in CSGO. And there you have it. Now you’re prepared to master every Dust 2 callout in CSGO. Be sure to check back in with us and keep updated with our constantly updated guides.

All CSGO teams qualified for BLAST Paris Major BLASTWith the RMR tournaments underway in all regions, the team list for the BLAST Paris Major is starting to take shape. Here are all the teams that will play in CS:GO’s last Major. Over the coming week, the team list for the BLAST.tv Paris Major will be determined. Copenhagen, Monterrey and Ulaanbaatar are hosting the Regional Major Ranking tournaments (RMR) in Europe, Americas and Asia-Pacific, which will whittle down the field of teams from 56 to just 24 for the final Major in the history of CS:GO. Due to the region’s strength, the European RMR is the one that will qualify the most teams for the Major, 17, followed by the Americas and the APAC RMRs, with five and two, respectively. All three RMRs are already underway, with matches broadcast on BLAST’s Twitch and YouTube channels. Alternatively, you can follow the action on BLAST’s own viewing platform, BLAST.tv, which offers a number of interactive features, including live stats, timelines, and polls. The BLAST.tv Paris Major will begin on May 8 with the Challengers Stage. The Legends Stage will begin five days later and will run until May 16, with the Champions Stage, held in front of a crowd at the Accor Arena in Bercy, scheduled for May 18-21. Here are all the teams who have qualified for the BLAST Paris Major. The list will be updated as more teams earn spots at the event. All CS:GO teams qualified for BLAST Paris Major: Europe NAVI (Legend) – Fnatic (Legend) – Into the Breach (Legend) – Bad News Eagles (Legend) – Heroic (Legend) – 9INE (Legend) – Team Vitality (Legend) – GamerLegion (Challenger) – OG (Challenger) – Apeks (Challenger) – MOUZ (Challenger) – FORZE (Challenger) – NIP (Challenger) – ENCE (Challenger) – G2 Esports (Challenger) – Monte Esports (Challenger) – FaZe (Challenger) – Americas FURIA (Legend) – paiN (Challenger) – Complexity (Challenger) – Fluxo (Challenger) – Liquid (Challenger) – Asia-Pacific Grayhound (Challenger) – TheMongolz (Challenger) –

All CSGO & CS2 Major champions in history PGL / ELEAGUE / FaZe ClanCS:GO has been ushered out of Counter-Strike competitive play as the Counter-Strike 2 era has begun. With NAVI putting together a new roster in 2023 that was able to win it all at CS2’s first Major in Copenhagen, here’s the full history of CS:GO and CS2 Major winners. The CS:GO Major is the pinnacle of the game. Although there are many other trophies that teams aspire to win, the Majors are reserved for an elite few who battled their way through regional qualifiers before facing the toughest opposition globally, with prestige and prize money on the line. CS:GO saw many Major winners, and Counter-Strike 2 will see many more. NAVI became the first team to take a Counter-Strike 2 Major title, and they bested PGL defending champions FaZe Clan in the process. The Majors are also unique in that they have been hosted by multiple different tournament organizers over the years, at Valve’s choosing, and so they bring with them a chance for new talent on the broadcast side, and new ways to showcase the teams that make it to the top. With Counter-Strike 2 about to take over the competitive circuit, Astralis, Fnatic and the Brazilian super team LG/SK remain the only teams who were able to lift a Major trophy twice in one calendar year. All CS:GO & CS2 Major winners over the years CS:GO & CS2 Major champions by number of trophies Winning one Major is a feat that many players in CS:GO never achieve, and earning more than one is an even more exclusive club among those who have graced the big stage. The esport has seen players establish dynasties across years of competition, or get hot enough to win multiple trophies in a short time span. But Astralis’ run from 2018-2019 has cemented their status as one of the winningest squads in the FPS title. With Vitality’s victory at the BLAST Paris Major, Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen cemented his legacy in the game. He is the player with the most Major trophies of all, five, leaving behind his former Astralis teammates Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth, Nicolai ‘dev1ce Reedtz and Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander. CS:GO & CS2 Major champions by country The Major has been hosted across the world, in Europe, North America and South America. While the crown of champions has traditionally been dominated by Europeans, Brazilians and North Americans have managed to diversify the Major winner pool. Sweden, Denmark and France still have the most number of Major winners across the board thanks to the early Fnatic and Ninjas in Pyjamas teams, Astralis and the French teams from the mid-2010s. The most recent additions to the list of Major champions are Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut and Lotan ‘Spinx’ Giladi. The latter is also the first player from Israel to win a Major.

All 24 FACEIT London 2018 Major CS:GO Teams Finalized All 24 teams for the upcoming $1,000,000 CS:GO Major tournament in London have been finalized. The qualification Minors from each region are now over, producing the eight teams that will join the top 16 finishers of the Boston major. Rogue and compLexity have punched their ticket through the Americas qualifier, joining Hellraisers and Spirit from CIS. OpTic Gaming and NiP made it through the European qualifying Minor and rounding out the teams will be Asia Minor champs Tyloo and Renegades. Read More: Twitch Streamer Fedmyster Banned After Racist Text to Speech Donation Slipped Through Filter – The eight teams from the qualifying minors will join the bottom eight from the Boston major to form the New Challengers Stage. The New Challengers Stage Teams Boston Major Bottom 8 Astralis Team Liquid Gambit Esports Vega Squadron Space Soldiers Big North Virtus.pro Minor Qualifying Champions Rogue compLexity OpTic Gaming NiP Tyloo Renegades Team Spirit HellRaisers Read More: The 16 teams from the New Challengers Stage will fight for eight places in the New Legends Stage, joining the top 8 teams from the Boston major. The New Legends Stage Teams Boston Major Top 8 Cloud9 FaZe Clan Natus Vincere MIBR mousesports Winstrike Team G2 Esports Fnatic The New Challengers Stage will take place on September 5 through 9, followed by the New Legends Stage on September 12 to 16. Finally, the top eight teams to advance out of the New Legends Stage will form the New Champions Stage. The New Champions Stage will be played on September 20 to 23 and will determine the $500,000 1st prize. All matches for the FACEIT 2018 London Major will be played in the SSE Arena in Wembley.

aliStair’s spirit renewed as Grayhound make redebut at DreamHack Melbourne Joao Ferreira for ESLIconic Oceanic CS:GO organization Grayhound has been reborn out of the ashes of ORDER. For Alistair ‘aliStair’ Johnston it’s a fresh start with some old friends, with no better place to don the jersey for the first time than at DreamHack Melbourne — the first LAN at home in three years. Grayhound, with their iconic tropical sleeves and Aussie banter, are back on the global Counter-Strike stage. With the downfall of ORDER forcing the team to find a new home, it was an easy decision for manager and owner William Gray to revive the brand. For the players, it was the smartest decision too as they mount a run towards the Rio Major later in 2022. DreamHack Melbourne and ESL Challenger was the first time AWPer Alistair ‘aliStair’ Johnston has donned the Grayhound jersey, in front of a crowd of thousands as Australian esports celebrated its first LAN event in three years. The 24-year-old has stage experience of course, but it had a different meaning playing in front of friends and family. “I know where they were all seated with my group of mates and my old man at the back,” he told Dexerto. “It’s amazing. They’ve never been able to experience this live, I’ve never had them in front of me like that. To have the crowd so loud for them to see as well is special.” You could feel the energy in the bleachers whenever one of the Aussie teams was on stage. Any big play was met with a rapturous applause, and there was arguably none louder than aliStair’s no-scope against Imperial, or his 1v3 clutch against Vertex — Wings Up’s win against OG was the only thing close. “Having the crowd there and knowing they were behind us — if you have big moments, you’re going to try and hype everyone up. We can hear it as well so we’re like ‘oh sh*t’.” Vertex joined the hounds as the two local reps in the eight-team event, and while neither posted incredible results — Vertex bowed out in straight sets while Grayhound fell short of playoffs against Imperial — neither team had their spirit broken. “I think we’re definitely enjoying it and trying to capitalize on it because who knows how many more opportunities you get to play in front of a home crowd? “We’re definitely trying to rile [Vertex] up and getting to play an Australian team in front of an Aussie crowd was good for everyone. We were bantering with them, they were firing back — everyone gets along well, really well.” However the entire event played out in the shadow of Oceanic esport titan ORDER going under. The top-tier organization ran out of money weeks out from the big event, before contracts were terminated on September 1. For aliStair and his teammates, it was a stressful time having the rug pulled under them in the lead-up to the big home return. aliStair had represented the organization for more than three years, and it was his home in Australian Counter-Strike. But the team quickly readjusted their sights as the Road to Rio continued. “It got broken to us right before we played the RMR and straight off the bat it was not like it should go down,” he said. “We were pretty gobsmacked and completely surprised. “We sort of just said the only way we get out of this okay is if we stick together, win these upcoming competitions, and do some damage. Right now we’re on the right path, setting ourselves up well, so it’s good.” The ORDER news compounded on top of plenty of disappointment for Australian esports generally. The global health crisis hurt the region significantly more than others as players would have to brave triple-digit ping for any international practice. No events in-person and domestic online leagues were fine for European squads keeping warm, but for the big fish in the small pond it was suffocating. While borders were lifted in time for the end of 2021 and events like IEM Cologne and the Stockholm Major, it still set the region back. aliStair was content with treading water after being put on the then-Renegades roster, but the team had hit their ceiling in Oceania. “It turned us into an island and we couldn’t go over and compete. We were practicing against ourselves and it’s quite hard. There’s a bit of a gap in scrims and stuff outside of the top 4. “It didn’t affect me too badly because I was happy to be in this system and this team. I didn’t realize how much of a jump and how much better Counter-Strike we would be playing under this roster. It was a huge learning curve for me that I feel up to par with now, but I was just happy to be here with the boys.” With all that being said though, Grayhound and the rest of the Oceanic scene is primed to grow across the following months. Rivals Encore have made big moves with Aaron ‘AZR’ Ward and Sean ‘Gratisfaction’ Kaiwai coming in for the RMR. There’s some hope across the rest of the scene with new rosters like DGG thriving domestically, and events like DreamHack Melbourne help level up the rest of the scene. “They come here and I’m not sure if many teams did scrim — I know Evil Geniuses did — but if teams keep coming here and practice against Australian teams, it’s amazing. These AU teams get that experience and it puts more exposure on the scene. It brings people into this building that makes things grow. It’s good for the whole scene having these events come to Australia. “We’re pretty competitive with NA. Europe is a lot harder, and it’s quite hard because we didn’t get to test our full line-up here and get Vexite in for some experience because that would have been a big thing for him. As long as Australian teams can get time against European teams, the entire scene will grow.” With the four-team RMR in October and just one best-of-three against Rare Atom separating Grayhound from the Rio Major, DreamHack Melbourne proved to be invaluable experience for the roster regardless of result. “It’s giving us the stage experience. Having four of us up there playing on stage in front of a crowd, it’s going to be the same at PAX [for the Asia RMR]. It might be smaller, but it’s good to test the nerves and shake them out.” It might not have been perfect prep without Declan ‘Vexite’ Portelli in the line-up, but it’s been enough to reinvigorate aliStair to keep competing and crack into the top echelons of global Counter-Strike, not just domestically in Australia. “I am going to keep riding it out with the boys for sure. I feel like I’m playing a different style of Counter-Strike at the moment, trying to learn constantly and dialing back on my super aggressive style I was previously. We’re headed in the right direction — as a team and individually.” “Having Vexite come in, working around him and making him comfortable and filling in gaps where I need, I’m happy to do that because that’s going to produce us the best results. “We are focusing on ourselves and know that if we’re playing well and keep winning it’ll put us on the map. The results will show after we put in the work.”

ALEX leaves Vitality CSGO team due to “personal reasons” StarLadderBoth Team Vitality and now-former in-game leader Alex ‘ALEX’ McMeekin have confirmed that the British captain will leave the French CS:GO team, citing issues with the extensive travel and exhaustion of the professional scene. First reported by neLendirekt, ALEX has revealed his decision to step away from the Vitality roster following their 9-12th finish at IEM Katowice 2020, and their exit in the group stages at BLAST London back in February. The British star has been a part of Team Vitality for just over a year, joining the French organization back in 2018 to replace Vincent ‘Happy’ Schopenhauer, and the 24-year-old led the team to second place in the Counter-Strike World Rankings — picking up trophies at ECS Season 7 Finals and EPICENTER 2019 (with victory over mousesports) along the way. According to the initial reports reports, ALEX’s decision to leave Team Vitality is due to personal reasons, and not in-game issues or conflicts with teammates. The IGL has apparently grown tired of the constant travel associated with being a professional CS:GO player, which can force those at the top level to fly around the world to compete, sometimes with minimal breaks in between. In a TwitLonger post, ALEX confirmed those reports, saying that the “accelerated professionalization of the CS:GO scene” was too tiring and intense. According to him, the team traveled 36 weeks of the year in 2019, but he realized recently that the changing ecosystem meant he wouldn’t be able to cut it down to closer to 22 weeks in 2020 like he had planned. Vitality made an official statement on March 4. Official statement regarding our CS:GO team. pic.twitter.com/ioAGqfx86M — Team Vitality 🐝 (@TeamVitality) March 4, 2020 With Vitality heading into an extraordinarily busy period for them, which could see the team compete at six events over the next four months, plus added matches at the BLAST Premier Showdown thanks to their disappointing result in London, ALEX has decided that now is the right time to step down from the team, and has already informed his teammates of his choice. ALEX’s departure from the team will come as a shock to many, with few expecting to see him leave the team despite recent struggles that have saw the team fall to ninth in the world rankings, their lowest since May 2019. Reports suggest that they are eyeing up LDLC’s Ali ‘hAdji’ Hainouss as a replacement. Team Vitality CSGO lineup Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire – Cedric ‘RpK’ Guipouy – Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut – Richard ‘shox’ Papillon – Remy ‘XTQZZZ’ Quoniam (Coach) – ALEX’s full statement on TwitLonger: You may have seen the rumours fly around, I can now confirm that it’s true, I am moving away from playing at this time. Last year we travelled 36 weeks of the year and by July I was struggling to keep up with the intense travelling schedule, coming into this year we wanted to cut that down to 22 weeks (an extra 2.5 months at home). However the accelerated professionalization of the CS:GO scene, through ESL pro tour & Blast Premier arrivals, changed the ecosystem and we could no longer get down to anywhere near the amount of weeks discussed earlier. That being said, the only logical course of action for me after the year that had just passed was to withdraw myself from the team before becoming too tired to put the necessary work in, although I did offer to stay on until they found a suitable replacement they chose to look for someone now and that is their decision to make, I wish them the best of luck and would like nothing more than for them to do well. I would like to thank Dan, Mathieu, Cédric, Richard, manager Matthieu, assistant coach Mathieu & a huge thank you to Rémy who had a massive part to play in everything that went right during my time in the team. The last part of this is just a massive thank you to Vitality, who have done nothing but try to put us in the best conditions possible to perform, brought in countless members of staff and invested heavily into the team, as you may have seen from my last Twitter post a few days ago I have nothing but love for this organisation and I wish them the best going forward, with everything they do. I’m not sure what the future will hold for me, but I would like to thank everyone who has supported me/us over the years and I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride as much as I have.

ALEX reveals how burnout led to his move from Vitality to Cloud9 DreamhackAlex “ALEX” McMeekin was a powerhouse IGL for Team Vitality before stepping back from his role in early 2020. Now a member of Cloud9’s CSGO roster, ALEX has revealed how burnout played a role in his move from Vitality to Cloud9. Each year’s competitive CSGO schedule is a fast-paced and time-consuming gauntlet. Players must deal with weeks of travel to and from various tournaments before getting a chance to sit down and actually compete. While most of 2020’s esports events have moved to an online format, the schedule in previous years has led to many players stepping back from their roles and even retiring from competitive CSGO entirely. In an interview with Dexerto’s Andy Williams on December 16, top CSGO player Alex “ALEX” McMeekin revealed how his packed schedule and travel commitments led to serious burnout, and contributed to his recent move from Team Vitality to Cloud9. “I knew I couldn’t do it…”@CSGOALEX opens up about his break from #CSGO. 🍿 Full interview: https://t.co/ndx7O7pJyF pic.twitter.com/mjKbn4654N — Dexerto (@Dexerto) December 16, 2020 While discussing the move from Team Vitality to Cloud9, Andy asks ALEX when he realized it was time to take a step back from his role with the team. He starts the conversation by asking “Was it burnout? We’ve heard you be vocal about that before.” He confirms that burnout was not the only reason for the move, but it was one of the biggest factors. “It wasn’t the sole one obviously,” he responds, continuing “there’s always multiple factors.” In July 2019, ALEX voiced concerns about the team’s travel schedule. Traveling more than 30 weeks per year was not feasible for him, and after hearing his travel commitments would increase from the previous season, he decided to take a step back before joining Cloud9’s roster. Cloud9 Unleash the Colossus ☄ 🔹Player: Alex ‘ALEX’ McMeekin 🔹Role: Captain / IGL / Rifler 🔹Contract length: 3 year deal (Starting 09/09/2020) 🔹Deal Value: $1,650,000 🔹Press: https://t.co/Lx8eNsme5l pic.twitter.com/I4FzcLxoem — HenryG (@HenryGcsgo) September 10, 2020 After discussing the burnout factor, ALEX also spoke about laying the foundation for Team Vitality’s success before his move to Cloud9. Vitality is currently the number 1 ranked team in the world based on their performances in 2020. When asked if he helped lay the foundation for Vitality’s impressive performances before moving to Cloud9, ALEX confirms he had a role to play in setting the team up for success. While downplaying the importance of his contributions, ALEX admits “I definitely had a role to play in that [setting the foundation for success].” ALEX also mentions Vitality’s coaches as another important factor in the team’s 2020 performances. For mobile users, segment starts at 3:10. The Brit also thinks the online format is a good fit for Vitality’s players. “Right now online CS kinda suits the players they have,” he mentions. He is interested to see how they will perform once in-person competitions resume: “That’s what I’m curious to see, if they can pull it off on LAN.” ALEX ended the discussion with nothing but positive things to say about his former team. He praises his old teammates, saying “They work really hard, they have a great coach and second coach. Vitality give them everything they need.” While the stress and burnout from a brutal travel schedule led to him taking a step back, he seems refreshed and excited to be a part of Cloud9’s CSGO roster moving forward.

Alex reportedly returning to pro CSGO to lead new FunPlus Phoenix roster EPICENTER / FunPlus PhoenixFormer Vitality star Alex ‘Alex’ McMeekin is reportedly set to return to professional CS:GO, helping lead a new FunPlus Phoenix roster. Alex stepped back in March 2020, citing “personal reasons.” The British leader was a core part of Vitality’s CS:GO roster, right as they launched their renaissance in 2019. He helped the team reach #2 in the CS:GO World Rankings, behind star squad Astralis, picking up seven trophies along the way. However, entering into 2020, the team failed to find the same success, falling out of IEM Katowice in 9-12th. Alex decided to take a step back, citing personal reasons with excessive travel and a packed schedule. “The demanding lifestyle of a high level professional CS:GO player wasn’t fitting him anymore,” Vitality said in a statement back in March. The light has reportedly been rekindled for Alex, though. With a shift to online play, travel isn’t as much of a worry, and he might have found his way back into the professional scene at the right time. The star IGL is reportedly heading up a new-look FunPlus Phoenix roster, according to insider DeKay. FPX have approached Vitality to talk about Alex’s buyout, which was previously reported to be as high as $600,000. FPX’s two stints in CS:GO have been far from successful. They picked up Danish roster Heroic, but the deal fell through after Patrik ‘es3tag’ Hansen chose to move to Astralis. The roster never played a game under the FPX banner. Their second roster, the former Bad News Bears team, was only a temporary endeavor for the remainder of Flashpoint Season 1. We are pleased to announce our CS:GO roster line-up for @Flashpoint 1, Phase 2.#FPX #FPXCSGO pic.twitter.com/trEUGj0JYb — FPX (@FPX_Esports) March 29, 2020 FPX have been slowly expanding into Europe. They picked up the European Valorant roster ZyppanGoKill, who finished second in their first event under the Chinese organization’s banner, Allied Esports Odyssey. Read more: How to watch ESL One Cologne 2020 – Alex was also linked to FaZe back in July, coming in to replace youngster Aurimas ‘Bymas’ Pipiras. However, the organization opted to pick up Kjaerbye, confirming the signing on August 11. FPX are yet to confirm the rumors. We will update you as more information becomes available.

