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GUIDES
Simple Radar
© 2026 TLDR Media, All Rights Reserved.
The godfather sets his retirement date
Vitality claim their second Grand Slam. FaZe and MOUZ blow it all up and one of Counter-Strike’s most iconic figures will be hanging up the mouse and keyboard at the end of the year.
Lot’s of news to start the week, let’s get into it 👇
If there was any doubt about it before this weekend, Vitality are now surely the greatest team of all time.
The first team to win two ESL Grand Slams, just like their Major wins, they managed them back-to-back, with this season’s race culminating in a 3-0 win over Spirit that wasn’t as one-sided as the scoreline suggests.
The two finalists began their playoff runs in dominant fashion, with both Spirit and Vitality brutalising the hapless MOUZ and NAVI. tN1R shone for Spirit in the first of the two games; the Belarusian was the biggest benefactor as the downtrodden MOUZ places struggled to even get kills on the board while Spirit surged to big leads.
As for Vitality vs NAVI, unsurprisingly, it was the ZywOo show, but his 30-7 display on Mirage was incredible even by his standards.
Despite falling to Falcons in the group stage, Spirit then made light work of Falcons in the semi-finals. You have to feel bad for kyxsan, though, if it is to be his final game in a Falcons shirt, he had to suffer yet another disastrous playoffs performance from kyousuke, who continues to do his best stavn impression any time a light shines on him.
We finally got a close game as Vitality then took on FURIA, but despite the Brazilian crowd definitely not cheating, FURIA still couldn’t roll back the clock a few months to even take off a map off the world’s number one.
Heading into the final - after Falcons had already claimed third place with successive 13-11’s over FURIA - it did actually feel like it could be anyone’s game. Spirit had been playing much better CS throughout the tournament, and they weren’t even relying on donk in order to win games.
If any team was going to beat Vitality, it felt like this team would be the one.
But facts don’t care about your feelings, and the fact is, this team might actually be unbeatable.
Spirit pushed hard, and two 6-6 halves saw Mirage head to overtime. A map in which neither donk nor ZywOo grabbed the headlines, it was instead ropz who decided the outcome. His 29 kills and clever decision to purchase a second AWP in OT saw Vitality snatch the game away and go 1-0.
Nuke was similarly close, with Spirit managing to limit Vitality to just four T-side rounds despite some very close calls. However, with apEX and ropz both chiming in for 13 kills as Spirit experienced very little joy on repeated failed ramp hits, Vitality made the series 2-0 at 13-10.
If you’re familiar with Vitality’s record on Dust2, you can already guess at how map three went. Despite it once being a map no team was truly dominant on, and it actually being Spirit’s pick, Vitality were dominant, with Spirit being lucky to even take four rounds into halftime as donk somehow managed to clutch up the 1v2.
9-4 up as a result of winning a pistol-fake that worked a bit too well, the remainder of the third map was little more than a formality. ZywOo hit shots through the doors, flameZ got some entries, and ropz and mezii picked off rotators when it was required of them. It all came to an end at 13-5, and for the second time in the space of a year (and ropz’ third time overall, another record) Vitality were handed gold bars after yet another tournament win.
As we said at the start of this piece: if it wasn’t obvious before, it should be by now. Vitality are the greatest team of all time, and we’re beginning to think there might be nothing anyone can ever do about it.
After a disastrous qualification run for the IEM Cologne Major - and amid the not-yet-official but pretty much confirmed rumors of karrigan’s departure - FaZe have kickstarted their rebuild.
Who stays? Who goes? The full picture isn’t clear yet, but the first move is now on the board. FaZe have brought in former ENCE coach enkay J as their new head coach.
If that name doesn’t ring a bell, we don’t blame you. ENCE haven’t exactly been in the tier-1 spotlight lately - or anywhere near, really - so he’s easy to overlook. But enkay J isn’t new to the scene. His résumé includes analyst roles in teams like MOUZ, Envy, and G2. During his time with ENCE, his standout achievement came at Elisa Masters Espoo 2024, with an impressive championship run, taking down both The MongolZ and kicksoon’s HEROIC along the way.
