Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
The three best plays ever from fnatic’s Brollan
M Alzamora
fnatic’s Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin is one of the youngest professional CSGO players in the world, but that doesn’t mean that he has a bunch of learning to do. After joining fnatic in October 2018, Brollan impressed with more than just his raw ability. He has started to build a reputation for being calm and collected in clutch situations. Over the past year, Brollan has put together an impressive highlight reel of …
Counter-Strike
Report reveals the salaries of Astralis’ star players
M Alzamora
According to a report by Danish website BT.dk, Astralis’ players earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in salary each year, even before winning prize money from their in-game performance. While the salaries of professional CSGO players have long been a mystery, BT.dk caught a glimpse of what esports’ top players are paid. The report places the salaries of Astralis’ players at $364,000 USD each year, before any tournament winnings. According …
Counter-Strike
WINNERS League Season 4 sees massive viewership increase
M Alzamora
WINNERS League Season 4 is now in the books after both North America and Europe crowned their respective divisional champions. The league’s European division saw a rematch of Season 3’s grand final with ESPADA facing off against Nemiga once again for the title. But this year, it was Nemiga that came out on top. In the North American bracket, Chaos Esports Club squared off against Triumph Gaming. Here it was …
Counter-Strike
CSGO’s Trusted Mode is broken, but these fixes might help
M Alzamora
Valve has introduced an improved anti-cheat to CSGO. But it hasn’t improved the experience for everyone, making this a rough week for many CSGO fans and players. CSGO’s new “Trusted Mode” is an attempt by Valve to crack down on CSGO’s cheating epidemic that is nearly a decade old at this point, but some players are saying that CSGO’s new and improved anti-cheat has actually made things worse. Many players …
Counter-Strike
Someone just brought Fortnite’s building mechanics to CSGO
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Fortnite exist within their own disparate genres, but what would happen if someone managed to combine the two? A tweet from the official FaZe Clan account showed the possibilities, courtesy of a German CSGO player who posted the original video on Twitter. What would you do if they added building to Counter-Strike?(via @Kinsi55) pic.twitter.com/QFz02fOqiw — FaZe Clan (@FaZeClan) July 10, 2020 It would certainly make taking …
Counter-Strike
Kjaerbye officially departs North after medical leave
M Alzamora
Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye has officially left the Danish CSGO team North after an extended absence due to medical issues. The team announced the news on its official Twitter account and on the team’s website, saying that both North and Kjaerbye spoke extensively about his future with the team before the decision was made for the two to part ways. Update on @KjaerbyeCS:Today Markus and North have decided to part ways. …
Counter-Strike
This is the best way to smoke yard on Nuke in CSGO
M Alzamora
Counter-Strile: Global Offensive is all about controlling territory, and there may not be a more powerful area to take over than the outside yard on Nuke. After Nuke was updated, many teams threw these yard smokes just to hold CT players in their default positions. Without the ability to know if the attackers are walking down secret or faking for a quick A rush to punish an early rotation, the …
Counter-Strike
Updated European ESL Road to Rio rankings after CS Summit 6
M Alzamora
With Valve’s summer Regional Ranking tournament CS Summit 6 all wrapped up, we’ve put together the updated standings heading into the fall CSGO season. The professional CSGO scene’s top teams are still holding onto their spots at the top of the game’s Regional Major Rankings, but a bunch of upsets over the course of CS Summit 6 means that there are new contenders entering the arena. BIG made a huge …
blameF and his new teammates power Complexity’s CSGO comeback
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Complexity’s surprise win at BLAST Premier’s European spring finals was more than just a blip on the radar. Almost a year ago after a disappointing run at StarLadder Berlin 2019, Complexity CEO Jason Lake made it clear that he wasn’t going to stand for any more poor play. Lake called out his players on Twitter in what many felt was a harsh public admonishing. I love our players as individuals …
BIG claims top spot in latest CSGO world rankings, Na’Vi falls
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Following wins at CS Summit 6, DreamHack Masters Spring, and the ESL Pro League Season 12 qualifiers, BIG is on top of the world. A string of powerful performances from the German lineup catapulted BIG to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s number one world ranking for the first time in the team’s history. The squad, comprised of Johannes “tabsen” Wodarz, Tizian “tiziaN” Feldbusch, Florian “syrsoN” Rische, Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş, and Nils “k1to” …
These are the longest CSGO games in competitive history
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