Alex officially leaves Vitality CSGO as Cloud9, FPX rumors ignite StarLadderBritish CS:GO in-game leader Alex ‘Alex’ McMeekin has officially left Team Vitality after six months on the French team’s bench. He is ready to announce his next move soon though, with two teams emerging as front runners: Cloud9 and FunPlus Phoenix. After weeks of speculation, Alex has confirmed the news: he is officially leaving Team Vitality. He benched himself in March 2020 citing personal reasons with the strenuous travel required of a top level CS:GO player. “I would like to thank Vitality for always making sure we had what we needed in order to succeed, for always supporting us no matter what time of day,” he said in a September 9 Twitlonger. The organization also posted a short video of their own farewelling their former IGL. Alex helped lead Vitality to near the top of the CS:GO World Rankings in 2019, including picking up seven trophies for the team. The team slumped in the first half of 2020, falling out of IEM Katowice in 9-12th and posting mixed results since. Kato would prove to be Alex’s last event with the French roster, being himself just a week after it wrapped up. Alex’s future may already be decided though. He ended his statement with a hint at his next moves: “how many UK players is too many for one team?” Where is Alex going? Cloud9, FPX rumors If you were concerned that the British IGL was going to swap codes to Valorant, you can probably breathe a sigh of relief. He didn’t mention the CS:GO competitor once in his farewell post, so interpret that as you like. There are two leading candidates for where he could be going though: Cloud9 and FunPlus Phoenix. The former comes off the back of a tweet from HenryG in reply to Alex, which has only fueled speculation he could be part of their rebuild. On wards and upwards, brother. I have no doubt that you’ve made the absolute best decision regarding your future! — HenryG (@HenryGcsgo) September 9, 2020 “I have no doubt that you’ve made the absolute best decision regarding your future,” Cloud9’s new CS:GO general manager tweeted on September 9. Alex also mentioned he was looking forward to playing Flashpoint, which Cloud9 is a part of. Read more: When is the next CS:GO major? – FunPlus Phoenix, the second candidate, also was part of Flashpoint Season 1. Alex has been linked to the Chinese organization for a couple of weeks, who are also in dire need of a rebuild ahead of Season 2.

ALEX explains why CSGO player strike was justified after BLAST drama StarLadderCloud9’s Alex ‘ALEX’ McMeekin may not have been part of the eight CS:GO teams who were going to strike during the BLAST Premier Fall 2020 Finals, but he is standing in solidarity with the players saying they were justified in taking action against them for their handling of voice comms. BLAST once again came under fire from CS:GO players during the Fall Finals. The tournament organizer reportedly planned to used players voice comms in an “harmful and illegal” matter, according to the CSPPA. This led to the players striking, ultimately delaying — but not canceling — the finals broadcast. However, while a resolution was found, the players are still unsure of what’s happening due to a lack of communication between BLAST, the CSPPA, and their teams, according to ALEX. “Someone’s lying…”@CSGOALEX discusses the CSPPA delaying the #BLASTPremier Fall Finals. 🎙 Full Interview: https://t.co/ndx7O7HkXf pic.twitter.com/pB6jr2M3Ll — Dexerto (@Dexerto) December 17, 2020 “No one knows what’s going on, at least within the players. I’ve spoken to multiple players, and for us, no one knew this was sorted on November 23, and that’s why the strike action was taken,” he told Dexerto. “If it was made public, or privately passed on to the players or the CSPPA that this was dealt with and players were aware, then they wouldn’t have had to strike for it.” ALEX also criticized those who were claiming the player strike was unnecessary. Given the coaching bug abuse and other scandals across 2020, the voice comms issue was seen as a small issue to strike over. However, the Cloud9 star believes that no player would strike without reason. Every pro wants to play the game, and they want answers as to why they weren’t kept in the loop while teams were. “What I don’t understand is that people aren’t striking because they want to — everyone wants to play the game. But I can tell you from my understanding…they didn’t know that it was resolved, and for me, that justifies the fact that they did it.” Segment begins at 14:11 “That brings up a greater issue: Was it resolved and players weren’t told? By orgs? By the players’ association? That’s where we should be investigating right now between BLAST saying it was resolved and players not knowing. Someone is lying somewhere, and we need to find out what happened, because it’s literally destroying the players’ association reputation.” He also shot down the assumption BLAST were blindsided by players. According to ALEX, players were aware of the issues during the Showdown before the finals. However, because it wasn’t fixed — and there are legal ramifications behind it — the players were left with no choice. “We were asked to have this movement done for the BLAST Fall Showdown, but it was canceled because BLAST responded to the CSPPA’s messages…so to say that they weren’t aware it was going to happen seems a bit weird to me.” “Was this worth strike action? In my opinion, yes. What we were told was voice comms were leaked from one team to another — or in some way — and that can’t happen. There’s so much sensitive information in them that would give a team an advantage.”

Aleksib reacts as ENCE confirm SuNny signing on day one of StarLadder Berlin CSGO Major ESLAleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen has reacted to the news that CS:GO lineup following the StarLadder Berlin Major. Aleksib currently serves as the IGL for ENCE, but rumors have circulated that his time on the Finnish organization was reaching its conclusion, including a report from Jared ‘DeKay’ Lewis that stated he would be replaced on the lineup. Now, a statement posted by the 22-year-old has confirmed that he will be leaving ENCE following the conclusion of the StarLadder Major, explaining the situation just moments before the tournament kicks off, with suNny signing with the team to play until the end of 2021. Aleksib confirmed on Friday, August 23 that he had been moved to ENCE’s bench, stating that the move “came out of the blue” and admitting that “at first, it hurt.” “Despite the hardships, such as a failure at a tournament or having differing opinions, we were able to stay on the right path and reach success. We built this team from scratch. I’m proud to say that I was a part of the team’s growth from being potential to being elite. This has been a rewarding journey for me, and now it’s coming to a close.” While his future lies away from ENCE’s roster, the 22-year-old is looking for positive results, stating that he hopes they can “make it look EZ one more time,” before thanking the whole team and the organization’s management for the 17 months he spent there, and appreciating the fans for their support and encouragement throughout his run. While announcing the signing of suNny, who they believe will be a “key element in the next chapter” of their Counter-Strike: Global Offensive story, ENCE took a moment to thank aleksib for his contribution to the organization, praising his character and professionalism. “Aleksi has been an important part of the unforgettable run we have had in the last year and a half, and we are proud of the foundation he has built with us at ENCE,” the team’s official website writes. “Aleksi has been a model professional and a positive influence on and off the server, and we would like to thank him for being an integral part of making Finnish Counter-Strike history.” Aleksib will be making his final appearances as part of ENCE at the 2019 StarLadder Berlin Major, which kicks off on August 23 with the New Challengers Stage. The Finnish organization won’t be in action until August 28, when the New Legends Stage begins. Meanwhile, SuNny who was benched from mouseports back in March, will make his first appearance with his new team at BLAST Pro Series Moscow on September 13.

CSGO: Images of a dejected aleskib go viral after ENCE’s Berlin major exit After his team were upset in the quarterfinals of his last tournament with them, in-game-leader for ENCE Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen was caught on camera in an emotional state back in the warm-up room. It’s a gut wrenching feeling when you go to ride off into the sunset and fall of your horse. For ENCE, that fall came suddenly and unexpectedly, as they obtained top form and the highest seed heading into their quarterfinals match against Renegades. But unfortunately for them, the boys brought the noise, and the standout performers from Legends stage in Aleksi ‘allu’ Jalli and Jere ‘sergej’ Salo didn’t show up against the Renegades. ENCE lost 2-0 and were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the StarLadder Berlin major. After the match, StarLadder photographer Igor Bezborodov caught some photos of the departing in-game leader in the practice room by himself. :worried:@AleksibCSGO #BerlinMajor pic.twitter.com/88bMKEndKi — Igor Bezborodov :camera::studio_microphone:️ #BerlinMajor (@borodasltv) September 5, 2019 aleksib is on his way out of ENCE. The team announced before the major began that he would be benched in favor of Miikka ‘suNny’ Kemppi after the conclusion of Berlin. For aleksib, it’s been a wonderful and productive year and a half with ENCE, that includes a laundry list of victories and impressive performances. Winners at DreamHack Winter, StarSeries season 6, and BLAST Madrid. And grand final appearances at IEM Chicago, DreamHack Dallas, and of course the IEM Katowice major. But it’s not just his victories, it’s his typical stoic demeanor and professionalism throughout this process that stands out. No complaining, no long Twitter posts airing grievances, just exceptional professionalism from someone that’s only 22. For aleksib, he will remain on the bench until an organization comes forward with a suitable offer, and the organizations will come knocking. FaZe Clan are rumored to be interested. Natus Vincere are considering a new IGL. Fnatic desperately need a new leader. Virtus.pro want to build a new roster. 100 Thieves is returning to the scene. Aleksib is going to be back on the scene sooner than expected. And no matter where he ends up, his first match against ENCE will be must-watch Counter-Strike.

Aleksib on OG move, ENCE’s struggles, and building a roster with NBK StarLadderAleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen had an incredible season. The Finnish in-game leader helped ENCE to heights that few thought they were capable of before being unceremoniously, and unexpectedly, benched. It was one of the most controversial moments of 2019 for CS:GO. Now part of the all-new OG Counter-Strike project, he has told Dexerto how he reacted to being cast aside by ENCE and what he thinks of his new team. To understand how big a shock it was for Aleksib to be dropped by ENCE, and exactly what he’s bringing to the table in OG, we need to look back at his rise and just how pivotal he was to his team’s success. For most of CS:GO’s history, the idea of an all-Finnish roster competing at an elite level would have been almost laughable, so when ENCE pulled off a stunning second-place at the IEM Katowice Major, many assumed it would be an outlier, and the Finns would quickly fade out of Counter-Strike’s top tier. Instead, they went on to establish themselves as a legitimate top-three team, regularly contending with the likes of Team Liquid and Astralis. At the center of it all was the team’s dynamic 22-year-old IGL, Aleksib. ENCE weren’t close to the most skilled roster at the majority of the events they attended, but their strong fundamentals and understanding of the game was second only to Astralis, and the plaudits soon came flooding in for Virolainen’s tactics and ability to structure a team that was more than the sum of its parts. Despite a few blips, most notably a bitterly disappointing top-16 at ESL One Cologne in 2019, the general consensus heading into the second half of the year was that ENCE were still a team performing above their pay grade. That’s why it came as such a surprise when it was announced that Aleksib was to be cut from the team after the StarLadder Berlin Major – an announcement that was made immediately before the tournament got underway. Most players would have crumbled at the news, but not Aleksib. When asked how being cast aside affected him, Aleksib replied: “Not too much to be honest. I wanted to play as good as I could for the team one more time.” And perform he did. It is still uncertain how much of the tactical responsibility was shared between him and Aleksi ‘allu’ Jalli in Berlin, but whatever the arrangement, they surprised everyone with a stunning 3-0 performance in the group stage, defeating AVANGAR, MIBR, and Vitality in the process. Aleksib’s maturity shone through during his last tournament with the team. A consummate professional to the end, he shouldered the same responsibilities that he always had, dealing with post-match interviews and refusing to throw his teammates or org under the bus. Unfortunately, the team’s miracle run ended in the first round of the playoffs with a 2-0 loss to Renegades, meaning the Counter-Strike community was robbed of seeing one last deep run from Aleksib’s well-oiled ENCE lineup. Their tournament was over and Aleksib’s time with the organization was also finished. “I’m happy we reached the Legend status with a clean 3-0 result,” he told us. “Unfortunately we lost the first game on the stage to ex-Renegades, but I’m still happy with how it ended.” That was in September, and despite not playing a single official match since, Aleksib has remained a name on the lips of everyone in the CS:GO community. Shortly after being benched by ENCE, it became apparent that the Finn was one of the hottest properties around, and in October Richard Lewis revealed that Complexity had offered the star an eye-watering two-year deal worth $1 million. Aleksib didn’t take the offer. Instead, rumors began to circulate that he was linking up with another player that had been unceremoniously ousted from a top team, Nathan ‘NBK-’ Schmitt. The 25-year-old Frenchman, who was removed from Vitality in September, is one of the most experienced and decorated pros in all of Counter-Strike and seemed keen to build an international roster. After some speculation about a move to 100 Thieves, reports began to surface in October that claimed Aleksib and NBK- were in talks with an organization that had never before fielded a Counter-Strike roster. If those reports were to be believed, the back-to-back champions of Dota 2’s The International, OG, were about to enter CS:GO with a powerful new roster. “We had talks with multiple people,” Aleksib told us. “But we knew we are going to end up in OG a few weeks before signing.” The exact lineup of the roster was a point of speculation and debate but two things seemed certain: Aleksib and NBK would be donning OG jerseys before the year came to a close and North’s Valdemar ‘valde’ Bjørn Vangså, a respected Danish player with an underrated amount of firepower, would be joining them. Finally, on December 4, the official announcement was made. OG confirmed their CS:GO entrance and revealed their full starting lineup of Aleksib, NBK, valde, Issa ‘ISSAA’ Murad and the relatively unknown Mateusz ‘mantuu’ Wilczewski. It took a while, but Aleksib can’t wait to get started with OG in an official capacity. “It feels great, like a burden off your shoulders because It took longer than expected and there were other things happening as well. OG is filled with great people and I’m happy to work with them.” When asked about his input into building the OG CS:GO roster, Aleksib made it clear that this isn’t a team of random individuals, but one where every part has been scrutinized and picked for a reason: “[We had] a lot of input obviously,” he said. “We put a lot of thought on the mental aspect as well when thinking of players with NBK. “We started practicing a few weeks ago, one of them being the bootcamp we are having right now.” Emphasis has been placed on the fact that this will be NBK’s first international lineup in a career that has spanned two versions of Counter-Strike and around a decade of professional play, and on Aleksib moving from an all-Finnish team to one with players from five different countries, but he’s quick to remind us that only ISSAA actually has any experience in a situation like this. “It’s something new for valde and mantuu also,” he says. “ISSAA is the only one with experience in international lineups. I’m looking forward to watching us grow and work towards the goals we set for ourselves. We will try our best to overcome all bumps along the way.” ISSAA, who spent two years with HellRaisers under the tutelage of Kirill ‘ANGE1’ Karasiow, is a talented player from Jordan. During his time with the multi-national team, he showed glimpses of his potential and was named HLTV’s MVP of DreamHack Open Tours 2018. The most unproven player on the team is mantuu. The Polish player spent the majority of 2019 with ALTERNATE aTTaX and has never competed in a top tier international event, but Aleksib is confident that he has what it takes. “Mantuu is definitely a guy to keep an eye on because he will be the new guy on the block,” he said. Returning to his in-game leadership role, Aleksib will have the experience of two-time Major winner NBK and former North IGL valde to draw upon while designing and leading an entirely different team to any that he has played for in the past, but Counter-Strike is ever-evolving and the scene is almost unrecognizable to the one he flourished in with ENCE in the first half of 2019. After dominating the summer months, Team Liquid failed to win the StarLadder Berlin Major that they were heavily favored for and have appeared to be going through an identity crisis ever since. Despite this, the eye test suggests they’re still a top five team in the world. Read more: Thorin’s Take: No Company for Young Men – The kings of 2018, Astralis, had a quieter 2019 in most people’s books. Of course, by Astralis’ standards that means they still won both of the 2019 Majors, bringing their total to four, and have reclaimed their status as the world’s best team with wins at IEM Beijing and ECS Season 8, second at ESL One New York, and 3rd – 4th at DreamHack Masters Malmö 2019 and the ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals. Evil Geniuses, Mousesports, and Fnatic have all taken victories at premier international tournaments, FaZe Clan won BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen, and Natus Vincere, G2, and Vitality all look like they could catch fire at any moment. The Counter-Strike scene is arguably the most competitive it has ever been, and OG will have a mountain to climb if they want to become a top five team. “The top is filled with great teams at the moment,” Aleksib said when asked about the current competition. “We will see who has it in them to hold their status and who will drop off eventually. We have started everything from scratch in OG and are taking one step at a time to become a better team. [I’m] Looking forward to get back to playing tournaments and learn new things along the way.” Since his departure from ENCE, the Finnish team has struggled to find its groove. However, after a number of early exits at big tournaments, they did manage to secure a second-place finish at the 2019 CS:GO Asia Championships. While most pundits and fans have berated ENCE for their decision to cut Aleksib, the man himself remains magnanimous and believes that his former teammates shouldn’t be judged too soon. “The first couple tournaments shouldn’t count for too much since they barely practiced,” he said. “We will see what they are capable of doing with time.” Aleksib’s time with ENCE saw him rise to prominence and become recognized as an elite in-game leader who could get the best from his players. However, his task at OG will be the true test of his ability to work with a diverse group of players in an all-new environment. 2020 will be the young Finn’s chance to show the world that he’s here to stay, that he truly is one of the best in-game leaders in Counter-Strike, that all the praise from analysts and pundits is warranted, and that OG aren’t simply here to take part.

Aleksib explains why he’s “much happier” after being kicked from ENCE BLASTAleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen has opened up on his Counter-Strike: Global Offensive career and explained why he is much happier on OG than he was on ENCE. Finnish esports organization ENCE made one of the most shocking roster moves of 2019, announcing the removal of in-game leader Aleksib just before the StarLadder Berlin Major. It was possibly the most unexpected and controversial move of the year, as the team had been performing incredibly well and challenging the best in the world. Many fans disapproved of the decision and the team has been on a downward spiral since, meanwhile Aleksib has found a new home in a promising OG squad. The OG star was interviewed by BLAST during their Spring Season event in mid-February where he answered a few short questions about himself and the team. One of the most interesting topics, however, was how he felt about the strange ENCE situation. “I enjoy my time a lot more [with OG]. I enjoy the time [both] with the individual players and the whole team, [and] overall I feel much happier. I don’t think about the comments [to do with ENCE]… I’m just focusing on OG… and I look forward to the future.” A rather diplomatic answer, but it does reveal that there may have been some internal issues in ENCE fans may not have known about. The Finnish player has only been part of OG for a few months but is already enjoying his time there more than with ENCE. OG even played against ENCE at their first LAN event of 2020, the ICE Challenge, winning 2-0. Aleksib claimed that the team was especially excited to face them as there was a storyline going into the game. They were, of course, incredibly happy with the win, even though the rest of the event didn’t go so smoothly and the team finished in 5-8 place. Regardless, Aleksib and OG fans will no doubt be looking to see how the team performs in the future, with their next games set to be played on March 7 in the ESL One Rio 2020 Europe Minor Closed Qualifier.

Alarming number of chickens killed during ESL Pro League CSGO Finals Statistics are crucial in esports but at the recent ESL Pro League finals for CS:GO, one of the more bizarre stats tracked gives us a unique insight into the dire fate of defenceless poultry livestock. In Valve’s hit FPS Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, there are tournaments ongoing all the time, with the biggest names in esports facing off to win hundreds of thousands of dollars almost every week. While some stats, such as a player’s KDR or average damage per round, can indicate who the best performing players are, there’s one factor that many people don’t think about during a match: the chickens. Chickens have been the one constant in CSGO for as long as we can remember: while pro players have come and gone, the chickens can be found at every tournament, making their presence known. But new stats from Scope.GG show an alarming rate of murdered chickens at the ESL Pro League finals, which saw mousesports beat Fnatic in a 3-0 grand final win. In a tweet posted on December 10, Scope said: “279 chickens were killed at EPL S10 Finals, averaging 0.73 chicken kills per round ? @Krimz was the cruelest player: he killed 26 chickens (0.20/round).” 279 chickens were killed at EPL S10 Finals, averaging 0.73 chicken kills per round ?@Krimz was the most cruel player: he killed 26 chickens (0.20/round). But @karriganCSGO impressed us the most — he killed a chicken with a smoke grenade ? The hate is real.#stats_scopegg pic.twitter.com/sbxizdL2d1 — SCOPE.GG (@scope_gg) December 10, 2019 Most impressive is Karrigan’s unique chicken kill, taking one down with just a smoke grenade in a truly impressive display of accuracy and sheer cold-bloodedness. This isn’t a statistic regularly tracked, so it’s hard to compare this to other tournaments, but 0.73 chicken deaths per round across the entire tournament definitely seems like a lot. It must be said, though, that Sharks Esports were the only team not to kill a chicken at all. How many of these kills were intentional is not accounted for – though, given the stakes at hand, not many will likely have been focusing on chickens instead of opposing players. It is integral that we continue to follow how the chickens are suffering at these large-scale events. Maybe there was a lot more bloodshed than usual at the ESL Pro League Season 10 finals, but it could be that there are many more suffering at the hands of pro players every weekend that we haven’t accounted for.

