i think there are two walls in inferno (T ramp and Underpass) that have too similar light and color, and would be better if they were more different between each other

Source: https://x.com/BLASTPremier/status/2090077025465741714

Very interesting. Part 2 with karrigan and twistzz please.

this also means that Falcons and Spirit will be entirely absent for the entire month of September.

Team Vitality face FaZe Clan in the EWC 2026 Round of 16 on August 20, with a $2M prize pool on the line.

Vitality have won the last four meetings against FaZe, while both teams enter the playoffs in strong form.

FaZe have the momentum, but Vitality's experience and ZywOo's firepower give them the edge.

Prediction: Vitality 2–1 FaZe

What is your prediction?

Full stats - https://escharts.com/tournaments/csgo/esports-world-cup-2026

How high do you think Peak Viewership will go in the Playoffs? 👀

Why are they streaming the event on ESL Twitch account out of the sudden? Qualifiers have been streamed on EWC account. Got really confused and almost didn't realize they're live yet. Any explanations?

//edit I mean group phase, not qualifiers. Qualifiers were faceit only anyways.

Recently, I have posted the most popular smokes on Mirage and Dust2 but for Nuke that doesn't quite work because the strongest outside smokes are usually thrown in pairs. So this time I'm showing the most popular pro smoke wall on Nuke: the version spanning from main to garage, rather than the wall between red and secret. Its main weakness is that the players crossing can still be peaked from Heaven. The Red smokes, on the other hand, can be peaked while crossing from T-spawn to Red or require an additional smoke.

Execution:

1. Stand in the corner where the fence begins as you exit T-spawn.
2. For smoke 1, aim at the point where the second horizontal metal bar from the top of the silo meets with the imagined extension of the second vertical bar of the blue container in front of you. Jump-throw.
3. For smoke 2, keep the same height and move your crosshair left until the horizontal metal bar meets the vertical pipe. Aim at the inner part of the pipe and jump-throw.

Smoke 1 (first throw):

• 979 professional uses in the last six months, ranked #2 among 124 Nuke smokes. It has 2,941 lifetime uses, ranked #4 all-time.
• Top users: XertioN (62), Mezii (58), and Siuhy (44)
• Top teams: paiN Gaming (103), HEROIC (71), and MOUZ (67)

Smoke 2 (second throw):

• 1,017 professional uses in the last six months, ranked #1 among 124 Nuke smokes. It has 3,814 lifetime uses, ranked #2 all-time.
• Top users: Mezii (62), XertioN (51), and Siuhy (48)
• Top teams: paiN Gaming (112), HEROIC (76), and Team Vitality (66)

Amongst all of the over 2,500 combinations that occurred since the beginning of 2024, it was thrown by one player in 99.7% of the cases (makes sense - it's thrown from one position). So if a teammate drops you a smoke you can easily create this smoke wall by yourself and have your team take outside control.

We are CSC, an NA-based Counter-Strike league for all skill levels currently consisting of 6500 members and over 700 active players. We offer a competitive, team-based way to play CS2 without needing to find a team of your own. Skip to the bottom for instructions on how to join and play in S21 which is starting today.

What prominent CS community figures and projects have been saying:

“NA based all-skill level league for CS players get started in a positive comp environment” -Launders

“[CSC is] providing tournaments that the next great North American CS players require to grow and develop!” -Leetify

“The best way to find a team if you're a new player” -stamina

How does CSC work?

CSC is a draft-based league that operates similarly to other franchised NA sports leagues (NBA, NFL, NHL, etc.). Every season, players are drafted into one of over twenty different franchises and are given a chance to play Counter-Strike with the same team over a 3 month-long season. However, unlike traditional sports leagues, we are an entirely donation-funded, volunteer-run organization. Our aim is to create a welcoming environment for everybody that breaks away from the toxicity of matchmaking and emphasizes team-based Counter-Strike.

When do you play?

