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GUIDES
Simple Radar
© 2026 TLDR Media, All Rights Reserved.
And we aren’t ashamed to say it.
Luminosity are BACK… but it doesn’t look like they’ll be winning Majors any time soon.
FUT might, though, and they have a fantastic opportunity to prove why with a class against Vitality next on the agenda.
Prestigious. Iconic. Words not usually used to describe the CCT Global Finals, and that’s not the case this time either.
The medium-sized LAN event in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal (it’s just a suburb of Porto) has wrapped up this weekend, and while we can’t exactly describe it as a must-see, we did see some interesting storylines unfold.
Most eyes will probably have gone the way of Ninjas in Pyjamas, trying to catch a glimpse of just how bad the car wreck would be with their new spaghetti-armed sniper.
Turns out, stavn might actually be a good AWPer. Posting not only positive ratings in the team’s first four out of five series played at the event, but actually hard carrying on his debut?
Much like a young Mr. Simpson, we must say the line:
We owe you an apology. We weren’t familiar with your game.
In further news at the event, 100 Thieves were in attendance, and that’s about all we can say about them. They lost two close matches against BIG and NIP and were handed a forfeit win over illwill, and unfortunately that’s all she wrote.
While it’s no doubt a disappointing result for the team, who seem to have slightly stagnated after their meteoric rise in March, they can at least take solace in the fact that they didn’t lose to any embarrassingly sh-t opponents.
Unlike some of messioso’s former squads.
The event culminated in a best-of-five grand final where HEROIC took on Monte, and started the final by going 0-13 on their own first pick. Naturally there was still a potential four maps left to play in the series, but it was already over.
Monte eventually took the win 3-1, with afro somehow continuing his stellar 2026 form with an electric final, once again making us ask the question where this was when he was playing on actually good teams.
Imagine where fnatic had been now if afro was posting 1.45 ratings for them. Actually, on second thought, they’d probably still be horrible.
All in all, most teams that showed up to Portugal can be happy with their stay, though some more than others. Particularly BIG, it seems.
Lovely.
Listen, we like lux, but if he’s the first man you’re trying to bring into your new project
Is it even worth starting the project at all?
Luminosity seem to think so, reports are circling to suggest the Brazilian will be the starting point as they look to re-enter CS with an international lineup.
We do want to be positive, but it just is quite hard. There’s a lot of competitive teams right now, and even if this is going to be an international team, it will have to be based in the Americas to not drown in the sea of EU talent.
In which case, what sort of player will they even be able to attract? And will lux, whose Legacy team was on an aggressive downturn before arT came in, even have the ability to lead when not calling in his native language?
We don’t know, but we do know this team - whatever it ends up being - has Major Stage 1 exit written all over it.
Well, that’s if they ever even qualify for one.
Now that he’s actually learned to call a T-side that isn’t slower than watching paint dry, we’ve all been loving Jame’s return to tier-one Counter-Strike.
We know that the Russian IGL has done well to “take players from the streets” and get to where he is now, but how did one single moment of fate put Jame on that path?
Watch now
The land of the free and the home of the brave.
The next stop in the tier 1 calendar will take us to Murica - more specifically, Texas - for BLAST Rivals 2026 Season 1.
Well, it’s most definitely not taking us anywhere, because this team lineup alone gives you plenty of reasons not to make the trip - especially if you’re an NA fan, considering there isn’t even a single NA team attending. Though, to be fair, that says more about the state of the scene that it does about the tournament itself.
First and foremost, it’s in the US. Pretty self-explanatory.
Then, Falcons, Spirit, PARIVISION, MOUZ, Aurora, and The MongolZ have all declined their invitations, which means this will simply be another free trophy for Vitality. Not that their attendance would necessarily change much, but you get the point.
Out of the top nine teams at the time of the invites, only Vitality, FURIA, and NAVI accepted theirs, with the rest of the lineup filled out by FUT, Astralis, G2, FaZe, and GamerLegion. Not exactly must-watch CS…
Don’t get us wrong - we’ll still follow every single bit of it, as the true CS nerds we are, but it does feel a bit underwhelming.
Still, FURIA and NAVI look like the only teams with a slight chance of winning more than 10 rounds per map against Vitality. Who are we kidding… just look at how that turned out for them in Rio.
We’ll be rooting for FUT, though. They’re always a fun team to watch, and if anyone can be the dark horse, it’s them. We’re hoping for an entertaining Playoffs run, maybe even a Grand Final appearance. We’ve all seen what these kids are capable of, so there’s definitely a chance.
But the team everyone will have their eyes on is FaZe. They’ll be kicking off the post-karrigan era in Fort Worth, with the debut of Neityu and coach enkay J. With NAVI waiting in the opener, expectations aren’t exactly high, but it’ll still be interesting to see how they shape up - especially with what will most likely be a lower final against GamerLegion for a spot at the Dickies Arena.
Either way, nothing really matters in the grand scheme of things, as the only three certainties in life are death, taxes, and Vitality lifting every f-cking trophy they set their sights on.