AK-47 CSGO skin & knife sell for $500,000 as Counter-Strike skins explode in price Valve / LuksusbumsThe most expensive gun skin in CS:GO has sold for just shy of half a million dollars. The famous AK-47 Case Hardened skin, with four Titan Holos from Katowice 2014 is believed to be the most expensive skin in the game, excluding knives. With Counter-Strike 2 on the horizon, the CS:GO skin market has been exploding, with investors and collectors willing to pay higher and higher prices for the rarest and most desirable items. In March, another AK-47 skin sold for $160,000, at the time the most expensive sale conducted publicly. But, only a month later, another AK skin has sold, this time for around $400,000. The skin, a Tier 1 Case Hardened ‘Blue Gem’ (meaning it has the most blue pattern possible), was put up for sale by the previous owner in November 2022, meaning it has taken less than six months to find a buyer. Case Hardened 661 AK-47 sells for $400,000 CS:GO trader and streamer zipeL acted as a middleman for the sale, arranging the buyer from Luksusbums, the now-former owner. The sale also included a knife, a Karambit Case Hardened ‘Blue Gem’, worth approximately $100,000. This knife is the same as the famous $1.5 million Karambit (the most expensive CS:GO skin), except it is in Well Worn, rather than Factory New condition, hence the price difference. zipeL added, “to all those nerds that said come back to me when the AK sells for 400k you are delusional zipel, hello b***ches” – indicating they reached the desired figure. Why is this CSGO skin worth $400,000? Why this skin is so expensive comes down to a number of factors. Most ‘Case Hardened’ AK-47 skins will sell for only a few hundred dollars, there are a few characteristics that make this one unique. Firstly, it features pattern number 661, which is considered the best pattern for the skin, as it features the most ‘blue’ coloring. It is also the best condition version of the 661 in existence, StatTrak Minimal Wear. A StatTrak Factory New version does not exist – yet. But, what takes this AK from a $150,000 skin to a $400,000 skin, are the stickers applied. There are four Katowice 2014 Titan Holo stickers on the weapon, each worth approximately $60,000 today. They are most expensive stickers in all of Counter-Strike. The new owner, as is common for such high-tier items, is a Chinese collector. This collector also owns a Souvenir AWP Dragon Lore, worth over $100,000. They will be hoping that the imminent arrival of Counter-Strike 2 continues to bolster skin prices. If it does, who knows what the value of these items could reach over time.

After six months, G2 are in the market for a new CSGO IGL again Helena Kristiansson/ESL Gaming via ESPATAleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen has revealed that G2 Esports have allowed him to explore other options ahead of the summer break. The Finnish tactician confirmed on July 16 an early end to his tenure as in-game leader of G2’s CS:GO team, having been signed in January from OG in a deal that saw Nemanja ‘nexa’ Isaković move in the opposite direction. Without going into detail about the team’s decision, Aleksib announced on Twitter that he had “been allowed by G2 to explore my options elsewhere.” Aleksib’s removal comes after a dismal run of form by G2, who had started the year with a runner-up finish at IEM Katowice 2022 — an incredibly encouraging sign for a lineup that had also been bolstered by the arrival of Russian prodigy Ilya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov. But the team struggled to maintain that level of success for the rest of the season. At PGL Major Antwerp, they couldn’t even reach the playoffs after losing to FURIA in the final round of the New Legends Stage. At the BLAST Premier Spring Final last month, Aleksib was at a loss for words when asked to describe his side’s capitulation against Vitality in the semi-finals. “I just felt like, ‘How did we lose this match?’” Aleksib said. “We still have one more tournament, which is Cologne. Let’s see what happens next time. It just sucks.” IEM Cologne presented itself as a make-or-break event for G2 before the summer break. But things looked dire from the moment the team first took to the server as they lost to Movistar Riders, who would turn out to be the tournament’s surprise package. G2 still bounced back with a 2-0 victory over ENCE, only to lose to NIP in the following round in a three-map affair, exiting the tournament in 9th-12th place. Flurry of activity The break is expected to be a busy period for many teams in the CS:GO scene. Vitality and Complexity have been nothing short of underwhelming this year and could pull the trigger on changes, while Team Liquid are still looking for a new fifth player. Meanwhile, MOUZ and Astralis may have bought themselves some time after reaching the IEM Cologne playoffs. G2 now have a month to find a new in-game leader before the new season kicks off in mid-August. The BLAST Premier Fall Groups will be the team’s first event after the summer break, followed by ESL Pro League Season 16. “It feels like crap to have the CSGO summer holiday start when we most suck,” G2 owner Carlos ‘ocelote’ Rodríguez Santiago wrote on July 11. “I have lots of thinking to do.”

After missing Antwerp Major, CSGO coach peacemaker is cleared by ESIC João Ferreira/PGLImperial CS:GO coach Luis ‘peacemaker’ Tadeu has revealed that he has been cleared by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) after being suspended ahead of PGL Major Antwerp for encountering the spectator bug. peacemaker was one of the three CS:GO coaches attending PGL Major Antwerp who were provisionally suspended just days before the start of the event as part of ESIC’s investigation into the historical use of the spectator bug. The Brazilian coach encountered the free roam bug – a “far more serious” variant of the bug than the static and the third-person view variants in ESIC’s opinion – in one round while coaching Heroic in a 2018 online match. He faced a ban of up to 24 months from all ESIC member competitions. According to ESIC, only three coaches experienced the free roam variant of the bug. One of the other two coaches is Soham ‘valens’ Chowdhury, a retired coach who guided Cloud9 to victory at ELEAGUE Major Boston in 2018. Because of the suspension, peacemaker was unable to coach Imperial at PGL Major Antwerp. The Brazilian team, featuring two-time Major champions Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo, Fernando ‘fer’ Alvarenga, and Lincoln ‘fnx’ Lau, made it to the final round of the Legends Stage before losing to Copenhagen Flames. A maior vitoria da minha carreira. A partir de hoje, não estou mais suspenso e posso retornar a competir. The biggest win of my career. As of today, I am no longer suspended and can go back to competing. PT-BR + ENG 1/3 pic.twitter.com/KzTgK2v0F6 — Luis Peacemaker (@peacemaker) May 26, 2022 Cleared by ESIC In a statement, peacemaker said that ESIC Integrity Commissioner Ian Smith “accepted the arguments provided”, adding that the esports watchdog will comment on this matter “soon”. The Brazilian coach described this outcome as “the biggest victory of my career”. “This morning, I was told through my attorney, Luis Felipe Maia from Maia Yoshiyasu Advogados, that we had successfully obtained the immediate removal of my provisional suspension,” peacemaker added. “I am no longer at risk of being banned and I will be able to continue my career as normal.” In a video posted on Twitter, peacemaker said that he was able to prove that he never shared any information with his players during the round. He added that his attempts to reconnect to the game server while in a bugged state prove that he was trying to fix the problem. peacemaker also posted a video from Danny ‘mahone’ Hsieh, a content creator and former NIP analyst, analyzing the round in which he had the bug. “From a purely analytical standpoint, there is no clear evidence that the players of Heroic used any information that could only be obtained through peacemaker’s point of view,” Hsieh said. “It was entirely possible to play the round the way they did without any extra information.” It remains unclear whether the other two coaches who were suspended from PGL Major Antwerp, 9z’s Rafael ‘zakk’ Fernandes, and Spirit’s Sergey ‘hally’ Shavaev, have also been cleared by ESIC. Unlike peacemaker, they encountered the static variant of the bug. This development marks a significant shift in the way ESIC looks at the spectator bug and deals with these cases. On May 5, ESIC said that all occurrences of the bug, “regardless of apparent harm (or harmlessness) (…) should be dealt with swiftly and immediately”. In describing the static variant (a less serious variant than the free roam), it noted that, even if the bug was not abused, “the mere potential for exploitation and utilization” created an “unrectified opportunity for an unfair advantage”. The following day, ESIC doubled down on that position. The esports watchdog stated that it did “not view the outcome of an unfair advantage being achieved as a necessary factor of the threat” created by the bug. It added that the affected coaches should have “immediately” attempted to rectify the bugged state in which they found themselves. peacemaker said that he hopes to return to competition “as soon as possible.” Imperial are due to compete at IEM Dallas, which will take place from May 30 through June 5.

After failing to reach Antwerp CSGO Major, TYLOO look abroad for help João Ferreira for PGLChinese CS:GO giants TYLOO have announced that Serbian coach Nestor ‘LETN1’ Tanić will take charge of the team. The announcement comes in the aftermath of TYLOO’s shock failure to qualify for PGL Major Antwerp after finishing third in the Asia RMR tournament, behind Mongolian side IHC Esports and Australian team Renegades. This snapped a streak of four consecutive Major appearances by TYLOO, who had been to every Major since FACEIT’s 2018 event in London – also the only time that the Chinese team has been able to make it past the first stage. LETN1 comes in with little coaching experience, having previously guided only Team Finest and SC e-Sports for brief spells. But he spent years grinding through the ranks as a player, eventually making a Major in 2019 with CR4ZY, his final team. In 2021, he doubled as a manager and analyst for EXTREMUM, featuring the core of the former 100 Thieves roster. On that team, he got to work alongside Indonesian star Hansel ‘BnTet’ Ferdinand, who returnd to TYLOO in February. “This is a big challenge for me, and I want to repeat the success that I had as a player,” LETN1 told Dexerto. “We are setting the bar very high and we are ready to post some good results in the future and achieve our common goals!” LETN1 joined up with the team on May 4 at the Kinguin Esports Performance Center, in Warsaw, Poland. According to him, the players will spend large spells in Europe, only going back to China for important tournaments. Read more: Behind gob b’s CSGO return to coach BIG – The Serbian is the third foreign coach to take charge of TYLOO, after Brazilian Luis ‘peacemaker’ Tadeu and Ukrainian Yvan ‘Johnta’ Shevtsov. With his appointment, the Chinese team hope to once again reach the highest levels of the game and establish themselves as the dominant force in Asia. “I’m going to bring a European style to the team,” LETN1 said. TYLOO CS:GO roster: YuanZhang ‘Attacker’ Sheng – Zhenghao ‘DANK1NG’ Lv – Kelun ‘SLOWLY’ Sun – YuLun ‘Summer’ Cai – Hansel ‘BnTeT’ Ferdinand – Nestor ‘LETN1’ Tanić (coach) –

After ESIC unban, HUNDEN lands analyst job at Astralis AstralisCS:GO coach Nicolai ‘HUNDEN’ Petersen has joined Astralis’ backroom staff as Head Analyst, the Danish organization has announced. HUNDEN takes over from Frederik ‘LOMME’ Nielsen, who departed Astralis at the end of 2022, in what will be his first official role with a CS:GO team since leaving Heroic in July 2021. The announcement comes a month after HUNDEN was reinstated by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC). The esports watchdog had slapped him with a two-year ban on August 27, 2021, for leaking sensitive information to a competitor — believed to be Astralis — ahead of IEM Cologne without Heroic’s knowledge. ESIC decided to reinstate HUNDEN following an in-person meeting with the coach, in which it was determined that HUNDEN will have to undertake “relevant training”. On Twitter, HUNDEN thanked his lawyers “for guiding me through what has been a very difficult period”, indicating that he resorted to legal avenues to challenge his ban. Astralis’ Director of Sports, Kasper Hvidt, described HUNDEN as “an extremely skilled analyst” who will be “an asset to our team and organization.” Head coach Peter ‘casle’ Ardenskjold added that HUNDEN is “one of the very best in the field and extremely thorough in his work.” “It has been a long process and there have been many things we had to discuss in relation to my role and everything I have been through,” HUNDEN said. “Now I’m just happy it’s all in place, and I already feel how much it means to me to be up and running and to have talented people around me who trust and support me. “Astralis is something special in Denmark and having seen it all from the outside with the enormous support the team has always received, it feels great to be a part of it all.” A lengthy courtship HUNDEN had been linked with Astralis since the summer of 2021, when an HLTV.org report revealed that he was the prime candidate to replace head coach Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen, who was entering the final six months of his contract. In August 2022, Dexerto Editor-at-Large Richard Lewis revealed that HUNDEN had “a working relationship” with Astralis during his ban. The Danish organization told Dexerto that the coach had been interacting with their CS:GO team on a regular basis to create content for strategic partner Aim Lab. Astralis added that they would have no qualms about working with HUNDEN in a more direct capacity once his ban expired. “Should we have the need, we would not have any second thoughts about offering him a position as an analyst or the like,” the Danish organization said. When his ban was lifted, many expected HUNDEN to join Astralis as a head coach. But that possibility was shot down when Astralis announced that interim coach casle would remain in charge of the team in 2023. Both HUNDEN and casle are barred from participating in CS:GO Majors until the end of the second Major of 2023 for their use of the spectator bug. HUNDEN’s addition to the backroom staff is part of the rebuilding process that Astralis started after failing to qualify for the IEM Rio Major. The organization moved on from Asger ‘Farlig’ Jensen and Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke, re-signed superstar Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz from NIP and picked up Christian Møss ‘Buzz’ Andersen, a rising talent playing in Denmark’s second tier. Meanwhile, Astralis have also strengthened their performance team by hiring Jan Østergaard Jørgensen, a retired badminton player, and Bjarne Slot Christiansen, a former professional soldier who is now a lifestyle coach and TV host, as their new performance coach and mental coach, respectively.

After conquering the world, Vitality look toward the future GG.BETTeam Vitality co-owner Neo and CS:GO duo apEX and Magisk spoke with Dexerto about the off-season roster changes and the reasoning behind moving on from dupreeh. Entering the player break, Vitality had what in traditional sports is described as a good headache. Or, as Vitality co-founder and owner Fabien ‘Neo’ Devide put it, “a problem of rich people”. Vitality had ended the tournament season as the No.1 team in the world, finally breaking their Major duck and giving Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut the trophy he had been chasing since he started playing — and in front of the organization’s own fans, in Paris, no less. With a solid foundation to build upon, Vitality looked set to keep the same roster heading into the off-season. After all, if something isn’t broken, why try to fix it? But then that tweet happened. Player agent Jérôme Coupez’s tweet announcing that Shahar ‘flameZ’ Shushan was exploring his options set in motion a chain of events that ended with Vitality signing the young Israeli to replace Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen, the winningest player in CS:GO Major history. It was a matter of opportunity, with flameZ’s OG deal about to expire and many elite teams vying for his signature. With the Israeli’s arrival, Vitality bring the team’s average age down by nearly two years to 24.3 as they look to build towards a future with Counter-Strike 2 in mind. At the same time, they add more firepower to the squad with the sort of selfless entry-fragger player they had been missing. Shortly before the ‘Match of LeGGends’ showmatch against NAVI in Berlin, Neo, Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire, and Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif sat down with Dexerto to talk at length about this roster change and what it means for the team’s future. This conversation has been edited for clarity. Changing a player after winning a Major is not something that a lot of teams have done. What was the logic behind the move, and when did you start considering this possibility? Neo: We are working with cycles. I think that’s a really weird name for it, but this is what we are doing most of the time. When I contacted zonic, I told him that the main objective of Vitality was to be a Major winner at some point because my only responsibility as owner was making sure that ZywOo would become a champion on the biggest stages. It was the reason why we built this team and switched to international. We had ups and downs in 2022, we didn’t have the best year. I think everyone has stepped up massively in 2023, but we wanted to be future-proof and ahead of the curve. For us, it was also about having our final version and final lineup for CS2, and it was also the next step forward to be sure that we can project ourselves in a new two-year cycle. And the opportunity became public with flameZ — I think it was through his agent on Twitter. dupreeh is a fantastic player, he was doing a great job and we were not sure that we wanted to make a change, it was only if we had a crazy good opportunity, with a player who fit our playstyle and identity, and that also ensured that we could maybe be a bit more future-oriented. For us, the opportunity was addressed by the staff after the tweet of Jérôme Coupez, his agent, and then it became an internal discussion between the coaching staff and ourselves about what we should do, the timing and stuff. From the outside, it looks a bit unfair, because dupreeh didn’t deserve to leave in that way, after winning such a great event and playing that well, but we thought it was the best for the project, even if, on an emotional level, it was really complicated to do and a really hard decision to make as an organization. What was dupreeh’s reaction like, when you spoke with him? Did he understand that it was a business decision? Neo: dupreeh is a great professional, with a perfect work ethic. To be honest, of course he was surprised — and I don’t want to speak on his behalf — and felt that it was probably not 100 percent deserved, and he thought that this team had more to show and to prove. And I agree, he was not wrong. It was just an opportunity that we had, and he understood the business decision and the opportunity that it represented. He reacted like a champion because he is a f**king champion of the game and pure class. He was definitely upset and thought that the team could do more with him, but, at the same time, he understood our point of view. I have massive respect for him. What are your first impressions of flameZ? How is his integration going? apEX: I’m not going to lie, we haven’t had much time yet. We have only had three days of practice because we wanted to get some rest after the big season we had. But we can see that flameZ is really motivated. The good thing is that he’s asking a lot of questions and trying to fit into the system as well as possible. I don’t want to talk bullsh*t. I don’t know much about him. I will get to know him with time. But he’s surely a great piece and a really nice human being. We have known him for some time because we saw each other in tournaments. He’s a really good human being and really easy to talk to. I think it will be kind of easy to fit him. I don’t know if it’s going to work out immediately, but he’s really nice and ready to put in the hours to fit into the team. He also knows the opportunity he has, to play for a team like ours, because we’ve been doing really well. For him, it’s also a really nice opportunity, one that he deserves. Magisk: As Dan said already, it’s too soon to say. From three days of practice, you don’t get the full picture. I think the most important part is finding out how he likes to play and him finding out how we play. I think in the beginning, with Spinx, we made the mistake of not being aligned in terms of what we expected from him and what he expected from us. I think that’s definitely something that we’re trying to take with us and finding out how flameZ wants to play the roles and how we expect him to play those roles, and then finding out the best way to play. I think in the future we will definitely see his full potential, but that will take time, and no one can expect him to perfectly fit into the team after a few months. We saw that with Spinx. Sometimes it takes a lot of time, sometimes it takes less. I definitely think we will have to see with time. Overall, he is a hard-working guy and he’s really motivated, and that’s always good for a team, when you have a young guy who is really motivated and has a lot of things he wants to achieve. I think it’s time to see his full potential. On a personal level, you played with dupreeh for many years and you won many tournaments together. What does it feel like to part ways with him after so many years, and where do you see his career taking him next? Magisk: It’s always tough to lose a good friend and good teammate. It’s never fun. We achieved a lot of good stuff together. We also went through bad periods together. Losing a teammate like that is never easy, but it’s part of the industry. You have to be professional and you have to understand that, sometimes, these decisions are out of your hands. With that said, I think it’s important to say that investing in the future is never a bad idea. Obviously, I’m sad that I’m losing a good teammate and a good friend because he is a gem and he can be a valuable asset to a lot of teams. It’s quite difficult finding a person like dupreeh, especially in a professional scene like this. He’s really professional, he handles a lot of stuff with a big smile and, in that sense, he can contribute to a lot of teams. I hope the best for him in the future and I hope he finds a team that suits him well. He definitely deserves it. He’s a strong player and, on a human level, he’s just a really good person. I have nothing bad to say about him. After so many years, you’d imagine I could find a lot of bad stuff, but it’s really difficult about Peter. Of course, I’m sad about Peter, but I also look forward to getting to know flameZ as a person and as a teammate. I’m looking forward to the future because I definitely think there’s a lot we can achieve as a team. Talking a bit about flameZ and what he brings to the team. He’s more of an aggressive entry-fragger — something that maybe you were lacking a little bit with the previous roster. When JACKZ played for the team in EPL, did you realize that you needed a player like this? apEX: To be honest, the period before JACKZ, playing a bit faster and with more explosion was a big tough because dupreeh is not that kind of entry-fragger, who can go in first. It wasn’t the plan to do that with him at the beginning. When JACKZ stood in, I told zonic that I knew how to use him and that we would play really fast during the group stage because I knew that this guy was fearless and really good aim-wise, so I thought it would be easy to use him like that. So we did it that way, and it worked out pretty well. Then, I had a talk with zonic about how my style as a caller is to call a bit faster. We were playing way too slowly, in my opinion, and then, when we took JACKZ, I could see that playing fast is easier and is good for me as well. I had always done that in the French teams. I went to zonic and told him we had to have Peter do this role more and have him be someone who can run in first with me more. I was kind of the only one able to do that. While dupreeh was at home, he could watch JACKZ play, and he understood what he had to do. We changed dupreeh into more of an entry-fragger role and it worked out well for us. For flameZ, it comes more naturally and I think that’s good as well. But dupreeh did a really good job after we asked him to do it. Right after EPL, he improved a lot, and you can see that in his stats. I think he understood his role. He wasn’t the old dupreeh like in Astralis and we didn’t need that from him anymore. We had ZywOo, we had Spinx and also Emil, all of whom could put in the numbers. We just needed someone that could sacrifice himself and also be good at big tournaments, and that’s what he did. But now, we have in flameZ someone in this role in a more natural way. For him, it’s normal to run in first. If for some reason, you couldn’t get flameZ, would you have signed a different player or would you have kept the roster as it was? Neo: I think we would have kept the same players. We were not in a hurry to make a change. It was not our initial plan or our initial thought. Of course, when you have — I’m sorry, Dan — 30-year-old players, you are starting to question yourself because at some point, Spinx, Zywoo, they are 22, and Emil is 24. apEx: 25. Magisk: I’m getting older, sorry [laughs]. Neo: Sorry [laughs]. You have to surround them with [players from] the same generation. Of course, we had a lot of question marks with older players, and also with the transition to a new game. Usually, when there’s a new game, most of the time the youngsters take over because they are hungry, they can play like crazy without thinking about anything else. It was definitely in our mind but not a top priority. The only reason we made this change was for a player that we liked and that ticked all the boxes. I think flameZ was this kind of player, one who gave us a headache. It was like a problem of rich people, when you have a winning team, a Major-winning team, and then you can add a top prospect. It was a really tough conversation. Money-wise, opportunity-wise, future-wise, everything was aligned to make the move. Sometimes, you need to make hard decisions. I’m not afraid to make them because this is what we try to build with Vitality. We want to make sure that we are at the top every year, and the thing I’m the proudest of right now is that we have been top 5 or top 3 almost always since we joined Counter-Strike. This kind of commitment and legacy, this is something that I’m really proud of. Right now, winning one Major gives us more appetite to win another one. In the beginning, you’re aiming for one, and then, when you have one, you want 10. That’s exactly what we’re trying to build, but with a lot of modesty and stuff like that. In esports, everything changes super fast, so we need to make sure we have plenty of time. Adding flameZ right now makes sense because there’s no Major at the end of the year. It’s a transition to the new game, and having a lot of time with a rookie to give him the right habits and methods is also great. Usually, in esports you don’t have time. Our main objective, and the main goal of this team, is to win Majors. So having eight months in front of us is also a luxury. What are your expectations for the new season, now that you have a new player? How long do you think it will take to be at 100% with flameZ? apEX: I really don’t know. We haven’t talked about it yet. I prefer having a team talk about that. For sure, we are one of the most exciting teams to watch. Having this young gun with us is adding even more firepower to the team, I would say. But I have no idea how long it will take. I don’t want to say two months, one month, or six months. I have no clue. We need to see. We have only been playing for a few days, and I cannot say much about that. Let’s see how long it will take. I wish we could be ready for Cologne, but if that happens it will be more like a one-shot than a team effort. I think we can be really good there, but most likely we won’t. We will have a lot of tournaments in the next two months without a lot of practice. We’re going to work a bit here and there. It’s going to be tough, for sure. What are your thoughts on the off-season changes? In your opinion, which teams made the best changes? apEX: It’s not done yet, but Cloud9. If they pick up electroNic and Perfecto, I think it’s going to be crazy. Individually, it can be something really great. I think they may have won the off-season. So many teams have changed so much, so I don’t know what to expect. NAVI changed three players, MOUZ changed two. A lot of teams have changed a lot of guys. FURIA as well. This off-season was the craziest we’ve ever had. Seeing NAVI going international when they have a crazy scene around them — but, obviously, with the war it’s pretty tough to take in Russian players. It’s crazy to see this many changes. It’s exciting. If the Cloud9 rumor is true, they are going to be one of the teams you have to be the most scared of. Magisk: I think it’s really difficult to say who’s going to be the winner and who’s going to be the loser. There have been too many changes and a lot of teams have changed a lot. I think there are many big question marks. NAVI is going to be a big question mark. You basically have no idea. It really depends on the team chemistry, how they are going to fit together. In the beginning, when we became international, it was so much different because you have different cultures. I’m not sure people are ready for that, I’m not sure people understand the importance of aligning cultures and finding how to work together. apEX: And playing the same CS. Thinking CS the same way. Magisk: That takes time. You have no idea. They might be good for two months, but then, when reality hits, they start having problems, and they start not performing. How are they going to react? That’s the big question. I think Cloud9, if it’s true, is definitely exciting. But I also think it’s going to be difficult because you’re going to have a lot of star personalities. You’re going to have a guy like electroNic, he will probably have to sacrifice a lot compared to what he is used to. Is that going to interfere? He has also tried to be the in-game leader. It’s going.to be a big question mark because there are so many star personalities. Perfecto is a really good anchor player but he’s not really an entry anchor. Who’s going to go in first? Ax1Le is not an entry-fragger, sh1ro is definitely not an entry-fragger. It’s really difficult to say how it’s going to work. That is definitely a team that could be really dangerous if they make it work. I have no idea, mate. It’s difficult to say what is going to happen.