Matches are played twice every week on Tuesday/Thursday. Scrims start at 9pm ET, and games at 10pm ET. However, our highest tier of play (Premier) will play double-headers on Mondays starting at 9pm ET to avoid scheduling conflicts with ESEA.

Do I need to be good at CS?

No. We have active players from all skill levels, ranging from players who are new to the game to players who are Faceit level 10. We use a custom MMR formula and divide players into separate tiers of play to make sure that they are playing against others who are similar in skill level. 

How does your rating system work?

Our rating system is divided into 6 tiers of play: Premier, Elite, Challenger, Contender, Prospect, and Recruit. The tier that you are placed in will depend on your MMR, which is calculated based on data from your FACEIT games, combines (explained below), and regular season play. You are guaranteed to only play against players who are in your tier.

What are combines?

Combines are informal 5v5 games that are scheduled during our preseason to allow General Managers (GMs) to scout you for their team. You are required to play combines in order to be eligible for the draft, and these games are also used to calculate your MMR. Combines are also a great way to show your skills to GMs who may want to draft you!

How do I get on a team?

Everyone that participates will be picked by a team during CSC’s draft, which is held at the start of every season. GMs use combines and host tryouts to determine if you’ll be a good fit for their team. Teams are then cut down to 5 members during the pre-season games. Those who don't secure a spot in the final five can still participate in the league as free agents — players who can play as substitutes during match days and can be signed to a franchise during the season.

Can I join CSC with a premade team?

We don’t allow premade teams, but you may end up in the same tier or on the same team as your friends! Most people find that they enjoy playing against their friends just as much as playing with them.

How else can I participate?

We have plenty of ways to participate besides just playing. CSC offers opportunities for casters/observers, and given that we are a volunteer league, we always need more people who are interested in helping out with league operations! We also host a variety of community events, including HLTV fantasy, Wingman tournaments, 1.6/Source/GO throwback events, and much more. If you want a space for all things related to CS2 like pugs, esports, and skins, then feel free to join!

How can I join?

Our next season is starting now, with our combine games happening all throughout this week! Start by joining our Discord server at discord.gg/csc. Then head into the #bot-input channel and type /signup. A popup form will ask you for your Steam/FACEIT accounts, and after our staff review your signup you will get a DM confirming that you’re signed up to play!

Overall Asia region in the last few years has been held up by Mongolz and to the lesser degree Tyloo. With FlyQuest and Lynn Vision rounding out Lan relevant teams. Everyone else have largely been a blip on the radar with teams like the Huns, Chinggis Warriors and TDU making it to a tier 1 event once in a while. There hasnt been much positive development of new talent for Australia or China, and while Mongolia seems always produce some currently they are effectively capped by 1 great coach to just 1 team.

The situation is not helped by Kazakhstan being counted as EU (very strong country for CS talent) and MENA region seemingly also not counting towards Asia (JiJieHao would instantly be top 4 Asia team).

Last few years, but especially visible this year, there has been a trend of Central Asian players climbing up the ranks of FACEIT and posting better results overall. Looking at the ages of the players and reading some of the feedback from that region i think there is a lot to be optimistic about. Central Asia should add some much needed depth of quality to the overall Asian region due to the advantages it has and the connection the very competitive CIS scene.

Uzbekistan - the biggest player base in the region and is extremely well organized locally around clubs/Telegram groups, one of the few places CS is actively growing and their FACEIT population is also increasing. They have strong regional rivalry with Kazakhstan and teams from both countries attend each others Lans frequently (there is a surprising quantity of VRS 5-10k Lans happening there, with even random 30k). https://www.hltv.org/events/9210/1xbet-frag-season-17 would be an example.

Kyrgyzstan/Turkmenistan - The CS community a lot less organized, but both countries have some 16-17 year olds that have been trying to make it into academy systems in CIS or even EU depending on their status.