So while he may not be the ash headline-grabbing hire many expected (ourselves included), he brings clear experience and fits FaZe’s current needs. This isn’t a team looking for a cheerleader coach - they need structure and direction, especially without karrigan. Given the limited options on the market, this feels like a sensible move.
And the man hasn’t wasted any time.
According to neL, FaZe are set to field neityu as a stand-in in the “next weeks”, likely meaning he’ll join the squad for their US tour at BLAST Rivals Season 1 and IEM Atlanta.
Again, not a widely know name, but honestly that’s more of a reflection of ENCE’s recent obscurity than his ability. He was a bright spot in an otherwise underwhelming lineup, handling the toughest roles, and even earning apEX’s praise along the way. If this move becomes permanent, it’s not a game-changer on its own, but it could provide much-needed stability while signaling a shift toward a younger player profile FaZe should be leaning into.
But the most concerning line in the report was this: “Twistzz is expected to take over in-game leading”.
God help us all.
After his incredible redemption story with PARIVISION this year, we thought it was about time to ask zweih the most important questions in Counter-Strike.
Watch Now
It seems like MOUZ might be doomed to just never learn.
They’ve finally made roster moves, which is great, but with Brollan and Jimpphat’s removal from the team, they’ve turned to xertioN as their team’s new IGL.
It isn’t that we completely hate that outcome, he’s been fragging like an IGL for a while, but at what point do MOUZ look towards someone with an actual brain and not a warm hole in their arse for sycrone to direct his puppet show from?
Sorry.
The rest of the MOUZ news gets even weirder when it comes to incomings.
For the next two tournaments, jL and xelex will be playing, with jL being signed on loan for the time being, and xelex being promoted from MOUZ NXT.
Brollan will then be back for the Major, though, because the rules dictate they can only use one sub for the event. So we can count MOUZ out, then.
As for what comes after Cologne? That’s anyone’s guess. Logic dictates that if things go well, they’d look to sign jL in the long run. However, if the jL loan goes well but it’s clear xertioN isn’t actually cut out for leadership, what happens then?
The only thing that really remains clear is the same thing that has been crystal since January: MOUZ should have made changes after being humbled in Budapest, and the fact that they didn’t has torpedoed their entire 2026. Now that their roster has fallen apart, it could be even worse, too, because like we said, there’s nothing saying just two changes fixes anything anymore.
There’s certainly some FaZe-related irony there.
It’s really happening this time. At the end of the 2026 fall season, Brazil will be no more.
In Counter-Strike, anyway.
December will mark the final time FalleN plays Counter-Strike professionally - 247 days out from Friday’s emotional announcement on the Rio stage. As cynical as we often are here at TLDR, it actually had us tearing up a bit.
Not just FURIA, not just Brazil, but Counter-Strike is losing something special when FalleN leaves the server at the end of this year.
This almost happened much sooner. The longtime in-game-leader has hinted at retirement since at least 2022, when his Imperial team was described as his last dance - even once saying outright he’d most likely finish his career at the end of 2023.
For a supportive in-game leader, he sure baits a lot.
There’s a universe not too far from this one where FalleN never stepped into FURIA, never won another big event trophy, never again stood in front of a roaring Brazilian crowd.
How lucky we are that we aren’t in that timeline.
We are, however, worried about how 2027 will look. As much as FalleN’s excellence has been entertaining, it is concerning how much of a load bearing pillar he has been in Brazilian Counter-Strike the past half-decade.
We challenge you to look at the Brazilian talent pool and point to a player you can confidently say will pick up the torch and lead Brazilian CS to trophies. Could arT ever live up to that pressure? Could biguzera? Could YEKINDAR?
We doubt it. Fortunately, there’s 247 days left for the Professor to pass his teachings to his teammates and compatriots.
247 days we will greatly enjoy watching. Godspeed, Gabriel.