After BLAST showing, ZywOo is keen to end Vitality’s ugly Katowice record VitalityVitality star Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut spoke with Dexerto about his goals for 2023 as the team prepares to play at IEM Katowice. ZywOo hopes that the fourth time will be the charm. IEM Katowice has always been a thorn in Vitality’s side. In 2019, 2020, and 2022, ZywOo was powerless to prevent his team from crashing out of the tournament before the playoffs. Even in the pandemic-hit 2021 edition, held entirely online, the team couldn’t go beyond the group stage. ZywOo is determined to end that streak and finally set foot on the Spodek Arena stage. “For Vitality, Katowice has not been the greatest of tournaments,” he told Dexerto last month. “It’s really important for the team’s confidence that we have a good start to the year. “If we have a good start, maybe we’re going to be stronger, individually and tactically.” The early signs are positive, with Vitality topping their group in the BLAST Premier Spring Groups after beating Astralis, Evil Geniuses, and world No.1 Heroic. That run gave the team an extra few days to prepare for IEM Katowice as they skipped the BLAST gauntlets, while it also installed them as one of a number of potential candidates for the title in Poland. The first half of 2022 was marked by FaZe’s dominance, but the narrative changed after the summer break. ESL Pro League 16, the IEM Rio Major, the BLAST Premier Fall Final, and the BLAST Premier World Final each crowned a different champion, which ZywOo views as a positive thing for the scene. “I’m happy to see that any team can win,” he said. “It’s not like the Astralis era, the Liquid era, or the NAVI era. Anyone can win a tournament right now, also because the level of CS is really close right now. “It’s really hard to win trophies right now. When we don’t play as we did in our good moments, it’s going to be really hard to win games.” Fixing what is wrong 2022 was a difficult year for Vitality, despite the high-profile arrivals of Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen, Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif and coach Danny ‘zonic’ Sørensen. The glaring communication issues took their toll on the team, which looked out of sync, bereft of ideas, and over-reliant on ZywOo. A victory in ESL Pro League Season 16 after the signing of ENCE star Lotan ‘Spinx’ Giladi restored faith in the project, but it was soured by a dismal run that saw them place 12-14th at the Rio Major and 5th-6th at the year-end BLAST Premier World Final. “We expected more trophies, more victories,” he admitted. “But things didn’t go as we wanted. “International teams are always hard at the beginning because of the language and all the changes. For me, the language was kind of a barrier at the beginning. I was really bad. Right now, I’m good. I can speak with everyone. “When we look back at 2022, we are a bit sad about our results. We won EPL but we wanted more. It was up and down.” ZywOo noted that, while Vitality have not lagged behind their opponents in the tactical department, the team still needs to “click more” on the server. Significant efforts seem to have gone into making sure that Spinx is more involved in the action. After averaging a disappointing 1.03 HLTV rating in his first four months with the team, the Israeli star put in a 1.32 rating in the BLAST Premier groups. “He is one of the best riflers I have ever played with,” ZywOo said of Spinx. “Vitality and ENCE do not have the same play style, so he had to change [the way he plays] a bit. “It was hard for him [at first] because he was not used to it, but he’s working hard with apEX. He is also a smart player and is trying his best in every practice and every official match. I have no doubt he can come back stronger. Maybe he will be even better than he was at ENCE.” An eye on the Major As important as these first months of 2023 are, ZywOo said that the team has one target in mind for the season: making sure they hit peak form at the BLAST.tv Paris Major in May. The event will be a landmark occasion for French Counter-Strike, and Vitality — who have only reached the playoffs of a Major twice and have never gone further than the quarter-finals — want to make the most of this opportunity. That includes giving French fans, especially the organization’s ultras, the Golden Hornets, something to cheer about after the country’s scene, once vibrant and flourishing, fell out of the public consciousness. “It was really sad to see,” ZywOo said of Golden Hornets’ presence in the arena that staged the PGL Major Antwerp playoffs, Antwerps Sportpaleis, where Vitality did not get to play. “I was like, ‘There are only 200 or 300 of them and it feels like there are 5,000 people screaming and cheering for everyone’. “I think we need to play in front of them to see the power of the Golden Hornets. I was really sad when I was in the FACEIT booth watching the games.” 2022 was another year that left a sour taste in ZywOo’s mouth as his individual brilliance did not translate into major achievements. An impressive 1.42 HLTV rating in the BLAST Premier groups is a strong indicator that the French AWPer remains at the peak of his abilities and will once again contend for the title of the best player in the world, but he insisted that will not mean anything if it does not lead to titles. “I don’t really care about the HLTV ranking because it’s about one year, it’s not one goal or one precise moment,” he explained. “For me, the goal is going to be to win the Major. “I don’t set any individual goals. The most important thing is to have team goals. And our goal is to win the Major.”

Adorable CSGO-themed prom proposal goes viral A gaming-themed prom proposal has gone viral after this couple asked each other out using their shared love — Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Going to prom is a ritual for every high schooler in North America. It’s a good night to spend with friends, and your partner, to celebrate the near end of your schooling life. There’s always a variety of different proposal ideas that do the rounds as people try to one-up each other year on year, but this CSGO-themed proposal might take the cake for 2019. Reddit user ‘Kilobytedawn’ shared her own prom proposal experience with a crossover with her favourite game, CSGO. The popular Valve FPS game might not spell out romance, given it’s rather unglamourous graphics and violent nature, but any multiplayer game is a wonderful way to form a bond with a partner. Read more: Valve ban CSGO case keys on Steam market – The two have been playing together for about a year, after he introduced her to the game. “He played for a few years before me and introduced me to it last year, so he’s still a lot better than I am,” she said. “I still have fun though!” 600The poster poses the question “will you CS:GO with me to prom,” but there’s more to see as you look deeper into it. There is a massive “your match is ready” prompt in the centre for the map “MEI Prom”. Read more: GeT_RiGhT crumbles in return to CSGO – The two are also in a lobby together with no one else, with her partner making sure that her rank was “Global Bae,” even dropping “I love you” in chat. It would be idyllic if they were queuing up for Wingman as well, giving the duo some time to themselves on the battlefield. There’s even smaller, more personal touches that were added to make the proposal just that little bit more special. The two knives on the bottom of the poster – the Sapphire Stilletto Knife and the Ursus Fade – are two knives Kilobytedawn owns. “I unboxed both of those knives and so he thought it would be clever to put it on the poster,” she said. She also received a custom made Hyper Beast Huntsman Knife, which isn’t available in the game. The kaleidoscopic colors go all the way down the handle, and she mentioned that she “loves all things Hyper Beast,” making for a special gift to go along with the wonderful proposal. A lot of thought went into this, which is how every prom proposal should go. There’s nothing better than knowing your partner went to a lot of effort to make you feel loved, especially when it’s a shared interest in your relationship. Kilobytedawn implied that the proposal went down a few months ago, so once can only hope that her and her partner are still happily roaming around Mirage or Dust 2, covering each other’s angles and getting some wins.

A Footstep Bug Is Plaguing FACEIT’s CSGO London Major An audio issue that stops players from hearing the footsteps of some opponents is causing problems at FACEIT’s London CSGO Major. The bug seems to be affecting the ability to hear the footsteps of enemies as they move around the map and is associated with the special build of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive that Valve has sent to FACEIT to use at the Major. Unsurprisingly, the players competing in the tournament are upset at the issue, most notably North’s Mathias ‘MSL’ Lauridsen, who took to Twitter to complain after his squad was eliminated by Vega Squadron. MSL claimed that the event was “the worst major” he had ever attended, and labeled the conditions they were forced to play in “horrible”. Ryu stated that even sprinting and jumping would also result in no audio being played, and that both friendly and opposition players were unable to hear the footsteps. The audio issues are just the latest problem to hit the London Major. The first week of the event has been dogged by technical difficulties, causing numerous delays throughout the New Challengers Stage. FACEIT have acknowledged the issue with the Major build of CSGO on Twitter, and have confirmed that they are working with Valve to fix the problem. However, there is no official announcement as to when that fix will be released.

Steam account with $5 million in CSGO skins banned on platform ValveOne of the richest CSGO accounts in the world, with nearly $5 million worth of skins, has been banned from Steam. ‘Seacat’ received a game ban on September 15, limiting their access to the platform and potentially locking away their skins forever. CS:GO skins can be worth a fair amount of money, with the most expensive going for hundreds of thousands of dollars. User ‘Seacat’ had a fair few of those, with their public inventory of rare and exclusive cosmetics totaling around $4.7 million. However the account has been banned in-game as of September 15, potentially locking those skins away forever. Twitter user ‘Exerpas’ alerted the skin community of Seacat’s ban, including showing off their extensive inventory. This includes four StatTrak M4A4 Howls with four iBuyPower holo stickers on them, one of which has the best wear rating in the world of just 0.0033. They hold a number of Souvenir Dragon Lores too — all in Factory New condition — as well as rare stickers from the Katowice 2014 Major. Plus there’s the knives which includes an array of sapphire, ruby, and jade skins of basically any knife there is in CSGO. The last proper valuation of the account was at $4,693,106.86 in July, according to fellow skin enthusiast ‘GaryTCxD’. Getting a game ban on Steam is akin to a VAC ban, according to Valve. “The effects of the game ban are determined by the developer, and must be consistent with a VAC ban, such as being prevented from playing online with other players and/or trading items for that game,” the company states on its website. However this ban could be for a number of reasons outside of cheating. It could be for toxicity, or Seacat’s account was mass reported by players. Regardless if the ban is not overturned, it’s likely the near $5 million inventory will remain locked away forever.

3kliksphilip simulates spending $2,000 on CSGO cases but gets the “best result” Valve / 3kliksphilip, YouTubePopular CS:GO YouTuber 3kliksphilip reveals just how much money you could lose in case-openings as he continued his popular case millionaire series. Update: For clarification, this is a simulated CS:GO case opening program. Original article could be misread as though real money had been spent, we regret the error. While CS:GO is still one of the most popular FPS titles, it is also popular for its unique weapon skin market, where you can trade cosmetic items, sometimes worth thousands of dollars. Players can collect most of these unique skins from CS:GO cases, which can be purchased in-game, and each weapon wrap comes with different wear values and variables that determine their price. While finding these rare skins in cases can be a challenge, CS:GO YouTuber 3kliksphilip decided to test his luck by opening 1000 virtual cases in his September 21 upload. 3kliksphilip is a veteran CS:GO content creator, building a fan base of over 950k subscribers on his channel, and is best known for his commentary videos and bizarre bug tests on Valve’s FPS title. In his latest CS:GO video series, the YouTuber revealed that he had set out to become the “world’s first case-unboxing millionaire” and gathered 1000 cases, to see how much good luck was possible. 3kliksphilip had tried to find success with this bizarre challenge before but this time around he opted for more cases than usual, with tons of Gamma 2 cases ready for his attempt. After getting off to a slow start, he managed to unbox four different knives in total, including an MW Karambit Freehand, but with the massive amount of cases purchased, it still ended up costing more than it earned him. With a value of $2610 spent on getting the cases, the skins he gathered were only worth $1587, meaning that he had lost just over $1000 during his latest attempt. However, the CS:GO content creator was not too disappointed with the outcome, even claiming that the four knives might have been his “best result yet.”

3kliksphilip claims CSGO’s Deagle doesn’t need buff despite player outrage YouTube: 3kliksphilip / ValvePhilip ‘3kliksphilip’ Dyer has weighed into the CS:GO Desert Eagle debate, saying that the $800 hand-cannon doesn’t need a buff like players have suggested. Instead, the popular YouTuber believes the gun is well-balanced. The Desert Eagle is one of Counter-Strike’s most iconic guns. Countless plays have been made with the hand-cannon, from Happy’s Play of the Decade Ace, to Xizt’s huge clutch way back in the 1.6 days for Fnatic. However, recently players have gotten in an uproar over the gun feeling weaker than it ever has before. Dozens of posts have skyrocketed to the top of the /r/globaloffensive subreddit, all claiming the Deagle doesn’t live up to its former glory. “The Desert Eagle is flawed. Not because it is overpowered or underpowered, but because its intention is missed by the developers. It is supposed to be a high skill, high reward type of gun. Yet that doesn’t seem to be the case,” one post by Woody_S said. However, YouTuber 3kliksphilip has debunked these claims, saying they’re not backed by facts. They’re reliant on nostalgia, which doesn’t even really exist, to base a point that the Deagle needs a buff. Read more: When is CS:GO Operation 10 coming out? – “I think it’s dangerous to see older games as to what CS:GO should aspire to imitate. Compared to any other game in existence, CS:GO’s weapons have been far more rigorously balanced to ensure they all serve some sort of purpose,” he said in a November 27 video. “All those frags you’ve seen from pros are as much luck as anything else. There was one difference back then, and that was the second shot fired was just as precise as the first.” He broke down the stats of the Deagle to prove his point. The gun is one of the most accurate in the game, beating out all other pistols, and even most of the rifles. While it’s never claimed to be the “most accurate,” it’s still “surprisingly accurate,” like the weapon’s description says. “The gun has never claimed to be the most accurate in the game, not by a long shot. The Deagle does live up to its expectation of being surprisingly accurate though.” Valve did try to fill the community niche for a sniper-like hand cannon in the R8 Revolver, but that missed the mark due to the long wind-up. Now, the community wants that ideal gun to be the Deagle, which Philip says is illogical. “For what people want from the Deagle, you’d be better off making an entirely new weapon to fulfil these criteria. But Valve did make a new weapon — they made the Revolver, which players can opt for instead of a Deagle, but don’t because it’s a bit rubbish.” There has been a decent patch proposed by community modders. The Weapon Balance Mod’s latest update, which 3kliksphilip highlighted, would decrease the Deagle’s high damage drop off, while reducing its base damage and armor penetration to reward headshots. While these changes won’t be making it into the game properly, at least for now, 3kliks wants the community to realise that the Deagle is in a better spot than ever before. He used a side-by-side of 1.6 vs CS:GO as a comparison, and the Deagle in the 2012 release is far more accurate. “As far as competitive Counter-Strike goes, RNG has always had a part to play with the Deagle. Those wanting less of the random element should be praising the gun for the state that it’s in right now in CS:GO in 2020.”

