Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Shattered Web’s final mission week returns to Kasbah for finale
M Alzamora
Shattered Web is slowly coming to an end, and with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s final week of its latest operation, players have some classic challenges to complete. In addition, Valve has included a second cooperative strike with today’s patch that takes players back to the Kasbah to destroy Kreigeld and his virus in “Quarantined, Isolated, Eliminated.” This week’s missions are a mix of the classics, taking queues from previous CSGO Operations. …
Counter-Strike
Boombl4: “Every time they went for me, I would just kill them”
M Alzamora
After Na`Vi’s exceptional win against G2 Esports at CSGO’s IEM Katowice 2020, the team sat down to talk about the preparation that went into the tournament, Kirill “BoombI4” Mikhailov’s affinity for SMGs, Egor “flamie” Vasilev’s dominant play, and just how much the win meant to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive star Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev. During the interview, Head Coach Andrey “B1ad3” Gorodenskiy also dished the dirt on just what new addition Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy has brought to …
Counter-Strike
Na’Vi trounces G2 Esports, wins IEM Katowice 2020 in dominant fashion
M Alzamora
After Saturday’s semifinals, many expected the grand finals of IEM Katowice 2020 to be a match of epic proportions. In reality, fans got yet another glimpse of what could be the most dangerous Natus Vincere team in history during the team’s 3-0 win against G2 Esports in Poland. Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov must have had whatever Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev had for breakfast yesterday, because the in-game leader for Na`Vi posted a …
Counter-Strike
Natus Vincere shreds Astralis, faces G2 in IEM Katowice 2020 finals
M Alzamora
Natus Vincere and Astralis squared off in a best-of-three that saw the number one team in the world crumble beneath the crushing weight of a frightening Russian squad. Dust 2 and Nuke were the staging grounds for a defeat that seemingly broke Astralis after the team cruised to the semifinals without dropping a single map. Natus Vincere took the series in two decisive maps and booked their tickets to the …
Counter-Strike
Team Liquid out of IEM Katowice 2020 after loss to Natus Vincere
Steven Rondina
Natus Vincere sent North American squad Team Liquid home from IEM Katowice 2020. Liquid came up short against the CIS side, losing the series 2-0 and landing in sixth place at the event. Natus Vincere, Team Liquid, and Dust 2 historically combine for great games, and this showdown at IEM Katowice 2020 was no different. Denis “electronic” Sharipov came up huge for Natus Vincere in the opening pistol round, but …
Counter-Strike
Fnatic clutch in multiple overtimes to beat 100 Thieves at IEM
Steven Rondina
100 Thieves is out of IEM Katowice 2020 after a disappointing loss to Fnatic. The teams faced off in the playoffs semifinals with Fnatic coming out on top 2-0. The loss is undoubtedly a devastating one for 100 Thieves, who failed to complete a massive comeback before punting away a considerable lead. 100 Thieves got on the board first on Mirage with a successful opening pistol round, but Fnatic denied …
Counter-Strike
swag announces retirement from CSGO, looks towards Riot’s Project A
Olivia Richman
After a controversial Counter-Strike: Global Offensive career, Braxton “swag” Pierce is retiring. In a Twitter post, the American CSGO pro stated that he may stream CSGO in the future, but his focus is now on Riot Games’ upcoming tactical shooter, Project A. In fact, he already has pretty lofty goals for the upcoming game. “I am no longer with Swole Patrol. I have decided to take a step back from competitive …
Counter-Strike
All IEM Katowice tickets cancelled amid coronavirus concerns
M Alzamora
The permit for Intel ExtremeMasters and ESL to hold a “mass event” for the IEM XIV World Championship has been revoked by the Polish government just a day before the event was to start its playoff matchups. According to ESL, officials cited health and safety concerns over what would be a large, international gathering. Though it was not explicitly stated by ESL, this likely stems from the global outbreak of the …
Flashpoint announces global LAN qualifiers, dates, and teams
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Flashpoint released the group draws for its Global LAN qualifiers yesterday, but declined to provide an official press release. Instead, the league confirmed a report published by HLTV. The North American league’s closed qualifiers, named the Global LAN Qualifiers, will feature two groups of four teams that won their spots in the open qualifiers earlier this month. In total, two out of the eight teams will join Flashpoint’s ten franchised …
Aleksib’s revenge complete as OG passes ENCE in world rankings
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
With OG’s top-notch performance in BLAST Premier’s group C and ENCE’s catastrophic failure at DreamHack Anaheim, ENCE is probably regretting their decision to let the young in-game leader go. OG is maturing, and quickly. While Aleksib is young, he’s clearly able to mold the players around him into a cohesive force. That trait is special, and there were flashes of Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko’s fire in him during BLAST. Somehow, the 22-year-old …
