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Who's actually going to be standing behind you guys?
It's a team flasher trader only him. Yeah, I don't like him
All right, we're gonna go talk to a straw list now
Let's see
All right, we've got a straw list here. We'll talk to you early in the morning
I love the jacket by the way, it's um you look sick. This is a cool outfit
Is this like a special major jersey we've got under there as well?
Yeah, we hide that for now. Oh you hide that we're hiding into the
I can slip it up, if you can hit it.
OK, well, I've come into the Major not just looking stylish.
You guys, obviously, come in, hopefully,
with some great expectations of yourself here in Stage 2.
I mean, earlier in this season, Charlottes
was just on the rise and rise, right?
Like, you guys are looking great.
But maybe towards the Major, things
started to slow down a little bit for you.
So what's the general vibe of the team
and coming into the Major?
I mean, I think it's fine.
Like, we had a bootcamp the last week, so it went pretty well.
I think we got really pretty well, and yeah, pretty much that.
Last few events, we didn't make playoffs in Atlanta, so that's good,
but hoping to get something good back here.
Well, lots of firsts for you, coming into this season,
big organization, getting to play tier one events over and over again.
We've seen some great performances from you and maybe some quiet at once.
So as an individual player, what do you feel like your improvement has been most from the
start of the season to now, what has been your biggest improvement?
I think it's a little bit, but it's still the main thing about consistency, you know.
Like I can kill three, I can kill five, you know, so it's all about bringing that floor
up, you know.
And yeah, I mean, I think I have like good people behind me, you know, like Hooksy and
the Ruga, so they're always helping out with stuff and I can always be really open minded
with them. So I think I'm just allowing, I guess, from tier 3, tier 2 to tier 1 in terms
of step-by-step things. So I wouldn't say there's something very specific.
How important is it that you guys have that support network of experienced players, being
understanding it's your first season? Because I think there's some players that we've seen
in the past who've gone into a team and maybe, you know,
understandably, haven't had a perfect season because no one can expect that
really apart from the likes of Donk and these like phenom players.
So how important has it been having the likes of Hoekstee and Rugga,
you know, in terms of making you feel comfortable?
Like if you have a bad game, I'm sure you get in your own head,
but how do they bring you out of it?
I mean, I think that, I mean, I don't, you know, I think they, they're pretty
Can I ask you, if I have a question or we do a review, I can always talk to them, I feel
like this is better, I don't like or what can I do, so I think they always give good
feedback, so that's the thing.
I mean the thing, obviously you cannot expect insane numbers from a first season, but at
the same time you want some nice results, some more consistency, so also I cannot neglect
that could be going better, right?
Yeah, well, I mean, it's been going pretty well.
So in terms of we'll lower the pressure on the questions
because I think that's class serious talks in the morning.
But so like, let's get to know Riu as a player,
you know, as a person, and we know he was a player.
But you know, what do you like to do in your free time?
I'll start a CS or anything like what's your main hobby?
Outside of CS, honestly, not too much like.
I see the anime mouse pad.
So that one, that one's been there for a while.
But no, actually, I don't want like maybe I watched something on Netflix or like something from now and now, but like, I know I like to
Yeah, if I have free time, I just watch a show or something or like I don't know what to say or I just spend some more time on it. So it's not like I do something
I don't go fishing or something, you know, in the weekend. So
Yeah, I mean, you're in that early stage of the great guy really grind and I mean, that's where that's where the hard work is done. But I'll let you get on the rest of me. You'll go chat with the rest of your team now as well. So thank you.
move over to the pick and board because they secretly put in teams over here so
I'm gonna get a close-up shot and see what what we're putting these things
all right fozy there we go the pick-ins are in I mean I was gonna ask you guys
like where should we put a straw list in the pick-ins so you said 3-0 definitely
okay okay I think for multi-zero three yeah I haven't really picked sense would you like
to redo it should we shall we redo it let's redo it okay okay okay let's take
them over here then. Limvision 3-0. So some of the games are obviously still
ongoing so we'll need to predict who we think we're gonna move through from
these matches. But coming into today's games I guess we got to predict those
first. So right we got these matches right here. Who have we got when Liquid
FlyQuest? I think it's a tough one. I think Liquid hasn't been looking the
greatest you know but so thank maybe they should win that one so yeah okay we'll
take we'll take liquid our fly crossing back all right so keep liquid and then
Tyler Lim vision that battle of the Chinese teams that's a good game I
think like tell you they've been beating them kind of lately in the head-to-head
but I still think I'm wishing they're usually performing better at the majors
and I'm going with them there yeah okay what to envision then and then big
Yeah, I have some former teammates in both teams, but for my pick-ins, for the sake of
my pick-ins, I'm going to have to take big...
Okay, okay.
The personal pick-ins is better than the personal relationships.
I like that.
Okay, so this is what we got then.
We got Limbers in big coming out of there with Liquid.
Okay, so we'll just pick us through then.
You give us your pick-ins.
So, obviously, we can start with us.
Safe and sound, 3-0.
Boom.
And then I think the other contender is, today, the Spirit, Foot, G2, maybe Legacy.
Okay.
Bedpoint, I'm playing good also, but I think I'm going to take Spirit there.
And then for these three, let's put them down here.
And then I think, let's see.
The vision, I think they'll make it to stage 3.
And then it might be hard for them.
I'm going to put them here.
Then Liquid, if they do manage to win vs Flyquist, I think stage 2 might be a bit too different from them.
Oh, wow.
I'm going to put them here.
When did you get through in Liquid 0-3? It's interesting. It's an interesting one for sure.
You gotta believe.
To achieve. That's a wise word.
Betbun, even though they're not playing with the full roster, I think they've been looking very good.
Honestly, maybe even better with Flymus. It's kind of crazy how Flymus is big.
Maybe. And then another 0-3. I think it's got to be maybe either big or 9C.
But I think I'm going to put 9C there, to be honest. Also, then I think they didn't play now, right? Stage 1?
No, they did well in Astana. That's not enough for you to believe they can get a win.
I didn't really watch Astana, so that's something I'm concerned about, you know.
Then let's put Biggit 1-3, and also, there's these three each here, right?
Let's put Manta and Magity 2, and then Game Illusions you go through,
MBR, PNB8s, there we go, there's the there's the beautiful shot of Fuzzi's Pickham's.
Honestly, it looks pretty good. I think that seems logically sound. Yeah,
LimbVision's a wild one, but maybe they'll just crazy overperform. But yeah, you guys
definitely feel like you could absolutely be a 3-0 team coming into this event,
Especially what we've seen from you guys to kick off the year.
Your individual form, I remember probably was just out of this world.
So you feel like you liked us too a little bit more now, like after the
amount of times you guys have played this season, you liking it more?
Yeah.
I mean, I've never liked it that much, but I seem to be doing pretty good at it now.
So it's all right.
Yeah.
So why do you think that is?
Why do you think you've become more comfortable?
Is it just the reps or is it something that's like changed for you individually?
I think just playing in a team where more people kind of played, you know, all
All my past teams, it's been one of our worst maps, not only for me, but for the whole team.
So I think just having some more people around me that are more comfortable in the map helps.
Coming into a major with Astralis, probably a very different vibe for you because I think
the times you have been with teams that are just like expect underdogs, you get a win
here, but now there's actually some expectations on your shoulders.
Is that a very different vibe coming into the tournament?
It's different for sure.
with Wildcard, I think, who were just happy to be there, you know. So yeah, it's different,
but no pressure yet, I think. Stage two, it's stage two. Maybe when we get to stage three
or pay us, you'll see some pressure, but...
I like when you say one. That's good. I like that. I like that. Just choice the words.
But I'll have to often talk to one of the other teammates while they're getting some
photos done. But you get to choose. Who am I going to go bother this morning?
Oh, you should talk to Jabba if you haven't already.
Okay, I'll go talk to Jabba then. Let's go ahead out there. Thank you very much.
was he
All right, that's wrong the way just don't talk to yabby when we got a couple of players are in the middle here's
Some miles lots of chat to them
You want to hook see I heard
Yeah, the banana that's kind of the best moment the bananas coming out of their mouth
What's up? I was told that I have to ask you about a skit that you filmed this morning whether you think it's appropriate
I have no words for this, thank you. When you see it you'll understand.
Yeah, I don't know, I don't want to spoil anything, but yeah, I think Frank has stunned himself dirty in a way.
Oh really? Okay, okay. Do you think it's major vibes? Do you think it's like Cologne major vibes?
I hope that no one associates this with a major arc along because it would be ashamed of the legacy.
Okay, I'm so intrigued as to what this is gonna be, so I walked up to Rio this morning,
he's like, I'm gonna keep this jersey a secret and then zip his jacket back up, now I'm just
walking around with him, but now we reveal it, it looks sick.
You a big fan of it?
I mean, I think it's alright, the only thing is I'm gonna get a bit of PTSD from J2, but
we also changed to like a red and black shirt right for the major and it went like shit for
the major song.
But I mean, yeah, I'm not like the pants are very baggy. It's it's more for the the young guns
I guess so yeah the zoomer fit
I mean it looks cool. It kind of is giving me G2 visor. Yeah, but that did that one pretty well for you and cologne
So I mean yeah, but we changed it for the Paris major, which if you remember that one didn't go so well
No, that didn't go well. No, not very well at all
But yeah, they were watching apparently whoever they are
But you know coming into this event
You obviously have won it before, so coming into Cologne, what's the feelings?
You're in the city again, you've seen the cathedral, what's the sort of thoughts that
come into your head?
50-50 win raise, not bad.
You have a really good 50-50 chance in the major then, but it seems like you guys are
all in good spirits, talking to Fuzi, confident, coming into this tournament.
Obviously the season was really strong for you at the start, I felt like it was just
a straight up, upwards trajectory.
then a couple of hits I would say along the road.
But as the leader of the team, what's your general consensus of this season?
Are you happy?
I mean, I think we should all be decently happy about it.
I think we fell into the same trap that some other teams did where you start with really
low expectations, then you get a result that you maybe didn't expect to get and then suddenly
that's the standard for you, which obviously is a bit crazy to think like that, but it's
It's hard not to when you're all of a sudden in a final or something and then you just
expect to make playoffs every time or to make deep runs and then you kind of get slapped
back to reality in a way, so I mean of all I think it's decent but I think this tournament
also decides a lot whether we will be happy or not.
One of the things I've really enjoyed about you in particular this season is like any
time we get like a listen in or to listen to the comms, it feels like you're just no bullshit,
you know it's just like straight up like if it isn't good enough you're calling that
out and I really enjoyed this clip so is that your mentality and it seems like
there's no sugarcoating like we're here to perform like I'm gonna try and just
exert that in any way that I can. I mean I definitely think that I don't put you
know anything lightly but at the same time I think there's some propaganda
against me from the TOs about showing like how bad of a guy I am. I'm also
cheering for guys sometimes you know but it's like that never really gets
shown but yeah like when I have to be harsh I'm harsh and sometimes it's
maybe a bit much for some people, but you know, we're in a competitive environment.
And I think that anyone who's tried that understands that the waves go high sometimes.
And yeah, I think it's also important to be straight up to get things fixed and to, you know, improve.
Yeah. And I was sort of real this morning, who sent you and Roger a great help for him, you know, coming in as a rookie to this level of counter strike.
And, you know, as an in-game leader, I'm just wondering, like your thought process, you've played with a lot of younger players.
And so when you're looking at a player like Ryu, who has been good
and then has been over quiet at times, up and down,
you know, what is your approach to helping a player like that?
I mean, I've tried a lot of thoughts and thoughts myself.
So I know that it can it can change from time to time.
And sometimes you're maybe trying too hard.
I think that's one of the things I've learned that, you know, you can
you can end up overthinking or overplaying you.
And I think that's something he has to learn.
But you can only say so much, and in the end, it's a lot
learning by doing.
And you have to go through the mistakes and through the
emotions.
Also, we had some problems with people being nervous and
stuff and hesitating.
And we can talk about it from now on and until Christmas.
But in the end, you kind of have to try it to actually
learn from it.
All right, well, thanks very much.
I'll let you go get on with the rest of your meeting day.
Hooksy, I'm now catching a little bit.
And I'm sure the jersey is just going to be good luck.
So you're going to fall in love with the black and red.
Hopefully.
Yeah, I think so.
All right, we'll catch there as well just on the way out here.
So morning on media day, heading into stage to Cologne Major.
It feels special just for everybody involved, I think,
from people working in production to the players,
to the talent.
So coming into the Major and its Cologne,
your general thought process leading up to this event?
I mean, I'm excited.
I think always when you display Cologne in general,
you're excited and the Major by itself.
So the fact that it's put together is also very hype.
And as you see in the ticket sales stuff,
it'll be packed in the arena.
So I think everyone kind of dreams to actually try
to play a Cologne Major in the arena.
What do you think are your chances of making it to the playoffs?
The chances, I don't even know.
From the outside, I would say it's not the highest.
I don't know, maybe 30%, 40%.
I don't know.
I have no clue to brand this.
But I believe in us.
I mean, we just need a strong momentum start
and stage two, and I believe we can go far.
Yeah, stage two, folks, Fosy has you guys going through three and zero.
I mean, looking at the field, it definitely is possible.
There's some big challenges in there, obviously, spirit being the biggest one.
But, you know, when you're looking at the rest of the field, like,
where do you think you guys stack up?
Who do you think your biggest competitor, maybe outside of spirit, would be?
I think we've had foot, I don't even know, eight times this year.
Dude, that's been crazy.
I think they're very, very strong.
I mean, it goes both ways, every time in place.
So they are one of the stronger opponents we can meet and we're also strong against them sometimes.
And I think legacy as well. It's also very good shape as well.
And just in general I think they play in a very unorthodox way.
Like you don't really need to beat that.
They play very in your face and very aggressive.
So they are also a little hard to play against.
And other than that I feel like we should be equal with the other teams.
We beat us twice in USA but hopefully we can make up for that and get revenge.
All right, it feels like we've seen so many different versions of Stare inside of Astralis,
like so many different roles, different teams. Are you happiest right now, like with the way
you're playing and the roles that you've got, or has there been times where maybe you've been
a little bit happier about the roles and positions you get to play?
I think I'm happy now, like I feel like these positions are where I can show myself 100%,
like I actually can perform, like to my potential I would say. The other roles was more like I was
I was a filler because there was no other one to take it, which was also fine for me
because we hadn't seen any good players in just 11 hours back when we got started in
Javi Red.
So, I mean, for myself and my potential to be fulfilled, then it's for sure the best
position for me and also just in general my playstyle, I would say.
So I'm very heavy now and I think it is like the best, at least like team consultation
with also how I play and how we play for some time now and I'm very happy with it.
Yeah, I mean, I'm sure there's a level of frustration because you're going to back
yourself, you're going to be confident in yourself as a player.
So is there a level of frustration at points when you were getting some of the roles you didn't want to play or did you always have a positive idea around it?
the
first day of stage two brings eight new challenges to the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne major
and a few of them know a thing or two about winning in the Cathedral. Back in 2024, Donk
In his rookie year, Spirit would enter Cologne after cooking up a storm in Katowice, and
play dead last.
That only fueled his hunger to return the year after.
They'd speed through the groups, put down Navi in the semis, and somehow even take it
up a gear to demolish Maus in the grand final.
The stats truly didn't lie about Donk's impact during that game.
A 1.63 rating and almost 180R over the course of that best of five.
He saw a usually stoic donk with tears in his eyes after making his childhood dream come
true.
Now they arrive in stage 2 of the Major, fresh off a trophy in Astana and are no doubt the
heavy favourites.
But if we learn anything from stage 1, Investor Ones, anything can happen.
Welcome to the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major 2026.
There is no stopping him!
He is inevitable!
The King of Counter-Strike!
It's a good day to be accounts of strength.
as we have eight new teams entering the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major 2026 and some big names amongst them too.
Not quite as big as the names I have up here on the desk.
So we've got Ash and Yanko returning. Very exciting that we get to see some new names entering the mix today, Yanko.
Definitely. It's a great day to be a Counter-Strike fan unless you're from North America.
He's already going there.
I'm sorry, but just like last time, I wasn't even working it. I was sitting at the hotel.
I'm watching it and it's just unbelievable.
like you just feel bad through the screen, you know, for energy, for everyone involved with that.
It's just history was made last night and not in a good way if you're a North American fan.
Someone's even left it on our territory at 16-12. Never forget, whoever did that is Stone Cold, by the way.
Yeah, Ash, that was, I mean, literally never happened before at a major.
That's literally never happened. It was a horrific feat to watch. Great if you're big though.
Wow, yeah, that's be heartbreak for them to be fair.
Like I think that half time you're just talking guys, guys, we've made it with the next stage.
I reckon that's probably genuinely things they were saying, joking about it.
And then when you get to the game, the first like five, six rounds,
but in fact, you're still thinking, we're going to win, we're going to win.
And suddenly I think everything just tips on its head and slowly thinking,
we're going to lose. What's going to happen?
So it's just crazy. Grimman made the joke.
Yes.
Okay, guys, we just need the one round, like surely, you know,
And then all of a sudden you could take back. I mean, it's just heartbreaking seeing him as as the game gets tied up
Like he can't hold his emotions even and it's you know, but that's just the beauty of the game, right?
Anything can happen. They have to you just have to believe you just have to believe no matter what round by round and
Sometimes magical things can happen. Luckily. We've got you guys to bring a little bit of logic to that in a moment's time
I just want to recap exactly which teams did progress on through that was eight out of the sixteen joining us in stage one
of course, some incredible games
along the way, some incredible upsets
in terms of the teams that made it through
Yanko, I think Bay and Betboom,
that does make sense.
FlyQuest entirely there, that was pretty surprising
to see them in that 3-2 advanced.
I think that's fair,
because they always had the potential,
they just didn't have necessarily the results recently,
right? Like, I mean,
the cores of those teams are very experienced,
but you were wondering,
ah, has it been too much for them in this season
with the lack of success and lack of practice,
perhaps in Europe, Taitlou couldn't even boot camp in Europe,
priority determined, had to play, you know, probably qualifiers and other things from China.
So then making it through has been a surprise, especially in how a dominant fashion, the last
two series for FlyQuest, big, a little bit of a surprise, I think, solely because they haven't
really played good opposition up until the major, but yeah, that miraculous comeback,
booked them a spot in stage.
And Ash, you were totally right. Game of Legion did go through, but 3-1. A lot of
also including myself through 3-0 but you were right to give them a little bit of a you know anything can happen
It's probably not the only thing I got right so
I think you're pointing it out
I think it for the I don't think any of these were massive surprises
FlyQuest probably the biggest in terms of going through and the heroic and going out, but I've been entirely
And big both had pretty easy runs overall
I don't think we learned that much about them
So I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of people put them even 0-3 in the next stage because we don't really
I don't think they're really massively proved anything otherwise. So it's love to keep an eye on them. Big might have heard us all talking about
Oh easy runs, you know, not too much of a challenge and then set themselves up by saying, okay, let's pull off the craziest comeback of all time
Let's take a look at some of the reactions from yesterday. It's going to be a mixture of elation and heartbreak obviously from the side of energy
But this was I mean we've touched upon it already. We did no post match analysis in this segment because it was one of the most emotional scenes
I've ever seen in Counter-Strike, right? If you're NRG, you are so close. You're so close. You can almost taste it
And for Nitro, I mean, you take the man out of liquid, but you can't take the liquid out of the man, I guess
Yeah, right that MLG Columbus 10 years ago, right the game against
Luminosity and the two leads on both maps, one of them being Mirage, with the 59 lead goes into OT, they lose it and
Yeah, I mean
a picture says more than a thousand words. In this case, it really does.
You just kind of don't know what to do when that happens.
It's probably worse to lose in 13-0 because you just,
the worst thing is you know for certain nearly that you are going through to the
next stage. You're already thinking about the next day and what's going to happen
and the plans and the celebration you're going to do.
And then suddenly, well, you're not going through anymore.
That's the thing, right? I mean, we can obviously throw criticism at anybody,
which way when we're looking at the side of energy there, right? But did you, when you
were watching at Yanko, did you get the feeling that they were getting a little bit too ahead
of themselves? Cause it felt desperate at times in some of those rounds.
Yeah, I think it did. I think they lost control. I don't think they did a good job of calming
themselves down, you know, after 12, 7, 12, 8, like you're looking at the rounds, they're
like, what are they doing? Like, what, what, what, what is this in terms of the calls in
terms of the executions? Why are they playing so fast? Why are they, you know, they just
tried to the fault it looked like all we have still five six rounds to just keep
brute-forcing it like we'll just win one somehow right but at that point big
already got some confidence going you lost a couple of clutches now you're
seeing art was 12 6 is great if it was 6 6 but if it was 12 0 and it's 12 6 you
got a different sort of a feeling like that starting the little thought is
starting to creep up at the back of your head is there a way we actually do not
win this game and then tabsin has the one we too right and you're not planting
the bomb and you're just starting to play not to lose. You're being too scared to make plays and
unfortunately, even with the timeouts from daps, like him and I still couldn't really come up with
a good solution to give the players an opportunity because they weren't really after that absent
round. They were not close to winning rounds. It was just shut out completely by big. It just felt
unfathomable. They couldn't even get one round. I'm glad we have you here, Ash, because you're
you're going to put some, uh, I guess the logic to this insane situation you picked out a couple of round examples
What are you breaking down here?
I think this is the one that they're going to be looking back at and kicking themselves with so
The games is still in the momentum big time entry frag happens here towards b short and even connected the most key positions kind of open
And they go for some reason they like freeze, but they leave half of the map open
I'm not sure what's going on then just pretend b doesn't exist for some reason and they just stay in this position for a very long time
but the round still isn't over despite this 2k and they do a good job of getting back into position even get 2v1
And I think that this moment you just see that there's no composure at all even here now
They're too excited and it kind of kept going for the whole game
I think at this point now the game for me felt like it was done looking at the body language and just imagine myself in those moments
Like 15 rounds in a row at this point
Nitro's here. There's even a player and be sure you can just feel this moment
It's just not going to do a good job
He doesn't even get a kill and the player on short as well for some reason he was he had advanced knowledge of this was going to come in
Did nothing with it dies and knows he has no chance in their own
So he just kind of felt like they were slowly falling apart by have to shout out
Faven and JDC
I think both of them had pretty bad halves at the first half especially JDC
Those were the two in this game that really carried them through and the others chipped in a bit
I can't say they didn't do anything
It's just these two would you just felt like the multi killing every single round. They see this round swing here
They were the difference makers in the round swing, really speaks for itself, that's 1v2.
You look at the energy, they swung together, they were sort of lined up a little bit.
I mean, Favon just played a great half. He just played a great game, but it's crazy.
You're 12-2 and you're like 5v3, and that could have been it, 13-2.
You're even playing it sort of safe, you're waiting for them to make a play in the 5v3,
and just everything goes wrong and you end up losing the game 16-12, just unbelievable.
That's going to haunt them forever.
It would be an understatement to say there were a lot of emotions going down in this game.
Let's see if Alcan stops that.
Well, let's see some team comps from both the teams.
It's really important, round by round.
We just need the pistol.
Oh, never.
Yes, exactly.
Yeah, let's get this pistol then.
Yeah.
Try to reset. Ignore the score.
We set so many times our good VRC team.
We just need to prove it again and we will guys, okay?
Yeah.
You need to go Tetris.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
I'm running CT.
Can I contact you?
Can I contact you?
Okay, let's go.
Come on.
Nice, Ben.
This is the start we needed.
Good kids, boys.
Come on, boys.
Really sick.
Let's go, man.
Okay.
They're coming.
They're coming.
They're coming.
Let's fucking go, really.
Good job, boys.
Fucking kids.
Very nice.
Let's go.
Let's go.
They knew that bro.
Let's fucking go.
Keep believing.
Holy fuck, he was fast on bench.
What's he come?
He's Apex peeking me.
Nice.
Nice.
Go!
Come on.
They're fast bro.
You got this.
Give it up boys.
Every round.
I think I can drop you.
Yes.
Nice boys man.
Come on.
Keep pushing.
Very good comps.
Let's fucking go.
You're honest bro.
Give it up.
Fucking amazing boys.
Insane.
Nice Joseph.
Okay, let's go three more
I'm just fucking going
I'm in R1Z
One more up-collector
I'm coming
Two con, one more con
And it's all in me
I pick with zero
Yes, hit it with the A
That's nice
Let's go, one more R1Z
Nice pain, bro
You are fucking amazing
Keep it up
That's me
I have power, I have power
I have power, keep it up
Last ball
You're dead
You're dead
Come on
John, I took a game for you
That's...
I'm picking up
A fucking insane boss, keep it up man, let's fucking go man. Let's go boss. Wait, all the proof guys, okay?
Really good, I'll say now we're in it, okay? I'm already on the beat. Let's fucking go. Use it.
Watching that with the benefit of hindsight is insane because you're going into that halftime like ah ash
Maybe you can attest to this more than I but surely at that point, okay, everybody's saying yes
You decide you're amazing. We just got to get the ball rolling. Just got to win the pistol
But surely at that point
Are you even believing in that yourself? Like it seems delusional when they're saying it but obviously
history, right? It's self. That
maybe they're having the greatest
practice of all time or something
for the 12. So everybody would
generally know, but what I
realized by that is actually the
body language at 12. Zero. I
usually see people looking very
frustrated, heading hands. Just
you could just see it in the
faces and I was looking really hard
at that then and actually all of
them look pretty good. And when
they win the pistol 12, zero down
been caught there as well. It seems like they've really hit all the right words to say, so to
keep that going in this next stage, there could be some momentum here that could kick them on.
In every comeback, you need one, you need a highlight round. You need like one round that
turns it around from one of the individuals that really makes you believe, right, that it's a
momentum shifter and it felt like that 5-1-2 was the first one and the taps and 1-2-2 was the
other one. And after the second one, it felt like they knew they were going to end up winning.
Two HP left on 5-1 as well. It's just insane in that moment. Either way,
We do progress on to say she which means a new round of pickings and I hear we have Jason ready to do him for us
Jason you plugged in your microphone double check my microphone today is plugged in and well done
We have people for that here. Thankfully
Yeah, we have audio people to handle that kind of stuff here. Yes, they do pickings you guys ready to have some fun
Yeah, let's start with yanko because we did ask last time yanko your time is up. How do we do?
Are we doing this one by one for you? We do?
Jason there seems to be a mistake. Oh
Oh, that little guy?
Yeah.
That little guy?
Don't worry about that little guy.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
Get off.
Yeah.
It did happen.
You did not have it.
It wasn't a nightmare.
It did happen.
It didn't actually occur.
What have we got?
Let's start with your 0 and 3s, because this is an interesting 0 and 3 strategy.
You guys were touching on Big.
I think Big and Monty, probably the two kind of teams you'd point to for 0 and 3, but they're
facing each other in the first round.
So what's the strategy you got for these 0 and 3s?
Actually for people who might do that, I don't think that's a bad strategy.
to put both of them there. I did that initially before I saw that they played each other and then I changed it.
But I do feel like whoever loses that game will be a 0-3 team.
So that's a way to hedge in a way, but in the end I went with Monty as a 0-3, I think big.
Bro, how can you not believe in them after yesterday, right?
No, at least one win, right?
They're just going to ride that high into today. They've been playing every single day.
I think that's important versus Monty, who has major rookies on their team.
I think they're going to sort of need diapers after today, just like Griggs was saying.
And I think Griggs will be supplied that by his manager, so he'll be fine for this stage.
And the other team I put in was 9z. I don't know, Jason. It's just like all these teams,
take your pick. I was always going to put a team that hasn't played in Stage 1.
I think a lot of them will be shaky. We've seen a lot of nerves from these Stage 1 teams coming
into it. You know, it's not like 9z is mega experienced when it comes to majors either.
They've been to a couple, but yeah, nothing against 9C.
I was thinking Payne.
I was thinking Tyloo.
I was, you know, but in the end.
It was in there, as you mentioned.
Yeah, it could be a lot of teams,
but I have faith in the stage one teams,
in these best of ones, just being warmed up.
That was a question I was going to ask.
So you're putting a lot of stock into the whole stage two,
coming in cold, stage one, coming in hot kind of a thing.
That's influencing a lot for you.
Yes, all the stock, really.
Love it.
Let's skip to the other side.
Let's skip to the three O's.
You got advancing, nice and easy, no losses.
I have Bat Boom and Gamer Legion.
Oh!
And I have Bat Boom because I think they have a decent chance of winning the best one against
Spirit.
The first one, Spirit not having either of their coaches here with them.
I think that's problematic.
And I don't mean it in a way where Magix is incapable of doing the prep or they're not
helping him or anything.
It's just a weird environment, you know, like you're so used to having someone behind you
when it comes to managing in motions, someone just keeping the players in check
somewhat, and yeah, I think maybe Betboom, with the way they've been playing
and Boomage being the highest rated player on stage 1, you know, they just have no pressure,
they're running around, they're gaming, they're feeling it, I think that might happen.
And then Gamer Legion, they will either not make it, or they will be really strong.
I think they'll either play up to the level we saw in Atlanta,
and they have a chance to go 3-0 if that happens,
or they'll play like in stage one and they won't make it through.
And in stage one, they had the pressure of being the favorite
and everyone picking them as 3-0 and they were trying to, you know,
focus too much on anti-strapping.
I think they'll just play their own game in this stage.
And if they do that, I think they can be successful.
You concern PR still going to be a little bit quiet in this stage?
You think he's going to bounce back?
If they don't make him push through smokes all the time and run around,
maybe he can feel the game a little bit and do something.
All right, let's get to Spirianko
because I think that's a headscratcher out of the 3-0.
You're assuming you got them advancing.
Yeah, I definitely have them advancing.
I mean, they're a contender for the trophy, right?
Like, nothing against Spirit. They very well might go 3-0,
and they're usually very good in Swiss at majors,
but I don't know, you know, crazy things have happened.
There's no coaching thing that's really throwing you for a loop.
And this is where it's pretty one. It's all the usual suspects, right?
G2, Astralis, Foot, Legacy Bait.
That's all your...
Faith and Astralis, Janko. Misplaced, maybe.
That's the one I have the least I really wanted to put like MIBR in there or maybe even like someone like FlyQuest
But who is your sixth?
M80? Bait. Bait.
But yeah, I just stuck with the teams sort of that are supposed to make it and they've been playing good CS
I'm surprised by people putting G2S3O. Have you learned nothing about this organization?
It's all about content man, and you know 3-0 isn't great content. They need a little bit more
Honestly, they haven't been super dominant either, still a relatively new lineup with nerds being an addition, I think all of that points to at least one loss in this stage, but they should still make it through.
Can I pick you for one second, Janko? Because I saw the tweet yesterday about the percentage of people picking teams to go through Spirit Legacy Bedroom for Astralis.
You quoted that though and said, Hot take, one of these teams won't go through.
Yes. Which one?
Astralis.
Yeah, for White.
But you have him advancing.
Yeah, but you know, I've been wrong before, Jason, and unlike you, I can humble myself and, you know, say that I've been wrong and then give people a chance, you know, give people a chance.
Speaking of humbling you, how many did you get correct in stage one?
Six, I think, is that right?
That's a different number than what I've got here.
What do you have?
I have two.
Really?
Yeah, two.
That can be right.
It was a good two though, it was a really solid two.
Yeah?
Yeah.
How can a two get good two?
Anyway, Ash, correct them. Correct Yankees pickings, please. First draft, what's the
Ash draft?
I have quite similar to that. I have game legion going 3-0 as well. I have spirit going 3-0.
It's a little bit worrying with the coach, and I think my main worry with that is that
when people don't have coaches behind them, they have a really bad tendency of not taking
any tack pauses and just taking momentum out of the game, slowing it down a little bit,
which actually kind of a big effect quite a lot of the time. 0-3, I have NRG. Oh, sorry,
They didn't make it sorry
I have Monty as well. I think big of the momentum. I think I agree
I actually put both big and Monty zero three as well
And I thought is this a tactic actually I'm gonna go with Tyloo instead of 9z. I just don't think they'll test it that well
They were pretty poor in the best of ones your boy jam young you're going against them
I think the level of opponents probably too much a little bit at this stage
Then I had my M.I.B.R. instead of Astralis and I didn't have bait going through. I had
Someone.
Someone did I know.
Someone did I know.
Maybe a fly plus.
Pick anyone. Pick a card and he can't.
You'll go with...
Come on go to NA.
Just do it.
Come on the NA train for a little bit.
NA train?
No.
Let's go with bait.
Bait back in.
How hot are we?
considering what we saw. Is anyone hot on the straws? Yeah, I put them in going through reluctantly.
The problem is also Fuzi has been not great lately, right? And when they had some good results,
he was pretty good. So I think it will depend on him how he performs on the op. He's a guy who's
very proactive, can make the difference, can find openings, can find a lot of impact, right?
Stare has been stellar for them. Yabi has been better. And then it's just in this time off,
Can they have they polished their map pool a little bit more?
It works on their mental, you know, they had that collapse against game religion being 12 4 up at
fourth world. So yeah, these are a lot of questions that will only be answered once they start playing.
What's their biggest weakness?
Yeah, I go because you just said you had you'd said they you don't think they'll make it through
But you still put them going through in case you were wrong. But like what's the biggest thing that's going to stop them from going through?
I think their map pool probably like they're they're not great on a lot of
maps like sure overpass and they're going to pick it a lot but you know some teams
perma ban it and won't get it in the best of ones so
You can punish them dust too as well, they just can't win on that ball and when you're
playing best of free if you're just losing every time they're wanting to push a lot
pressure you to win your map pick that's why I'm a bit worried about that. I think for
me I think I'm a bit worried about the form of the players because you kind of at
the moment were kind of a little bit relying on hooks to be solid with this
fragging because Braio's struggling quite a lot. Nothing wrong with that.
I'm not wrong with that.
Ash, where do you fall on the whole Stage 2 teams coming in cold and Stage 1 teams coming in hot?
As someone who's experienced it, what's your vibe check on that?
Well, we had it in the past. I can't remember one of the majors we went to where we just missed out on the Legends stage.
And we felt like it was a big bonus because we got warmed up and the second stage felt much easier for us when we got through.
So I think it will make a difference, but I think the quality of some of the teams is going up quite a lot.
Like for example, now I'm like, I, I, I considered putting Tyler through in stage one, but I feel like in this one, I can't even see a world where it's kind of going to happen because the level is quite a lot.
So when you see G2 and thought and spirit, this is a big step up and we're going to take an even bigger step up next time.
And let's forget some voodoo magic, like, you know, big play, TDU, gaming gladiators.
I try to bring them back and play them again.
You never know the level of opposition that somehow they might end up facing.
But yeah, it has to be noted though, Bad Boom didn't play for two days, right?
that despite being in stage one.
So for some of these teams,
I think it matters the most
for teams that have played every single day,
for teams that played yesterday
and are now playing today,
I think they have a slight edge.
Jason, who have you got?
Sure, I'm glad you asked that, Frere.
We can actually bring it up.
This is all the talent.
I can read mine off a little bit
since those are small pictures.
I went O and through, I put Monty and 9Z,
3-0, I put Spirit and Bait,
and then going through, I have G2, MIBR, M80,
Bat Boom, Legacy and Foot.
I'm 80. I'm partying man. I'm 80, okay. Okay. There is a chance. A lot of people depend on the opening best ones like
They also look significantly better in stage one than they did in like the month leading into the major which which made me happy
That's a big thing for me too is just like the the step up and the improvement from the from the bad performances leading into the major
I think that's a good sign that like they they had confidence in what they were working on and what they were struggling with but knew
It was the right direction to head in and now they're getting that payoff Chad actually went with the strap
He picked big and Monty did I really curious how that will work. I think that's smart. I also did it
I didn't I didn't update my
No, no spreadsheet. I'm always right. I'm really sorry. It's okay neither did Jason neither did you Jason?
What doesn't yeah, you're right. I didn't yeah, I didn't say guys. It's fine. She's a host thing
I did this spreadsheet before I before I did my pick-ups and in steam, you know, it just happens
Yeah, Jason was one of those guys that you know that one year was changing them as the games were live
Because it wasn't locked and it's like oh this pickings game isn't that hard
Did you say you put you put legacy?
Actually, I think I did in my in my steam pickings I have them there, okay?
Oh, so there's you have your steam I have your broadcast ones
You have your draft for the broadcast just because I have your social media ones
And then you have the ones that you know, you actually are going to put in that's great Jason
I could never be wrong, I just have to have my VR and be right for this game.
Which Jason is going to be really handy if you head on over to CSStats.gg
because you can compare and contrast in a global leaderboard versus everybody.
Watch out because there will be 25 different versions of Jason over on that stat.
Either way, you've got some choices to be making
because we do have two streams operating simultaneously as always today.
If you want to head over to the B stream, that's going to be 90 versus fly quest.
We're going to be hearing from Max ahead of that one courtesy of Stiko
And channel X will be joining you over on that stream if you want to see a starless versus game illusion
Oh, that's going to be on the a stream with us
And we're going to be getting a few words from stare ahead of that one make your choice now
Or maybe we'll see you on the other side of this break
Oh, wait, my bad.
Settle your debates, search your profile on CS stats, and turn on tracking to see all your games.
it in.
He's out enough.
You've got to keep going.
Do it.
He doesn't really care.
There's four.
Here it comes.
Come on.
Come on.
He can get by his back, guys.
Did you like the test of that black monster?
Yeah, a little bit.
I'm in the middle of the air.
Now it's another push.
Come on.
You can do it.
Bring it to us.
Everything.
One, two, three, four, five, two, three, four, five, two, three, four, five, two, three,
One, two, three, four!
You can't pass with greatness, you can't pass with history!
Champions, majors, back to back!
I'm strong in the game!
Oh, man, he's gonna breeze down when you want to play!
Chris, he's gonna breeze down when you want to play!
You need to give him the fist bump still, come on.
The camera, I'm back!
What is this? It's liquid.
It's time to shoot.
I think he's got 10 left.
I don't know who said no.
And twisted the corner and she know we are mine.
Come on, it's a new kind of fight.
This took 63 days.
It's your first win!
Team Liquid!
Sterak, can I grab you for a second?
First of all, welcome to IEM Cologne Major.
You get to kick this stage 2 of Game Religion Against You.
How do you rate this draw?
I think this is the only team that is higher ranked than you coming from stage one and also you lost to them recently twice
So what's up with that? I mean the first game we lost in USA. I wouldn't even count as lost
We did a big throw so I would say that was pretty equal, but the second time there's Masters right
So we have something to prove the second time we didn't really stand a chance which is a little sad
I feel like we could do better. So I think we just have to redeem ourselves today
Let's do that and for many people in analyst desk and especially in the in the like
common sections and everywhere, rest force for them, stand out player for stage one.
He's a star player for game religion, you're a star player now for Astralis.
What's his head to head looking like in your head?
Time will tell, he is a good player, you know. I emoked him and we heard a lot of times, that's the only thing he talks about, yeah?
But yeah, I'm excited for that. I think I can outmatch him today, I hope so.
I also did some research, and I realized that you and Tolson used to play together at some point.
Any kind words or not so kind words to hope to him before this match begins all I'm gonna say we're in the rematch today
So I can make fun of him instead of opposite, you know, I talked to him a lot. So it's important. I get this one
Thank you so much for this and good luck in your match. Thank you
The Intel Extreme Masters Colonial major 2026 is brought to you by ESL and partnership with
Intel
Acer Predator
DHL, checks, and so.
to kicking off very shortly indeed after Gamelige and they survived that first test of stage
one going through 3-1 only falling to the side of Betbomen now as Stare was just saying
they get that rematch from Atlanta. Speaking of which, I think we should just start by having
a quick temperature check on Astralis. Janko, how hot are you on them after what we saw in
Atlanta? I'm lukewarm. You know, how times have changed for Liquid not making top 24,
Grim's no longer in Fanatic, and Astralis with an international roster coming into this one.