37 CSGO coaches banned after ESIC investigation of coaching bug StarLadder / EPICENTER / FaZe ClanThe Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has issued sanctions against 37 coaches implicated in the use of the CS:GO spectator bug, following an investigation that is bound to send shockwaves through the scene. Following initial bans by ESL against three coaches and after an investigation by Michal Slowinski, there was an ominous sense that more was yet to come as a result of the spectator bug. The bug allowed a spectating player (in this case, the coach of a competitive team), to have a birds-eye view from specific points on the map, gaining an unfair advantage. ESIC commenced their investigation on September 4, and have now presented their findings. 37 coaches have been implicated. The coaches have been banned from official tournament action for varying lengths of time, from as little as 3.75 months to 36 months for the most “aggravated” offenders. In their report, ESIC states that they “could not ascertain, with any reasonable certainty, whether the teams related to the offending parties were complicit in the exploitation of the Spectator Bug at the time that the offenses took place. As such, ESIC will not make a comment in this regard and encourages the community to refrain from speculation on this element.” “ESIC believes all sanctioning decisions must be proportionate, fair and consistent,” the report continues. “We have gone to great lengths to ensure the calculation of the sanctions imposed on the offending coaches comply with these standards.” ESIC Spectator bug investigation results The three coaches first implicated, Hunden, dead, and MechanoGun, have had their initial penalties “amended as a result of additional evidence uncovered during the investigation.” MechanoGun’s ban is extended to 36 months, dead from 6 months to 6.5, while Hunden has been reduced from 12 months to 8. A number of coaches from high-profile, professional teams have been implicated, including former FaZe Clan coach Robert ‘RobbaN’ Dahlström, Furia’s Nicholas ‘guerri’ Nogueira, NiP’s Faruk “pita” Pita, and former Na’Vi coaches Sergey ‘starix’ Ischuk and Andrey ‘Andi’ Prokhorov. Both pita and Guerri previously addressed their use of the bug and RobbaN has since hit back at his own suspension. Some uses of the bug date back as early as 2016, a testament to the thorough VOD review taken on by ESIC and Slowinski. The investigation was expected to take eight months, but new “techniques” and dedicated work expedited the process. So far, only 20% of the total demos have been reviewed at this point. However, ESIC states this 20% “likely comprise the most substantial cases of abuse.” Full list of banned CSGO coaches: *Teams listed are at time of infraction: Twista (iGame.com): 15.75 months – casle (maquinas): 10 months – dinamito (Furious Gamer): 10 months – ArnoZ1K4 (Evidence): 10 months – Rejin (Tricked): 19.8 months – glouDH (Freestyle): 10 months – prd (Neverest): 10 months – nook (QB Fire): 7.5 months – rikz (DETONA): 10 months – Apoka (LG/INTZ/BOOM): 5.4 months – MechanoGun (Hard Legion): 36 months – hellpopovich (9z): 10 months – fuRy^ (DreamEaters): 7.5 months – Solaar (Syman/k23): 10 months – HUNDEN (Heroic): 8 months – dead (SK/MiBR): 6.5 months – guerri (Furia): 4 months – pita (NiP): 10 months – AKIMOV (Hard Legion): 7.5 months – F_1N (Gambit Youngsters): 8.75 months – ellllll (Imperial/paiN): 10 months – peu (W7M): 5 months – RobbaN (FaZe Clan): 5.5 months – Loord (Kinguin/Aristocracy): 6 months – ToH1o (Ex-Outlaws/Windigo): 10 months – Andi (NAVI): 10 months – pepik (eSuba): 10 months – B1GGY (Heretics): 7.5 months – chrille (Epsilon/Red Reserve): 10 months – starix (NAVI): 10 months – ave (North): 10 months – rosey (Nordavind): 10 months – LMBT_R (Hellraisers/forZe): 7.5 months – FeTiSh (Heroic): 3.75 months – miNIr0x (AGO) 3.75 months – pNshr (SKADE): 3.75 months – ruggah (Dignitas): 3.75 months – All those implicated are eligible to appeal by emailing Chairman of the Independent Disciplinary Panel, Kevin Carpenter, and setting out the grounds of their appeal. A further report is due for release in October, which will complete the investigation. ESIC concluded their report with a message to the CS:GO community: “We understand that these revelations have been tough for many people within the CS:GO community, but we believe it is in the long-term best interests of the game and all of esports for integrity breaches to be dealt with head-on,” they wrote. “We know that most coaches, players, tournament organizers, publishers and developers, fans, sponsors and broadcasters want CS:GO and esports to be clean and a fair competition between players and teams doing their very best to win. We see our job as being to ensure that that happens and that corrupt and bad actors are rehabilitated or removed.” The sanctions issued by ESIC following the results of their investigation mean that the 37 CS:GO coaches who have been punished: must not actively or passively communicate with the team starting 15 minutes prior to the official match start up until the end of the match – must not be physically present around the team starting 15 minutes prior to the official match start up until the end of the match – must not be on the game server during official matches – must not be on the official match channel on the Discord server – must not be part of the official map veto process nor be in communication with the team during this process – For a full break down of ESIC’s investigation, details of specific matches where the bug was used, and an explanation of the sanctions, read the full report here. ESIC’s decision follows Valve’s punishment against previously implicated coaches, who were stripped of the Regional Major Ranking points. It remains to be seen what action the publisher will now take in light of the new developments.

15-year-old oBo shines as Complexity send MiBR packing at ECS CS:GO Finals – Highlights ECS / NextGen Tech, LLCComplexity’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad are having a great ECS bracket run, largely thanks to young gun Owen ‘oBo’ Schlatter, who put up an amazing performance against Brazilian powerhouse MiBR on June 7. The ECS Season 7 Finals are heating up with the world’s top teams vying for the chance to play on the grand stage at SSE Arena in Wembley to secure the lion’s share of $750,000. The stakes are high, and top teams have already crumbled under the pressure, but oBo was a wonder in the servers as he helped his Complexity side stave away elimination against a star-studded MiBR. Starting out the best of three, MiBR quickly fell victim to what the 15-year-old talent is capable of as he nabbed a calculated ace in the opening round of Train. The early heroics must have kick-started something in the NA team as they quickly went up 9-0 on the T-side against a squad led by legendary AWPer Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo. The first map went by rather quick as oBo led his team to a swift 16-4 rout of the Brazilians, and led the server with 23 kills and a whopping 113.5 average damage per round (ADR). Next up was Vertigo, which saw a resurgent MiBR faction showing up with a big response win, but that didn’t deter oBo from having a positive K/D differential in a landslide 9-16 defeat. But it was on the final map of Mirage where the rising talent was let off the leash, as he fearlessly ran down mid to get pixel perfect taps to give his team a strong 5v2 advantage. Though Complexity got the first laugh, MiBR would quickly respond with seven rounds of their own. This was a great situation to see how oBo would react to mounting pressure in the elimination game – and he didn’t disappoint. Backed up by a solid 13 AWP kills from teammate Shahzeb ‘ShahZaM’ Khan, the game started to open up for oBo which eventually led his team to edge out a great 16-14 win. He was tied with Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David for a game-high 27 kills, but paved the way for his team to advance to the next match in the tournament with 111.3 ADR. Seeing oBo’s stellar performance in his first noteworthy LAN series win is a great sign for the Complexity camp as they look to continue their ECS run in the Group B decider match.

100 Thieves CSGO roster explains why they chose the organization The ex-Renegades CSGO roster has moved on to new sunny, LA-based pastures in 100 Thieves. Ahead of their debut at IEM Beijing, the players and coach explained why they joined forces with the brand founded by Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag. After declaring their intentions to return to the competitive Counter-Strike scene months ago, the 100 Thieves brand did just that last week, when they announced the acquisition of the mostly-Australian roster of Renegades. In the latest video on the 100 Thieves channel, the newest members of the organization spoke candidly about what attracted them to the 100T brand. “I think it’s definitely a really important thing to feel like a family, and [it’s] something we’ve been working just within our team, “ Jay ‘Liazz’ Tregillgas said. “To be a part of an org that makes the whole org feel like a family would be a really good thing for us.” Liazz and Sean “Gratisfaction’ are two of the newest additions to the family, having just passed their one year anniversary with the roster. They came on just a week before coach Aleksandar ‘kassad’ Trifunović came on, who’s been instrumental to the group achieving some of their best results over the past year. Kassad said in the announcement that the most important thing for the team was building that team dynamic, and the rest of the roster expressed confidence that they can build on their semifinals appearance at the StarLadder Berlin major. But the roster wasn’t just looking forward to joining 100 Thieves. 100 Thieves have been looking forward to acquiring the roster. In the announcement made by Nadeshot and VP of Esports Jacob ‘Maelk’ Toft-Andersen, they expressed that 100T wanted to sign a full roster, and were excited about the Renegades players’ desire to join the brand and move to LA. According to the 100T founder, the Renegades roster was even “disappointed” that 100 Thieves didn’t try to sign them back in 2017. Instead, the organization went with the ex-Immortals roster but was forced to drop that roster soon after signing them due to a myriad of issues. Nadeshot said that he wanted to collect championships when he announced his organization’s official return to CSGO. Thus in-game leader Aaron ‘AZR’ Ward is setting high expectations for the roster, aiming to “become a consistent top-five team and bring home trophies.” The 100 Thieves’ CSGO announcement was just one of several significant announcements in the space of a week for the brand. They also revealed the acquisition of streamer BrookeAB and CourageJD moving from Twitch to YouTube. The ex-Renegades roster will make their 100 Thieves debut at IEM Beijing, and their first match will be against ENCE in Group A. In their last tournament with Renegades, the roster finished 4th at StarSeries Season 8, where they were eliminated by FURIA. Follow along with the 100T debut and all the IEM Beijing CSGO action on our coverage hub.

Nadeshot explains 100 Thieves exit from CSGO BLAST100 Thieves CEO Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag announced the org’s exit from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive following reports that JKS is set to fill Complexity’s open roster spot. [jwplayer 6XbfP9ah] Update on October 12 Nadeshot cited “too much ambiguity, too much vagueness, too much uncertainty” in the CSGO landscape for 100 Thieves to be a part of it. Since the global health crisis has all but forced esports to be online, the NA org couldn’t help their players be more active in the heart of CSGO competitions in Europe. Qualifying for Majors and any roster moves would have created even more complications. “And so we felt we were in a position where our hands were tied,” Nadeshot said. It is with a heavy heart we announce that 100 Thieves will be exiting CS:GO. pic.twitter.com/cJqKk5Vvwp — 100 Thieves (@100Thieves) October 12, 2020 It’s because of all this that 100T will field their lineup for the remaining matches at IEM New York before disbanding. Original story follows below After first picking up a Call of Duty team for the Black Ops 3 season, 100 Thieves made their first step into a different esport with a hopeful transition to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The North American organization picked up the core of the Immortals roster that had been anchored by Brazilian stars Lucas ‘LUCAS1’ Teles, Henrique ‘HEN1’ Teles, and Vito ‘kNg’ Giuseppe prior to the ELeague Boston Major. Though, that team was released without ever playing under the 100 Thieves banner due to visa issues. After a two-year wait to re-enter the scene, 100 Thieves picked up the longtime Renegades roster of Australian stars. However, it appears as if they will be exiting CS:GO in the not too distant future after just a year back in the game. A report from HLTV claims that, according to a source with knowledge of the situation, 100 Thieves have decided to bow out from CS:GO once again. According to their report, HLTV state that the decision to leave CS is set to be announced “imminently” by 100 Thieves and comes amid some roster uncertainty. A recent report from CS:GO insider Jarek ‘dekay’ Lewis states that longtime star Justin ‘JKS’ Savage is set to depart the team he’s spent so many years on as a core member, and join Complexity’s European-American mixed roster. On top of JKS’ apparent departure, Dekay also reported that Norweigan rifler Joakim ‘jkaem’ Myrbostad has also reportedly received offers but hasn’t agreed a transfer. There’s no telling what will happen with the remaining members, or with the team’s partnered pots in ESL Pro League and BLAST Premier. As more information becomes available, we’ll be sure to update this report.

100 Thieves’ Maelk on OpTic’s CS:GO roster, expansion into new games, and more Counter-Strike: Global Offensive as well as expanding into other esport titles. Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag’s team ventured into the CS:GO scene back in 2018, picking up an all-star roster from Brazil. However, visa complications meant that the team could not attend the ELeague Boston Major and were dropped. Despite that difficult entry point, a return to the scene has remained on Nadeshot’s priority list as well as being on the wishlist of many fans who are desperate to plaster their weapons in stickers. They could all soon get their wish. During an Ask Me Anything on the 100 Thieves subreddit, the organization’s ‘Esports Leadership Team’ answered questions about possible expansions into other titles as well as returning to CS:GO. As the new face on the scene, Maelk answered many questions – with plenty directed at him and his new role. “CS:GO is unarguably one of the most interesting games in esports and always has been,” he said, replying to one question directed at his influence over a move into the game. “Matt (Nadeshot) entered it for a reason the first time around, and to this day has remained on top of the wish list of titles for 100T to be competing in. So… hopefully.” One speculative link about a possible roster that has already been made is the current OpTic Gaming line-up as they are on the chopping block after being bought by Immortals Gaming Club. Maelk had a part in bringing the fully Danish line-up, who scored the organization’s first trophy in CS:GO since 2016 at Dreamhack Summer, together under the OpTic banner and said it’s “not impossible” when quizzed about the possibility of bringing them to 100 Thieves. 100 Thieves may have a presence in the majority of major esports but a move into smaller games might not be off the table. The team were also asked about diving into the fighting game community and stated that they are “exploring potential players to possibly bring on board down the road.” Another growing esports scene is Rainbow Six: Siege, with developers Ubisoft supporting the competitive scene at every turn. A number of top organizations have already made the move into the CS:GO-like space but there is still plenty of room to grow in terms of matching similar titles. Maelk answered a question on that particular topic with a glowing review of Ubisoft, the game itself, and it’s player base. With almost all of the biggest names in esports holding a CS:GO roster of some sort, it seems like a foregone conclusion that 100 Thieves will make their mark on the scene once again. Yet, some fans may also be encouraged by the idea of branching into other games and scenes that might not hold the prestige of others and are still on the rise.

100 Thieves smash Isurus in outrageously fast CSGO ESL Pro League round 100 Thieves have produced one of the fastest rounds in pro CS:GO history after dismantling Argentinian squad Isurus Gaming in the ESL Pro League in 11 seconds. The new look 100 Thieves CS:GO roster has been doing wonders for the organization already. With a second place at IEM Beijing, only losing to Astralis in the final, the Australian roster looks more geared up than ever to try and crack into the top five and pop their Major cherry. With ESL One Odense on the horizon, the former Renegades roster were looking to cement themselves as one of the best teams in the Americas region when they took on Argentina’s Isurus Gaming in ESL Pro League Season 10. Given the massive ranking difference between the two teams, with 100 Thieves ranked 6th in the world and Isurus 83rd, most people expected a swift 2-0. However, the Aussies took the challenge a bit too seriously, wiping the floor with Isurus in one particular round that’ll go down in history. In round 18 on Inferno, 100 Thieves were looking to clean up the Argentinians and head onto map two. Isurus’ backs were against the wall, down 4-13 and on an eco, deciding to rush down mid in the hopes of surprising 100 Thieves. Read more: How 100T made a resurgence in CS:GO – However, the Thieves could not be deceived, with a double nade stack from Jay ‘Liazz’ Tregillgas and Aaron ‘AZR’ Ward wiping out four of the Argentinians. Roberto ‘Reversive’ Themtham was the only Isurus player alive down in Banana, with the Aussies cleaning him up shortly after. The dust settled with the timer stopping on 1:44, meaning that the round took 11 seconds to finish up, and the boys looked pleased with their efforts. For Isurus though, losing a round that quick probably wouldn’t have even hurt — it’s a good way to reset the mental and get going with the game. While the round was fast, it’s not the fastest round in CS:GO history. That accolade goes to Ninjas in Pyjamas and mousesports, who hold the joint record for the fastest round in history at 9 seconds. Read more: Twistzz mindblown by insane Deagle kill – Both of their rounds involved teams on ecos running it down mid on Dust 2 into a firing line of snipers and other rifles, making for easy pickings as they peeked through the double doors. This 11 second round from 100 Thieves is the fastest ever on Inferno though. The boys from Down Under dethroned Cloud 9, who held the previous record of 13 seconds set in 2017 against Ghost. It’s likely that this record will stay up for quite some time as it takes quite the unique set of circumstances to come about though. 100T continued the onslaught, closing out Inferno 16-5 before moving onto Mirage. Isurus put up more of a fight there, but still ended up falling to the Australians 16-9, who have now secured a spot at the Pro League finals in Odense.

100 Thieves CSGO coach explains surprise exit ESL/Helena KristianssonFormer 100 Thieves coach Aleksandar ‘kassad’ Trifunović has provided further details about why he surprisingly left the organization’s Counter-Strike team. 100 Thieves first announced the departure of their head coach on April 28, claiming that after extensive discussions, the decision to part ways was mutual. “We appreciate his work with the squad over the past few years,” the organization said in a Twitter post, celebrating the Serbian who was originally part of the Australian Renegades roster. After extensive discussions, we’ve mutually agreed to part ways with our CS:GO Head Coach, Kassad. We appreciate his work with the squad over the past few years and wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors. pic.twitter.com/PlkpD8Xwtb — 100 Thieves VALORANT (@100T_VAL) April 28, 2020 In a Twitlonger, kassad delved further into details surrounding his decision to leave the team. “I know this came as a suprise to everyone, but the truth is that we have been drifting apart in more ways than one for a while now,” he revealed. “I was personally generally unhappy with our progress and stagnation on the same level ever since the start of the last year.” 100 Thieves from Renegades in October 2019, they managed 2nd place at IEM Beijing, but since, the squad have endured a string of middling performances, and the stagnation in their performance was clear to see from the outside. 2020 has been filled with disappointing results finishing no higher than fifth at both offline and online events. Read More: Shroud claims Valorant will overtake CSGO – These issues were briefly mentioned by kassad in his post: “The biggest difference in opinions was about how to approach and more importantly how to solve the problems that we had for a while now.” That said, things seem to have ended on good terms. “There is no ‘bad blood’ between us,” the former coach insisted. “It’s just towards the end our visions for the future of the team and how to reach the next level didn’t align.” As for what’s next, while Trifunović said he doesn’t have anything lined up at the moment, he is open to discussing all offers that come his way, so it’s unlikely this is the last we’ll see from him. It’s unclear who 100T has in mind to take over as coach, and they are yet to announce a replacement.

10 best CSGO stickers: Cheap, expensive and best-looking stickers for weapons ValveTo complete your inventory in Counter-Strike, customizing your weapons with stickers is a must. Stickers will make your weapons more personalized, and you can apply four in total to most guns. Here are the 10 best stickers to buy in CS:GO, from cheap to expensive. Much like skins, gloves, knives, and agents, stickers are a key way of customizing your appearance in-game in Counter-Strike. In fact, more than anything else, stickers are the number one way to make your items truly unique. From military to anime stickers, CS:GO has it all. Tens of thousands of players may have the same weapon skin, but only you alone might have a specific sticker craft on your AK-47, AWP or USP-S. We’ve picked out some of the very best stickers you can buy to complete your loadout. You can see the most expensive stickers in CS:GO here too. CS:GO Stickers guide 10 Best CS:GO stickers 10. Magic Rush Ball (Lenticular) ($35) Starting with a new type of sticker, the Magic Rush Ball uses the Lenticular effect, which is incredibly cool. As the sticker moves with the weapon, the light hits it to change the appearance. In this case, the eye 8 ball will display which bombsite to rush. 9. Great Wave ($1) Who doesn’t want an iconic piece of art on their weapon? With the great wave, you can always appreciate the art of Hokusai in CS:GO. This sticker also comes in holo ($5) and foil ($10). 8. rox Holo ($155) Player signature stickers are always great for supporting your favorite player. But, some of them just look great too. This rox sticker is the most expensive holo from the PGL Antwerp Major, and for good reason. While it’s expensive, it looks amazing. 7. Liquid Fire holo ($18) Another sticker from Operation Riptide, the Liquid Fire holo is one of those stickers that just looks good on pretty much any weapon. 6. Infinite Diamond holo ($11) Not much needs to be said about this masterpiece. Thanks to its simple, symmetrical shape and optical illusion quality, this is another sticker that will always look good. 5. Blue Gem ($5) Released in 2022, this is a pretty new sticker, that is already increasing in price on the Steam market. Easily the best example of the ‘Glitter’ sticker effect, you can’t go wrong with a blue gem. 4. Crown Foil ($1000) Ok, we’re getting to the truly pricey stickers now. The Crown Foil is expensive for two reasons: one, it looks good, and two, it’s in very short supply. While this might not be the best sticker for applying to weapons these days, it has to be on any list of the best stickers in CS:GO. 3. Battle Scarred / Battle Scarred Holo ($4 / $12) Whether you go for the holo or paper version, the Battle Scarred stickers are incredible. With a transparent background, they really make your gun appear as though it’s been attacked by a wild beast, and they’re still pretty cheap too. 2. iBuyPower Holo ($50,000+) Sure, there is no way you’re ever going to buy this sticker. The Holo stickers from Katowice 2014 are all exorbitant in price. But, that doesn’t mean it’s not arguably the best-looking sticker in the whole game. Perhaps only the number one spot can argue that… 1. Titan Holo ($60,000+) In truth, it’s hard to put a price on a Titan Holo sticker from Katowice 2014. Much like the IBP Holo above, these stickers are in such short supply, there are less than 40 known of, that are not applied to weapons already. It is believed that the last one sold in a private sale for around $60,000. Why are CS:GO stickers so expensive? When you start looking for stickers, you might be surprised at the money demanded for some. While there are many stickers available for under $1, there are also many which will cost $10, $20, $100, $500, or even thousands of dollars. So, what causes stickers to become so expensive? Well, as we’ll explain more below, once applied, a sticker cannot be reused. That means that stickers will always go down in supply as they are applied to weapons. Most stickers are originally found in sticker capsules, which, once opened, also go down in supply. Skin website CS.MONEY show that it usually takes around 3 years for new Major sticker capsules to start becoming ‘rare’: “Users unlock the capsules, taking them off the market and reducing the supply, which is enough to affect the price and result in the yearly price increase ranging from 40% to 90%.” Of course, the price of a sticker will also of course be impacted by how good it looks, but generally, it’s all about supply and demand. Here we’ll take a look at the best stickers you can buy, and some of them are not too pricey. How do Stickers work in CS:GO? How to get stickers The majority of stickers in CS:GO are obtained by buying and opening a capsule. These capsules will include around 10-60 stickers, of which you will receive one. Alternatively, you can simply buy the sticker you want from the Steam market or third-party trading sites. Some stickers can be bought directly from inside CS:GO itself, and some were only available during operations – these stickers can often have higher prices as there will never be more of them added to the game. Major stickers There are also tournament stickers, released for every CS:GO Major. These stickers feature the teams and player signatures, for every player who qualified for the tournament. For some older Majors, the stickers are very expensive, such as Katowice 2014, Cologne 2015, and Krakow 2017. For example, a Krakow 2017 Legends Autograph capsule now costs around $70, despite only being less than a dollar when first released in 2017. This is because if you manage to get a ‘gold’ sticker from the capsule, they can be worth thousands. Can you remove stickers in CS:GO? Yes and No – once a sticker is applied to a weapon, it can be removed by ‘scraping it’. However, this will gradually damage the sticker until it is totally destroyed, so you won’t get the sticker back. This is why some stickers are very expensive, because once they have been applied, they can’t be resold again, driving down the supply. For more CS:GO item guides, check out our list of the most expensive CS:GO skins, the best skins to buy, and the best knives to buy here.

