Daddy duties > World Final

As far as reasons for missing an event go, this is one we can forgive.

Even if it is as wildly prestigious as the BLAST World Final, the event everyone definitely tries their hardest for.

In fairness, it should be a little bit more serious this year, by virtue of not being in Abu Dhabi and not being after the Major when teams are already dead or playing with stand-ins - well, except Vitality, obviously.

mezii is set to miss BLAST World Final to witness the birth of his first child, which if we had to explain in CS terms, is as unmissable as FaZe vs NAVI on the big stage. In his stead comes the immortal JACKZ, who is as reliable a soldier as Vitality could wish for.

It’s a shame to see a player as likable and malleable as JACKZ reduced to being just a stand-in every so often, but he could make a great career as a hire-a-player option, like a hitman or… Tony Pulis.

mezii has become something of a brick wall runner for Vitality in recent times, being used more like a battering ram and doing the jobs nobody else wants to do, like Mr. Muscle, and that’s something JACKZ will also have no problem doing.

It’s another year of one of the best in the world having stand-ins for World Final, but this is an acceptable excuse - and at least it’s not the Major.

Congratulations mezii!

They came, they SAW, they left

In a shocking move, SAW has announced the departures of arrozdoce and BERRY while signing ag1l, citing “differing viewpoints regarding methodology and perspectives.”

The decision follows a dream season for the Portuguese squad, which saw them reach the Copenhagen Major, compete in the BLAST Spring Final, and achieve an impressive top-4 finish at IEM Cologne.

Everything was set for a triumphant season finale, with the ultimate goal of qualifying for the Shangai Major.

Naturally, these changes have left us scratching our heads, and it seems that the split wasn’t exactly amicable.

arrozdoce’s agent decided to chime in and fuel the drama with this tweet. Honestly, if you're going to say you won’t reveal any details, why even post something like that in the first place?

Arrozdoce also took to X to set the record straight, revealing that he chose not to renew his contract — which had three months left — and wanted to explore his options. But where does BERRY fit in all of this?

This is where we start to speculate.

Upon hearing that arrozdoce wasn’t planning to renew, SAW may have decided to bench him and bring in a new player to better prepare for the upcoming challenges. BERRY likely disagreed with this decision, leading him to part ways with the org.

Sherlock hat off.

It’s an unfortunate way to close out a chapter that held so much promise. For SAW, this could seriously jeopardize their chances of reaching the Major.

G2, here’s your chance to sign a true anchor and someone who brings more than just pep talks during pauses!

Love and Anger

We’ve been off for a week with a fever, and now we’re back with Counter-Strike fever. Well, Logan does - Elliott is angry at everyone.

The Rio Recap (not feat. G2)

The IEM Rio playoffs begin today and guess what - FURIA are in the Semis!

FalleN lead FURIA have been exceedingly mediocre as of late. The addition of skullz in July made little difference to the team’s overall performance, but on home turf, they are showing dominance over the competition with wins over EPL Champs NAVI and playoff frequenters MOUZ and FaZe.

FURIA will face either reigning Rio and Cologne victors Vitality, or the ‘arena chokers’ in MOUZ, depending on who gets the W in the match-up later today.

On the opposite side of the bracket, Virtus.pro face NAVI in the opening quarter-final. The latter bested Imperial and Team Liquid before falling to FURIA in the upper bracket final, while VP had a slightly easier route to the playoffs facing 9z, Astralis, and a revenge win over The Mongolz who sent them to the lower bracket to begin with.

G2 however, went out in last place.

Snax and co. are the definition of inconsistent. Coming off their trophy lift at the BLAST Fall Finals, they are now departing Rio without a single map won.

A team with such super-star power shouldn’t be struggling in these matches, but with NiKo’s uncertain future circling above like a bird of prey all may not be well in the G2 camp.

Lastly, FaZe have once again disappointed, being eliminated by MOUZ in a tight 2-1 decider. With their only top 4 result since IEM Chengdu being at BLAST Fall Final, perhaps it’s time for Karrigan’s squad to consider ‘internal restructuring’.

🔥🥵 NiBot

🙄 Pathetic

🗣️ The best part of interviews is the quotes

This TL;DR was written by aizyesque, shoko, novah and napz.
Welshy coded the email and Incipiens copy edited.

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