Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
The EG roster’s run from NRG to the number one rank in CSGO
M Alzamora
Evil Geniuses is now ranked world number one in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive after three solid months of performances. They leapfrogged both Team Liquid and Astralis to take the top spot after their wins at ESL One New York and StarSeries & i-League Season 8. Starting with the StarLadder Berlin Major, EG has improved exponentially in each tournament. The need for comebacks has dwindled while close wins have become blowouts. The …
Counter-Strike
Everything to know about BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen
M Alzamora
RFRSH Entertainment has revealed the scheduled matchups for this weekend’s BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen tournament. Six of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s most recognizable teams will be in attendance, and the final regular season BLAST event should shed some light on how these teams will perform in the upcoming gamut of tournaments in the winter season. BLAST’s unique format is not changing for the showdown in Copenhagen. Teams will all play in …
Counter-Strike
Swole Patrol, Nemiga Gaming start WINNERS League Season 3 strong
M Alzamora
WINNERS League Season 3 has finally arrived. With that, fans can watch some of the hottest up-and-coming teams in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive face off. Some of them, like the New England Whalers, are looking to prove themselves in the NA division as they enter the next tier of CSGO competition. Others, like returning champions Swole Patrol, are looking to reestablish themselves as serious threats with a new roster. The situation …
Counter-Strike
Twitch shares tribute to shroud as streamer heads to Mixer
Olivia Richman
Many were shocked when popular streamer Michael “shroud” Grzesiek announced he was switching to Mixer last week. So far, the move has been a positive one for the former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro. His first new streams saw big numbers, and he received a lot of support from fellow Mixer star Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, who made the move himself in August. Twitch continued spreading the good vibes by releasing a …
Counter-Strike
Fnatic set to join EG, Vitality, and more at EPICENTER Moscow
M Alzamora
EPICENTER has unveiled another team directly invited to the upcoming EPICENTER Moscow event, naming Fnatic as the fifth team to receive a direct invite to the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament taking place in December. Fnatic joins Natus Vincere, AVANGAR, Evil Geniuses, and Team Vitality as squads that will skip the open qualifiers and instead be seeded directly into the $500K tournament. The European Open qualifiers for EPICENTER Moscow will get …
Counter-Strike
Report indicates Complexity to replace dephh with k0nfig
M Alzamora
According to a report from French esports news site 1pv.fr, Complexity Gaming is in the early stages of replacing longtime player Rory “dephh” Jackson with Denmark’s Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke. Dephh is currently the longest-tenured player on the Complexity roster, having joined in 2016 and captained several iterations of the organization’s CSGO squads. k0nfig has spent time with several teams since his split with North in February 2018. The unconfirmed rumor …
Counter-Strike
Evil Geniuses sweep Fnatic, win StarSeries Season 8
M Alzamora
Evil Geniuses solidified their top-five ranking this weekend by winning StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 8, defeating Fnatic in the grand finals in just two maps. EG’s firepower was simply too much for Fnatic to handle, even as the Swedish team was coming off a statement win at DreamHack Masters Malmӧ earlier this month. The victory restores some faith in the North American organization, especially after their own rough performance …
Counter-Strike
BLAST Global Final’s last team to be determined in Copenhagen
M Alzamora
When the BLAST Pro Series Global Final kicks off on December 12, fans will be able to see the circuit’s top four teams duke it out in Bahrain for the top prize of $350,000. RFRSH Entertainment’s BLAST Pro Series originally started in 2017 as a series of low-pressure tournaments with an emphasis on the fan experience. That changed when organizer RFRSH Entertainment reworked the standalone events into a rebranded tournament …
Astralis’ dev1ce is latest pro to speak out against Krieg
Nina Forneloza
Counter-Strike
Astralis star Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz is among the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pros who are frustrated with the SG553, also known as the Krieg. In a story posted to Instagram, dev1ce voiced his displeasure with the current power of the rifle, questioning whether it’s even worth buying the AWP with its pervasiveness in the current meta. “Tough night for me personally, struggling to awp against the kriegs. Not quite sure if …
shroud hits big numbers in his first Mixer live stream
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Fans were shocked over Michael “shroud” Grzesiek’s move to Mixer, but it seems they’ve quickly adapted and followed him to a new streaming platform. According to Lightstream, shroud had 240,000 followers on Mixer on day one, before he even started to stream. Once he finally went online playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, shroud’s first Mixer broadcast saw him peak at 78,000 viewers with an average of 67,000 viewers throughout the …