But yeah, we've seen good things from them at the start of the season,
even though the success has come too early for them, right?
They only went international this year, bringing in rookie player in Ryuu,
Fuzi as well on the AWP, just re-hauling their roster,
and it was always going to take a bit of time for Astralis to get up to speed,
just communication as well, if you've never played in an English-speaking team,
right for someone like Yabi to get used to it, it's going to take a little bit, and for
everyone to get on the same page. And I think that's what we saw in the last month or two,
you know, them plateauing, hitting that wall. And that's where the real challenge comes
in. Once the honeymoon is over and you start struggling, do you have what it takes to claw
your way back into being competitive?
Just a quick side note to that, Ash, because I'm sure you may be a test of this, having
been on those kind of international lineups as a native English speaker. Have you ever
seen players kind of struggle to acclimatise to that because that's a fair point about this
Astralis, right? A little bit, yeah. I remember sometimes when I was talking to PR, I would
finish the game and they go, Ash, in that tack pause, I had no idea what you said.
That's all for the few times. And with Flanders as well, I think it was quite difficult,
his English was quite basic, it improved quite a lot, but yeah, sometimes it's very hard for
them to kind of say what they want to say and to perform while you're not able to communicate.
That is actually really hard. Yeah, the problem is like,
like, you have to communicate on the fly. And sometimes they have like a sentence they
want to say, but it's too, you know, it's like takes an extra second or two for you
to communicate or I'm going to like short peak here and then you flash for me, right?
And then it's becomes too late while you're able to get the words out, or maybe you don't
even say it because you're like fumbling just want to focus on your crosshair. So that's
how he's timing is so important as well. You can't afford to lose half a second and translate
your own head. I'm glad I don't
speak English. We're always
blessed with that. Let's talk
about PR. You mentioned him.
Obviously what's this kind of
record track record when we're
looking at him versus
Charles? Well, it seems like
PR seems to hate Australia. So
what it is going to be of love
in their team. So, um, he's
really stepping up when he
plays against these guys. He's
starting to stop 50. Pretty
impressive, to be honest. Quite
a lot. I think it's 150 maps
or something against Australia.
as well. 12 maps as well. It's
not a small amount, but also the
last game you played against
each of I think he was 1.78
or something. So he has a lot
confidence things best rated
map ever. I think also is
going to strally some garage
some point last year as well.
Okay, so there's a big reason
why stairs saying, okay, we need
to come in and maybe scrub the
record for that one. Maybe it
was a little bit of an off day.
Maybe a little bit of a throw
from us, but a win is a win in
no matter in what context. We
take a look at some particular
moment session and see what
you've got to break down. Yes,
would like to highlight his aim is absolutely incredible, but he's such a multi-fragger
and he's a young 19-year-old kid. Probably one of the nicest people I've ever worked
with as well. He's super friendly, he's extremely polite and everything, but these are pretty
important games against Astralis and against Na'Vi, I think, in the final of these clips.
And it's just very clean, quick multi-kills from positions where he doesn't really, shouldn't
really have the biggest output, but what he consistently does, this is an ace against
Astralis, and I think that even Yanco here would have to admit that this is as clean
as it gets every single kill. It's a couple of bullets, it's snappy even when he gets
through the H-Ugenade. This is a key point in the game as well and it's a clean 5-gill
M4 clip from water position. It's just dancing around using objects. It's what I like about
his game as well. He really likes to use the environment around him, get good jewels all
the time and kind of clutch. Well, this for me is something that he's not doing enough
of recently because I still think he's being set up. The game is just playing too pop here
and when it says 1v1, it's pretty good.
I'll get this tea side. The thing that's thrown out for me so far, look for what the differences
are. Obviously, why is he struggling so much? 10% entry attempts, 23% normally. And this
is a lot of maps, again, by the way, 23%. So 10% is not, this is in the passive or per
doing nothing supporting kind of environment. It's not suited him. And we talked by a quite
lot of young co on the desk before. I'm not being happy with the way that game legion
have played their plane in like the lindigen tea side style where it doesn't really matter
who the players are. They go in, maybe they eat a spray from a guy going through the smoke.
Maybe there's a guy here, maybe there isn't.
I just don't like the inconsistency that kind of breeds him, because someone like Pierre,
he's very focused on decision-making, communication, and if you're just doing a set-round, you
don't even get to do that.
You don't get to play the game, is what I like to say.
Yeah, they just lost their way a little bit since stage one.
These lower tier teams are easier to prep against.
They have more tendencies, perhaps.
The individual players, the anchors, perhaps are not as versatile.
So you see the appeal of focusing on that and like devising a great game plan around
that.
But the point is you don't need to do that, right?
Like you're just a better team.
I remember when I first started coaching MIBR and we played a tournament in Hong Kong and
we're playing like MVP, I think from Korea and I'm doing this problem is very eager.
You know, it was my first gig and everything and like I'm doing all this prep and we finished
the game and beat them easily and fall and it's like, you know, you don't need to, we
don't need to focus this much like against teams like this.
We can just like play our own game, play default, like we got it, I'm like, alright, fair enough.
Yeah, I guess.
A lot easier.
We will indeed be getting an ancient, the best one.
Yeah, I think this one he was the most likely was, I think he was going between ancient
and mirage, and you don't really want to start on T side mirage, rather an ancient game
legend, very comfortable as well on T side ancient.
What I love about this matchup is that both teams, Permaban is the other teams worst map,
maps so it should in theory raise the quality quite a lot. We can start today with the team
that has a lot to prove in game legion and Astralis who are here for the first game.
So I'm hoping this could be a really close game. It definitely should be that could have
some high quality in there. Ancient, good for both teams.
You got me a high quality Counter-Strike Ash. That's exactly what I want to see. What are
you predicting for this one?
Counter-Strike. I think it'll be interesting to see does game legion playing in stage one
matter more or Astralis getting more data on game religion because of those games and how to
prepare and also we get to see how this Astralis is going to look like after having some time to
prepare coming into the game. What do you think in third game of the season, what are we expected to
see? Well I'm hoping not to see these sights for focus rushing thing and I want to see more
default and I talked to Reza about on the desk as well and said it just felt like you ran away
from the problem. We saw that the Oteon liked to play aggressive in the middle and the solution is
well. If they want to find
middle. Let's just go to the
bomb sites and I just again, I
feel like that's the underdog
mentality. They don't need that
here. I know that in the past,
Astralis haven't been the best
that changed in their own game
plan. I think game religion
have exploited that, so I think
there's going to be a couple of
trick potentially again kicking
in here. Let's just see the
approach that they have. Game
which is should be more warmed
up. That's scary. Probably could
help as well. Astralis, the
first game could be shaky as
well. Okay. Well, gentlemen,
thank you so much for your
2 truly started here in Cologne.
The worst moves, a product of overconfidence, panic, or the blindness of emotion.
Every piece has its role, working in perfect unity to manifest victory.
A player's gameplay is a glimpse into the human.
A window into their interpretation of the fundamentals.
Control the center. A delicate balance of calculation and intuition.
Take space. An equilibrium between order and chaos.
Sacrifice. Under time pressure, there is no time to calculate.
The floor is a mystical place, an immersion, every player has seen it, felt it on stage.
Tune out the crowd, the beating in your chest,
the expectation of your fans, the needs of your family,
and make your move.
Hello and welcome to the Intel Extreme Masters clone major stage two.
Some say this is where the major really starts, Jason.
You know, once you get into stage two, some of the big boys arrive, and let's get right into it.
The best of one start again, we're gonna be here on ancient Astralis versus Game of Legion.
Yeah, Game of Legion is starting on this T-side, attacking into it.
Rez gonna be already out at elbow, just waiting for his timing to strike.
Stare gonna be watching for this.
It's the first contact of the match, and Stare backs away.
Stale mate between the two pistols.
Mid control, though, over to Game of Legion.
Yeah, get a Molotov, join in towards Stare, get a force him into the open.
Wide angle.
Snacks is going to be chasing after him. It's high-packs to open things up and the advantage siding with game religion at the moment
They're going to try and continue that pressure on to yabbi who's taking significant damage
And now relies upon foosie to be unchecked. He is unchecked so he gets the one yabbi steps out
Hooksy gets involved and snacks has to step up and do what he does best with that little pistol
But he's finally taken down by hooksy putting PR into the 1v2. Oh, yeah, he's coming over from a little flank
He was lurking over outside the B bombsite, but didn't see anything now. He's got a piece of together. There's the spot of one
and prepared for the peek from Rio as well.
Looking out towards CT spawn, Hooksie just waits.
Out of the temple. Shot connects and Ryu swings in with a Chou Parade.
It's great recovery to this pistol for Astralis. They're going to take the first round of play.
It's the dualies boosted up that saved the day. That takes so much attention.
One kill and that was the A main player who's in the best position to actually trade that off or eliminate that boost position.
But then everyone from Astralis swings off that. A peek from CT, a peek over from temple.
All the attention is on that boost position.
Snack still recovers nicely,
but so many of his teammates had fallen by that point.
And PR, a really, really tough 1v2 that he can't piece together.
So pistol over to Astralis, they get started on the right foot,
and for game religion, no investment here without a bomb plant.
Upgraded Deagle on Snack, a flashbang on Hypex, and that's all they've got.
I'm going to be grouping up towards a man.
We heard Ash talking about my APR not being set up for those clutches.
He gets into one in the first round of play here against Astralis.
Just couldn't make it happen.
Game religion, looking to respond, trying to get out A with heavy numbers, but it's
hard to see a world in which they get past this MP9 and MP4.
Yeah, I think the big point that Ash made that I enjoyed was when he really focused
on the percentage of opening attempts, right, 23 leading into the major and he's down
at like 10 points something here at the major so far in the few games that they played.
And that just seems to signal to me, if you're taking less than half the number of opening
attempts that you're used to leading into this event, you're a little bit nervous.
You're thinking more about how it can go wrong.
You're thinking more about how you're going to die or not dying versus seizing an opportunity
that you sense is there.
And I think that's the scary thing, because it's like a mentality that tells me that PR
shying away a little bit from those moments that he normally steps up in.
We'll see if that changes coming into stage two.
Well, obviously, Astralis just starting.
Looks like Rug is getting told off in the first couple of rounds there.
I'm not used to the new...
I don't remember, yeah.
It's got to be frustrating as well.
Teams have played three times this year.
The Gamer Legion has taken two of the three series, Astralis winning back in Krakow, but Gamer Legion winning at Blast Rivals in IEM, Atlanta.
So Astralis gonna try and tie up this score here with this best of one.
Snacks, it's calling everyone over towards the A-bomb side.
Gonna be a poppy player, you know, told to look out for this and this is exactly what we're seeing straight away from Gamer Legion.
Snacks, I can recall these direct A-heads. You can see Astralis, they're ready for it. They've got three players close by.
by. You got Yabbi waiting here at the tall box. You see what he's going to commit in
that big box position uncomfortable, but he's able to stand. They cannot not look at him,
so it's going to be easy for Yabbi. He's got three straight away. He's just shot them down.
He's done damage to the high packs as well. Yeah, I mean, this is this is game religion being
way too committed to that idea. You throw out the smokes. I understand you want to utilize it,
but you've got all five players here out of spawn, so you don't have any presence or map control
elsewhere. So it feels terrible, but man, exacting through that smoke without even breaking it just
feels even worse. Sloppy first gun round and Astralis is loving it. An easy breeze up to
three to nothing and if they keep this many players alive, man, Cash is going to be looking
good as well.
You're letting Yabby get a strong start into the game as well here. Seven-one star for
him here at the Major, so he's loving it.
I mean, look, I think anytime you're an A-bombside anchor on Ancient, you're going up against
a Snackslight team. Ooh, that's a nice shot from Rez. I think it's enough to bring the
round back into contention. But anytime you go up against Snacks is that A-bombside anchor.
you gotta have a plan for those pieces coming at you snacks does love to call
those kind of tricky timing like change of timing change of pace kind of calls
towards the a bomb site
and you have to have the perfect read in the perfect position
there was fifteen seconds on the clock stepping up in the flight bomber
just behind him
let's go try and make some space
she should match it on the corner as well against that one on stay sets of
high packs but
one v three
Very tough for him to win here on the right, for him stairs gonna go and win it on his own.
And Hooksy very happy with how Yabbi shut down that A-play.
Yeah, he gotta be super pleased.
He haven't even lost anything too crazy, too valuable.
Fosya still has the AWP, so Astralis is cooking.
They're happy, they're in a comfortable place.
Bomb plant's gonna give him a little extra cash over here, so it began.
Yeah, I mean, you break that smoke, you can at least have like a supportive element in A main to take that fight.
Maybe trade him off and go one for one, but if that smoke isn't great,
if you're just running through it, easiest time of Yabbi's life.
Good fucking shit!
I mean, we've seen over the months, right, in various Astralis games, a lot of frustration, a lot of anger, a lot of tilting, coming in, a lot of stress, and Hooksy's been very vocal at various points that we've had in Lick, whether it's listen-ins, interviews, about that mentality when the game is live.
So you can see him here at the start in his 3-0 run, really trying to kind of like shore up the attitude in the mental game of his side for the difficulties that may come later, but making sure everyone's in a positive mindset in this match.
I had a chance to talk to him about that yesterday. He was saying, you know, all the clips come out all the listeners
It's like me. Just kind of green everybody, but I do say nice things to my players
We're waiting on Molotov to burn him away
In fact, he can't get away the tech nine chases after hook she's stepping up
He just said though it gets to with his rifle and you've got Ryu chiming into the kill feed as well
Rez hoping that he can make some space happen towards the donut that ends up just getting cut away by Yabbi
And you've left high-packs in the one before with a p250 so best you can hope for here is a bomb plant
And that isn't going to be happening so a four zero star from Astralis
M.R. 12 best of one
This is getting quite worrying for game legion already. They really just have to start winning now
Yeah, it happens fast in these best of ones doesn't it?
You're dead on because the money is in a very nice place for for the Astralis out of things
They've got a couple rounds of investment behind them
Early idea for Gamer Legion, kind of Poppy towards the A bomb site, this round with a low buy, Poppy up the B ramp, neither of those are really working. Haven't seen them work the map quite yet, we'll see if this round slows down.
Talcin and Rez towards elbow, PR solo towards the B bomb site, Hybex and Snaks going to activate the mid-play, but Talcin is held back by Molotov for the moment.
Starr is going to disrupt that smoke towards Red Fuse, you'll send the second layer, but
no one from Gamelize is strolling out just yet, Talson, tentative about it.
What they have done is stalled out the smoke though, up in the Red Room, right?
So now you can see Talson is going to fall, a good spam, catches Ryu at the perfect timing.
Starr was there as well, doesn't take a lick of damage, but now the AWP in position, could
have been doubled up, hooks these here over in cave, but the P defense under a lot of
pressure and now massive issues realized the pressure was on so snacks did not
alleviate he just kept going forward and has carved out this B bomb side for
game religion can be tough to see them concede it but there's a couple of quick
kills from a strollers foosie at PR going down its hook see which managed to
do a lot of great work here this rifle is stepping up and it got a dink as well
on tells him that he's massive from hook see inside of cave yeah that's a
phenomenal performance sets up yabby for that
a man advantage
an open bomb site of four on three in gamer legion all their fall apart
office
was just on this so quickly
i mean what's the deathmatch and those are some crispy shots over in jaguars
they turn the corner i don't think they fully expected to be there right to
kills earlier at the be bombsite and then they spotted the opera don't think
they really thought they were gonna encounter any kind of resistance to
that position
Rez is thinking about going out towards the site now for a ball and playing. Slipping out now with 15 seconds left though.
Yabbi is starting to track in behind.
So Rez is not gonna have a huge amount of space to make this work.
But luckily has some utility, but he's confused it towards long and short and not the cave where he just came from.
So Yabbi creeps in behind him,
massive yell again from Hoeksee and a timeout has to come through here from game a legion because these are both
good ancient teams, but you're letting the straws get a 5-0 lead.
They're not gonna let up is there's they're gonna be good on both halves here
This is gonna be such a tough game from this point almost your game. Allegiant
Yeah, that round is really really kind of depressing for game
Allegiant because that actually panned out really well
I still think they're having some issues finding some opening plays that are effective
But you get the gift in that previous round of the spam kill towards the B bomb site and I love snacks taking the initiative
I'm just saying I well we got one defender here
There's room to work with let me go find the next one V1 gets that kill and it feels like the rounds kind of done or at least
Up until hook see steps up
That's the real shame of it, is you get this kind of freebie of an opening frag on the
Ryu from PR, and then shut down every step of the way from there.
Snacks is pushed up to control that bomb site, but he's so far separated from his team they
can't trade anything, can't take any of his space.
Game religion not in sync at the moment, and Astralis taking advantage of it.
Five to nothing to kick off this best of one.
Yeah, got a hero AK in TALS and the rest on pistols here for game religion.
Most likely to see Astralis head up to 6 and Yabbi is understandably feeling confident.
He's 10-1 at the moment.
He's down mid early, challenging towards the elbow, as soon as he doesn't get that fight
going his way, he backs into the donut.
You see that red smoke not connecting up there?
Yeah, I felt a little bit short, didn't it?
I'm going to replenish it at the moment.
Thankfully, nobody tried to utilize it.
AWP is going to be over for the dumb up for maybe one quick kill.
Yeah, let's see if Fuzzi can react in this flip up.
Actually did.
Fuzzi got leg shot from that, Fuzzi.
Great flick up, goes out, carves up, tells him he's got the information on that crossing
player but is he going to be able to react to snacks?
He reacts but not going to be able to place his crosshair accurately enough to drop him.
So Fuzzi with the damage done has to back away and as that happens you see Astralis start
to take bottom ramp control, pushing down B and now challenging towards that bomb of
high-packs.
really good awareness from Fosey to swing out a little bit wider and grab Towson, picking
that kill off, took away a really aggressive timing that he could have utilized.
Rez wants nothing to do with that flight at distance, not with the low HP, so Yabi's
going to go searching.
Hypex and PR with the bomb starting to challenge towards cave, Stare spots it out, first kill
assist, that's bomb hitting the deck, good spray control.
And once again, Gamer Legion can do absolutely nothing, this Astralis defense impenetrable,
five players alive still.
It's just the start that would have dreamed off coming into the Major and watching the
first week of Counter-Strike go on you right here for Stage 2.
You've come out to a 6-0 lead on Ancient.
Look at this game, you see a tough matchup for both teams.
Game of Legion Strauss should be closely contested, especially when it falls onto Ancient as the
map, but kind of crazy to see it so one-sided at the moment.
Last time they played Ancient was back in Atlanta at the Intel Extreme Masters, a 13-8
victory for Gamer Legion. It's going the opposite direction here. Come back to the map and
Astralis has downloaded a few things from that loss, changed a few things up PR and
that game had 37 kills and 18 deaths, Hypex had 31 and 17. Far, far away from those kind
of performances right now and yet to see anyone individually or as a unit, anyone from Gamer
Legion get going here on Ancient.
There comes another Trawl's play down the ramp again. Gonna be set up by Hooksy. Flashes up in the sky.
You're gonna be boosted, clear close box. He's no one then. Note the PR is in the
copy, but can't handle it. So PR's got the opening kill here for Gamer Legion.
I like that's cool piece of aggression from the Astralis defense. It's gone the wrong way.
Hooksy though still spot on. Res can get nothing with these aggressive lurks.
Dude, Hooksy is looking so sharp you can't get past the choke points he's holding right now without taking at least a death.
And we'll see game leads and try and react. They really funneled into a B-play.
The only player here to defend is Stare. You'll have that rotation of Hooksy coming back soon,
but you're looking at Stare to deliver something here for you and he's blinded.
He's held back in the corner, throws him to the open, but Snacks has challenged and won that fight.
Okay, now Hooksy's got to be really cautious about that turn of the corner.
Yabby not paying attention either.
Dowson's found one.
Foosie has no access.
It's all Hooksy.
One, make it two.
Now we're on two on two with the bomb planted.
He's doing it again.
Hooksy with three in the round.
Now two players left here for game of the legion,
desperately requiring this round
to have any sort of foothold in the half.
Conceit this.
And I don't know where you go if you're game of the legion.
Foosie out with a deagle.
Challenging towards Dowson.
It's gonna be tough for him to get past this choke point.
He needs to win it and he's got it.
Telsen dead.
Hooksie steps up next.
Time ticking and they've got to keep Refusey,
but they've got to get on it right now.
And Hooksie's got the kid.
He's going to hold it all the way.
It's going to be damn close, but is it seven?
It is!
Hooksie's won another round.
Astralis can do no wrong.
Seven in a row.
Oh, Giga Chad showed up today.
This is discussing what he's doing to Gamer League
in the early stages.
Quad kill and the clutch.
A last second defuse and Astralis' captain
is leading the way. This is crazy from Hooksie. Look at this is so spot on just so immediate
prepared the whole way and the kill had to happen at that point. Huyfex could have even
just tucked down and made Hooksie chase him down and the round's done after that. Goes
for the swing and Hooksie's just prepared. Game religion looking absolutely stumped at
the moment
gather outside of the again here quite heavy for game Legion
love
it's gonna be really hard for snacks to call right now because they've had no
No success anywhere on the map, and Snacks is a bit of a momentum caller.
He likes calling off that success, changing expectations, and he doesn't have the ability
to do it now.
Yeah, Foosie tried to back away there, but the smoke made it awkward for him to continue
to challenge, but Stara, a pair of headshots.
Now, Foosie goes back to try and deal with the ramp, blinded, he's caught in the open,
but Stara is up next, and there's just a layer upon layer of Astralis players in this
defense, 8-0, carving up a buy-round like it's an eco.
Everyone from Astralis is motivated to get stuck in.
from Astralis is stepping forward and looking for the next fight. No one is
shying away, no one's trying to play too much with their brain, everyone's just
getting into the action. What a lovely triple from Stare to save the life of
Fozy. Game of Legion might have to pull off a big here in the second half to be
honest. This is getting to the point where oh it just hard to even see a
world in which game of Legion will find any competitive nature in this game.
You take 9s, I've got some utility. I'll hold the phone and it's a B rush, let's
go change it. I'm gonna rush with pistols up through but you're gonna get that
early information. You're gonna hook him and finally hook him down without a pick.
So some space taken here for game of League. Your plant is gonna be coming in.
Ryu doesn't make up the most of the ground, but we've got stairs moving in instead.
So you know everybody from Astralis is having a go at stairs with a triple this time and
he leaves snacks on default with a tech knight. He lands on him, forced away into the open.
Yeah, he's gonna pick him off and it'll be nine rounds in a row for Astralis.
And so desperately trying to take that space around cube and push up towards long
But Astralis is just barraging flashbangs high up so that they're blinded
They can't scale and sets him up perfectly for stare to swing
First one with Ryu actually unfortunate it was his teammates Molotov
I think that wrecked his vision right here as he comes around to get killed
But then the flashbangs are just you see two popping right there
You have no chance and even two more coming as that fight is continuing
They were always going to be so blind, it's 9-0 for Astralis, a second time out of the
Gamer Legion, but what are you supposed to say?
GG go next.
And we're back to that first day of one of the major stages, so the conversation about
is this Astralis just destroying you and playing incredibly well, or is this a bad day in the
office for Gamer Legion, because they're going to have another best of one later on today.
If you get wiped off the map here, you got to shift that mentality before the next best
or one, otherwise you're searing out elimination going into day two of stage two.
More numbers for you.
We're live into round ten.
It's nine to nothing for Astralis.
Another full buy for Gamer Legion out of the time now.
Early Utah, just trying back these players off from the early aggression towards B. You
the Molotov towards top ramp. One towards the entrance of the cave as well. Just to
try and prevent any buff moustache from taking that early space away.
Gamerly is going to start sending players into middle. You've got Rez moving up
in front of that donut smoke, challenging the red room, but there's two players up here.
And it might be a rough old world that Rez is living in if he stays committed to it.
So he's going to back away just as that peek comes in. And as that peek comes in,
you've got Yabi moving up through a main. So this CT aggression might just catch out Talcim,
but he's come forward at the right time and Yabbi caught looking the wrong direction so Towson's got the opening kill
Yeah, unfortunate for Yabbi. I think he's feeling real confident at the moment with the score line
He's probably been a little bit bored towards the A bombsite the last few rounds
But game religion was just moving back. Hypex and snacks were shifting away from B to actually join up over here towards the A bombsite
So it feels like this was gonna finish at the A site regardless that push and kill might motivate him to just continue
However, Hooksy and Astralis have the read. Riu is shifted over. Stare is going to be
playing in doughnut. Fersi is in red room. He'll have a quick rotation over to CT spawn,
but he will be smoked off.
Flash is going to be coming through. Riu is going to dodge them.
That smoke has put him in a tough spot. The flash will go. He has to back away, and then
you see Astralis bludges leaping out to the death. So, Risen highpacks with kills, and
this is surely going to be the first round of the game.
The Legion Snacks right beside Ryu does take that kill and finally off the goosag.
It's going to be at least one here for game leech.
Yeah, first time I think I've seen an Astralis player being a little bit too over-eager and
trying to force the issue a little bit too much.
The Yabbi push.
Fosy coming over with the AWP and just swinging Temple hard for an angle trying to help the
bomb site desperate situation.
Seems to me though that Astralis when you look at the minimap, it feels like they're
really quick making rotations very quickly and stacking players up at the bomb site
Because it feels like quite easy for them to guess if you're seeing presence from game league
They're going
Remember early on in the half to when the B bombs
I think the first first or second gun round when PR got the spam kill to open things up at the B bomb site and then
Snacks kind of press the issue after that
I think for for Astralis you're kind of saying in your head at the moment if they get a pick somewhere
That's that's what just going there. Yeah, especially considering. It's 9-0 like if they get a pick and it's an easier bomb site
And easier defense they're gonna go for it
All challenge down mid Talcyn gets the first but then you have me and hoaxie step up in his stead in
You end up having a 4v3, so Astralis gonna be happy with the start of this round and just blocking game legions
So you mentioned towards the end there the fact that they got an opening they could have easier bombsite
Well now they're down 3v4 with a minute 30 left and not easy at all now for game legions
This is a really mean call from Astralis there, right?
Like they just they just kind of got their first round win
They're just kind of fighting their feet and saying all right we can settle into this game
That's the one that gets us started and then all of a sudden for the first time in the half
The CTs are pushing down mid constantly flashing coming out of Jaguar spraying you down being
disruptive. All that said, Gamerleague is still in a position to win this round two
on three. Snacks gonna move in with the bomb. They're not as wide open for any kind
of a peek, but nobody's home quite yet. Let's see if Snacks and Hypex can bring
this back together. Yeah, but he's gonna move through main. Hypex turning back just
the right time, but misses the shot. A crucial miss because it puts Snacks now
a 1v3. And Fosy has such a late lurk on this. Yeah, Snacks is looking at it for the time being.
But as soon as he gets his fight going, they know exactly where he is, and then Snacks takes a heap
of damage too. Yabi's got a molly. Yeah, you can't push through that if you're Snacks, and that's
going to actually head to the back of the donor. You'll send a grenade out. No one's on the diffuse.
Yabi takes the nade damage, but Hooksy's going to go ahead and take himself that diffuse also.
10 to 1 it is for Astralis.
Look at this 1-2 punch to power that lead.
Yabbi, 15 and 3.
Hooksie, 12 and 4.
Yabbi gets a quad kill in that round,
including the defuse and the clutch and the 2 on 1.
Absolutely perfect.
That's crazy seeing how strong Astralis look right now.
This is...
I know, because the Des talked about it,
like some of the events they've been at recently,
where they played poorly,
I feel like I was right there having written Astralis off
and they've just come out here and just been like,
no, we're good, we're cool.
Nice cool!
They're getting in shape, at least for the first best of one here, off the major for them.
Okay, trying to hit this B bomb site again, game Elegant. Last round of the half.
I think smoke's going down, they'll have a donut smoke, red smoke, that red smoke now fades away.
And the front cave smoke gonna fade now too.
So, it looks like they're just gonna try and execute into the B bomb site.
Astralis are ready, they've got three players here, so it doesn't look like it's gonna go great for Gameligen.
Gameligen has more opening kills in this half than Astralis, and they're still losing 10-1.
They've got seven opening kills, that's what they'll end on as well as Ryu takes the first.
Well, we've got Stare now waiting next.
Spam gonna be going down through the walls here, through the boards.
Right, taking a pick, but then Stare responds immediately.
Now gets away with another one nearly the 3k PR trying to fight on two fronts
He just can't do it and now rest a long way off
Running back and you would give him more of a shot in this clutch if he had higher HP and foosie wasn't pinned on his exact position
And hooks he wasn't hot. Yeah, and hooks he's a fucking running for that headshot and hot indeed a straw to come out swinging here in stage 2
11-1 up over gamer legion
Very chilled day in the office for Astralis.
Very chilled day in the office for Ryu, his major debut.
He hasn't had to do too much work because it's Yabbi and Hooksy doing all the heavy lifting.
Yabbi gets him started, triple kill on the first gun round, ends the half, 15 and 4.
Hooksy keeps him going, clutches, multi-kills, defensive stance, 14 and 4 for the Astralis captain.
Fire with all cylinders and they have buried Gamer Legion after the first half.
Yeah, nothing you can do really if you're Gamer Legion.
This is going to be a 0-1 start here in stage 2 unless they can pull off a stellar comeback on the CT side.
A kit available for Rez, but we'll see a shot. Let's just go for the knockout blow here towards the A site.
We've got P.R. waiting behind the big blocks. She's a shadow cast against the wall. Good clean headshot on the first seconds.
Good as well. P.R. OK!
Great work from P.R. as he holds the site. Beautiful shots.
He's finally going to be dropped by Hooksy, but he's just won the pistol round.
pistol round yeah he really has that's cool to see it's about the only positive thing we've got
to say about game religion this game so far so well done from PR that's nice yeah that's that I
mean that's some disgusting shitty I guess hooksy's only chances to just sprint to the B bomb site
can't even really slow down and you just have to try and get a bomb planted but the rotation for
the CTs is going to be much much easier yeah it took a long way didn't he so all the way through
spawn safely yeah you got snacks coming over here oh yeah well I mean hooksy can't win
and it's about a bomb. We'll not get a bomb plant.
Well, I know he's out and out. Just rush him down, take away the bomb plant, and that's exactly what'll happen.
So, came in looking tonight, the bomb plant, so Astralis can get a strong force by the next round, and he won the pistol.
So, all the steps being taken.
You can see it's kind of like Bitter Sweet for PRVs. He's got such a sick rally.
This is a highlight. You'd normally be celebrating it up on your feet and cheering your boy on,
on but just with the score line of the game and the circumstances it's barely
enough to get you get you happy I mean incredible she was nuts is yeah freakish
headshots that he's tossing out that's about the state of the game
let's go okay let's go well I got one flashbang here folksy maybe send that
over towards a just trying to pop out here again the goal here for a shot is
just trying to get a bomb plant and PR to farm.
A good crop in the last round.
He's combined with Ryze this time.
So that'll be three quick kills.
Round dead. No bomb plant to be seen at all.
I'm gonna throw it around for game legion.
So now we're getting to the Astralis Abai.
AK-47's coming out.
I'm gonna throw everything they've got into
trying to get this 12th round on the board straight away.
CT side looked awesome. Everyone was shifting.
really proactive they were reading the map very well they seem to be a step
ahead of gamer legion a number of times recovering four v five scenarios let's
see what they've been working on the t-side in this absence is the t-side
that we've seen go flat a number of times and just for whatever reason
stall out and not put rounds on the board
yeah well it kind of lives and dies it feels like on the stairs success in
middle you know if he's having a good game and you get that opening mid-picture
straws can just run over the top of you we've got PR waiting inside of me
Hooksy is pretty close by, so this might just be the first fight of the round, unless the
doughnut smoke fades away soon, and Starr gets the challenge he's looking for.
Rio's gonna move up to the red room with him.
They've got that mid-spist, but he comes to flank around the back, Rez trying to wrap
them.
Hooksy lost that fight towards, hey man, Hypec stepping out of doughnut.
Now attention's gonna be drawn from the red players to worry about that mid-play, but
they've still gotta go forward, and Starr is gonna carve up Towson.
Apex to cut away Fuzi, and that is a big problem here for Astralis.
In fact, they get shut down, so not finding anything in this round worth talking about
as PR out from Temple secures the fourth round for Gamer Legion.
Yeah, had a lot of room to work with, was able to scale up mid, pretty dang well, good
aggressive piece, had a Gamer Legion pushing donut to make sure they can't just sit there
comfortably the whole time, and Astralis get picked off across the map one by one.
No access towards Red Room, no access towards CC spawn.
Hootsy never spotted PR.
And Astralis not ready for any of the fights the Gamer Legion gave him in that round.
So, Tep 9's armor, upgraded pistol, some utility, and we're headed fast with numbers towards the B-Bomb site.
I
Back's listening for any sound cues
Any footsteps any drop of utility here and absolutely nothing outside of the B bomb site Astralis is quiet on the map
Good defensive setup though for game religion snacks as an early spot towards Jaguar Towson has a Molotov for the ramp
Hipex a middle man who can work with both of them in tandem,
Res and PR doubled up in donut just for the safety on that side of the map.
I'm going to try and challenge Snakes. They're just slowing down in that fallback
with the grenade landing upon his head.
Starr is deagle running through the smoke, but Snakes and Taliesin have taken two.
Oh, there's good one through there.
Oh, there's good one back in, so the bomb plant's going to be secured here.
A 2v3?
You shouldn't.
They can't. I don't think they can win it at the moment as constant.
They need to get out of the corner! Now they can!
Absolutely they can! Re-use step forward, Towson goes down, and Game of Legion has to recover this.
A retake into 2v2, and Stair Stands with the AK-47.
PR into the open, Stair's got the kill, and this is going to be the devastating blow towards Game of Legion.
Stair steps out, a 3k collected, and they should not have won that round, but Astralis picked it up, and now they've got map points on Ancient.
We were talking during the halftime break, this game has been odd just because Gamer Legion have the majority of the opening kills on this map and are still just getting destroyed.
Gamer Legion played a game like that in Stage 1 against Bedroom on Nuke, where they just kind of blew up the opening kills, were so much better, but couldn't win 5 on 4s, 4 on 3s, for whatever reason, in many advantage situations, this team just seems to get worse.
And just crumbling away, despite the opportunities, now PR gonna be racing through middle to big
fight in middle, ready for you.
He's gonna take that first yabbi second, and surely that's it.
Three players left for Gamelige, and Red's gonna try and claw back and kill here on
stand.
He can't even get that one.
This game has been a disaster for Gamelige, and Stage 2 starts in a terrible fashion,
but for Astralis, they are loving this.
This is exactly what they imagined as they woke up this morning.
to start their campaign here at the Cologne Major, a 13-4 win over GamerLegion.
I'm sitting here now, being like, this could have been an email.
It's time to go back and have a little bit of a nap at the hotel.
That was fast and dominant out of Astralis.
I can't believe how comprehensive of a victory that was over GamerLegion,
who have just got to be reeling.
Yeah, I mean, they got a map that they're comfortable on.
They've got a map they can absolutely compete on.
But they had no showing in that first half.
And at that point, once you get only one round to play with, there's just no coming back,
no matter how strong you play on that CT side.
Yeah, I mean, just not enough production for sure.
Definitely that CT side is just going to be looked at.
But again, you couldn't establish any success early on.
And it's one of those things too, where you look back and they have the moments, you know,
like they had the opening kill of the P-Bomb, so they had a 5-on-3, they had advantages,
and every single one of them went the way of a strawless.
We've got Freya down with Hooksy to talk us through it,
because we still don't know what the hell just happens.
And maybe we can get some more insight from the man himself, such a quick wave of his time with your major campaign.
Obviously, congratulations. Tell me about that CT side, because last time around, you played Game of Legion.
And the three round CT side, what was different today?
I think we tried to fight them way too much last time, and we ended up spending all our util
and not really knowing what to do with all the space we got before, and this time we kind of, I don't know,
We were playing a little bit more like back, playing for each takes and I think we also
did the micro situations way better with waiting for each other and when you're alone playing
slow and all this stuff. So yeah, we're all really happy with it.
Individually, you were popping off as well. There was a 2v4 in the mid-portion of that first half
as well where you managed to get a multi-kill, convert that, get that diffused by the skin of your
teeth. What have you been doing in this off-time before the Major?
I've been sick for three weeks and been absolutely awful in practice. So I have no
talk to what's happening, but I'm happy about it. It's all good.
Obviously, I've got to ask about the panorama round as well. You come in just with pistols
on that two side. Tell me about how you got that one over the line.
Thanks to good old Honda from G2 for that first time. There was a strange deal from
the standpoint of G2. So thank you so much.
Thank you very much, Oxy. Yes, congratulations to Astralis. Very quick, 1-0. That is one
way to start off. You made your campaign, Janko.
Yes Fred, it absolutely is. I don't know man, Lyn vision might be eliminated but snacks and IMD doing their best to keep their spirit alive with that T-side that was absolutely atrocious in terms of the plan from the beginning in terms of the approach.
We talked about game illusion how if they can play like in Atlanta they have a good chance of making it through, if they play like in stage one they won't make it into the next stage and I think we're getting a glimpse of what we can expect down the line in stage two.
to. Yeah, a jovial start, though. First, Jarlis, already hook scene, laughing and joking a little bit.
Like, that is the kind of vibe you want to enter a major with, right? You don't want that pressure,
and I mean, they delivered it in terms of that result. And that's another time, by the way,
someone saying, terrible in practice, come on, throw a bag of four minutes. It seems to be a
common scene, but yeah, for me, Jabby, I think he's one of the most narrator players here. I was
checking his demos for a game, and to his side, he's the guy that he's kind of looking quite a lot,
but then when they end the round, he's going first a lot, and he's actually really, really good at
is numbers very solid. So I think he's there for me is the MVP rough start though, the
game leading continuing as you were kind of leading to Yankee, his ghost of stage one that
we're kind of rearing our heads. I mean, this was even worse than what we saw in that stage
one. Amen. It's just crazy. Like we sat here talking about, you know, they need to stop with
these set rounds from the start of half, just play more default, give your players an opportunity,
Like we saw that PR res are capable of, and they're actually given space.
Ash was talking about high-packs, how good he is in the clutch, and to close out rounds.
Like, you have the pieces, and yet you're playing as if you are in vision.
Like, you are just sort of rolling the dice.
Your call is, oh, we want to go away. We get blocked.
I'll just go through the smoke. Let's just hope that they're not there.
I mean, such a lazy way of calling.
Like, it's rounds like these, where Snacks was getting a ton of flag during his time in G2.
Like when you talk about PR and high-packs, back then you had Niko and Monosy, and you're doing stuff like this.
Like, it's just not something that you can expect to win consistently with in tier one counter.
Maybe you can attest to this a little bit more, Ash, but why do you feel like that cooling style has been so tempting for Gamelizean at this event?
Like, what would make somebody fall into that?
I think that they've seen success with it style this year because of the kind of kick-tain and being the underdogs,
And it's kind of been needed a little bit like you want to catch people off guard. It's worth a little bit
It was good at lancer as well like he is they does have a place next is very very good
I think we need to pick the timings a little bit like in this game
There was zero two down with one kill and the first byron just feels like
What you see they're gonna be a genius call that's
Unneeded or it's just an instant wipe and then half you're applying you play as young guys
It just bounce back and be really good after in terrible stars and we saw as the game went on for a starless
All five of them were kind of just hitting everything because it's such a good start and kind of gifted them
Yeah, should we dive into that? You asked around three. Let's let's roll it. What did you notice here?
