Counter-Strike
News
gAuLeS apologizes to Chaos and leaf, not everyone believes him
Steven Rondina
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 …
Counter-Strike
Stats show that Cloud9’s CSGO team is now in decline
M Alzamora
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 …
Counter-Strike
This devastating pop flash on Mirage will help you take mid
M Alzamora
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 …
Counter-Strike
3 burning questions heading into ESL One Cologne 2020
M Alzamora
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, …
Counter-Strike
ESL One Cologne 2020 schedule, opening matches revealed
M Alzamora
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 …
Counter-Strike
CSGO releases new Fracture weapons case, updates new maps
M Alzamora
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. …
Counter-Strike
FaZe Clan reportedly adding Kjaerbye for ESL One Cologne 2020
M Alzamora
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 …
Counter-Strike
Envy involved in major CSGO roster shakeup, LEGIJA returns
Jared Wynne
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 …
Ex-Virtus.pro star pashaBiceps joins Team Liquid Stream Team
Jared Wynne
Counter-Strike
Team Liquid has announced the signing of Counter-Strike legend Jarosław “pashaBiceps” Jarząbkowski to its Liquid Stream Team. In its announcement on Twitter, the organization included a mock-up WhatsApp chat mockup between their current roster, where they said PashaBiceps would be joining as a ‘streamer and certified Liquid supporter’. “Ok boys. Papito is coming! I’m joining Team Liquid and becoming their new friend, which will support them for better or worse. …
Some CSGO talents boycott BLAST over partnership with NEOM
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Soon after the BLAST Premier Pro Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament series announced a new partnership with NEOM, some top CSGO talent came out to make clear that they wouldn’t work with BLAST any longer. NEOM, a developing tourist attraction in Saudi Arabia also came under fire in the LEC when League of Legends talent revolted after Riot Games’ European competitive league had partnered with NEOM. The LEC wound up ending …
DreamHack Open Summer North America is TL Grim’s first big test
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
DreamHack Open Summer is the first chance for fans to see how North America’s participating teams measure up after the player break. The first tournament after CSGO’s player break can be a sloppy one, with many teams returning to practice only days before it begins. Fans can see it in their play, as teams that usually showcase impressive coordination and creative executes might come into the second half of the …
s1mple unbanned on Twitch after just one week
M Alzamora
News
Twitch has reversed Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev’s ban nearly one week after the streaming service banned the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive star’s account. It’s still unclear why s1mple was originally banned, but Natus Vincere’s star player seems to have avoided a permanent ban under Twitch’s three-strike policy, despite last week’s ban checking the box as his third suspension from the platform. s1mple has been banned twice before, both times for the use …
What are the signs that CSGO’s next operation is on its way?
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive fans have had to do a lot of waiting recently. In less than a month, it will have been an entire year since the last time fans saw teams compete in the last CSGO Major. September is also the same time that Valve dropped what we now know were some of the earliest hints about Operation Shattered Web. For a game that lives and breathes by its …
Virtus.pro kicks AdreN, takes RMR hit ahead of IEM New York Online
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Virtus.pro announced it has parted ways with CSGO veteran as CSGO Major MVP Dauren “AdreN” Kystaubayev after seven months with the organization. VP acquired AdreN and the rest of the AVANGAR roster in a transfer in December 2019 following a string of success. After winning the 2017 PGL Major with Gambit, AdreN spent time with FaZe Clan before his transfer to AVANGAR. His gunplay and veteran savvy were key in …
This bouncing molotov shows the weird ways CSGO molotovs work
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
A runaway molotov turned a Mirage mid play into a rare video clip, and highlighted just how strange the behavor of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s molotovs can really be. Most Mirage players know that just one or two moltovs can be their ticket into Mirage’s A bombsite, this particular mid molotov seems like it had a mind of its own. A recent clip posted to social media showed off what can …
IEM New York goes online as final RMR event for NA, CIS regions
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Tournament organizer ESL officially that 2020’s IEM New York will take place online while stating that it will also be the final Regional Ranking tournament and will be the final Regional Ranking tournament for both the North America and CIS regions. Fans of European CSGO don’t need to worry; IEM New York Online will also feature Europe’s top teams Don’t let the name fool you, IEM New York is now …
Leaving Team Liquid, is nitr0 the answer to Chaos’ problems?
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Team Liquid officially released Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella after the former captain had spent over five years with the organization. So what does this mean for Liquid and for nitr0, and where might this veteran player next land? Liquid officially announced that nitr0 had been removed from the roster in a nearly five-minute video that was heavy on emotion and light on details. The fact that TL released a video at …
Danger Zone: Everything you need to know about CSGO’s battle royale
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
After Rust kicked off the battle royale trend, it was only a matter of time before Valve got in on the action. Now nearly two years old, Danger Zone has separated itself from other battle royale games. Even groundbreaking additions to the genre like Fortnite’s building system don’t hold a candle to this under-appreciated addition to CSGO. A recent CSGO update removed one of Danger Zone’s maps, Jungle, from public …
Overpass A execute: Basic strategies, smokes, and pop flashes
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Overpass has slowly become one of the most favored maps in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Many professional teams, from Cloud9 to Team Liquid, have called the map home. But the problem for casual players is that its unconventianl bombsites and winding staircases that connect them can cause serious problems. In most casual matches, much of the action takes place on the sites themselves, with attackers often taking early positions inside bathrooms …
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.
