Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
s1mple shows off a cool new bench boost for Mirage’s B site
M Alzamora
It’s sometimes hard to take aggressive positions on Mirage, but Natus Vincere’s Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev showed off a neat boost that serves as an easy way to get an early heads up on a Mirage B rush. The boost that s1mple shows off here is a clever way to get eyes into the B site apartments without the defending CTs taking up any of the usual positions. But there are …
Counter-Strike
Valve used Overwatch to train machines to combat CSGO cheating
M Alzamora
A Counter-Strike: Global Offensive developer has explained just how CSGO’s Overwatch, Trust Factor, and VAC all work together. We just have to go back to the 2018 Game Developers Conference in order to hear about it. In 2018, CSGO developer John McDonald took the stage at the Game Developers Conference for a presentation titled “Using Deep Learning to Combat Cheating in CSGO.” The presentation gave an in-depth explanation of the …
Counter-Strike
Lekr0 set to join North as Kjaerbye replacement, report says
M Alzamora
Jonas “Lekr0” Olofsson is set to join the North esports organization, according to reports. A report places Lekro in the North lineup with an official announcement coming in the following days, according to HLTV.com. Lekro’s move to North comes just a week after former North star Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye announced that he would join FaZe Clan’s international lineup. Lekr0 has sat the Ninjas in Pyjamas bench since May of 2020 …
Counter-Strike
100 Thieves coach ImAPet thinks CSGO badly needs new maps
M Alzamora
100 Thieves head coach Chet “ImAPet” Singh has a problem with CSGO’s map rotation. In a post on Twitter, ImAPet critiqued Valve’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive map choices, calling them “not exciting,” while suggesting that Valve remove Mirage, Overpass, and Train from the current rotation. We need 3 new maps in CSGO in the rotation, the current pool isn’t exciting anymore — 100T Chet Singh (@chetsingh) August 14, 2020 CSGO currently …
Counter-Strike
Stats show dev1ce and dupreeh carry Astralis while Magisk slumps
M Alzamora
The loss of Astralis’ in-game leader and its best clutch player hasn’t dampened Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz’s incredibly consistent CSGO prowess. But the same can’t be said for some of his teammates. Ever since their time together at Team SoloMid, Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen and dev1ce have been each other’s wingmen. Fans who are familiar enough with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s micro plays can catch the small details and see the fingerprints of …
Counter-Strike
BLAST announces end of partnership with NEOM after criticism
Steven Rondina
After weeks of silence and sustained pushback from fans and professional talent alike, BLAST owner RFRSH Entertainment has announced the end of its partnership with NEOM. The news was announced in an internal meeting with the tournament organizer, which was obtained by HLTV. No further details on the call were reported, but this follows a number of esports teams and casters criticizing the partnership on social media. The BLAST x …
Counter-Strike
You might already have these three expensive CSGO skins
M Alzamora
Flashy patterns in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skins are nothing new, but some common skins can be worth much more if players are lucky enough to find one with the right pattern. Most CSGO players know about the different patterns on the Slaughter knives or what it means to have a full fade bayonet, but there are a few rare patterns on common weapon skins to turn a skin normally worth …
Counter-Strike
Shroud returns to Twitch streaming after Mixer’s demise
M Alzamora
Michael “shroud” Grzesiek is coming home to the streaming platform that kickstarted his career as an entertainer, according to a post from the streamer’s official Twitter account. After leaving fans in the dark for nearly a month following the closure of Mixer, Shroud announced his return to Twitch alongside the sort of well-produced video that his fans have come to know him for. I’m coming homehttps://t.co/0nsby7MTHi pic.twitter.com/6qO2E4m4jy — Michael Grzesiek …
gAuLeS apologizes to Chaos and leaf, not everyone believes him
Steven Rondina
News
Several weeks after the fact, Alexandre “gAuLeS” Borba is finally apologizing to Chaos Esports Club. The Brazilian caster took to Reddit to state that he was wrong in leveling accusations of cheating against the North American squad. His apology follows increased pressure to apologize from tournament organizers. He also apologized during a live stream. “It was not my intention to inspire anger or actions that affected another person negatively. I …
Stats show that Cloud9’s CSGO team is now in decline
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
North America’s favorite team hasn’t performed well over the past six months. Since their signing in January of 2020, Cloud9 has gone from an impressive underdog side to a team in a slump, according to statistics gathered over the past six months. Its roster started off 2020 strong, steamrolling competition on its way to an IEM Katowice appearance, but has struggled since then. This is evidenced by both player and …
This devastating pop flash on Mirage will help you take mid