Well, it's the one that young coach is talking about and
Watch don't like about it. You see the kills on game lead, you know, it's slow start the eco the second rounds is the first
By round of the game. This is a really important round. So this is obviously something that's come from prep
But I think they didn't plan on the support here. Hey, I just don't think this is part of the plan
I think Jagged is a great job by the way just dodging the flush. You see his duck sound in the second as well
This is the way that three players start their game PIC 0 3 dies on the piss around is a block second round
I just like that resin high-pitched get to play the round and actually they nearly won the round though
That's who we thought was pretty close in the end
I just want to see them just let's play some normal ancient because when they did try and play normal
It looked quite good
They were getting entry frags and it looked like they were in the game and could be better than a strollers here had like three kills
Six seven rounds in two of those were entry kills on gun rounds when they were just playing default right and the rest is him
just dying when they're doing something set from the start. I mean, it's just crazy, just
lazy. It's lazy. Like, okay, you call this round because you expect a certain situation.
You don't get it and you continue with it. Like a boarded reset, there's a minute, 25,
30 seconds of the clock. You can't do anything else. Everything is still available to you.
Right? Like just don't go for it. And what's crazy, the last time they played the ancients
in Atlanta, game religion wasn't doing this. They were playing a bit more default. Sure,
They would have some openings where they would have three, four players towards one side,
and then maybe they would search a little better to some.
It wasn't all in into the side.
It was like something in between.
And they had a ton of success with it.
So you already played this opponent and with a way that worked, you played different games
in the meantime with a style that hasn't worked.
Like how is this the game plan going into this game?
Like it's absolutely atrocious.
Yeah.
No, I think you're totally battling the money there, Janneko.
Fast forward to round five.
Is it the same story again, Ash?
Actually, no.
more individual pod as you're making, but you 4-0 down, I think it's a very young experienced
players, they don't have the momentum, it's a bit harder for them, so this is just default at the
start, you see everything's kind of normal, they take mid control, this is what Gamelidge
was very good at last year, and then PR finds an inch kill on a good spam, and snacks at the same
moment goes through, the round's over, but you see the number 6 and 7, the story about this
everyone in Twitch chat, why are they going towards cave here when B site is completely empty, I have
no idea, so three people end up going through cave, where's like the simplicity, you've got two kills
towards B, you know B site's clear, you know Hook sees the cave player, just come back together
through the ramp, throw some utility, end the round normally, and instead it ends up in like a
weird situation, where Hooks has like an easy molotov, how is Hooksy and an easy molotov in 3v5?
It's a mistake of first, like you said, not going just straight up B, then Snacks is overextending,
dying to an open side or just sitting tight, then they don't go together even in Cape. Like,
there's three players there, they go one by one, allowing Hooksy to multi-kill them, and that's
just, you know, the shock of a little bit being 4-0 down, and then the stress starting to kick in,
And I think the players just feeling more of the same. It's like the first gun round no chance
We're just walking through a smoke getting mowed down and yeah
They just went from bad to worse in that first half of the Hoaxie multi kill
He did my god might have been sick coming into this event, but he was looking amazing in the server today
I mean obviously game leading did offer him Apple opportunity
But you have to capitalize upon that yanko and he did that in buckets and spades. I think a hash doubted him and
Can never doubt the gigachat right and a bit of a momentum player
I think it's fair to say if he gets to a good start
He can definitely get rolling but sometimes can get into his own hat and yeah, this was for this one the game
They talk to me for tell of them out of the game just game over like this
It looked clean actually three great set times seems sick off the server sick on the server
Helps but yeah, I think they just capitalized on you know the poor starts and the poor plan from
game religion really allowed for Astralis to play themselves into the
game. They played from ahead just snowballed, never looked back and that's
what you want. That's what you hope for in a best of one really just quick and easy.
Yeah, it looked all too easy for them. Of course they will be playing later on today, have to have the other games go down to see exactly who their
opponent's gonna be. I'm hoping Yabi turns up with the same fire that we saw him
entering the server with today because obviously I mean his time in heroic, he was
such a superstar there. It's been maybe a little bit more complicated since he
joined the stars with the roles and everything but this is the version I'd like to see.
Yeah and he said at the start of the year that he was struggling with that translation
thing, he was able to think quickly and when you're entering Fragger it's difficult just
losing that half a second because you need that exact time because of what the time you're
grouping up when you're going and you're exploding on teams. I think he's just a very underrated
player, he's very sharp with his aim, he's consistent with his playstyle and I love that
he's kind of, he's someone you could slot in to a very top level team and he will be
very very good in that team because he doesn't take the most resources.
Yeah, it's been a turbulent period for him, you know, ever since him and Staun did a little
knifey thing in the back and then the Astralis team that had no IGL or no coach, know this
and know that, changing positions, I'm going to be a rotator, no, you're going to be an
anchor, no, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that.
And I think finally, you know, after a long time with this lineup, things are more set,
there's more structure, he knows what's expected of him, he knows what his teammates are supposed
to do and in that environment, a player like Yabbe can definitely try.
It feels like he's gone from a rookie to a veteran very quickly from where in the middle
where he's just a breakout guy and then suddenly you think of Yabbe and you think, oh, he's
still playing.
I don't know how old he is but I don't think so.
Probably not that old.
Speaking of the youngsters coming in for the first time, obviously Riu, we were talking
about it, major debut here.
Didn't really have to see all too much from him but I think this is a good sign for going
forward.
You said, Janko, you want to get these best ones done as quickly and painlessly as possible
to move on to those best of threes.
Yeah, maybe helpful that it was a familiar opponent, you know, the facegamer legion,
gamer legion a ton recently.
I think the veto was no surprise.
So it was relatively easy to prepare, which again is going to help some of the younger
players to mentally just be ready for what's to come.
And yeah, you're just hoping to see more of the same for Astralis.
a team that I think a lot of people have like on the edge depending on which side of Astralis we see.
Yeah, that's a very fair point. I'm not being rude by looking at laptop. I'm just keeping an eye on
the B stream score. So if anybody doesn't mind spoilers, please take off your headset now or
whatever you're listening on. That's 9Z taking on a fly quest 90 up 11 to 8. You were a bit
confused about the map that ended up on in terms of the side of 9Z. Yeah, I wasn't sure why fly
My question is playing them on Dust2, why they let it go to Dust2, it feels like one of the maps that 9Z is sort of known for and they had more success against international opposition, but we'll see, it feels like it's getting close.
It's a closer game than what we saw in the A stream, but so far the teams that played in stage 1 haven't looked all too hot coming into stage 2, maybe they're a bit tired, it's a bit of a grind having to go straight from games to next stage, right Ash?
Maybe a little bit. I think that the young guys everyone goes to gym nowadays. Well, I think it's not really an excuse you can have but I'm
Little bit worried about your pickings already two games in not
So fine, right?
Did you prefer playing earlier in the tournament and being a bit more warm when you were coaching game league and what was your preference of starting later? I
Didn't think it really made that much difference
I think we found more successful played in the morning
But it felt less optimal for me because obviously we're working later in tonight started earlier again
You don't know your opponents the last thing at night. So that was more tiring. But I think again, when you have people who are in like more professional
Mindsets and they're up earlier. They used to doing that
You haven't advantage playing some of these players because some of them are just a bit off it at times will say it's pretty nicely
You put your cat getting out of bed until
You can get advantages based on that and also again if you're I think of like physical fitness
You got that you just a bit younger playing later in the day as well
You can catch people again who are tired and they're bad habits
So this is kind of coming more a little bit into play and I think there's longer in its own days of benefit
Yeah, you say so democratically. Well done. Well done. We do have plenty more games on the cards today
This is only round one off stage two coming up next
It's gonna be foot taking on bait, but not before a quick break. We'll see you on the other side of it
I had so many trading in these your eyes are like Harry Judy tell me one round
Hold on. Let me pull up CS stats.
Oh, wait. My bad.
Settle your debates, search your profile on CS stats, and turn on tracking to see all your games.
Double Peek is getting shot back!
No!
Something special to talk about is D-Block.
No!
Now it's up!
We are back!
The dispatch is back and looking better than ever.
Oi! Get some of that!
Move on, you know we are!
This season it's bigger deliveries, bigger personalities, and bigger problems, featuring special guests, and of course, the team you know.
Is this really necessary?
There it is!
I had enough of you!
The Dispatch, the all-new season, premieres February.
We need to find a way to get these kills and get up that ball very quickly, but now it's all falling apart.
The trees are coming.
Oh late! Anymore!
An 11 for Woxxix. He won.
Woxxix!
I've never seen a gun completely taking down a strong as tall as you are.
Watch the event and Twitch, watch it online.
How the fuck is going to end?
You need a multi-jump, first found, twist aggressive.
After double peek, you get to the shoulder.
It's a double one! Simple!
It's a double one! Unbelievable!
There's a blast, not bad at all.
The second is working out!
It's strong as hell!
I made some money! I made some money!
Take this! It's the team!
Hey man, can I talk to you for a second?
Yeah.
So, the youngest team on the Major with 4 rookies against the second youngest team on the Major.
The second, by the second...
Wait a second, wait a second, did you know about that?
No, I didn't know.
Well, I wanted to tell, talk to you about the feeling, obviously. You're the Major, welcome first of all.
How are we feeling inside of the team? This is Vibecek, so just give me your honest emotions.
So I'm feeling like always, I'm always excited to play some tier 1 LANs, but major feels a bit different.
We're excited to play here, we're happy to make this way from Na'Vi Junior to here.
So how I say it, everyone excited to play here and we'll try to do our best to beat everyone here.
It starts with a B-A, then obviously you played them not long ago, it happened in IM Atlanta,
it didn't go that well.
Can you remember what happened in that game?
Can you talk us a little bit through it?
So I think it was bad for everyone with individual, because we missed the longs and blasts, and
after we were staying like two weeks without touching PC, we couldn't play a single track,
we were staying in like some place and waiting for time to go to Atlanta.
So I think it affected us and we played bad because of that no one could win any duel.
We lost like the comps was a bit bad and stuff like this.
But now probably time for revenge for you guys.
But B8 they're one of the strongest teams in the majors when it comes to best of ones.
How do you intend to beat your fellow countrymen today in the best of one opener?
What again?
So how do you plan?
What's the plan for beating them?
Because they're very strong best of one team, they're one of the strongest.
So what's the plan for today?
Just headshots?
Just headshots maybe.
We have a good plan, we know which map we're going to play, we know the site, and we repair
so good in my opinion.
I think we know a lot of them, I mean a lot how they play, a lot about their playstyle.
So I think it's going to be a good game and we'll do good fights.
You're smiling and I love that.
No nervousness whatsoever coming out of this guy and honestly, good luck in your best of
one and see you later today as well.
Thank you.
The Intel Extreme Masters Clone Major 2026 is brought to you by ESL at FarshipWidth Intel.
Acer Predator, D.H.L.
Jax, and Zoe.
What is that? This is a major!
Bait returning to the booths after 9-3-0 in Stage 1,
whereas for FUT, it is time for them to make their debut here at IEM Cologne 2026.
And among other things, Janko, it's been really fun to see the rise of FUT in 2026, right?
100% they're one of the most entertaining teams, right?
came, I mean, a little bit out of nowhere. Last year, they were Navi's academy team, right, and
a meteoric rise in a short period of time, lacing the trophy over at Budapest, making playoffs
at the Pro League as well. It was a huge achievement for them at the time, and it's just really unfortunate,
you know, that Lawns had to miss Blast, and then, you know, they couldn't practice with them,
so it impacted their performance in Atlanta, right. I was very curious to see how far can
they go leading up to the Major. So that has definitely put a bit of a dent in their confidence
and in their rise, but even with all that, you're excited to see them perform here in Cologne.
We're excited. Are you excited, Dash? Yeah, I think this is a team that's really good at putting
together those, putting down those teams are really pluggy and wants to come and find you.
For example, I think teams like Mongols who kind of more just based on raw individual skill,
that's a pretty good record against these teams. They're very good at specific maps as well. I
I think my marriage has gone from 41 wins and 10 losses they had at one point. It's a little bit on the downturn right now
I think eight and six recently. They're very loud
They're not the best investor ones only but they are very loud and that's what sometimes well
I think they're getting so really fired up and they have two pieces
I think they're strange because it's the kind of side players and complaints worker players at the ones that are really standing out in this team
I love everything about this team. They're in your face. They are fearless
It's interesting to see how good this major there could be a big one there potentially. Yeah
We've been talking a lot about the individuals on this.
Lance has definitely been one on our screens,
obviously coming into this core of former Na'Vi junior.
Yeah, and it's a great little bit of a redemption arc for him,
from his time on Sprout, where he was really this young prospect
and a talent and things didn't quite work out.
Perhaps some off the server also issues, attitude issues.
He's been very honest about also maturing and learning from that.
And he's the oldest player on this young team.
and a veteran as well. I think he is grown into that role very nicely. And as Ash pointed out, very loud, very emotional, and yeah, very broadly his foot.
I remember seeing him back at, I think it was the Red Bull Flick 1v1 tournament back in like 2021 or something, and he was making waves there. It was kind of a mix of amateurs, which he was versus some pro players as well. And he was shooting so many heads. So individuals, Ash, I think is something that you have to keep an eye out for for, right?
Yeah, so basically what can win almost any round?
I think we're gonna start with a really good example here because it's by I don't think you meant to win this many times against the Mongols
Anyway, so it's just something really basic plan to go out together
I think the chance to win this round one percent maybe something like this jump out together a couple of trades often too special about it
I think the space in like the trading looks like it's a little bit random like the space and where they go out
But then the individual school kicks and we see a Caribbean with a bomb towards be even it's like a running deal shop
He's got snapped up enable it should be banned. I'm not sure if really fancy new open what I love about these
They will always play to win and the positions that are going to get sent to the round when the ball is playing feel
This we've got aggressive kitchen aggressive be out peeking in the ladder room don't know really happens
But in these games what I noticed is I think they get in people's heads
The stars kind of all him with them quite often
I think it's because of the style that they play and they are so in your face all of the time
They win so many rounds that they should have no chance in so I look at that
I thought tactically maybe that's something special actually I think the decision-making from individuals the sharpness of individuals
Tilts a lot of teams against in their heads and here you never see a better example of highlighting their style players
And that is their lurker for me. So this is a short execute coming in
But we're going to see jugs against ropes lurking
I don't think that this happened very often obviously of course it drops your sheet into his nose is there
He's a little check for it double kill comes in because it doesn't have one in a second
That's two from this lurker and you think okay nice work guys
The second lurker comes in from the back. This is also playing with Kulio by the way against Vitality
He finishes the round off nice as you look. This is something to look at watch out for and I think even
captures my
My either even the coach can join in in this team when it comes to shooting hard
This is Kulio a player who I don't ever remember being over not point 8 rated when he was playing as a player
And this is a clean 3k against apex Flamie and Zywoo and that goes into a 1v2
I think they have absolutely no chance of winning here on the fields of on planter and against rocks. No problem. You're dead. So I think there's the trend with this team of seeing high fragging players. And it is a very dangerous team that in every round is going to be chaotic. It's going to be exciting and looking at these numbers and the way they play. It does remind me of a certain team from a couple years ago. I think we should keep an eye on the trajectory.
Maybe the Mongols, this is 2024 I believe, and this is when they kind of were breaking
out the year afterwards that they were in there looking for titles.
So, keep everything together, keep the striker going, fix this map a little bit more, never
know, I like the style of the player, we'll keep an eye on this.
And no clear weak link, right, Krabani from that IGL position, sometimes even top-fragging,
right, definitely finding a lot of impact, Cemetery, who was the lowest, right, there
was the MVP at Bucharest when they listed their trophy, so a bit more consistency from
him would go a long way to food having a deeper run here.
And I feel like that trophy, well-deserved,
back in Bucharest as well,
could be given them a lot of confidence.
But we've heard, you know,
they want to be taken down.
Some of the big dogs,
they obviously are a familiar opponent
from back in Atlanta,
as Stiko was just saying.
Settle on Ancient, again.
Was this expected, guys?
I could have been Ancient, Mirage, Dust, really.
I think of the Brawley maps,
like these teams have overlapping map pulls.
And you can see, I think,
foot with the bands of Mirage and Dust
is sort of knowing that it will end up being on Ancient.
I'm a little bit surprised that I agree.
I thought it's me one of the three. But for me in my head, I think of Bay. I think of ancient. They've both got an all three of these maps, by the way. I think of Mirage. I think of foot. And I thought it would go to dust too. And I was going to advise Bay. Whatever you do, don't go to Mirage foot. Keep trying to keep away from
the entrance. We see interesting because it had outside. They've got a game plan. They expected this map. Will they have expected to go to Mirage at ancient and not to just do instead? Well, we do have ourselves a game ready to be getting into
questionnaires. Can it be a bit more competitive than the last ancient we saw? It's going down with Dinko and Jason. Well, we'd absolutely
hope so. We'd absolutely hope there would be much more competitive than our first map we've seen today
with Vistralis and GameMalaysian, but we'll have to wait and see. I do like what Ash was saying
about the fact that, you know, when you think a bit, you do think of Ancient, it's the map they're
able to do some of the best work on. So, in that sense, they have a real shot at this against Foot.
I would still obviously have Foot as the favorite, it's going to be a game like this though.
It also creates a cool story for us, right, with the whole idea that Foot said we knew this was
going to come to Ancient. We game planned specifically for this Ancient best of one against
this team. We have some ideas, we have some plans, we have some ways to get around what
they like to do. And it's kind of cool for me because I don't often see teams with the
experience level of foot come in and say like go for that level of kind of counter through
the map veto process. So let's see what they got. I'll tell you straight up, foot this
year has been one of the most exciting teams. I was really, I was really worried coming
out of that American stretch in the schedule of a Fort Worth into Atlanta with foot with
the kind of coach stand in situation they had. Long's not there for, for Fort Worth.
I'm worried they lost some momentum in that.
Well, they assured me yesterday that that's not going to be the case.
Hall Cemetery has come out with an early headshot.
Kenseth's only going to go down an MP.
Although good sharp shooting to get two kills back on that clock,
Krobeni responds and the bomb for Baird is now getting planted on that A site.
OK, well, essential.
Talks himself into the wall.
Now what's the fight?
Oh, double kill with the clock. It's over. It's done.
He's won you the pistol.
That's a great double.
It just immediately takes any opportunity away from Foote
to get back into this Krobeni.
We'll do what he can, he's moving forward to the donut with the Jorba-Ruttas.
But, Group A, you do not want to let this one slide at all.
He steps into the donut, he's still got a smoke available, but no kit.
And you've got Sizi out towards main, Alex inside of Temple.
And now, Coppenny gets onto it, would have to be a 10 second and Ives are out, and...
He's no longer confusing, just going for some kills, and Sizi makes sure it will be the bait, because there were two players staying up.
And good start here on ancient.
Yeah, I think Ful would have liked for that mid-fight to have gone cleaner and maybe a little bit faster as well with them swinging because
Bay was able to get the picture of what was happening. All those bodies over in middle, perfect reaction.
Three players just step, pick up the pace and step into the A-bomb site.
And able to wrap around, discussing around from essential.
NPL also with his two kills in middle, that was phenomenal work to lure the defense, stack them up in mid so the A-bomb site was wide open and it's one to nothing.
Ah, there we go. Cool, you're saying, don't stress if you lose the pistol, we are better than them.
So bringing a confident mentality into the game today, you can see Pistol in the burst of one.
They're going to bring the fight to the north with the attitude of confidence right towards the central.
He only gets both kills, but Krebati fights on looking for a full-on, get it here on Tensizort.
Yeah, going to be a scrappy game. Both these teams do like to fight, do like to be up in your face.
Kulion might not be entirely wrong. They've played three series across this year, these two teams.
Foot-beating Bait and two of them, however, Bait winning the most recent one, one back in Atlanta.
He's got the recent victory that foot's trying to get back here in the opening of stage two
Yeah, it's okay. It's it's round two. We're still warming up
Yeah, it's all good
This is the round to have it happen. It's true. It's true. I'm gonna clean up the rest. So just cemetery left
Won't be full with five seven foot brings some attitude to the round. They don't get it done
So winning this is gonna allow pay to very likely head up to a three zero start on ancient
Best of one, obviously, getting out to a 3-0 lead is a great advantage to have early on.
Yeah, it'll be nice for them, especially not taking too much damage here.
They get to build up a little bit more economy.
We'll see what foot can respond with.
But yeah, just a touch back on that, that's kind of where my eyes at in this game for foot.
have them going through but I want to see what level they kind of come into
this with because they've built so much momentum it felt through for the first
like three four months of this season and then you go over to Fort Worth and
your coach has to stand in for Lance who's been a very critical and important
piece of this team and then Lance comes in late to Atlanta and steps back in for
the coach to play with your full lineup but you haven't played you haven't
practiced you haven't been together for a couple weeks that's really easy to
kind of disrupt the flow and momentum of improvement that you've got and that
That's kind of where I'm sitting right now is sitting here and just saying it's very possible
This team just doesn't look like the foot that we've seen for most of this year. I'm hoping it's not the case
Well at the very least you weren't able to ride the momentum of just winning a trophy right that that's the big one is
You won an event and you're hoping okay
You go into a tournament couple of tournaments where a lot of the best teams in the world on that you obviously
Make challenges vitality and a lot of expectations are on first shoulders
Then you know wow this could be a tournament where they could get to the final
Maybe they showed they could even take a map of vitality while playing with their coach
But yeah, it's a missed opportunity at least for a couple more title challenges that for foot
Yeah coming in losing four out of five of their last year four of their last five series of play foots done
The last and most recent to be knocked them out of IEM Atlanta. So a bit of a grudge match here as well on top of everything
Yeah, and starting slow here was all it's gonna be a three to zero lead for they pick it up without conceiving your player in this round
We've been singing MPL's praises so far at the major two. Stage one was great for him.
Cool moments coming out of MPL. We'll see if that continues into stage two.
Here comes the biver of foot. They're going to have all rifles, no AWP yet.
Now they picked one up on Sizi right towards the tail end, which surprised me,
because you have such a strong buy already with all the players surviving.
They did throw away a Galil as well, I believe, to get that off.
So, upgrading a little bit, I thought they might try and go for something fast-paced,
something maybe a little bit cheesy with the weaker weapons, with the Mact 10 that could
let you go faster, but they've upgraded as many of them as they can.
Mact 10 drop for an AK, Galil drop for an AWP, and Bates gonna play a slower, more typical round.
They're gonna give Sizi all the time in the world to move out mid.
Yeah, deep smoke going out of Jack.
Already, Bate, moving up to the Dona, it's going to be a demon fight first against Ken
Sussort.
The demon is going to challenge him, win it, so opening kill falls in favor of foot.
He'll drop back and play more passive into the A site.
Very important win for demon.
That was a lot of real estate in middle that was given over to Bate.
You can even see it now.
NPL's position up in red room as a lurk.
You have Sissi with the AWP playing behind that smoke over on Dona with that clear, so
up lines of sight into the B bomb site.
So despite a 5 on 4, there's pretty good positions for them to make this round interesting.
And I like this as well from Foot. Look at the coordination.
Aggression on the B bomb site side of the map so the A defenders have backed off.
Now they slide back in.
Although with the utility, they're not going to find the timing to move into the bomb site,
but they can call teammates over quickly.
Well, in the side, that bomb getting planted here at 4 essential.
Punched in the digits and now let's see if they can hold on to it.
45 post plant, it's gonna be tough but just trying to block them towards CT for as long as possible.
Krobeni gonna be sending the flashbang forward that does blind Sissian, forcing back into the donut, removes the ankle.
Essential fighting on from site, Krobeni, Choots and Symmetry finding all the kills required to get back in for this retake.
And Foot will win the first by-round.
Really, really nice retake. Good utility usage, good patience behind the smoke.
Nobody trying to spam down and get lucky.
Nobody catching straight bullets from the T side as well.
Foot handle that very, very well.
Loving the way they moved around the map.
Go passive on A, aggress towards the B bomb site.
Clear out that side of the map.
Start an early rotation and wait for everyone to arrive.
Perfect counter strike from foot.
And the scavenge there, WP as well, off of Sissi's form.
So the real will bring that into the next round here.
So Sissi is going to get the AWP out.
Sissi is going to have another AWP to play with
and a great bike coming up here for bait.
So the challenge really has begun.
And we'll see how they get going here.
Tampate respawn to their first round loss.
It's fast out mid, fast out mid.
Double-nade, doesn't matter.
Kansas always got a kill.
But blinded is his teammate behind him,
and NPL can do nothing.
Again, that's Furch is closing the gap early on.
Now, Alex's reaction is to push out of A-main
and open up the space towards the site.
He's all the way up at the temple.
In fact, he in the temple.
So great reactions from Alex to take as much space
as he possibly can here.
I feel like because he got into the temple,
though, this round is going to slow way, way down.
I think they got to be really careful and let him play.
two defenders over and don't know that you know that's not clear
so says he's got to be really cautious with the bomb
essentials come to join up with them
and now that
alex has got this position in ct spawn doesn't want to push any further just
going to back away just as we have a lot of room
it's donut that we have to be concerned about
well now he's going back just as that rotation is arriving is alex going to
get this fight against for bennie
he does the round is working to forget that he looks the wrong way just as for
bennie steps into the open
And now that Donut push is coming through, so you need Sizi, your young Alper, to deliver some essential kills here.
He's working down towards CT, can't connect it.
And now he's got essential himself, making his way through Donut, so Sizi's gone.
Essential 1v4, smoke onto the ball, and good headshot, first on Lowx, but he's taking damage,
and now the others can get on the D-Fuse, and he can't do much about that at all.
So, second round for Foote, good responses.
The all-important fight being won by Krebbetti towards CT.
I think Alex is gonna really wish that he decided not to come back to the A-bomb set
But he had just stuck in CT spawn the first time he found that timing through temple
Maybe tucked himself into the corner
Maybe grabbed an off angle but coming back in late and having to clear everything all over again
Make for a really awkward timing of the fight that takes him down
Right here. Good job from Kobeni just spots a shoulder swings a little bit wise a little bit wider
second man for full
To win a row for the defense looking like they haven't missed a step from that little stretch in North America
I'm gonna put Sisyab on top of the box looking for that opening pick he's had.
Pretty op so far. I don't want to see him get some output when you have it that often.
Especially in the early going right like this is this is a part where you can
establish some success. Really make that CT side difficult if you just keep
in a couple picks, but haven't had the production quite yet.
NPL essential and Sizi outside the B bomb site, Kerbeni to defend over and Jaguar as
the smoke is still up.
Jokes is going to join up with him.
Yeah, this is going to re-smoke his wall, block out Jag.
He's going to haul back B for the time being, but they start to slowly slink their way out
of the elbow and Heaven at the same time.
Yeah, while the smoke is up, they can do mid control, leave a player to watch for the
push through that smoke gives Sissi some time to go for a pick if you want to go
towards Jaguar and Cave you can always come back to it once that smoke fades
which is right around now 45 seconds in the clock is you start to see Alex move
up towards a main as well it's gonna be an a-split finish here for Bay coming at
the AWPer it's in quiet this whole round as well this time foot don't know where
to go clear for information and where to shift their defense Cemetery is going to
spot them Sissi dead first so the AWP gets nothing done for Bay 25 seconds
demon called back over to a CT spawn. Enough of an early warning system for him to get into
a powerful position. He's done so much damage to the Donut defender as well, so essential
standing. They realize Kansas always the planter. So as soon as the guns have come out, it's
just really increasing the heat. Putting on the pressure and bait have not been able to
handle it.
No, they really haven't been. Foot haven't given them any clean looks at the start of
the rounds. I think bait's kind of chasing this idea of taking a fight over in the middle,
finding a pick towards the B bomb site, finding some kills here and there and playing a five
on four or four, but this defense is never getting thinned out. Obviously, it helps at
the moment. Cemetery with the AWP having more impact than Sissi with the AWP across
all the rounds that he's had it.
Well, the problem is for Bate as well. They had so much money built up, so they had three
rounds of buys there, and they were buy rounds challenging the three rounds they rode from
foot. Now, they've had to take the hit. Come down to a weaker situation. You've got one
AK-47 and pistols on the rest, so if anything, this gets now easier for foot.
Well, the other side of the coin is with a way that Foot is playing and being willing to play retake on the bomb sites.
The last three rounds, even in losses, Bait has been able to plant the bomb in each and every one of them.
So the Caches has kept up. The cash flow into the Bait side has been there with the bomb plants.
One single AK-47 in this round is Bait in the hands of Essential.
NPL lurking outside the A-bomb site.
Gonna go for a cheeky kill with the poos and we've missed it.
Well, there's a lot of resources committed to that kind of boost, so they don't actually
redo it.
I just tech mines, they weren't gonna be doing much anyways.
Yeah, true.
It's not nice to see you mess up on the coordination of that.
50 seconds left and I bet we'll have nothing to play with at the moment.
I mean, MPL is a smoke towards the A bombsite, but that's not gonna do anything.
That's not gonna be any kind of a fake.
Good kill from the off.
That CT side up now, ringing out in these rounds frequently.
Yeah, rifle support there as well.
So confirm the second kill.
You'll be under 30 seconds now as bait move into a 3v5.
Alex on top of the ledge with the AK-47 is made an audible drop.
So Demon readies himself for both kills.
There have had shots delivered to demon's hands and a 4-3 lead being taken for foot. They are looking great
I want to call a timeout of your bait
This is this is not going well for in a row for foot and doing it pretty clean only losing five players total across those four rounds
So Bates have in trouble just getting the basic level of production going in terms of finding an opening kill finding an avenue to get it
And late into the freeze time they do call the timeout to talk things over
They lucked it to slow down the game by upgrading from the Mac 10 and the Galil in the very first round bringing out the AWP and ever since they've slowed it down foot has handled things.
No significant issues, no weakness in the defense, no rounds that really felt like super dangerous for foot.
One round lead for them, they got plenty of cash, full buy, AK-47s in an AWP, full sets of utility.
And it's up to Bait to figure out how exactly they can break into this defense or at least
take a block off of it out of the wall before moving them and committing to a bomb site.
Alright, have them chill out in the comms, I like that, sometimes you need people to
calm down.
Too many ideas flowing, too much craziness, it's not just what you say, it's how you
say it, and in these kind of pressure games of the major, every column is going to feel
a little bit more excited than usual.
I got Jokes turning back to look towards the elbow.
This team mate mouse is dead, so Kansas always puts himself in a good spot to at least get that burst and then trade it through the smoke.
Important trade from Jokes, keeps things even.
And a bomb sitting outside of B right now for bait.
It's going to be under a lot of pressure because it looks like foot is not going to be relenting.
Unfortunately, MPL has actually just caught a great time.
time and jokes an interesting decision to drop off and make it so audible thinking they were
never going to be peaked at heaven he had no one watching and no one supporting him
and he's lost his life and given the advantage back that's a huge mistake i'm not sure the
thought process there just thinking it was going to be clear this whole time so little
bait and switch with carbeni and cemeteries off but cemetery might have to step away at various
points to keep an eye on this v ramp especially with the shallow smoke they can pop through that
that and be close to him before he'd ever expect it.
Does look for the moment with 48 seconds left in the clock.
This is where bait want to finish.
Now, best chance to win the round for a foot.
You've got two players here.
And that smoke in Red Room is going
to keep Demon frozen for a little bit.
Here comes the Utah through the sky.
Execution up.
Flash ready to go for Sizi.
That's the final piece of utility.
The signal, the attack.
And you've got NPL winning the engagement against Kropeni.
he needs to try to go massive he's got the first go down again but this time Alex puts him in the grave
You've got demon charging into the open, but says he has it covered and bait you respond
So back to even on to get four to four on the board
Look at the difference even just like a small advantage can make for the T side for bait
You don't even really get like an over you get the first kill
But it's traded off pretty much immediately
But even the four on four you can see the foot scrambling in that situation only three defenders trying to figure out where to go
Once you thin it out and players have to move around the map you get way more opportunities to find an additional kill on top of that
That one's just a brain fart
Yeah, it's a good way of putting it. That's all I got. Yeah, absolutely none of his teammates were there like at all throughout the rounds
Stake for sure
So see look at that being absolutely bombarded, but you kill the Kansas would blind as hell
But two table to come out on top then spins towards heaven as well and just like that the pace from foot has resulted in three early kills
just gonna constantly keep fighting you keep challenging you undeterred by the
previous round loss and within 30 seconds bait is down to just two players
surviving whatever strategy they had is just done yeah your rounds over just so
disruptive so suffocating from food on the CT side their grip flashes in
middle blinded everybody including the foot players but Ken's is always just
white screen right until jubes is up at his face just yet another example of how much
that mid-fight can dictate how the round plays especially if both teams are sending multiple
bodies there and also great nades towards scissi right like the op who just getting
naded naded naded over towards the outside of cave he's having a real hard time finding
any comfort in this game so far scissi and physically sludging through mud this is a
terrible start for him for a long extended save for essential and alex as they'll be
able to buy up some weapons in the next round. Alex in the central won't get any bonus money,
but Sizi and Kenz is going to get some extra cash in the bank.
$2,400 losing bonus as well.
So be able to get some more rifles around these two saved AK-47s and then they'll just try again.
Over on the other stream, another game going on, Pain vs. Tyloo, the match on the B-stream,
if you guys want to head over there, that's going to be sponge and machine taking you
through it.
I mean, Tyloo coming out on stage one, but Pain, I think a team that really impressed
me at the last couple of events we've seen from them, because I thought they'd just fallen
off the face of the earth, to be honest.
They did there for a time.
You're not wrong on that one.
but uh... able to show us a little bit of...
a little bit of something
said Biggie's Eric and Pisa together one more time for a decent major run
uh... Tyler Payne played two weeks ago as well
and that's CAC
so a lot of events on the lead up to the major wasn't there all over the globe
everyone's gonna get some BRS points as well for the next season
a lot of action going on
action going on the bottom of the B ramp right now you've got jerks who's
Again, just keeping up the same pressure. He's already at heaven over the ledge.
Kind of boosts going on. They can't really get these boosts to land perfectly.
But you got Cemetery, who's ready for that dry walk up the ramp.
He's going to take a dry peek all day long. You want to give him another one?
Here he is.
Oppers have been nervous about holding these angles, though, over the course of CS2.
Cemetery doesn't seem too...
...dislated by it. Good utility to counter this fast play. That flash is perfect.
Bouncing off the wall, bouncing off the brick.
And no access into the bomb site for bait. They're held so far back, no success, no kills, not even any damage.
How can I cook those blue dots, just swarm that B bomb site as well?
Once I realized, okay, it's definitely B. It's just the rotation is instant from Ful.
There's no way you were breaking through that if you're bait.
So, they go back to a bite. Gonna have an ult for Szy again.
We've said that a lot. He's had it so many times, just hasn't been able to find a way to make it work yet on this T side.
Yeah, really hard for Bate at the moment. I mean that round too is just like, that's
foot pushing down middle, seeing it clear and just kind of immediately recognizing what's
likely. They're going to be happy to play retake on the A-bomb site. We've already
seen them retake it a couple of times with good effect in this match. So they're not
too scared of the A-bomb site, but stacking towards B was perfect.
Now look at this, Alex fast and actually manages to win the face, but they're just going to
rush on A. They just got that space out towards A-main. That's a great word, but the ball
is all the way back.
It's not so much bait, it's how much panic is foot feeling at the moment.
Miss CT smoke helps them get a lot of information.
That's actually a massive mistake.
Oh, they got blocked at the door here as well.
Yeah, but this is also a product of that miss smoke.
Jokes has clear on a site into the A bomb site and he's like, yeah, I know they got
the kill in A main, but nobody else is here.
It felt like a B rush, but nobody's home.
So Kerbedian locks don't need to move.
Cemetery rotating back.
Oof.
And even in a 4 on 5 it feels like foot kind of have the advantage.
Oh, at least the advantage of information.
Which can be all important because you can set yourself up to go out there and get that kill back.
And now if you bait, you had such a great start, but it feels like you've stalled out.
And now you know the opposite of the B-Bomb site?
Oh, okay. Krebbeni gives away a kill. It gives one right back.
Jugs has to get over quickly, but there's 45 seconds.
So time for this bait team to join up with Alex and A-Main.
Alex has the unenviable job of covering the A-bomb site without knowing anything that's happening.
And now another teammate has gone down.
Funneling forward and giving bait, the advantage is back, and Alex is going to once again start his progression towards A.
And they are going to bring that bomb over towards the A-bomb site for the finish.
And you'll see, probably just to say, for the 2AK47, there's no issue there for foot on the other side.
So, 6-5, definitely a lot more competitive.
I mean the the pisteron and the two and stewing are obviously helping out in a big way
But I give credit over to big for kind of working through these issues
Six of the last seven have gone the way of foot three of those have been flawless victories with all five players surviving
But they started to piece together of ways to get started in these rounds
And that's that's one of the few rounds
We've seen foot just feel like they didn't know what the hell to do on the map everyone kind of peeking to try and figure out
And try and piece together what baits doing and all of them losing the life in the process
So they took five rounds and we head into the final round of the first half
All lungs gonna try to rip some weapons out of their hands is the off down first
Okay, long says a lot of damage being done. He is taking pretty much everybody in fact jukes gets the last so
Okay, that's a lot of damage done at the end because you cannot afford to get the off back
That's actually so sick. It's actually massive. He actually can't even afford to get a case out
Oh, he's ripped it out of it.
for that seventh. This bait are going to battle to even the score line.
Yeah, weapons superiority right now for foot.
Looking forward to the possibility of a seventh round win.
I smell the word too deep so they can actually just walk through it into middle and getting
MPL's opening kill towards Krabeni is only going to make Bay feel a lot more comfortable
about the start of this round.
Oh yeah, for a long stretch it was tough for them to find openings, they're getting one
here, they're loving it.
bedroom smoke is a little bit off so jokes toys with the left edge of it
creeping up back to safety is kens is all
six steps out of the left side of the smoke so
smart way to go back and get that advantage as long steps forward
mpl also toppling
so it really is for just responding in a way that you can't really even
challenge. Now once he gets out there smoke I wonder if he actually saw anything
at a time they're gonna beat that Molly as it comes in, bounce, dumps the mag, okay
issues now for this defense Jugs is here to save the day. Well Alex left alone
bottom of the ramp sends some shots flying up towards B lane but this is
having the chance to get the kill. Now with 35 seconds left running towards Jugs
and he's positioned himself very well to close it out and it will be foot to take
the lead 7-5 in the lead over bait here on ancients.
I
I
I
Hiko gets a double! It's still too fast!
He's got no help on them! 13 and 3!
Oh my goodness! How did he do this?!
How does Hiko do it again?!
Welcome back to the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major 2026!
We have got two of the youngest teams in Counter-Strike Clashing
in their opening game here at Stage 2 Foot vs. Bait.
If you want to know just how young they are, I took my casting headset off
After in the break there, and I heard them just saying 6, 7, 8, 1, over.
That tells you just how young these two teams really are.
Yeah, just having fun with the memes.
The scoreline is 7-5, Jason. A little bit of a different scoreline, but it could be 6 if Bate win this pistol.
Yeah, he could get there. Let's find out. The most exciting thing about this so far.
Woo! Let's go! Second half underway on Ancient.
Alright, what can Krabeni do with this foot-offence? Defense looked great.
But can you work it into position against Bates' defense?
It's gonna start moving up the B ramp.
It's clear.
The defense is way far back, playing retake, good flash, but everyone steps out of Nadenhand
and that's a little bit crazy.
A little bit of issue caused by essential.
Kill through the smoke.
Krobeni gonna be happy enough to get the trade out, but it's Chug's even better inside
of middle.
Alex, 6-6-6 gone.
You've got Krobeni.
