Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Na’Vi booted from IEM Katowice after loss to Gambit Esports
William Davis
Last year’s champion Natus Vincere has been eliminated from IEM Katowice 2021 after a 2-0 loss to Gambit Esports. In one of the most shocking upsets of this year’s IEM Katowice, Gambit Esports managed to eliminate the tournament favorites in Natus Vincere in the opening match of the playoffs. Gambit managed to surprise the Russian powerhouse in two maps, securing a spot in the semifinal. The action kicked off on …
Counter-Strike
Heroic removes niko and b0RUP, adds two MAD Lions players
Fariha Bhatti
Heroic has made some significant changes to its roster, moving Johannes “b0RUP” Borup and Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen to the bench effective immediately. The organization has already found replacements in Rasmus “sjuush” Beck and Ismail “refrezh” Ali of MAD Lions. Heroic enjoyed a surge in relevance with the start of the online era. Casper “cadiaN” Møller and company transformed into a force to be reckoned with, taking matches against the likes of …
News
OG reportedly planning to bench NBK from CSGO roster
Fariha Bhatti
It seems that rumors of changes within OG are finally coming to fruition as reports of Nathan “NBK-” Schmitt being benched have begun to circulate. Professional teams in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive are constantly going changing rosters, but OG has managed to stick to its initial five-man lineup for 14 months. The team was introduced in 2019, headed by ENCE’s Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen, and hasn’t changed since. Following months of underwhelming …
Counter-Strike
This is how to skip the long warmup timer in CSGO
M Alzamora
Now that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is at the peak of its popularity, many players are looking for a simple command to shut off warmup. CSGO’s warmup period was a good idea in theory, but its not really there just for players to warm up. Most players that are queuing into games have already tested their accuracy on aim maps, headshot-only servers, and practice maps, so warmup time is usually spent …
Counter-Strike
The best way to build your CSGO loadout on a budget
William Davis
While everyone would love to own an AWP Dragon Lore or Gungnir, not everyone can spend thousands of dollars just to flex on their teammates and opponents. But having limited funds doesn’t mean you have to play with default skins. We’ve scanned the community market in search of the best budget skins for the guns you use the most. We’ve assembled a loadout for the most-used weapons in the game. …
Counter-Strike
Classic Counter-Strike map Aztec returns in this new remake
M Alzamora
A Counter-Strike: Global Offensive mapper has created a near-perfect recreation of classic map Aztec using assets Valve introduced with the release of Broken Fang. CSGO players haven’t been able to play an official version of Aztec since Valve removed the map in November 2017, but one of the game’s players has put over 5,000 hours of CSGO experience and Valve’s official assets from the game’s operation map Ancient towards building …
Counter-Strike
How to trade and sell CS2 skins for real money outside of Steam
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s weapon skins have turned the game into a collector’s paradise, but what are the best ways for players to trade and sell skins outside of Steam’s marketplace? Websites such as cs.money have become leaders in skin trading outside Valve’s Steam platform, and they’ve come a long way since CSGO’s skin boom in 2015 and 2016. Scams are more rare, especially if users check out a few key …
Counter-Strike
Team Liquid tops Na’Vi, heads to IEM Katowice 2021 semifinals
Fariha Bhatti
Team Liquid has broken Natus Vincere’s 10-match winning streak and sent the team to the quarterfinals of IEM Katowice 2021 after a close match to end the group stage. The two teams succeeded in winning their own map picks, something of a rarity in IEM Katowice 2021 to this point. But Inferno became a lion’s den, with the two teams going to double overtime in the deciding game. Team Liquid …
Team Spirit nearly 16-0’s Astralis in IEM Katowice 2021
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Astralis is still heading to the IEM Katowice 2021 playoffs but the team is limping through the door. The four-time major-winning organization absorbed a tough loss to Team Spirit in the upper bracket finals of group A. Though the first two games of the series were competitive, Astralis narrowly avoided a historic loss in the decider. The series opened on Inferno with Team Spirit looking very strong, taking five of …
FaZe Clan eliminated from IEM Katowice 2021 after loss to Furia
William Davis
Counter-Strike
