Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Is the CS2 Esports Nations Cup Going To Be a Huge Disappointment?
Owen Harsono
The Esports World Cup recently rolled out a new tournament series called the Esports Nations Cup, where participants can only compete under their country’s flag — just like the FIFA World Cup. 2026 is going to be the first time the Esports Nations Cup plays out, and though there was a lot of hype surrounding it, there are concerns it might fall short of expectations. The qualifiers for the CS2 …
Esports Betting
Here’s the complete Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 schedule
Hannan Mundia
The Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 has finally arrived, and here’s the complete schedule for the event to ensure you don’t miss anything. While it isn’t exactly the newest name in the esports scene, the EWC has quickly become a leading event for esports fans worldwide. It brings together professional players and fans from various games, combining them into one long event that everyone can enjoy. 2026’s Esports World Cup …
Counter-Strike
XSE Pro League 2026 in China: Teams, format and prize pool
Owen Harsono
Counter-Strike is back after the IEM Cologne Major, as the XSE Pro League 2026 is the first notable event since then. 16 teams book flights to China to compete in the million-dollar event. Here’s everything you need to know about the XSE Pro League 2026 event. Top-tier Counter-Strike returns to the passionate grounds of China, as the event will take place in the city of Guangzhou. Teams will play in …
Esports Betting
Will Valve add Cache in the CS2 Premier Season 5 Active Duty map pool?
Wasif Ahmed
Following the highly anticipated return of Cache to Counter-Strike 2 earlier this season, the competitive community has almost started believing that the legendary industrial map would soon make its way into the Active Duty map pool for Premier Season 5. This expectation followed a pattern set by Train, which Valve brought back late last year before quickly pushing it into the main professional tournament rotation. However, in a recent Twitter …
Counter-Strike
IEM Cologne Major 2026 playoffs preview: matchups & predictions
Owen Harsono
The top eight teams at the IEM Cologne 2026 Major are set. Most of the favorites easily secured their spots, but we also have promising underdogs sneaking into the bracket. To keep you up to speed, here’s everything you need to know about the IEM Cologne Major playoffs. We started with 32 teams and are now only down to eight. After a grueling Stage 3, teams have been seeded into …
Counter-Strike
IEM Cologne Major 2026 CS2 Playoffs Pick’Em Predictions
Owen Harsono
It’s that time of the year again, as the next Counter-Strike 2 Major is right around the corner. The IEM Cologne 2026 Major is set to start on June 2, meaning you still have some time to lock in your Pick’Em predictions. The Pick’Em Challenge is one of the most exciting parts of the CS2 Majors, as it allows you to test your knowledge and predict which teams make it …
Counter-Strike
IEM Cologne Major Stage 3 preview: who’s making it to the playoffs?
Owen Harsono
The IEM Cologne Major is the biggest tournament of the year, and after two stages of play, it’s finally time to unleash the big boys. Stage 3 will feature the 16 best teams in the world, but only eight can advance to the Playoffs and play on the big stage. Here’s our IEM Cologne Major Stage 3 preview. Before we got to Stage 3, a lot of things happened in …
Counter-Strike
Team Spirit concede just 10 rounds in Stage 2 of the IEM Cologne Major
Owen Harsono
It was pretty weird seeing Team Spirit having to start the IEM Cologne Major from Stage 2, but they quickly proved why that was a mistake. With donk shooting on all fronts, the Eastern Europeans speed ran the competition to book their spot in Stage 3. With how they’ve been playing, it’s hard not to wonder whether they can actually win the entire thing. These boys can sometimes be known …
BIG pull off 0-12 comeback to stay alive – IEM Cologne Major Stage 1 recap
Owen Harsono
Counter-Strike
We’ve just witnessed arguably the worst choke in Counter-Strike Major history, and we’re only on the first stage of the IEM Cologne Major. If you didn’t tune into the Stage 1 matches, here’s what you need to know heading into Stage 2. Many fans tend to underestimate Stage 1 teams for fair reasons, but some survivors in this tournament look extremely promising. Two Eastern European teams, BetBoom Team and B8, …
Who will win the IEM Cologne Major 2026?