Now fighting towards K.
take it away and just the central left so you're not going to be winning this
pistol on your own with the Joe Barretti's long way off and he's coming back in
now you can see it just a backtrack you okay let's not give him the 1v1s let's
let's make sure we got a nice crossfire here inside the site and essential it's
just impossible for him to do anything now so 8-5 in the lead per foot
yeah lovely shot lovely shot on the exit but you were never getting through
that crossfire good pistol round from foot they're gonna take the lead 8-5
Essential gets the final kill but will eventually go down to the bomb and it's a three-round lead off the pistol for foot
No panic through some of the issues during the execute no panic when they lost that first player
Recognizing if they just secure the bomb site so much that defense is stuck behind smokes over in cave
You can see Alex here knife out not ready for the lurk from jugs
And an easy clean up after the fact
Disappointing for a bait
Now realize this is gonna be quite the mountain to climb here in the second half
Well, it certainly will be if they lose this rounds. They've invested four MP9s and a 5-7 on MPL
got very quick to make the decision about
Trying to challenge a beat
Those go wheels out of the ramp and force essential being spammed up to the wall forced in the open by utility
They really counter him completely
I just I just like the way it foot in this round is just like we're gonna come to the B-palm side
We don't really care if you know it. We're not gonna do it crazy. We're not rushing
We're gonna dump our utility Molotovs spam everything to force you into the open and harass you and make this awkward
And now Bates got to think of the escape route because they just want to rinse and repeat this four-man buy in the next round
No dice here and foot get a ninth
I
See lounge how hunt them down in the
An ultimate round of the first half and remove everything with no mercy could be jokes having a similar effect
He's creeping a little bit closer to main
Let's see doesn't lose what he's got either. Yeah, I don't think you go further than this like it would be nice
It would be valuable to take some of those away, especially when you spotted the MP9 on the ground
You know they've bought but it's not worth risk of rifles to give him a something cool to play with moving forward
Yeah, he doesn't spot anybody so first boss all come in. It's gonna be big keeping three MP9s got five seven here for MPL
Store chance to do some damage in this round
But an all likelihood we're looking at a ten to five league coming up over the next two minutes here for foot
Now you told me that that when you did the lobby with foot one of them had said like we know a lot of people think that we might have
Lost a little bit of momentum. I'm in that camp a little bit
Um, he said that anyone who thinks that is crazy. What's who is that? He said that I was long so long those lines
Yeah, he was saying that you're very long things to say. He said, you know, we don't he didn't have PCs for two weeks
I think it's the guys out there didn't have two PCs to reach the plane with the coach didn't get to practice and he's
Left those tournaments go by
It's a good start here for him. He's got a trimer tree
Sends the MP9 back at the bunny. All right. Oh, there's a push up. Yeah, that's the bomb and now an AK 47
Okay, this gets weird. Molotov is going to delay things. Actually, MPL hasn't recovered the weapon just yet missed it
But would love to find it while the flames are still there
Just kept the 5.7 now and now that
Molotov has faded away so the MPL's chances of further impact in the round demon goes forward
Chops him up and now the bomb recovered with over a minute left
It's a late things though
And it's allowed the rest of bait to actually move into different positions to get a little bit more comfortable a little bit of stronger
spots to actually defend the various bomb sites and defend the map.
When this smoke fades and nobody's home, I think Sizi in this position has got a push.
But they're going to come right back at him.
Good angle.
He's going to go again, couldn't get the second kill, could trade for demons with the
side of the wall.
Thirty seconds.
That's all they've got left here to make it work and they're running right into Alex the only player that can change this
MP9 planted in the corner
What can he hope to do with it?
Can you wrap it to kill a close-quarter combat and he is going to take down lounx
Stuck in the smoke what about the flight demon goes to wait 15 seconds left doesn't even have enough time to think about a reload on
The AK goes to the galeel instead and Alex steps back into the same position
But demon hunts him down
Quad kill for demon what a big save
You can jump it up, and Lox is getting louder now, shouting words out at Bait.
But that was just the second forced buy for Bait.
That was just the save against P9s.
Now the guns come out.
Admiral attempts from Bait in this round.
What composure is Walsh and Deeman in this clash to go back and look for that donut push
from middle?
Yes.
Pushes to the Galileo, climbs up, checks the same spot.
You think that reposition from Alex might be the move that wins in the round, but Deeman
reads it.
As he played, the first gun round on the board, they'll run through the molotov, his louts right around the back edge. There's some safety.
They're keeping the pressure up towards A.
Yeah, just going for these really punchy hits, aren't they, at the moment?
It's gotta be Sizi.
His AWP has been quiet this game.
So quiet.
Time to get loud, and he's gonna smash Demon.
Missy opening kills, good. Flash now and help back at Temple, but he's not falling back.
He's not giving up his line, but at least one more shot.
And he can't take the kill, so now he'll drop back into temple and reposition up to Rostiti spawn.
As that's happening, we see Foot moving in, Smoke breaks good, Kendi's Rostiti and NPR all-time in at once.
And Semi-Tree unable to get this going, so Foot crumble as they walk into it as the site, and good work out of Sisi.
Yeah, much like we just saw Gamelige in previously, coming towards that A-Bomb site, getting dropped by the AWP right at the start of that,
but not sighting, not audible anything, still kind of sticking through and being stubborn and trying to barrel through that.
But because of the previous round, the one that Demon saves came down to one player surviving,
Chew to taunt into the foot economy.
So they've already kind of got to back off and take their foot off the pedal, go down
to tech nines and upgraded pistols, because bait's broken the economy early, and a very
clean round of the road with five players surviving on defense.
Getting ready to head into the B-bomb site with the right hit means just the pistol, so hoping they can squeeze a ball plan out of it.
It's Alex666 that will be blinded back in the corner, only getting the one that blocks the overwhelming.
Essential steps are next, sprays away, mouse 1 successful in collecting two kills.
But can't they get any more? MPL under the open, Seagull for cemetery, can be sharp, and it's got another headshot.
Okay, cemetery, 1v2 now.
Can he pull it off? He's picked up the AK-47, but it's the ramp flight that's coming as the insurance policy.
Kenzo is finishing off Cemetery, but decent damage there for foot.
It all happened so, so fast and so chaotic and so extended that there was no way for him to read that ramp flight.
Kenzo was there very, very quick.
That lead is cut down to three.
But good work. Cemetery's Deagle getting a couple of kills, forcing some rebies out of the CT side,
chipping away at the money that they have growing.
round 18 foot deval ak-47s been missing tons of nades
essential stepping out of the ok quick kill away looks got both devastation in
middle by recovery from Alex jokes and grubbetti both dead within seconds so
Bait now have a 3v2 and another kill from Demon though is back to even numbers again
Okay, but Kenzozor has pushed elbow and he might just wrap around towards the B ramp
Oh, yeah once again just like the last round
Good shot from Sizi off starting to have an impact for Bait and they've got to be loving that fact
Molotov into the site is gonna force him back. So cemetery's got a 1v2
This one a lot more winnable than the last round
Sizi attempting the war bangs and able to get it but once again
It's the Kensi store ramp flank
It was the one that cost him his clutch in the last one there cemetery
When we read it this time, it's got one time to piece it together get into a better spot
Moves into the CT backlines as that smoke fades at short
Steps heard
I always got the information he knows we're both players so I says it goes out first
They've got the information now in cemetery. It's down to kensis or tapping the diffuse
Defuse, Symmetry, get a spam, he's so close!
Kenzizor is so low, and Symmetry is just hiding away, but Kenzizor has got the head shot,
has he got the time, he can't find it, he's gonna hold it, but the hand goes to the head,
and he's just trying to defuse it away.
Oh, that's a sigh of relief for Kenzizor, just finding the bomb right when he needed it.
Last second defuse, admirable effort out of Symmetry.
a big save and a hard one for cemetery to piece together so much time on the
bomb with that smoke on top of it you'd never know if he's on or off and this
game starts getting tense three rounds straight for baits defense really
making foot sweat that plant and the losing bonus is gonna give them some
extra cash but they don't have everything they want for a full buy
no once you're not finding that ball but time taking like that you just feel
form and luckily he just gets in the last possible second. Yeah, I think Sissi's
going to be very happy that he clutched that Sissi with the jump out of Kade was
well not even a jiggle to kind of spot things just really gave his life up and
put Kenseth's on a tough tough 1v1. Close but no cigar for foot we move in
around 19 things much much closer now the gap is just two. He probably closed
that mouth about off the back of that clutch if your foot but
I think everyone gets toughed again.
Both CT sides clamping down. What's the guns have come out? What's the money has settled beneath them?
Smoked fakes.
Censors getting one quick killed again. Overwhelmed. Now the AWP is under pressure. Sizz, you better step up.
He's realized he's open to main as well if he jumps into the temple like that
So this is a quick look over playing between two angles with the moment
He's got MPL to move over but it's just the one from the rifle that is not enough to make Sissy feel comfortable
Now he knows he's a player at man. He goes back and he finishes off jokes
Pressure through eyes spam through smoke and yeah bomb goes down so cemetery again in the clutch
Yeah, bomb needed to be planted if this was gonna be doable
He does have armor at the very least gonna get across the immediate headshot with the flash lands and can't connect the second
They close him down quite quickly, so now the gap is just one round.
The bait has suffered a lot of losses. Three kills, three deaths, four deaths, three deaths.
Those are the last three rounds, so money is starting to be a bit of a concerning factor
for them. They've at least got cash on Sizi who's got $6,000 in the bank, but you're spending
a lot of money on rebys, so they're going to be motivated because they feel like they're
clawing you down. They feel like they're containing that to your point where they can break it
pretty quick.
Yeah, kind of highlight a great performance here out of essential. When's that important
fight. 20 kills to his name.
Locks out middle, early at elbow.
Smokes are up to Red Room and Donut. Space given to Foot.
Feels like they want to actually like pounce and trap in middle once the smoke fades towards Donut.
Tens of zone MPL ready to swing up in the open.
Ace found Kruppenny.
He says he had what, two kills at halftime, now sitting at nine.
A lovely half on the CT side to get this team started.
The AWP is having incredible impact for Bate.
The problem is for Bate, A bomb site is wide open, they've got a stack over towards B and
footer about to walk with four players, three A main, into the A site.
Got to show some retake ability now for Bate.
Oh, they're gonna clear this out with the bomb, they might lose the bomb.
That's crazy, Jux.
He's got the bomb in his back, they just walk it into the donor, it's going down,
teaming, fighting on, can't get both kills, and now, what you do if you're sepatory?
Yeah, you do nothing. He's been putting some really, really weird clutches as in,
he's some really tough ones to try and piece together.
You think they forgot the bomb was on Jux?
No, I don't think they expected, I think when they wanted, they moved in,
they wanted to just clear out the first player.
I don't think they really wanted to get into the engagements towards middle,
But in that situation you just kind of get caught and feel like you have to commit to it
Or maybe maybe things are just getting chaotic and getting a little bit away from foot and just kind of saw the greed right like you
You get the kill into it's doing you're like why I'll take this one
Why not get one more? Well things are definitely getting away from foot
They don't have enough money to get a solid buy out here
I have a hero AK currently in the hands of demon. We'll see if he saws that back
But I wouldn't imagine so and for bait you have all the chances in the world that I take to lead to this game
Yeah, you're feeling really good if you're baiting now as well, five rounds in a row.
And even though, as I said, they're chipping away at you, getting a couple kills here and
there each and every round, money's still not in a terrible place.
You've got some cash to feel comfortable with a round loss.
You now come back to that point we heard earlier, Ash saying that, well, if you're foot, you
probably want to avoid bringing this to ancient.
If you're bait, you probably want to avoid bringing this to garage, so settle things
on test two.
Well, it's going to ancient, giving bait the best chance possible.
And we heard Kulio at the start, we did that listening and saying that, okay, we're better
than them.
You know, we're better than these guys.
It doesn't matter if we lose the pistol, we are better.
And right now, Bates showing up and they are putting foot in a really tough spot down
the stretch.
Yeah, gun rounds on the T side haven't been able to get going whatsoever, it was the same
in the first half for Bates, Molotov extinguished, great opening kill to have, but Longs can't
find it.
There we go, Krobeny's got one through the smoke, just pre-firing as he runs on through.
Essential hits the deck.
And a five on four for foot.
Yeah, Krobeni's slipping back down through those smokes into B lane.
He's gonna walk out on Alex who just quick switches, and Krobeni gets a second kill.
So, for a beautiful start to this round, when you've got all the weaknesses when it comes to weapons,
to go and have your in-game leader make the difference is huge.
Oh, it just feels like if you're bait at the moment. Or maybe they don't know across the team,
but we can tell from the outside, two things just going horribly wrong in terms of timing.
The pre-fire spam coming through the smoke from Krobeni's tech knight, and then the quick switch behind the smoke.
Now they're about to pop in the smoke phase towards the top of the V-Ramp, just going right through it.
Kenji's only manages one, the Tech 9's flood into the site, the bomb now transitioning over, and being planted.
Oh, it's...
And Sizi does not catch and expose, Plyo. Cemetery was just enough tucked away behind that totem pole.
I know Sizi looking for a pick, but Foot realized they've got a golden opportunity, they cannot let this go.
But he needs to start thinking about saving this all.
Because you're not going to win this retake.
When you set a tough spot to be able to get away from the save, at least he has extra
money.
He's got nearly $10,000 to play with for Sizi going into this round, but that's a huge
round to win for FOOT.
And so often what we talk about with FOOT is their in-game leader's ability to be that
player to step up and deliver impact, and Krobani does it at a crucial point in this
game.
Yeah, it feels like there's always like a kind of IGL of the season who's like the
The fragging IGL, and right now in the early stage of the first season of 2026, it's certainly
for Bang.
It's a good effect here, the opening kill and the follow-up kill as well.
And then calling a nice patient round where you just say, just everybody wait.
We're just going to exec eventually.
Now they're going to hit a B rush, and uppercut coming in.
Now SZ called completely in the open.
Flash, Deming gets two.
And that's it.
Oh my god.
Straight out taking this B bomb site.
They bombard the bait defenses.
They hold them back.
And hold them at the door
And even when things are looking rough in his foot to reach that point first and now they're playing with confidence
Yeah, you are
Into the corpses
Love it. Absolutely. Love it. Keep going. You still got one more
Come on
Stop though, okay
another one. He'll find another M4 on the ground. So 12-10. What a bold call. That's the other
thing that makes what so fun is like, what a risk. We talk all the time about teams who try and end
the game a little bit too early, kind of bust out around like this, get stuffed, and then all of a
sudden you lose the momentum. That's the risk you're kind of taking there, but Kerbeni just doesn't
care. They attack that weakness at the B-Bomb set a couple of times. They can sense it.
And not a single player from Bait was prepared for the level of aggression in round 22.
Yeah, now Bate have no money, so if you're sitting around $2,000 average, you've got a
sanctuary full of a lot of amass and you've got to go use your final timeout if you're Bate.
Figure out what you can do with what you've got here.
So insane, I love it. I'm gonna hear for it.
Well, final conversation. They need two rounds to force overtime.
Some difficulties for foot. There was a slow stretch in there a five in a row for bait
But too straight now for foot's attack has taken the money to funding away from this bait defense
It's finally happened that breaking point they've been chasing after comes in round 23 when they're one round went away from taking the map
Starting this major stage two up one to zero
bro.
What is 8 piece together for this buy?
Yeah, let's figure it out.
They just had a timeout.
They got two from ASC, got one to Eagle 57, and an MP9, and a whole lot of hope at all
left for bay.
I'll block early once you show that early until you can bait the limited pieces out
of the CT defenses.
It feels like they know what kind of fight they're going up against.
The only other round they've ran that were that aggressive looking to bully on B ramp
was a second round, where they knew they had the rifle vs SMG or rifle vs pistol advantage.
So it feels like they have a very good sense of what the economy is on the other side of
the map.
There's demon dead, so I hope they can't even eat that, you got two!
All of a sudden, Bayt are in a way better position.
I haven't been able to recover the weapons yet.
Kerbenny's going to start sliding over now.
You can follow that up.
There's still Kenz's or an NPL over in donut.
I want to see if their weapons are down.
Information jugs holding as Kenz's or walks out of the donut.
This stage of the round is so hard for bait.
How do you ride the line with weaker weapons between getting information and giving away
a free kill?
40 seconds left.
And Grubenny now trying to edge their way out of the cave into the B-bomb site.
This is the best chance for Bay to do something with the round.
They've got three players here, 30 seconds left.
Grubenny goes out, he dies to the essentials.
Hang juice and cemetery training though.
Once again, pulling this back into even numbers.
25 seconds left.
And Cemetery is going to take himself out of commission for a couple of seconds to put this bomb down.
Sissy still with the eagle, but MPL has recovered an AK-47.
Cemetery has no assistance inside the bomb site.
That's a big swing to get the information, but they still don't know about ramp. Oh
Sissy handles it deagle to the kill. Cemetery's gonna clutch this. Oh, he's got both
It's the young man stepping up with headshots and keeping beta live in this opening map
Absolutely filthy shooting with the deagle and good boys as well from the young player 16 years old
Holding his own and just stand tucked in not getting too nervous not trying to be the hero waiting for the fights to come to him
preserving his life this is how it started that was the pit foot had to try
and drag themselves out of and they weren't able to at the end
well a great round to survive for Bay because that's the round where they had
such a week by that has recovered things they've got a full purchase out now
you're gonna have the all for Sizi and you're gonna force foot to take their
final timeout very quiet first half for Sizi in his first major appearance but
man this second half he's been great he's got the all back in his hands and
And that was one of the things that got Bates started on that run that made this CT side
look so strong for Bates for some stretch.
And we get exactly what we want going into the final round of regulation.
Both teams with full buys, everything you could want.
All the nades for Bates' defense, a kit on Kenzasaur.
Somebody might want to tell Alex to pick one up for this final round.
You don't need to save that 1,400.
he will write at the tail end of freeze time. One final chance for Crebenian foot to call
themselves into a victory here in stage two.
No, you've had Coolio get on the mic one last time here on regulation. Let's see if
that's enough. Smolansk gets boosted up, peering over the top of the elbow smoke. No challenges
from bait, they sit back passive.
Boncizi is positioned at the A-Bomb site towards A-Main.
That site hasn't gotten a whole lot of love from Foote.
I think that's kind of the logic.
Foote haven't been able to find any success
with their A-Hits throughout this half.
And Bait seems pretty sensitive to it.
Kenzie's there with him.
You have NPL close by and CT spawn.
How confident are they in this reed and this gut instinct?
All right now, it looks like it's going to be the perfect call for Bay.
You're sending Kensis or into May, three players from foot on the other side of that wall.
Kensis or his first challenge and he loses it against Lauchs.
Once again, the pressure to perform falls on the shoulders of the 16-year-old Alper.
Sissy sees the shadow, but he's seen off by Choogs and now Furt comes charging in.
There's some blood in the water and they're going for it.
Look at the try and close out the map, but Cemetery's missed his chance.
MPL who's still ho-ho-ho-ho, and he catches essential,
great recovery from Cemetery,
and Thibbill take their first steps in Cologne.
It is going to be a 13-11 win over Bay.
It is so damn close.
It's a heartbreaking finish for Bay.
That's a heartbreaking finish for Sizi.
As important as he was in this second half,
in this comeback, these critical misses down the stretch,
getting deleted, and it's Cemetery to close it out.
Triple kill in the round, 13-11.
Yeah, fantastic, fantastic game from a neutral perspective.
Great to watch these two teams go at it here on Ancient.
Back and forth, right down in the final round of regulation.
But it is put on the first game here at the Cologne Major,
able to come out with a win.
It's always good to see a team like this as well.
We had the questions about what they would look like
if they lost a little bit of steam
and a little bit of momentum from the run earlier in the year.
Obviously looking good in this first series against Pate.
Heard the interview of them saying, yeah, like, you know,
Ash saying, we don't make any games.
It's not a great idea for them to go to,
But they said we're prepared. We know what to do. We know what's common
We know how to play against it and they delivered stand up behind that statement and take a win
Squeezing out a win 13-11, but you know better a strong team on ancient
You know they were happy to see those this best of one go that but unfortunately for bait
It is an early loss here in stage two and foot will start with a win
Coolio is here with me obviously huge win to start your journey here in Cologne
You just had a really big sigh of relief like three seconds before the interview started
So talking through the emotions a little bit. I mean, it's the best start possible, right?
Yeah, I mean I said I don't care how we win. We just need to win and fight until the end but
This rule that I can show any emotions
It's killing me to be honest like when you are sitting watching this close rounds and you can't do anything
Then yeah in the end I had to scream something because I felt it
Welcome to the coach live you cannot really affect it
but you had a chance to affect the game itself multiple times.
You had a lot of opportunities in the tactical timeouts.
Can you tell us a little bit,
how are you steering this shape of FUT?
Are you managing emotions because of the rookies
or are you looking at the tactical aspect of the game?
Because whenever you seem to have this opportunity
to talk with the guys,
I felt like the spark was there
and the idea of the next round was there.
So is this something that you're helping with the most?
I think it's changing since I'm the coach.
I think in the beginning I was more tactical, I think I'm still tactical, creating a game plan.
When I take pause, it's more of ideas, not telling them, like, guys, we need to focus.
I'm trying to use myself, like what I see.
So many times if it's a pause, I just call around and we follow it.
But I think Rabani is really good at it also, like, managing the stuff,
and he was, like, really good today with it.
So I think we just have it set, you know, we cannot leave the spawn without a plan.
So that's the key.
I want to ask because you obviously coach these guys all the time.
In practice, you even played in the recent event,
you have some other events under the belt, but this is the major.
Did you notice any nervousness,
shakiness or perhaps any kind of emotions differently coming out of the guys?
Because they were screaming.
Is this usual for FUT?
Because the emotions are clearly running high.
I mean, I think the guys are kind of the same.
I think because they are young, they, I don't know,
They are build different for sure.
Like me personally, I woke up at the morning, I had goosebumps and it's first time in my life.
I felt we are major or finally we make it.
It's so good to be here.
And but for them, you know, they are always the same.
It doesn't matter when we play.
I don't know how it's going to be in a big stage if you ever make it, but I never really feel difference on them.
Okay, Bait is down the best of one heroes, so to speak.
But this is just the start of the journey.
So I want to congratulate you one more time.
This is the best that you could make it.
out of day one so far. We will see you later on. But now, analysts, let's take it away.
who's played against FaZe number one in the world.
We had a four over time or something.
Remember, sitting there watching Matchpoint,
Robson 1v2, and I'm thinking, OK, good.
We won this game, lose it, and we're going to lose it over time.
So it's definitely a different experience.
What you really need when this happens
is you need the energy to come from the players.
And I think they're pretty good job at that.
Yeah, we expect them to be loud and proud, and they certainly were.
It's a stupid rule.
Like, you know, we have referees, we have admins,
we have common sense.
Like, you have rules at all the other tournaments
when it comes to coaches being involved, warnings, everything, down to the expulsion
of the coach, you know, from the tournament.
So I think it's just ridiculous in the current environment and for people tuning in, they're
thinking something's wrong with the coaches, like, they're sick or why is no one reacting,
it just doesn't make any sense really and I'm hoping that it will be amended in the
near future.
I'll close on on that one.
Vote for Yankee for president, I guess, of Counter-Strike.
But yeah, I mean individuals making up for the lack of emotion that the coaches can show
in this one for, I mean they're just typically incredibly loud screaming all the time for
good reason. Yeah, I'm in the top all the time, how close they are and having three
guys like this, they're up is not as loud, I mean the wind is not as loud, please, don't
give volume down everybody, not just because I'm talking but because this is the vlog,
it's going right here. I like how we edited, this is just a continuous scream like the
entire time but security outside, we're wondering what's going on I think. I thought they were
playing a video game, like what's going on?
Yeah, I think always energy is really important, right?
And it's important to have good energy
that people are communicating that you're cheering each other
because no one will play better being quiet, right?
Like good counter strike comes from communication flow
and constantly updating the information,
what's going on on the map, updating your teammates
with how you can maybe help them, offering help,
asking for help, like comms have to flow
and you have to have good energy.
There is a point though at which how much of that energy are you expanding on the shouting right and like
Especially when it comes to the start of the round is there enough time for the IGL to call and all of that
And I'm sure foot is used to it. It's just a balance that you need to be able to strike
You've got like an average age. What is it 19 and a half?
You've got infinite energy to spend like shower and hoon holla all you want also important
You know because ash rather as you pointed out is these tank timers everybody talks about them too much
would you notice here? Well, I know it's first off that Kulio sees that himself has been quite a tactical
coach. So I think if you're not able to really do anything until the pauses, you need to make sure
you have a big impact in them. So I also want to kind of paint a picture and want Yanko want to get
your input in a second. So in this game, they had quite a slow game plan. It seemed like they had a
three zero start. They were losing some rounds. The tap pops comes in. I think it was pretty well
timed. And just keep in mind, bait, we're really struggling at this point. Okay. And what you
think from the foot point of view. So let's look at this round here. Remember, both teams are tap
pausing people sometimes forget this so foot playing kind of defaulty go for an aggression round push right up really heavy mid-fight smoke misses a
bit of an unfortunate couple of kills happen in the way of bait I think they're a little bit thankful this moment is kind of
Handed to them in a little way the round goes on bait go out to just about squeeze this one
It was a really good game to refer. I think there's a lot of back and forth
I just want your opinion that you've seen what just happened. You know the game situation
You're thinking from the foot point of view was an in-game leader
What do you think bait would do in this round and how would you think to counter this the next round the next round?
Well, whenever you take a time on it's also a mind game of or another expect us to switch
So we'll just do more of the same right which it was
Futs approach sometimes you have that baiting going on especially against teams who like to momentum call right?
So they just want to win around like this off of you so they can call a
Pace changer so I think in this situation foods from what I remember they just kept doing more of the same
They're just stuck with their guns. They are team that has no problem leaving a open at the start to pull for that mid fight
Yes, so I think what I like about
Procurement track is watching and seeing the different approaches that teams have so big just as you said they want the same thing again
Let's go for it. Why love here from boys. They mix things up a little bit
So in the middle of something not fighting suddenly the late tape was already nice this to the day
You had no chance here for three flashes. But though, you know what? This is our game for now
I think it works. He's stuck with what Kulio kind of said
But they just changed the tempo a little bit that got them the advantages and we saw the trade one in favor of bait
The first round in the second round is complete wipes
Just interesting scene these mind games are often we've talked by a lot in the green how we've been really disappointed
So find the pauses in stage one lots of teams taking pauses when the team is winning and then going until loser halves or teams
Waiting until the game is over and then thinking oh, maybe I'll take attack pause with 12-0 down
My first one of the game this kind of thing so interesting to see how this goes
I think we'll see this a little bit better in this stage both in any way. Yeah
You'd hope so, right? And you have them might as well use them, especially in a
best of one, especially in your first day at the Major, right? Like you want to try
and snap your players out of it in any way possible and give them a sort of an
edge. But I think with FUTU, you obviously know they're a very brawly team and they
like to go for those fights and they're aggressive, but we saw some evolution
from them too. You know, we saw some good decision-making down the stretch when it
came to making economic decisions and not get carried away, which is actually
something that we've seen more veteran teams and veteran players make the same
mistake when it comes to you know which rounds you go for and when. A new question
exactly how do we communicate in that situation so let's get to it got a
I don't see.
You can go for exit maybe.
Yes, you can.
You have money for that.
You have money.
You can go to city.
Yes, I'll go to city.
Or go around heaven.
We should find kills for sure guys.
I'm going to heal up, bro.
Fall out, coming.
Hey, mid running.
More?
One more.
One more.
Nice, guys.
It's been last and we are good.
That's what you were curious about, going for those exits, right?
Right. Yeah, it was a great call because it had a big effect in the following round
You can see there's four galils now on the side of bait for the final round of the first half
Jugs also with that saved AK and MPL will even get the entry kill
But being the aggressors that they are foot goal to search
Ultimate Jugs finds the first killing you see here Sizi gets the just the dink right with the galil demon left with 10 HP
Now Cemetery also gets dinked right so that would have been two kills if they had the money for the AKs
long coming in it's still a close transfer bait but then Drew's under
rotate with that AK-47 he ends up getting a triple kill for it so really
like that from foot you know it's not just about saving there's no point we
have money anyway but you can't really wind around and the smartest place to
do what they did and for the youngest team at the major to be making decisions
like that you know is kind of impressive. Yeah that's what I was just about to say
right there's one thing getting hyped to maybe getting carried away with that
energy but they had a clear enough hit to actually recognize okay the money is
incredibly important going into the last round with that first half.
That's a great spot there from Janko. I think seeing those things, the girls, that's something
of a way, it's like a dream scenario, seeing it pay off. But what I love about this is,
this is exactly what we didn't see from Liquid who had that experience. They're putting it in as a
young team and the people from the dead chat as well. Very important. Make sure you're not sitting there,
meeting nothing. They're giving an advance like guys kill them and even heard a second call.
Guys go kill them, push them, making sure they're giving like an input. I'm sure like
the longs of preachers, they get the 3k on the back or something. Probably wouldn't have got that.
So nice to see them pay attention to small details.
Much more competitive on this map of action, but it does see Furt ceiling at that one zero spot.
Time to find out who else is going to be joining them in a very exciting debut set to go down next.
That is G2 arriving here in Cologne to take on MAT after this quick break.
The power of the horror is full each way you record each time.
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We are back!
I managed to catch Nerds ahead of your game against NMA2.
First of all, welcome to IAM Cologne.
This is a big thing, obviously, and major stars for you in Stage 2.
NMA2 though, coming from Stage 1.
I want to talk about you.
It's been three months since you were G2 logo on your chest.
and we spoke about it a couple of times, your new roles, how are you adapting?
Are you fully comfortable right now or is this how did nerds grew in these three months?
I think I grew in a good way I would say. In some maps we had like a bootcamp and in
few maps I feel like comfortable that I didn't feel before and it feels good you
know overall I think I feel really good.
You speak about the bootcamp so I want to ask about the form coming into the
All we can judge from is basically just your results at the previous tournaments,
but you have obviously insights, how you guys are playing individually in the practice, etc.
So what form is G2 coming into it? Or maybe specifically you.
How are you feeling specifically individually on your side?
I feel like really good. I have the confidence to play anything.
For me, if we're talking about the practice, we're just practicing to practice what we have.
The most important thing that we will play, no matter what, we will play our game.
I'm against any team, yeah, this is the thing.
I want to ask about M80, obviously, ahead of you.
Are you surprised by them, how they played pretty well, pretty decent Counter-Strike in Stage 1?
Does it surprise you at all?
No, I think like all of it, I always thought they were playing really good CS, especially they have some ups that are better than the rest.
But I always thought that they are really good, they know how to play, they have like some surprising plays I would say.
And we just need to be ready for it.
Let's be ready for it. Are you ready to send them in a 0-1 bracket?
Be careful what you answer because they're right behind you.
Maybe. Maybe yes. Maybe yes.
All right, this is a confident nerd.
So obviously good luck. See you on the server.
Thank you guys. Thank you.
Thank you.
The Intel Extreme Masters Colon Major 2026
is brought to you by ESL at PartorshipWidth, Intel.
Acer Predator.
DHL.
Check.
And so.
the mental and the results have been a little bit hit and miss obviously picking
at that last one and taking down Vitality in the best of five that was the pinnacle
of success for this lineup but struggle to consistently you know you make
playoffs at these tier one events and beat some of these other contender teams
it seems like having to play with a stand-in in Rio and realizing they need a
bit of a looser style nerds came in reunited with Saul reunited with some
players. They skip CAC in order to prepare fully for the major, and I'm looking forward
to seeing what G2 has in store for us because if you know anything, it's they're all about
the content for 100%. I think there's going to be a boring duty match on the horizons for
us. Ash, what was your initial takeaway when you saw almost a year ago, as you said, Hunter
stepping in to be a game leader of the squad? It's a little surprising. It's kind of in
that weird mess where we had everyone saying that star players can be in game leaders.
mobile star players there, which I wasn't really getting behind. And I think the majority hasn't
worked out, I think, properly. So it's kind of, is it working sometimes? Yes. Sometimes
other kind of weird and sometimes maybe good. We do want to look at nuts coming into this.
Obviously, the more newer addition to the sign of GT got to hear from him from Stiko,
head of the game as well. What's been the story in terms of some of the stats for nuts coming
into this. I think that it feels like he's been a good fit. I think he's balanced the
rules out a little bit and it's making people kind of understand more what they're meant
to be doing anyway. He's also got a standard. He's improved on Malbaz numbers as well, sort
of statistically looks like a good fit. Is this enough though? I feel like they weren't
going to have the biggest problems against the middle in sort of teams anyway. He's those
top teams to the most rolling ends, but it seems like his fit has been the kind of smoother
maybe than you would anticipate, because I think it remains quite an advanced system,
you know, SAW as well, so the dynamics there probably fit a little bit as well.
I think it's G2 also in a bit of a transition, because SAW is known for playing in a very structured
way, or his teams rather, and notorious for that, and they were doing more with less,
considering their lineup compared to some of the other teams, even with Heroic, they had that
same footprint really in a way, but I think recently G2 has realized, okay, we need to maybe
play a bit more loose and give players more freedom, more options, that makes us also somewhat
unpredictable, and that's necessary when it comes to tier one Counter-Strike.
But it also takes a while to adjust for Hunter as a caller, for maybe some of the players
who got used to playing in a different way, and you're hoping for them that they've done
enough in terms of that adjustment to be able to have a good result here in Cologne.
the most reassuring stuff to see on your screen there, Ash.
Yeah, that's something I looked into.
What I defined as top teams for the contender side of teams,
we took out a few of those teams and just kind of looked at the ones that expect to win tournaments.
How is their record against us with 17 games, three wins, 17% win rate?
I'm wondering, Janko, why you think this is exactly why this show goes so much?
Could you expect the odd upset at least in there, right?
I think the problem is, you know, as I said,
the lost our players and they're doing it by committee.
And when it comes to those other top teams and those deep games,
It's usually when the players step up and your individual skill determines the ceiling and
unfortunately their floor for the most part hasn't been high enough. There were some close
series there, like the 2-2 game against Falcons in Budapest, right, could have been anyone's game,
but they just didn't have enough in terms of someone taking them over the line in these close
series against other contenders.
Garage, makes sense in this best one?
Yeah, I think both teams are equal, kind of everything. I think it was,
what kind of which map was ancient, maybe it was a bit of a disparity, but this seems kind of normal.
G2 gets started on CT side, fresh into the major, but I think also it made to one of those teams like
Tyler Wimbake, who's just going completely untested so far in terms of top tier opposition.
It'd be interesting to see G2 normally very good against us.
Well, let's get this one started then. As Ash just said, a fresh face G2 entering Cologne.
Time to see if they could make a dent in these best of ones.
Yeah, let's see what kind of form G2 would bring into the major, shall we? Here in Cologne,
G2 versus MAD. Obviously G2, the favorites on paper, but MAD, they played in stage one
They're warmed up. They're looking good. So let's see what kind of competitive fight they can bring against G2 and Mirage.
Well, I made it in stage 1, beat LinVision, Sharks, and NRG to get here. It's a qualifier for stage 2, so you're going to have to beat Kway.
It's quite a step up. Yeah, quite a step up. Yeah, get a little bit more difficult than an opponent up against you.
G2 on the other hand, a team that I kind of had picked is almost like a dark horse team to have like a really cool rise leading into the major.
the major and I thought they'd be really really strong coming into this it
hasn't really panned out that way. No but there's like a first set of optimism
every time you see them coming to a tournament so let's see if they've
figured it out. It's gonna be a heavy A play for M80 into this pistol round you
see those two smokes getting tossed out towards the connector and stairs
flashes running on over so heavy draw for the two over Redis. There's the first
out, the second down to heavy guards hand and you'll turn around for a triple kill.
That is one hell of a statement to kick things off for G2. Yeah it really is nice
and nice and clean. Nobody goes down. Really, I didn't even really experience anyone fighting back
in any significant way. Three players down through the smoke as Heavy God just fires off the Duallys.
So one of the reasons why I thought this G2 squad would be really, really dangerous coming into the
Major was the continued progression of Heavy God, who just ever since he stepped into his first
professional roster has shown that he's competent in multiple different roles, can give you impact
in multiple different ways inside the server. Huge, huge piece for G2 to have. Some pious has
has been improving and looking more confident.
You had Nertz rejoining with Saw,
and now all of a sudden, that's what I got excited.
Yeah.
The results haven't been there at the previous tournaments,
but now we can see what they've been working on.
Well, they're coming quickly out, Heavy God.
They want a little bit more punishment towards the A site.
So Heavy God and Sumpire is taking the first two kills.
Sumpire is taking up the position.
Heavy God wants to do it,
and then you've got Nertz who dropped down into Sandwich.
So back to back, Quick Round towards the A bomb site,
resulting in dominant G2 victories,
and no bomb plant for M80,
which means no buy in this round and a very likely 3-0 lead for G2.
Yeah, then just these first two rounds opening so dominant in the favor of G2.
A couple kills in that round for MAD, but no chance of scaling,
no, not even a whiff of the bomb site as they get shut down by the defense.
So, yeah. Best start you could ask for if you're G2.
Now for MAD, some of the positives out of Stage 1.
I mean, you highlight the teams they've played by exactly the strongest field,
but it's Stage 1 of the Major and you go through them.
Yeah, and on some level within 80, I was kind of just like,
I know you guys are better than what we've seen in like the months
through leading into the major, the couple of events they had leading into the major.
I know you're better.
It's just not not playing that way.
So just seeing them kind of play up to their ability in stage one against those teams was cool.
Now this stage is going to be an extreme challenge for them.
Well, one of the players that I was happy to see perform on stage one was Swisher.
I think we've heard a lot of great things about him.
We've seen glimpses of it, but I mean, in stage one, we actually got to see it.
Yeah, Swisher's a cool piece of this team and had a few pop-off games in Stage 1.
The player who's going to be the most, I think, important to their success here in this Stage 2
is going to be Lake, who's their most aggressive player, plays in the pack, likes to be the playmaker, go first.
Going to need to see him have a very good Stage 2 to provide some openings for M80.
Everyone, reconvening, coming back to this B bomb site through the halls.
Mattis, the only defender here.
Hunters joined him on Catwalk at distance.
You know, Flash has leeched its intended mark.
Utility for Hunter, here's some steps, tosses up utility, Maxis goes for the early peek.
Utility, heating things up, and Mattis heating up even hotter with his MP9.
That's gonna be four picked up, you'll go back again, and Mattis has got himself an ace at the major.
He wanted that so bad, he didn't even think about it.
He was like, I'm jumping right back up on that van, immediately I'm taking the ace.
All five kills, plenty of bonus money on that MP9, up to $7,300 in cash madasses.
And as that B Defender, you can even keep the MP9. You can wait for a moment's upgrade for free.
So, two rounds away, A got wrecked. One round away, B got wrecked.
Time to see what Amity can do with the Viper. So, AK is coming out, plenty of utility.
They're gonna go into the mid-take. You've got the corn smoke, window smoke, and top mid smoke thrown out instantly here from Amity.
Majority of their forces waiting at top minute swap.
Issue is G3 are sending players down into the ramp.
Here's the first step for mid control, slacks comes through the smoke.
Both smokes fade in window and con, he wanted that fight over towards con,
but without a window smoke felt a little bit sketchy.
Now I'm gonna start scaling with four, plenty of utilities still for the M80 side.
No presence whatsoever in middle for G2, very much playing containment at the bomb sites.
Sampias has spotted one crossing over towards Short.
Nurtz and Heavy God playing aggressive at the top of a ramp so they can find safety.
If Sin comes back to do an execute a split towards the A bomb site, this bomb might be a lot of trouble trying to get up the ramp.
Lakes gonna come join up with him, same with Swisher. Content with the position, they've put slacks in over in ladder room.
It's hard to see how he got not getting at least one, but it's got to be in the minds
of M80 that they've left this position for a long time.
They could be a G2 player occupying it, so they let his shoulder peak out and switch
around.
So he goes to the real fight and that's really well done from M80 to get both of those kills
towards the ramp without losing a member.
Two defenders here though.
Yeah, that's the issue, right?
You get two kills towards the ramp.
Do you expect some highs to be playing under the wood once Hunter's already drawn attention?
