Loading…
GUIDES
Simple Radar
© 2026 TLDR Media, All Rights Reserved.
CS going Down Under is causing a ripple effect.
The pre-Major roster moves keep on coming and they aren’t getting any less weird.
We’ve also got IEM Melbourne going on this week, which is great, as long as you’re a vampire… or an owl.
The Group Stage at IEM Melbourne 2025 has wrapped up, bringing us one step closer to witnessing Leemate live at the Rod Laver Arena.
But to get there, several teams had to pack their bags - and perhaps not the ones you’d expect.
In Group A, MOUZ, TheMongolZ, and GamerLegion secured their spots in the Playoffs.
The first two continued their dominant runs, on the back of Spinx’s and mzinho’s 1.33 and 1.19 rating performances, respectively. No big surprises here.
GamerLegion showed that their MRQ performance was a one-off, sweeping the Lower Bracket with victories over Complexity and FaZe.
If you needed further proof that the MRQs should be held offline - not to mention the absurdity of coaches being barred from doing what they were hired for - here it is.
As for FaZe, they’re really in the gutter, aren’t they?
Their only wins came against paiN - a team playing with two stand-ins (including a coach) - and 3DMax, a team they should be convincingly beating 11 times out of 10.
Once again, broky was nowhere to be seen. The guy’s going through one of those slumps, and if he doesn’t turn it around soon, he’s probably getting the boot. Look at it, they’re even toying with him…
Over in Group B, where Vitality, Falcons, and Liquid secured their spots in the Playoffs, the real headline was NAVI missing out, giving FaZe a serious run for their money in the 'who's worse' competition.
Just to give you an idea of the mess NAVI is in right now, they decided to ban Mirage against Liquid in the lower final - one of their best maps, if not the best.
And you're probably wondering, why on earth would they do that?
Well, in their previous match against FlyQuest, they actually lost Mirage 13-9. Yes, you read that right. NAVI lost Mirage to FlyQuest in big 2025. You seriously can’t make this stuff up.
Moving on from disaster, Falcons were a pleasant surprise - if you can even call it a surprise for a team with m0NESY and NiKo making it to the Playoffs of a tier 1 event. They took down SAW and NAVI, only (understandably) losing to Vitality in the seeding match.
Liquid were the big revelation of Group B, showing notable signs of improvement and managing to qualify after the disaster that was siuhy’s first event with the team at PGL Bucharest.
With the Group Stage now behind us, these are the teams heading to the Playoffs:
🇪🇺 MOUZ
🇲🇳 TheMongolZ
🇪🇺 GamerLegion
🇪🇺 Vitality
🇪🇺 Falcons
🏳️ Liquid
Is everyone cheating? Probably not, but Astralis may have been. Allegedly.
NovaH and AN1MO are joined by Freddie this week, and he reveals some uncomfortable truths about CS.
The boys also get into topics like:
If you thought FURIA signing molodoy was weird, wait until you hear this one.
They’ve also signed YEKINDAR. As a stand-in. Until the end of the BLAST.tv Austin Major. Yes, we said YEKINDAR. YEKINDAR will be playing in the Major. For FURIA. Instead of skullz.
What is happening?
We know what you’re all thinking: “Why didn’t they just sign insani?” and the answer is probably because his buyout will be phenomenally high. Who knew that would ever come back to bite the Brazilian teams?
That doesn’t meant they won’t ever sign insani, YEKINDAR has only been brought in as a stand-in. They could just be waiting for that fat sticker-money cheque to arrive, but the same could be true for a permanent YEKINDAR signing, too.
The big question is whether this move will even work. YEKINDAR obviously struggled on Liquid, but we think there’s a whole bunch of reasons as to why that happened, there’s got to be a player left in there somewhere.
And let’s say there is, if that’s the case, then FURIA have signed themselves a demon. We liked chelo a lot, but we all know the level that YEKINDAR was at during his time on VP and those first few months of Liquid. Give him the support to tap back into that, and the hopes for FURIA surge.
Besides that, he also provides a bit of cultural familiarity for molodoy. It’s easy to expect that molodoy could’ve drowned in the Brazilian culture as the only non-native speaker, but with YEKINDAR there, there will at least be someone there to help him swim.
FURIA fans seem to be happy with the move, too. It hasn’t taken long for them to make a song for him.
Seriously, click that link. It’s a banger.
He’s back.
After crashing out of the MRQ and missing their fifth Major in a row, Astralis have announced that cadiaN has been benched. HooXi will take his place has a stand-in for the upcoming PGL Astana.
In addition, Kasper Straube, Astralis’ Sports Director, is also leaving the organization. Honestly, the past couple of years of this management could be used as a case study of how not to run an esports division.
As for the roster change, the sentiment across the community is somewhat consistent: Astralis is seven months too late - cadiaN should’ve never been given the reins in the first place.
But is HooXi really the missing piece Astralis need to turn things around?
For now, this looks more like a trial run for just one tournament. Plus, he hasn’t played an HLTV-featured match since July 2024, when he was benched by G2 - but let’s be real, they’re not bringing him in for his firepower.
Frankly, we’re not sure how to feel about this move.
Sure, HooXi is an experienced IGL who can bring a lot in terms of strategy and calling, but this team just feels completely rotten from the inside out. The winning culture that once defined Astralis seems long gone, and at this point, it looks like only a full restructuring and rebuild can give them even a shot at being relevant again.
To make this whole thing even more interesting, cadiaN took to Twitter to post a cryptic message, teasing that he "will share more later" on the matter. Drop it, we’re ready to watch it burn.
Netflix could probably cook up a banger documentary about Astralis’ downfall. Just make sure to credit us when it blows up.
Who knew GamerLegion would be good on LAN? We did, we knew.
It’s funny really, give a good team a serious set up and their coach back and they make it to an arena. Crazy how CS works sometimes.
After beating FaZe to make it to the stage, things won’t be getting any easier for GamerLegion in the quarter-finals. ash’s boys are set to face Falcons, and given how competitive Falcons looked against Vitality, it’s safe to say that m0NESY has required no adjustment period on his new team.
The young GOAT is back to his best now he’s been reunited with NiKo, and the Bosnian isn’t looking too shabby, either. REZ and PR may have formed a formidable duo on GamerLegion, but we expect this one to be pretty simple for Falcons.
Whoever wins that match will go on to play MOUZ, so if Falcons are the team to win, it’ll be a great litmus test for where they are at with their new AWPer.
On the other side of the bracket we have The MongolZ taking on Liquid. Honestly, we have no idea which way this one goes.
A month ago we would have said that this is a great chance for The MongolZ to get over some stage jitters, but we’re no longer convinced that they will ever be able to do so, and Liquid are looking a lot stronger in Melbourne.
NAF is still struggling, but the impact of siuhy’s T side calling is already clear, and firepower-wise Liquid should probably still have the edge.
Still, we do have a glimmer of hope for The MongolZ left, so maybe this is their time…
It doesn’t matter too much, the winner is set to go on to face Vitality in the semi-finals. Liquid have already lost to them once in Australia, and if The MongolZ do get over their issues to get past Liquid, getting past Vitality is a task of mammoth proportions.
An event that seems destined to decide the next winners of the ESL Grand Slam, Vitality are going all the way in this one, it just depends whether that $100k prize for denying the Grand Slam is enough motivation for a team to finally take them down.
Paging Dr. m0NESY.