10 amazing skin concepts that should be in CSGO’s next case [jwplayer 3EyfiByz] Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players are always coming up with ideas for their own weapon skins. Here, we take ten different ones that we’d like to see inside the next CS:GO case. Counter-Strike has, and always will be, about proving your first-person shooter skills but some fans use it to showcase their creative skills. Some decide to build maps, interesting game modes, and plenty of other things. The most creative ideas usually come in the form of skins. These skin ideas usually set social media ablaze and have fans begging Valve to add them to their next case release. Here, we’ve compiled a list of ten incredibly impressive skin ideas – ranging from your standard pistols, to knives, and the AWP – that should be added to CS:GO in the near future. Flying Tiger | AWP The first concept comes in the form of the “Flying Tiger” AWP skin from ssslifer. The World War 2 plane inspired look gives the iconic sniper a real bite – literally, with teeth at the end of the barrel. Read More: CSGO pro inventories: NaVi’s skins revealed – It draws some comparisons to the Spitfire Famas skin that is already available in Global Offensive, however, with this being the AWP, it would no doubt be highly sought after by players. Warplane | AUG Keeping with the military aircraft theme, next up on our list is the Warplane idea for the AUG that comes from Mad Polygon. Unlike the Flying Tiger, there isn’t exactly an iconic finish to the skin but the impressive exhaust illusions that are located just below the scope would really give the assault rifle a unique look compared to its counterparts. Prey | M4A4 Getting our feet back on the ground, the next idea comes from Reddit user condorviii, who put forward their M4A4 – Prey concept. The white assault rifle skin uses the image of a huge, fearsome-looking Raven amongst a flock of others to strike fear into the heart of enemies. It invokes the spirit of the hugely popular Howl skin, but has the label of Prey marked onto the magazine so the enemies know whats hit them. Anemoia | M4A4 Keeping with the M4A4 theme, hollandje’s Anemoia concept would add a funky violet, pink, and black variant of the CT assault rifle to the mix of skins that are already available. The skin depicts two people on a trail against the backdrop of a night sky as well as the outline of distant mountains and balloons. It would certainly stand out amongst the rest. Valkyrie | P90 One idea stand that might not stand out, especially if you’re playing on Anubis, is the P90 | Valkyrie – with the added bonus of being able to own some virtual hieroglyphics. The Egyptian themed skin comes from skin creator K A S I, with its gold and black popping look adding a style of skin that is currently missing from CS:GO. Blocked | Glock Moving away from assault rifles and into pistols, Reddit user Hoxton_Workshop had the fun idea of giving the T side a Lego-themed Glock. The impressive multi-color, multi-bricked skin might fit in more with a game like Fortnite than the serious CS:GO, but it would certainly bring a smile to faces during pistols rounds – especially if you’re deep in the hole at half time. CVBER Flowers | USP-S On the opposite side of the default pistols comes the USP-S | CVBER Flowers from mokryi. The CT pistol has a long line of impressive skins like Neo Noir and Kill Confirmed, but this impressive concept could certainly stack up against them and be able to hold its own. Obreron | Desert Eagle Looking at more powerful pistols, millenia3d conjured up the idea of giving CS:GO a bit of Fallout feel. Fallout: New Vegas, to be precise. The Obreron Desert Eagle concept gives the deadly sidearm a railgun-like look perfectly, switching it’s light blue color at the back to orange-tinted barrels the further forward you get. It’s certainly an eye-catching idea. Mechanized Purple | CZ-75 The last gun concept idea comes from OniLolz, as they put forward their impressive-looking purple ‘Mechanized’ CZ-75. The idea is just a small part of their wide-ranging collection but the purple stands out from the pack. Don’t worry about the loose wires that appear to be dangling from the side though, they won’t hurt you. Zebra Tooth | Bayonet Last but not least, knives have got to get some love as well. They might be incredibly hard to get from a CS:GO case, but having something like the Crimson Web Bayonet or Karambit Fade can really set you apart from the crowd. Filipforslin’s Tiger Tooth-inspired skin would give the classic skin a Zebra-themed design – switching from the yellow and black pattern to white and black. It’s such a clever idea that you might be mistaken for thinking that it’s come from Valve themselves. Of course, these are just skins that we’d like to see in CS:GO’s next case, and though Valve does use fan concepts now and again, they might have a few ideas of their own coming down the pipeline. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Counter-Strike 211 most expensive CS2 skins in 2024: Knives, AK-47, AWP & more in Counter-Strike 2Calum Patterson

CSGO legends GeT_RiGhT, olofmeister, more team up but fall short in IEM Brazil 2023 qualifiers PGLA group of CSGO royalty teamed up to play in the open qualifiers for this year’s IEM Brazil 2023, including legends like GeT_RiGhT, friberg, olofmeister, and more, but the veterans ultimately fell short. In 2014-2015, this would be the Swedish dream team, but unfortunately, the jaw-dropping lineup fell short in their very first qualifying game after teaming up for the IEM Brazil 2023 qualifiers. Under the cheeky name of boomerdemons, the veteran team consisting of GeT_RiGhT, olofmeister, friberg, f0rest, and Lekr0, with GuardiaN listed as a sixth player, decided to test their skills against today’s crop of young up and comers. Before long, however, they lost in quite a brutal fashion. In their first, and only match together in the IEM Brazil 2023 open European qualifiers, they faced VOYVODA in a best-of-one on Mirage and lost decisively 16-3, with VOYVODA’s REDS7AR getting a stunning 4.5 K/D against the legends. GeT_RiGht, friberg, and f0rest are no strangers to playing with each other, competing under NIP in the early days of CSGO, where together they would famously go undefeated for 87 LAN maps and also win their first and only Major in 2014’s ESL One Cologne. The trio would then go on to play in Dignitas together with Lekr0. And olofmeister’s career is nothing to scoff at, either. Winning back-to-back Major in 2015 with a legendary Fnatic roster in Katowice and Cologne, with a Major MVP and HLTV Number 1 under his belt. He would go on to play in FaZe but fall short of a third Major win in 2017. Of course, it has to be said this one-off appearance is not meant to be an epic re-entry into the CSGO scene but rather something fun for the veterans to do. GeT_RiGhT has announced his retirement from professional CSGO, and olofmeister is an inactive member of FaZe’s roster. friberg, f0rest, and Lekr0 are all free agents but have not seen professional play since Dignitas released their roster in 2022. All the players are in their 30s, or in Lekr0’s case, 29, and have all won their fair share of tournaments over the years.

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ZywOo’s CS2 settings: Config, resolution, viewmodel, DPI, sensitivity & more João Ferreira/DexertoFrench phenom Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut is now an established pro and one of the best AWPers in the world. If you’re inspired by the Vitality pro, you might want to get started with his CS2 settings, from his resolution and viewmodel to his DPI and sensitivity. Although you should always experiment and try to figure out the optimal settings for you, pro player settings can provide a great starting point, by adapting what the best in the CS2 players in the world use. That being said, using a pro’s settings isn’t an instant fix, as they’ve likely fine-tuned it to their specific preferences and setup. Check out Zyw0o’s settings below, and try out what you’d like, before adapting it to your preferences. ZywOo’s settings for CS2 Contents Mouse settings – Crosshair – Monitor & Resolution – Video settings – Viewmodel – Equipment – Launch options – ZywOo cfg – ZywOo’s mouse settings ZywOo uses a custom Vaxee Outset AX Orange mouse, with 400 DPI and 2.00 sensitivity. As Vitality’s primary AWPer, these settings give the French cannon a steady sens while offering plenty of flexibility for flick shots. ZywOo’s Crosshair ZywOo prefers a smaller crosshair with the standard no-spread option. As for colors, he can work with either blue, green, or yellow hues. The easiest way to copy ZywOo’s exact crosshair is to copy these settings into the console. Take a look at how to open the CS2 console. CSGO-B7rDP-dBRin-4PrLV-DZEDt-Kj5BO ZywOo’s monitor and resolution ZywOo uses a ZOWIE XL2546K monitor, which gives him 240hz for a steady stream of frames. Like a lot of pros, ZywOo goes into CS2 matches with a stretched res. It gives targets a slightly larger presence onscreen at the cost of surrounding visibility. But top-tier players prefer it this way to give themselves a better view to land shots on their targets. Video settings ZywOo keeps some in-game video settings at their most high while having options like Texture Streaming and Motion Blur disabled for smoother gameplay. Viewmodel Messing with your viewmodel really tailors CS2 to the individual’s preferences. As such, ZywOo has a specific viewmodel to suit his style during games. To replicate these conditions, simply copy then paste these commands into your CS2 console. viewmodel_fov 68; viewmodel_offset_x 2.5; viewmodel_offset_y 0; viewmodel_offset_z -1.5; viewmodel_presetpos 3; – ZywOo’s equipment Launch Options To apply launch options, go to CS2’s properties tab to apply them via the Steam library. Simply copy and paste these launch options to match ZywOo’s: -novid -tickrate 128 -allow_third_party_software ZywOo’s CS2 config To get ZywOo’s settings down to the letter, you’ll want to download his config to get every keybind, console tweaks, and more. You can download ZywOo’s config here. To apply the config, you’ll need to take the .cfg file and add it to your Counter-Strike 2 folder. This is usually located in Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Counter-Strike Global Offensive\csgo\cfg.

YouTuber gets Counter-Strike 2 video demonetized for profane stickers YouTube: JerichoPopular YouTuber Jericho had a seemingly innocuous Counter-Strike 2 video demonetized for using a profane sticker craft as a thumbnail. When it comes to suspicious-looking sticker craft in Counter-Strike, you can always bet that the Major stickers will be somehow part of it. Be it using DickStacy’s legendary autograph or floppy’s Among Us sticker. However, it’s not every day we hear about sticker craft getting a YouTube video demonetized. This is what happened to popular YouTuber Jericho when he used a hilarious craft as a thumbnail. On January 8, Jericho tweeted that his last Counter-Strike video was demonetized, which he speculated had to do with the fact he got queued with a player named “sexhaver69” and was a large part of the video. The Team YouTube Twitter account would go on to respond to his tweet, confirming that it will remain demonetized not because of “sexhaver69” but rather because the thumbnail contains profanity. “We’ve checked and confirmed that your vid will remain with a yellow icon and receive limited or no ads as it contains stronger profanity (like the f-word) used in the thumbnail,” reads YouTube’s response. So that begs the question, what is the thumbnail? It’s a picture of a sticker craft on an AK-47 Neon Rider which uses a BIG Major sticker, DickStacy’s autograph sticker, and NRG’s team sticker. Altogether it reads, “BIG D*CK NRG”. Jericho responded to Team YouTube’s response, “I appreciate them Tweeting me but this is objectively hilarious because the thumbnail is a screenshot of an AK with a sticker craft that says BIG D*CK NRG.” Naturally, several viewers pointed out that there is no f-word in the thumbnail, which means DickStacy’s autograph, unfortunately, got Jericho’s video demonetized.

xQc strikes gold in Counter-Strike 2 with insane Dragon Lore trade-up on day one Twitch: xQcxQc has just shocked the gaming community with what is possibly the very first Dragon Lore trade-up in Counter-Strike 2, netting him a skin worth at least $15,000 skin on the very first day. With Counter-Strike 2’s official release, the floodgates have opened for all players to check out the much-hyped Source 2 sequel to the ever-legendary CSGO. And nothing screams Counter-Strike quite like unboxing some costly skins, which is what xQc decided to do once CS2 was officially released on September 27, with multiple risky high-priced trade-ups. Somehow, with an insane amount of luck, xQc not only traded up what is potentially the very first Dragon Lore in CS2, but various other incredibly rare skins to boot. With eight factory new P90 Cold Blooded, a factory new UMP-45 Fade, and a factory new M4A1-S Knight, which in total costs around $4,000 – $5,000, xQc gambled his chances at getting an AWP Dragon Lore, one of CS’ most coveted skins. xQc had a 20% chance of profiting, and an even slimmer 10% chance to actually get the Dragon Lore. And on his first try, he got it, not even needing to use the second attempt he had in line. The float, which is the wear rating on the skin, was also equally as ridiculous. With a 0.005 float, xQc has just traded up one of the most pristine-looking Dragon Lore skins and made himself at least $12,000. However, because the wear is so good on the skin, xQc could net around $15,000 – $18,000 for his Dragon Lore, making a hefty profit from the trade-up. But this isn’t the only trade-up he did. In the one hour of trade-ups and cases he opened on stream, he also attempted a factory new AWP Gungir trade-up, another high-priced gamble, which he got on his first try. This trade-up netted him at least a solid $12,000 on top. Another high-priced trade-up he did was for a StatTrak factory new AK-47 Fire Serpent, which he of course got on his first try. This netted him a solid $8,000 to $9,000. And somehow the least impressive skin is one xQc got from a case, opening a factory new Karambit Doppler Phase three. This netted him an estimate of $1,300 to $2,000. Needless to say, xQc in just the first hours of CS2’s release is already possibly Counter-Strike’s luckiest player.

xQc explains why it’s “impossible” for him to get a Counter-Strike team Twitch: xQcFelix ‘xQc’ Lengyel says that he is not thinking about signing a Counter-Strike team, stating that it is an esport that is “impossible” to get into. The streaming star revealed on September 5 that he is once again thinking about signing a Valorant roster following the sudden availability of the former The Guard team, which holds a spot in the VCT Americas League for the next two years. xQc was immediately questioned by his viewers about the possibility of getting a Counter-Strike team. There is no shortage of hype surrounding Valve’s iconic FPS amid the imminent release of Counter-Strike 2, which is attracting a wave of new players and esports organizations. However, xQc has no plans to sign a Counter-Strike team, at least not right now. After admitting that he finds Counter-Strike’s esports circuit harder to follow than Valorant’s, he noted that entering the game would require a massive investment on his part. “The circuit is mega-saturated,” he said. “Getting a team is literally impossible. You have buyouts that are incredibly overvalued. It’s impossible to get into. “It’s overvalued, 100 percent. Esports is already not profitable. On top of it being a money dump, [Counter-Strike] is overvalued. It’s the worst combo ever.” Despite xQc being one of the highest-profile streamers in the world, with a reported $100 million streaming deal with Kick, not everyone seems to be excited about his potential entry into Valorant esports. On social media and Reddit, many have brought up his botched attempt to sign Turtle Troop, a tier-two Valorant team, earlier this year in response to his interest in The Guard’s roster. KEG, a Valorant content creator and esports commentator, has even released a video titled “XQC SHOULD NOT Own A Valorant Team”.

When is Cache coming to Counter-Strike 2? First looks, remake details, more Twitter: FMPONEA teaser of Cache was just spotlighted by its creators as the Counter-Strike 2 rerelease draws near, so here is all you need to know about the map. Back in July 2023, as Counter-Strike 2 went through its closed beta, FMPONE, the legendary creator of Cache, revealed that he was working on a remake of the beloved map for CS2. Now months after his initial announcement of Cache’s remake, FMPONE has finally given players a first look at the revamped map in CS2, in all of Source 2’s glorious graphical fidelity. So here is what we know so far about Cache’s Counter-Strike 2 remake. Counter-Strike 2 Cache first look On February 17, 2024, FMPONE provided Cache’s remake for CS2, and it stunned the community. In the teaser pictures, we see Cache’s mid area, however, it’s completely revamped from its old grey and overgrown look in a massive visual overhaul. Over the months after his first teaser, FMPONE has slowly shown the community more of the map he’s working on. The map maker has shown off more angles of mid, what the A site will look like, and detailed pictures of the lighting changes that take advantage of the Source 2 engine. The changed lighting sees Cache bathed in a warm golden hour sunset instead of its previous grey overcast atmosphere in CS:GO. Counter-Strike 2 Cache remake changes FMPONE has yet to reveal what exact changes are being made to the map with its remake, but based on these images, it’s easy to tell mid will be getting various adjustments. The most noticeable change so far is to the CT-side mid-window. Instead of the window, it’s now replaced by a small opening at the top of the wall, perfect for nade lineups, but not so good to take gun fights with. Additionally, A site’s truck has been slightly slanted with several boxes moved around, creating more hiding spots around the plant area. Other than that, we don’t know much about the other changes FMPONE is making to Cache, so we’ll have to wait for more images. Do we know when Cache is coming to Counter-Strike 2? It’s currently unknown when Cache is returning to Counter-Strike 2, as FMPONE is yet to announce a release date for the remake. FMPONE has been simultaneously working on revamping his other map, Santorini: Thera, while remaking Cache for CS2. As it stands, Santorini is complete and playable, so there’s a good chance Cache will be next.

