DeKay CS:GO Mailbag: Flusha\u2019s plans, Olofmeister\u2019s future, franchising and more (Part 3) As we await the start of the StarLadder Berlin Major Qualifier next month, players are AFK and spending some time out of the server for once. That doesn\u2019t mean there isn\u2019t anything to discuss in the world of competitive Counter-Strike though. In the third and final part of this month\u2019s DeKay Mailbag you will read answers to questions about a number of teams and players, including Wardell, FaZe Clan, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and more. Check out Part 1 and Part 2 of DeKay\u2019s monthly Mailbag if you missed them. A Swedish shuffle and dream NA lineup? Any news on a Swedish shuffle? Will more talent be plucked from Ancient or Gamer Legion? What would be your dream NA lineup to pair with Liquid, NRG, and Cloud 9? \u2014 ashyra (@ashyra_) July 28, 2019 I\u2019ve answered a good amount about the Swedes in the past two parts of the mailbag, so I suggest checking those out. At this point, it is still a bit too early to know what will happen just because we are still pretty far from the Major at this point. My dream North American lineup at this point in time is Team Liquid, of course. There is nothing I can suggest that would make them even better, they have it all. Coldzera as FaZe Clan\u2019s IGL? If that were to happen, I assume that NiKo would in-game lead once again or at the most it being a tag team effort depending on which side they are playing. I don\u2019t like the idea of either of them in-game leading but if I had to choose between the two, I\u2019d choose to have NiKo do it because at least he has a good amount of experience with it. A CS:GO franchised league? Has there been any talks around CS:GO franchising? Or has that just dropped out of the picture completely? Thanks for doing these! I love reading them. \u2014 Jo\u00ebl (@JKangarr) July 28, 2019 No talks that I\u2019ve ever been aware of. I don\u2019t know who made that rumor up and I have always said that real talk of it has never existed to my knowledge. If it is being discussed, it\u2019s being kept extremely quiet. I don\u2019t think so though. D0cC\u2019s prospects? I\u2019ve never heard his name mentioned ever, when it comes to team and roster dynamics. When I look at his performances in qualifiers, I don\u2019t see anything special. That\u2019s probably why no one considers picking him up, he needs to improve to have a shot with a team. What\u2019s going on with Flusha? Whats going on with Flusha? Is Golden going to be IGL during major? Considering that he was that When Lekr0 imo peaked in Fnatic. \u2014 Axel Thuresson (@AxelThuresson1) July 28, 2019 Flusha has been playing CS again for a little while now and seems poised for a return. The only two places I see as a realistic landing spot for him are Fnatic and FaZe Clan. Like I mentioned in Part 1, I expect him to join Fnatic. He is a valuable asset and a former teammate for some of the core guys of that team. It just makes sense. Where\u2019s Wardell going? Nowhere for as long as he is on the Ghost bench. His buyout is really high due to the long contract he signed. Someone will have to get really desperate to get him and the word is that he is a tough player to play on a team with. That kind of talk gets around. Will f0rest ever retire? f0rest is the type of dude to play until he is 40 years old just because it\u2019s easy for him. On a real note, I have no idea. People talk all the time about how players getting up there in age \u201caren\u2019t the player they used to be\u201d but we just never say that about him. He is consistently one of the better NiP players and is often a catalyst in many of their victories if you watch them back. It will probably come down to a feeling thing, he\u2019ll hang it up when he doesn\u2019t feel like playing anymore. NiP replacements for Get_RiGhT? Has NiP shown any interest in bringing in an AWPer like nawwk or trying draken one last time once GeT_RiGhT has retired? \u2014 Tony (@AnthonyMV01) July 28, 2019 From what I\u2019ve gathered the first step is seeing how they like Golden as in-game leader, since his time with the team is a pseudo-trial period. Depending on how that works out, will kind of lead them to the next step or not. If they keep him, they\u2019d have to replace someone else to get an actual AWPer in the team. My guess would be that if they keep Golden, f0rest would do it again. One final note: I don\u2019t actually know if GeT_RiGhT is leaving after the Major, I\u2019m just assuming that is what the scenario is here. A \u2018BIG\u2019 clear out? Do you think BIG will only change a few players or do you think they’ll change everyone but Tabsen for example? \u2014 Kampffrosch (@Kampffr0sch) July 28, 2019 From what I\u2019ve gathered they are just replacing gob b and denis like my report said. Two players is a pretty big move and the team will definitely look different. The issue for them is that they do not have two rock solid replacements. They are looking towards bringing smooya back but he doesn\u2019t want to be there. If he finds someone willing to buy him out, then I imagine he leaves ASAP. Nex won\u2019t be a permanent addition either if he comes in, so the future looks a little bleak if I\u2019m honest. G2 players under pressure? Has G2’s recent run of form (losing to mibr without coldzera and with zews) put the G2 players on the clock? \u2014 Pollux (@Pollux_____) July 28, 2019 Yes, I think they will consider change if they don\u2019t perform as well as they would like at the Major. I don\u2019t have fine details for you but that\u2019s the vibe I get from people I\u2019ve talked to. 600IEM Vancouver: bait or real? Was ESL baiting or is your and @priusCSGO’s brilliant call for IEM Vancouver an