FaZe Clan is out of IEM Katowice 2021 after losing an elimination game to Furia Esports. The two teams faced off in the lower bracket semifinals of group B. Both were in a position where a loss would mean elimination from the tournament, while they needed two wins in order to advance. Faze hit the ground running on the first map, Mirage. They established an early lead on their map …
misutaaa domes Team Liquid with Deagle 4K in IEM Katowice 2021
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
In a match against Team Liquid, Team Vitality’s Kévin “misutaaa” Rabier put on an incredible show with his Desert Eagle. The Group B upper bracket semifinals saw Vitality lock horns with Team Liquid. The Frenchmen entered in style, taking the first map win in overtime. However, Team Liquid came out strong on Vitality’s pick, Vertigo. A 10-5 score at halftime in Liquid’s favor saw Vitality in an awkward position. That …
Team Liquid beats Vitality as EliGE shines at IEM Katowice 2021
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Team Liquid edged out Vitality in a three-map thriller, securing a spot in Group B’s upper bracket final. Vitality was considered the slight favorite going into its match against Team Liquid. Back under the guidance of in-game leader, Dan “apEX” Madesclaire, the Frenchmen were considered serious contenders for the IEM Katowice 2021 title, while Team Liquid was still adjusting to a recent swap in its roster. That makes Team Liquid’s …
FaZe Clan cuts OG out of IEM Katowice 2021 in a one-sided win
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
FaZe Clan has eliminated OG from IEM Katowice 2021 in a convincing 2-0 win, moving on to the lower semi-finals. In a one-sided match, the revamped FaZe clan has pounced all over OG, heading further in IEM Katowice 2021. The team bested OG on its own map pick, Mirage. Then it out-aimed OG on Dust 2 in a clean 16-9 win. The sharp-looking FaZe Clan has moved ahead in IEM …
Astralis takes out Evil Geniuses in IEM Katowice 2021
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Astralis has added its name to the list of tournament favorites at IEM Katowice 2021 after beating Evil Geniuses in a decisive 2-0 fashion. In the second round of Group A’s upper bracket, Denmark’s Astralis toppled Evil Geniuses in a convincing sweep. The four-time major winners ran over their competition, winning both maps with relative ease. Astralis was considered the favorite going into the match, but that wasn’t obvious at …
Boombl4 pushes Na’Vi past Virtus.pro for IEM Katowice 2021 win
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Natus Vincere won the battle of top CIS squads by beating Virtus.pro in its IEM Katowice 2021 debut . Na`Vi may have entered the game as the defending champions of IEM Katowice, but Virtus.pro’s made them work hard to look the part. Dust 2 was Virtus.pro’s map pick, where the team looked commanding from the outset. On inferno, both the teams engaged in a close fight until Na`Vi finished the …
Team Liquid spoils karrigan’s FaZe Clan debut in IEM Katowice
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Team Liquid defeat FaZe Clan with a clean 2-0 in their opening match at IEM Katowice 2021. In the final series of matches on the opening day of IEM Katowice, Team Liquid dispatched FaZe Clan in a convincing showing by the American side. The match saw both lineup’s debut new in-game leaders. Catch up on Team Liquid and FaZe Clan FalleN to captain Team Liquid for IEM Katowice 2021 karrigan …
Team Vitality IGL apEX returns to CSGO ahead of IEM Katowice 2021
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Team Vitality’s trusted in-game leader Dan “apEX” Madesclaire returned in time for IEM Katowice 2021. The organization has announced that its captain will return to action to take part in IEM Katowice 2021. The IGL is coming back from a brief personal break. KING @Vitality_apEX is back and ready to play the #IEMKatowice! ???? pic.twitter.com/M5Xgwu695W — Team Vitality ???? (@TeamVitality) February 18, 2021 Team Vitality’s apEX takes temporary leave from …
Astralis advances in IEM Katowice 2021 by sweeping mousesports
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Astralis has sent the youngsters of mousesports to the lower bracket with a smooth 2-0 win in its IEM Katowice 2021 opening match. Despite mousesports’ surprisingly strong showing against Complexity in the play-in stage, the team failed to excel in the opening match of Group A. Astralis entered as the favourite team and looked the part in a big way. Still, mousesports made the team sweat before giving up the …
Team Spirit stuns G2 Esports, wins opener at IEM Katowice 2021
William Davis
Counter-Strike
Team Spirit continues to surprise at IEM Katowice 2021, with the CIS squad taking down G2 Esports. In the opening match of IEM Katowice 2021’s group stage, Spirit has extended its current win streak and beat G2 in a close 2-1 match. That brings Team Spirit’s winning streak to six matches in a row. Both teams won their map pick, with Spirit edging out the decider of Inferno. HERE WE …
