Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
These are the best pistol round pro players in all of CSGO
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s pistols are powerful weapons in the right hands. With each CSGO match starting with a pistol round, teams with proficient pistol players start at a distinct advantage. The list of the top five pistol players includes some of CSGO’s best, a testament to how much of an impact skills with the pistol make. What’s even more interesting is that while Astralis leads teams in overall pistol round …
Counter-Strike
Evil Geniuses outlasts Team Liquid, wins ESL One Cologne 2020
M Alzamora
North America’s ESL One Cologne grand final went all five maps but Evil Geniuses took first place at the expense of Team Liquid. The series went back and forth, with EG needing all five maps before it could secure victory with a 16-12 win on Dust 2. The matchup went back and forth with each team taking their own map picks, starting with an overtime win by EG on Nuke …
News
Rapper Post Malone invests more in esports, buys part of Team Envy
Olivia Richman
Rapper Post Malone is making moves in the esports industry. Envy Gaming has revealed that Post Malone is now a part-owner of the esports organization. “I grew up in Texas and I’ve been gaming my whole life, so this just really felt right. I have always wanted to be a part of bringing gaming into the professional sports world so to be involved with what Envy is doing in my …
Counter-Strike
s1mple owns the record for best kill-death score in CSGO history
M Alzamora
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev leads all pro Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players in history in kill-to-death differential. s1mple has posted a +6,471 over 1,207 maps, beating out Kenny “kennyS” Schrub, Nicolai “device” Reedtz, and Marcelo “coldzera” David for the number one spot. Natus Vincere’s star player also came in second in all-time rating with a 1.24 behind Team Vitality’s Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut. While this is an amazing stat, it probably doesn’t come …
Counter-Strike
CSGO update brings changes to Cache, as well as Swamp, Mutiny
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s latest update changed its two newest maps, Swamp and Mutiny, while also fixing several bugs on the popular Cache. CSGO’s latest update made improvements to Swamp, with developers focusing on improving the map’s performance and overall gameplay flow. Swamp saw the most impactful changes in the update, with a brand new radar texture added as well as the addition of a new path that players can use …
Counter-Strike
Pusha T and Logic invest in Chaos EC esports organization
Olivia Richman
Drake better watch out. He’s not the only rapper making big moves into esports. Chaos Esports Club has just announced that some notable hip-hop names will be backing the team moving forward, including Logic and long-time Drake rival Pusha T. In ESL Cologne, Chaos’ Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team beat 100 Thieves, with whom Drake is an investor. Pusha T responded with a supportive tweet in Chaos’ favor. ????Headshots to keep …
Counter-Strike
FaZe Clan adding Kjaerbye brings balance to a flashy CSGO team
M Alzamora
With FaZe Clan’s August addition of Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye, the team’s best star players may finally have the space to operate. Some could argue that FaZe’s star-studded CSGO roster is the game’s most underachieving group of all time, given the level of talent on its roster. Soon after it entered Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in 2016, it was clear that the wealthy organization intended to build its team by spending a …
Counter-Strike
Breaking down boombl4’s whiffed spray in Na`Vi loss to NiP
M Alzamora
It wasn’t a good day for the Natus Vincere, as a whiffed spray from Kirill “boombl4” Mikhailov not only looked but also led to a domino effect for the struggling CIS team. Natus Vincere’s IGL missed 14 out of 17 bullets while trying to entry kill Ninjas in Pyjamas’ Hampus “hampus” Poser before the Swedish surprise ended Na`Vi’s ESL One Cologne run. It’s a great example of how an engagement …
CSGO addiction timeouts are now live in China, limit play time
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
After announcing that it would require games to limit the number of hours minors spend playing video games last November, China’s government officially put them into effect in June. Just before CSGO’s professional players took some much needed time off, China’s anti-addiction measures aimed at minors became official. The measures were put into place after the country’s government gave players early notice around the release of the game’s Shattered Web …
Perfect World releases 128-tick CSGO servers before Valve
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Perfect World has released an outside client that has brought 128-tick server to China’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players. Called the Perfect World Battle platform, the client seems to operate much like other third-party options like ESEA and FACEIT. The Chinese publisher originally inked a deal with Valve to bring CSGO to China’s enormous playerbase in 2018. Now, PW is officially launching its own 128-tick servers in China before Valve launches …