Owen Harsono
Counter-Strike
If you’re looking to play it safe and back one team at the Counter-Strike 2 IEM Cologne 2026 Major, traders prediction markets platforms have a clear frontrunner – it’s Team Vitality. But if it’s not meant to be, there are a few other candidates that could lift the trophy. Here’s what traders on Polymarket and Kalshi think. If you haven’t been watching CS2 this year and are only jumping on …
The 10 best CS2 players who have never won a Major
Owen Harsono
Counter-Strike
In Counter-Strike, winning a Major immediately puts you into legend status. It’s an achievement that proves you won the game’s biggest trophy. However, there have been some really good players that could never get their hands on the biggest trophy that Counter-Strike esports has to offer. Here is WIN.gg’s list of best CS2 players who have never won a Major. ScreaM is one of Counter-Strike’s most famous players for one …
IEM Cologne Major 2026: All the teams, favorites, and outright betting odds
Owen Harsono
Counter-Strike
Mark your calendars, as the IEM Cologne Major kicks off on June 2, 2026. We’re going to see the best teams in the world compete, but which ones are actually favored to take the title? This will be the first time in 10 years that IEM Cologne will return as a Counter-Strike Major, so the stakes this year are much higher than they’ve been in a decade. In this guide, …
All IEM Cologne winners and rosters in Counter-Strike history
Owen Harsono
Esports Betting
IEM Cologne is one of Counter-Strike’s biggest events, happening every single year. Some seasons, the event is labeled as one of Valve’s two Counter-Strike Majors of the year, but if not, still stands as one of the big events every player chases to win. With the IEM Cologne 2026 Major right around the corner, let’s take a trip down memory lane and check out every single winner of the tournament, …
All Counter-Strike 2 Esports Tournaments Slated for 2026 and 2027
Owen Harsono
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike never really stops – there’s a tournament happening in almost every month of the year. So, it’s impossible to miss all the action. Below, we take a look at all Counter-Strike tournaments in 2026, as well as what to look forward to in 2027. PARIVISION got the year started in style, pulling off a surprise win at BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 – not a bad way to open the …
IEM Cologne Major 2026: Teams, format, schedule, and prize pool
Owen Harsono
Counter-Strike
One of the most important Counter-Strike 2 tournaments of the year is right around the corner, with the IEM Cologne Major 2026 set to begin. It’s shaping up to be the biggest event of the year so far, and it’d be a crime to miss it. Here’s everything you need to know about the IEM Cologne Major. IEM Cologne will be the first Major tournament of the 2026 season. It’s …
ESL FACEIT Group and TikTok court doomscrolling esports fans with vertical livestreams
Michael Hassall
Esports Betting
I can honestly say I’ve never willing wanted to watch a live broadcast of an esports event in a portrait (or vertical, as the nomenclature has decided is the ‘correct’ term) format, and I’m sure most esports fans haven’t either. But that’s not stopped tournament organizers ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) from partnering with TikTok to deliver vertical esports broadcasts to the small screens across the globe. The partnership kicked off …
EWC officially heads to Paris for 2026 as early reports confirmed
Michael Hassall
Esports Betting
The Esports World Cup 2026 will take place in Paris, France from July later this year as per an new announcement by the EWC organizers, the Esports Foundation. Revealed in a post on their official social media, and an accompanying release and blog post, the announcement confirmed earlier speculation that the event would move location due to the “regional situation” around Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Here’s the info: The Esports World …
Team Spirit vs Team Falcons betting preview, odds, and best picks: PGL Astana 2026 grand final predictions
Owen Harsono
Counter-Strike
We’re getting a clash of titans in the CS2 grand final of PGL Astana 2026, as Team Spirit take on Team Falcons for all the marbles. Both teams are looking to secure their first trophy of the year and will give it everything they’ve got. Here are our Team Spirit vs Team Falcons for the PGL Astana grand final predictions. Tournament: PGL Astana 2026 Stage: Grand Final Game: Counter-Strike 2 …
PGL Astana 2026 playoffs betting preview: Odds, predictions, and picks
Owen Harsono
Counter-Strike
Without Team Vitality in the mix, the PGL Astana 2026 playoffs are set to be a memorable one, as we’re pretty much guaranteed to see a new trophy winner this year. Here are our PGL Astana playoff predictions for each quarterfinal matchup. The playoffs immediately open with a big match between MOUZ and Aurora. MOUZ enter this tournament with their newly minted squad, seeing Major MVP Justinas “jL” Lekavičius return …
Team Vitality vs NAVI: IEM Atlanta 2026 predictions and odds
Owen Harsono
Counter-Strike
The world’s number one team takes on number two in the quarterfinals of IEM Atlanta 2026, as Team Vitality are set to face NAVI in a CS2 playoff elimination match. The winner of this series is favored to win the entire event, so there’s a lot on the line. Here are our predictions for Team Vitality vs NAVI at IEM Atlanta 2026. Tournament: IEM Atlanta 2026 Stage: Quarterfinal Game: Counter-Strike …
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.
Counter-Strike
IEM Cologne Grand Final: Team Falcons vs FURIA best betting predictions
By
Owen Harsono
Counter-Strike
Team Spirit vs Team Falcons IEM Cologne Major: betting predictions and picks
By
Owen Harsono
Counter-Strike
Vitality vs Falcons betting predictions and best picks: IEM Cologne Major 2026
By
Owen Harsono
