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GUIDES
Simple Radar
© 2026 TLDR Media, All Rights Reserved.
After two years of silence, ESIC finally speak.
Edition #393 | AUG 25th, 2023
As CSGO enters its final throes, we’re reminded that 1.6 left us eleven years ago and that was fine, while the show must go on for IEM Sydney.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
OG
1
2
NIP
BetBoom
2
0
NIP
Apeks
2
0
9INE
BetBoom
Today
9INE
ESIC break their silence
Remember ESIC?
It’s okay to say no, actually. They’re famous - or indeed, infamous - after their key part in the banning of a whole bunch of coaches as well as looking into some NA matchfixing and, well…
That was two years ago, and nothing has changed since. Almost exactly two years, actually.
Large swathes of the esports media world had been desperate for a crumb of news, or a comment from ESIC at all; in fact, even in Dust 2’s recollection of events from the interview we’ll get into, they make a slight dig at the fact.
“Despite not returning Dust2.us' requests for comment, an hour-long interview with Ian Smith was released today by the INSITE CS podcast discussing ESIC's activities.”
No bitterness there. Completely understandable, though. After two years of nothing, ESIC have finally spoken, with, as mentioned, an hour long video with INSITE, a start-up involving more than a few TLDR members.
Which tells you exactly how serious they are. Take that however you will!
In it, he details the difficulty in banning players for matchfixing - you need ‘overwhelming evidence’ (which someone like Richard Lewis can likely attest to, having had to have been 100% certain on the IBP case with exact details) in order to ban people for fear of lawsuits, even if Ian would ‘put his mortgage’ on the players having fixed.
He mentions that the FBI aren’t really that interested in individual cases, only the illegal websites, and that despite an agreement with Riot to ban the matchfixers, there’s just not enough evidence.
It’s definitely nice to hear from ESIC, finally, but it’s a little… underwhelming.
‘We’re certain they’re cheating, but we can’t do anything about it’ isn’t exactly the slam dunk anyone wanted, but it is interesting to hear the difficulties involved.
It’s worth the listen (in our mildly biased opinion), but do beware of the PR talk and try and see through the lines, just a little bit.
NACS players, tap in
Logan (of podcast hosting fame) has been a part of the CSC for two years, an NA based league for CS players of all skill levels, ages, backgrounds and creeds to get involved in the game we all love in a way that not only makes sense, but is fun.
CS is a team game, but too often players are forced to play with randoms who don’t communicate or have any interest in playing as a team, as well as… well, not being a team.
CSC allows anyone of any skill level to be a part of a team and take the game a little more seriously, or at least as seriously as they want, without losing the fun.
Honestly, it’s a cool project, and if you’re NA based we do think it’s worth a look at.
Take the leap, you never know who you might meet!
Memories of 1.6
Counter-Strike Global Offensive is coming to an end.
That is something we’ll probably never come to terms with, but thankfully there’s years of content to go back through whenever we’re feeling nostalgic.
Speaking of which…
walle, a 1.6 player who played for NIP and SK perhaps most famously, gave us a history lesson from way, way back when over on Twitter, referring back to when lurkers were called ‘Grims’ after a Swedish player of the same name.
He mentioned how they would ‘break the gear’ of Grims players, as at the time it was considered egotistical and was frowned upon, much like teabagging is in VALORANT or AWPing is in DMG matchmaking.
This started a bit of a discussion on the lurker role, and how it’s often misinterpreted as a defensive position rather than an active one - a lesson that perhaps some players might want to learn.
TaZ joined in, realising how far back those times were and how much he’d forgotten, proving the old adage of a player ‘forgetting more about Counter-Strike than one will ever know’ right, in a sense.
He’s quite literally forgotten more about Counter-Strike than we will ever know.
There’s not much of an angle to this story, but it’s a lovely little history lesson on old terminology, and in many ways eased our concerns. Hell, we were worried about losing CSGO, but if TaZ and walle can still love CS after 1.6 went away…
We’re all going to be okay.
Podcast
It’s… been a quiet week. Gamers8 finished, and there’s a little bit of limbo before Pro League. Expertly, we found a way to fill the time by talking about a few teams who are also in limbo.
LISTEN NOW
IEM Sydney Closed Qualifiers
Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oii Oii O- Oh Hello, You caught us practicing our chanting for IEM Sydney. It’s getting tantalizingly close with the qualifiers underway at this very moment.
In fact, you might have missed that the Oceania qualifiers have already finished, and we wouldn’t blame you. There wasn’t a single top 100 team in attendance with the highest-ranked team being Rooster at #110. They didn’t even win the damn thing, a loss to VERTEX sent Rooster to the lower bracket, where Looking For Org knocked them out. They’re still looking?
VERTEX and LFO faced each other in the Grand Finals, where in a tight series VERTEX took it and qualified for IEM Sydney. This also means there are now 2 Australian players yet to miss an IEM Sydney, the everpresent JKS and Malta. No matter the arena, it’ll always be Malta’s Madhouse.
Over in the Asia qualifiers, Lynn Vision has put themselves in pole position after a first-round upset over TheMongolz. The Chinese roster faced national opposition as they played 5clyone (ex-Rare Atom) in the UB semi-finals and beat them. Impressive stuff from Lynn Vision, but it’s not enough yet. They’ll face the winner of 5clyone vs. TheMongolz for the region's IEM Sydney spot.
If you’re one of those EU/NA-only CS fans don’t worry, they’ve started playing as well.
As it stands, in EU Apeks has made it to the main event by beating 9ine in the Upper-final. Both teams had interesting routes, Apeks had to beat knasigT and Nafany’s new boys BetBoom for their spot. Whilst 9ine destroyed Victory Zigzag losing only 9ine rounds (ha) to set up a game with an NIP team fresh off a series decider that ended 28-24. Maybe we do need MR12.
9ine will face BetBoom for another shot at qualification.
Over in North-America land, games are getting started as we’re finishing off this newsletter. Specifically, Complexity will be taking on Forsaken in what could be an upset if CoL isn’t careful. Infinite has been great recently and they’ve got the experience of stanislaw in the back. On the other side of the bracket, Nouns will be facing M80 in what looks like an absolutely banging game. If you listen to our podcast, you know who we’re having. Hint: It’s the side with malbsMd.
For those curious to see how these games ended up, the HLTV event page is here. Now if you’ll excuse us, we have important matters to attend to. Aussie Aussie Aussie, OII OII OII!
Everything Else
🥱 Take the L, Riot
🆕 Looking fresh and new
🏃 Pure skill