CSGO patch changes Danger Zone meta, updates Trust Factor
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
In a followup to Monday’s big patch, Valve has released another update for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive last night that made some small changes that could have a big impact. Valve made changes to Danger Zone and CSGO’s matchmaking trust factor while adding in two new options for reporting players and the buy menu. There was only one gameplay change in Tuesday’s patch. Valve has added the chance for late-game paradrops …
CSGO files leak official team and player patches, autograph sprays
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Depending on who you talk to, the big news from Monday night’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive patch was either the crosshair generator or the new Panorama buy menu. But there were two other big additions that slid by in the chaos. The surprise patch came ten days after Valve released an update that tidied up the developer’s shooter internally. While no new content was added, Valve had clearly taken the time …
CSGO patch introduces patch customization, new crosshair generator
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Today’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive patch introduced three changes to Valve’s first-person shooter including customizable agent patches, a crosshair editor, and a brand new buy menu. CSGO has been getting a ton of attention recently and today’s patch introduced some new cosmetic items for fans to drop their money on. The patch introduced patches to the game. These patches feature all nine operation icons and several other graphics beloved by the …
Gen.G s0m “didn’t even notice” dropping 50 frags in DH Anaheim final
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Gen.G managed to win its first international tournament at DreamHack Open Anaheim, overcoming a field that included such big names as MiBR, ENCE, and Complexity. Gen.G swept Brazilian opponent FURIA in the grand final to seal the win. That 2-0 series victory completed a dominant run for Gen.G that saw the recently completed roster win every map played at the event, potentially setting the North American side up for a …
Gen.G defeats FURIA to take the top spot at DreamHack Anaheim 2020
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Even though the series only lasted two maps, Gen.G’s contest against FURIA at DreamHack Open Anaheim was one the team will always remember. In his first LAN tournament with Gen.G, Sam “s0m” Oh rose to the occasion, dropping 50 frags against FURIA and propelling the roster to their first big win outside of qualifier circuits. The grand final began on Nuke, where just minutes before FURIA had stifled Complexity in …
Gen.G, FURIA face off for spot in DreamHack Masters Jonkoping
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Gen.G and FURIA have advanced to the grand finals of DreamHack Open Anaheim 2020. Gen.G took down North 2-0 in the first of Sunday’s matches, while FURIA defeated Complexity in a reverse sweep to book their own ticket to the grand final. Anaheim was full of storylines going in. Will Endpoint pick up a single map? Will MiBR finally take home a tournament win after a brutally long drought? And …
k0nfig on FURIA: “They’re just another Brazilian team to take down”
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Complexity Gaming has looked strong at DreamHack Open Anaheim. The team bested MiBR in both a best of one and a best of three series, with its sole loss coming at the hands of Gen.G. That 2-1 record secured Complexity a spot in the playoffs here in Anaheim. The solid outing continues what has been a strong upswing for the enduring North American organization. A major part of that growth …
Endpoint revives British CSGO with massive upset over forZe
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Endpoint and forZe weren’t messing around at DreamHack Open Anaheim. The two teams took a showdown on Vertigo to quadruple overtime. Endpoint eventually took the map with a 28-26 victory. In the closest match of the event thus far, the two teams were even in nearly every category. Regulation saw each half split 8-7 and the teams were even through three overtime periods. After Vertigo, forZe clapped back and forced …
Flashpoint open qualifiers closed to teams outside select regions
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Flashpoint may have championed offering a chance to everyone, but recent tests and two sources inside a South China team say that the qualifiers were not quite as open as they were purported to be. According to tests performed by WIN.gg, Flashpoint’s qualifiers were never open to teams outside the regions of North America, Europe, and South America. In addition, tournament rules stated that participating teams must have at least …
ESL Pro League Season 11 headed to Denver after ownership change
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Denver will host the ESL Pro League Season 11 Finals later this year, according to an official press release from the company. The news comes just a day after Astralis and 12 other teams revealed that they were now part owners of the long-running league. More information on that ground-breaking shift can be found here. Starting on March 16, season 11 of the EPL will showcase 24 teams in a …
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.