Anti-toxicity AI Minerva fights bad behavior on FaceIT
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
FACEIT, a third-party server provider for several popular multiplayer games, is no stranger to toxicity. Online gamers are notorious for their poor behavior, and third-party clients aren’t exempt from the toxicity, either. Companies have spent years attempting to fix this very issue, with solutions ranging from in-game reporting to requiring players to verify a phone number in order to play. While these stopgaps often slow toxic behavior, they always fail …
shroud reveals reason behind his jumping from Twitch to Mixer
Nina Forneloza
Counter-Strike
Michael “shroud” Grzesiek has revealed the real reason that he made the move from Twitch to Microsoft’s streaming platform Mixer. Shroud was one of the most popular streamers on Twitch with over 7 million followers on the platform. Earlier this week he made the shocking announcement that he was going to join Mixer. During his first Mixer stream he was asked the question of why he left Twitch in the …
StarLadder referee says s1mple raged at teammates at StarSeries
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
A referee may have valuable insight as to why Natus Vincere was eliminated from StarSeries i-League Season 8 so early on. The StarLadder referee reportedly sent messages to his Telegram group about some of the members of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team. In the first message, the referee had confided that Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev was “raging at teammates,” adding that everyone is “afraid to stop him.” He then accused Ladislav “GuardiaN” …
shroud announces he is moving to Mixer, likely leaving Twitch
M Alzamora
News
Michael “shroud” Grzesiek announced on Twitter that he is moving from Twitch to rival streaming platform Mixer. The news was revealed in a short video that offered few other details. Shroud’s move away from Twitch marks the second famous streamer to leave the platform over recent months, following Tyler “Ninja” Blevins’ controversial move to Mixer. There has been no public word on when Shroud’s transition to Mixer will take place, …
shroud might need a third surgery after his scooter accident
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player Michael “shroud” Grzesiek might need another arm surgery. The popular streamer discussed his ongoing health issues during a recent stream, informing his fans that he might need another surgery to treat injuries sustained during his scooter accident in March. Though he wasn’t off camera for long, and went on to compete in an Apex Legends tournament soon after, the damage to the ligaments and bones in his elbow …
These are the 5 most clutch CSGO players of all-time
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Being “clutch” is a special distinction that few players reach in any competitive outlet. These are the types that consistently come through when it counts the most and hold a special place in the hearts of their fans and the psyches of their opponents. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is no different. Players will often find themselves in a position where they are outnumbered, and while most ultimately try to make the …
TenZ blames bad system at Cloud9, Stewie2k responds
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Cloud9’s most recent departure believes the organization’s non-stop roster shuffling is a systemic problem. Tyson “TenZ” Ngo played for the organization for just under four months before recently being benched in favor of journeyman player Yassine “Subroza” Taoufik. TenZ took to Twitch soon after to explain the move. “I left like our style wasn’t like, good. I didn’t feel like we had a good style and I didn’t believe in …
EliGE says Liquid is mentally exhausted as they drop IEM Beijing
M Alzamora
Counter-Strike
Team Liquid announced that its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team will not attend IEM Beijing in a tweet from the team’s official Twitter account and a press release from the tournament’s organizer ESL. Team Liquid released a video with the tweet featuring star player Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski, head coach Eric “adreN” Hoag and Counter-Strike team manager Steve “jokasteve” Perino to explain the team’s absence from the tournament. “We’re one of the most traveled teams out …
Cloud9 changes CSGO roster again, drops TenZ and adds Subroza
Steven Rondina
Counter-Strike
Cloud9 is still looking to get back on track in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The organization has announced the benching of Tyson “TenZ” Ngo after just three events as part of the team’s lineup. Replacing him on the active roster is Yassine “Subroza”‘ Taoufik. “We’ve recently decided to bench TenZ and I know that might be a shock to the community,” Cloud9 coach James “JamezIRL” Macaulay said. “It might be expected …
CSGO community disappointed with Valve’s 20th anniversary event
Olivia Richman
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s 20th anniversary update brought a class Dust 2, an AUG nerf, and even some chickens. But that wasn’t enough for many fans of Valve’s popular game. One Reddit user took to the platform to discuss why they didn’t like the 20th anniversary event, and a day later it has over 1.5k upvotes and 520 comments, almost all in agreement with the original poster. “I’ve been looking forward …
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.
