Monthly Archive: July 2021

Na'Vi star player, Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev who was the MVP at the recently concluded IEM Cologne 2021, showcased one of the best LAN performances ever witnessed in CS:GO. The 23-year-old managed to set a new world record by taking the most number of aces by a single player in a big CS:GO tournament, achieving a total of four aces from Group Stage to the Playoffs. To celebrate this, Na'Vi has launched two limited edition T-Shirts dedicated to the fantastic aces taken by the elite marksman while stating that, "We are making history and want to keep these events in out memory!"

Also Read: S1mple Talks About a Faster Method to Plant C4 in CS:GO, Community Debates

Na'Vi drops limited edition merchandise to celebrate s1mple's CS:GO record ace

Na'Vi was definitely a stong team coming into IEM Cologne 2021 but they were not the best. However, it was the LAN connection that seems to have activated something within s1mple who went on to deliver one of his career's best performances, achieving an overall HLTV rating of 1.51 across 14 maps.

Not only this, s1mple broke the record for most aces taken in a single big CS:GO tournament by securing a total of four aces in Cologne. His victims included the lineup of Renegades, Astralis, and G2 Esports as he hunted them down with the sniper rifle. His aces were as follows,

Renegades on Dust 2

Astralis on Dust 2

Astralis on Inferno

G2 Esports on Dust 2

To celebrate this huge achievement, Na'Vi dropped two limited edition T-shirts - Oversize T-Shirt Na'Vi Aces and Oversize T-Shirt Na'Vi Aces GOAT. Both the shirts are being sold for €35 EUR (INR 3,089).

• The Oversize T-Shirt Na'Vi Aces has four ace playing cards on the front of the t-shirt and a quote on the back that gives an explanation about s1mple's ace world record.

  “Impossible for others. Easy for him. S1mple set a new world record at IEM Cologne 2021. He has become the first player to get four aces in a big tournament. Sorry (not sorry), G2, Renegades, Astralis.”

• The Oversize T-Shirt Na'Vi Aces GOAT is the second t-shirt that has GOAT written on the front and the name of all s1mple's victims along with which weapon they went down to in the back.

According to Na'Vi, the t-shirts are made from 70% cotton, 20% polyester, 5% microfiber, and 5% elastane. The sizes available are extra small, small, medium, large, and extra-large. Orders will take 14 days to ship to Russia, Europe, and USA, while for the rest of the world it may take up to 20 days.

Also Read: CS:GO May Have Suggested Sharable Utility, Community Debates Possibility

Valve has shared a post via the official CS:GO Twitter account which has got the entire community excited. The post states "Imagine a world where pressing 'G' drops your grenades," which may be suggesting droppable or sharable utility in Counter-Strike. Since the post went live, several community figures like popular CS:GO talent, Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill and content creator, ZooL Smith has touched upon the topic, asking members of the community the consequences of such a change. The feedback has been mixed, with responses from professional players, coaches, and general users basically calling it one of the biggest changes to CS:GO in the last five years, if Valve actually goes ahead with it.

Also Read: CS:GO User Shows Bizarre Ways to Hit No Scopes With AWP, Goes Viral on TikTok

Community discusses possibility of sharable utility in CS:GO

Valve has been dropping cryptic posts on the CS:GO Twitter account since the past few days which has kept the community entertained, everyone trying to decipher what it all actually means. However, the post featured yesterday on 29^th July was a question asking the community their opinion on sharable utility in CS:GO.

The feedback from the community was mixed, however, when it comes to professional CS:GO players and talents, they thought it was a ridiculous idea which would not contribute constructively to the current state of the game.

North American star rifler, Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski while responding to a similar query put up by SPUNJ straight away said that "(It) doesn't sound good to me."

He further explained a scenario if the utility actually becomes sharable saying that, one player would alone handle a site stacked with all the utilities while the remaining players hold the other site, and then they can simply play retake if the opposition goes to the site with only one player.

Anders Blume who is a popular Danish caster was of the opinion that a player who did not know any lineups would simply keep dropping for his teammates, "too lazy to learn the smoke/flashes".

Valve discussed on the topic with content creator ZooL Smith who called this feature game-breaking if it is actually introduced to the game. The official CS:GO account put forward a question asking "Does this break the game if team buy limits are the same?"