And the answer to that is a resounding no.
And here's the death, some minds it's got too, Lankens in, couldn't make it happen, 10 seconds left, round is pretty much dead, until Swisher steps up but the flank is in, around the backside in the time, it's gonna cost them anyway.
They can't pick up that ball, Matus comes forward, Swisher dead.
And despite the hard work from M.Eddy, getting themselves in a strong position, G2 had just positioned themselves so strong on that setup.
is the one flash I think that's sold it they threw a flash in towards a main
before they were even kind of close to peeking into it just from deep and T
spawn heavy got actually bailed out of his position initially but that
indication it feels like was the sense that's when the third defender started
shifting over to the eight bombs they really committing himself there some
pice able to slide in towards dark a fourth defender here one of the flanks
that early warning T2 really bit on that and able to shut down the attack
Eventually, very close affair. Investment from M80. AK-47 on slacks, but he's already been
liked and the Nade is going to finish him off.
That's a very strong start here from G2.
Final time for M80 after this round.
There are certain pieces of the round looking good, but that's the finishing move in the last round
and now they're getting picked apart at the start.
So G2 got a back away, and just sit back, you know, M80 are having a difficult round ahead of them with
the lack of utility life, they've got a smoke for sin, a flash in a molly for lake.
They're gonna boost Mattis up into the apartments, and he's in a good position again, just as M80 are about to arrive with Hunter Jump Sporting.
This could be a very nice bait and switch.
There's the information, he's not actually gonna use the utility instantly.
I mean, they kind of want them to come here.
Gonna stall them out a little bit longer, deep smoke.
And send Mattis in, they'll swisher it.
He's gonna be just playing on the side of that smoke.
They're probably gonna spot each other, but the time is starting to rot, and you've got
your final piece of utility being thrown out now, so you send a top-con smoke for Amity.
That's where the smoke goes, and it's not really selling anything.
Cheetah is still ready, and Mattis is gonna take the 1.
That's all you'll get though. Good trade from JBA. Will there be any fight to be had as M80 leap out of the apartments for 20 seconds left?
Hunter down in the bomb site, clearing out Lake.
He needs some damage, but he's got the reinforcements arriving.
The rotations are here, so you need Sin to be the release valve. He needs a quick kill on Nerds.
Then even really, he's the second Hunter, but as two minutes gone down, some Pies picks him off and five rounds in a row.
Very, very comfortable start from G2.
Yeah, they're not giving M80 anything for free. No easy kills on this map.
No one kind of overextending nobody caught an awkward situation out in the open
I made he's having to work for everything and then I'm able to find a whole lot
One kill on lake one kill on sin zero kills on slacks one kill on JBA fragging production not quite there yet for a matey
Stylistically G2's defense has been able to neutralize all of them each and every one of these rounds
So first time out called for a matey
Is there in a little bit of a pit?
And death's gonna try to help them out and call them out of it
This is the first shot for some plus.
Great shot as well, very quick to react just about tagging the foo.
Once you see that blood splatter against the wall of the grenade,
you know it's destined for a kill.
Nice shooting from some pious.
And the G2 brings some intensity to the early game, here in Cologne.
He's down to 49 health, he's not going to be too happy about that, he will leave the
murder hall now.
Yeah, but it sells the presence over in the middle, right?
It sells a certain amount of time where G2 probably feel like mid control is there, two,
three, four players of M80 are going to be around, so obfuscating the map is M80 for
the moment.
Swisher and JBA up in the halls up in Palace, Slax is going to join him with the bomb, so
So it's on Lake and Sin to find an avenue towards Conn.
But they've got to get past Madison Hunter, who are doubled up on Cat.
Nurtz, who's playing top Conn.
And the bomb site itself, Heavy God's just taking a retake philosophy.
Oh, Lake's crossing the connector, but Nurtz had the angle, so Lake gets caught.
Hunter will follow up here for G2, and now you've got 3v5, is your final attack for I-80.
You just don't feel uncomfortable whatsoever, you're walking the site.
JBA trying to fight his way out of it, but it's taking so much damage on board.
9 HP on JBA, 23 on Swisher.
Yeah, Nurtz first probably a little bit frustrated to get either one of those kills,
but the great damage he's done makes it pretty much impossible.
Now even Slacks, the high HP player, brought down.
And now we're just gonna swing.
We're gonna double up, and everybody gets cleaned from NA MAD.
Six to nothing.
Nice, I'm a holy fuck.
You think you're talking about...
There's some foreshadowing.
Maybe everybody from NA is gonna get cleaned out, Jason.
That's very possible.
be happening here in stage two.
All six and zero start four at G2 at the moment and again no bomb plant for M80 so you don't
tip your cash into that territory to get rifles out with Kevlar so tough scenario you have to go
to tech nines and that feels like you're giving over a seventh but it's only a decision to have in front of it.
I'll say you're absolutely loving this if you're G2.
Yeah, you really are. I mean, haven't been tested too much, still tons of cash on everyone.
No bomb blasts in this game. M80 haven't been able to secure a site.
See how G2 is feeling very comfy with what's happening right now.
Spread out into default for the moment as I'm at it with these upgraded pistols so there's
really no good look they can have towards middle.
So everyone's kind of vacated the position.
Sin with the bomb going to stick around towards A.
Just over a minute left on the clock and now G2 is starting to clear things out in the
the middle of the map.
And it's got to solve them alive.
Lake Java and Swisher are coming in very, very late.
Shot.
Good shot.
Good flick here from some players.
No, it's...
We get one back, but Hunter...
Following up, slacksle.
At least drop out of palace with a kill on default, so Heavy God's head smashed open.
I don't realize the bomb is actually at top mid right now.
Yeah, that's the problem for a medic.
Actually, Hunter might die here.
This rally could get really weird.
Oh, that's a kill one.
Does he want to just run up towards the top of Klon? He's joined up with slacks. Now as all of a sudden
The round is on put some pressure on some pious who doesn't exactly have a wide angle
He's gonna start stepping into it now, but you missed this shot and you're done. You get blinded and you're done
Well, he's blinded and he is done. So now you've got masses having to step up with a clutch and truly
There's at least some mercy in a round-wool going away event
Eddie you're a simpix into the open and they fight hard for that
They fight really hard for their round win, but they get it done in a weird fashion with tech nights
I mean good just a really nice timing and a good call from M80 to send those bodies back towards middle
Does it all like those lurks just the timing of when they put themselves into play?
At the tail end of that G2 is just cleared up mid just shifted back
Then all of a sudden the mid presence pounces and gets a couple kill then someone walks through the halls
So G2 in the middle of all that chaos that execute just kind of lost track of where the next point of attack was going to be really
Well done for my matey. Great to see you
Pick one round up. It's gonna be a turning point
So a lot to be seen from the so a lot we're waiting for
Money can disappear fast she too is sitting with like eight nine thousand dollars in the bank just last round
That's the apartments control it's already taken here for G2 Mattis has been flashed into the kitchen
Yeah, it's kind of actually it's kind of actually scary if you're a matey
they don't realize that Mattis is pushing b-hauls and seeing it's clear is kind of
Taking away a third of this map from G2's consideration. He's like b-hauls. There's nobody home
No one even spotting for it. Yeah, we've already seen that maybe fall
Right to an A stack and G2 getting early information and being able to rotate an extra player over
So here they come and maybe you're actually gonna be setting up outside of B
They're gonna bring that bomb back over here with Lake Swisher sin and now JBA
Okay, Matt's just spotting a slither of a cap there, and as soon as he feels any sort
of tension, he'll throw that smoke down and he just hides in behind it.
Oh!
Oh!
He's gonna- he's gonna- shoot!
What are you gonna do with it?
Oh, he's so scared.
He's so scared to not get the kill.
He knows how important the opening is.
I waited a little bit.
Yeah, missed the opportunity.
I- I don't know if I can blame him, though.
It's going to be three defenders at this bomb site.
Oh, he's creeping as well.
Can he at least get something?
Oh, slacks.
He's going to be so sad about that, but here's the hold.
19 seconds left.
The final B-play coming in.
Matt is calling it, but Hunter boosts it on the box and turns it on the site.
Mattes takes initial attention.
Noix dies in that rotation, but Mattes doesn't really need the help.
He steps up, and Hunter is the last man standing to close in the side, and he does so from
that top box.
7-1 for G2, a stronghold again at the bomb site.
I wonder if that was planned from MAD, or if just somehow in the middle of the round they realized the AWP was just over in Palace.
Like, that's a really hard entry kill to ask your AWP to go out and search.
And he even got the benefit and the luck of having two players not really looking at him for his first few steps.
So the second time out, Burn, MAD can't string rounds together, still stuck on just one.
A sixth round lead for G2 who's at seven.
Defense has been just impenetrable.
Still no bomb plants in this half for M80, even in losses not finding success, not getting to the site, not forcing retakes out of G2.
Got to have that killer instinct on that scenario, at least one of their shots is the ring out.
At least Norths didn't really do much on the rotation, so there's always that.
Yeah, that's something. Let's go with it.
You got three players waiting over towards ramp here for M80.
Break that window, Snow.
Aaron Slays down some spray.
First, really big test of M80's major campaign, not going at all the way they would like it
to.
Slow playing this round, so Nertz is gonna get frisky.
So is Hunter moving up Kat.
They're gonna double peek Sin.
Nice and easy, as the utility rains out.
Blake spots a blind teammate, but now Sun Pius has a kill.
Oh, nice reaction from Slacks. Good head shot out towards heavy god.
Under, going down into middle to try and challenge Lake. He waits in the other pass. Matt says he's so confident. Just jumps out of the window. Challenges Lake.
I think M80 is starting to realize the confidence that he has.
Oh, wait a minute! Matt's only going to pile on the pressure. Some pies with the collateral on an eighth round win for G2.
unreal they just line up at a distance
some pious crouches into the easiest collateral of his life
lovely first shot again just these first steps for a matey are having any
success other constantly dealing with the multiple layers of g2's defense
and entirely shut down here on mirage it's round ten
Back to Tech 9's in a single Galil on Lake.
And this time not spreading around the map, all the bodies towards the B bomb site slacks and JBA gonna clear out.
Any kind of a push in the underpass.
But look how much confidence U2's playing with.
Not shying away from peeking middle, being willing to take any fight that's there.
I'm still dropping B halls, so it feels like it's always gonna finish there.
Two bodies dedicated to the window play.
One goes through its death to try and sell Slax's position for later on.
That's his way.
It's worked!
It's worked perfectly!
He slipped through. Oh, no, he's put it. Now he's in an awkward spot. Just missing the time in trying to get around the back lines now
Like fighting forward towards heavy guard at sandwiches that bomb makes its way out of the apartments. It's gonna be caught by hunter
Now switcher has to win the engagement. He does so that bomb can be picked up again
It's on Pius wants to find this isolated fight. Oh, he needed that needed that USP's out
Okay, one more chance one more shot with the office happening. Yeah, you got a bailout now
You got to save the AWP. There's no he's gonna actually come for it with one HP one HP
Big clutch from some pies being set up if you could pull this off, but he can't connect the shots
Which are steps out and a second round from 80. Yeah, that was that was the one
He is some pies knew he needed to get that shot on like as he tried to evacuate back towards top mid
Tells you all you need to know about the confidence of g2 right now
I feel like every round is wonderful some pies going for it. I think that's just one HP
Yeah, and I mean they're out of money now after this next buying like they're gonna have a strong buy here
but out of cash for the last round so I mean look that the economic break doesn't have too much
consequence it would just be the one final round of the half.
What's crazy is that maybe wins that round with that play in window room the
bait and switch not even working that was the cool one to get a tech nine
snuck into the back lines and it had no impact and they still come out with a win.
Well the unfortunate thing is you've just won a round of your MAD and immediately two opening
kills came in from G2. Slacks has been able to trade at least one back but a
supplies posted up in the apartments this time who's missed another so it could
have been the devastating blow that would have likely resulted in a ninth
round win almost immediately that yeah but swisher can't really pressure that
simply because java and slacks are kind of sat back at top middle they're not
pressuring anything either so he knows all eyes would be on his position a lot
of nasty angles for the opt to work with in that bomb site as well the smoke is
gonna clear shortly so nerds will be in a fight sure well he's gonna win it
Swisher just takes his stroll to his death.
Now Slacks and JBA with under one minute left on the clock
are planted at top middle with no real pathway to his sight.
Eventually you'd imagine Nurtz can have a little peek up mid here
and he's getting himself in the position to watch the connector.
Now Slacks and JBA are going to challenge him
and they do put Nurtz in a tough spot.
Didn't know where to put his crosshair once he sees two players
in very different positions.
It's okay. He at least got the information and now Mattis can play his position his safety
and his insurance policy up in Palace
Crossfire set up as well with some fires good reaction from slacks, but it's gonna clutch this up now
Would be a 1v3
For the ace if slacks is able to pull this off so block back going down to reverse side of the triple boxes
And now they step up closer switching out to the rifle running him down exposed to stairs gets the shot
But some pious denies the ace attempt and the clutch attempt coming through from slacks
It'll be a ninth round from G2 and they survived that full
Economic break to round up a half. Yeah valiant valiant effort. This is the first plant of the half for m80
immediately diffuse
First plant, you know how they got into the bomb site round ten when they won over towards B
Right he got off the plant to stop and kill some pious
But most of this half has been just been taking place and one of us far away from the bomb sites
Valiant effort, final round of the first half and M80 just desperate to switch sides and
get out of this beat down.
Hunter already at top middle, look at this, G2 just bringing in the pain, it's Nurt just
running forward, two kills coming quick, lake fights back, two from the lake, as he clears
out the top mid attack from the CT side but heavy god has jba covered matt is
waiting at con and set smoke is still up like he's on the other side of it can
lake get anything else as he walks in he spots out matt it's good clearance from
lake his third kill of the round will slow down now it's still gonna make 15
seconds left it didn't look like he was gonna clear that message just spotted
the barrel of the corner of his eye good reaction from lake so some pious will
sink back towards market with the AWP. I imagine he'd stick around here so he can keep his
eyes on his flank and then an eye towards the B bomb site if necessary, but Heavy God
equally has pushed all the way through T spawn and is coming through B halls now. There's
a timer on this plate. And Sunpice is going to miss his timing to get back to the B bomb
site to attack the cross, so the AWP will just set up in the post plant and Heavy God's
going to come up cat walk that window lake can't get eyes on it so he's gonna
be looking towards short step of the smoke break oh let's just get a good
call it smoke works against them and now swisher instead in the 1v2 they
desperately need to throw around if there's even a slight sliver of a dream
swisher's got the head shot they move out into the open but so pie is straight
to the wall it'll be a 10th round and made the unable to ignite the fire from stage one and
they are getting a taste of the step up in competition
It's just a bee, no roofie body, cuz everybody's gonna need some body, it's just a bee, no roofie body, cuz everybody's gonna need some body.
I
It's a beef, I'm a beef baron.
It's a happy party, I'm a meat baron.
It's a beef, I'm a beef baron.
It's a beef baron, I'm a meat baron.
It is B, it is B.
Nikita he got a flashback
I'm walking
Perfect
Default plant, default plant
I'm walking, wait
He cannot be at the side, somewhere or bench
Bench, bench, bench, bench
That's a bench
Nice, nice
The Finals
Well they're having a good time
and for good reason
We're off the goop
They do, and just do what we do. How simple is it?
Okay, well, definitely not happy about how our first half went.
Understandable. G2 having a great time with everything they got going on.
All's going well for G2. This is what we expected to see from them coming in.
This is kind of... Well, look, you mentioned it as well at the end there.
The step-up in competition is a very real thing.
And G2's just having a lovely time toying with his M80 squad.
Yeah, there's like no second guessing for G2 every player is looking for the next flight and they're winning the majority often
You got math this is coming up into connective the smoke is up
Slacks it's a good start. You can't get it. No, it's a math is coming with three
So just like that it is G2 off to the races in the second half as well
and
for M80 that probably is a to be honest this is
Gonna be very difficult to recover regardless of losing a pistol and yeah, it's
Just add more pressure being piled on.
Yeah, now all the weight shifts to that second, that next round, they're going to have to invest.
Just completely deleted. Mattis is just such an aggressor coming around with no fear, jumping in the air.
Him and Nurtz just a tag team duo. Four kills between the two of them.
JBA is coming over to give this a look.
There's no chance, and not even anyone from G2. There are only two players there.
They're all hunting him down. They want to make sure he can't save this armor so Nerds is going to get his third kill
Making sure M80 has as little as possible to play with moving forward and a timeout cold from M80 third and final
One last chance to try and get the team going to get someone to provide a spark
To try and get the comms flowing again and some kind of change in the attitude because there's nothing positive right now in the
M80 camp
No, not at all
Is it death kidding on the mic?
I mean he ends that statement by saying how simple I mean obviously not very simple at all
But the idea that they're focusing more on what G2 were doing and what they're gonna do instead of thinking about the game plan
They brought to the game case
See it was funny because you and I were having the conversation the half-time break and I was I was I was feeling like it was kind of the opposite
I was feeling like M80 was like kind of thinking so much about what they want to do that
They weren't playing the game in front of them, which is G2 pushing up into their faces.
Like the amount of times G2 got away with mid pushes and being disrupted
was pretty wild in that first half.
Oh, baby.
Slacks is gonna hit an absolute banger over the smoke in the middle to open up this round.
Oh, some pilots get a little taste of his own medicine.
Splattered against the wall.
So open kill and fall some favor with them, Eddie.
They need every one of those to go their way. Here's the replay.
Bang.
Probably tracking through the edge of the smoke with that scout. It'll slow the round down entirely for g2
Now soon sound a little jump around checking it towards the other pass
I mean I touched on this in the previous game, but this is where this round just gets so hard for a matey is like
You know, you have the weaker weapons
You got to ride that balance between like finding out what's coming so you can put utility in the right place
without overextending over peaking getting picked off because you need this
man advantage considering the weapon advantage on the G2 side.
I want a G2 sharp as weapons in Nurt's now getting towards the connector.
He's gonna go through.
Flash is coming to set him up but he just moves into the smoke here Nurt's
like kind of misfiring not getting the best situation out of that.
Have you got moving forward getting it killed.
A lot of damage done to Lake as well they know exactly where he is they're gonna
smoke him off and Lake's pinned he can't see much if he tries to fall back
Hunter's already in the window room and he just heard a step of a player crossing towards CT.
So now Hunter feels safe to move forward knowing he's not being watched at the murder wall.
The wait actually slips out, but it can't get the kill on nerds,
and now they know the information of players towards CT spawn.
So Swisher, G2 have done well, but Swisher's still a long way off.
He's still at short, and now he's spotted trying to challenge them at range,
but that 5-7 still comes through. It's got to kill.
Yeah, I thought he might be able to stop the plant from short.
Now jumped over and towards the window. Hunter is going to force him back for the moment.
This is tense and a switcher in the window
She's not gonna win that fight against Hunter with a weapon in the position he had so slacks USP hands always got goes forward
Good clean headshot now under the diffusal smoke is that trying to pull Hunter into the peak?
Hunter only reads it he goes out and makes sure this slacks is caught Hunter steps up and gives G2
Map point what a great recovery in the four on five
That was such a grindy battle on the way up and they had to take it slow right deal with the problems as they arose
If you try and move too fast, then you're eventually just kind of gonna get bottlenecked and surrounded
Cool idea from Lake in M80, but doesn't have the success you needed
Have you got provided the first kill to alleviate some of the pressure and then the floodgates opened?
12 to 2
10 rounds 10 chances for G2 to win this first series of their cologne campaign
Hey down nerds go swing it
There's a player right behind me extra on the timing sin just got passed him by the second player
It's Hunter but he can't handle the pressure and the heat of lake as he moves forward so some aggression paint off here from Eddie
It's got them into a 3v3. Yeah, but good call from Mattis to start scaling down middle
Sensing the number of players that were found and now he's gonna clear underpass big win big find a lake wasn't ready for it
And JBA responds at the deke headshot right towards Mattis
Have you got slipping out of palace as all this is happening now the utility tossed out for its part heavy God spamming through that smoke
Taking JBA down to 34 health and both M80 players having to come through connector.
Yeah, no kits either. They've got two smokes and a Molotov, so they've got some utility to try and create a clutch win here and keep their dream alive.
They're coming back on Mirage.
This is such a strong setup, isn't it? Once heavy guard gets control of spawn and you've got some pyres out towards Tetris, they've got this crossfire in the site.
Shouldn't come into play, but some pyres, the bomb isn't planted for him.
Alright, so stepping forward, slacks going into the fight. Some pyres are going to be taken away, so it falls to heavy guard.
They're trying to close the map. Here and now.
Diffuse being stuck, Heavy God not moving, and he goes out of the open.
JBA covers off that diffuser, and that'll be another round at least to play with for M80.
Yeah, good showing in the clutch, good job in the two-on-two retakes, getting past Sunpius,
and pinning down Heavy God towards CT spawn.
12-3, they're all fine, you can even hear Hunter towards the end of that, just saying,
we should eco, we should eco, so no concerns to play yet.
Hunter playing the long game, saying they got nine rounds to toy with.
I don't need to try and finish the win right here in round 16, so sit back on pistols, wait for the AK-47s and the rifles to come back.
Yeah, good early aggression from M80 in the last round towards the apartment, is able to get an even number situation out of it.
I mean, you'd like to see, that's one of the things we're also talking about in the halftime break, is M80 do have talented individuals, mechanically speaking, right?
And it's good to see them have an opportunity to display that in the last round.
Now an opportunity to keep their money afloat, they're going to need a lot of cash here.
You know, cheats are coming right back at you in a next round with a buy.
In pursuit of closing out this map.
Great showing from NURT 17 and 10 at the moment and it's obviously a big talking point when
it comes to this G2 team.
We're happy to see them back reuniting with SAAW and some pious and from this forward
end stays at the end of CSGO and it has been steadily improving.
Yeah, I'll say this name because I think it's one of the most fun on this team is Madis
at 16 and 8 right now.
I feel like every great team that we've had over Counter-Strike has always had one player in the roster
who became a really strong role player without us really expecting it.
Mattis feels like that kind of player to me.
And excellent, since he joined this G2 roster.
Definitely seems to fit the vibe of the squad as well.
G2v8, Blake, all taking down this G2 eco.
That's a 4k from JBA.
Can you have A.D. really celebrating every round win, despite being down on four rounds?
I mean, yesterday we were seeing that big comeback, right?
Did anyone celebrate anything?
We heard the conversation at the start of the show, too, some of the comms from that big comeback.
And I mean, it was very much like out of the gate.
It's the only thing you can do is just like one round at a time.
So, yeah, they didn't celebrate.
They felt like they wanted to hold it in.
And A.D. trying to get some kind of positive vibes going within the team.
I think they feel like they need that kind of positivity and that energy
if they're going to make this comeback happen.
The Mantis on the mark, shot round the top mid smoke, some pyres to support him, the Ponters
and Devra is in the mid, not taking any real challenge.
One of the weaknesses of this B-bomb type of fence is the fact that Cyn only has an MP9
to play with.
heavy girls can be a threat at palace hasn't seen the barrel yet
oh here's the key from slacks good kill heavy god not ready for it can't snap over in time
five on four found g2 haven't been super aggressive so far in this round just taking a little bit
of control in middle heavy god was kind of the most aggressive player they had well good for
him maybe to be able to remove him towards palace now how do they play with a 5v4
G2 of two players waiting towards the A ramp. Trying to get the other two players in position.
That challenge is coming through. There's Swisher hopping out. Trying to get involved with the challenge.
He ends up losing it, so Slack says to trade on towards Mattis, but the advantage still sides here with M80.
Nerd's hoping he could be the release foul, but he gets nothing going.
And now with Light getting aggressive up Cat, he's going to spot Hunter, keeping pinned under the window.
onto the window. This is a well-played round containing G2 and not allowing them really
to throw in any threats into this round.
Yeah, really nice crispy shot from JBA is one kill over towards that A bomb site, immediately
around turn in the corner. He just nabs a headshot real quick, 12-5. And now at five
rounds with some money growing and now a little bit of a streak, you know, I don't think too
many people are going to be, but I think M80 in some level is going to start believing
or at least faking it until they make it.
They got money in the bank.
They can pass a rifle over to Swisher.
They can get the AWP out in the hands of slacks.
Choose for the moment to stick with the M4s.
G2's offense has slowed down.
Off the pistol on victory.
Once the guns have returned, it's been all M80.
So a single Galil on Hunter other than that upgraded pistols to contend with in round 18
Hunter and nerds moving their way down through underpass, but you're not really feeling any
resistance in this round from G2. It should be a
comfortable 6th round for a matey. There's a half way there Jason. That's some positivity for you
Yeah, that's a positivity you can work with.
Well, the window jump missed for G2.
Slax is still looking at that smoke with a little bit of worry, a little bit of concern.
So G2 want to see if they can get this Galil to find a pick up in window room with Slax,
and given him the fight.
M80 showing no aggression around the map, just waiting for the final hit, the final move of G2.
Just under a minute left in the round.
He's a good headshot from Slack, so that'll take away the threat.
Oh, G2, heavy guns gonna try and become that now?
And he can't get anything going.
You mentioned worrying and concern.
Well, if you're worried and concerned about your pickings, well, I think there's a case
to be made because we've got Spirit Bat Boom coming up next.
Oh, yeah.
And that's best to want to...
Well, why'd Bat Boom have been playing?
Who knows?
That one might go.
So if you're interested in that action, stick around here on the A-Stream, especially Spirit
without a coach as well.
Things could get weird.
Well, it's only three seconds.
We always get some weird stuff in the group stages of the major group.
I don't think there's anything all that weird from stage one.
No, I think everything kind of went as planned, I suppose.
In a way.
I think the weird thing definitely was the comeback from Big in the final game.
Yeah, that's fair.
That's the weird thing, the record breaking comeback.
It was a weird occurrence, not so much a weird conclusion, you know?
Yeah, that's smooch you're right.
I mean, uh, my true, that was all about choking on Mirage and all that sad stuff.
Oh, don't do it like that.
Don't do it like that.
I think of...
I had to, man.
It's...
Freya did it this morning.
I'm just following him.
It's true.
If Freya jumped off a bridge...
Yeah, I'd do it too.
Must be a good reason.
Well, I might be still trying to keep this comeback alive.
A little bit of a run here.
Four in a row now for Imedi to build up some of that confidence.
But, if they go on to lose this, you know, no matter how this looks, the conversation
is always going to be the missed opportunity, not giving yourself enough chances in the
second half.
Both pistol rounds lost.
M80s, everything that could go wrong for M80 in this map has gone wrong.
Well, at least you've been able to keep the oath out of some pyres' hands, so you could've
been dealing with rifles on the other side, Hunter having to play on a Khalil.
Alright, there we go, we finally get the boost going, so Slax gets up into the ladder room.
Slax is calling for the boost, and Swisher's like, are you crazy?
There's no smoke here.
He's like, I gotta be the one across?
Come across, come across.
Come across, come across. He's got a smart fight to hide.
He makes it over. Slacks is able to get up into short.
Let's see if this early positioning will result in any early success from Slacks.
He's a little bit further forward. He needs to be careful. He doesn't expand his head.
That's another warning shot's coming through.
I want to try and bail out a lot of room and indeed he will.
Find some safety over towards catwalk in the B bomb site.
But he's got to reposition and move away.
Sin gets boosted up and he's going to start pushing behind their smoke halfway through the B tunnels.
Hunter is looking for any follow-up aggression from the CT side.
53 seconds on the clock.
And G2 has yet to make any kind of move across the map.
Content with really shallow map control for the moment.
Alright, we're at 35 second mark for G2. How do they put this one together with such
limited time?
I don't know, but M80 has the reed with his solo B Defender pushed up. They got 4 people
at the A site.
Look at utility as well, there's a delay then further and so I connected this mic, just
go nowhere for G2.
20 seconds as this begins.
Flash is up into the sky, look at it close the map here and now, a lake hits the one,
You need this follow-up kill on JBA, they've gone up to the ball, Miss Lucia's gonna pick it up now, and Swisher's coming back to watch it.
This kills everything, and Nerf can't win it. So that's it. You're not doing anything in this round G2.
It's a 7 for M80, and this T-Sci for G2 has disappeared. They're slowing down to a halt.
Look, whether it's true or not is a completely different thing, but in this round M80 is looking down the line right now and being like,
Man, G2 doesn't know what to do. We just stalled them out for an entire round. They didn't execute until 20 seconds left, and they still just get absolutely wrecked.
We had all the answers who are step ahead with the fourth defender there
You're looking down the line and I don't care what the scoreline is if you're on a matey
You're starting to feel really good about this comeback
Doesn't feel like it's quite there just yet from our perspective, but you can feel him giving
Pistol conversion as well for G2
We're gonna go up five in a row from a matey
Not bad at all
Got money swelling as well, but it's even if they take some casualties on the way, it
was keep rebuying and replenishing and continuing to have good buys and it's gonna be slacks
of the opening.
Heavy God was the rifle or as hard as a ram, so that falls into the hands of some buyers
instead.
Here's the nerds coming up through the connector.
They've got to be caught.
Got a response from Mattis and it always has to be around like this, doesn't it Jason?
You're on your way to the comeback. We hyped it up and then the tech minds come forward so
Slack's putting an end to it at least for now.
Yeah, needed that for sure. He's gonna stick around with his teammates as well.
Smoke is broken, open up on top of the boxes.
Madness can't handle the three fighters and it's all on Hunter.
60 HP and an AK-47, one versus three.
Yeah, this would be a brilliant moment for Hunter.
He's able to close this out.
Just don't see how it's gonna happen.
They move in now. A pack of three as they go into the fight. It's Hunter to go down.
And Mady once again celebrating this time they got to eight rounds on the board.
Oh yeah, that's well done. There was some good trades from G2 as well,
but just three players kind of coming over towards Window and towards TopCon.
They handled the situation very, very nicely.
Great shot on Slacks on that final tech nine trying to jump across.
And they're just four rounds back and still no answer from G2.
6 rounds straight for M80's defense as they've locked down.
And this is positive for so many reasons, not just for within this map, but remember
this is a day in which you've got to play two best of ones.
And we've talked about how devastating can be to just get blown out in the first one
and have to kind of reset and come back for a game later on in the day.
I think GamerLagin's going to have some struggles with that.
But for M80, at least building yourself up into this game, if you go on to lose the conversation
changes, right?
between the maps you're like guys like we showed we can you know we can we can
beat these guys we can contend with them we just started so slow and didn't give
ourselves a chance but look at all the rounds we won in the CT side yeah
because if your mentality at the end of that first half was why we actually can
even touch them like no matter what's happening G2 which is right here as
there's four players and we're coming into the A site but now you start to look
at it from the sense of the first half is just really bad on our part more
than so than G2 being dominant a nice mental switch from 80 so important for
But let's see if they can go back all the way four rounds in a row from this point and you've got yourself over time
The challenge now becomes so pious has got the off back
He's gonna be going up towards a looking early towards ramp and this isn't gonna be like a slow map control South spread out
I think G2 is gonna be looking for a pretty hard timing and that timing seems like right now
Here they come
Can you deal with the surprise now JBA has spotted him on the jump?
He's gonna try and delay them, but you've got heavy guard in palace and a pack of players moving out the ramp
Right in the round notes will be the surprise piece
He's coming up through connector right now
You've got heavy guard with that head shut up from palace JBA positions himself
But look at this notes gets into the connector and Swisher walks right into him so M80 fall to three players
And it's got to be a three before recovery that smoke break reveals JBA and it falls all to slacks
The German Alper holds on towards jungle
Well, that plant is coming in and now G2 looking down the barrel of a 13-2-8 win.
AK switch 2, slacks will fall and it is G2 that will prevail in their opening map here in Cologne.
The best of ones can always be a little tricky but such a strong first half from G2 and it felt almost inevitable.
They would round it out in the end.
just came in shut up to work and handle business nice day in the office for g2
yes some sketchiness and struggles in that second half get in the t-side going
but it's all good dominant win overall and you had some great pieces delivering
for you nerds 22 and 15 he ends on Mattis 19 and 13 that's great to see
out of nerds the 2023 rookie of the year doing that hold your time and liquid
thing doesn't count now he's rejoined with his old coach over at Solver in the
g2 jersey brought here by heavy god his buddy and he's delivered a phenomenal
performance to kick off stage two. Yeah, fantastic to see it from Norse. Obviously the winning piece too coming through connector in this round
stopping Swisher from being able to rotate in
disappointing for Amity, I'm sure still but as you said, you know being able to pick up the
momentum in that second half at least some positivity to leave the game with but Amity may be the firecracker
But it's G2 Mirage that was the ball
Yeah, I made you trying to mount that comeback, but ultimately it was just cosmetic. I've got heavy good here. Congratulations after that first half
Did it feel inevitable that you were going to close it out eventually?
Yeah, I mean, we believed we had a good first half and
We also on pistol I think on the second one and then they come back. So but we didn't
Like we weren't scared. We wanted just to fight and do our stuff and want not to get too stressed in this situation
She mentioned it first half looking really solid. Can you tell me what the game plan was?
What was working so well for you guys in that CT side?
Yeah, I mean, I think we just stick to our stuff that what we wanted to do and we didn't really care what they did
We just did our basics.
Of course, we saw in recent news you've signed a contract extension for G2.
Why is that?
What made you believe in this version of G2 going forward?
I mean, first of all, I believe in our roster.
I think we have a strong roster.
I believe in our coach.
I think he's one of the best.
I also like the organization, what they give me.
And yeah, I'm grateful for it.
What's the plan for in-between these best of ones that we know, obviously day one of
stage two.
You've got to play two games, you've got to play the double best of ones.
You go back to the hotel, do you stay here?
you have a bit of lunch, what's the strat there?
If I know, I will dance, but I have no clue, to be honest.
We obviously don't know who you're going to be playing,
but congratulations nonetheless.
Have you got that SG2 through to that one?
Is it Ropoul? What do you make of that one, Janko?
I think that was the favourite playing like one in this game.
G2 came in ready.
They were the better team from start to finish.
The players were on point, they were proactive.
They were denying space to MAT, they were disruptive.
And then M8, unfortunately, I just couldn't really come up with answers in that first half.
Yeah, and when they did guess momentum, or should it be momentum, when two low-bizers in this game G2 just shut them out straight away and that's where I liked about this.
It didn't feel very competitive and to be honest, I don't feel the score was maybe as close as other games.
I guess this was kind of done very quickly.
I think that's a fair assessment. Were you ever worried at any point, Janko, during this, I guess, cosmetic comeback on the way from M8 too?
Even though it is G2.
No, I wasn't.
Mostly, not even because of the scoreline, as much as how comfortable they looked in that first half, completely in control.
It seemed like everything was going according to plan, there was no confusion, no hesitation.
And I think you should be very happy to see this as a G2 fan, right?
It's been a while since they played on official and the results have been mixed.
They did a good job of obviously making the playoffs in Astana, losing out to the winners in Team Spirit.
But, you know, with the preparation leading up to the major, you want to see a team being confident.
And that's absolutely what G2 was.
And that's the thing. And sometimes, you know, when I'm asking players,
oh, does he feel stressed in that moment? They go, no, no, no, no, I'm stressed at all.
I don't quite buy it, but I did buy it from heavy gold just there,
because it wasn't really too much of a reason to be too stressed, right, Ash?
Yeah, not in this one.
It just wasn't really an on-start, because we were sat here waiting for a long time
thinking the game's going to end like we'll talk about.
It's not really to be much of a game.
So I think I was really impressed in general by the way G2 played. I like this solid CT side
I don't know if it wasn't like relying on here a moment
So they were there like it was always layers to kind of what their plans were
It couldn't be broken down and the easy to play the game when the game is already over
I think that's kind of where I mean it was shining when it was 12 to now and also
Nervousness comes to me in my opinion for mostly from lack of preparation, right?
The player gets nervous when he doesn't know what to expect. He's unsure what he is supposed to do
doesn't know which decision to make and if you're a team that's well-prepared and
I think SAW and G2 a team that's very detail-oriented it has a deep playbook
that has a lot of protocols well then it's you know what you're doing
throughout the round you someone is making a call you know what the reaction
is and it's just about sort of being focused and concentrated to execute it
to the best of your ability and in situations like that it really helps
with nerves because you are literally just doing the things you've done in
practice, which is what you want as much as possible. Vision and execution are incredibly
playing in that sense. Let's go back to that first half though, Ash, because you mentioned
it, CT side, a lot of layers for G2. What have you picked out for us?
I think it's very important in these March 12 games to get off to a good start, and this
is something that reminded me of what Heroic was fantastic at back when they were number
one in the world with Cadian, and it's just having like a nice basic plan. We call this
like a bonus round. So it's basically the CT side, you have extra money, and if you lose
around, you can still buy, but if you win the round, you can take a risk and you can
ruined the T side for the whole half. So we see there's double ramps that were going on. Matt is
tased towards B apps. And because he's there, they're going to shift into four people towards A.
The trades are terrible here for G2, and Hunter actually gets spotted in the mix to kill. He's
jumping around and saying, hey, hey guys, that's it. I'm the last player towards A.
Some players, as we've seen, so you're not expecting the AWPer to be anywhere nearby.
Some players are good to trade a split down here. And this is just important, just easy double kill,
tilt the opponent, sketch you off to a 4-0 star. From here, they just kind of snowballed. And the
And the only thing you were kind of really worried about was,
could they bounce back from these low buys?
And I think we've seen some high-end code teams
that have been losing to these low buys.
This has been the turning point in these games
with G2 today showing a lot of discipline.
Yeah, and that's great to see.
And in this round, obviously, they
wanted to attack the extremities, right?
They were willing to give up middle to M80.
And then the call from once you get mid control,
sort of go back without really having information about if G2
is playing close or not.
I think MAT was a bit fortunate to get those entries because G2 seemed to have been positioned
exactly for that.
And this is no shade to MAT, but when you're G2, that's what you want to be saying, right?
Ranks number 13 in terms of ERS, MAT barely in that top 30 conversation.
This kind of is more one of the logical outcomes, I guess, of some of these matches.
Yes, and I think G2 is maybe a better team than the ranking shows, right?
They haven't played as many tournaments as maybe you would have liked them to.
Lately, obviously, they had to chase the five games with nerds, so they played a stake in some of those tier two events.
But I think you will definitely see them rise up in the rankings after the major result.
I think as well, this is kind of showing how the roster lineup is planned, where it's aggressive rifles.
Sumpias kind of back there, trading people, holding angles, winning clutches.
When it works like this, it looks good, obviously, when the rifles get shut down.
some pious and kind of just left behind because he's not the most aggressive player at this. So
this was really good I think today. I think also it's worth mentioning that I think Sin is sick
at the moment for Métis, but we had question marks about Métis. Are they at the level based
of what we've seen in stage one? We had question marks. I don't think they've really been asked and
so if answered so far we're going to have to see later on today. Well all things considered G2 getting
the job done pretty cleanly in their first best of one, but I don't know about you guys. I'm very
excited for this one because Spira are indeed in the building and against all the odds they're
They're going to be taking on Bat Boom, coming through 3-0 from stage 1. It's going down in just a few minutes.
Every round talking about I had so many
Tragedy waiting in your eye for a like
Harry, tell me one round
Hold on
Let me pull up CS stats
Oh wait, my bad
Settle your debates
Search your profile on CS stats
And turn on tracking to see all your games
Let's go, let's go, let's go!
You wanted to ask me any now?
Yeah, go for it, go for it.
This is more like it from Paine's first two kills with Van, Guardian and Karagin.
Pick what you should get, Paine dead mid.
I have a buster, so why don't you?
Olof will have no idea that he's already made his way in.
If he does get all the way towards CT spawn, perhaps?
Undetected?
Maybe this has a chance to him, who knows?
Oh, not only does he spawn mid, thank you very much!
Wow, no way.
