Author: Adham "Adi" Al Kharouf

Following the release of VALORANT, many former CS:GO professionals decided to either take a break from the game or leave it altogether, some of which have returned to our beloved game of Counter-Strike. Today, I’m talking about some who have returned from Riot Games’™ shooter game.nitr0’s returnNicholas “⁠nitr0⁠” Cannella started his CS:GO career back in early 2014 playing for Area 51 Gaming and became one of the most formidable In-Game Leaders ever.Nitr0’™s career had been on pause, thought never to be resumed after leaving Liquid in August 2020 to play VALORANT. Since then, nitr0 proceeded to win the first-ever VALORANT…

Due to the generosity of many sponsors, large prize pools, and a massive amount of fans and spectators, the CS: GO Esport scene is rapidly growing, and with it, the fans and prize pools. I’m here to talk about the tournaments responsible for the immense growth.Worldwide, sports are incredibly popular. Similarly, the Esport scene has a huge following but, what defines how big a tournament is? Is it the prize pool, or is it the viewership? That’s up to you to decide, I’ll be ranking the biggest CS:GO tournaments by prize pool, and when available, viewership.Starting with a tournament type…

Additional reporting by Benjamin “esk1mo” EsgateWith Group D coming to a close, that means that the playoff stage for ESL Pro League Season 15 is upon us. The top three teams from each group progressed, making up the twelve teams that will battle out for the ESL Pro League trophy. Tournament favourites like G2 Esports, Outsiders and Vitality have fallen by the wayside, failing to progress to the playoff stage.Similarly, teams like Players and FaZe failed to top their respective groups as they were expected to. This has created an incredibly interesting playoff bracket, packed full of underdog stories, with…

We’re still on the first day of the Legends Stage at the PGL Major Antwerp 2022, and the viewership has already peaked at over 1 million viewers. This milestone took place during the match between Natus Vincere and G2 Esports – a rematch of the PGL Stockholm Finals. This marks the sixth time a CS:GO Major peaked at over 1 million views.The previous CS:GO Major, PGL Major Stockholm 2021, peaked at 2,748,434 viewers during the grand final between Natus Vincere and G2 Esports. At the start of the first day of the Legends Stage, the PGL Major Antwerp 2022 peaked…

With Imperial defeating forZe on the last day of the PGL Major Challengers Stage to claim the final spot in the Legends Stage, we know all the teams competing at this stage of the tournament.The Challengers Stage, which took place over the past few days, was skipped by eight teams. Due to superior placements in their Regional Major Rankings, meaning they will be competing on the 14th of May.Sixteen teams arrived in Antwerp early and began competing on the 9th of May to compete for slots in the Legends Stage. It was a piece of cake for G2 and Vitality,…

Players (Gambit)Gambit had issued a statement stating that they would not prevent their players from competing in the ESL Pro League under a neutral name. This was confirmed by Abay “HObbit” Khasenov, and he said that the roster would compete at the tournament in Düsseldorf.Gambit is ranked fourth on the HLTV top teams and has had an exemplary past year. After placing first at the Funspark ULTI 2021 earlier this year, as well as making the quarter-finals at IEM Katowice 2022, they are unquestionably one of the teams assured a playoff spot.BIGKarim “Krimbo” Moussa had been promoted from BIG’s academy…

The Female league is part of ESL’s new CS:GO circuit for women, set to begin on March 17 and run over six weeks, with broadcasts every Thursday and Friday. The league consists of the following regions: Europe, North America, and South America. We’™ll be taking an in-depth look at some of the teams from each region.Firstly we’ll be going over the European region of the female scene.EuropeGODSENTProbably the first name on everyone’s tongues when thinking of the female Counter-Strike scene in Europe, Godsent is among the most notable in the female field. The Norwegian-majority team consists of Aurora “aurora” Lyngdal,…

VitalityFollowing the roster change that entailed the arrival of the Danish duo Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen and Emil “Magisk” Reif, success was high on the list of expectations. Unfortunately for the fans of the French organization, that success was relatively short-lived, considering their inability to reach the playoffs at IEM Katowice 2022, which meant not playing at the Spodek Arena. With Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut having one of his worst appearances in years, the team of Vitality is undoubtedly looking for redemption at this event.FaZe 2022 has been an exemplary year for FaZe Clan. Who at their last event played with the…

Being the biggest event of the year so far, there are loads of interesting things bound to happen consequentially, this article was written. This is a list of a few things that I thought stood out amongst the others.1. Underdogs shouldn’t be underestimated.Even though the underdogs of IEM Katowice were knocked out of the group stages, most of them put up a decent fight against the favorites. The likes of which are fnatic, MOUZ and Astralis. Even with their roster changes heading into the year and substitutes used at the tournament, they still managed to surprise the audience and their…

Being the biggest event of the year so far, there are loads of interesting things bound to happen consequentially, this article was written. This is a list of a few things that I thought stood out amongst the others.1. Underdogs shouldn’t be underestimated.Even though the underdogs of IEM Katowice were knocked out of the group stages, most of them put up a decent fight against the favorites. The likes of which are fnatic, MOUZ and Astralis. Even with their roster changes heading into the year and substitutes used at the tournament, they still managed to surprise the audience and their…