ZooL responded to this by saying he was not a big fan of the idea, inviting renowned content creator, WarOwl in on the discussion. CS:GO's final statement in this discussion was "If you load up your 'utility expert' with 4 of your 5 team molotovs or smokes, that definitely creates new opportunities. And at the same time - a ton of risk."

The general player base was split in their decision, some liking the idea as it would drastically change how the current CS:GO gameplay works, right from its roots. While others were not too big of a fan of how this would affect the overall working of the game.

Also Read: S1mple Talks About a Faster Method to Plant C4 in CS:GO, Community Debates

A day after Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen to denied all rumours about him having shared Heroic's strat book, the Danish organization came out with a statement of their own, yesterday on 29^th July. According to Heroic's statement, they are taking legal action against HUNDEN while also having terminated his contract. ESL's Senior Vice President of Product, Ulrich Schulze also came forward to comment on the situation with ESL having conducted its own investigation, to determine whether IEM Cologne's tournament integrity was affected or not. Lastly, the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) also confirmed their ongoing investigation which started on on 8^th July 2021.

Also Read: CS:GO Major 2021 Update: PGL Sets Two Deadlines For Stockholm

Heroic releases statement regarding Hunden

A day after HUNDEN released a public statement from his side, dismissing all rumours about him having leaked information sensitive to Heroic, the Danish organization came forward with their own response.

1. Heroic alleged that before IEM Cologne 2021 the organization unanimously decided to not involve HUNDEN "due to severe trust issues".

2. The org added that HUNDEN had blocked team members from accessing the team's strategy folder.

3. Following an internal investigation, Heroic claimed that HUNDEN had shared sensitive and confidential information with an individual before IEM Cologne 2021.

4. Considering this to be a clear breach of contract, Heroic has taken legal actions against HUNDEN while also terminating his contract.

Heroic expressed shock by HUNDEN's alleged behavior, while talking about how they had given him a second chance following the coach bug suspension.

ESL comments on allegations against Hunden

Ulrich Schulze - ESL's Senior Vice President of Product also made a statement clarifying that after the TO conducted its own investigation into the matter, it has come to a conclusion that IEM Cologne's tournament integrity was not impacted by this incident.

After ESL was notified about Hunden's alleged behaviour by ESIC, the tournament organizer investigated and came to a conclusion that "while permissions to access a shared folder were sent out, the folder was not accessed by the recipient in any way".

ESIC confirms ongoing investigation into claims against Hunden

ESIC stepped forth to confirm its ongoing investigation in the matter, revealing that they had been notified about Hunden allegedly leaking Heroic's sensitive information on 6^th July, "which could be classified as a breach of ESIC's Integrity Program".

ESL was also notified about the situation by ESIC as it was related to upcoming matches at IEM Cologne 2021. As stated above, the tournament integrity was not breached and that ESIC has continued its investigation, currently awaiting further evidence.

On 28^th July, Hunden had publicly spoken about the situation where he had claimed that rumours about him having shared Heroic's strat book were false. He confessed to having shared some "anti-strat material of opponents," with colleagues from other teams, claiming it to be essential for him as a coach "in respect to staying in the loop and developing".

Further, Hunden stated that he is willing to cooperate with ESIC and any other relevant institutions, and is also ready to "provide documentation about anything found necessary to the case".

For now, the matter is still under investigation. There were also rumours about Astralis being interested in signing HUNDEN as their coach, and it's yet to be seen if this rumoured with be affected following these allegations.

Also Read: Astralis Coach Zonic Talks About The Struggle That The Best CS:GO Teams Face

A TikTok user recently went viral on the platform by uploading some really creative CS:GO content. The user who goes by the name of 'csgogoezhack' has garnered millions of views for showing off some bizarre methods to hit no scopes with the AWP. For all those who are adept at the game know how ridiculously tough it is to hit an accurate no scope with the big green, basically due to the weapon's immensely high spread when firing from the hip. However, this TikTok user has figured out the art of connecting these no scope shots by using some ridiculously unconventional aiming methods which involve lemon, scissors, dental floss, toothpicks, and more day to day items.

Also Read: S1mple Talks About a Faster Method to Plant C4 in CS:GO, Community Debates

CS:GO player uses ridiculous methods to hit no scope with an AWP

It is certainly debatable if the methods used by the CS:GO player who goes by the name of 'csgogoezhack' on TikTok is legit or not, as he attaches really weird items to his monitor in order to hit perfect no scopes with an AWP.