Stay quiet, we're holding, we've got 5 people together.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Flush it, get one more kill on this.
Likers got the whole map to play with.
Flush it, oh my god.
No, stay safe, Flush it.
That smoke is tantamizing!
Flush it!
It's gonna clean out Connector!
It's just Nico, get it, get it.
Daniel has to try and pull it back.
He's got the AK-47.
No, oh my god!
My god, what was that?
An ace is well to do it.
It's ok guys, it's ok guys, it's not over, what can you do?
Let's do it in which one brother?
No, let's just fight.
Alright, we have a little bit of a crazy interview face to face right now, but Dong is here,
Team Spirit is here, defending champions of IEM Colom.
I have a question for you, this Team Spirit, is it better than the last year when you won?
Because obviously you have to near now in the lineup, Boris, Magix, is IGLing, are you
feeling a little bit better?
Yes, I think so.
You have your friend, Magna just here, I saw your viral Telegram post today or yesterday.
You want to explain a little bit what's going on here?
I don't know.
You guys are best friends.
Is that true?
Yes.
Ragnoshaes, you and Dong, Braumans is going through obviously, on Faceit playing all the
time together.
Dong comes into Cologne and you instantly play Faceit together.
What's up with that?
They're just farming Gilo together?
Yes, just practicing.
No, he's a winer.
Sorry?
He's a winer.
Okay.
So who is carrying whom in these games?
Me, because he's ruined the game for me to try hard and he tries to know me better than I do.
So you're using Faceit to get to know Dong's tendencies and read him in the game?
Maybe even in this game that we're about to play?
Obviously, I know everything about him. How he thinks, how he thinks, I know everything.
So this is going to be pure mind game. Any words to each other, Dong? Any words to Magnus ahead of this game?
It won't be my master games, I'm man games.
I know nothing about him, because he's throwing the games.
Oh, so he's just tanking it completely, you just don't want you to win.
He's like, dropped his gun, jumping out, like doing stuff.
Magic stuff.
Any words, final words before we start this best of one?
Fuck you.
I love him so much.
I like that he's smiling at least.
This is such a good thing, by the way. Good luck in the best of fun, and let's see Team Spirit against Med Boom.
The Intel Extreme Masters Colon Major 2026 is brought to you by ESL in partnership with Intel,
Acer Predator,
DHL,
Jax,
And Zoe.
Spirit ready to make their major debut
hungry to make a dent here in
Cologne, whilst they may not be
the reigning major champions,
as Nico just mentioned, they
were the most recent to be
hoisting that very trophy
behind us, but ash, a number of
changes in the roster since
then, run us through this
spirit that we get to see
competing here today. Well,
this is a team that probably
shouldn't be in this stage to
be fair. I think it's the most
informed team that first place
at PGL Astana second place,
that I am real as well. They've
got a very strong map pool.
I think Mirage was a bit of a
weakness there for a little bit,
but it's coming back into form
Nobis maybe some question marks, but does it really matter so much when people aren't really picking these maps as well?
So it's a risk to go against the spirit because then he's starting on the weaker side as well
It could be out of the game very quickly the question mark for me. However
Sontics is form spirit winning over 70% of their maps this year
He's less than 50% one plus rating which is kind of strange when you're winning so many in these games and also I regarded cheer was
potentially the best culture of the year last year. It's kind of not winning them as much as nowadays. I'm kind of
We'll be worried about that, because he's kind of like the closer of the team.
I think it's kind of showing some more forms, or maybe some space being taken away, not quite sure.
This is a lineup that should be breezing through this, they're good in Best of the Wunder as well.
Definitely so, I mean a contender for the trophy, right?
One of the main challengers that we have for Vitality alongside Navi,
and due to a slower start of the year, they find themselves in a position where they have to start the tournament early in stage two.
we mentioned as well and there's been a lot of chatter about the coaching situation, you know,
Sothwick was there for Halley at a couple of tournaments, now Halley was supposed to be back
for this one, they got neither at the moment, right, and you could make the argument on one side
that that's going to be a bit of a problem, right, you know, the discipline perhaps, taking the time
outs, breaking the momentum of your opponent, but honestly, even when Sothwick came in for Halley,
felt like there was a bit less discipline, but less control from the coach. There was more freedom
for the players and their results improved drastically. So maybe now when the kids are left
unsupervised, you know, they're going to actually unleash and show their true potential.
Or maybe go back to the chaos, Ash. I don't really know how to rate this one because you
brought up a really good point the other day that, okay, it's a bit more of a tendency to not
use these tactical timers when you don't have anybody standing behind you, right?
are you worried at all that might be the case for this team spirit?
Yeah, because normally you just give the responsibility to the in-game leader, and the in-game leader is enough.
I was just saying Rush B and Don't Go Castle.
He's got the strats though, let's be real.
He's got the strats there already, but I mean, like I just said, sometimes just slow the game down when you're losing.
There's a few bad rounds, people are tilted in the moment.
Just something to be aware of, we'll see how many pauses they take this stage,
something with the Mongols when Fyre wasn't there, they just didn't want to take them ever.
That's full crazy, the Mongols, what they were doing.
But yeah, I think, obviously, players sometimes take a timeout on their own.
And again, if they're messing up, you know, the call or the money
or someone isn't sure what to buy, like you take a timeout
so you can sort yourselves out with the buy
and what is it exactly that you want to do.
But, you know, the problem comes in when a coach would like to take a timeout
just to stop the momentum from the opponent.
And the players don't necessarily think of it that way.
They don't have time to think that much about the big picture.
They're just focused on playing and calling the the following round and that's where I look at somebody
Maybe like Karagan or maybe even apex, you know
You think they have the veterans here of experience in this role to maybe identify when that is needed, right?
Magic still pretty new in the grand scheme of things overall just his kind of take of leading the team
What have you noticed as far as this kind of maybe surprised you maybe disappointed you?
What's the tick? I think the main thing surprised me is it looks exactly the same
I'm not gonna lie the call and everything so it doesn't make me think of this is a
a structure thing from the coach who then the coach isn't here and then suddenly the coach is not there when soft takes taken over and then they have the better results there so things are a little bit strange at the moment I don't know if you feel the same way anchor but when I watched them play does feel like I'm watching shoppers spirit play but called by a younger guy to get some more firepower
To a good amount, I also do think though from that point where they flipped the switch in Rio
That they are sprinkling in just enough of sort of different rounds unpredictable some rounds
We just go for a contact play, you know instead of just using all their utility on a map like dust to like flash
No Molly no flash again and then donkeys eating the HEs based off of that utility and playing every round with 40 HP
I think they have freed up
up to near a bit more in terms of telling him it's okay if you try something and you
die and it doesn't work out so he's been taking more initiative and that's been instrumental
for them having more success on the T side first and foremost I felt like that was always
the weaker side for Team Spirit that other contender teams were always able to read them
you know easily and when that is the case the individual players just have so much confidence
going up against them because you always feel like you know what's coming.
I think it's actually for both sides you see this where you don't really expect
spirit to anything outside of like a perfectionist playbook where you don't
want to ever really make a mistake you want to do your thing as well as
possible and that can't always be the case because if the team shows up and
you don't, you're always kind of on the back foot.
How much of a threat do you see that being for spirit here today?
Given the context, given it's the best of one going down the mirage.
I think they are a threat, you know, there's no pressure on them, they're
They're playing with a stand-in, and Flamos is standing in for a different player this time around.
He's an anchor, he used to play Roteiro, it's all over the place.
They're just, as Ash pointed out earlier, seems like this year with the fears coming in,
as the coach has changed their style a little bit, which suits them better.
They're playing more towards their individual skill and the firepower.
Also, there are countrymen on the other side who are the best team from that region
and a contender for the trophy, so they don't need to feel any pressure going up against them.
And Magnus is as best made as well, as we heard, Donk. Ash, it would still be an upset, though.
It's better than what it takes for a down. There's no brains about that. What percentage
are you giving them that actually have come into fruition today?
Well, I never trust it when two nations of the same players play against each other.
Like, I think if you sent the Mongols home now, they would somehow lose them out to the
fifth-best Mongolian team. You'd never know what's going on. So I don't like to bet on this.
This is for me, I'm kind of thinking whoever wins this probably is going to go 3-0 somehow.
And this is my biggest worry for a spirit is how much does Donk want to beat Magnolia?
It doesn't prove that he's better than he can get a 4-bit spirit.
Well, gentlemen, thank you so much for your thoughts.
It's time to get spirit in the server for the first time here at the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major.
The reigning champions return with a young veteran at the helm, tasked with a steep learning curve.
Always a threat.
The elusive team spirit ignite on major stage.
Today has shown signs of comfort alongside dependable shero.
This unit must do more than fortify Counter-Strike's most devastating weapon.
He does not hesitate.
He does not relent.
You can hear him coming, but he doesn't care.
The beauty in this game is that even when the odds are stacked against you, you can do it all by yourself.
Yes, indeed. It is time for Team Spirit to play their first game here at the Cologne Major.
They're going to be taking on Bat Boom, who were surprisingly very strong in that first stage of the tournament, even with their stand-in.
So we're excited about the potential of Bat Boom and what they might be able to do against Team Spirit.
We've got them heading towards the B-Bomb site early on here with plenty of utility.
Flanders is no mere stand-in. He can stand in for anyone on this team, apparently.
And Boombich had that great stage one. Here's the exact, but there's a lot of defense here.
Three players, including Donk.
Well, Donk just waits. He goes around the back side.
It's going to be one headshot a second for Donk as he's finally dealt with by Boombich.
I'll see Magix move up and put pressure on the players in the back.
He slipped into the site. How has he got away with it?
Magix gets a second. Now it's just Boombich.
One V1 against Shiro, and this time he will step up with a clutch.
clutch brilliant from magics i think magics has got a big smile on his face because i feel like
that's a mistake putting himself in that corner where there's nowhere to go exposed from every
angle and he still somehow gets to doesn't make any sense whatsoever talk it's his double magics
gets his and shiro as we know coming in for the cleanup go to the late round situation shiro and
that's a pistol for spirit that bed boom is going to feel like they should have had a hundred times
over never heard of ash and hoping that shiro could be that clutch so they can step up missed out
a few this season but that's a big one to step up with early nice one view one
and now for a pet boom in the ball platmings they don't get that strong
force by coming into the second round on the T side so you're gonna see Team
Spirit be unleashed to take two in a row. Well dude this is actually sick little
route that Magnet Jesus walked a good timing and he knows exactly where
Magix is playing from but can't do anything about it one chance with the
Deagle. I like the interview we had with Magnet Jesus. We call Magnet
just donks friend yeah sure kind of the tagline he's going to go to a nico's
cousin we got donks friend yeah not bad both both of those but you know
magnitude saying that there'd be a little bit of mind games he knows everything
about donkeys he knows how he likes to peek how he likes to play and donks as
just just throws oh the BM is it something like I don't even know how you
plan had to look into it ever sorry caribou don't really care whatsoever
There's the final push. Zortay is going to go down last to the pistol of Shirou
Who has plenty of cash for the AWP?
6200 in the bank so that'll come out and spirit often running to nothing full buy
Well, I think if team spirit have a great event here in Cologne, I think we hire that coach full-time the strap book looks
Pretty solid. Yeah, that's approach to the game. You can't really argue with either one of those things. That's that's in the strap
Okay, you
There they are managers and don't
It is something to keep our eye on. I know Ash and Yanko touched on it a bunch on the
desk as potentially a lack of timeouts, as potentially not having that coach's voice.
You add in magic, still inexperience as an IGL. It's a lot more responsibility placed
on his shoulders than a coach in the live environment.
Yeah, even if it's not necessarily a big talking point in this best of one, it definitely
will be next stage progresses right as you go up against the bigger better teams
and then more pressure is piled on you I mean we have seen it like Team Spirit
team that their emotions to get the better of them we've seen it before
first spiral tape for Batboot aka saddle four players to clear for Magnajus
Really slow playing this one, Boomitch.
Just passed a minute left in the round, or just passed a minute.
52 seconds.
Defensive smokes deployed at all the choke points.
Good timing for Team Spirit, gonna make this a very disjointed attack,
puts an ear goes down through the smoke, and now Shiro's got it delivered,
but he takes his eyes off everything.
Yeah, just running out here, Betboom finding all of the frags.
There's another one for MagnetJoy's towards top, calling, catching, donk.
You've got Magix and Zontek's now in a 2v5 that's unwindable,
and it's unrunnable so they're off to save their weapons.
I can't tell if like, I don't know, like Shiro felt like he was,
maybe like he felt like he had a timing to look towards Khan
and maybe grab one kill before changing his view
back towards Palace and back towards A main,
but it feels weird like almost like he didn't expect
the exact at the A bomb site taken down for free.
That defense crumbles.
Yeah, I heard Yankee talking about it before the game went live.
You know, Pepin were playing without huge amounts of pressure
on their shoulders, they're playing with a standing.
We know that they've had a good stage one. They're going to be coming in confident with some momentum
And if I was a beaten vitality Atlanta as well
So it's a lot of positive is going for bet boom right now and it's a best of one you're going up against team spirit
I haven't played in this environment yet. It does feel like there is potential for an upset chase
Oh, yeah, it's it's there
You have some of the ingredients for it laid out laid out stepping into this match for sure
And they've got a coach
Always helps. Yeah, they do have a coach the coach advantage is certainly there for bet boom
And you got an AWP out for both players now on the other side, so you got a short say with his, Shiro with his AWP.
I mean really this is going to put the test, everything in this like, with Spirit looking better under like the helm of Sopfic who can't be behind him,
it's really going to put the test of how much of that was just like truly like assimilated and understood by Spirit to the point they can add it to their game
and not have someone reminding you, telling you about it, you know, like constantly in time out, so...
Let me get a see if Spirit can maintain that level that's been impressive this past month
that reinvigorated our belief in this team to challenge for the major trophy.
Flash is going forward, Magix is going to be able to take a headshot, no issue as Flamas
gets both.
Okay, dropping down into the B bomb site.
We're going to save.
Super stand-in, Super self himself.
Getting himself two point kills, opening up the round and another save call for Team
Spirit on the other side of the map, so a tie game 2-2-2.
It's kind of a problem for spirits defense.
You just got obliterated at the A-bomb site.
Now you just got obliterated at the BB bomb site.
Both the extremities have an issue,
so that might limit the motivation,
the amount of rounds you call to be disruptive towards middle,
push up mid into the faces of the attack.
Might push you to shore up the defense on the edges
in the bomb sites.
So Taneer, Donk and Shiro all save their guns
as the bomb goes off.
That boom ties things up at two.
Taneer and Shiro should both be able to drop a gun over to Magix and Zontik, so it'll be
another full buy in this next round for Team Spirit as they get a try again.
Back to back, relatively clean rounds for Bed Boom.
Only one player dying in each one of them, so their money on the T side is great.
It's sitting in a very comfortable position.
Magix gets the first, but then all the utility, all the trade starts raining in.
Great flashbang.
that Zontics can do once he's in that corner and blinded.
Round five.
Well, breakage of that top mid-snow, so what's that?
Gonna be set up for an early pick into the window.
We'll receive a grenade towards the back.
It's a sender going for it, and he's gonna have to be forced into the open.
Boom it, Joel. Replanation is issued.
No one from Spirit being aggressive whatsoever. Tanir and Shiro playing at the bomb site.
Donk playing window. Zontik's over on Catwalk.
And Magic's just jump-spotting at the B bomb site, so they're trying to piece together what's coming.
It's mid-control for Zorte, Boomwich, and Magnejazz.
The little Magnejazz is going to eat it for me. It rites the top of his head.
Another one too, he's down to three.
Doc was lying, he knows what he's doing, he knows all the timings for these dates.
He's running like a book, all we got, Saltek's a sick flash.
Yeah, I'm gonna draw it back, that does give Saltek superiority of the angle.
He's also got the rightful stepping forward first, Boomich.
Won't even require the help of the AWP, just take Saltek's down.
Yeah, Boomich got blinded on the flash too, all of this play from Flamme is perfect timing on the lurk
and now they can drop off short, they pressured, they showed they want to go to the B bomb site,
Now they've slipped right back into an open A site.
Shiro is the first man here with the up, can't turn the corner,
and this round again might be done.
Yep, great to see Bapu on playing like this.
You know, keeping up that momentum from stage one,
that style that we really enjoy watching from them.
Flammage cashing, the great timing coming out of Palace here.
In fact, the Magnetjaus isn't even finished off.
He still stands on 3 HP despite all that utility.
Again, it's back three rounds in a row where you force Team Spirit into a save.
This scenario is just not looking good for them whatsoever
They're not going for anything late. Are they I'm taking crazy
They don't have a smoke to go for anything okay
a dock and show just looking to see if anyone is going to turn the corner and hunt to take away some kills take away some weapons, but
No desire to risk their own in the process, so they back off in that boom take the lead three to two
And my nips and so far
Nice team shirt keeping me safe, so we'll keep getting buys but I think that's going to be super happy with this
too, like on some level you'd like to wipe out the weapons so you're not facing an Elf
and an M4s and AK and Donk's hands every single round, but on the other hand you're
getting into the bomb site so quickly and efficiently on the sides of the map that Donk
playing in the middle of the map has no chance to be involved, like he doesn't even have
a chance on a rotation. His defenders are dead and gone before he could even consider
showing up for the party. So if you're spirit during this time out, speaking of which you
You made a big point of it, nice to see them call one without a coach.
If you're speared in these, you know, the conversation with the anchors of being like,
boys, we gotta have some resistance here.
Even though the icon for the coach came up though is the frog.
On the graphics all over that.
Three to two.
Magix picks up an MP9 in utility to near a 5.7.
Two AKs in an op save from the previous round.
We're in a row now from Bat Boom though.
He goes out to mid early again for Bat Boom, window smoke, deploy, connect him all at
12.
Most times, Orte is going for his opening pick via Palace.
Got some help in Flemish again.
Magnet has just got to get grenade after grenade towards his head.
He knows he's dropping it on his head as well.
Tenir and Shiro want to get Firsky towards a ramp, nobody home for the moment.
Dilladez is there far back, he's guarding the bomb as well.
Shiro waits.
All hell towards ramp, Zontek's boost is at a pretty bad time, Boominch is able to get
that opening.
Mischoff from Shiro. Things are looking rough here for Team Spirit. Steps being made. Flemish used them.
Catches 10A with a great reaction. Molts off to clear out the wood.
And look at the pressure now for Shiro. He starts here on default with the AWP with nowhere to go.
Donks arrived though. Donks playing at ticket, now stepping into the bomb site.
So you want some resistance? You got one of the best players in the world here.
Donk gonna be playing back towards the stairs in CT spawn. Shiro close up with the AWP.
Once they grab a kill and tuck himself under balcony for safety, and then allow Donk to wreak havoc.
Yeah, sure, just keep his head down. Here they come out into the open. Boom, it's just got the headshot.
Zortay on the follow. Donk does nothing, and once again, a convincing round victory on this Keysight for Betboom.
Yeah, there's a lot of this no-pressure factor in Betboom. No fear whatsoever when they make the decision to attack.
Everyone's streaming in. No one's lollygagging. No one's slowing down.
Lovely aggressive rounds out of that boom and finally they've taken some of the guns away from team spirit
Money's gonna be there for shiro as this losing bonuses built up
Wouldn't be surprised to see another time out of team spirit if they wanted to talk about money if they want to try and
Invest moving forward I think with this AK-47 they do it
Zontex is playing catwalk and in this particular round, two misses from Shiro with the AWP in position to grab a player and back away, make him pay the attacks, thin out the attack, and he couldn't land any of them.
That's the boost up for Zortzei, being pretty dynamic in this position as we're changing
them up.
Switching for the openings, all over the shot, it's getting magnetized and Zortzei's blow
for blow to kick things off.
Magnetize also taking damage again, having to play around with low HP.
This time towards top middle, actually ask for the AWP and switch out Resortate.
It's an airships over to join up with Magix at the B bomb site.
Donk's still in the middle of the map. Sheerah left to his own devices with the AWP covering A.
Meanwhile, Bedboom is taken over middle, dropping some utility for safety,
But Magix wants to disrupt this play-up con.
Just tapping away the backs.
Not exactly as clean as he would have liked if he...
Nice, he's got a little bit of damage there.
Realized Taneer is there as well.
But Taneer is surprised.
There's too much for them to handle.
As he moves forward, it's just the right time.
And they can't react in time at all.
So Magix is going to back away.
I can see this round of bombers all the way at the bottom con.
So he just isn't going to get there.
get that so holding on to the AWP is the best thing you can do at this point.
Yeah, small mis-detail for the bedroom side of things. No utility up towards
short to cover your kind of progression up con slowly.
AWP wasn't in place to be able to take an angle to hold back the push. No Molotov on
the ground to prevent anyone from peeking towards con from short.
Well they had the Molly down. I think that was the reason they heard to near.
Like, but you can see the panic was, oh, they're not expected to step into it.
They heard, oh wait, they heard the Molly eventually, right? That was a little bit late in the day.
Magix had already gotten in his fights, gotten his kill, his dink after the fact, you know, like that, that molotov there a few seconds earlier kind of really covers that, allows you the safety to move up.
So small detail, big consequences, Spira get their third back to the winning ways.
Off the back of Magix, really, one kill, follow up dink, softens him up, yeah, this play from Taneer for sure is very nice from Taneer, and good recovery on Dilladeds who'd been brought low earlier.
That's the kind of moment that needs to turn the tides here for Team Spirit to be banged
out over these gun rounds.
Teneir's made a play that's got the back into it.
Let's see if they can follow up and turn this into something on this first half.
Here's Dolanck now getting freed up, going aggressive, hunting down that opening kill.
Boom it, she's going to be caught.
Flamas is looking for the response.
I really like this from Flamas.
I love that play from Dolanck as well.
Stutter step, here's the first steps.
There's...
Blimey!
Blimey!
still in the open. Blind. Blind is a BAP but it still comes through with a kill on Flamas.
It's because he didn't realize that someone was actually out at the boxes when he's sitting
in the open area. It's covered from a ramp, you know?
So no, two man advantage now for Team Spirit.
Up on top, it's a good flick up here from Zortek. He's gonna second because Zortek knows that
he's gonna deal with the AWP coming in but Zortek's is going to do that, no problem.
So Dylan has our next just spotted by Taneer, and that's more like it from Team Spirit.
Yeah, we've settled in. I mentioned a few rounds ago that Taneer was sitting at 0 kills,
now he's at 4, so a pair of good rounds for him in these rounds that Spirit has strung together.
There's Donk already with a legacy and a history in his early, early career.
Swings out middle to make sure the middle of the map isn't any kind of problem for Spirit moving
forward and now we start seeing Zontics and Taneer step up where they
struggled to get started in the first five six rounds they're here now
one jump break, come to the results I would say. Searching for it, they're gonna be blinded
and held back so no opening fry going in favor here of the Bat Boom. Still so much
money for Bat Boom even after losing two they've got tons of cash
And obviously with these losses coming in as well, second stage loss bonus
With residual cash left over
All right
Well, Zortse and Agnes are just gonna rotate back around to the A bomb side
Boomage now throwing some utility in middle to keep attention here to keep them worried about the middle of the map keep donk dedicated to con
They're gonna have to hit a pretty quick timing once boomage gets over before spirit pieces this together
No aggression from spirit in middle to figure out what's happening
so they don't have the information yet. It'll be Taneer and Donk on the initial
defense.
Strong duo to try and get rid of here. Donk on the CT side with an AK-47 in his
hands. Smoked for the time being at the stairway. 30 seconds left. Taneer
waits in behind.
Triple.
He'll peek out.
It's Dawg with two through the smoke.
He goes for a little bit too much.
His magnetizer will stop both Taneer and Dawg
and put himself into the clutch.
It would be a 1v5.
That smoke's fading.
Your cover's gone.
You're exposed.
You're in the open.
And magnetizer's paranoid about CT's ball.
So he doesn't want to fight for it.
And Shiro's just going to drop him as soon as he peeks
into the open.
How's Dawg getting these kills?
That smoke breakers.
He's just firing through him blindly towards Palace
and getting the kills on top of balcony.
spraying him down. That's nasty double kill to take. That destroys everything you were
trying to do if you were a BedBoom and that was looking like it was going to be a pretty
dangerous hit. So the impact factor of Donk and round nine is a huge factor and BedBoom
burned their first.
You need a lot more input from the players. You don't have your coach in and you see Zontik's
she wrote
and magics very vocal at the moment
okay this is all
nasty little jump over the top
that's how we do it
that's how he's done it
it looked like he was kinda he was setting that play up
i thought he was just gonna get to the top and spam blindly but the jump is a
nice
nice little piece yeah it looked like he was about to slip down into sandwich as
wall yeah he was he wasn't gonna stop
I'm not gonna just put some after that, but the AK, regardless, falls back into his hands.
And the Spirit regained a lead five to four in this first half CT side barrage.
It's just Flamers throwing utility out towards this A site.
Gonna sell some presents there early on, but...
Just the solo man is, but we'll have two players make it three now towards top middle.
Saltic steps up from short, Magnetja is going to be claimed first, now Shiro is up next and Sorte is distracted.
to take him away, not shot from Shiro, and things are really hitting a close state down
for Team Spirit. Three kills in quick succession, and so all of a sudden, Bat Boom stand no chance.
Yeah, they aren't even getting close now. Spirit is just locked in. It's about to be
six to four. You're not getting past Magix. Not even really considering the position.
Excuse me. Wasn't familiar with your game, dealer. Does you do get past Magix, but the
bomb's on Cat.
And he takes a lot of damage even trying to get past him. So as he retreats, they're
They're gonna be watching from the end of the hallway as you've got Donk now arriving.
So take a few steps further until it doesn't...
You're destined to die.
Unless...
You walk around and catch this Donk, he does!
So, who knows managing to, but that's, that's about it.
And it will be a two round lead for Team Spirit.
Yeah, it's gonna get worse before it gets better for Betboom though.
$3,000 pretty much across the board for, for four other players.
This is one of those rounds you gotta drop back and just have some pistols.
So Spirit have a great opportunity to extend this lead even further.
Well, the extremities struggled early on in the half.
The middle of the map now has just been dominant.
And I almost feel like that boom, you almost advise them to go back
to hitting the bomb sites, hitting B and A directly,
except Spirit's even stopped that, those kinds of hits too.
So while there was some shakiness in that little four round stretch from
that that boom was winning, Spirit has figured things out.
Put together a buy.
It's not everything that got into this.
An AK for Dillardaz, the wheel for Zortay.
He's got knives and Mactan, and it's gonna work pretty well for Magnetaz as he puts the pressure on Zortay.
Oh, oh, they're coming for him, and now they know he's evacuated, sound cues the whole way, and he has recovered.
Oh, has he got away with that? Now he's dead to Zortay.
But Shiro's got here in time, but not in time to stop Dillardaz at Palace, so he just comes right out,
and Batboom's decision to invest might just work out perfectly.
Now, you've got Dark stepping out towards CT, he's got the AK in hand.
Which is the health of Dillardaz. Magic's tapping away. Grenade will search out Dillardaz and drop him a little bit further, but not enough to worry him.
He still stands on 40 HP under the wood. Donk steps up on top of Ticket, looking to punch the Tickets of two players at the final destination.
Donk drops down into the site, quick kill. Dillardaz gone, stepping forward. It's Magic through the murder hall. They know exactly where Magnetaz is.
It's the two friends and the one V1, his dog is on the D-Fuse, he's just gonna hold it and
Magnetjez can't get there in time.
Its dog to steal it away, in tandem with Magix and that will end up being a seventh round
for Team Spirit.
Look, this detail will get lost, you won't really think about it too much, but Magix
getting that kill at range on Cat, getting dinked as well and then evacuating and take
the long way all the way around to find one more kill over in Jungle.
That is a huge decision that has all the impact in the world to let them retake this bomb
killing that one player putting dark in the 1v1 and getting him the freedom for
the ninja to diffuse inside the smoke just so perfectly played for magics and
don't and that not happened you got shiro taking sort a early on through the
smoke at top middle so opening kill for team spirit going into round 12 oh they've
lost the plot completely bad boom this half very well could just end on a six
round run for team spirit
Four versus five, you control the middle of the map, but Taneer and Donk are slowly pushing
and they're going to run into Flavus now who's ready for the first but not the second critical
trade and that leaves all the emphasis towards mid.
It might have been reliant on Flavus to come back and get the bomb as well and he's died
so you've got to retreat some of those players that are committed to middle to go back and
get that bomb so they're fighting on.
You've got Donk taking Magnetjez down, it's a 2v3 with a minute left in the clock and
now you have to go back so they're going to send Boomich to get the bomb until it as
will maintain some mid control. That's the chaos. Nagerja is not really getting like
switching on that they had to fall back and get the bomb. The other two players go into
address that scenario so Magniaz just gets thrown into his own death. Well they're going
into an MTA site for the time being so Spirit aren't in great positions just yet so you
have enough time to cross over into the site but now Magix and Donk are arriving. They're
towards jungle and Boomich is just getting past triple now with that bomb in his possession.
down into CT and we'll see how Bat Boom approach this.
I can plant safe for the CT spawn.
Yeah, oh, it's one of the head.
No, his magic is towards connector.
There's a steps, he's going to go out and take it.
Oh, no way.
Oh, magic, somehow he gets down.
He jets away into connector as well.
Magic somehow surviving on two HP,
and he's going to back off and light his most lethal weapon,
move forward instead.
It's Dylan that's down, the Deagle's out,
and Boom is rapidly trying to race to a better position,
but they will be denied.
It looks patchy for a second F for Team Spirit, but they go on a run.
Welcome back to the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major 2026 and we're all excited because
this is Team Spirit's debut game here at the Major, returning champions of Cologne from
last year as well.
And they're playing without a coach and it did look a little scary at points.
There was a big strike arounds earlier when the gun rounds started for Bat Boom and they
were very convincing gun round victories but then suddenly, the T-Spirit just switched
on.
Yeah, Bat Boom was going through like a hot knife through a butter and then it just stopped
and then it just all of a sudden just stopped.
Sidir and Zontek stepped up.
Donk was obviously a beast, 13 and 5 for him.
Execute on the V8 bombsite for the T-Spirit pistol rounds.
On the T side of Mirage, already dropped down, already in and Boomage is going to be forced
back with that Gush.
Donk is going to keep up the aggression, take more space.
Advantage, heavy advantage to Spirit in this post plant.
No kits, no smokes.
I'm going to move up.
Trying to put pressure here on Donk, but no issues.
So the first, certainly for the second,
though, is Sorte and Dillardes sent some shots back here
for the CT side, but they're still standing.
Team Spirit in this post plant in time is taking on rapidly.
Bumich and Dillardas do not have a kit on their backs as they try and recover this side.
They're also being spotted and tagged and Shiro's gonna put Dillardas in the body bag.
His magics will fall away and 9-4 lead for Team Spirit.
Winning the pistol to start off the second half is a huge step in the direction of winning their opening game.
Especially when you add in they win the first pistol in the opening half as well.
So both pistols and this best of one go in the way of Team Spirit.
If they converted this second one, you're kind of spotting.
You're spotting basically four rounds off the pistols.
So that's Bumich got that to worse.
Now we need to see if they can recover and start closing the gap in the scoreline before Team Spirit can actually just take the map for themselves.
Setting up ready to go in towards the A site, you got plenty of utility flying forward here from Team Spirit keeping it simple.
We're going to keep it effective.
Fire, Coach, the triple box making sure BoomHatch has to stay further back and stay in the open with the USP.
That's a death sentence against the Mactanes and the Galio's coming through.
So, simple as you like it is Team Spirit going up to 10.
Well, the guns are going to come out now, so BedBoom have to put their foot down here.
With the way first half played out and now the loss in the pistol round for BedBoom, you kind of only have this one round to get going.
You're going to be buried way too fast if you can't stop Spirit here.
And a timeout is taken. Second from Team Spirit, Magic calls it to make sure everyone's on the same page.
We're coming into this round with two Mac 10s and MP7 and two Galils.
So weapon advantage you put towards Betboom, but this allows Magic to call some pretty wild tactics.
You can get a little freaky.
And that's the face of a freaky man.
You can do Rush B or Don't Go Kill.
You could do either of those.
Very option.
I'm the fan of Don't Go Kill.
Have you been to both?
Sure.
I'll always have those four death boom rounds.
They were great rounds.
They were great rounds.
I mean, it was wild. They literally were just making Spirit look like lost and disorganizing silly for those four rounds, and then it just stopped.
All of a sudden.
Yes, that was it.
Go on.
Well, we're on 15 underway out of the timeout.
And with the weaker weapons, Spira just going to exact once again onto the A bomb site.
Boomitch, the sole defender here.
Three players boosting up towards the B bomb site couldn't be worse for Pet Boom with so many resources elsewhere on the map.
And they're taking their time with this on the other side.
There's still three players there.
So you've got Dillardez who's going to be stuck behind Smokes and Boomitch inside the bomb site on his lonesome.
Godspeed, Boomitch.
The mass, just one, and then traded out by Zontecs.
So no issues whatsoever.
Well the big issue now is, advantage is going to swing towards Bed Boom once this bomb gets planted, because the utility is gone for spirit.
Look at this, that's what they realized, they're taking a risk, they're putting Zontecs through the jungle smoke.
He will get cleared out by Tilled Eyes, but now they know when to engage, ready for the headshot.
Now you can't come through that murder hole.
Now you've lost jungle.
Now you've lost the bomb though.
Yeah, you've actually lost your own.
Now you're losing your chances, and the only play that can bail you out of this is Dogg, and he is very good in these situations.
1v1 looking for Flamas, and Flamas just about steps up enough for BedBoom to secure it.
You know, but I think Spirit's gonna be perfectly fine with that round.
Remember what they came in, two MAK10s and MP7 and two Galils. They get four kills.
So it's not like BedBoom's any more comfortable. Sure, they win a round,
keeps Spirit from getting a little bit closer to that map victory, but
You have to rebuy so much and you're just on the edge of being broken, and now you get the strong buy out of Team Spirit.
And this is essentially around the dictates whether Team Spirit can waltz into a map win or if that boom is going to be able to fight back and try and come back.
Well, Doc's got the opening kill, running out to the middle, catching Dillard as...
The opening frag falls in favor of Team Spirit, and they've got the whole round to play with.
They're all grouped up.
So we got a flash shot just grazing him and the smoke not fully there yet
And that boom they're making I think the only decision they feel like they can make you can see the dots rotating on the mini map
Looks like they want to send those players to stack up towards the B bomb site
Boom which is gonna stick around at top con just to maintain some presence
Maybe you get lucky, but I imagine he's gonna bail out too, but they're basically saying
We would have lost this round based off if you come B or not
But the logic behind it is if they go A you're gonna lose the round, but you don't have all your weapons taken away from you
It's a shitty decision they've been put into by the fact that Spirit get four kills last round
Now 50 seconds left he told he's now raining in through the A bomb site you've got no one home no one to deal with it
Team spirit still being cautious as they approach the site
And now they'll move through, so...
It's the ball going down there.
And it's on a triple. Magnetja is going to spam him down.
Tenir is actually denied that plant, so...
Magik's also taking damage.
He's going to move off the default.
They try to deny that as well.
Dogg has to turn around and challenge down the CT players.
And he goes back in for the second.
Shiro has him covered.
And of course, Dogg manages three out of that tough scenario.
He's going to be 11 rounds now for Team Spirit.
He's so goddamn good.
Yeah, he really is.
He's just like, you know, you don't need me to tell you, he's just so good in this situation.
Just so much pressure, and he just understands like the scaling, the timing, what he needs to check behind him,
what he needs to be ready for that fight, so composed, so precise, and so quick.
You know, there's that whole conversation about Spirit, like, you know, are they gonna come in a little bit slow coming into stage two?
They're not here with the coach, are they gonna look as sharp, are they gonna look as good?
Donk was like the number one reason why I put Spirit 3.0. It's just Donk inside the server.
Yeah, the good and best of the ones, right? As well, Ash was highlighting that.
You know, you got Donk. And so, as you say, Jesse's 27 right now, so he ain't starting slow.
Not at all. And they've just put Bedboom into a very, very rough position.
Have to invest everything they've got. Throwing all the money at the problem to keep Spirit off
map point as long as possible. But all they can afford is a single M4, two Deagles, CZ, 5.7.
This if the storyline coming into this event is team vitality or so far ahead of the rice
You're looking for some teams that can compete
The team spirit of a lot of people's tongues in terms of a team that might be able to challenge them
It's great to see dog coming looking solid with team spirit putting a performance like this
And you want to see them just grow and grow into the tournament if they are to really truly challenge vitality
It's why that like last stretch of tier one events was so cool
You know from from each organizer you had the Fort Worth for Blasio Atlanta for for ESL and
and then you had you know a stoner for pgl which is you know spirit wins one
not the wins the other
uh... not the second place but all the sudden in a world where we didn't see
anyone who could challenge vitality you came out of those events and you're
like i will not be now can obviously
uh... spirit now can obviously they look much better and you start getting all
these names like there's actually a
uh... okay number of teams that feel like
they've stepped up for the first time in the season to be able to match that
added the vitality stumbles and yeah a lot of reasons to have some confidence in team spirit
under a minute on the clock already team spirit have the player advantage and they've done a
lot of damage towards magnetgers who's sitting on 18 hp 40 seconds remain
magics out towards top stairs fighting forward with his mac 10 in the meantime dark has got one
and then traded out by zortay boom which knows good reposition magics is right there but can
Can he get anything on the CZ?
He's into the open, he does.
But he's always making this work for a little bit of damage,
but couldn't quite compose himself or have enough bullets to deal with Shiro.
And he'll end up being eight.
There's 15 seconds, Zontex is going to be with the bomb on his own.
Yeah.
Tanya's jumping up to try and join him.
And both CT players now spotted, so they know.
Comfortable to put the bomb down, no one's going to be denying it.
Zortay down to 4 HP.
Not even around, he's going to want to challenge.
That's an M4 that just has to have it for the next round.
There's going to be no money for BedBoom.
They got a $2,400 losing bonus.
So everyone aside from Zortay is going
to be beneath $3,000 to buy for the final chance
at keeping this map going.
It's been great though.
I mean, if you want to talk about some of those things
we could mention about Spirit of Why This Stage could get
a little bit difficult for them, the lack of the coach,
some of the shakiness coming in that seem to have turned around like they've
answered those questions right they even have the obstacle of those four
rounds straight from that boom where they were just looking unstoppable
responded to that in a very good way where you just locked in and shut them
down moving forward and now you're having no issues really closing out this
map whatsoever
12-5-7 chances for Team Spirit. It starts here in round 18.
M4 for Magnegez, AK-47 for Zorte, 2 MP9s and a 5-7. That's the loadout for the CT side.
They're best.
Well, it's in here.
Stoppings.
All it takes.
Play forward.
Four kills away from their open success.
You have two spirit.
Flamme is being scammed down through the smoke as well as he tries to retreat.
I feel like that was not too far off from catching him with a straight headshot.
Till's Team Spirit hasn't really moved across the map.
They found an opening kill, they found decent damage and forced back an aggressive piece of the defense.
All in the first 40 seconds.
And all without moving too far.
One minute left on the clock.
I got Smokes in B and Window right now for Team Spirit, but no one going that direction.
They're mostly gathered up in middle. You've got one player coming late through Palace. That's going to be Zontik's
Well, the rest of Team Spirit go flying up through connector hoping this is the finishing move to name battering through them
Once he dies donk is ready and all of a sudden it's just boom it's up to his Tetris who does connect all to talk
But they know exactly where he is Zontik's up from Palace and Flamers now fighting forward with that. Oh, okay
And here he goes this stand-in looking to stand up, but he's put on the ground by shiro a
A 13-5 showing from Team Spirit.
They've arrived to the Cologne Major.
One of the contenders for the title.
Looking to defend their Cologne title they got last year.
And that is a performance you can be happy with in the best of one.
