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GUIDES
Simple Radar
© 2026 TLDR Media, All Rights Reserved.
Are we high? Or did that actually happen?
siuhy out from MOUZ, T.c to Passion UA, the strange roster moves keep coming this year, but s1mple to BC.Game might just be the strangest move of all time.
There’s also a little event called IEM Cologne on, as well as a pretty controversial update to the game, so we’ve got a lot to get through. Strap in.
With Stage 2 of IEM Cologne 2025 wrapped up, it’s time to look back at the takeaways and keep an eye on what’s ahead as the season shifts into full gear.
Starting with the Playoff-bound teams, it’s mostly the usual suspects: Vitality, MOUZ, The MongolZ, Spirit, and NAVI – all delivering the level of performance you’d expect. Not much surprise there.
That said, it’s worth giving a quick nod to rookies zweih and makazze, who, while not putting up flashy numbers, earned their first big-stage appearances.
But you might notice one name missing from that list. FURIA.
That’s right, they’ve made the Playoffs too, ending FalleN’s eight-year drought in Cologne. molodoy silenced the doubters, proving he’s far more than just a pug star, and delivering standout performances to help push the team through. He was joined by a revitalized YEKINDAR, who finally looks like he’s found the right environment to flourish again.
And here’s a fun fact: the only two times FalleN reached the Playoffs in Cologne, he went on to win the whole thing. Surely that won’t happen again… right?
One rookie who didn’t share the same luck as the others was kyousuke, who couldn’t quite drag his team to the LANXESS. But it wasn’t for lack of effort. He finished Stage 2 as the second-highest rated player, trailing only donk (naturally). It’s wild that the 17-year-old you just signed - playing his first big LAN - is the one who has to carry the team, and even that wasn’t enough.
Still, on a more positive note, this kid looks like the real deal. In Cologne, he lived up to the hype, and if this is just the beginning, the future looks very promising.
To our dismay, it looks like the circus might be losing one of its best clowns.
NIP may finally be onto something with xKacpersky. Seriously, he is cracked. If there’s one thing NIP desperately needed, it was raw aggression - someone fearless enough to charge in headfirst - and he brings exactly that. Just watch him play. He’s the textbook definition of a pure opener.
So, does this mean NIP are back? We’re not sure, but this is the most hopeful we’ve felt in a very, very long time.
Finally, in the group of teams that just weren’t good enough, we’ve got Aurora, Liquid, HEROIC, GamerLegion, Astralis, 3DMAX, and G2.
While they all fell short of reaching the LANXESS, G2 deserves a mention.
They’ve shown promising flashes in their first outing with the new additions and huNter- calling the shots. There’s definitely something there. We just have to let sAw cook.
And so, the Cathedral of Counter-Strike opens its doors today as the Playoffs begin, with MOUZ versus FURIA and The MongolZ versus NAVI set to light up the quarterfinals.
We will be there (figuratively).
Elliott’s back and his takes are spicier than ever.
Recapping IEM Cologne and the latest Wildcard madness, Sam and Elliott lose their collective three brain cells during this episode of Overtime on Inferno.
Let’s be honest.
We all know that there will be issues with every update. It’s not a surprise anymore.
We have a lot of feelings about every update that Valve makes to our beloved game, but at the same time, we are also realists.
The latest updates brought a new animation system called AnimGraph2 (no clue) which replaced all the previous first-person animations and, more importantly, chicken animations.
An immediate outcry was heard across all social media but… You all just need to grow up.
Do you really care if your weapon is pulled out in a different way? If you answered yes, then you are playing the game wrong. 90% of playing CS2 is staring at the crosshair, so that’s enough of that.
We also saw changes to some smaller quality-of-life things.
Damage prediction while you run and gun has been improved – apparently – whilst shotguns now reload correctly. Also, you don’t have to worry about getting stuck in weird places while surfing due to improved map geometry.
While you aren’t getting stuck anywhere, maybe you’ll have time to notice all the inconsequential changes they’ve made to Overpass, Train, and Inferno. Oh, and Dog Town – which, coincidentally, is where we’ll all be sleeping tonight.
Now for the big thing.
For whatever reason, Valve still insist that SubTick is a perfect system for the game and they’ve almost doubled down with these latest updates.
There is now a cap on the amount of inputs that can happen in one tick. A CAP? ON SUBTICK?
Make it make sense.
For those of you who care about such things, it basically comes down to completely killing strafing while airborne.
“So they killed bunny hopping?!” we hear you cry. Come on, we know there are only about six people who could bhop in CS2 anyway.
Onwards. Let’s see what the next update brings 🤞
There’s something weirdly nostalgic about seeing FURIA in a big quarter-final game again.
Yes, it’s not the old FURIA. Yes, it hasn’t even been that long. Yes, they’re probably going to lose - but it’s nice to see FURIA back in the big time.
And more importantly, they deserve to be there.
YEKINDAR and molodoy have been better than basically anyone expected. This team, on paper, looked more like OG than it did a NAVI or MOUZ, but the additions have completely reinvented the team and turned them into a serious threat for anyone.
molodoy and KSCERATO are both hovering around the ratings of players like frozen, ropz, flameZ and Wicadia, which is pretty necessary for this team to be a threat; but it’s more a team effort. YEKINDAR and yuurih aren’t far behind, with only FalleN not posting a 1.1+ rating.
That’s… scary.
MOUZ, though, are a different beast. While their numbers don’t look quite as sexy as that, we know just how good they are, and though it’s weird to say it about a MOUZ team, we know they can do it on stage.
We don’t expect FURIA to win, but then we didn’t expect them to get here at all. This is still one of the best teams in the world; but it doesn’t require the miracle it might have done six months ago.
On the other side of the bracket, we’ve got what feels like the absolutely quintessential quarter-final game of 2025. TheMongolZ and NAVI feel like they play in every top six game, but few feel more consequential than in the Cathedral.
Trying to predict that is like trying to pin Roman Reigns in a title match.
The MongolZ are better, but NAVI are wildly inconsistent. It feels like every NAVI game is a coinflip with no relation to any previous games, like sitcom episodes. This could be a 2-0 stomp in either direction, and we wouldn’t be surprised.
Awaiting them is Team Spirit - another NAVI vs Spirit match-up with the new blood, anyone? - while MOUZ and FURIA are duking it out for a shot at losing to - erm, playing - Vitality.
If you thought MOUZ kicking siuhy or the South African T.c heading to Ukrainian Passion UA was weird, wait until you find out s1mple has gone to BC.Game.
Yes, really.
s1mple. The greatest player in the history of Counter-Strike. Has signed for BC.Game. A team that includes such players as nexa, CacNito, and pr1metapz.
Oh, and they’ve picked up aNdu, too. And emi. As a coach. So yeah, it stinks.
If you can’t tell, we really do not know what to say about this team. It’s obviously not very good, but with s1mple now a part of it, they should surely jump up from their current 67th rank in VRS.
s1mple himself seems pretty happy with the move, saying that “dobby is free” and that BC.Game are “serious about building a top tier team” – although they could’ve fooled us – so maybe we’re just being too pessimistic.
Somehow, we still doubt that. But we can’t say that we’re not at least optimistic for the return of toxic s1mple as he realises how hard he’s got to carry this team.
Our confusion doesn’t stop with the team s1mple has joined, by the way, because according to NAVI, they received “several” offers for the GOAT.
If that’s true, who the f–ck were the others? And how the f–ck was BC.Game the best option?
There’s got to be more at play here, but for once, we really are just dumbfounded at what it could be.