actual possibility? pic.twitter.com\/6dMkgkJd59 \u2014 Destro Mayhem (@destro_mayhem) July 28, 2019 No insight on that just yet, but I sure as hell hope it wasn\u2019t just bait. Coldzera offers? Do you know if anyone has reached out to get coldzera, seeing as how there were rumors that Faze did, but niko said that they didnt. \u2014 WorldPlays (@worldplays7) July 28, 2019 FaZe in one way or another inquired on coldzera, but maybe not officially from organization to organization. Trust me, they know how much his buyout is. Other than that I\u2019m not aware of anyone who has showed interest in him. The real question becomes who will ask after the Major, because that is the best chance he has at someone coming to get him. Otherwise, it will be a long time on the bench. How common are appearance fees? Richard lewis recently talked about how teams are now requesting appearance fees to attend events (using the example of TL), how common is this? \u2014 Ben (@bencam6788) July 28, 2019 Extremely common. I believe teams have been doing this for a while now. I\u2019m not too up to date on how much teams are asking though. New organizations entering top tier CS:GO? new orgs coming into tier 1 cs? I’ve heard of 100T but any others? \u2014 DaKing8080 (@DaKing8080) July 28, 2019 I haven\u2019t heard of any new names really. That\u2019s not anything to worry about though. New organizations show up quickly and act quickly, so I rarely get much notice anyway. MLG to host a CS:GO event? I personally don\u2019t think so. They have said that it\u2019s not off the table, but I just don\u2019t see it happening. I hope I\u2019m wrong. Where is coldzera going to end up? On the bench. Olofmeister leaving FaZe Clan? I don\u2019t have any information for what his plans are, but I could see a world in which he returns to Sweden in one way or the other before too long. I\u2019ll be keeping an eye on it. What\u2019s next for JDM? do you know anything about the future of the lounge nation god jdm? \u2014 Piot01 (@Piot01) July 28, 2019 Nothing to share unfortunately. It seems many teams are choosing to go the younger route, which you can\u2019t really blame. He is a free agent and can do good things for a handful of North American teams IMO so I expect someone to give him a call eventually. FaZe Clan to eventually leave CS:GO? Do you think that FaZe will expire the players’ contracts and withdraw completely from CS? Do you know how long the contracts are running? \u2014 GrizzlyBear (@GrizzlyBear1337) July 28, 2019 That is what I have been predicting for a while yes. It would be smarter for them to sell some of their players off prior to that though. The rumor was that they had three year contracts, so that puts many of them under contract well into 2020 if true. I don\u2019t expect them to make a splash of any significance if and when they replace NEO. Dark horses at the Major? My prediction is North. I wrote about it recently. Do Vitality need a change? Should Vitality change a player to close the gap in firepower with TL ? \u2014 xp4ndeR (@_xp4ndeR_) July 28, 2019 I think it would be a bit too early to make a move like that, but it\u2019s not the worst idea. I just don\u2019t see who is a prime candidate that gives them the best chance to fix the holes in their game. It is tough making a move when you are ranked second in the world, it could wreck your synergy and have you tumbling down the rankings. Where next for gob b after BIG? with gob b being reported to leave big, what teams are in the conversation to be picking him up? \u2014 nez (@uMx_nez) July 29, 2019 I haven\u2019t heard anyone being interested yet, it\u2019s still too early. Can ForZe go to the next level? Thoughts on ForZe? Since their time getting to play in ECS they’ve been beating pretty much all tier 2 talent online and offline. Does this team look similar to a Furia or an Ence, or do they still have to prove themselves at the major? \u2014 William (@tehbae) July 28, 2019 They still have to prove themselves, I want to see what they can do on LAN against some tougher teams. ECS doesn\u2019t really matter to me because it\u2019s online. Would swag and steel be top 10? Theoretically, if swag and steel were unbanned how far do you think they could go? Top 10 material? \u2014 ziP (@zippermin) July 29, 2019 It won\u2019t ever happen. If it did, steel is one of the top minds in the game and could lead many teams into the top ten rankings. Swag doesn\u2019t strike me as the player he once was though. He could be a good asset to a North American team, but that\u2019s it IMO. What\u2019s the appeal of Formula 1? Could you explain to me your fascination for Formula 1? I\u2019ve watched quiet some races but have never really understood the interest some people have in the sport\u2026 \u2014 AdmiralCrunch (@TobKar99) July 29, 2019 If you have some time, watch the 2012 season online somewhere or watch the last race that just happened in Germany. That is why we all watch. You have to take the good with the bad in a sport that is so driven by money, rather than pure skill and talent. My fascination is rooted with being a racing driver as a kid and growing up in a racing family. I like watching the best in the world doing something I enjoy doing myself, just like Counter-Strike.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DeKay CS:GO Mailbag: Flusha\u2019s plans, Olofmeister\u2019s future, franchising and more (Part 3) As we await the start of the StarLadder Berlin Major Qualifier next month, players are AFK and spending some time out of the server for once. That doesn\u2019t mean there isn\u2019t anything to discuss in the world of competitive Counter-Strike though. In the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37988\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}