Category: Counter Strike Global Offensive (CSGO)

Ukrainian professional esports player Ostap “Oni” Onistrat died on the battlefield in the conflict with Russia earlier this month. He was 21.

The 68th brigade of Ukrainian land forces announced his passing on social media. Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense confirmed that he was killed by enemy shrapnel on June 3.

When 21 year old Ostap Onistrat joined the Ukrainian army to defend his country, his father Andriy, a well-known Ukrainian banker, had no second thoughts: he had to be there on the battlefield with his son. He wanted to protect him, to shield his heroic boy from the brutalities… pic.twitter.com/aHncGx94UJ

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) June 5, 2023

Oni’s last recorded Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament was at the ZUEL Championship in 2021, where he played for the Ukrainian team LIBERTATEM and finished second, per Sportskeeda.com.

Sergey “LMBT” Bezhanov, a Ukrainian-based CS:GO coach, described Oni as a national hero who died defending his country.

You Ukrainian CS player died while was protecting ???? and everyone of us. Glory to hero! ?? only 21 y.o.https://t.co/Zypvj8iqp2 pic.twitter.com/Jzzn4qKST2

— Sergey LMBT Bezhanov (@LMBT_CSGO) June 3, 2023

–Field Level Media

The full 24-team field for the $1 million Intel Extreme Masters Cologne event was confirmed on Monday.

IEM Cologne runs from July 26 to Aug. 6 in Cologne, Germany, with a top prize of $400,000.

Four top Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams qualified directly to the group stage: G2 Esports (IEM Katowice winner), FaZe Clan (EPL Season 17 winner), ENCE (IEM Dallas winner) and Team Vitality (IEM Rio winner).

Four others qualified for the group stage based on their ESL World Ranking: HEROIC, Cloud9, Natus Vincere and GamerLegion.

The other 16 teams will start off in the play-in stage: MOUZ, Apeks, 9INE, FURIA Esports, Team Liquid, Imperial Sportsbet, The MongolZ, GRAYHOUND, fnatic, paiN Gaming, Monte, Ninjas in Pyjamas, FORZE, Astralis, Into The Breach and BIG Academy.

The July 25-26 play-in stage features a double-elimination bracket. Opening matches are best-of-one and the remaining matches are best-of-three. The top eight teams advance to the group stage.

The July 27-30 group stage will have two double-elimination groups of eight teams each. All matches are best-of-three and the top three teams from each group advance to the playoffs.

The Aug. 4-6 playoff bracket is a single-elimination format. All matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final. In addition to the $400,000 prize, the winner also receives 3,000 BLAST Premier points and directly qualifies for IEM Katowice 2024.

–Field Level Media

MOUZ are close to signing Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek to replace CS:GO captain Christopher “dexter” Nong, Dexerto reported Monday.

Negotiations on siuhy’s transfer from GamerLegion are at “a very advanced stage,” according to the report.

siuhy helped GamerLegion qualify for back-to-back majors at IEM Rio (November) and the BLAST Paris Major (May).

The 20-year-old Polish prodigy played for the MOUZ academy team prior to joining GamerLegion in September.

–Field Level Media

Heroic pulled out a 2-1 victory over Team Vitality on Sunday afternoon to win the grand final at the BLAST Premier Spring Final in Washington, D.C.

With the victory, Heroic took home $200,000 and qualified for the $1 million BLAST Premier World Final on Dec. 12-17 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Team Vitality earned $85,000 as the runner-up.

Heroic opened the match with a 16-9 win on Vertigo before falling 16-10 on Mirage. But Heroic recovered by claiming another 16-9 victory, this time on Inferno, to put Team Vitality away and clinch the title.

Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard led the all-Danish winners with 59 kills and a plus-14 kills-deaths ratio, while Israel’s Lotan “Spinx” Giladi finished with 55 kills and a plus-eight K-D for Vitality.

The eight-team Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event began with a double-elimination group stage, with the field split into two groups of four teams.

All matches were best-of-three as winners of each group advanced to the playoff semifinals. Runners-up of each group moved on to the quarterfinals of the playoffs as high seeds, while third-place finishers headed to the quarterfinals as low seeds. All playoff matches were also best-of-three in the single-elimination bracket.