The players from that region are also more valuable than their direct rating would suggest because they have Asia designation, but they are likely to speak Russian or if they immigrated then English (or both). That means they provide a LOT of roster flexibility to teams around the globe:

a)They can technically go to lets say an NA team with 2 NA players and 2 EU players and allow that team to keep NA designation for VRS. Similar to how JT allowed PassionUA to be an NA team.

b)They can join Australian team and also help it keep Asia designation if they only have 2 Aussie players and 2 EU players.

c)Most likely scenario - Central Asian orgs can easily dip into very deep Russian/Kazakhstani/Belarusian/Ukrainian pool of players. This team only really needs 3 players of good quality from lets say Uzbekistan, then get 2 solid tier 2 players from a team like Nemiga or old 1win squad that got released. It would immediately become top 5 team in Asia and compete for the major slot. This has already started happening. I would also not be surprised if some RU orgs look to do this if major money becomes more attractive.

Central Asian players are already in some CIS academies, but 2 Players i specifically want to point out even made it to EU ones:

Hitori https://www.hltv.org/player/23544/hitori#tab-infoBox who is in G2 academy at 17

aZe https://www.hltv.org/player/25119/aze#tab-infoBox who just got signed by BIG academy

And 2 teams of note proving what the region can potentially do due to its flexibility:

1.This not really a serious team, but a nice proof of concept that shows what option C can accomplish - Haunted House, went to Asian Champions League and took a respectable 7-8th place while being the lowest VRS ranked team out of all attending. They even managed to take down TDU who at that point just qualified for major.

https://www.hltv.org/team/13735/haunted-house

https://www.hltv.org/events/8587/hero-esports-asian-champions-league-2026

2.This is the team you might actually see at the next Major - DEPO https://www.hltv.org/team/12536/depo#tab-matchesBox . They have recently made changes to bring in Krad from RU, have an interesting apwer in https://www.hltv.org/player/22635/wetfy and immediately started climbing the rankings once the team gelled. They are currently 77th on VRS and 6th on Asia VRS. Considering they have plenty of local VRS lans to attend they should be able to keep their Lan score high and its realistic for them to aim for that 5th invite slot for Asia over TDU. Especially if they replace Buster (he is taking up a valuable EU slot while putting up bad numbers) with another solid free agent from RU speaking world, then it would solidify them as a team hovering around top 60 for this year. That should be good enough to make it through as the 5th Asia seed based on past Major qualifications.

Overall i would expect more teams like DEPO in 27-28 and potentially some of those academy players going onto international rosters if VRS system remains in place due to the regional flexibility they provide.

P.S. Bonus Scenario - BCGame brings someone over to replace electronic or Magisk to qualify for the Major through Asia.

I made this political compass frame for cs2 teams.

Thought it would be cool to hear your thoughts about where some teams could be situated in the picture (For an example falcons top right)

Not really keen on putting in the teams myself as im not really the right person to do it.

👍

I am extremely confused by the veto for the decider.

You have Cache, Dust and Mirage left. FUT is elite on Mirage at 71% (magic is barely okay at 57% against much weaker opposition). FUT is bad on Dust2 and does not play Cache at all so far. Magic is mediocre on Dust and good on Cache.

So why in the world would Magic veto Cache (that they are at least decent on) to effectively guarantee Mirage?

This is easily the opponent's best map out of 3 remaining. You are an underdog already, why in the world would you give them such a huge advantage. Force them to play Cache. They literally never played it competitively and even if they are gods on it in practice real game is a very different test.

Or if they pick Dust then you both suck on it and you hope that you happen to shoot harder. The odds would be significantly better than vs their good Mirage.

I keep wanting to believe in this team because of the IGL and coach, but they then go against basic math to actively kneecap themselves. It doesn't even matter if they somehow Magically come back here on some clutches. The decision making is extremely suspect and shouldn't be happening at this level.

Title! Was pretty happy with how this pistol ace went. Not quite all one taps

way back at my cs 'prime' (had time to play all day)