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GUIDES
Simple Radar
© 2026 TLDR Media, All Rights Reserved.
“Aww, who’s a cute little cheater?”
As there isn’t a whole load of stories this week (apparently there’s a big tournament happening), three of our writers have picked their favourite games of the opening rounds of the Major as a sort of viewer’s guide.
Please ruin your sleep schedule responsibly.
Once upon a time, Cloud9 vs Liquid would've been an NA showoff. Now it's just another game at the major.
At the very least, it’s an interesting one. Cloud9 was down and out before this Major cycle, vibes were in the bin, and results were brutal. They couldn’t buy a good event result, but from the RMR on, they’ve seemed like the team we expected when this core was formed. They won three, admittedly easier, games at the RMR and only lost to FaZe. (twice) Okay, we admit, not the best resume, but it’s much easier said than done.
It’s not like Liquid has impressed much either.
They crashed out in the bottom spots of their last three events, showing little in the way of a higher ceiling. Much like Cloud9, they found form at the RMR. It did take a bad loss to Wildcard in their first game, but they did wake up, and they qualified by beating FURIA. Which certainly is one of the bars to clear of all time.
These two teams’ form is exactly why this is much watch CS.
Who the hell knows what’s going to happen, Cloud9 could 13-0 or get 0-13. Liquid could look like a well drilled team, or like a bunch of misfits. We’ll still take the bet on Liquid since they’ve got a bit more of a stable air about them. On the other hand, C9 has HeavyGod. And he’s a baller.
Just don’t blame us if C9 ruins your pick’em. All we know is that we know nothing.
It’s official: we’re sick of ESIC and Astralis. Okay, you knew about the second one, but it never hurts to remind you.
You might remember that a couple of months ago, Astralis added cadiaN to their ranks. Of course, unlike any other team would have done, they couldn’t have possibly waited to play with him and br0 disappeared from their BLAST Fall Final roster under mysterious circumstances.
This last minute change to their roster was done after the roster lock, which lead to the br0vid situation and given the former Blastralis meme, didn’t look great for either party. At least every other team had the right idea, the captain of each team skipped media day in response.
Don’t worry though, BLAST knew that they needed to do something in response to the controversy, so they hired ESIC. Because ESIC have historically been so useful. Well, except for chopper.
This week, ESIC reported back with the findings of their investigation, and while that investigation seems to have been thorough, that’s not our issue with it.
No, we (and just about everyone else) take issue with the fact that they decided Astralis were given no advantage during the event because they failed to win a game, therefore meaning it had no outcome on the game.
Just like when you banned RobbaN for muting his mic when he got stuck in the coach bug, right lads?
Given that they have integrity in their name and this is a blatant disregard of everything and anything even closely related to competitive integrity, we’re now even more baffled as to why they were ever involved at all.
They’ve massively missed the mark and it’s honestly just quite disappointing - how would the ruling have changed if Astralis weren’t actually just rubbish?
We think FalleN put it best: “Please disband - leave your jobs - quit your presence in our community.”
We’ve got a special guest this week, and he’s coming hot out the gates immediately. Liquid go 1-3 in the Opening Stage, according to AN1MO. Brave.
Of course fnatic are a Swedish team, but from what area of Scandinavia are… checks notes… Americas RMR-qualifiers Wildcard from?
Oh, of course. It’s 2024. Wildcard have as many Swedes as fnatic; and as many Swedes as they have NA players.
There’s four Swedish players in this game, making it comfortably the most Swedish game at a Major since NIP were good. If that wasn’t enough to get you excited, how about the fact that Wildcard are lowkey kinda decent, and have some massive chips on their collective shoulders?
Sonic has got something to prove. phzy has been away for a while, and has been slowly getting better - and wants to show Sweden what they’ve been missing. susp and JBa have both been touted as the future of their struggling regions, and a good Major would prove that.
And stanislaw? He’s been angry his whole career for some reason, and he’s ready to show he ain’t done yet.
Wildcard 3-0’d the Americas RMR, and they beat Liquid, paiN and FURIA to do it. They’re genuinely kinda spooky. fnatic got through a much harder RMR, but this will be a tough test. Wildcard are probably better than any team they beat in Europe.
However… blameF has been in sparkling form, and is an imperial player. By that we mean he stomps out any uprisings from the underclasses. Tier two and below get stomped out, and tier one isn’t safe.
Unless they avoid the corner he’s hiding in against them.
nawwk kept phzy out of the NIP team, and KRIMZ has been playing since susp was listening to Baby Shark. They’re not about to let these noisy neighbours upset them.
Are they?
Brazilian fans are entering the Shanghai Major Opening Stage with high hopes, as FURIA, Imperial, paiN, and MIBR battle for a spot in the Elimination Stage, making Brazil the region with the most players in the Major, boasting 19 in total.
Yet, the debate remains - does quantity outweigh quality, or is it the other way around? But that’s a conversation for another day - perhaps in a hypothetical world where none of these teams make it through.
For now, the spotlight is on the Opening Round BO1s, where paiN faces off against Imperial.
Right from the start, this matchup seems to favor biguzera and the squad. The odds point in their direction, and the head-to-head stats back it up.
Over the last 11 maps the two teams have played, Imperial has only come out on top 3 times, with the most recent win for paiN coming in the RMR, where they dominated Imperial 13-5 on Ancient. The pattern is hard to ignore.
But as we've seen in the RMRs, this wouldn’t be a Major without its fair share of upsets. And when it comes to BR vs. BR matchups, history has proven that anything can happen.
For Imperial, their win conditions are clear: they need to have their star players online, with try and decenty stepping up, and they must take control from the start, dominating the pace of the game.
Ultimately, the scrappy, in-your-face style of CS that defines BR vs. BR matchups always makes for an exciting watch, especially on the Major stage.