Counter-Strike 2 release date: CS2 now available for all players for free ValveThe eagerly awaited sequel to CS:GO, Counter-Strike 2, has officially launched and is accessible to all players without any charge. Despite its decade-long legacy, CS:GO’s popularity hasn’t waned, and the Counter-Strike series has been a staple for over 20 years. Remarkably, by August 2023, CS:GO boasted nearly 26 million distinct players and reached a staggering peak of 1.8 million concurrent players in May. But Valve knows the game is becoming outdated, and so has been working on the sequel, Counter-Strike 2, which uses the new Source 2 engine, and it’s now ready for release. Counter-Strike 2 is now live, and you can play by simply updating CS:GO in your steam client. Contents Counter-Strike 2 release date CS2 released on Wednesday, September 27, 2023. CS2 teased this by hinting the release would be ‘next Wednesday’ on September 20. It was previously thought the release date would be September 23, after a leak that shows the first “season” of the competitive Premier Mode was scheduled to begin then. But, we can wait a few days. The game is now playable for everyone, outside of beta, and all maps are now playable. Was CS2 delayed? No, the Counter-Strike 2 release date has not been delayed. However, a hoax went viral on X/Twitter in August, with a fake message from Valve saying they had delayed the release to Spring 2024. However, this was just a joke, made up by Twitter user Exerpas to troll fans who are getting somewhat impatient about the CS2 release. What’s in CS2? In CS2, all maps are now available. On August 31, Valve rolled out the beta for many more players. The beta started with Dust 2, which was then replaced by Mirage, and eventually Nuke. Office has also been tested out. Overpass was the first ‘Upgrade’ level map in the test, a good indication that a release date is moving closer. Of course, upon the full release, there is the full slate of maps and features. The full list of maps confirmed for Counter-Strike 2 can be seen here, and it includes classics like Nuke, Inferno, and more. All skins and other items will also transfer over seamlessly to CS2. Although, in the test beta, many skin enthusiasts noticed a number of errors or differences between their appearance in CS:GO and CS2. Valve already issued some updates to visuals, and more might be on the way, but don’t be totally surprised if your AK-47 or knife skin looks a bit odd at first. We can also expect pro players to make a quick transition over to CS2, and perhaps see some of the first official events held later in the year. The next Counter-Strike Major will be played on CS2, to be held in Copenhagen in March 2023, hosted by PGL. What is sub-tick in Counter-Strike 2? | All smoke changes in Counter-Strike 2 | Can you play Counter-Strike 2 on Linux or macOS? | Can banned CS:GO players play Counter-Strike 2? | What will happen to my CSGO skins? | Will Counter-Strike 2 come to Steam Deck? | Everything we know about Counter-Strike 2

What is Follow Recoil in Counter-Strike 2? New setting explained & how it can improve your aim ValveCounter-Strike 2 stealthily added a new crosshair feature to the game, Follow Recoil. Here we give you a full rundown on what the new setting does and how it can improve your aim. Counter-Strike 2 was stealthily released in Beta on March 22 to humungous fanfare. The long-awaited sequel had been through months of leaks, reports from the likes of Richard Lewis, and of course, fan obsession over every move from Valve on Steam. And now that it’s out, with the beta being played by thousands, many have been checking out the latest changes, of which there are plenty. Namely the completely new smoke physics, improved tickless servers, and general quality-of-life adjustments to the UI. But one particular change most might not have realized when launching the beta, is an addition to the Crosshair settings list. Here, we see a new option for Follow Recoil in Counter-Strike 2. But what exactly does this new feature mean and how does it work? What is Follow Recoil in Counter-Strike 2? The new Follow Recoil setting is quite simple in theory. The idea is that your crosshair will follow where your bullet lands when spraying your gun. But first, a quick rundown on what recoil is in FPS games. Recoil in an FPS game is when you hold down your shoot button and your bullets go upwards in a certain trajectory, away from where you aimed. This is because it’s meant to simulate real-world firearms, as the blowback from a gun would cause your aim to shift away from the intended target. Most tactical FPS titles, like CS, Valorant, and R6 work around this mechanic. But CS is the most unforgiving as its recoil is much harsher. In CS, being able to control your recoil, also called spray control, is an essential skill when getting good at the game. In pro play, you may see players slightly drag their crosshair down and slightly side-to-side. This is to compensate for the recoil, as CS’s recoil actually has patterns that you can counteract against. And in CS2, your crosshair can now follow the exact position of your weapon recoil, which makes spraying much more accurate. How can Follow Recoil help improve your aim in Counter-Strike 2? Upon enabling the Follow Recoil setting, it might feel quite disorientating at first to see your crosshair stagger across your screen. But there is an effective means of improving with this setting in effect. Pick a target in front of you, and try shooting it. You’ll find only your first two bullets actually landed. Your goal now is to compensate for the recoil to make sure all your bullets actually land on target. You can do this by dragging your mouse down. But different weapons have different patterns. Do check out the WarOwl video we have linked below for a more in-depth breakdown. The Follow Recoil option is a fantastic visual aid to help master your spray control. As now your goal while spraying is to make sure your crosshair always stays on target. It’s not too dissimilar to the famous Recoil Master workshop map, which helps you train your spray pattern. As in that map, it has you follow a point that counteracts the recoil. And with Follow Recoil option, you have a reversed version of that, where you have to keep your crosshair centered. This option should make spraying in CS much easier for players to practice, as now you can have an in-game guide as to where your bullets are landing, and how you need to compensate. So if you do have access to CS2’s beta, you can easily improve your aim with just this setting. Just enable it in the crosshair section in the setting, and start spraying away. Just remember to keep that crosshair on the target.

What is ADR in Counter-Strike 2? ValveIf you are new to Counter-Strike 2 and wondering what ADR means, our handy guide has everything you need to know about the metric in CS2. Counter-Strike 2 has finally replaced the good old CS:GO, bringing along a ton of new changes in terms of graphics, gunplay, map overhauls, and a lot more. Players who are new to the game will come across several terms that will give you an idea of your performance in matches. One of these new terms is ADR. So, if you are wondering what the term means and how to measure your performance in CS2, here’s everything you need to know. What is ADR in CS2? In CS2, ADR is simply the short form for Average Damage per Round. The calculation is simple as it shows your total damage divided by the number of rounds played in a particular match. If the number is on the higher side, it means your performance is good. However, if the value is on the lower side, that’s fine too as the performance may differ from match to match for different players. How to check ADR in CS2 If you’re wondering how to check your ADR in Counter-Strike 2, simply: Press ‘Tab’ while in a match to open the scoreboard. – Head over to the upper right-hand corner of the scoreboard to find the ‘Cycle Stats’ button. – Click on it to reveal additional stats including ADR. – That’s it! Now you can keep a check on how much damage you have given throughout the match. However, the DMG metric is a bit different and shows your damage numbers in a particular round of a match. So, there you have it — that’s a rundown of everything related to ADr in Counter-Strike 2. For more about the game, be sure to check our other content below: Counter-Strike 2 best settings | How to show FPS in CS2 | What is sub-tick in Counter-Strike 2? | All smoke changes in Counter-Strike 2 | Can you play Counter-Strike 2 on Linux or macOS? | Can banned CS:GO players play Counter-Strike 2? | What will happen to my CSGO skins? | Will Counter-Strike 2 come to Steam Deck? | CS2 console commands

Valve to ban closed circuit leagues in Counter-Strike 2 João Ferreira/PGLValve has put out a statement about creating a “level playing field” for teams at CS2 esports tournaments, and has banned tournament organizers from inviting teams to events. Esports tournaments for CS2 are about to get a huge shakeup come 2025. Valve has put out a statement about the future of esports competitions and is attempting to create a “level playing field” for all teams in its ecosystem. To do that, the Counter-Strike developer is banning tournament organizers from having “unique business relationships” with teams that play in their events. The developer also said organizers will have to use Valve’s ranking system to determine team invitations to their tournaments or open qualifiers. The statement also said tournament operators will have to be transparent about money given to teams, from prize pools to other incentives, to the public at large. “The ecosystem has become gradually less open, with access to the highest levels of competition increasingly gated by business relationships,” the statement from Valve claims. “We think that Counter-Strike should be an open sport. So we’re going to add new requirements to running large-scale competitive events.” Valve outlines big changes for TO’s for CS2 competition These changes come after years of tournament organizers, mainly ESL FACEIT Group and BLAST, creating partnered circuits. Those circuits include open qualifier competitions, but the majority of teams competing in their events are partnered organizations that entered into business agreements with the organizers. Partnered teams get the benefit of bypassing the open qualifiers for a stable spot in their leagues or events, which are beneficial for organizations that want some stability in the esport. This has caused some bottlenecking recently as organizations not in the partnered system, or unsigned squads looking to make Major tournaments, lack opportunities to face top-tier competition. Without access to top teams, it is difficult for those squads to get high rankings and earn invitations to other events like Major qualifiers. The move comes on the heels of reporting from Richard Lewis that Valve was unhappy with tournament organizers and was open to changing the rules around its esports circuit for CS2. Both BLAST and EFG have responded to the news. The SVP of Game Ecosystems at ESF, Ulrich Schulze, said that more details will come on how they will change their circuit around these rules. “We will shift our tournament revenue sharing model from selected teams to all teams participating starting in 2025,” he said. BLAST’s statement included the same sentiment that they will comply with the changes set to come and will have more details in the future. “BLAST Premier will remain an integral part of tier 1 CS in this new open ecosystem. We are excited as ever to continue to innovate the esports viewing experience and take out tournaments to all corners of the world,” they claimed.

Valve slammed for “lazy” CS2 Major stickers for Copenhagen Valve / PGLThe Counter-Strike 2 community has voiced their disappointment with the first set of Major stickers in the game, for the Copenhagen Major, which, yet again, will be a borderless design. For the Stockholm Major in 2021, Valve released the first set of borderless Major stickers since 2014, and it was an exciting switch up from the previous years of bordered stickers. However, since then, four of the five majors have all had borderless stickers, meaning other than the event logo and some of the teams who qualified, the stickers are almost identical for each event. On March 13, stickers for the PGL Copenhagen Major were revealed on social media, before an official announcement from Valve, and the disappointment is palpable. More borderless stickers for first CS2 Major A batch of the stickers was revealed by reliable data miner Gabe Follower, showing that the Copenhagen 2024 stickers will, once again, be entirely borderless. Although there is little doubt that players liked this design – and spent a lot of money opening capsules for the Paris Major – another set of identical stickers is now becoming a bore. “Disappointment is at an all-time high right now not gonna lie,” one player responded. Another replied, “That’s a huge L don’t want more borderless stickers. Valve so lazy.” “Another fat L from Valve,” a player added. “We getting the same stickers over and over again. Classic lazy Valve.” Despite the lack of a border, the holo design for holo-style stickers has excited some players, as it appears much more vivid than previous iterations. Valve is yet to announce the stickers officially or set them live in-game for purchase, but it’s expected to happen on Thursday, March 14, or March 15 at the latest, with the Major starting on March 17. For sticker investors, a borderless design will almost certainly cause downward price pressure on older capsules and stickers from Stockholm, Antwerp, and Paris. The PGL Copenhagen Major begins on March 17 with the opening stage, and runs until the Grand Final on March 31. Alongside the stickers, souvenir packages and the Pick’Em challenge are also expected to go live in-game before the first matches.

CSGO Fall Major canceled as Valve plans transition to Counter-Strike 2 after Paris event Helena KristianssonValve officially announced CSGO will be retired for official events after over a decade of being one of the world’s biggest esports. The upcoming Paris Major will be the last dance for CSGO’s best competitors on the big stage before the swap to the new and improved Counter-Strike 2. Counter-Strike is one of the original greats within esports. Maps from the original 1999 release are still being used today, and the sport has gone from LAN parties on 480p monitors to being broadcast from some of the biggest arenas in the world to millions of live viewers. Through its long and prosperous life cycle, CSGO has created some fantastic storylines and built up players like Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev and Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz as some of the greatest competitors in esports. Though this day had to come eventually, the announcement that CSGO will be retired soon in favor of Counter-Strike 2 still makes it hard not to reminisce on the massive influence CSGO has had. To cap off CSGO’s incredibly long life cycle, the upcoming Paris Major will be the last for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The Fall Major is being skipped over entirely, with Counter-Strike 2 having its debut Major in March 2024. Counter-Strike 2 set to replace CSGO at Majors after Paris With Counter-Strike 2 having such a sudden announcement, questions about what that means for the future of CSGO started to arise. Valve hasn’t made fans wait long to get news on the future of the decade-old title. Counter-Strike 2’s debut Major was announced to be taking place in March 2024, which has fans excited to see what the future holds for a new generation of Counter-Strike. Unfortunately, this announcement has also come with the news that the upcoming Paris Major will be the last CSGO Major ever. While fans were initially excited by the news, they then realized this would mean the Fall Major won’t come this year. It’ll take almost an entire year for us to get the next Counter-Strike Major. Though fans are excited to see what Counter-Strike 2 has in store, this has stunted excitement a bit for fans and organizations within the scene. But what about second Major in 2023? pic.twitter.com/GQdzC8z4GT — Cloud9 CS:GO (@C9CSGO) March 24, 2023 It remains to be seen whether or not Valve has more in store for fans anxiously awaiting Counter-Strike 2’s pro debut or if we’ll really have to wait almost 12 months to get more of one of the world’s biggest esports.

Valve ordered to refund $15k to CS:GO player as cases ruled ‘illegal’ in Austria ValveValve must pay back €14,096.58 ($15,426.73) to a CS:GO player who spent the money opening cases after a court in Austria ruled that Counter-Strike cases constituted illegal gambling in the country. Valve can choose to appeal the decision. A court in Styria has ordered Valve to refund €14,096.58 that a CS player had spent on “loot boxes” – a.k.a weapon cases. Cases in Counter-Strike are one of the main ways players acquire weapon and knife skins, but they are luck-based. A press release, translated from German, states that this is now the first time that Valve’s cases in CS:GO and Counter-Strike 2 have been ruled illegal in Austria: “Padronus and the Salburg law firm argued in the court case that the ‘Counter-Strike’ loot boxes offered violate the Austrian gambling law and the amounts spent should therefore be refunded. The court followed this view and classified the Counter-Strike loot boxes as illegal gambling.” The player used an Austrian “litigation financier” called Padronus to bring the case against Valve. Padronus offers their service to Austrian players who have purchased “loot boxes” in games such as FIFA, Call of Duty, and Counter-Strike. In Austria, there is a gambling monopoly, with only one company – Casino Austria AG – licensed to operate online gambling services. Valve’s CS cases “illegal” in Austria Padronus states on their website: “According to the Austrian Gambling Act, every provider of loot boxes must have a license. However, operators of FIFA, Call of Duty, and other games do not have a license.” “This is the first loot box ruling in the entire German-speaking region regarding Counter-Strike. The Valve Corporation is now the second video game provider, after the game operators FIFA, to be proven to offer illegal gambling in Austria,” said the managing director of Padronus, Richard Eibl. According to Eibl, the judge in the case was actually familiar with Counter-Strike, and so immediately understood the facts of the case. This avoided a major hurdle typically associated with these cases, which is to have the judge understand the games and loot box systems. The court ruled that case opening, “depends on chance and represents an asset within the meaning of the Austrian Gambling Act because the “skins” would be traded on a secondary market (e.g. “Steam”) and thereby make a profit. Therefore it is gambling. Since Valve does not have a gaming license, the contracts concluded between it and the plaintiff are void and the payments made are reclaimable.” Although Valve now has four weeks to appeal the decision, Padronus told Dexerto: “If they appeal, their chances to win are almost zero, since we already have a second instance judgment regarding the illegality of loot boxes which we won against Sony and Electronic Arts.” If Valve chooses not to appeal, the decision will be final and legally binding. Austrian courts previously issued similar rulings against EA and Sony regarding FIFA packs, also now considered illegal loot boxes in Austria.

Valve needs to address CS2’s cheating problem before it ruins hype from the Major ValveThe first CS2 Major — bar a few hiccups — has been lauded as one the best events in Counter-Strike’s storied history and undoubtedly rejuvenated interest in the game. But if not addressed soon, CS2’s rampant cheating problem could pop the hype balloon. Cheating is nothing new in Counter-Strike, and those claiming that CS2 has it worse have been met with some skepticism from others in the community — who regularly dismiss those complaining as simply bad at the game and therefore believing everyone better than them must be aim-hacking. It’s certainly true that just because you got instantly one-tapped before you could even react, it is often because your opponent was simply better, and you need to get good. But cheating in CS2 lately has felt different. It’s not just ‘suspicious one-taps and impossible predictions’ cheating, but rather full-on, blatant, ‘instant ace from across the map with a scout’, cheating. I am not an amazing Counter-Strike player, but with over 2,000 hours played and a decent rank over the years, I know it is not normal for a player to get 60 frags, four deaths, 369 ADR, and 85% headshot percentage in 16 rounds, as was the case in just one of many recent matchmaking games ruined by an obvious cheater. In my last seven games, four have been rendered pointless by either a cheater on my team or the opposing side. In the match with a cheater on my team, we were unable to kick them, as they always queue with a friend, meaning they can choose the ‘don’t kick’ option. One of these blatant cheaters currently holds a Premier Rank of over 25,000, is playing matches every day, and remains unbanned after 889 hours of game time. Despite this rampant cheating problem, CS2 remains, by far, the most popular game on Steam, and the Copenhagen Major has injected even more life into the player count. It has peaked at over 1.4 million concurrent players every day for the past week. But all this renewed energy will be stamped out if every other game is spoiled by a blatant cheater. And even if a cheater does not ruin the match, the suspicion of one makes it all less enjoyable anyway. CS:GO’s greatest ever player, s1mple, agrees, posting on X/Twitter: “You need to understand @CounterStrike that without proper anticheat – Premier f**king sucks, no one gonna grind for rating like in Valorant, easiest way – connect with FaceIT anticheat, hardest way – create much better one.” CS2’s Premier mode was presumably meant to bring players back from FaceIT and onto Valve’s servers, but with FaceIT’s anti-cheat so much more robust, why would they switch? The problem is only worsened for high-ranked players too, which is often where CS2 streamers find themselves, and so encounter cheaters in more games than the average Gold Nova. As streamers can act as an advert for the game to new players, this is just as detrimental. Sure, another VAC-ban wave will roll out at some point, but until then, the wait for the rumored anti-cheat update in CS2 goes on. And the longer it does, the more long-term damage will be done, despite all the positives from the Major.

Valve drops major hint that CS2 release is imminent ValveThe CS2 social media account is giving out clues once again that the release of the Valve title is coming very soon. Valve has been giving out massive hints in recent days about the upcoming release of CS2. On September 20, the CS2 X/Twitter account asked its followers what they were doing next Wednesday… Which many took to mean that the sequel to one of Valve’s most popular titles was going to be released in about a week’s time. Six days later, the social media account again took to social media to signal to players and fans that CS2 is leaving beta and will be released in full to the public. The account’s banner was changed to a black background with white text that reads: “Dawn of The Final Day” on September 26. Many have taken this to mean that this day is the final day of CS:GO’s life cycle and CS2 will replace it in the following days. Valve continues to tease the release of CS2 But whether the community or the professional circuit around the Valve shooter is ready for the game to release this week is another story. In a recent video released by ESL, multiple CS:GO pros were asked about their experience with the new title from playing the beta. Multiple players said that the game isn’t ready for competitive play and that there are many issues that should be addressed before its release. “They need to fix a lot of things like the movement, the delay with grenades and I think they should fix the servers,” Virtus.pro player David ‘n0rb3r7’ Daniyelyan said in the video. The release of the new Valve game is also coming at an awkward time for esports competitors as the switch could come while tournaments and leagues are ongoing. ESL is reportedly polling teams about potentially switching to CS2 for the EPL playoffs, according to Dust2.us. Fans and players will have to wait and see when CS2 does eventually drop as the developer has not put out a release date and is seemingly content with just teasing the fan base for now.

Valve confirms Counter-Strike Majors schedule changes for CS2 BLASTValve is introducing changes to the schedule of its Counter-Strike 2 Majors, which will come into effect in 2025. The developer is officially open to proposals for the Counter-Strike 2 Majors in 2025 and 2026, according to HLTV.org, with two events due to be held each year. In both years, the Majors will take place right before the summer and the winter breaks, making them the final tournaments of the season. The Majors will be held between June 9-22 and December 1-14 in 2025, and between June 8-21 and November 30-December 13 in 2026. This is a change that many fans had been asking for and that puts the Majors as the de facto crowning moment of the tournament season. With the Majors being followed by a period of busy transfer activity in the scene, teams will have a month to reshuffle their rosters and carefully plan their future after a Major. This hasn’t always been the case because of other important tournaments coming shortly after Majors. For the 2025 and 2026 Majors, Valve will continue to prioritize proposals of events that are held in a time zone that is “convenient for a significant proportion of CS2 customers”. The developer has identified two prime time slots, 4pm CET (7am PT) and 9pm CET (12pm PT). So far, only one CS2 Major has been announced. It will be organized by PGL in Copenhagen between March 17-31, right in the middle of the tournament season. A second Major is expected later in 2024. An exact release date for Counter-Strike 2 has not yet been announced, though Valve has stated that the game has a Summer 2023 release window. The limited-test beta, which went live in March, beta has given players the opportunity to test several maps, including Dust2, Nuke and Overpass.

