From Wildcard to favourite

We cannot believe we still have to talk about stanislaw. We cannot believe even more, that we might have to talk about Amouranth.

That’s enough of her. Back on to stanislaw, who has led Amouranth’s team Wildcard to a Major spot - and not just squeaked through, he’s 3-0’d the RMR, beating some of the best teams in the region.

An OT win over Liquid, a clean win over paiN and a 2-0 against 9z are not the results of a team that is here to be messed with, and Wildcard have proven themselves a stellar foe who must not be underestimated, even outside of the Americas.

Fair play to both him and Sonic, who have been out of the cycle for a while, and finally have their retribution.

One last thing; we’re going to just mention Amouranth’s name once more for SEO reasons. Don’t worry about it. She isn’t doing a HOT TUB STREAM or anything. There’s no SWIMSUITS.

The other 3-0 team was MIBR, which is much less news-worthy. Their 2-0 win over Complexity was the standout, but that was also Complexity’s only loss en route to the Major.

paiN and Liquid’s only loss were the aforementioned Wildcard defeats, but Liquid had to best FURIA in a 2-1 game where every map was pretty one-sided. Liquid don’t look quite in top gear yet, but they didn’t need to be.

FURIA are now 2-2, having lost to Legacy to start the tournament - but Legacy went out 1-3 after that, going out to coldzera’s RED Canids, who went from 0-2 to 2-2 and now face some other old friends in Imperial.

9z went from 2-0 to 2-2, on the other side of the spectrum, and now have to beat FURIA. The final 2-2 game is BESTIA v M80, which one would imagine will be a simple win for M80.

There is a 7th place playoff for this one, because Valve in their infinite wisdom are using Swiss System groups with 7 spots available. Obviously. By the time you read this, that game has either happened, or is happening. You should tune in if it’s the latter.

We demand it, actually. Stakes don’t get much higher.

A star has fallen

Life is all about swings and roundabouts. On one hand, we feel really sorry for dev1ce, who is having to miss the Major due to a stress-related problem, and won’t be seen before 2025.

On the other, br0’s miraculous recovery must be celebrated.

Unfortunately for everyone’s favourite Tom Cruise lookalike, his organisation have made a rod for his social media back. He’s going to have to deal with jokes about this because his own team told the world that br0 was sick and then brought him in to replace him.

The thing is, that this is desperately sad for anyone of an Astralis or Danish persuasion. It’s desperately sad for people who want all the best teams and players to be in their best shape and want to see the best Counter-Strike.

Luckily for us, we’re neither of those. But we’re sure you guys are sad.

br0 is a pretty solid replacement generally, because he’s a versatile player who can fill a lot of roles. He isn’t, though, an AWPer, so Astralis will have to find an AWPer from withi- oh, yeah. Never mind. They’ll just let cadiaN do it.

This looks more and more like the old HEROIC with each passing day.

What we’re saying is, if any team had to lose their superstar with four Majors and two Major MVPs, HEROIC - sorry, Astralis - are uniquely positioned to not be too doomed by it.

They’re probably not going to win the Major, though. But then… they weren’t all that likely beforehand.

Next stop: de_train

After a few days of teasing - the iconic Train has made its return. Revitalized with stunning visual upgrades powered by the Source 2 engine.

The map now boasts enhanced lighting, fresh textures and an actual rain effect that you’ll see on your character and the environment. They really put the ‘rain’ in ‘train’ ey?

Beyond the visuals, Train has received some huge adjustments aimed at balancing what was a heavily CT-favoured map.

Key sightlines have been modified, and "safe spots" have been reworked to prevent overly passive play. Notably, Heaven on A has been closed off entirely (RIP) and the trains themselves are now fewer and further apart. Popdog has been neutered with the removal of its ladder, and a small office now blocks the AWP angle at upper B (while consequentially creating a very easy spot to hold ramp from…).

While it’s good to see a storied fan-favourite make its return - reviews are mixed.

The map seems to be dumbed-down, with less verticality and angles, and spawn timings now grossly favour the T side, who can get onto A site before the defending team even get chance to position themselves.

It’s fair to expect some more changes to come as feedback pours in, and while we’re happy to see it back, it definitely needs some work before it inevitably replaces our beloved Vertigo.

Press F to pay respects

Please light a candle for Alter Ego and join in our mourning session. We wax lyrical about stanislaw and f0rest, who are basically the same player with the same career.

No DRILLAS in Shanghai

No amount of loopholes can fix a skill issue.

For better or worse, DRILLAS has been the headline team of the Asia RMR. Maybe Ohne, their literal face, was always going to cause this, but their use of loopholes to get into the Asia RMR with an EU team made matters far worse.

So it’s pretty funny they failed to qualify.

After starting with a win against Lynn Vision, DRILLAS took map 1 off The Mongolz and looked like a serious threat. For one map, then they got steamrolled 12-2 and 12-5, with mzinho putting in a masterclass to see off the Europeans. All the while, Rare Atom won the other side of the Bracket, which sealed two of the three spots.

That did leave them a chance. If they could beat FlyQuest, they’d face the team they beat already, Lynn Vision.

It didn’t matter though. FlyQuest sent them packing, just about. At 15-14 on the deciding map, meztal did an actual 1g to send the game to OT and lose DRILLAS qualification. Call it: Double agent, or train return voodoo?

Possibly inspired by their new lease on life, FlyQuest then went on to comfortably beat Lynn Vision 2-0 to qualify for the Shanghai Major, closing off what has been an eventful Asia RMR. Somewhat poetically sending a Mongolian, Chinese, and Australian team to the Major. We couldn’t think of a better mix to make it out of this RMR.


The Qualified Teams are:

🇨🇳 Rare Atom
🇲🇳 The Mongolz
🇦🇺 FlyQuest

🕵️ Insider info

🏫🥦 Do your homework and eat your vegetables!

👍 Good news everyone!

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

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