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GUIDES
Simple Radar
© 2026 TLDR Media, All Rights Reserved.
Change all the things that made FaZe. Now, are FaZe still FaZe?
s1mple’s back, SunPayus is on the move, hallzerk can’t play in the US (again) - how is it that the first week without any Counter-Strike in forever has been the busiest news week of them all?
And so it begins.
Let’s face it, we all knew that it would be a miracle if every team made it to the Austin Major without a slight visa issue. In fact, we probably all expected an entire team to miss out. What we didn’t expect was that it would be an American team that had the first visa issue.
Okay, maybe we did (we’re such insiders, don’t worry about it). But you didn’t, and that’s what really matters here.
A couple of days ago, Mesioso, Complexity’s general manager, took to a live stream to say that the team is having trouble with hallzerk’s visa and will be substituting junior in his place.
This means that the teams' renewed hopes after a slew of recent positive results have gone out the window because, as we all know, junior is rubbish against opponents who a) use flashbangs and b) return fire.
They’ve also added adreN as a temporary coach for the event, so there’s at least a silver lining.
Hopefully, this is the last we hear about visa issues because this one is shaping up to be one for the ages.
However, given the state of the US in 2025, we have our doubts that this is the last we’ll hear about the topic. The land of the free, right guys?
TeSeS is the darling of the CS world right now, but that’s not good enough for AN1MO. He wants to cut him from the Falcons roster… and does he have a point?
NovaH substitutes onces more on this week’s Overtime on Inferno as we wait for aizyesque’s return from baby duties.
Other highlights this week:
Hey guys, Valve here.
So, we heard you wanted a working anticheat and to stop dying behind walls? Boring.
Instead, here are some weekly missions and five new community maps no one’s gonna touch.
Oh, and remember that Classic Offensive mod we gave the green light to seven years ago and everyone loved? Yeah, we just nuked it.
Anyway, that’s all from us. Catch you in three months. Maybe.
To the community’s surprise and frustration, the developers of the Classic Offensive mod announced they had to cancel the project this week. Valve sent them a cease and desist (legal speak for “stop immediately”), where they claim that Classic Offensive would be distributing "derivative content" based on their intellectual property.
Imagine pouring eight years into a project you love – waiting patiently for the day you can finally share it with the world – only to have the rug pulled out from under you at the very last minute. And that’s after being told you had full permission to do it.
“Our only mistake was to be passionate about Counter-Strike”, said one CS:CO dev. Absolutely heartbreaking.
And just when everyone thought all hope was lost, Valve came to the rescue with a brand new update… and delivered exactly what we expected.
The ‘Mission Possible’ update brings weekly missions that reward XP, along with a fresh batch of community maps: Jura, Grail, Agency, Dogtown, and Brewery. Plus, some minor audio tweaks and bug fixes.
So, this pretty much confirms the death of Operations, right?
We now have every core piece of an Operation as individual features. Let’s just hope they actually update this stuff regularly with fresh ideas. Then again, knowing Valve, we’ll probably be stuck in a never-ending loop of ‘Win 15 rounds on Inferno’ missions for the next six months.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a CS update without a game-breaking bug to top it all off.
Not even Tom Cruise could save this one.
HEROIC just can’t catch a break.
According to a report from Sheep Esports, G2 are saying adiós to both Hades and TaZ, and kicking off their post-Major rebuild by bringing in Spanish AWPer SunPayus and coach sAw from HEROIC.
It wasn’t exactly a secret that G2 brought in Hades as a short-term solution for the run-up to the Major, while they waited to see what doors would open in the post-Major shuffle. And with SunPayus, let’s be honest, they’re getting an upgrade.
Still, it’s kind of crazy that Hades hasn’t even played an official game for G2, and we already know who his replacement is going to be.
On the bright side, this gives him a chance to play without pressure and prove himself on the biggest stage.
As for the coaching role, it looks like G2 are moving away from the vibes approach and shifting toward a more tactical, structured style – which makes sense, especially if TaZ was originally brought in due to NiKo’s preference.
Bringing in sAw is a no-brainer. He’s shown time and time again that he can build rosters from the ground up and keep them competitive at the highest level. Makes you wonder what could’ve been if G2 had picked him up straight from ENCE a year and a half ago…
Meanwhile, this is just another heavy blow to HEROIC’s project, but at this point they’re probably numb to it. At least there’s some extra cash in the bank and most of the core remains intact. HEROIC might just be the CS definition of suffering from success.
Looking ahead, G2’s next move has to be locking in a proper IGL.
You know what, there’s actually this one caller who just got benched by this bankrupt Danish org…
Relax, we’re kidding. That’d be one of the worst moves imaginable, which, knowing G2’s track record, probably means it’s exactly what they’ll end up doing.
broky has been benched by FaZe. Rest in peace to the final of FaZe’s three musketeers.
It’s been a long time coming, though, his stats just haven’t been good enough this year. So, while we aren’t surprised at all, we can’t help but feel a little sad.
Prime broky is some of the most fun Counter-Strike has ever been. A flashy AWPer that plays like a grandpa until it’s time to pull a clutch out of his arse, he also had an innate ability to man-mark an opposing AWPer out of a game, and his peak level is one that is hard for anyone to match.
Still, when it’s time to go, it’s time to go. This was his time to bid farewell.
If you have any doubts over the decision because of some affinity for him, we can respect it, but just look at FaZe’s recent documentary. This is clearly a fractured team with completely shot mental. A change had to happen, and given the impact of the AWP and the players available to them, broky was the most logical player to go.
And let’s be fair - you can’t go wrong with replacing anyone with s1mple.
Or can you?
s1mple isn’t the player he once was, we all know that. Even if you give him the benefit of the doubt for only ever playing on god awful Falcons teams in his professional CS2 games thus far, the old s1mple would’ve carried them to the Major. 2024 s1mple did not.
His mentality will definitely help. s1mple is a born winner who demands everything from his teammates. If a break hasn’t changed that, s1mple’s personality is the exact thing FaZe need in their camp right now.
We just have to hope that his level is still there.
Until s1mple officially calls time on his career, Counter-Strike needs its GOAT to be exactly that. A superstar. We haven’t seen that s1mple in a long time, and boy, are we excited to see it potentially return.
But we need to be clear on one thing: if we don’t see superstar s1mple on FaZe, if they crash out in Austin like they have everywhere else this year, we’re never going to see that s1mple again.
This is his last chance. Let’s hope he takes it.
Oh, and just because this is a newsletter and we do news here, FaZe have also picked up skullz as a stand-in for rain at IEM Dallas. Don’t care? Yeah, we didn’t either.
rain is fine btw, he’s just having another kid. Congrats, king.