Yes, it does act as a third-party physical aim assist but it still does not guarantee a 100% output efficiency. Also, the player does not use it with an intention to cheat, he does it for fun using objects that one would never even think of using as an aim assist crosshair.

This obviously does not justify his actions and we do not encourage delving into such activities, but you have to give it to the guy for his creativity. To come up with such a bizarre concept and keep delivering on it consistently.

Here is one of the most viral CS:GO no scope clip created by the user where he tapes a dental floss to his monitor, using it as a physical aim assist to no scope his opponents to oblivion.

The clip above garnered more than 30 million views and 2 million likes. The user himself is very popular on the platform that does not have a lot of CS:GO creators, with more than 150,000 followers and a total of 6.2 million likes.

Here the user can be seen using a thing slice of lemon which has been hollowed and stuck with tape onto the screen.

In the clip below the user can be seen hitting no scope shots through the finger grips of scissors that has been suspended in front of his screen using a thread.

The CS:GO user is definitely creative as he easily converts daily use items into physical aim assists that actually work pretty well, the legality of it all is a topic of debate though. All of this just goes on to show that even after two decades worth of competing and content creation, Counter-Strike always has something more if one is looking in the right direction.

Also Read: CS:GO Pro Edward's Warm Message to First-Ever CS World Champion Goes Viral

One of the best CS:GO teams in the world that dominated the top spot for a very long time, Astralis might not be as dominant as they once were, but they still continue to hold their own. The Danish giants recently lost their star player Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz, but despite the setback, they managed to finish 3^rd-4^th at IEM Cologne 2021, quickly adapting to the situation and making the best of it. However, the journey has been tough for Astralis as pointed out by their head coach, Danny "zonic" Sørensen who has been with the organization since the very first day.

Zonic, in an interview with BLAST Premier which was released on 26^th July, talks about some of the struggles every top CS:GO team goes through, after attaining the number one spot in the world.

Also Read: CS:GO Coach Zonic Might Leave Astralis According to Reports

Zonic reveals what Astralis went through when they were the best CS:GO team

Zonic who has been named the 'Best Esports Coach' for two consecutive years at the Game Awards 2019 and 2020, is a massive reason behind Astralis' success up until this point in time.

The 34-year-old, in a recent interview released by BLAST, spoke about the struggle almost every CS:GO team goes through after becoming the very best in the world. First, talking about his own experience along with Astralis, zonic said that,

Zonic moves on from Astralis and talks about how teams, after claiming the throne, have to struggle even harder. He points out how being at the top requires teams to come up with new stuff constantly, as others study their whole playbook.

He shines a light on the mental side of things, saying once a team starts winning all the trophies and stay longer at the top, every loss hurts more especially the times when the team goes through a bad period.

Zonic goes on to talk about other things like how his journey as a coach began, what this role actually means, and more.

Astralis recently expanded to a six-man roster once again by signing a young AWPer. It will be interesting to see how the team goes on to perform from here on out.

Also Read: Dupreeh Gets Emotional During Farewell Message to Dev1ce

PGL has finally come forward to give an update on the upcoming CS:GO Major location after no response was made by them, following the reported 23^rd July deadline. According to the tournament organizers the PGL Major 2021 will take place in Stockholm only if local authorities are able to meet specific objectives before two seperate deadlines. In case these deadlines are not met by the Swedish authorities, PGL is prepared to move the Major to another location in Europe on the same dates in November 2021 (i.e., November 4th-7th). The organizers further confirmed that the ticket sales for the Major will start on 16^th Sept, irrespective of where the event takes place.

Also Read: PGL Gives an Update on CS:GO Major 2021, Has Backup Plans

PGL CS:GO Major Update: Stockholm on track if local authorities meet deadlines

PGL while acknowledging that the Swedish authorities are trying to meet all the guarantees set by them, in order to conduct the CS:GO Major in Stockholm have not given them the green flag so far.

To ensure that the event is accessible to all the players, staff, and fans, PGL is keeping a close eye on the following two deadlines.

1. 23^rd August

   The first deadline is directly related to the change in Sweden's temporary entry ban restriction which will allow all the players and people supporting the event to enter the country. This amendment is supposed to be enforced by 23^rd August, according to PGL.

2. 15^th September

   This is the second deadline that affects the live audience numbers for the CS:GO Major. PGL is hoping that the indoor restrictions for this tournament will be lifted by this date and that they would be able to fill Avicii Arena to its full capacity.