Yeah, Magic's even standing up with a little bit of swagger after that.
Like no sweat, no problem, not any issues whatsoever for Team Spirit.
Bedboom come crashing back to reality after that dominant stage one that they had.
And Spirit put him in their back pocket.
13-5 victory and Donk, the star player inside the server at 22-9.
Yeah, no surprises there, no surprises at all, but the first couple of gunners, the first four gunners,
they were looking great for Bat-Boo. It was great to see that Team Spirit were able to reset that quickly,
get the job done, and now they progress with a 13-5 win in their opening best of one.
Yeah, looking pretty clean from the side of Team Spirit. 13-5 victory over that of Bat-Boo,
and as I think he was just saying, Yanko, Donk, Farring,
and also that he's very hungry to get through stage 2
probably as quickly as he can.
Yeah, the most important thing, I think,
Composure was there for Team Spirit,
even though things were a little bit icy at the very start
of the game, you know, they didn't try to overcorrect.
They were playing the percentages, saving their guns,
waiting for their opportunity, you know,
and once they got a little bit warmed up into the game,
they were in full control.
We do have Tanea joining us.
Congratulations.
Thank you. Hello.
Great start from you. 13-5.
Was it as easy as the scoreline made it look in the game?
It looks like a score about easy, but we had a very bad start.
We won pistol, but we lost first place round,
and then we are starting losing rounds in a row.
And a little bit, we are feeling like something went wrong,
but we just take control about the situation.
And then we just beat them.
Can you tell us a little bit about the dynamic going into games, seeing as how you don't have either of your coaches here, right?
Do they still do some work from home, send some stuff into Magisk?
Is he doing it all on his own at the moment?
Like how's that look?
How my mates told me maybe some interviews.
We have right now two coaches.
Hale also back in our roster and he's like main leader but sure we keep it our our stuff
than before and right now we just all management and working together right now yeah we have
some issues with our coach and we are working like online before matches yeah that's it cool
I was just trying to give a quick story about how we first talked to each other.
I think it was the back of the end of 2024, I was looking out for a player,
I messaged Teneir and he said, hey, are you interested?
And he went, I think about it, I think about it, actually,
I don't speak good enough English.
And I saw two days later he signed for a Roic.
I'll tell you that's right there.
But I told Sam for soul.
I don't know how to speak English, I don't understand.
I would say too, you've gone from gun 5 to Heroic, very quickly, how has it been for you as an older player?
It's a big step forward, just like that, right?
For real, I was full surprise when I got invited to Heroic, and then after good two seasons or one season I got invited from Spirit.
For me, I really was full surprise.
But whether anything sync, right now I just think about.
Probably I'm first like older player who was bought from T1 organization.
It's really.
Yeah, he was well deserved as well.
Yeah.
I just wanted to know one thing as well, because I'm doing a video on you and YouTube very soon.
Yeah, yeah.
I noticed one thing.
Okay, so on the maps there's 18 positions.
You can play six maps, two sides, each side.
Of the 18 positions on the map, you have changed 17 times since you joined Spirit.
How on earth, what are you doing to be good in these roles?
Because that's such a short amount of time to be good at any of them.
I don't know, probably because I played so a lot of time in this game, started from 1.6,
also Soros, CSGO, CS2, and I played a lot of mixes, a lot of different teams and other roles.
And after that, I'm just happy experience in every one role and for me, when I joined the team and
I don't know, our coach or other guys said, can you play this position? Okay.
What's the overall attitude of Team Spirit coming into Stage 2? Because obviously it's just down to
the BRS cutoff. It was maybe a little bit earlier than you guys were getting that success, winning
PGL as well. How do you approach maybe entering the major earlier than perhaps?
I think it's very good. When we are qualified to major and we are got invited to second stage,
maybe we think it's not good because we have bad results and some closet. Yeah, it's true.
But if right now, if see right now about the situation, we are had two very good tournaments
When we got confidence, we found our way, how we want to work, our staff, our gameplay.
And right now, we also have a little bit changed because Halley is back.
And right now, we also should fix how we want to work together because we combine two coaches
and we also combine work between new coaches and our staff.
And we are started from second stage. We will have a lot of games and during this we can
fix our work, how we want to do. And I think it's fine for us.
It's a good approach. Well, Teneir, I won't keep you a moment longer because you do have
another best of one to play again today. Thank you so much for your work.
Thank you. Bye-bye.
Always lovely to catch up with you. Yeah, best of luck for Teneir and of course, Spirits
moving on forward. They will fall into that 1-0, Paul. Now, at the previous stage, we
able to talk about the matchups moving forward, but got away into that B stream finishes off.
So let's wrap up this matchup that we saw going down. I mean, just temperature chip coming out of
Betboom, obviously, just the best of one, Janko, but might have expected a little bit more fight.
Yeah, I think so, but listen, Spirit is a contender for the trophy,
sure, for the whole thing, right? And against them, you're going to get a few chances,
and you need to capitalize on all of them, right? If you think about that first pistol round,
And they were in a 3v2 and Magik sneaks in and finds two kills if they're able to convert that one with how successful
They were in early gun rounds. I mean that could have been a seven eight rounds seven eight zero starts potentially
You know and the you you have to
Capitalize on those right because spirit with the amount of talent and firepower that they have
They're always going to be able to claw their way back. You picked out a couple of examples must be looking at Ash
What have you got for us?
Well, basically, I was kind of mentioning the start of the show that I think spirit are a bit too inactive at times
And actually it's couple examples here where they were maybe catching bit boom by surprise and things that they don't normally do
We see some just
Regression going on there's three players to watch show right now magic comes and fights the death today
It appears out of nowhere
He starts fighting you see even donkeys behind ready to go again
So three people fighting from the same position and this is something I think traditionally not expecting from spirit because they like to
just let you come to them try and get the right bombsite and they just play with more skill and trying to show people
We saw a donk this game here once you go go anything at four kills in the first two rounds
I ended on 92 frags. I think you said you
Is a normal donk game in the end it was at the end of the day round ten though
What what's occurring here? Well, it's just the same thing again. It should kind of show you know
I don't if this is game plan. This is like this is the meta right now
But when I'm playing in spirit, I'm thinking this isn't what I expect from spirit
and this is dry peeking middle as three.
Good timing, so on to some of the peeks.
Shira, I think even peeks from the window and second misses
a shot, which you perhaps should have hit.
And let's go together, and it's just annoying to play against.
Actually, there's two chances here.
And he just wipes that boom, and I think this is good from them.
This is like adapting on the fly,
and maybe some feeling in there as well,
and I'm not sure what you think,
maybe they're just kind of doing something
a bit out of the comfort zone.
Instead of having a coach, they're angry,
shouting them, they've got all the frogs, nice and cuddly.
Yeah, I think it's a combination of probably them working
on things like this in practice,
but also this was when they were gaining momentum
and winning consecutive rounds, right?
So now they're playing with more confidence
and they're just taking the game to bat-boom in a way.
I'm gonna say as well, shout out to Javjavic
or whatever it was called.
Javjavic.
Javjavic?
Javjavic.
Tac pause, they took at two, four down.
Whenever round after that.
Changed everything.
It was funny to see them take a time out
before the first gun round in the second half.
You know, there must have been someone forgetting the strat
or someone, they're being a debate about what they should do
and then just magazine to take one and get everyone on the same page.
But we're talking about top three coached 2026 that frock back there.
Hey, back in my day, he was a problem.
He made it to have a little bit of a recap of what's gone down so far here.
End day one of stage two, as we were just saying, obviously,
that B stream game versus legacy and I'll be asked to go on.
I'm just going to take a quick peek at the status of that one
and look pretty close last time I checked.
Yeah, we're looking at all just about
I'm going to be out 10 to 8 CT side of nuke, but yeah kind of expected with a little bit of South American rivalry down there
That's always gonna get broadly, right? Yeah, of course
It's we can hear it all the way to here, you know, whenever there's a round when they get very loud, but yeah early on honestly
Not a day of upsets, you know, just when I when I go for upsets in my pick-ups
There's no upsets Freya when I do the opposite. It's upsets galore
it was very disappointing what we saw from GamerLegion. So I think for a lot of these
teams seeing how one sided these opening games were at least on the A-stream, you know, it's
this round too where you will get to know hopefully a bit more, even though it's still
best of ones, but seeing these teams go up against each other now, where they will be
properly tested is where we will have hopefully some more exciting games.
You had 9-Z, Mr. Zero-3?
Yes, that is correct.
You did, they beat FlyQuest, didn't they?
I also had Monty as a 0-3. What happened there?
Yeah, we were looking at that. That was a Monty 13-8 against that of Big Plan.
On Mirage out of all maps. What would have thought after yesterday that Big would ever again,
for the rest of their lives, be in a position where they can lose Mirage?
I felt like they would never lose.
Kers, these are like, these pickups are unethical, anyway.
Listen to this guy. That's a sore loser if I remember.
No, they're like, you could have swapped.
People would be swapping because Valve is still sleeping and they didn't lock it.
Oh, no
To be smart when you can do it after the results I stayed true
To my picker, you know who I saw did you guys see launder's video on Twitter?
Hugo Hugo mid game changing his pick and see it's all the rats are doing it as UK people
Reason why was called toxic?
Aren't we G2 that was looking good from them?
We obviously covered that game versus M80 as well. Tyloo actually managing to be pain. Sorry to put that out there again
Okay, but I think to do with me though. I was that here's the thing
I was 50 50 between do I put pain or 9z and do I put bigger Monty, right?
And I choose wrong both times. That's just how the cookie crumble sometimes friends
Sometimes you're right. Sometimes you're wrong, but I don't have any faith in in pain
Really, uh, whoever they change in the two riflers, they just keep playing the same
Granted they have the opening situation with save here and then NQZ taking some time off. That's not ideal
But you know, they should they are just in that group of teams that's probably gonna win one game
Maybe not and that's it. That's all she wrote. They're not gonna be in the next stage
Right and then not that much is going to excite you when you wasn't playing more importantly ash are yours
Still alive you fallen victim. I hope they're still I will play like four games
I think there's kind of been kind of a gap so far between some of these stage two teams come in like pain come in stage
two should there really be a stage two team? It feels weird right? There's a lot of weird, but I think it's so far today on the
HG we've been the kind of being blowouts. I think the level has been much higher from one of the teams in the games and
It's nice to see because once it's that play-interview we're gonna see some top-quality chemistry when so far we've seen
Scrappy chemistry weird chemistry. Yes
Looks like that B-stream game all there might be our versus legacy is almost ready to be wrapping up currently 12 to 8
So if you want to watch the tail end of that head on over to the B-stream
we're going to throw things to a quick break and when we return we'll be announcing all the games that are going to be played out in round two of stage two here at the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne and diving into the four more best of threes that are going to ensue on each stream.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
You're fading.
Every round is talking about me.
I had so many tries trading anything.
I also like Harry Jr.
Tell me one round.
Hold on.
Let me pull up CS stats.
Oh wait, my bad.
Settle your debates, search your profile on CS stats, and turn on tracking to see all your games.
Got him in, sir!
We are back!
Donk, the sharpest tool in Spirit Shed and the sharpest tool in all of Kamishrike.
Just a 17 years of age, we've never seen anything like him before.
Guys, this is Faker, put him on the ground.
Mbk is going to execute him.
I'll go first.
Man, you didn't sound too good.
I'll go first.
Oh, the shadow betrays Carrigan.
Oh, push it, push it!
Look at Donk!
Oh man, that's disgusting!
Ruffalting from Donk!
23, there's a bit of early groundswell around this kid.
You know, there's a bit of a name star and you're hearing about him in FPL
and then he gets a promotion from the Spirit Academy to the main team
And then they're playing some online events, you know,
when is he gonna play LAN,
then he plays a couple of LANs against good teams
and he's still playing well,
and they're like, well, when is he gonna play against
the big boys?
We said already, you can have one idea.
We need, let's help each other.
We know we need to work on it.
Who was the last one?
Who was the last?
You, right?
Forget about us and remember what I said.
Stop the case, just communicate.
Visa issues come into play,
you don't get to see him get that soft start.
The issue with that is, well,
we haven't really seen him at a tier one event yet.
Both him and Magix,
Miss Bar's group's due to these issues and those issues were still somewhat flattened around.
Because we know we're going to rush them, but we're rushing them and they're surprised we're going to rush them.
Don't miss the media day, arrive late the day before their games, so not exactly the ideal scenario to be getting comfortable.
It's not like it's every day for him to be going into events like this, so you worry if rocking up late is going to affect his performance, right, if he's going to be distracted.
You know, all my broken I have, but it's just sometimes it's just a bit too late.
This one was OK.
But also, you know, pissed around.
You know, said to where they're coming.
However, it was still the early days.
It was only the plane's stage.
So I think everybody was relieved when he touched down and entered the server.
Donk is in the building.
I repeat, Donk is in the building.
Just in case you guys weren't up to date,
he is here at the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2024.
and just in case anybody's been living under a rock
for the past couple of months, Matthew,
why are we so damned high?
Just not only see Donk, but see him on the Spirit Oscar.
I mean, most people think that we're looking at
the next best bearer in the world for the years to come.
That is the high that is around Donk.
You have to realize this man right there
has been able to eclipse the arrival of Shiro in the lineup.
We don't talk about him.
We only talk about Donk.
This can't be coming apart at all!
Beautiful repeat!
Go for another one and you'll be shutting it all down!
Watch the fine one of the flash.
He gets it, KRB.
Now equalizing into a 2v2, things get a bit spicier.
He beat Pete at his time.
All this, and some of the shots.
That's three. Water's out around.
Oh, there's something in there.
No, Z!
Anything!
You're the strongest of all the people!
You may not want to talk to scope, you may not want to give away the sound cause it's a beautiful shot.
He thinks that there's Kenny!
Having guns is available to connect another of the half-bumpers.
Kenny M closes the gap he's at in hand.
Attacking the left, he's being dropped down to 12 health.
If him versus Volta, he taps the bomb once, the key for the rest...
Alright, and Kenny, surprise, surprise!
I need you to help Kenny to dodge, and Kenny's got moves on your head!
They didn't even see it coming!
They need somebody to grapple to the bombsite.
It looks like they need to be there man.
He comes in front of you and your goal has covered.
And the quicks come to watch what you want to hear.
All another!
I'm sure he throws a Molotov a second laser.
No! We've got a broken head!
He's fucked!
He's too far off!
Kenny chops the rest of the world.
Kenny is worth a 75 to shop and he ain't got the clothes he needs on the border.
He's one for a fight with one.
Come on! Oh my god!
I'm not sure if he's gonna get it or not, but I'm pretty sure he's gonna get it.
I'm not sure if he's gonna get it or not, but I'm pretty sure he's gonna get it.
Never forget the name!
Anything come and over.
Feel as if you're a pilot.
Anything yet to land.
Almost you're my dark and joker.
Anything come and over.
Feel as if you're a pilot.
Anything yet to land.
Almost you're my dark and joker.
They all need to stay humans first.
He's got it!
He's got it!
Hey Rush! Hey Rush!
Hey Rush! Hey Rush!
What is this?
It was a little bit
Fuck it, fuck it. Welcome on Esi
Oh, baby, the triple!
Finding a break is all you do.
Breathe, and the...
Ha ha ha!
Roll around!
Deceperate fates!
Don't you think what no one has ever done before?
The devil!
He slaps it down!
I can't stop!
I can't stop it!
Please!
Save me!
The fates can't complete the triple!
Donk is in the building. I repeat, Donk is in the building. Just in case you guys weren't
up to date, he is here at the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2024 and just in case anybody
has been living under a rock for the past couple of months Matthew, why are we so damned
hyped? Not only see Donk, but see him on the Spirit roster.
I mean, most people think that we are looking at the next best player in the world for the
years to come. That is the high that is around. Donk, you have to realize this man right there
has been able to eclipse the arrival of Shiro in the lineup. We don't talk about it. We only talk about Donk.
We talk about his transition to the very top level, what he's going to be capable or not to do
against the elite level. Donk, he's up next and of course they line up, but of course he sprays
I need to go into position of strength and confidence, if something doesn't work out,
We're still on C, we're still catching, we're still in the police situation, or we'll play back there, it'll work out.
Fuck, I killed them all!
Fuck, I killed them all!
They're not going down!
One more on C.
I'm dead.
Fuck, I'm dead.
Come on, punch him!
I'm alive!
He's down, he's down!
He's down, he's down!
He's down!
He's down, he's down!
He's down, he's down!
The catabits are cursed, it's project, Apex signed with Vitality, they make the Grand Vial here in Poland!
The dog is still alive! Kill out of dreams!
Experienced Prince of Darkness, they're defining round in this series!
It's a long time waiting, I miss the trophy so bad.
When we walk into the stadium, I'm looking at it, two majors, I won the Cologne.
I just miss that one piece, which is Katowice.
The whole pressure that we can get is from the crowd cheering against us.
It's always funny to win against the crowd and make everyone silent.
You don't wait 11 years to fail at this point.
To win a Caravisa is hard.
To aim back to back near impossible.
Please welcome to the stage Team Vactate!
T.F.A.S.
For that trophy, something iconic is about to happen.
I'm going to the final, definitely had a revenge in my mind, I have a guy in Saibu's, I knew
it's going to be different for sure, I knew that guy is going to pull off some things,
you know I have some personal vendetta against him, so I had a couple of tricks up my sleeve
Some players know how to win. That guy knows how to win. He knows how to be good in big games.
It doesn't mean that he will be good at every big game.
When you play with Robin, he gives you confidence just by the way he talks,
how Kami is during the round, etc. Not by his pitch, but the way he talks during the game, the way he plays.
With FaZe, we had a lot of success. We won those tournaments, but my tell-tale thing is going to be different,
so we have to find our own recipe. I think they're just happy to have me, and I think most of it brings confidence to the team.
Let's go!
I'm going to kill you!
Yes, yes, yes.
Let's go!
Let's go!
Let's go!
Let's go!
Play without background, play clearly what we discussed.
Listen to Leon, everything will work out in the middle.
Let's go.
Spirul looks excellent from the get-go.
Donk was top of the school board, I'm absolutely fracking out, but the jury was somewhat out
on their opposition.
Complexity and love at the time weren't exactly finished products.
Magic, how stressed we are, how fucked we are, we're doing five rounds.
Active Force? Active Force, but it's five rounds.
No, it's a three round. It's a three round.
No, it's just like...
It's a five round. It's a three round.
They were now teed up to face-phase, a completely different beast.
In an upper bracket game which saw the winner making it straight through to the semi-final in the Spodak.
The stakes were certainly high.
At that point, Faze were a team that had been in every single grand final since the switch
at Sydney.
These are known laner players.
games on the big stage is where these guys thrive and they have an excellent mix of not
only veterans but young fighting power.
So this is definitely where we're going to find out if Spirit will adjust.
Spirit versus phase.
We can't understate how important this game is.
Yeah, phase clean is like the main character.
I see you've been playing with 10 year olds again.
What?
Dona that's crazy.
What? The one we won?
Vs that kid?
Mmmmmmm.
Clap them.
Alter.
But it was close.
How am I losing?
I'm thrice as a citizen!
Tell me though.
You were clip farming or?
I wish I was.
Dona, I don't think I'd ever be good at CS.
Nah come on.
Now for real, Dima invited me to one of his pro versus bots videos.
That's good content, or?
Don't know. I was one of the bots.
Well, I'll always be there to carry intro matches.
Nah.
You know it's bad when you get him carried by your manager.
Oh no. Not everything comes with an instant document head.
Quick open!
See? Even I don't know if you're clip farming right now, or if your brain is actually destroyed.
Got the opening case out for now.
But what if I fucking did?
Alta, seriously, you're gonna relapse and jail's just gonna overtake you.
Oh, no!
So what do you think?
One last thing, though.
There have been rumors that you're selling fentanyl on cathedral grounds.
You too?
NIP paper, mech tent heat, honest, holy friend.
I'm fucking done!
Any more of this?
We're doing Cold Streams, Minecraft, and that's it.
That for me was a culture shock.
Not Valorant.gg, HLTV.
Whom is this, bro?
The Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major 2026
is brought to you by ESL in partnership with...
Intel.
Acer Predator.
DHL
Checks
And Zoe
I'm sure they need all the introduction that they can get.
Just kidding, they've got quite their pedigrees within the realms of Counter-Strike and in
IRL, I'm sure, as well.
Gentlemen, we are in Stage 2 now.
No doubt.
How was yours?
It was good.
It was good to kick it off this morning and during the day.
I think the quality of Counter-Strike is already evident, getting to see Spirit Play, getting
to see Foot again, one of the most exciting teams in my book.
So I was pretty pleased with the first round of Counter Strike here.
Yeah, there's a pool of really good teams that you, without a doubt, expect to go to
the next stage.
But then you also have a pool of teams that will be battling out for the last remaining
spots.
And I think, you know, you already mentioned FUT, I think Astralis is also going to be
in that pack.
And I think Legacy is also a team that I think has been a bit on the up-rise as well.
And then, to me, the big question is if Gamer Legion, you know, with the ranking being the
10th best team in the world right now, if they can actually make it count, because they
have been, they have just been looking sloppy.
you know, it's it's not going to get easier from here. No, it probably shouldn't. I mean,
this is the major after all. Let's talk about what this is exactly where we are in the confines
of what's going on here. The Swiss system is a big sort of ordeal. We're talking 16
teams, twindled down to eight into another 16. And then we'll go on into those big playoffs
after this stage. So what do we got here? We got a big day, you know, we got the day
where the best of ones are still in full force and people at home, you may as well enjoy
it, right? Because this is the last time we're going to see that once we're heading into
state three it's all gonna be best of three so this doom day peter where you get to play two
best of ones that potentially i wouldn't say decide your major fate right because we did see
tylu come back from being o2 and we have seen your teams go two on the first day not making it but
it is so so important to get off to a good start here it's like the first game you play at the
major is obviously important but if you end up losing that one and you find yourself in the
o1 bracket it's almost like that one is more important because if you end up in that o2 bracket
after the first day, if you're even a favorite, if you're usually like a rookie team coming,
you know, it's going to be extremely hard to bounce back because even if you get to
the best of three, you've got to win three to actually make the clean sweep.
It has happened before, we've even seen that Tottenham can do the magical run-up, actually,
clean sweeping to win the entire thing, but regardless of that, it's about getting a good
start and, you know, it's good to see at least for me that the favorites in G2 and Spirit
has picked up their win now, but there's also been a bit of surprises that some of the teams
and maybe expect it a little bit more of and also the ones coming from stage one
haven't been looking as sharp as I would have thought and maybe that's just me
getting old or being a little bit too used to how it was back in the days
because you know it's always this that you can play yourself in a tournament
you get experience from the first stage you warmed up you know the atmosphere
then the new teams come in and then you have an agonobre hand I don't seem to be
feeling that it's as impactful as it's been before so yeah so yeah the
cotton continues for the big trophy here in Cologne we'll take a look at that
stream schedule and see how it's all gonna come together here in the latter
part of the day again we have to go through see how the seating all works
who's playing who who's one who's lost and how they pair up against one another
so yeah straws 90 you're gonna get that one right out of the break a little
pain big legacy fly quest and bait in 80 you're gonna round out the B stream at
least today anything stick out off the page I know you guys are a straws fans
hardly anymore to be completely honest I think it's an interesting game you know
as far as was in 90 both for for good reason I think as far as a little hot
done by the shape coming into this tournament. People started to doubt them, people started
to question them. I think it was the case of them playing perhaps a bit too many tournaments
back to back and I think Huxi and Rocker for that matter as well, two smart minds of the
game that likes to have proper preparation leading into a tournament. Don't like the
same strat books from tournament to tournament, so they've had time to redefine it and kind
of update the playbook a little bit, Peter. So I have high expectations for Astralis.
And then I will say the legacy losing their opening game against, I believe that was MIBR
into to fight Flycrest. I hope they bounce back here because I agree with you, they
were looking great coming into the Major and them going 0-2 on day one here in
stage two, that would be a massive surprise to me. I think it was on a
back foot for a legacy to phase up like another Brazilian team, a team that they
know and played against a lot. You know, I think the first game can always be a
little bit tricky and if you play against players that you know, regardless of them
adding you know international people to the team, I still feel like they would
have probably done better against a team that they they probably didn't know too
much about and I think that legacy will bounce back. I'm fairly certain. I think
legacy has the individual firepower but also I think bringing out back is it's
still like you know this big question but I mean it has been paying off right
you know he he's got it's been out for a while but now it's been brought in to be
more of a leader than he's ever been right that's that's in his own wording
so it's it's interesting to see how how they're gonna be panning up but I'm
fairly confident that they will bounce back. So let's quickly jump into what's
going on for us over here on the A-Stream. I think I can start even the
conversation on foot tyloo to kick it off but g2 montee that'll be your second
match going for a little bet boom and gamer legion and we're gonna round out
the day with spirit in my VR we saw what spirit delivered earlier so I'm
saying that they come in here to play and they're coming into play you know I
have no doubt that spirit will find their way into stage three it's just a
question whether or not they're gonna be super convincing do we so I'm
relatively confident that both spirit and g2 just gonna like run over their
bonus not gonna be difficult and it's just gonna be like that that's gonna
be easy let's go for it well let's put let's put our money where your mouth is
Jacob let's talk about your damn pick-ups or let's talk about where they are where they're going what they've seen
Well, I think they're going as far as I remember it at the very least. It's pretty much the perfect start for me
I I have G2 going 3.0. I believe which is kind of nice
That was a bit of a gamble, you know
A lot of people are not really expecting G2 to be too good and then I have a spirit to go 3.0
Which I think is not too big of a gamble. We'll hold the phone real quick
We actually do have a phone call coming from the other side scrawny. Are you on the other end of the line? Perhaps?
apps that uh... hello hello is that uh... big tuna and the great danes
yeah that's what the column so the great as a buddy not sure that you know
scrawny let's talk about some pickens power you feeling over there what you
think i'm feeling good my pickings uh... depends on which version of my
pickings straight
explain
uh... was just really friendly today and uh... yeah i've gone through a couple
iterations of zero threes i've got more than two of them that's all i'm saying
uh... yeah i don't know here i am with the wall uh... jacob you said nearly
Perfect. I want to hear what you're cooking brother. Yeah, nearly nearly perfect so far
You can take G2 and and spirit and put them 3.0. You know, I think that's for me
That's that was to go to G2 is a bit of a gamble that we got but I think spirit, you know going 3.0
That's what we all expect now. I can co-sign that one
But I'm not gonna do this without the authority of stunner
I think he has the ultimate word as the host over there
Okay, if I put that three zero, I'm okay with that. Yeah, I think so gotcha
I can definitely prove this one too. I think it's like it is these two teams out of this stage too that this league
Just seem to lead to be looking best, right? It's also what that's like the best expectations
So I think it's a this is a fairly good one
It's also just to share my experience of the pick-and-stay stuff right now
That's also my 3-0 pitch for both of them. So I agree with you on this one. That makes me lift comfortable then don't be
Okay, so where we going from here? You want to go over three you want to discuss all three? I know no no
I think we save that for last. I think we go one three
Hmm what one free well, that's not that's not really what we're doing yet
Which you know we either you make it or you don't you can eliminate them now if you'd like okay look one three right here Jacob
Okay, it says it right there. All right, and you can throw in M80 in that one
I don't think M80 is gonna lose all their games, but then I gotta win three games. Okay, I'm gonna do something for you guys
How about this I'm gonna put teams in
One three that I think are right on the cusp and from there. I'd like you to move them up and down into zero three or one three
How does that sound?
Is that cool?
Yeah, that's cool.
And we'll do that at what, M80?
Because we've got to keep Jacob happy.
Got to.
Otherwise.
We'll put Gamer Legion in there just because...
Oh, that's a whole thing.
I think there's a little conversation as of today with like a little shakiness.
And you said it yourself, Dupri.
There's kind of like this unexpected, I would say like leveling off, tapering off of some
of the Stage 1 teams.
We always say like you warm up into the Major, right?
And I don't think we really saw that from Big today.
We didn't see that from Gamer Legion.
Just to make it interesting. I'm gonna throw in a team that actually won a game, but might not win another one
So those are the teams I'm throwing in one three. I want you guys to discuss who should go up or down from there
How about that? I'm fairly confident regardless of what how poor game religion actually has looked
I still think that if they go in the pool of these teams, they should be going and pulling a heart
So I want to be putting them at least you got a step above
Okay. Yeah, I can I can I can do that, you know, we can put game on Legion up if you want to I think they're gonna win another game
perhaps even making it through. I can't actually remember if I put them there.
Yeah, you know what you can do as well? You can take big and then you can thank
them for delivering a sick comeback yesterday, you know. It was great, it was
fantastic and boom they're gonna be out 0-3. 0-3? Okay, Dupri, you want to go against that?
Well, I mean, my Piggum says that I had Tyloo and you know Tyloo they managed to
beat Payne, so I mean if I could change things around now, I mean I could
potentially do it, but I don't know. He already did that for us earlier, I think
through his pick-ups. So let's stick the landing here and go with, yeah, Bigger probably going
on a three.
Yeah, okay, let's slide them down. We'll slide them down, we'll slide MIBR back in, no disrespect
to a team that won. I'm going to throw it another 0-3 just to keep the ball rolling.
Yeah, and I'm going to put FlyQuest in there, and I'm going to say the exact same thing,
boys. Big gave us a fantastic last map of stage one. I think FlyQuest did what they
had to. They screwed over the pick-ups in the first stage like they loved to. They progressed
to the second stage of the major.
They came second?
If I'm not mistaken, they only did, uh, you know, they kind of broke through last major in Budapest.
So many times we've actually seen this FlyQuest core go 2-0 in stage one, and then failed to make it through, and failed to make it through.
And Budapest, they changed that.
In Cologne, they repeated it, but you know what they also have a bad reputation of doing?
Getting to the second stage, and then winning zero games from that point on.
That's what happened last major, so this one, boys, you're not allowed to change, that's all me.
And that's completely fine, I'm sanctioned in that, that sounds right.
I think we expedite this process a little bit too. I'm gonna start from the top one names. Can we do that? Go for it
All right, let's start with Tyler. Where'd they go?
I was not qualified. They're going 1v1
1 3 mm. Okay, I can see that a straw list. I know this one might be a faint of heart for you
I feel the qualifying. Yeah, that makes it definitely
Definitely that's a
Although a little weird coming into the major but damn did they have one of the most impressive opening games?
I think in terms of exceeding expectations. I did play gamers. Just going right. Yeah, but they didn't just play them brother
they smoke them. You're so hooxy, huh? Hooxy was on something in that game. Just said he was
shit in practice and then he'd show us off like this. I'm going. Just to take all Ninzey's going
through. How about that? How about nah? I don't get that one. Well too bad I did it. It's definitely
there now. I would have to refute that one as well. Pain gaining. Not qualifying. Not qualifying.
Not qualifying. I'm going home. Truthfully. It's a tree of a lineup and I don't think they had the
fire positive. One more time, boys. I'm just going to split these up just in case we do have to move
them down or you know I don't want to paint in the law like in the one three bracket that's for sure
like pain is not them they're gonna win one given most and then they're gonna be caught like
less than m80 and mibr yeah i think that's safe runny cool copy nice bed boom bed boom will make
it bed boom looking solid they're interesting they're funny they'll they'll make it you think
they'll struggle a little bit more sure the same bracket in 3-1 you know but they'll make it you
know what i you can do you can put put you can put foot you can put bait you can put legacy as a
a qualifying team. Oh, I, you know, I had high expectations for legacy. They were my
three zero, but losing to an M I B R out of the gate. That one's got me a little more
about it. You can just go in and change. It's fine. No, I already got that job. There's
no PC access here for me. Actually, the casting PC, you're right. And then last two boys,
I've got a Monty here in my hand. What's up with this? I know they're not favorites in
the pick-ups right now. Is that right, Jacob? No, I really think it went through games. I
I like them. I think they're doing good counter strike to just have an upper ceiling, you know, put them as 2-3
Between these two who's getting moved down from the Americas MIBI will win more games. I made you won't yes
All right, excellent. I hear you
Outstanding very well put. Thank you so much, Connie
And of course that will be I guess Jacob's pickums is who will nail that one to the wall with
But yeah, that says we start the stage to here
We start to take a look at which teams are gonna make which directions
We've already seen some action at this point and the more action we're gonna see comes on the form of foot in Tailu and doing that
We're gonna catch up with Kravini
I'm here with Kravini ahead of your second game at IM Colomage
I just
Commanded your jerseys because there's special occasion just for this one. Are you are you liking the fit?
Yeah, I think this one is the best so far from foot
I
Want to scope out a little bit on your IGL journey because we've had a lot of discussions about you and on social media
as well that you are probably one of the best or biggest fragging in game leaders currently in the
you know tier one, tier one and a half whatever you want to call it. Can you give us a little bit
of an insight how it works in FUT? Is this because you are just skilled so well or you're like putting
responsibilities on the players so you're not just that pure IGL but you're like kind of playmaker
as well? I think yes like first of all why maybe people say that I killed the most of IGL because
of my positions also that I play like I'm playing like star player on city side also have like
the best position like not a single idea maybe play ace overpass or like there is some also
connector it's maybe up exes play and me I don't know about others but I have the best position
on city side also T side like every other ager like I'm on the back and also I am a bit like
who is, like, as a playmaker, I try to do, like, risky stuff and I think sometimes working, sometimes not.
Yes, sometimes working, sometimes not, but most of the time it gives you at least some kind of information to work with,
so you can orchestrate your teammates around a little bit better, right?
So you have this better overview of the situation, if you're playmaking positions?
Yeah, like, whenever if I die or I am alive, like, I always will give the call what to do to my teammates,
So even if I die, I will still help my team after to manage their own how to do what to do.
I want to ask about the Tyloo, obviously ahead of you in this best of one. What do you think about
this draw in general? Because this is a very playable team, they're coming from stage one
and I just want to pick your mind a little bit what happened between the first and second game.
Did you analyze with your coaching staff or are you fully just hands off and letting them do the work?
To us from the first game, if we compare with the second, I think the first game some of
the players maybe had more pressure because the first game of the major we didn't play
like from the first stage and Bait for example came from the first stage like they was more
ready to play here.
So I think second game we will have less pressure and I think it's kind of same opponents
as bait, like level, and I think it's gonna be a good game. We never played against them,
even in practice, I think we never played them. If I'm not wrong, also an official fighting
will be a good game for us. What do you think about Chinese CS? When you're about to play against
Chinese opposition or teams from Asia, what are you most afraid of? What do you need to be like
telling your teammates to be careful and to make sure that you do not throw the rounds and do not
do not throw the advantages that you need to be looking in.
I'm not afraid about anything about other regions.
For me, as IGL, when we play other regions,
it's a bit easier, to be honest.
Like, overall, when we played other regions,
I think most of the times we win those games,
so looking forward to what we'll...
When we play against Chinese, we never played before, so yeah.
I wish you good luck in this best of one.
Obviously, you want to go with the 2-0 score line
into the best of 3s.
Are you more of a best of one or best of 3 team,
in your opinion?
best of three like I don't like best of one is from like at the moment we are
playing I think decent after Bucharest this America we don't count it as a
team but what happened happened there but for us we prefer more best of three
this best of fun is pistols when you lose it's a bit hard after of course
obviously thank you for this and good luck in your second game of the day thank
you now losing pistols definitely is not gonna help but for put e-sports and
and Tyloo going toe-to-toe here.
I think both teams getting their one-to-no start
probably immensely helps them feel better
coming into this matchup, albeit what map
are you gonna get again under the confines
of this best one?
I think for Tyloo, you know, was a bit unexpected
that they were able to win their first game
for foot more so expected.
So both of them are coming in with, you know,
a happy state of mind, so to speak, after the first round.
No Dust 2, no Ancient, no Inferno, no Murash,
and for the rest of the tournament,
actually it doesn't seem to be that in
for the best of one games, Nuke, and Nuke is gone,
and we get overpassed.
Very interesting map in the best of one condition, right?
We know FOOT can play at a high level.
We've seen them do it for quite some time.
For Talu as well, it's a map that they play, you know,
I'm just not sure whether or not
it's gonna be one of those games
where the longer it gets dragged out,
the less I believe in FOOT,
or sorry, the less I believe in Talu.
They seem very one-dimensional when it comes to overpass.
So let's talk a little about the dynamic about getting loud,
because we can definitely see that from the FOOT side.
When these guys get activated,
they do get animated outside of the servers,
What do we see in there? I mean we saw it in the first game as I was watching it at the hotel room
They were screaming left right and center and they were playing you know
Very very very proactive and fun counter strike. I don't know about you Peter
But right now there may be my favorite team to watch in any game of counter strike because they play with emotions
They play with feelings and they play fun to watch
Counter strike plus this is a good hold on just one second here plus is a great cut because it's just one continuous screen
It's like they made their own like you know, you know thing they all do it all do like this when they scream
It's like hands in front of the head then they scream like because it gets the most laughs, right?
Yeah, I it's it's an incredible interesting team
I think that like the way that they have developed throughout the year has been incredible also
Picking up the winning Bucharest, right? That's kind of the pinnacle of the year
But it's it's a very young squad. It's the youngest one. We have at the major
There's four rookies inside and I think what actually pays pays into to their favorite is that they have actually played
All of like T1 trainers before coming to this one
They've already gotten a ton of experience playing the best teams of world
So it's a it's a team that I have a lot of expectations for let's talk a little bit of expectations
What we we kind of expect to see this come to life looking like in a 1-0 game for foot and Tyler Jacob
Where you put it? I mean I have foot as the heavy favorites in this game
I think what they showed in the first game against bait who is also a great team the way they they won on ancient in a back-and-forth game
There was one round that stood out to me and that was round 23
I believe it was when they decide to call a straight up B rush, you know at a very very important moment in the game
you see it right here actually it's so cool it's 11 to 10 the score was 10 to 10
before and they out of spawn just decided to go full on rushed towards the
D bomb side they executed fantastically well they absolutely own bait at the end
of winning the game when you are playing with four players who are rookies at a
major Peter your first game at a major you're coming in as the favorites against
bait and this is what you do this is the attitude you come in with you know
Crabani also making sure that this corpse is gonna die a million times I love
I love the tenacity they're coming in with.
It's great to see that they also dare to go over this type of play,
and I think it's them staying true to their playstyle, you know, playing scared.
If they would have just, you know, fallen back and playing like this slow, default style.
That's not what they, you know, they can do that,
but they're just as much, if they pick up momentum by winning the round previously,
they throw these types of inside to make sure to speed things up,
keep your opponents guessing, and they can't bait off guard, you know,
and they rightfully so also deserve to win the round,
and they play with the balls that you have to do when you're, first of all, the rookers.
the roof is if you show up and you don't have to play your game style you're
just gonna be losing. Hey you're just gonna be kind of hiding in the corner
just kind of backs against the wall looking at everything. Well I didn't say
that. You said that. I didn't say that. I said that it's time for us to get into
that game gentlemen it's foot and tyloo we are definitely in the major now
there is no disputing that so overpass in front of us if you are watching the
Intellect Stream Masters over that B stream is a Stralis 9z if you're into
that sort of thing that's a 1-0 game as well but for us foot and tyloo will be
our port of call. Let's go ahead and get it going. Get it going. We will stun us. Thank you gentlemen for
your thoughts moving into this one. Yes, Tyloo with a hell of a challenge in front of them.
I think there's a lot of teams in fact that may consider foot already prepared for the third
stage of this major, i.e. stage one. Or is it three? Yeah, number three. Number one in this
server meant to be foot. I'll tell you that much. Tyloo's overpass. It's uh, it's gonna have its
hands full to say the least but it's a team that's gone from 0-2 in the first
stage to now this opportunity in front of them so showing resilience is
something Tai Lu has proven already in Cologne. Those reps can be really good,
really haven't seen them be detrimental. Not getting burnt out on stage one can
affect you if that keeps happening but I think for Tai Lu it's something they
needed for sure. Of the performance earlier today, that was a little bit of a
Bigger challenge.