BLAST Premier Spring Final prize pool and points distribution:
1. $200,000, 3,000 BLAST Premier points, berth in BLAST Premier World Final — Heroic
2. $85,000, 2,000 BLAST Premier points — Team Vitality
3-4. $40,000, 1,200 BLAST Premier points — G2 Esports, Imperial Esports
5-6. $20,000, 500 BLAST Premier points — FaZe Clan, Complexity
7-8. $10,000, 300 BLAST Premier points — Cloud9, Astralis

–Field Level Media

Team Vitality and Heroic both earned 2-1 wins on Saturday to advance to the grand final at the BLAST Premier Spring Final in Washington, D.C.

After losing 16-11 on Anubis, Team Vitality won 16-9 on Inferno and 16-12 on Nuke to dispatch G2 Esports, while Heroic sandwiched victories on Overpass (16-13) and Nuke (19-17) around a 16-11 setback on Inferno to oust Imperial Esports.

The eight-team Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event began with a double-elimination group stage, with the field split into two groups of four teams.

All matches were best-of-three as winners of each group advanced to the playoff semifinals. Runners-up of each group moved on to the quarterfinals of the playoffs as high seeds, while third-place finishers headed to the quarterfinals as low seeds. All playoff matches are also best-of-three in the single-elimination bracket.

The grand final is scheduled for Sunday, with the winner taking home $200,000 of the $425,000 prize pool. A victory in the grand final also grants qualification to the $1 million BLAST Premier World Final on Dec. 12-17 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Israel’s Lotan “Spinx” Giladi propelled Vitality to victory, posting 61 kills along with a plus-13 kills-deaths ratio. Nikola “NiKo” Kovac of Bosnia and Herzegovina finished with a match-high 63 kills to go with a plus-12 ratio.

Heroic, an all-Danish squad, was led by Martin “stavn” Lund, who amassed 68 kills. Jhonatan “JOTA” Willian paced the all-Brazilian Imperial Esports with 66 kills.

The BLAST Premier Spring Final concludes on Sunday with the grand final:
–Team Vitality vs. Heroic

BLAST Premier Spring Final prize pool and points distribution:
1. $200,000, 3,000 BLAST Premier points, berth in BLAST Premier World Final
2. $85,000, 2,000 BLAST Premier points
3-4. $40,000, 1,200 BLAST Premier points — G2 Esports, Imperial Esports
5-6. $20,000, 500 BLAST Premier points — FaZe Clan, Complexity
7-8. $10,000, 300 BLAST Premier points — Cloud9, Astralis

–Field Level Media

Team Vitality and Imperial Esports both fought off early challenges in sweeping quarterfinal victories on Friday to advance at the BLAST Premier Spring Final in Washington.

Vitality defeated FaZe Clan 2-0, with a two-point overtime win on the opening map. Imperial also earned a 2-0 sweep over Complexity, buoyed by a hard-fought win by two points on the first map.

Each victorious squad moved on to Saturday’s semifinals. Vitality will oppose G2 Esports, who won Group A earlier this week. Imperial will take on Heroic, the Group B winner.

The eight-team Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event began with a double-elimination group stage, with the field split into two groups of four teams.

All matches were best-of-three as winners of each group advanced to the playoff semifinals. Runners-up of each group moved on to the quarterfinals of the playoffs as high seeds, while third-place finishers headed to the quarterfinals as low seeds. All playoff matches are also best-of-three in the single-elimination bracket.

The grand final is scheduled for Sunday, with the winner taking home $200,000 of the $425,000 prize pool. A victory in the grand final also grants qualification to the $1 million BLAST Premier World Final, which will be held Dec. 12-17 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

On Friday, Vitality survived a wild opening map, winning 19-17 on Anubis in a battle featuring four lead changes. Vitality cruised from there, winning 16-8 on Mirage to eliminate FaZe.

Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut of France and Lotan “Spinx” Giladi of Israel each had 48 kills to lead Vitality, with ZywOo sporting a team-high plus-13 kills-to-deaths differential. Canada’s Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken topped all players with 56 kills and a plus-17 K/D ratio.

Imperial blew an 11-4 lead before taking the decisive two points in a 16-14 win on Vertigo. Complexity proved no match on the second map, as Imperial triumphed 16-6 on Overpass to reach the semis.

Jhonatan “JOTA” Willian led Imperial’s all-Brazilian unit with 40 kills and a plus-11 K/D differential, while American Ricky “floppy” Kemery led Complexity with 34 kills.

BLAST Premier Spring Final prize pool and points distribution
1. $200,000, 3,000 BLAST Premier points, berth in BLAST Premier World Final
2. $85,000, 2,000 BLAST Premier points
3-4. $40,000, 1,200 BLAST Premier points
5-6. $20,000, 500 BLAST Premier points — FaZe Clan, Complexity
7-8. $10,000, 300 BLAST Premier points — Cloud9, Astralis

–Field Level Media

G2 Esports and Heroic won their groups while Team Vitality and Complexity clinched playoff berths on Thursday in the BLAST Premier Spring Final in Washington.

G2 edged Imperial Esports 2-1 to claim the top spot in Group A, and Heroic swept FaZe Clan 2-0 to take first place in Group B. All four teams were already assured of playoff berths.

In the day’s two elimination matches, Vitality downed Cloud9 2-0 to escape Group A, and Complexity defeated Astralis 2-1 to get out of Group B.

The eight-team Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event began with a double-elimination group stage, where the field was split into two groups of four teams.

All matches were best-of-three, with the winners of each group advancing to the playoff semifinals. Runners-up of each group move on to the quarterfinals of the playoffs as high seeds, while third-place finishers head to the quarterfinals as low seeds. All playoff matches are also best-of-three in the single-elimination bracket.

The grand final is scheduled for Sunday, with the winner taking home $200,000 of the $425,000 prize pool. A victory in the grand final also grants qualification to the $1 million BLAST Premier World Final, which will be held Dec. 12-17 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

On Thursday, G2 opened with a 16-7 victory on Ancient before Imperial pulled level by taking Inferno 16-13. On the decisive third map, Nuke, G2 prevailed 16-13.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Nikola “NiKo” Kovac recorded 75 kills and a plus-28 kill-death differential for G2. Vinicius “VINI” Figueiredo logged 55 kills and a minus-3 K-D differential for Imperial’s all-Brazilian squad.

Heroic got past FaZe 19-16 in overtime on Nuke, then 16-10 on Inferno. Martin “stavn” Lund produced 46 kills for Heroic’s all-Danish roster, while teammate Casper “cadiaN” Moller had a squad-best plus-13 K-D differential.

Vitality dumped Cloud9 16-13 on Overpass, then 19-16 in overtime on Anubis. France’s Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut amassed 54 kills and a plus-19 K-D differential for Vitality. Russia’s Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov led Cloud9 with 60 kills and a plus-25 K-D differential.

Complexity and Astralis traded 16-14 wins to begin their match, with Complexity claiming Vertigo before Astralis captured Ancient. The third map, Overpass, went to Complexity, again by a 16-14 count.

The United States’ Michael “Grim” Wince had 63 kills for Complexity, and teammate and countryman Ricky “floppy” Kemery recorded 62 kills and a team-high plus-10 K-D differential. Benjamin “blameF” Bremer amassed 77 kills and a plus-28 K-D differential for Astralis’ all-Danish team.

The playoffs begin Friday. FaZe Clan will oppose Team Vitality, with the winner advancing to oppose G2 Esports in the semifinals. Imperial Esports will meet Complexity for the right to face Heroic in the semifinals.

BLAST Premier Spring Final prize pool and points distribution
1. $200,000, 3,000 BLAST Premier points, berth in BLAST Premier World Final
2. $85,000, 2,000 BLAST Premier points
3-4. $40,000, 1,200 BLAST Premier points
5-6. $20,000, 500 BLAST Premier points
7-8. $10,000, 300 BLAST Premier points — Cloud9, Astralis

–Field Level Media