A Twistzz of fate

Team Liquid are reportedly going to be signing siuhy.

Thank. God.

Seriously, we got bored of watching this Liquid team a long time ago. A huge case of sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit, they’ve been frustrating to watch ever since Twistzz took the reigns.

If YEKINDAR wasn’t enough, things didn’t get much better when NertZ arrived. NertZ might be a hell of a lot more fun to watch, but you still have to watch the team capitulate under inexperienced leadership, and you still have to watch jks be on a team that he doesn’t really make sense on.

We could go even deeper, but we’ll just let Pimp explain.

Negativity aside, the move for siuhy is one that excites us. A lot.

Not only is siuhy one of the best IGLs in the world, but the removal of jks and unshackling of Twistzz sets Liquid up to have one of the best rifle cores in the world. Dare we say it, they might even have enough firepower to challenge the likes of Spirit and Vitality.

We’re also just happy to see siuhy back on a team. His removal from MOUZ and their subsequent performances may have raised doubts about his ability, but that will surely only act as more motivation to make Liquid his most successful team yet.

jks’ benching also gives some reason to be happy. It sucks to see someone out of a job, but it could mean that his days at the top have come to a close, and that can only mean that we see him depart for FlyQuest and actually give them a chance at being mildly competitive.

But finally, we gotta say it: we really feel for you G2 fans. You didn’t just lose NiKo, you aren’t just inevitably losing m0NESY, you’re also going to be stuck with Snax even longer, and your biggest hope is now fading away.

It always felt inevitable that siuhy was going to end up on Liquid or G2, so we think it’s crazy that G2 haven’t acted quicker, considering how poor they’ve looked.

We can’t imagine what you’re thinking.

A real WTF move

Wildcard have signed Stewie2k.

Genuinely. We tried to come up with some sort of angle, some sort of meta-story, some sort of punchline, but there’s literally nothing weirder or funnier than the straight-up truth.

Wildcard have signed Stewie2k. This week. As a player, not a streamer or coach or any sort of cop out. He’s going to be playing. Counter-Strike. With them. On the team. Instead of one of the Europeans, apparently.

Seriously.

For now, he’s playing in the PGL Astana qualifier so they can be an NA team, but rumours seem to suggest he’ll be sticking around so they can get an easier run at the Major.

One can’t help but wonder, though, if they’d be better off trying to get through the European qualifier with their full roster. We get the idea - if Stewie2k is anywhere near the player he was at his peak, you can get through NA quite easily - we just… don’t like it?

You’re blowing up a lot of prep, muscle memory, and cohesion for an easier (on-paper) shot at the Major. It seems like, at best, a sideways move.

Obviously, we might look pretty silly if they A: don’t use him for the Major qualifier or B: Get through easily, but we can’t even imagine how the player who gets cut might feel.

It’s one of Sonic, phzy, or susp — and a little birdie tells us it’s phzy. It’s… brave, we’ll say that.

FaZe Clan, foogazy, f–kin’ fairy dust

“FaZe were never good,” apparently. “They were powered entirely by magic.” That’s what we’re running with on this week’s Overtime on Inferno.

aizyesque and AN1MO also get into:

Skin rental late fees... ish

It seems jkaem took a page from BLEED’s book, as the former Apeks player is now facing accusations from X user erlsan of owing $11.000 worth of skins.

Erlsan explained that he had lent the skins to jkaem for use during the Paris Major, but problems arose when jkaem kept making excuses for not returning them. After two years of trying to get them back, erlsan claims he's still waiting for repayment, with jkaem having only returned $1.000 of the $11.000 debt. Frustrated and out of patience, he has now decided to go public with the issue.

After the whistle was blown, several others came forward in the replies to the original tweet, accusing jkaem of the same behavior.

A couple of hours later - after briefly deactivating and reactivating his X profile - the player took "full responsibility", stating that he would "pay back everything to everyone" he owes. Regarding the reasons behind his actions, jkaem attributed them to a "gambling addiction", adding that he has “searched help multiple times but never succeeded”.

As we all know, gambling addiction is a serious issue that impacts a large part of the gaming community - especially in Counter-Strike - with pro players being just as vulnerable to it as casuals, if not more so.

While this doesn’t excuse jkaem's actions — as he should face consequences for his behavior — it’s important to recognize that this is a complex situation. We sincerely hope that jkaem gets the help he needs and returns everything he owes.

On a more lighthearted note, this one aged like milk.

Arena Counter-Strike never gets old

You ready for the most hilariously one-sided playoff bracket in history?

Team Spirit, NAVI, and Vitality are on one side of the bracket, and now that we’ve said that, the winner is inevitably on the other. MOUZ, G2, and Eternal Fire are in line for a shot at getting pumped by either a Team Vitality in sensational form or the team that manages to beat them.

What is for sure is that every game in these playoffs should BANG.

We start with MOUZ vs G2 in the clash of who needs siuhy more. Neither will get him if reports are to be believed, but G2, especially, could really do with him. MOUZ seem, against all odds, even better. Spinx is, less surprisingly, really good.

We’re on MOUZ for that one, but we’re less certain of picking a winner between Spirit and NAVI. Both look a hell of a lot more fallible than they did before, and NAVI especially are in a really odd spot.

Spirit generally have the upper hand over NAVI, but the latter are playing so badly that something tells us they’ll somehow win. b1t has been terrible all tournament, so will invariably have a life game here.

Both semi-finals will be must-watches because you’ll get Vitality versus either the second or third best team in the world, and Eternal Fire vs MOUZ/G2, which is sort of a litmus test for fourth best in the world.

Vitality will more than likely win. Spoilers. They’re in ridiculous nick right now, and for anyone to beat them — especially if it goes to the final and a BO5 — will take a Herculean effort.

We don’t envy anyone standing in their way right now.

👶 How do you do, fellow kids

🖥️🌍 (Virtual) reality

🔢 Yeah, numbers!

This TL;DR was written by aizyesque, shoko, AN1MO and napz.
Welshy coded the email and Incipiens copy edited.

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