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GUIDES
Simple Radar
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Counter-Strike’s most decorated leader hangs up the mouse.
FaZe cut it way too close, GamerLegion got scoped out by their old sniper and some marginally bigger names join the Major. By that, we mean Passion UA.
Lord almighty, FaZe. Even for you, this is cutting it fine.
FaZe squeaked - and we mean SQUEAKED - through the opening stage of the Major with close wins over RED Canids and Fluxo. RED Canids had series points on Nuke for a 2-0. A 2-0!
We know your whole thing is only playing with your backs against the wall, but in that case it’s best not to face it against tier three fodder.
frozen bailed them out HARD with 39 kills on Nuke, including two massive rounds in overtime to just about power FaZe to a win, and limp on to a 2-2 game. Fluxo weren’t that far off taking them down either, but they did also lose nine rounds in a row on map three to throw a 10-4 advantage, so maybe growing one single pair between them may have helped.
FaZe weren’t the only team to be entirely underwhelming, though. GamerLegion haven’t been great for a little while now, but going out 1-3 at this stage is pretty damning.
Even sl3nd couldn’t help but stick the knife in.
Legacy, too, didn’t only not go 3-0 like expected, but went out 2-3. Probably the most disappointing team of the lot considering their win at CAC, it now really throws into doubt as to whether they were any good at all.
And considering they’re a Brazilian team, the answer is most likely “probably not”.
Let’s get onto some teams who weren’t rubbish. M80, FlyQuest - you get a gold star. 3-0 for both teams, and FlyQuest especially were mightily impressive.
We haven’t seen Vexite show up much internationally just yet, but he was sensational in this stage, and if he can keep it up we might finally see some potential fulfilled.
M80 were pretty good too, it’s just… their only BO3 win was over NRG, with daps. Who could possibly lose to NRG with daps?
Oh. NIP and FaZe did. Never mind. M80 are winning the whole thing.
NRG and Fluxo both went from 2-0 to 2-3, which is obviously horrible but not entirely unexpected.
B8 looked like they were a bit too good for this stage, which is nice to see as they can be very inconsistent.
NIP recovered from losing to NRG to win three in a row, including over FaZe, and look good enough. Not great, not rubbish, but good enough. Oh, and the hatewatchers were denied a generational watch by fnatic. How miserable.
Stage two starts tomorrow, and we expect FaZe will be out by Tuesday. No hate, just… man, they’re hard to watch.
Stage 1 didn’t exactly have the highest quality games, but at least some real teams have arrived in Budapest now.
Well, real-ish. It really depends what version of them has turned up.
Headlining the newcomers are NAVI, who should breeze through this Stage if they still want us to consider them as a serious team. There will also be plenty of eyes on Aurora and Liquid, who may have both fallen out of favour this year, but could legitimately go all the way to playoffs if they get off to a good start.
We’re also very intrigued to see 3DMAX, who, after suffering in the wake of a packed out schedule should now be fully rested and ready to frag once more. They’re another team that could make it to the arena, so we think they might be a solid choice for a 3-0 pick.
Of the Stage 1 teams heading into Stage 2, we’re most intrigued by M80. They’ve looked really solid so far, and another strong opening day could see them fly to potentially another 3-0 placing.
On the other end of the bracket we have Imperial and TYLOO, who we think are sure fire for the 0-3 places. Imperial weren’t at all convincing in Stage 1 and TYLOO are just an upmarket Lynn Vision, so it could get messy for JamYoung and the boys.
As for FaZe, well we’ve got no clue about them, but seeing as they bullsh-tted their way through Stage 1, they’ll probably do it again in Stage 2.
But that’s just FaZe, isn’t it?
Praise Jame, Stage 1 is finally f-cking over and our hosts Sam and Jack are back again this week to tell you just how diabolical all the teams in it were.
Legacy is a hard thing to judge. And no, we don’t mean the Brazilian team after their disappointing run in Budapest.
Instead, we mean gla1ve, who has retired this week in order to become a coach; calling time on his career after a troubled final spell with ENCE.
On one hand, there is no question as to whether or not gla1ve is one of the greatest IGLs of all time. He’s a four time Major winner, a guy who reinvented the way Counter-Strike was played, and who fragged like most other teams’ stars whilst doing it, but still…
How differently would he be viewed if he didn’t fade into the depths of tier 2 CS with a frankly rubbish ENCE team? How differently would he be viewed if Astralis had managed to keep fielding competitive rosters?
They’re spells that will always be used by detractors as marks against gla1ve, but is that even fair?
At least he tried, you know? He wasn’t given much to work with, ENCE was dead within weeks of him joining, but he did at least give Polish CS their greatest moment in years by reaching the playoffs at Kato 24.
We know of one other Danish GOAT IGL candidate who is doing far less with far more right now.
So you know what? gla1ve, these last few years, they just don’t count. Go and enjoy your well earned break, and then come back and prove that it wasn’t just zonic, that it wasn’t just the trio of dupreeh, Magisk, and device firing you to victory. Come back and prove why you’re the GOAT, and snatch that crown right back.
We can’t wait to see what you do.
When gla1ve stepped into CSGO with a win - but a bottomfrag - in his first game, where he was not the IGL, you would be forgiven for not expecting him to be one of the true great IGLs in Counter-Strike history.
With HUNDEN IGLing him, and MSL, ruggah, cajunb and Pimp on the other side, this was a game that included a lot of great Counter-Strike minds, but not so many great Counter-Strike hands.
Pimp topfragged for Anexis, for crying out loud.
His final game, 13 years later, was a loss in an ESL Pro League qualifier with ENCE. A historic organisation fit for a historic player, it’s a shame it never quite worked out for the Dane in his last hoorah.
No longer the starring IGL he was in his Astralis prime, gla1ve did at least go down fighting in his final game - he was his team’s highest rated player. That isn’t saying much, though, look at what they gave him to work with. myltsi and podi? Give us a f-cking break.
A sad end and start to a ridiculous career, but now, a new chapter begins. Maybe his next organisation will actually give him some people with hands to work with.
Although, there is something to be said about that as a way to bookend one’s career.