Valve admits Counter-Strike 2’s launch was “bumpy” but promise a bright future UmCaraDaora/Counter-Strike 2Counter-Strike 2’s launch has been met with a number of bugs, glitches, inconsistencies, and missing features from its over decade-old predecessor. Valve has admitted that CS2’s had its fair share of launch issues, but they promise that the game will quickly be fixed. The hype for Counter-Strike 2 quickly turned to disappointment for many players. With CS:GO being phased out almost overnight in favor of its sequel, players were stuck with CS2 whether they liked it or not. With the game replacing CS:GO’s Steam listing entirely (and adopting over a decade worth of positive reviews in the process), Counter-Strike 2 was very quickly forced onto players. This wouldn’t be a huge issue if the game wasn’t plagued by issues. Valve have addressed Counter-Strike 2’s “bumpy” launch in an interview with PC Gamer, and, while the devs ultimately feel as if CS2’s launch has been an “overwhelming success”, they aren’t blind to the fact that work still needs to be done to get the game where they want it to be. Counter-Strike 2 devs address launch criticism Counter-Strike 2’s limited test run sparked a ton of excitement amongst players. Getting the opportunity to watch their favorite streamer play (or hop in themselves if they were lucky enough to get access) generated a ton of buzz around CS2 seeming to be an improved version of CSGO with a shiny new coat of paint, some mild mechanical changes, and a hyped-up sub-tick system. However, the reality has been a bit more grim than that. People have found a lot of bugs and other oddities in the final game. While players have surely had fun discovering new ways to break CS2, the game’s competitive integrity has been brought into question as a result of issues like these. And, on top of that, even normal gameplay wasn’t working properly. The bizarre and now-infamous Michael Jackson bug aside, players have found all sorts of ways to twist their bodies and make themselves harder to shoot. On top of all this, hit registration has also been shown to be a bit shoddy at times, in part due to an issue with players’ hitboxes not lining up with their character model in certain circumstances. In an interview with PC Gamer, Valve addressed both hit registration issues and whether or not sub-tick is affecting how often shots land. “For the most part [sub-tick] works as intended, but as we rolled out the feature to more and more people we got feedback, like those clips, about systems that weren’t reaching their goals. The CS community is understandably focused on both differences and bugs that affect their experience, and we’re working hard to address them.” Additionally, Valve claims that the hitbox bug that was affecting players’ ability to land shots have been fixed, saying that clips of issues like the one above helped them find the problem: “Bugs like that are unfortunate but detailed community feedback is incredibly helpful.” Despite the title having a good many bugs still plaguing players, the devs view CS2’s launch as a massive success, with them not regretting the decision to release the game to the masses when they did despite its issues. “We know there’s a conversation about whether the Limited Test should have been longer,” the dev admitted. “For sure, there are some features that would have been included in CS2 at launch if we had a longer beta. But over time, it’s not clear what the priorities should be when you have an ever-shrinking and self-selecting subset of the community participating. And without everyone playing the same game, we couldn’t make much progress on the most critical systems like networking, performance, and core gameplay. Since we’ve launched, we’ve been getting feedback about new bugs, behaviors, and issues from players at every level, from casual players on older hardware to the pros.” They continued, “Launching the game has massively accelerated the pace of improving CS2, so we think that launching when we did was the right time, even if the landing was (and still is) bumpy. Ultimately, this is the fastest way to get CS2 to where we all want it to be one or five or ten years from now.” That said, with some pros like s1mple voicing their distaste for the direction CS2 has taken, it remains to be seen if Valve’s bold approach to using a large player base as a testing ground to rapidly improve the game will have ultimately paid off. For now, though, the devs termed the title’s launch an “overwhelming success” and are excited for the future. With the same interview having the devs tease new weapons on the horizon, they clearly have plans to iterate and mold CS2 into a game that’s inarguably better than its predecessor.

Valorant players want an agent inspired by Counter-Strike 2’s new feature Riot Games / ValveValve has finally revealed Counter-Strike 2 to the world and some Valorant players are looking enviously at one of CS2’s new features, suggesting it should be an ability. After months of speculation, Valve is finally about to introduce a new era of CS this summer with the release of Counter-Strike 2. Among several new features that they revealed earlier this week, the new smoke mechanism has caught everyone’s attention. Unlike CS:GO, smokes in Counter-Strike 2 will be dynamic and react to factors like lighting and bullet penetration. In Counter-Strike 2, you will be able to clear a part of the smoke by either firing a bullet or using utility like grenades. This new mechanism can catch an enemy off guard, giving your team an upper hand in return. The feature being unique, some Valorant players now want an agent equipped with the ability to clear smokes. In a Reddit post, some players from the community were discussing how an agent with the ability to clear smokes would work out for a game like Valorant. As we all know, smokes in Valorant look and feel different compared to Counter-Strike. In the former, they are circular, while the latter are closer to realism. However, Valorant has KAY/O, an initiator who can suppress the abilities of opponents caught in the range of its signature ability, Zero/Point. In case a controller gets caught in its range, their abilities will be delayed, impacting their strat. This can somewhat be compared to the new smoke mechanic in Counter-Strike 2. Some of the community members also seem to be aligned with this point of view. Even Shroud argues that KAY/O brings the CS:GO strategy to Valorant. “I don’t think you can compare the two games when it comes to utility,” another player argued though. The other half of the community thinks it would need a lot of testing if ever Riot decides to bring such a change to their popular FPS title. “It would need a clear indication that it was happening so enemies can react,” one person suggested. We must not forget that Valorant is a game with a ton of abilities while Counter-Strike is all about raw aim, gunplay, and proper utility usage.

Twitch still allows CSGO gambling streams despite banning it months ago Twitch/ValveIn August 2023, the Counter-Strike community rejoiced as Twitch updated their terms of service to explicitly prohibit CS:GO case opening sites and gambling being promoted on the platform. Despite this ban though, nothing has changed, with no streamers banned for this content. After increased scrutiny about the prevalence of CS:GO (now CS2) gambling sites being promoted to viewers on Twitch and YouTube, the Amazon-owned platform updated their rules to explicitly prohibit such promotion. The change was met with widespread praise from the CS community, and was expected to impact countless streamers who had deals with gambling sites, with affiliate codes and sponsored segments during their streams. However, that was over four months ago, and in the time since, Dexerto has not identified a single channel banned for promoting CS gambling sites, despite it still being commonplace on Twitch. Both individual Counter-Strike streamers as well as tournament organizers continue to promote case-opening sites, stream themselves gambling on the sites, and some even use Twitch extensions such as Magic Wheel, to win prizes. Prior to the ban, YouTuber HOUNGOUNGAGNE found that around 75% of the top 300 CS:GO streamers on Twitch featured some form of gambling sponsorship. Despite the explicit ban, it appears this figure is unchanged. At the time, Twitch told Dexerto, “There’s been renewed interest in CSGO gambling broadly, so we’ve added clarifying language to our FAQ to make clear that promotion/sponsorship is not allowed on our service.” We have reached out to Twitch since about the lack of enforcement of this rule, but at the time of writing have not received a response. For now, it appears that Twitch is permitting the promotion of Counter-Strike skins gambling, despite their FAQ stating otherwise.

Twitch bans CS2 superstar donk for violating TOS ESLCounter-Strike 2 superstar and Team Spirit rifler Danil “donk” Kryshkovets has been banned from Twitch. CS2 star donk is a teenage prodigy with an IEM title to his name. The 17-year-old player burst onto the scene in late 2023 shortly after his promotion from the Team Spirit Academy team, helping the Russian team lift the BetBoom Dacha Dubai trophy in December 2023, and the IEM Katowice Cup in February 2024. The young player has admitted to playing the game since early childhood and set up other online accounts at a young age, as well. On May 7, the player revealed his Twitch account had been banned, saying he was too young when he created the account. “Got banned on Twitch because I created an account when I wasn’t 13 years old,” donk said on social media. According to Twitch’s rules, people must be at least 13 years old to register for an account. The player’s post about the ban is full of fans offering condolences, calling to #Freedonk, and advising a move over to rival streaming platform Kick. The ban comes a little over a month after the player’s last tournament matchup. Team Spirit placed in the top eight at the PGL Copenhagen Major back in March. The team was eliminated in the first round of the playoff stage by FaZe Clan. Donk and his team are set to play in the BetBoom Dacha Belgrade event later in May. This article will be updated as more information comes to light, or if the ban is reversed.

Twistzz reportedly leaving FaZe fresh off IEM Sydney win to rejoin Team Liquid João Ferreira/DexertoTwistzz has put himself on top of the Counter-Strike world in the past few years, and the CS:GO legend has even taken home the title for the first Counter-Strike 2 tournament. However, he’s reportedly leaving FaZe Clan despite their success. FaZe Clan’s grip on modern Counter-Strike hasn’t exactly been unshakeable, but they’re easily the most successful org in recent years. 2021 laid the groundwork for FaZe’s modern dynasty and, following the signing of Robin ‘ropz’ Kool in early 2022, the team really took off. They’ve since won enough events to take home the fourth Intel Grand Slam, resulting in each team member earning a solid gold bar and a rare throne that puts them amongst Counter-Strike legends. The team was looking better than ever at IEM Sydney when they took home a win at Counter-Strike 2’s first big event. But, despite this win, reports indicate that Russel ‘Twistzz’ Van Dulken will be moving back to Team Liquid, the team he left for FaZe. Twistzz reportedly leaving FaZe and returning to Team Liquid FaZe Clan has one of the most expensive and experienced rosters in modern Counter-Strike. Their roster has literal decades worth of competitive experience between their five starting players, with IGL Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen having the most experience at a staggering 17 years of active competition. It’s an incredibly expensive, high-profile roster that’s owned by an organization that has been deeply intrenched in financial issues for the past few years, with the org changing hands recently. Though this roster is succeeding like few CS teams ever have, it seems that Twistzz is looking to return to Team Liquid according to a report from Dust2. And, though Twistzz had strong results with Team Liquid in the almost 3 years he played under their banner, he never managed to take home a major despite earning the second Grand Slam with Team Liquid. This would change with FaZe Clan, however, when he took home a decisive win over NaVi at PGL Antwerp 2022. This, combined with getting a Grand Slam on FaZe, made Twistzz the first player to ever earn two Grand Slams. Reports around Team Liquid indicate that they’re aiming to create a super-team that can get them closer to the top of competition in 2024, the perfect time to define a new era of Counter-Strike. However, the move has yet to be confirmed.

Twistzz departs FaZe Clan after historic year of competitive CS ESLFaZe Clan has announced the departure of Twistzz, which brings an end to one of the winningest teams in Counter-Strike history. After spending several years in a competitive slump, FaZe Clan rebuilt its roster around its two longest-standing members in Rain and Broky. With these two pillars in place, FaZe Clan began their rebuilding process. Their first move was to sign Twistzz, a highly skilled AWPer known for his incredible aim and tactical prowess. They rounded out the team with the additions of Karrigan, a seasoned in-game leader, and Ropz. This carefully crafted roster, built around Broky and Rain’s veteran presence, marked a new chapter for FaZe Clan. But the once untouchable castle has started to crumble with the departure of one of their greatest assets. Twistzz departs FaZe Clan with a rumored return to Team Liquid “Lifelong memories created, historic championships celebrated, and unforgettable magic made,” said FaZe Clan on Twitter/X. “Thank you for everything, Twistzz.” Before teaming with FaZe Clan, Twistzz was best known for his time on Team Liquid, where he won his first Grand Slam. Now that he has officially departed from his current organization, he is reportedly returning home to North America. This announcement was coupled with a heartfelt tribute video of Twistzz alongside his teammates during his time with the organization. In total, Twistzz won eight championships with FaZe Clan. This includes his second Grand Slam, a feat that no other pro player has ever accomplished. There have been no further announcements by FaZe Clan for who will replace Twistzz on its legendary roster. Additionally, Team Liquid has yet to officially confirm that Twistzz will be coming home. Team Liquid has only two members on its roster after removing oSee, Rainwaker, and Patsi.

TrainwrecksTV pulls insanely rare CSGO gloves worth thousands in CS2 TrainwrecksTVKick streamer TrainwrecksTV pulled one of the rarest gloves in Counter-Strike after he got some insane luck unboxing a classic CSGO glove case during a CS2 stream. Counter-Strike skins have become increasingly expensive over the years, ever since Valve allowed players to buy and sell various weapon and knife skins, cases, keys, and more in CSGO. Since then, CS2 has launched, which brought along all the skins and in-game cosmetics to the new game, as well as a surge in players and streamers trying to get their hands on the rarest items. With many skins and cases being sold for thousands and even millions of dollars, they have become some of the most desired items in gaming. Now, Kick streamer TrainwrecksTV who has been widely known for gambling millions in his streams, got some insane luck when he unboxed one of the rarest gloves in CS2, worth over $13,000. TrainwrecksTV unboxes gloves worth over $13,000 in CS2 TrainwrecksTV hopped on CS2 during his Kick stream to put his money on the line in the hopes of winning big. After a series of failed attempts from purchasing and opening various skin cases, the streamer pleaded: “Please I would love a Pandoras, Factory new Pandoras I’ve been going for Pandoras for so long.” Finally, they unlocked a classic CSGO glove case that turned out to be a rare gold item. “Oh my god please, please, good, good, they look good, they look good, factory new!” The streamer shouted as it was soon revealed to be Spearmint Mova Gloves in Factory new condition. With the classic gloves being in the best condition possible, according to CSGO Skins, they are worth over $13,000, which makes them one of the most expensive gloves in CS2. It is not known whether the streamer plans on selling or holding onto the rare item. However, TrainwrecksTV has not been the only creator to win big in Counter-Strike this year, where Dr Disrespect also unboxed one of the most expensive knives in the game.

Most expensive CS2 stickers: Top 20 rarest and iconic stickers Some stickers in Counter-Strike are very expensive, costing tens of thousands of dollars for the most coveted. These are the most expensive stickers in Counter-Strike 2 as of 2024. Alongside pricey weapon cosmetics, another item in Counter-Strike’s in-depth market and trading economy excites every collector: Stickers. Stickers in CS:GO, now Counter-Strike 2, occupy a special slice of the market. The cost of a sticker is determined by a number of factors, which we’ll also explain here after looking at the most expensive ones. For the most expensive weapon skins, check out our list here. If you’re looking for the best CS:GO knives, we have a list for that too. And if you want some amazing stickers that won’t cost a fortune, check our list of the best stickers in CS:GO here. If you want to buy some of these expensive stickers yourself, they’re not available on the Steam Market, so you’ll need to use a third-party website like Skinport, BitSkins or CS.Money. These are the most expensive stickers in Counter-Strike, as of July 2024. Top 20 most expensive CS2 stickers 20. suNny (Gold) | Krakow (2017) – $1,900 suNny’s name on this bright signature makes it one of the most expensive Krakow gold on the market right now. There are also only 31 of them tradeable. 19. iBuyPower | Katowice (2014) – $2,400 The paper version of the iconic iBuyPower Katowice 2014 sticker is now worth over $3,000 itself. Many players will recognize the holo version best, but the paper one looks great in CS2 as well. 18. Titan | Katowice (2014) – $2,500 The paper version of the Titan sticker from Katowice 2014 is far cheaper than its holo version (see below), but it’s still over two thousand – for a paper sticker! The iBUYPOWER and Reason papers will also set you back thousands. 17. Reason Gaming | Katowice 2014 – $2,800 This sticker may not look remarkable, but it’s so incredibly rare, and is the little brother to it’s even more expensive holo version – see below. 16. 3DMAX (Holo) | Katowice (2014) – $3,600 One of many Kato 2014 holos you will see on this list, the 3DMAX has overtaken the mousesports holo in price, perhaps due to it’s ability to be used in lots of red crafts. 15. Ropz (Gold) | Krakow (2017) – $3,900 Another Krakow Gold, Ropz’s graffiti-like signature earns this sticker a fierce price tag of over $4,000. There are less than 40 of these stickers still tradeable. 14. Mousesports (Holo) | Katowice (2014) – $4,200 The mouseports holo is often used in what are called ‘Tom and Jerry’ crafts – where you pair the mouse with an iBUYPOWER sticker. 13. Virtus.Pro (Holo) | Katowice (2014) – $4,900 Now we’re getting to the really great-looking Kato 2014 holos, starting with VP. This is a legendary organization in CS:GO, and this is by far their most expensive major sticker. 12. Keshandr (Gold) | Krakow (2017) – $5,500 Keshandr never quite became a superstar in CS:GO, but his Major signature definitely did. With a protruding shark, this is probably the most iconic player signature in all of CS. And to get in Gold from this major will cost at least $6,000 in 2023. 11. Clan-Mystik (Holo) | Katowice (2014) – $5,800 Coming in marginally more expensive than the NaVi Holo, the Clan Mystik Holo can be found in the EMS Katowice (2014) Challengers capsule. The French squad was formed of a few recognizable faces, including a G2 Esports’ Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub. 10. s1mple (Gold) | Krakow (2017) – $6,500 Of course, while his signature is straightforward, s1mple is the greatest CS:GO player of all time, hence why his Krakow 2017 gold sticker is over $5,000. 9. LGB Esports (Holo) | Katowice (2014) – $7,000 Another Holo from the EMS Katowice (2014) Legends capsule, LGB Esports were formed of the core members that would go on to form the Fnatic dynasty. After breezing past their Group Stage matches, they were eliminated to the eventual event winners, Virtus.Pro. 8. Natus Vincere (Holo) | Katowice (2014) – $11,000 Fresh out of the more expensive EMS Katowice (2014) Challengers capsule, the Natus Vincere roster crashed out in dead last at this Major. Although one silver lining, one of Counter-Strike’s most legendary AWPers of all time, Ladislav ‘GuardiaN’ Kovács, made his Major debut here. 7. HellRaisers (Holo) | Katowice (2014) – $13,000 Coming from the EMS Katowice (2014) Legends capsule, the HellRaisers Holo creeps into the top 10. Complete with flame decals inside the HR of the logo, this Holo provides good contrast on most weapon skins in the game. 6. Team LDLC (Holo) | Katowice (2014) – $20,000 Team LDLC has a controversial storyline, which could be why their team’s Kato 2014 sticker ranks so high. One of the members, Hovik ‘KQLY’ Tovmassian, was caught cheating and received an indefinite Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) ban after the Major. The team’s sticker can be found in the EMS Katowice (2014) Legends capsule. The sticker also has a rainbow color effect. 5. Team Dignitas (Holo) | Katowice (2014) – $23,000 Found in the EMS Katowice (2014) Legends capsule, the all-Danish roster of Team Dignitas replaced Nicolaj ‘Nico’ Jensen for René ‘cajunb’ Borg in time for EMS One and comprised a core who would go on to form the legendary Astralis squad. 4. Vox Eminor (Holo) | Katowice (2014) – $40,000 Pulled from an EMS Katowice (2014) Challengers capsule, the Australian VOX Eminor roster was led by none other than legendary player-turned-caster, Chad ‘SPUNJ’ Burchill. While the team crashed out in dead last, their sticker remains one of the most sought-after in the game. 3. Reason Gaming (Holo) | Katowice (2014) – $50,000+ Of the ‘big three’, the Reason Gaming Holo is the least expensive, but it looks amazing. It has a massive holo area, with the orange gradient and joystick outline in the middle of the logo, plenty crave to add this Holo to their collection. 2. iBUYPOWER (Holo) | Katowice (2014) – $60,000+ In the number two spot is, of course, the iBUYPOWER Holo. Given that most of the more expensive stickers have some kind of narrative associated with them, it’s no surprise that this one takes top honors. Exclusively pulled from the more expensive EMS Katowice (2014) Challengers capsule, this sticker is mainly responsible for such a surge in the price of all the aforementioned Katowice (2014 stickers). If you’re looking to snag one, the capsule will set you back round $20,000. But, even this amazing-looking sticker isn’t the most expensive… 1. Titan (Holo) | Katowice (2014) – $60,000+ The final sticker to come from the EMS Katowice (2014) Legends capsule, the Titan squad at EMS One consisted of Belgian Counter-Strike headshot king, Adil ‘ScreaM’ Benrlitom. While the team flopped out in 9th-12th place, the sticker is the cream of the crop of CS:GO stickers. The bright shiny blue gives this Titan Holo an expensive look, matched by the price. The most recent public sale of a Titan Holo was actually only $54,000 USD – below the generally accepted market value, which could indicate a decline in Katowice 2014 prices. Note: Prices based on the cheapest listings on marketplaces like Buff163 and BitSkins (via Cantry.Dev) Why are CS2 stickers expensive? Most stickers in Counter-Strike you can get very cheap, ususally for less than a dollar. But, some stickers are worth thousands, because they are so rare and desirable. Once applied to a weapon, stickers cannot be taken off and reused. Instead, they can only be scraped off, deleting the sticker permanently. For this reason, some old stickers will never be available again, and every time one is applied or scraped, the supply drops. Applying some of these expensive stickers can increase the price of the weapon, but of course, you lose the value of the sticker itself. The most expensive weapon skin sold in CS was an AK-47 with four Titan Holo stickers applied. Sticker rarity There are five rarities of stickers in CS2, ranging from High Grade up to Contraband. While they operate as a general guideline, there are exceptions to the rule, as you’ll find out further on. The following rarities are available: Blue (High Grade) – Purple (Remarkable/Holo/Glitter) – Pink (Exotic/Foil) – Red (Souvenir/Gold) – Gold (Contraband) – In our most expensive skins guide, we mentioned the Howl, the only contraband skin. So too, there is only one sticker that occupies the ‘Contraband’ status, The Howling Dawn. Valve reworked an originally plagiarized artwork and bumped up its rarity to a brand-new classification, which they aptly named Contraband. So that’s it, that rounds up the most expensive stickers in CS2 and CS:GO history. While Katowice (2014) stickers dominate the rankings, Krakow 2017 Golds are starting to climb up. If you click on a product link on this page we may earn a small affiliate commission.