Having made the above statement, PGL has confirmed that without having any effect on the predecided schedule of the Major (4^th-7^th November) they can move the tournament to another European venue, if the deadlines are not met by Swedish authorities.

Sweden has already made a 180 switch from being against conducting the CS:GO Major in Stockholm, to discussing the issue and accepting it. It will be interesting to see if the local authorities can keep their word and work towards attaining the set objectives before the deadlines or not.

Also Read: Mayor of Stockholm in Support of CS:GO Major, Highlights Its Positive Effects on Sweden

Team Liquid has not really had the best year so far, having won just one CS:GO tournament - cs_summit 8 in 2021. Despite star player Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo joining the team in January 2021 and Eric "adreN" Hoag returning as their coach in May 2021, the team has failed to be consistent. With the currently ongoing CS:GO summer player break, all the teams have got a chance to reset themselves before the arrival of the next CS:GO Major in October. In a bid to get out of their slump, Team Liquid has apparently decided to let FalleN lead the team inside the server while giving Jacky "Stewie2K" Yip a break from this responsibility, according to Liquid rifler Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski who revealed this on his 27^th July Twitch stream.

Also Read: S1mple Talks About a Faster Method to Plant C4 in CS:GO, Community Debates

FalleN to takeover as Team Liquid IGL after CS:GO player break

While streaming Valorant and having a chat with his viewers, EliGE, during his 27^th July Twitch stream, revealed that FalleN will be taking on the role of the in-game leader for Team Liquid post the CS:GO player break which comes to an end on 15^th August. He further confirmed that it was Stewie2K who was calling the shots for Liquid during IEM Cologne 2021.

This means that FalleN will most definitely be leading the Liquid lineup at the upcoming ESL Pro League Season 14, which is scheduled to start one day after the CS:GO player break from 16^th August.

However, Liquid will only be seen in action from 1^st to 5^th September as they are in Group-D alongside five other teams - Gambit Esports, NIP, FURIA, Entropiq, and Team One.

It is unclear at the moment if FalleN will be leading the North American organization for just this one tournament, or has the Brazilian been handed this responsibility on a more permanent basis.

But this is definitely not the first time that a change in captaincy has been implemented by Liquid, as FalleN has acted as an IGL for this lineup at least once during IEM Katowice 2021 which took place in February earlier this year.

Also Read: NiKo Shares Old Plans of Forming CS:GO Team With FalleN

When the best CS:GO player in the world says something, the community usually takes it without asking any questions. But that was not the case yesterday when Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev came forward to say that holding down 'E' to plant a C4 is faster than using the 'Left Click'. An instant debate erupted within the CS:GO community as users started pointing out that this theory has been debunked by popular Counter-Strike YouTuber 3kliksphilip. There was still a lot of back and forth arguments as a dedicated user went ahead to experiment on his own, concluding that the time to plant the C4 does indeed vary by a few ticks.

Also Read: CS:GO Pro Edward's Warm Message to First-Ever CS World Champion Goes Viral

Is there a faster way to plant the C4 in CS:GO?

Yesterday on 27^th July, VP.Prodigy lost one round to Fnatic Rising on Overpass after they ran out of time to plant the C4. Highlighting this round in particular, Na'Vi star AWPer, s1mple came forward to reveal that the first CS:GO player who had managed to plant the C4 quicker than the default time required was the Astralis captain Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander.

He followed this up by claiming that pressing down the 'E' button to plant a C4 was a faster method of planting than the default 'Left Click'.

As expected, it led to a huge debate within the CS:GO community as users immediately started pointing out an experiment conducted by 3kliksphilip on this very topic more than six years ago.

According to 3kliksphilip's analysis, if the player has done everything right like holding the C4 in their hand before reaching the site and planting right on the very edge of the site right from where it begins, then it does not matter which button the player uses.

A recent experiment conducted by a CS:GO player following s1mple's tweet seems to be generating the same result as the one showcased by 3kliksphilip. The user in his outcome states that "After some testing, there appears to be VERY SLIGHT variation at times when the C4 is planted, but not more than 1 or 2 ticks."

It seems s1mple might have been wrong after all with his statement. The faster plant time when compared to the set default seems to be a random oddity that is not associated to 'E' or 'Left Click', the reason behind its occurrence is still under debate without any solid conclusion.