“This is the longest CSGO game ever.” Every Counter-Strike player has said this at least once, and the game’s complexity means that CSGO requires a serious time investment from its players. Even after counting the hours spent learning the game’s movement, mechanics, and grenade lineups, CSGO’s players can sometimes spend more than an hour playing out a single match. And that’s only in Valve’s CSGO matchmaking system, where there …
GeT_RiGhT reveals that he caught COVID-19 during Flashpoint Season 1
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund had a really bad time in Flashpoint Season 1. It isn’t just because his long-awaited reunion with his former Ninjas in Pyjamas teammates ended the event with an underwhelming 10th-place fashion. According to the legendary lurker, GeT_RiGhT’s time in Flashpoint also stunk because he caught COVID-19. The Dignitas player discussed his diagnosis on Twitter: Wow.. interesting news.Seems like I can visit my parents after months not seeing …
Evil Geniuses dominates Gen.G to win CS Summit 6 North America
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Evil Geniuses made the most of its one-map advantage, demolishing Gen.G 3-0 in North America’s regional CS Summit 6. While Gen.G continued to show that it has difficulties communicating during tense moments, Evil Geniuses looked completely at home in Valve’s second online Regional Ranking tournament. In fact, EG hasn’t looked this good since their short run at the top in 2019 after the roster’s transfer from NRG Esports. The roster, …
BIG Clan stuns Vitality, takes 1st place in CS Summit 6 Europe
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
BIG Clan continued its rampage through Europe’s best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams with its win over Team Vitality in CS Summit 6. Despite starting the series down a map thanks to Vitality’s upper-bracket advantage, BIG won three out of four maps to take first place in CS Summit 6. CSGO’s second Regional Ranking Tournament didn’t go as planned for the French squad, who dropped one of its own map picks, …
This new AI wants to teach you how to play Counter-Strike
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
There is a brand new tutor looking to bring Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players to the next level. And it’s an AI. The new add-on, called Tip Genius, gives players recommendations for flashes, smokes, and positioning based on the player’s current in-game situation, making it one of the most innovative additions to CSGO since players started making their own practice maps for the popular first-person shooter. WIN.gg talked to the add-on’s …
These are the best CSGO practice maps to improve your game
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Practice makes perfect in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, so here are three workshop maps that players can reliably use to take their game to the next level. Deathmatching isn’t the only way to get better at CSGO. With seven maps in the competitive pool, players also have to know grenade lineups, common peek angles, and a ton of other skills to become a well-rounded competitor. CSGO itself doesn’t have a ton …
Flashpoint and CSPPA in conflict entering CSGO player break
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
FLASHPOINT is reportedly withholding a $165,000 payment from the Counter-Strike Professional Players Association, claiming that the CSPPA violated an agreement between the two parties during FLASHPOINT Season 1. A report by DBLTap’s Jarek “Dekay” Lewis includes a copy of a letter from FLASHPOINT to the CSPPA that outlines the complaints. In the letter, FLASHPOINT claims that the CSPPA stopped responding to emails from the tournament organizer regarding the testing of …
FaZe Clan reportedly looking to add ALEX from Team Vitality
Jared Wynne
Counter-Strike
In-game leaders are a highly sought-after commodity in the current Counter-Strike: Global Offensive scene right now and several teams are looking to fill that hole in their lineup. With a number of squads lacking a seasoned captain, it should come as no surprise that Team Vitality’s Alex “ALEX” McMeekin is one of the most in-demand players in professional CSGO at the moment. One of the biggest names in need of …
WINNERS League Season 4 – On the doorstep of semi-finals
Jared Wynne
Counter-Strike
First round of playoffs finished without any real upsets, most of the games were incredibly close and had impressive show of teamplay and resilience. One could argue that it was a surprise that CR4ZY beat SKADE, but if you’ve been paying attention, you could see how quickly the Ukrainian team has developed under coach Ivan “Johnta” Shevtsov and them taking the match over a reformed SKADE wasn’t a shock. PACT …
MIBR fer banned on Twitch amid racism, cheating controversies
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro player Fernando “fer” Alvarenga has been banned on Twitch, according to the Twitter account StreamerBans. The ban follows what has been a month of bad press for both fer and his team, MIBR, after a series of incidents that included fer’s use of a Brazilian racial slur on his Twitch stream, death threats made against another professional CSGO player, and accusations of bullying another 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.