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
BIG’s Johannes “tabseN” Wodarz is a player of many talents, but his new mid flash for Mirage might prove to be his greatest contribution to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players. Map control, especially on Mirage, should be step one in planning out any attacking strategy. The difficulty in taking Mirage’s mid area stems from the fact that defenders can peek top mid from three separate angles. While sending a T underpass …
3 burning questions heading into ESL One Cologne 2020
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
ESL One Cologne kicks off on August 16 and it’s fans’ first chance to see how the majority of top CSGO teams stack up in real competition. While fans have gotten a taste of the new-look Team Liquid In DreamHack Open 2020, other top teams haven’t made an appearance since the player break. Some teams, such as FaZe Clan and Astralis, will see their first matches in ESL One Cologne, …
Team Liquid adds caster moses as new CSGO head coach, adreN out
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Team Liquid has made a big change to its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team. The organization has added a new head coach in Jason “moses” O’Toole, who will be replacing Eric “adreN” Hoag. The news was revealed by Liquid on the organization’s official Twitter account: Our journey towards reclaiming first place begins today. Welcome, @MosesGG pic.twitter.com/PwBGkSJo1S — Team Liquid (@TeamLiquid) August 9, 2020 moses is best known to current fans of …
78-year-old CSGO player becomes champion with Silver Snipers
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
“I’m 78 and I’ll kick your ass at Counter-Strike!” PC Gamer’s Totally Game series recently featured 78-year-old CSGO champion Abbe “DieHardBirdie” Drakborg, who won the CSGO Senior League tournament at DreamHack last year with his squad, Silver Snipers. The youngest member was 64 years old at the time. DieHardBirdie said that winning DreamHack was his favorite moment of his career because it allowed his team to showcase their skills to …
Astralis’ gla1ve is out for ESL One Cologne
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Astralis fans probably won’t see Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander or Andreas “xyp9x” Højsleth in ESL One Cologne’s Regional standoff. Astralis’ gla1ve won’t compete for the team at the upcoming ESL One Cologne tournament, according to a tweet from the player’s official Twitter account. ESL currently has the player listed as a substitute for Denmark’s premier Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team along with fellow player xyp9x, according to a report from Danish sports …
ESL One Cologne 2020 schedule, opening matches revealed
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
ESL has revealed the groups and opening matchups for the upcoming ESL One Cologne 2020. Groups are now live for all four of ESL One Cologne’s regions, as well the early round matchups for each of the tournament’s group stages. Cologne’s European division is split into two groups of eight teams, with each group playing four matches on opening day on August 18. This will come alongside North America’s two …
CSGO releases new Fracture weapons case, updates new maps
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
CSGO has released its second weapons case of 2020, the Fracture case. The case is the first case released since the Prisma 2 case in early March. The new case features 17 different finishes, including a rare appearance by both the CT M4A4 and the T AK-47 in the same case. In addition to the two main rifles, the case also contains skins for both the Glock and the P2000. …
FaZe Clan reportedly adding Kjaerbye for ESL One Cologne 2020
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Update August 11: FaZe Clan has officially announced Kjærbye’s signing. Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye is set to join FaZe Clan. According to a report by Polish news site cybersport.pl, the Dane will be joining FaZe as a replacement for Aurimas “Bymas” Pipiras. The former North and Astralis rifler left North earlier this year in the middle of ESL’s Road to Rio, citing health issues and forcing the roster to use its …
Envy involved in major CSGO roster shakeup, LEGIJA returns
Jared Wynne
Counter-Strike
Team Envy has announced some drastic changes to its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster. The team has parted ways with Ryan “ryann” Welsh and Kaleb “moose” Jayne, with former coach Nikola “LEGIJA” Ninić now transitioning into the starting roster as a player. Taking over LEGIJA’s coaching duties will be Polish veteran Jakub “kuben” Gurczyński. LEGIJA himself is a veteran of the CSGO scene with a distinguished career dating back to 2012. …
MAD Lions adds Polish veteran innocent ahead of DreamHack Summer
Jared Wynne
Counter-Strike
MAD Lions has completed its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster with Polish rifler Paweł “innocent” Mocek. innocent replaces Lucas “Bubzkji” Andersen, who departed for Astralis last week. “Thrilled to have the opportunity to join a team like MAD Lions. If you know me, you know I will work my ass off to make it work, as I did last year in order to be here. Hopefully I can use this chance …
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.