Also Read: Everything About CS:GO Defuse Code: What Is It, How Can You Change It, What Does It Mean

Sometimes the current CS:GO players forget exactly how old Counter-Strike is and since how long players have been competing at a professional level. CS:GO is itself almost a decade old at this point in time, so when former Na'Vi player, Ioann "Edward" Sukhariev came forward to reveal that he used to look up to former Swedish Counter-Strike player Tommy "Potti" Ingemarsson, the entire CS:GO community started to share the news in amazement. The warm response by the 33-year-old along with Potti's tweet has since gone viral as users came forward to share nostalgic events and stories from Counter-Strike's glorious past.

Also Read: S1mple Talks About What He Does With All the CS:GO Prize Money

Edward's warm message to Potti wins over the CS:GO community

Swedish Counter-Strike legend, Potti who used to compete professionally in the early days of the game, recently came forward to celebrate 20 years of him along with his team Ninjas in Pyjamas winning the first-ever official Counter-Strike Major tournament - CPL Winter Championship 2001.

Many acknowledged his tweet, coming forward to congratulate him for what he had achieved with NIP and SK Gaming in the early days of Counter-Strike. An Argentinian user even came forward to reveal that in his country, the heaven spot on Nuke was commonly called Potti since the last 20 years or so.

But the comment that really won everyone's heart was Edward coming forward to say that watching Potti play basically inspired him and that he always aspired to be just like him.

This interaction, in particular, went viral as the CS:GO community suddenly realised how old Counter-Strike as a game was, its competitive circuit having started in 2000 and still going strong to this very day. They were amazed that the 33-year-old Edward was himself, at one point in time, looking up to someone like Potti, who was in his prime back then.

One user gave a great perspective to the CS:GO scene saying that "CS is so old that a lot of the current or even recently retired professional players looked up to Edward back in the days, who in turn looked up to Potti even way more back in the days."

A statement that well summarised the sentiments that the majority of the CS:GO community felt after having witnessed that interaction.

Also Read: CS:GO Major Location: No Word From PGL Yet, Will the Event Take Place in Sweden?

One of the best CS:GO players in the world and Na'Vi star AWPer, Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev recently spoke about what he does with his share of the CS:GO prize money. On his 25^th July Twitch stream, s1mple, while chatting with his viewers admitted that he gives all his prize money earnings from the CS:GO tournaments to his parents so that they can enjoy their life like he does. The MVP (Most Valuable Player) of IEM Cologne 2021 had an incredible outing in the first CS:GO LAN tournament in more than a year, as Na'Vi lifted the trophy, now just one win away from winning the Intel Grand Slam - Season 3.

Also Read: S1mple Delivers a Message to his Haters After Winning IEM Cologne 2021

S1mple reveals what he does with all the CS:GO prize money

The lethal marksman who is a threat to every opposition in any possible scenario and situation, recently registered an insane overall HLTV rating of 1.51 at Cologne. But as merciless as he may be on the server, s1mple in reality is quite humble in the way he chooses to spend his tournament prize money.

During his recent Twitch stream, while engaging with his viewers, s1mple came forward to reveal what exactly does he do with his share of the tournament earnings, saying that,

So far 2021 has been going great for both s1mple and Na'Vi, the organization having already won a handful of CS:GO tournaments like,

• BLAST Premier: Global Final 2020

• BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2021

• DreamHack Masters Spring 2021

• StarLadder CIS RMR 2021

• IEM Cologne 2021

In all these tournaments, s1mple has showcased sublime form leading the team from the front and shining a light on his unmatched consistency. So far he has not registered an overall rating of less than 1.20 across all major tournaments.

According to esportsearnings, s1mple has earned $240,700 USD from his nine CS:GO tournament appearances so far in 2021. While last year, the star AWPer had managed to earn $123,200 USD across a total of 16 CS:GO tournaments.

With five more months still remaining before the year comes to an end, there are still a few big CS:GO tournaments still on the radar like the upcoming CS:GO Major, ESL Pro League Season 14, IEM Fall 2021, IEM Winter 2021, and more.

It will be interesting to see how Na'Vi performs in these tournaments, especially the Majors for which they are touted as being the top contenders to win it all.

Also Read: [Watch] S1mple's Record-Breaking Fourth Ace Against G2 Esports at IEM Cologne 2021