Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is one of the biggest video games in the world, boasting a player base of nearly one million players active at any one time, and pulling in numerous high profile sponsors and partners to provide one of the most stacked competitive calendars in the Esports world.
With more and more people getting into the scene than ever before, there’s never been a better time to get into the world of competitive CS:GO. Here are some of the top stories developing to help you get a better grasp on the scene.
Astralis Back To Their Best
Astralis won the ESL One Road to Rio event back at the start of the online era earlier this year, in what should have been the first step in their quest for a fourth consecutive Major Championship. However, following on from that, the Danish org went through a turbulent period that saw two of their most seasoned pros, Gla1ve and Xyp9x, bow out of active duty on medical leave.
It was a move that saw the side drop all the way out of the top ten in the HLTV world rankings, fail to qualify for the BLAST Summer Showdown finals and skip out on the next RMR qualifying event, CS_Summit6.
However, the recent BLAST Fall Showdown saw Astralis well and truly back to their best with Xyp9x and Gla1ve both returning to the active lineup. The Danes beat a tricky new MiBR side and G2 on their way to the finals, rising up to second in the world and laying down a warning to the rest of the world that Astralis are back to their best.
MiBR’s New Roster Delivering The Passion
You’ll be hard pressed to find a side more toxic than MiBR during their last roster’s final days together. The likes of Fallen, TACO and Fer were all legendary figures in the game, winning back to back Major Championships under the Luminosity and SK Gaming banners in 2016, but the org had felt increasingly stale during this year.
The losses continued to mount up, roster changes became more and more common around the trio, and things spiraled out of control for the Brazilians. TACO and Fer were kicked off the roster and Fallen, pretty much the face of Brazilian Counter-Strike, walked out in protest at the decision.
A makeshift, temporary, lineup was hastily scrambled together for the BLAST Fall Showdowns and the new MiBR boys faced a tricky series of fixtures against Astralis and FURIA as their debuts.
But despite being heavy, heavy underdogs in the CSGO odds for the matchups, MiBR performed admirably well considering. They were edged 1-2 by Astralis and G2, but did deliver a memorable rivalry win over fellow Brazilians FURIA in the tournament’s lower bracket, delivering one of the most refreshing and passionate performances seen in the scene for a while.
Who knows what the future holds for MiBR going forward, however it’s clear that there’s still an abundance of passion present in the community to build off.
A New Look Flashpoint Season
Flashpoint made its debut on the eve of the online era earlier this year, coming in as an alternative ESL Pro League for smaller teams to climb up the ranks, make a name for themselves and earn money playing games. Whilst the first season had its ups and downs e.g. the COVID-19 pandemic kicking off and bringing an end to the studio setting, there were still a plethora of plus points the event had going for it.
To follow on from this success, Flashpoint announced their second season was due to kick off over the remainder of this month.
The tournament would once again possess a prize pool of $1 million for the teams competing, but the tournament really received a shot in the arm through the announcement that it would be welcoming more high profile teams such as Fnatic, G2 and OG to the table.
These sides all possess some of the biggest fanbases in the world and will undoubtedly provide Flashpoint a legitimacy at the top table of competitive CS it might not have had so much of before.
