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GUIDES
Simple Radar
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IEM Chengdu starts this week. Obviously.
The Major is over, but the Counter-Strike is not. Neither, apparently, is buster’s career. Oh, and NIP are struggling again. Of course.
We are in a little bit of calm before the storm. But there’s just enough in the way of roster moves to keep us placated for a little bit:
After r1nkle joined NIP, it left a Ukrainian-AWPer-with-a-one-in-their-name-shaped hole in B8. Since s1mple wasn’t available, B8 immediately turned to headtr1ck.
We remember when NIP were a serious team and weren’t doing swap moves with CCT teams.
For headtr1ck, it offers a chance for him to develop into the player we saw flashes of on NIP, away from the limelight. He was often one of the better players on NIP, but that is very much like being the least aggressive Bad News Eagles player.
He can be a solid player - mechanically, he’s smooth, and his decision-making didn’t seem too bad either. But he was young and did seem to crumble a bit. This gives him a chance to play under slightly less pressurised conditions as a young kid, and maybe become a star.
At the other end of their career is buster, the experienced (let’s be kind here) rifler who has found a new home on 1WIN, and had to rebuild. Alongside him is former evil genius neaLaN, Estonian journeyman Jyo, the orange-haired lattykk, and Ryujin, who is the wildcard on this team.
If normal CIS team rules apply, he’ll be the best player in the world.
It’s a slow week for CS, but that doesn’t mean nothing happened!
Eight teams faced off in the closed EU qualifiers for ESL Challenger Jönköping with most of the attention on one team: NIP.
Newly added r1nkle made his debut for NIP, and it’s been impressive. He’s clearly added a spark to the team who’ve managed to beat both Monte and Metizport., going 13-0 against the latter on their own map pick of Vertigo.
Unfortunately for the Ninjas, it wasn’t enough. Aurora swept NIP twice to qualify for the event.
At least it’s a promising start for a new roster, who even played this event without a permanent fifth and instead had to field academy player BluePho3nix as a stand-in.
Apeks, on the other hand, are in a much shittier position.
The European squad only managed a single series win before Aurora knocked them down to loser bracket, where Monte continued to make short work of them. This is yet another event with bad results for Apeks.
jkaem went as far as to apologise for his team, saying he doesn’t know what’s next. All we know is that STYKO is for sure sticking around after the org confirmed as much to HLTV.
We’re no GMs, but if you asked us, we’d prescribe a dosage of 1 CIS wonderkid, and whatever Danish IGL is currently free. Wh has MSL’s phone number?
Don’t you feel empty inside after an unforgettable Major? We certainly do.
CS is love, CS is life.
But don’t you worry, the first post-Major Tier 1 competition is just around the corner.
With a $250,000 prize pool, IEM Chengdu is set to host a rounded cast of powerhouses, like FaZe, G2, and Cloud9, alongside a bunch of relatively unproven contenders, in Wildcard, Steel Helmet, and FlyQuest.
As for the opening-round matchups, we’re keeping an eye on a handful of promising games.
Arguably one of the most anticipated duels will see Team Liquid take on Heroic, as cadiaN faces his former squad after departing the Danish organization due to “differing visions for the future of the team”. Something tells us the trash talk in this game is going to be wild.
The North American organization will also be aiming to leave a strong impression in Chengdu, especially after a disappointing RMR run that saw them miss out on CS2’s first Major.
Steel Helmet vs. Astralis is also shaping up to be an interesting matchup, as it marks the debuts of both br0 and IGL dev1ce. Juggling both IGL and AWP roles is no small feat. Will one of the greatest players in the game be able to rise to the challenge?
On another note, the Aussie Avengers are set to make their debut under the FlyQuest banner, facing none other than Cloud9. Though matchup for the former Grayhound boys.
It wouldn’t be a Tier 1 event without some hiccups, right? Well, this time Monte pulled a 9Pandas (visa issues) and was unable to travel to China, being replaced by hometown heroes Steel Helmet.
All in all, we’re gearing up for some great Counter-Strike action in Chengdu starting today. And being in China, it means most games happen early morning EU and late night US.