FalleN replaces Stewie2k as Team Liquid IGL in IEM Katowice 2021
Fariha Bhatti
Counter-Strike
Team Liquid is putting Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo in the driver’s seat ahead of IEM Katowice 2021. It seems that role swaps in Team Liquid are far from over as Jake “Stewie2K” Yip is giving up the captain’s chair. After a series of disappointing results, FalleN will take over the in-game leader position in Team Liquid. When FalleN replaced Team Liquid’s trusted rifle Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken after IEM Global Challenge, …
Counter-Strike has long been among the biggest titles in esports and competitive gaming, even going back to esports’ deepest roots from decades past. What’s more, the game continues going strong today, with developer and publisher Valve releasing the latest iteration of the franchise in 2023. The newest version, Counter-Strike 2, has not been without its issues. But its popularity continues the enduring prominence of the Counter-Strike series, signaling that the venerated franchise is likely here to stay for many years yet to come.
But how did the franchise come be to so prominent in the esports space, and role does CS2 have to play in the industry moving forward?
Counter-Strike has roots in the beginnings of esports
Counter-Strike was unquestionably one of the biggest drivers of what we would today consider to be early professional esports movement. It was far from alone, and it wasn’t the most advanced. That likely was StarCraft: Brood War, a real-time strategy game from famed developer Blizzard that caught on in South Korea and led to a professional scene in the country well ahead of any examples of esports industry elsewhere in the world.
But outside of Korea, Counter-Strike quickly became the driving force behind competitive gaming and esports. First released in 1999 as a modification for popular first-person shooter Half-Life, the game was easy to pick up and play for many gamers. Half-Life was borderline ubiquitous software for gamers with a PC, and adding a mod to it was as simple as downloading and applying said mod. So it was that Counter-Strike began to catch fire and spread across the world.
As it spread, so too did its competitive play. Early competitions often centered around online play, most prominently including the Cyberathlete Amateur League (CAL) in North America and the Clanbase Eurocup in Europe. But live, in-person tournaments, similar to those enjoyed by StarCraft players and fans in Korea, were also rising in prominence.
Within just a few years, there were a number of major annual tournaments being held for the original version of Counter-Strike. Notable international tournament organizers included the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) in the United States, the Electronic Sports World Cup (ESWC) in France, and the World Cyber Games (WCG) in Korea. This was in addition to many other regional tournaments through which teams could test their mettle and battle over smaller prizes.
But even at bigger tournaments, prizes weren’t what they are today, and in general there was far less money available to professional Counter-Strike players than there is in today’s thriving esports industry which sees many players and teams playing at the full-time pro level. That’s a far cry from a time when perhaps a small handful of players were able to make a true living through playing CS alone, and even them, it was often a modest one.
Counter-Strike 2 at the fore of a bigger esports scene than ever before
Counter-Strike 2 was released to a far different esports space than that which the original Counter-Strike occupied. But what exactly is it that has changed the scene so much, besides the accrual of years?
Esports betting is at the top of the list. The sports betting industry is growing and expanding around the world each and every year, and esports has absolutely been a part of that. As esports betting continues to grow and thrive, it brings its benefits to the games that are being bet on. And Counter-Strike 2 is at the top of that list.
These benefits have arrived through a myriad of means. Fan interest in tournaments has gone up and become more consistent with betting markets available for each and every game played, which further incentivizes tournament organizers and their sponsoring partners. But those partners are also now more likely to work with the pro teams and players themselves. Betting operators are among the most common and most generous sponsors in the pro CS2 space, showing how esports betting’s rise has contributed to Counter-Strike’s continued prominence in esports and competitive gaming as a whole.
