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GUIDES
Simple Radar
© 2026 TLDR Media, All Rights Reserved.
and Virtus.pro are back???
Edition #391 | AUG 18th, 2023
Virtus.pro are back to their nauseatingly boring best, Valve are back to their baffling ways and flusha is never coming back again :(
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
FaZe
1
2
VP
Vitality
2
0
NAVI
C9
Today
ENCE
G2
Today
VP
Gamers8 kicks off in Riyadh
Single elimination is supposed to be cutthroat. It’s supposed to be the format where the favourites falter, and you get the wackiest results possible.
But that hasn’t been the case at Gamers8.
Out of eight best of threes, you can only really argue for two upsets: GamerLegion beat Apeks in the “shit since the Major” derby, and Virtus.pro knocked FaZe out with a classic 16:14, 16:14, 2-1 win. Elsewhere, favourites were unscathed.
If we’re honest, though, it’s hard to call any game with VP in it an upset. They’ve won the last two decent tournaments they played, ESL Challenger Katowice over ENCE, and CCT Online over a donk-fuelled Spirit.
HLTV has them 16th, but that’s largely down to not being a BLAST partner or at Cologne. We all know they’re far more dangerous than that; and Gamers8 will be the first test of the mir lineup against tier one on LAN.
The venue for this showing is Gamers8, the Saudi government-funded series of tournaments in Riyadh.
It’s essentially an ESL — who are owned by the same company as Gamers8 — event in all but name: They’re producing the event, it’s got their HUD, and it’s got their signature talent.
The sportswashing discussion is one we are all aware of, especially this summer, and Gamers8 is Esports’ version.
There’s prizes for social media interactions, and a CGS style points leaderboard (with more prize money) for orgs’ performance across all the different games. Money has been thrown at the wall.
Let’s just see if it sticks.
CS2 UPDATE
Just our luck, we cover CS2 thinking we’re safe from radical change, then a few days later Valve decides to ruin CS forever. Well, at least according to the Internet.
Twitter CS leaker, Aquarius, posted about a behind-the-scenes change in the newest CS2 update, where “mp_maxrounds” is set to 24 (instead of 30). This means a half is now 12 rounds, and you win on 13 - otherwise known as “MR12”.
Sure, it's MM and that's for casuals and sadists, but that doesn't mean this won't affect pro-CS.
Valve like the Pro and Casual experiences to be virtually the same. They even moved to adding four 30-second timeouts in Premier MM. So it's hard to believe they'd have a disparity as big as the number of rounds played.
So, as a viewer, what would this change mean?
For one, you should prepare for less nail-biting matches. If you think back to the last 2 years of CS, all the best games involve 30 rounds and overtime. Some notable examples with the Stockholm Major final, FaZe vs ENCE on Ancient, and even as far back as the Boston Major final.
As our own aizyesque points out on Twitter, think of all the 14 - X scorelines we’ve seen dramatically thrown away. These are some of the moments that make CS special. Those experiences are devalued when it’s fewer rounds. That’s if those same games even happen and not just end 13-6 before any comeback could ever get going.
Sure, maybe we’ll just have to get used to the idea that 12-4 is the new 15-6. But this still leaves other issues like BO1 upsets being more abundant with fewer rounds and less nuanced strats from IGLs trying to get the team out of an 8-10.
While you can argue against all of those points - in fact, someone on the internet probably is right now - there’s one problem that can’t be argued away:
The economy would need to change.
If it doesn't, can you imagine how much of the half is decided by just the pistol round?
Losing the pistol and the force brings you down to 0-3. In MR12 that would be 25% of your T/CT-side decided and done. Ugh.
Not only that, but if you think saving is a problem now, imagine when every round matters more. You’d have to discourage this somehow, or else we’ll have less and lower-quality CS. We for one would prefer an exciting BO3 in MR15 to a MR12 with saves every round.
Okay, all of that was pretty negative. It’s clear that the MR15 enjoyers are speaking the loudest – or that we have a bias, erhm…
So let’s talk about why this could be good for CS.
If we’re being honest, a game of CS can take forever.
A few years ago a BO1 might last 40-50 minutes, while today we’re easily approaching games that last an hour to an hour and 20 minutes. If you spread that over a BO3 or even a BO5, you can see how it adds up to a bit of a marathon.
MR12 would at least provide a reprieve from never-ending maps and series. Launders point this out in his video, and he brings up another interesting point -
Whilst game length doesn’t matter to most viewers at home, it impacts people you might not think much about: The people behind the scenes who make sure all these amazing moments make it to our homes. Launders himself mentioned having worked 14-hour days - it’s tough, even for a game that you love.
So, in its current form, MR12 might not sound great gameplay-wise, but there’s good reason for Valve to add it. We’ll see if it sticks around once the game is officially out. And no, MR12 wasn’t stolen from Valorant.
Podcast
Welcome to the #1 Virtus.pro fan podcast on the internet.
Well, probably. Few others are as high on VP as we were pre-Gamers8, and two 30-round map wins means one thing: VP are back to their perverse best.
LISTEN NOW
flusha retires from CS
Goodbye to a genuine legend.
The word legend is oft overused, but there’s no other word that can accurately describe flusha’s impact on Counter-Strike.
Whether you loved him or hated him, the mark he has left on the game is inarguably massive. His presence on the first real ‘era’ team (NIP’s 87-0 was nice, but fnatic’s dominance was far greater) was more than just presence - he was the man for the big occasion.
When the chips were down, flusha would pull out a BS multikill or a ridiculously clever clutch - the type of clutch that might make you wonder if he was playing with more information than other people were. To some extent, he was. He was just so far ahead of the curve.
Nothing sums up flusha more than the IEM Katowice final against FaZe, when many had written him off; his career was past its best, he was washed up, the magic had faded. That seed of doubt was watered with FaZe tears - flusha had never been better.
At 13-11, flusha outmanouevred and outwitted all five FaZe players to make killing every single member of the best team in the world (at the time) look really, really easy. Then, at 14-15 down, he killed everyone again to force OT.
This was on map five of the grand final at IEM Katowice against the #1 team. The stakes don’t get much bigger.
One of the smartest players ever to touch the game, one of the greatest to ever play, and one of the calmest, coldest killers to ever enter esports.
flusha’s retirement is the story right now, but the story of flusha extends far further than today.
pls floosha com beck :(
Everything Else
Valve make some decisions
Things to listen to
Miscellaneous