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GUIDES
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How to ruin your reputation speedrun any%
Horrid roster moves, a brilliant new format, and a dominant grand final. It’s been an exciting few days!
Now we’re talking.
All this talk of whether it should be six-team playoffs or eight-team has been blown out of the water - what about 16-team playoffs?
The Esports World Cup hasn’t quite had the reverence in Counter-Strike that the Saudis might have hoped, and that’s not all for Counter-Strike related reasons, but this is a big step in the right direction on that side of things.
A $2m (!) prize pool is the headline grabber here, but we’re more interested in the traditional groups-into-playoffs style format that something like the FIFA World Cup has. Except better.
Better, because it’s four double elimination groups of eight with half going through, instead of twelve round robin groups of four where sometimes the third team goes through. Which is utter woke nonsense, we’re sure you agree.
It’s not dissimilar to a Swiss system that EPL and the Major has, in the fact that half of the teams go through, but without the second group stage which bogs stuff down. Oh, and it has open qualifiers for four spots (as well as a spot for the ‘Asian Champions League 2026 winner?).
Halle-bleedin’-lujah.
The only - and we mean only - flaw, is that the opening round is BO1. 16-team playoffs. Eight-team groups. Double elimination groups. Open qualifiers on LAN.
Did… did we just get sportswashed? Maybe, but boy do we feel clean.
We should also mention, as an aside, that PGL had to cancel an event due to the overlap - and they are NOT happy. Oops.
Is the new EWC format the new king? Will the Saudi event be the best tournament next year?
Let us know your thoughts by replying to the email or by leaving a comment after choosing your response - make sure to include your gamertag to be featured in the next edition!
Your opinions from last poll:
Here’s what some of you replied to our recent newsletter when we asked you for your CS-related nightmare blunt rotation:
🐧 Pochamage: "chrisJ, draken, smooya, Maniac - do you really need me to tell you why?”
🧦 Weldo: “Definitely DaZeD after his recent change; kNgV- because he’s a nutter when sober; HUNDEN because the man is painful; and k0nfig because he’s just a c-ck.”
Would you be disappointed if this were the Playoff bracket for the Major? We certainly wouldn’t. The GOAT of tournament formats has once again blessed us with a beautiful set of matchups.
Honestly, Valve should just make it official: ESL Pro League S22 is the real Major. Forget that other event with the BO3 final happening in November.
Alright, time to take our meds and check how the Playoffs played out.
In the quarters, no big surprises. Falcons took care of 3DMAX, MOUZ handled NAVI comfortably, FURIA got reality checked by Vitality, and FaZe cruised past Spirit.
Now, if you’re wondering how FaZe beating Spirit isn’t a big upset, you’re asking the wrong question. You should be asking yourself: after all these years, how do I still not believe in the FaZe magic?
It was more than obvious that FaZe - in rain’s last dance - were going to humble donk and march into the semis. The three musketeers are back. Well, ropz looks a little different, but they’re still back.
Unfortunately, FaZe burned through all their magic against Spirit, and didn’t have enough left to get past Vitality. Shoutout to Twistzz though, he did everything in his power and then some. But seriously, what the hell happened to the guy’s accent?
In the other semifinal, Falcons took down MOUZ in what was an absolute stinker from xertioN and torzsi - the guys who are supposed to make the difference. They posted 0.60 and 0.83 ratings respectively, and it’s simply impossible to win when your star players (don’t) show up like that.
The third-place decider saw the duo wake up a bit, backing Jimpphat’s standout 38-19 performance to secure bronze over FaZe. Thank God showmatches aren’t a thing anymore.
And so, only one game remained: Vitality vs. Falcons. A grand final that promised plenty… but delivered very little.
Which player had this career? Scroll down to find the answer.
This year we’ve seen roster moves that baffled us, roster moves that excited us, and roster moves we felt entirely indifferent about. This one, however, this one angers us. And we’re not the only people it’s angered, either.
Just days after securing their qualification for the Major, fnatic seem to have benched CYPHER. Or maybe not, because their statement is cryptic as f-ck.
In his place will be KRIMZ’s Frag stand-in jackasmo, with the former Passion UA stepping in for at least CAC.
We know CYPHER hasn’t exactly been MATYS’ level since joining, but who really could be? Besides, CYPHER is an incredibly selfless player, he enables everyone around him in doing so. He’s also genuinely a mercurial talent - and when he gets going there really is no stopping him.
It’s cruel. Cruelly timed, cruelly handled. And honestly? It’s just poor from fnatic. Shame on them for ruining a good week.
BIG have also been active this week, they removed their AWPer hyped for gr1ks.
Pardon the pun, but we’re pretty hyped for this one. gr1ks is meant to be a great talent, and his HEROIC benching was just weird. Let’s see if he can rebuild his reputation with BIG.
He can at least be confident in the fact he’ll be better than hyped, because he was unfortunately rubbish.
And that’s not all, BIG have also shockingly benched Krimbo whilst promoting FreeZe from their academy team to be their new IGL.
We have no idea what they’re cooking, but it can’t be any worse than what they had before, can it?
After falling 3-2 to Vitality in their last two grand finals, Falcons once again faced their demons in the climax of ESL Pro League S22.
This time, though, they had another superstar in the lineup. Surely, things would go differently, right? Well, yes… but not quite the way they hoped.
The series opened on Inferno, a map that hasn’t historically favored Falcons. Despite Falcons’ strong start, it was flameZ who stole the spotlight with an absurd CT-side performance, dragging Vitality back and leveling the score at halftime.
He carried the momentum into the second half, pushing Vitality to an 11-7 lead. But then they started doing something “very bad”, allowing Falcons to claw their way back to 11-10 on the back of some sharp holds from m0NESY. That wasn’t enough, though, and Vitality closed it out 13-10.
No overtime on Inferno this time. Shoutout to the best CS podcast out there.
Train couldn’t have started better for ropz - he aimed for one guy and killed another in a pistol that gave Vitality an early boost. kyousuke tried to wake up from his slumber, but Falcons couldn’t handle flameZ’s aggression, ending the half 8-4 in Vitality’s favor.
The birds of prey showed flashes of resistance in the second half - hinting at a comeback - but flameZ was simply unstoppable, tearing through them and sealing Train 13-9 for Vitality.
On Dust 2, mezii stepped up big time on the T-side, finishing with a 16-4 KD and headlining multiple impact rounds. Vitality steamrolled the first half 10-2, with apEX reading Falcons like a book and making sure they knew it.
The second half started promisingly for NiKo, but the scenario he dreads most struck again: an enemy with his back turned. The rest is history. NiKo whiffed, opening the door for Vitality’s retake. From there, it was over. Vitality closed the map 13-5 and lifted the trophy.
So, what the f-ck happened?
We knew it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park for Falcons, but we were expecting… something. Instead, we got nothing.
But don’t worry, non-bought fans. zonic is very close to completing his vision. He just needs one more superstar.
Trivia answer: Machinegun
