Author: Pedro Romero

Half a year into M80’s journey within Counter-Strike, they have taken part in various online competitions that ranged from ESEA to CCT and ECL, but it wasn’t until they competed in ESL Challenger at DreamHack Atlanta that they were able to obtain LAN experience and have a chance to face some of the world’s best teams.For M80’s opening contest in Atlanta, they faced VP in a best-of-one that started relatively close with a 6-6 first half before a 2-7 run on the T-side led to their defeat.During M80’s participation in DreamHack, BLIX spoke with Fritz “slaxz-” Dietrich for an interview…

Fresh off their victory in DreamHack Winter, Monte started their bid towards winning a second consecutive ESL Challenger tournament by progressing to the playoffs in DreamHack Atlanta. Despite falling to Virtus.pro in the Group B winner’s match, Monte breezed past BESTIA to advance to the next phase and set up a semifinal match against Apeks.Following their win over BESTIA, Monte’s Volodymyr “Woro2k” Veletnjuk talked to BLIX for an interview on the team’s journey in DreamHack Atlanta, how he views their progression in 2023 and much more.Advancing past the ESL Challenger group stagePedro Romero, BLIX: It was a good way for…

As the fifth-ranked team in the world, Complexity Gaming were seen as one of the favorites to win the ESL Challenger tournament in DreamHack Atlanta following decent performances in BLAST Premier: Fall Final and IEM Sydney. However, two consecutive losses to Asian upstarts The MongolZ signaled their elimination from the competition during the group stages.Following Complexity’s elimination, BLIX talked to IGL Johnny “JT” Theodosiou for an interview about their performance in Atlanta, facing The MongolZ, reflecting on the 2023 season and much more.Facing The MongolZPedro Romero, BLIX: Thank you so much for the interview despite the heavy loss against MongolZ.…

Virtus.pro secured their ticket to the playoffs in ESL Challenger Atlanta 2023 by taking down M80 and Monte in consecutive best-of-one’s in the group stage. It was the continuation of an impressive form that saw the team finish in the Top 4 in the Roobet Cup, Thunderpick World Championship, DreamHack Winter and BetBoom Dacha.Chief among those responsible for the team’s showing in Atlanta so far is Petr “fame” Bolyshev, who finished with a team-high rating of 1.54 and a 1.95 KD ratio. Following VP’s second match of their ESL Challenger journey, BLIX talked to fame for an interview on the…

Ranked as one of the best Counter-Strike teams in the world, Complexity Gaming was tabbed as a favorite for winning ESL Challenger Atlanta 2023. However, those expectations were quickly put in danger as an overtime loss to The MongolZ sentenced CoL to the elimination match against GamerLegion. Despite the early setback, the North American representative rebounded by besting their European counterparts 2-1 to stay alive in the tournament.Following the first day of competition in ESL Challenger, BLIX talked to HÃ¥kon “hallzerk” Fjærli about facing their two opponents, how he looks back at the 2023 season with the team, the inclusion…

Despite ascending to the top of the pro Counter-Strike ladder in the latter half of 2023, Complexity Gaming experienced a setback in the leadup to ESL Challenger at DreamHack Atlanta by way of head coach Tiaan “T.c” Coertzen being unable to attend due to a personal matter. As a result, assistant coach James “JamezIRL” Macaulay, who joined the team in July following his near three-year stint in pro Valorant, stepped into the main role for the competition for the hometown North American representatives. Following Complexity’s opening match against The MongolZ, BLIX talked to JamezIRL for an interview regarding how he…

BESTIA took part as the sole South American team in the ESL Challenger at DreamHack Atlanta. Following their opening match in the tournament against Monte, their head coach Rodrigo “pino” Manarino talked to BLIX for an interview on the team’s progression throughout 2023, them having to work with Nicolás “NikoM” Miozzi and Roberto “reversive” Themtham as stand-ins, where he views the team is at in regards to South American Counter-Strike and much more.Playing with stand-insPedro Romero, BLIX: Thank you so much for taking the time and doing this interview. I believe it’s the first time in around four years in…

M80 took part in ESL Challenger 2023 at DreamHack Atlanta as one of the two North American representatives in front of a home crowd. Shortly after the team’s opening match against Virtus.pro, their head coach Rory “dephh” Jackson talked to BLIX for an interview, discussing stepping in for Marcus “maNkz” Kjeldsen for the tournament, how he reflects on 2023 and much more.Standing in for maNkzPedro Romero, BLIX: It’s been quite a whirlwind of a day for you after getting in the starting lineup as a stand-in due to maNkz [Marcus Kjeldsen] being unable to show up. What’s that situation like…

The International 12 marked a significant moment in a lot of ways for people, but few, if any, could be matched in magnitude as it did for commentator Austin “Cap” Walsh. Up until this point in his career, which spanned more than a decade covering Dota 2 and Heroes of Newerth and saw him appear in numerous TI’s, Majors and other third-party events, Cap had not cast a TI Grand Finals. To many in the Dota talent spectrum, covering the TI Grand Finals is the peak of their careers.Given the prestige and history that had been built surrounding that phase…

In the second part of BLIX’s interview with caster Austin “Cap” Walsh, he covers the difference in talent quality between Dota 2 and other esports titles, the future of pro Dota with the end of the Dota Pro Circuit, the sentiment of Dota potentially “dying” and much more.Comparing Dota and other esports talent-wisePedro Romero, BLIX: How do you view the difference in talent quality with Dota compared to other games?Austin “Cap” Walsh: I think the greatest strength of Dota talent is that we’re all pretty good natured and there’s very little drama. And of course, there’s still drama and you…