Pronax sends alarming tweets from hospital, updates fans
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Markus “Pronax” Wallsten alarmed his followers when he sent out a string of concerning tweets late Sunday night. On August 23, Pronax tweeted that he “needed help” after his coworkers had “invented lies” about him, resulting in him needing a lawyer to get out of a mental hospital. Jag behöver hjälp i Malmö, mina egna kollegor har hittat på lögner om mig, och jag behöver …
mousesports bench woxic despite promising ESL One Cologne start
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
mousesports didn’t last long in ESL One Cologne 2020, but its sudden benching of AWPer Özgür “woxic” Eker is cause for concern. After dropping out of ESL One Cologne 2020 without a win, woxic took to Twitter and confirmed reports that the organization had benched him. While there has been no official word from the mousesports organization, woxic told fans that more details will be released in the near future. …
Stewie2k is in control of Team Liquid, and that’s a good thing
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Jake “Stewie2k” Yip recently revealed a newfound confidence along with an explanation for the addition of new coach Jason “moses” O’Toole, and there’s more to that explanation than meets the eye. While some fans might think being a top Counter-Strike: Global Offensive star is a life of luxury, Stewie’s recent comments show that it sometimes means making difficult decisions and living with their consequences. Speaking during an ESL One Cologne …
Natus Vincere vs. Complexity ESL One Cologne Betting Analysis
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
ESL One Cologne continues on August 23 with what should be a great matchup between Natus Vincere and Complexity in the upper bracket semifinals. Both teams are going into this best-of-three for a spot in the upper bracket finals looking strong. Na`Vi is coming off a solid win against a resurgent mousesports team that looked great until it ran into MAD Lions in the tournament’s lower bracket. Even though it …
Coldzera eliminates MIBR from ESL One Cologne with huge clutch
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
FaZe’s Marcelo “coldzera” David didn’t hesitate for a second against his former team. In ESL One Cologne’s lower bracket, FaZe Clan and MIBR faced off in what would’ve been a must-watch CSGO match at one point. Unfortunately, due to MIBR’s recent public struggles and FaZe’s recent roster changes, neither team has looked very good. That changed at the very end of the match as coldzera knocked out his former teammates …
smooya leaks failed North deal on ESL Cologne stream
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Owen “smooya” Butterfield announced to viewers that he was set to join North’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster prior to a regional matchup between Ninjas in Pyjamas and his former team BIG Clan at ESL One Cologne. While BIG would go on to lose a close best-of-three against a young NiP side, smooya revealed that he’s still entertaining offers from some of CSGO’s top teams. When ESL hosts Hugo “Hugo” Byron, …
Valve responds to Jamppi’s request to lift VAC ban temporarily
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
The ongoing drama between pro Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen and Valve is still going. But this time, Valve has spoken out against Jamppi directly. Jamppi filed a lawsuit against the Counter-Strike developers in March when Valve barred him from all Valve-sponsored tournaments due to a VAC ban. The 19-year-old was seeking €268,092 in compensation for “missed earnings.” He also demanded that his VAC ban be lifted, claiming …
MIBR’s European region switch isn’t working as team implodes
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
MIBR’s switch to the European region for ESL One Cologne hasn’t gone exactly to plan. When news came through that Brazilian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team MIBR planned to switch to the European region to compete in ESL One Cologne, many fans were confused. MIBR had been struggling in North America, most recently at CS Summit 6, losing to both FURIA and Team Liquid in miserable fashion. While Europe’s Regional ESL …
Counter-Strike 1.6 just got its first update in a year
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike 1.6 received an update on August 19, almost a year after Valve last updated the original CS. Valve has pushed an update to CS 1.6 that includes several fixes. Most crucial are some security fixes that deal with how the 1.6 client handles communications to and from the game’s servers. Developers have also addressed an issue with CS 1.6 demos loading incorrectly, which resulted in crashes in certain instances. …
ALEX reportedly targeted to lead FunPlus Phoenix CSGO roster
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Reports indicate that Alex “ALEX” McMeekin is at the top of the list to lead FunPlus Phoenix’s CSGO roster. After a rough entrance into Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s competitive scene, FPX is reportedly looking at former Vitality in-game leader ALEX to lead its return to CSGO, according to a report from DBLTab. FPX was at the center of a controversy during FLASHPOINT 1 when it attempted to acquire Danish CSGO team …
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.
