Author: Benjamin "esk1mo" Esgate
IEM Cologne 2022 was an action-packed tournament that brought an end to the first half of the year for Counter-Strike. With the summer break upon us, some teams can rest up feeling satisfied. However, certain teams do not have that luxury, and changes within their lineups may be imminent. We’ve picked out six winners and six losers from IEM Cologne 2022Winners: FaZe & Counter-Strike fans2021 was the year of Natus Vincere; they were incredibly dominant – winning the sole Major of the year and also taking home the million-dollar bonus for winning Season 3 of the Intel Grandslam. Heading into…
ORDER and MIBR join Complexity and paiN by heading home in last place at the IEM Cologne 2022 Play-InYesterday saw two teams from the Americas, Complexity and paiN, exit the IEM Cologne 2022 Play-In in last place. Two others joined them in the matches earlier this morning where ORDER took on Imperial and MIBR faced TYLOO. The veteran Brazilians on Imperial beat out the Australian side to stay alive in the tournament. They won the series through a reverse sweep after initially dropping ORDER’s pick of Inferno 8-16 and then winning Mirage 16-8. Their head-to-head concluded on Nuke and ended…
New rosters are off to a strong start, massive upsets, and big teams heading home early are the key stories to come out of the first day at the IEM Cologne 2022 Play-In.The IEM Cologne tournament began today, starting with the Play-In stage. This stage involves sixteen teams fighting for the main event’s eight remaining spots. The day kicked off with eight best-of-ones with elimination and qualifying games that followed. To recap, the first day of play…Solid starts for rosters with new additionsBoth Heroic and Spirit came into Germany with a new addition to their roster – rifle player Jakob…
No clear favorite, a tightly contested playoff stage, and eight unconfirmed teams are the key headlines heading into IEM Cologne 2022.IEM Cologne 2022 follows the Play-In segment held in Cologne, Germany. It will see sixteen teams compete for the trophy in the LANXESS Arena, known for having one of the biggest crowds in the entire Counter-Strike calendar.Eight teams await the Play-In teams in the main event. These include Natus Vincere, NIP, G2, and ENCE, who are in Group A, and FaZe, Liquid, Cloud9, and FURIA, who are in Group B. The remaining teams are decided through the Play-In stage, where…
New players, teams in and out of form, and only eight spots up for grabs at the main event are some key headlines heading into IEM Cologne 2022 Play-In.The Play-In segment of the famed competition held in Cologne, Germany, will see sixteen teams compete for eight remaining spots at the main event in a double-elimination playoff bracket.Eight teams await the Play-In teams in the main event. These include the world’s top-four ranked teams – FaZe, Natus Vincere, ENCE, and Cloud9. G2, FURIA, NIP, and Liquid are the remaining teams who have already netted a spot at the main event and…
In-game cosmetics make up a massive part of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive ecosystem; they were integral to the initial growth of the Valve game. This was due to the growth of the trading scene and the economy Valve tends to build for its games. Skins or finishes were first introduced in the Arms Deal Update in 2013. These finishes are variants of the weapons in the game with different textures and colour schemes. With regards to knives, there are multiple different types of knives, ranging from the curves of the Karambit to the flamboyance of the Bayonet. Individual knives and…
The North American component of the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2022 allows a single team from the Americas to qualify for the main event – the BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022. These BLAST Premier Showdowns are famously incredibly cut-throat. There is a single bracket composed of eight teams, and all matches taking place are best-of-threes. The single-elimination qualifier begins on the twenty-seventh of April and runs until the first of May, with the North American portion taking place alongside the European segment – filling the two remaining spots at the main event.The BLAST Premier Spring Showdown for North America takes…
Weapon cases were introduced into Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in August of 2013. The update which brought the cases into the game was known as the Arms Deal Update, which gave players a chance to receive them as a drop after completing a match on a VAC secured server. The cases that you obtain are locked and can only be opened through the use of the corresponding key. These keys can be obtained directly in-game or from another player through the Steam Community Market.Each case contains a collection of weapon cosmetics ranging from Mil-Spec skins to Rare Special Items. These weapons…
In the previous part of the history of CS:GO Cases, we reached September 2015, when the Shadow Case was released into Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. These years were important times for the Valve game as the Counter-Strike series found massive growth, which was aided by the introduction of skins and the trading community. The Shadow Case was followed by the Revolver Case in December of 2015, a case that introduced a new weapon into CS:GO.Revolver CaseThe infamous and controversial Revolver Update introduced a new gun – the R8 Revolver. The case that came in conjunction with this update featured skins for…
The dawn of a new year can mean different things for each individual. The majority of us spend the latter stages of the year winding down from the stresses of the previous and with that, we set ambitious goals for the year to come.This is also the case in the world of Counter-Strike. The winter break brings an end to the season of CS:GO, and with that, organization owners get out their checkbooks and prepare for massive spending to better their teams going into the following year.In this article, I am attempting to highlight some interesting roster changes that were…