They try to give over some false information to foot who are preparing to defend against B and
There's a little bit info now
Jump spot from cemetery
Execute over top from short
First bullet whizzes by and we can see that utile zoning nobody
Oh instagush for him to have to stomach inside a bank and Moses gonna just push forward slightly
It's his zero to stay on optimist
Gonna try to just fly in off that flashbang
They spam this corner as they start the retake good reactive move to do so tyloo now 3d5 firing back
It's a blood back and it's all on mercury suddenly all he's able to catch is that one now
That is the kind of team play and I think Jacob just used the right word tenacity from all the sudden a foot that comes flying through
the dumpster pre-firing a corner just in case and they were right about that spot
being preoccupied so nice retake to get that CT pistol win. It's good and
explosive and they really trusted themselves and you know it almost as
if the smoke helped them get out because they popped out of three different
positions obviously with the assistance of their flash from Grimany. They made
that look like it was way too simple but retakes on the A side overpass not
not always that simple. Good to see foot looking like themselves, even on the biggest stage.
That bomb plant is going to fund Tyloo's buy in this, and it's definitely not horrible
for the triple golels. Mose gets to be allocated solo outside of B and we float again for Tyloo.
Demons not going to wait too long before he tries to take over the short side.
You'll meet no resistance.
We saw that door fake last round, so trying to play was a hit.
Who's there ahead of this?
And it's actually not being spotted.
No one close.
Flash is perfect.
Finds it spot, and Mosia makes his move.
Nice defensive scramble.
Demon catching Mercury in the back end of things as he looks to support this short hold.
It's going to be four members of foot all coming in from short B.
Will Tyloo anticipate this?
Hold it back. Krobenian locks. It's a killer piece
It's the bomb dropped in the middle of all that in 45 seconds for zero and Mosie up
To try to figure this one out you go for the bomb plant again
You're worried about heaven, but it really is all in on short sides so many bodies here
They can go for a boost. That's a nice trick to try to catch one, but nobody behind that pillar means no point of contact
They're not seeing zero. He's kind of avoiding their crosshairs. Oh, he's just gonna miss this
Longs is gonna just stick that MP5 to the back of the head and Mosia single kill
Another successful retake at a foot two rounds in a row and I like that push off of the bomb site
You can see Tyloo kind of scratching their heads unaware as to where the hell foot have gotten off to truly
And even when they are stuck outside of that site in the smoke
There's no hesitation from foot
They're still making moves trying to gain what they can with that boost over the wall
This jump spot confirms there's a player there and then that is a bit of awkward timing that could have cost Longs
but it's yeah it's brought to you by you know the fact that they couldn't find
any of the CTs and Zeros thinking they must be exiting somewhere right now so
timing works out for foot but I like how they find something to do even when
they have to wait out of smoke or they want to wait for most of it timing
works out beautifully I think Tyloo on that exact we're really missing a Polly
or a smoke for short themselves so otherwise that'd be popular bit huge
And the CTs will be a little bit more aware of watching that choke point this time around.
The conversation about foot in this game is that they're already the favorites.
I'm going to list off some of the teams that they've beaten on this very map, Payne, NRG,
Bait, G2, Astralis, Astralis again, Aurora.
And I think that is a hell of a list of names to say that you are better than on Overpass
versus a Tyloo that's shown an affinity for trying to make this map happen so far in Cologne.
But tough challenge in front of them here right now.
I like seeing Jam Young on Overpass, that's for sure.
Throw it all out the window, I don't care who you beat, Jam Young just busted you up.
Beautiful Deagle shot to start this, kind of threatens Krebbeni, and so he feels squeezed,
Goes back and forth, tries to find a fair duel, makes sense that he locks in on this long player, odds are that guy's alone and he is correct.
You can leave the site itself to Long, so now just Kribeni to support this.
He times it nicely off the teammate.
Jam Young in with the AWP.
Curious turn of events with that one.
Yeah, that was an unforced peek out of Kribeni, so he dies with three, but at 22 seconds, what are you really gonna do here?
Jam Young's making a long rotation with his AWP.
He tries to move it back around, he's met by a Molotov, and by the time he gets over
there his teammate's now dead and that ball is in the corner, so don't die after time.
How about that?
Dies in the final five instead, better of the two options.
We've got foot up 3-0 here to start this best of one.
That's probably for the best that he throws it away because they are flanking long at
that timing, so we'll not be able to save it.
Would have been a nice weapon to take into this next round though.
is T side overpass, you're not always going to be able to find opportunities.
Still seeing some good things here from Tyloo, being able to approach sites, get opening kills,
get the bomb down in a couple of situations, but this might, this round might be the hardest
of all.
They have a bit more to lose, and we know they were playing a little bit more carefree
in that second round, popping through monster.
Very nice.
Bozia's got bozies.
Wow.
Wow, I mean this is just done now if they stick the landing and they will.
The enemy is going to find one as well so convincing kills coming out of Tailu the moment they've got their guns.
That's cool to see because the same praise that went over to Foot for being themselves
is also applicable to Tailu who aren't afraid to come forward with like really low telegraph plays,
contact plays, and trust their entries.
Not wasting any time, something you can't afford on Overpass.
Let those first gun rounds get totally stuffed, I don't think so.
And so this one, a prime example of it.
Mosia takes to the front of this Tyloo unit with that double kill in short.
Two duels he could have lost.
Pretty damn fair those fights, and he picks them both up at only half of his HP.
Italian Fisherman's favorite pasta?
Let's try that anyways.
Okay, you got me.
Is it still fishing if you're catching crustaceans?
Get punched in the stomach?
Disarms.
Zero really guaranteeing it on that one as he was stuck behind the molly.
And there's a question mark on foot, Moe, instantly in round five.
Two pistols.
Let that M4 go.
Kerbini wants contact, pushes closer to the fountain, eats the flash, oh, tries to pre-fire
as Jam Young steps into the stream of shots.
It's a bunch of damage, but it will be Krubeni the first death in this one.
Kind of loving all the opening kills that are coming on this T side.
That's great connector.
Wallbang spams from the B site to get 0 as low as he is.
Let's see if this turns into a punishment or one more kill for Tyloo.
Thieman's got a hard line on the cross, and right now Mosey is passively watching it,
but his teammates are going to have to come over, and it actually might be hard for him
to step out into this.
It's a very good angle to try to isolate.
Zero should be done for it.
Oh, especially as he swaps over the knife the moment he walks into that angle, so really
not ready for it.
Jam Young could definitely die to one of these pistols.
Mosie goes stomping by and because of that, Jug Snow just got to jump.
Now you've got two players walking damn near dead already.
It's in Demon with the M-Force here to try to clean house.
And a boost is a solid call.
You'll throw one up and over, Mercury just down beneath it.
That's G now tagged.
And Demon activates, kills two of the players that were down low.
Mercury's that third one still sitting in the mud.
Demon caught off by that ramp, and it's a nut.
One last player with a full bar of health, and that's the guy that posts those two kills
needed to get Tyloo their second.
A couple of big plays out of Mozia in this game.
That's awesome because they really tried to make you feel as uncomfortable as possible,
playing behind default in a position where you don't have that high low advantage,
where the CTs can wrap around you.
If you spend too much time without updating information, you will eventually die.
You have to be proactive and that's just what he was.
Furia baby. Then we got Jam Young sprinting in already taken over the site
There's a lot of bodies here you have to skip the clearing process and that's the price you can pay. It's just USBs
That's all they've got that and two kills already
Thanks to locks now the Diggle activates
Kubernetes Desert Eagle to try to make this difference down to the 2v2 quick look from G round that smoke push onto the bridge side shut
Out and jugs with the Diggle up has two players in front of him
This round was not meant to have anything to say, but you rushed the process.
Jugs tries to just walk up along that wall and it'll be Tai Lu to survive the curveball
offered up by a double USP opening.
You know, if Tai Lu win this half just even off of close rounds, that's totally fine for them.
Like, you know how good foot are gonna be no matter what they've got to work with.
They have absolutely insane aimers.
So, their close shapes here, but surviving, is really impressive.
They've had so many good moments where they've stuck it out at the end,
and that's sometimes criticism for Tyloo.
When a team tries to confuse them or break apart their structure,
they can sometimes end up playing too reactive and not taking control of situations.
But today it looks like they really do have their feet beneath them.
the one moment that looked a little uncomfortable was when they couldn't
smoke or molly short side
maybe they knew they were longer nades and it was going to be a tough round
anyways
but outside of that it's it's been pretty strong yeah and i still think that
round with
but having four players on that short side made it that much more of a pain
point
yet that was such a weird way to play it i totally understand
but double layers up versus tyloo so
Well, forgive him for that one, but let's keep a close eye as Sputby back in this.
Cemetery's op falls back immediately.
Didn't even kind of stick around for early contact.
We'll find G overtop of two of his teammates.
We'll see if this timing can catch Cemetery off guard.
They have gotten by this line.
It clusters him slightly.
Ugh, Jam Young goes through the fire.
Feels like it's worth it.
Mercury grenades in hand, and Krebbenny starts to activate.
You can see these players all unprepared.
Not a single one of them had a gun out.
Now Krebbenny escapes, not free.
We go back and forth because it was a lower B-depth at the hands of Juggs
over top of the one Tyloo player that was trying to draw everybody back.
They wanted to leave!
Wow, they went so quick.
And now they've got options because the CTs are split.
Tyloo have kind of had these momentary pauses back and forth, but they'll go running into this.
Mercury starts walking too late.
Man, they're making so much noise.
Yes, sir, Logs on high alert because of that, but they do surpass his angle.
He could try to walk up and strike them down with this unexpected flank.
You're going to turn the corner?
They're in bank now.
Oh man, are they gonna get confused about this?
Because they have actually gotten a way out
where the rotation must go the other way
and Longs has to be sure that he can flank.
No way they come back.
They're actually thinking about coming back,
but the thing is, are they gonna clear out
bank of all places?
I think this is just free for, yeah, for a long time.
He's not running again.
Oh, bomb planted, excuse me,
denied in that final second.
Forces zero into an awkward spot.
Feels like he's gotta do it, he's gotta do it now.
He'll win the fight.
He's got to scoop that bomb up!
Or, missed it!
Oh, he can't.
Ah, just missed it.
That moment of hesitation.
Oh, he got it!
He got it!
Nope, he got one the round.
Fourth three.
Oh, my goodness.
Oh, it's like, jeez.
That close.
Yeah, he saw three on the clock.
That's...
Jesus.
Just that close.
That one extra has, you know, he got the kill in bank.
He kept his AK out for an extra second.
Yeah.
You have to argue that one.
You know, that is how close those moments can be.
Tyloo just missed it, but dude that entire round hinges on tiny timing. Yeah getting into bank wrapping back around through the dumpster. I
Almost thought the bomb was planted just off the first attempt because there was a moment of hesitation even from foot via longs
There's like a one in them. I don't know if it's true in CS 2
But in CS go I tried it a million times myself and if the clock says four then you can always get it down says three
there's technically like
25 milliseconds or something where you can plant but you never see the
situation. I don't think in CS2 you can at all. But I thought that was a bomb
timer. Yeah it was. Just showed up after the round.
Yeah you can blow up the bridge you just didn't do it fast enough.
terrorism it's on the clock it pays and that's I look at have to work over time
nice streak of rounds but foot answer that streak was made possible by some
lesser buys out of foot this time they're gonna just surpass the bathroom
set up two players in front of bathrooms bomb goes back into connectors
You get this peek from Cemetery. Gun starts to go low, but he just keeps enough bullets to pick up a second frag with only a quarter of his own health gone.
Long's cautious, considering that somebody could be exactly where Zero's at.
And sure enough, still playing with this MP5, just blasts Zero away.
I think Long's can do what he wants at 9 and 6, and we'll see what this 2v5 has left to say.
Krabeni on the search and interestingly with G is actually moving into an
offline to get a free frag but at 28 seconds it's just looking like a pro
long save the CTs are scrambling back just to make sure that they don't try to
late round into the A site but that's not happening and up and a lot of good
utility to save for the next. They're still on pace for a very decent T-side.
Foot will be totally comfortable if this is the last round obviously that
Tyloo get. But it does feel like right now Tyloo are showing us an individual
level that can keep up with foot in some of these rounds which is I think if
this happened a stage ago and it was like first game for Tyloo like they
probably get destroyed. Right, agreed. I think that's why they were one of the
teams that found themselves O2.
I think with as many crazy things that happened, i.e. the big NRG comeback to finish off that
stage, I don't know, I feel like I haven't heard a lot of the discourse about Tyloo
surviving the dreaded 0-2 Vest of 1 Open to a Major.
Still crawling their way back into a second stage.
Impressive, because they got criticized on resilience a lot, so they proved a lot.
Mozia eats a flash, Nades go out, so we're playing a game of
rock, paper, scissors here with Util, and it's going to be Mozia still looking for space.
That second mate doesn't find its mark.
That's some great Util usage from safety as well from the CT side.
Bomb's on a different venture at the moment, but the CTs are responding
to the little bit of information they're getting over here.
This is a crazy-looking setup. They've got two outside B. The bomb is so
separated from this, but if this isn't gonna be a lurk... oh sorry, bomb's a...
That's the AWP. Bomb's coming back now, but they're still very far across the map
at 50 seconds. Jamion looks to maybe... sorry, G looks to maybe sell some kind of
fake with his AWP, but how useful is he gonna be if he doesn't see anything, it
doesn't shoot and if he doesn't do that aren't they just going to be very alert
oh okay that's kind of huge at 30 seconds
Longs will have to respond to this. He's pulsing into the side at least.
He starts to PAAAW double head shot or rather just to finish off on Longs but
4v3 made possible G equalizes right back there's a lot of players walking
around with the out. I'm gonna try to make it there. 15 seconds that bomb is not
going to arrive in time. Oh man you're not gonna make it why did they pause and
turned around yeah I don't know now he's gonna run it all the way but you're
gonna miss this timing entirely he had to go if you wanted to write that in
there oh man is he just jumping up on the railing is that why it looked like
he was frozen no I think he just paused and even then he was looking back
towards the site if the minimap if my read of the minimap was right I feel
like they just had like a disagreement as to which way to go but that was an
impossibility for tyloo that's very possible at that moment they didn't
think they could make it back and and realize they had made the wrong decision
but they obviously would have narrowly made it look like and poor G's putting
all this work on the A site it was supposed to be just a fake the entire
time his first kill is kind of massive T side up at long by itself and it
generates a kill. I think footer gonna be very relieved to take that one for free.
That was an uncomfortable spot for both teams considering like the health they
had in that three versus three. The back and forth, the back foot lose a player
up towards that A site. Clearly they were also kind of getting caught by the
Tyloo lurk. So you get the freebie on the board, you've doubled Tyloo's rounds
now, you've given yourself a better buy, and your opponent only have two tech
nines in this. It's a bit of a golden ticket punched in foot's favor, but let's
assume that they hold on to this one because for the time being Tyloo sit
comfortably outside this B site and just wait for a chance for these smokes to fade.
Last time we had that double mow down out of jugs. They'll put a smoke in front to
delay even further in a minute. Only Molly remaining is left over on the other
side of the map and obviously it looks like there's an impending B-play, but
even without that it's just got such a strong setup. Smoke fades with G-scoped in
I believe they could walk this in all about judge she's got the return yeah
it's him again with a second but now it's gonna be mosey up one versus three
the other side of this beat commitment gets crunched down he doesn't want that
up that's why clean headshot on the a1s
oh cemetery's got you locked in with that AWP foot seventh round comes by way of
of B site stronghold.
Just Sammy and Jugsley.
He couldn't ask for more when it comes to these last two
B defenses.
It's exactly where Tyloo want to take it.
And because they lose, they have no money.
Losing locks as he peeks into the off.
I mean, that part of the plan went well for G.
That's a hell of a shot to just make sure nothing gets weird.
They love it on a micro front, just him getting into a better and better angle, knowing that
at that point there is no one holding back watching feet outside of B.
Watching feet or foot?
Watching, yeah, watching the toes of foot.
Oh, okay.
Jam Young on a solo man mission right here.
Did he log step?
Either way, Krubeni's ready.
Just like that, Krippanyi fades back around the long corner.
He's got teammates behind him, inside, AWP included.
So it really starts to feel like the foot are here to anchor on what's left of this CT side.
Gizdeagle spots Krippanyi, hear him frantically call that, and the bathroom's player looks to come deal with him,
but they actually have second thoughts again, and they'll stay grouped up,
And move it towards Short instead. The half wall is Tyloo's Avenue of Attack. G rounds that corner into an AWP, having spotted the M4, maybe not ready for that second layer, but it should make this one all the easier for foot now.
5v3, plenty of bodies on the site, so even if that off-shot misses, twice now it was meant to still be stuffed, but the Tech 9s of Mercury and Mosia have reopened the possibility of this round.
There's cemetery to come wide with the USP headshot
That will certainly help spamming through and jugs doesn't waste a second jumps right back into it
It's still majority alive. Yes, they successfully pressure those players off-site in the tech nine entries sweet
But it is an eighth round for foots CT side
We're now at the point of the game where they just need to be able to win around like that
So as mentioned earlier if this ends 8-4 or you know, even worse now 9-3
Fult will not worry about the fact that Tyloo played close to them in those first few rounds and did a good job of getting those rounds early.
They've succeeded quite well here on CT side.
Just another one of those teams that can grow into a massive threat at this major.
Flash is well time to get zero out.
Only has two kills this map, but one of those was a very slick headshot on this entry, so he'll try it again.
Demon locks it down for the time being.
Monster will be overtaken.
You still got locks looking for fights.
Jam Young deals with him, and a low health demon can't really do anything to stop sight.
But Krabay's fast flank will.
That's Mercury, canceled out of this one.
Two players stranded in sight, starting to push forward into the mud instead.
And they're looking to erect a counter boost by the looks of things they want to take heaven while this comes through
But Krebbenny disrespects the smoke finds another kill. That's a quad
full control from Krebbenny off that connector flank
9 3 on the half foot take control
I
A little tenacity from Tyloo through that half for their three round streak, but Foot got things under control.
Able to stop the momentum Tyloo were hoping to hold onto and just proving that they may just be caught from a different cloth here at Stage 2.
It's a great first day by the looks of things for Foot. I think a game they're happy to have in terms of head to head to solidify them as the 2-0.
Nice listen to me like what I want for the next half is that we are playing more discipline because
We kind of underestimate them and we are doing unnecessary peaks and
Don't underestimate your foes and that was in the halftime as well specifically so even with a 9 3 half
Coolio still try to keep things as clean as they need to beat to shut this game down with ease
If you stomp out a Tyloo that was looking to build momentum in Cologne, you'll be looking
to cut your way into top 14 real quick.
Now, Mercury's been sat here passive, but unfortunately for him, eats a bullet to the
head.
The moment this very much prepared pack of foot players comes charging down through
long another instant headshot.
Jam Young's gonna try to get weird and Crebbenny reads him like a book.
Right inside of the smoke, shuts him down, 5v2 post plant for foot for the double digits
and a T side start on overpass that could be wrapping up this game real quick.
That does really put you in a disheartening place.
No retake gonna take place now.
rounds for a foot, it kind of just soaring at this point and it's like you
know in retrospect you look back and you wonder if it were ever really nervous.
They gave up some close rounds but just looking so dominant as you would have
kind of predicted I guess about the matchup but just holding out hope that
Tyler could make it closer because of their performance earlier today because
of how much they had to go through and how much they powered up coming into this
stage but this is top shelf competition and on the bright side you know for the sake of the event
you want to see foot be one of the biggest threats and actually control games like this.
I think just for the sake of continuity through the first season of 2026,
foot of Ben such a breakout team we want that story every major of a team that can progress
from the earlier stages deep into the tournament and we can genuinely say that foot should be
shooting for playoffs here you know to get into the next stage I think would be
to meet expectations to go beyond that one it's probably what they want it's a
team that's taken to some stadiums so far this year they actually they should
be genuinely thinking about winning we know it would be like one of the outside
chances dark horse that they had an easy enough run if another team fail the
vitality lost to someone in playoffs right at the spoiled the script there
There have been weaker teams than foot coming into a major that have got easier major finals and have trophies
I'm gonna name names here. Okay
Outsiders, so it's happened before not gonna name more names, but immortals, you know like there's chances
If you have the right run, but that's this also to speak to
They're in a position to receive an opportunity like that. They are extremely strong
they can beat a certain amount of teams consistently, which is what they need to prove and
And they obviously have all this talent, so...
I do think that should be, like, their thought.
Not sitting there praying for a good bracket, but...
Thinking, alright, let's just channel all the good things that we've done to get here.
If the opportunity arises...
Who wouldn't take it?
Ooh!
That's a wall bangin', huh?
Oh, fully you knew about it.
Cemetery and logs down low now, thanks to G.
The one Scout with pistols standing in front of him.
Nobody's taking a glance at Long though just yet. They want bathrooms. They're gonna clear that out.
Even at cemetery, just pause on Long. Bomb included.
Jump around long enough. It's gonna start to feel like nobody's here, but that 5-7 check will start to confirm it.
Oh, damn young hits the eagle shot oh seven point blank now a k upgrade the scout still keeps tagging go G oh
My back into the bank. That's where his fun dries up
And now we're zero
Another head shot coming out 28 healthier for cemetery versus to concern about the flank
And the last two members of tyloo group up inside sight instead
There's an AK to swap out to shore now, of course as you'd expect
They don't bring a kit to this round
But they've got ample time to still stick this 10-second diffuse to cemetery. Oh, I love that
He lets them come to him still just trying to time this goes wide and sure enough zero right there for it
That's on top of the bomb and Tyloo will break down the door
Thanks to G's scout play and it's such a close diffuse it comes right down to the wire
But because of the full commitment on the peak there was a chance to trade him out now in the back of his mind
He's thinking I gotta knock down a guy who's probably a 10-second diffusing this ball with cover
If he knew what we knew obviously could have taken that peak just more on the shoulder got out of there
But it's an excellent find and punishment out of zero great shots all around especially from G
Who gets that wall bang damage to assist the kill in the first place and she's having a fantastic major highest rated
Tyloo player coming into this one
Progresses through stage one with a 0.35 rating.
Top one on energy.
Vibes.
I asked Amelia after Lynn Vision won their first round in the last stage.
Was it Amelia?
Were you the reason that you won? And he said no, it was G.
The spirit animal of Chinese counter strike.
Spirit animals, actually, those two, hand in hand.
What's that? Spirit or animals? Is that what you said?
No, there's the spirit animals of Chinese CS.
Ooh, oh.
Crepenny.
Speaking of animals.
What a peek.
more of a little scary yeah to eight days
but also long control
does he just really want to fight back for a little bit of space to make sure
could use all these players
all but i think things in the process really up careful
you just made for the victim
unless you buy now suddenly you're put on that same plate
and he might
finds to fully flash players get triple for jam young great sequence
stops most of this he's got the triple but zero is making noise on this
rotation
and kruppen he's pushed forward zero
thought he was going to give a door over of course bomb is still towards long
possession of jam young
that's always going to be a problem but a one-to-one where jam young is stuck
standing in that open corridor of long could have been an issue instead it's
going to be ty lute to finish that one off with two players still up
that was a great opportunity and it felt like a little bit of a gap in
awareness as to where he could have got off to
a scary moment avoided brought to you by jam young and his mp9 great g flash
added to that spray let's see if they can get the cp side rolling a little bit
this is around to have a little fun usp's out for mercury here comes gzp9
he wants money and instead he'll take a glock shot upside the head you overstepped
the boundaries and you've given gifts over to foot.
It's going to take him an extra second to reach for the M4.
Semitary will get his hands on it.
This is another potential isolated fight.
How much caution does Semitary show
if he comes to clear this? Jumping around like that, I like that Moses
got a little action here. He'll move forward, drop that gun
again and the low HP of Semitary is going to have to pick it up.
Fox walks out through connector, gets cleared off a forward-facing jam young, and it feels
like Ty Luehr on the brink of cutting this lead down to four.
T-Side overpass is only for genius.
Something that's very difficult to get through, and those final few rounds can be difficult.
than even T side Mirage. Even though based on this major that might be crazy to say.
You're the right amount of crazy mo so
keep those videos coming. I was like what do you mean?
We're going to time out here for foot to try to figure it out.
We heard that Coolio listen in.
He said, guys, we're kind of underestimating our opponents.
Yeah.
Well, they're very warmed up.
even. I made a video about Jam Young overpass because he aims like no other on this map.
CT side especially didn't really walk around at far. He's got incredible crosshair placement.
got G on the big gun. The buy is good for the perspective of everyone having
utility here for foot. Overall they got the AKs they're looking for just for
Betty on a Galileo. Nothing fast this round this would be an excellent time
time to go for the double nade. Oh yeah.
Oh! Wow, that's a power punch. 75 damage. Eat that.
On top of it, zero to position himself deep in the spot.
His output in this overpass game hasn't quite been on par with his performance in Cologne
so far.
We'll see if this position can give him a chance to really turn that around.
But it's an awkward one because you're worried about connector, you're also worried about
anybody sliding into the hangover.
Oh my goodness.
Exactly.
Just goes to check the other option.
Just goes to give it a glance and in that exact moment.
Alright Jamion, this would have to be special.
Oh ho ho ho, f***ing axe, not a bad start.
Won't be able to keep demon muzzled, heal crossover into the site, clear that one out, man, advantage,
four foot and a bomb plant that will be uncontested.
It's Mosey trying to open up the Heaven Smoke, but it doesn't really go deep enough to give him any true angles out.
And we can see the save being considered already.
I mean, I don't know if there's...
It's worth it just moving. You want to make sure you deny 11,
But you've got these really good guns. You have like a 5% chance if that of even winning this retake
Why not cut your losses?
That's a that's that's a brutal way to die
On short as you said though. He's in an overstressed position, which means he's gonna be looking around
The only reason I feel kind of bad for him is he barely took a glance and was looking back and then got caught on that
What I find interesting about that though, is that he did have a teammate here inside
shortbeath and also could have been the same person to take a look at that door.
Yes, good point.
You know that angle is even better because you can see through the door.
That's true.
So, you know, that's that, but like you said, looked away for such a small amount of time
and at that exact moment.
That's why Counter-Strike isn't one-on-one round.
You have more chances.
Sometimes you'll get lucky.
Sometimes you'll get unlucky.
Just gotta keep playing.
One day you'll be vitality.
How much longer until that happens?
Yeah.
It is.
Yeah, it's unreal.
He didn't even look too mad about it, which I really appreciate, but he should be a little
Also, nice headshot for Jam Young. Obviously, Demon goes for this hyper wide swing through
that stream of bullets. So damn difficult to keep that spray on point. So you take your
first headshot, you drop, we go over to this next one, guns all around, but an early angle
for G denied, and he's even flushed off of the half wall. This is Tyloo very quickly
pulling back from an aggressive start they had.
Oh, what are we going to do here, gentlemen?
No, I insist.
After you.
No, after you.
Oh, he's just missed the feet because the boost took a little bit too long.
And I mean that because we'll have to see if Junkz walks back into this.
It was right there.
Yeah, they would have seen him.
And two instances of rough timing and back-to-back rounds for Tyloo.
You know what, Bum's coming in this direction.
They don't have short control.
It's a great chance.
Yeah.
Yeah, this time nicely done great idea out of Tai Lu in a critical round right all their money essentially here in this one
Look at the trees ahead of this which is huge on a one
Off round win. That's the result if Tai Lu pick up this 18th round. This is wild bomb is actually leaving B
That's completely insane and they get the kill towards a it looked like a lockdown here with the Molly landing
ahead of that position. The CTs thought they were safe for a second and now it's
a bit of a scramble to press forward.
She's got a comfortable line. We'll see if anybody flashes him but oh my goodness.
He's worried about the smoke push. They have that blocked. And he has a teammate
there to watch it as well. Now they have fully passive positions. Too many bad things
happened. In decisions, missed shots, missed opportunity.
This overpass map may wind up being in its totality.
You actually had everything done.
You smoked from bathrooms, you had a teammate to watch it,
and you still got nervous, even though your AWP could
have denied all of this.
That's just a moment you have to trust the setup.
The only reason they pushed out in the first place
is because they knew they were going
to be not useful on the site.
And they could take their first shot and fall back
to the site, get a new chance, and get info.
A little bit of doubt seeps in and it costs Tai Lu, Matt Poi.
Wild that we get an instance of that in back to backgrounds.
Just one identifiable small moment.
But the common ground in between them, slight lack of confidence,
lack of certainty,
and now turning into a lack of round wins.
It will be foot to sit comfortably 12, 6.
and i don't think they flashed around this corner of the road so he just got
worried for nothing really i gotta say because
maybe he didn't realize front bathroom spoke to the glance at it
and maybe there wasn't good communication to be like
you know i'm watching this for you just hold that
perfect to make a round out of that is
insanely impressive it was a very strong
set up at a time loop
Now you're starting to make mechanical errors on top of it, or maybe just the upper, mercury double front bathrooms.
And we've got foot in a recovery.
And he hit that shot. Beautiful one from G.
Demon's gonna try to just force his way forward onto this upper.
Smoke in front of it gives G a good chance to leave.
Do not let this 4v2 fall apart. This is where the comeback starts for Tyloo.
They can just finish off this round.
And we have it.
G taking matters into his own hands.
They're just going to patiently wait and let Jam Young come through to sweep this one
under the rug.
Demon checking his flank from time to time.
He's got way too many options to consider.
So, Tyloo put this one on ice.
Bit more of a steady climb. If Tyloo win this, they'll have actually a round of reprieve.
It's foot-spending all their money. It's going to be a very strong investment.
You know how much they try to make them sweat.
Got an all-in investment here in round 20.
Little scary here for the CT, starting to walk back, 0, now on the headshot barrels.
Haven't seen a pop like this, not this number, strong foot, believe in the ability to just
All the seconds there for zero jam young out in time mad advantage off his rotation in the frag that came with it
No hesitation here for Tyler with the face of five. Oh, yeah
Triple for jam young and a solid shutdown of one of the more ferocious moments
But we're willing to show us now. They'll find themselves on pistols
You know, they didn't see anybody right side monster when they popped out
I'm sure they were feeling like we can close this now with that entry pack
you'd believe it, but this is well played here 5-0, grabbing two, seeing the rest of the players,
Jamion also excellently done. This might be for a moment for Tyloo.
But even though they got themselves a save out of foot, they will spend down on for Benny.
Nice assist from Jam Young through the smoke spam, just making sure that this one goes down
nice and easy.
There's a commendable recovery so far from Tyloo.
Enjoy this moment before things get difficult again.
But I mean, if footer at that point in the game plan where they're resorting to just
an all-in four-player monster hit,
you've certainly got them starting to scratch their heads, at least.
Ailun with a convincing shutdown of this will be three rounds from overtime.
I mean, the scoreline reflects accurately what's happened this game.
You know, like, I think it's been closing some rounds.
Like, Ailun haven't just got these for free,
but they have made a couple of mistakes.
That means this game's not tied.
That's a round with G on the A site, those moments of doubt and hesitation, just a couple of them.
That's enough for a foot to have a lead, and even if these T side rounds aren't easy to come by,
we're not surprised both that the game isn't over, but also that they can get to 12 already.
Krebbeni goes for the buy in the last into a deagle on this round and I really
appreciate I love this style of buying I've always felt like on T side it's
actually hard to say you need five rifles most of the time you've got two
points of you know first contact someone who needs to trade the fifth guy in in a
given situation of plant correctly.
Most of the time, there's room for him to pick up a gun.
There's room for them to be saving,
or in this case, for that person to have bought a gun last round
and greatly increased your odds of winning an eco.
I'm a big fan of it.
Like I look at this by and I don't see,
oh, this is a huge concession to make
with the amount of utility he has.
He still has armor.
Everybody else has a good gun.
He just can't be up front for the first 30 seconds or so.
This is an understaffed B-side, look at this setup from Tyloo.
Yeah, oh my goodness, yeah, this setup is readying the push.
This is really old school actually.
Four pressed up, they can all get down the stairs, but first the B-play is not what you
want to see.
Jem Young would love anybody to try and come and help.
Moshe has got Demon locked in on the doorway,
so already now you're down by a man.
Demon's gonna go ahead and try to keep you further out,
and Lotz gets the one defender there.
Tyloo off of the tag pause of their opponent, by the way.
This is an old SK setup.
Try a very different look to the round.
In a moment where Foot decided to just keep things simplified,
head back down into that B site,
and that's where this one's certainly gonna end.
Zero's gonna dump his utility to try to get into this.
A 1v4 players all around and Foot will survive this test.
A commendable comeback attempt out of Tyloo on the CT side,
but on a best of 1 of Overpass where they begin on the attack
and only have three rounds.
This one understandably comes up short and Foot will prove
to the rest of the teams in this stage of the major
that they are something different.
The 2026 has not been a fluke, securing themselves
three best of three attempts to progress to the final stage of I am
cologne
Yeah, and with that it is put in tyloo down right here with about as many as
many looks and attempts you could to try to grab around and secure it if you're
tyloo they did not seem to overcome their demons in the form of foot we are
actually gonna have a long story this live on the desk over here overpass just
a little bit of CT domination long side of that feeling sir.
I mean it felt good to be honest especially because we had a lot of preparation coming
into the tournament especially after American tour disaster.
We had some talks but yeah I'm pretty happy with the performance we're showing especially
because I'm telling you we really had some weak practice out there like the past two
weeks and showing this confidence you know showing this good stability on our emotions
for me it's a good sign you know because it means even if you got smashed in some practice
It didn't affect us at all, and I think anything gives us the confidence to beat some teams here, because we got smashed by them in practice.
I was just about to say, pretty much the perfect start to the day for you guys.
First game against Bate was a close one, back and forth.
This one you seemed more in control.
Is that the same assessment for you, that you were in control against Halu from pretty much start to finish?
I mean, of course, against Halu, I feel we were always in control.
But again, we kind of threw some rounds we had, but it's happening all the time.
You just have to fix step by step.
But against Bait, I feel it was the first game, and I feel we had much more pressure than this game.
I think in this game, we came without pressure, we came a bit way too easy.
Even Kulio said, hey guys, you need to calm down, it feels like we are taking this way too fun.
And against Bait, I feel like we had way too much pressure, and I think everyone wanted to be sure that we don't go to 0-1,
because if you go down to 0-1 and you have one more best of one, it can get tough.
and you don't want to get there, especially for a young team.
You want to be safe, you want to be good mentally and just get step by step.
You mentioned to yourself that you're a young team.
This is your second major, but it's a rookie major for all your teammates.
How do you use that as a...
Can you use just like that tiny bit of experience you have to tell the guys
how you should be feeling and do you think that also the fact that you guys have gotten,
you know, repetitions against good teams throughout the year,
that you come into this tournament knowing what the level is at the major?
I mean to be honest, from my experience side, I'm gonna be honest, I don't have that much experience major-wise to tell them,
yeah guys, I don't know, fix your emotions, stuff like this, everyone can handle their emotions in this team,
I feel like each and one of them has evolved incredibly well, like mentally-wise, especially, I'm not gonna talk to gamers,
because gamers, everyone is talking about them already, and yeah, but I don't think we have that much pressure,
especially because it's a major, I'm happy because I think everyone kind of thinks it's not another tournament.
I'm not going to call it another tournament, but people don't put that much focus on it being a major, right?
We're just here to play our game, have fun, fighting for everyone. It's a dream, you know, being here.
So, yeah.
I just have to note that he did say your little experience because he's the five-pronged major when you're three.
Just wanted to make sure everyone, no one forgot that.
Jacob, do you have any questions for them?
How could you forget? Yeah, you speak about pressure. I want to apply a bit of pressure, you know, from the outside.
It feels like foot at least to me is one of the most exciting teams to follow
I know you had a disaster camp in the States as you described it right but outside of that you've been emerging throughout this year
And played some really solid counter strike. Is it fair for us?
You know as experts as fans sitting at home to expect you guys to be part of stage three and anything else would be a massive disappointment
I mean
I'm not gonna call it a massive disappointment because again
I'm gonna point out the age like it can go in so many ways like we are yeah
Yeah, we are pretty skilled, we have confidence.
How did you two always win?
I mean, yeah, but there are still many things that can happen.
You can be sure that we go stage 3, you go playoffs.
As I said in every tournament, I think it's better to go game by game
and see what opponents we play, because who knows,
we might play the best opponents in stage 2 from now on.
I don't know how it will work.
So, yeah, I mean, people should just expect that,
yeah, maybe we go stage 3 and from there we take it game by game.
Because I think, of course, I'm not gonna lie,
some of us might expect to go to the playoffs
because we beat some teams in practice,
We had some good runs, but in the end, I think it's bad to put this expectation in yourself
because if you have a bad game individually or have something bad happen, you know you
can get into your head very fast, so I don't think it's a good idea.
You decided not to have bootcamp coming into the Major, why is that?
I mean, we didn't have a long bootcamp, but we came three, actually four days prior to
stage two, and we had four full days of bootcamping in Cologne, so we still kind of did a small
bootcamp, but they've been away three weeks and a half in the States, they need to spend
sometimes with their families, I don't think it's a good idea to do boot camp after you
went so long in the States.
And I mean, I was home because I was sick with my stomach and stuff, but I for sure
even felt, you know, after traveling so much to America, it felt like I was a bit away
like two weeks from home and it was only one week.
So I don't have an idea how they felt, but I think it was the right choice to stay at
home because family.
I was just about to ask, how are you feeling now personally?
You are with a bit of a sickness.
Are you back to 200% now?
I mean, yeah, because the ulcer is more of a sickness the time we get diagnosed because
with the medication and the treatment, you just get better.
Like, nothing changes.
You just need to be careful what you eat and how you do your diet, kind of, you know.
I'm just not that much into sourced-out spicy food, no to coffee, no to anything.
Okay.
I'm just trying to keep it lean and play the game.
All right.
Fun is cancelled, effectively.
Not really.
I feel for it.
I'm kidding.
Much fun.
And you got to do what you got to do to take care of yourself.
I think real quickly we can look at round number nine, Dupre.
you caught that? Yeah, yeah, let's go for it. But this is this is more the likes of
Tai Lu actually. I think I just want to be showing you because I thought that you
know, this is one of the rounds where I feel like Tai Lu had a bit of an issue
when it comes to, you know, making the decision because they actually find
themselves in a really good scenario here where they decide to just try and walk
into Monza G catching a guy rotating out of A. And this is where the limit of
the indecisiveness of Tai Lu is just not really paying attention. They think they
can actually make it to the A bombs, but they can and they just have the clock
running out for them. For me, this is a round where I'm also looking at the money on the
foot side, you know, it could have been around, they could have turned and given more rounds
to Talu, which they could have needed because they almost mounted this comeback. But, Longs,
what do you think about this round specifically? Could you feel that there was like playstyle
issues within the team?
Like, I mean, for them, like, I don't know, when I saw the time, I remember I told them,
like, hey, what, like, look at the time, like, because like, we heard them going back, we
heard them going forward, like, G got the kills, and we were like, okay, they are going
No, wait, they're coming be we are them and they're like I looked it was like 12 seconds. I guess like I'm down like unplug
You know just chill on the back. They have no chance to go a
So yeah, I mean for sure it was a mistake on their side
But again, I don't know it can it can be many things for me like can be combs can be maybe their way to pressure
Who knows I don't know yeah, 93 first half turns into a 10 3
You know after that second pistol and it's almost like it's in your hands
Did it feel like that they had some sort of chance it coming back there for a little bit?
I mean, we actually talked about this in half-time. It happened the same. I think it was against Maus.
I'm not sure. Maybe it was PGL, a collusion of poker. I don't know.
But we had the same thing. We were leading over past CD. We dominated the whole half.
And then we went to T side. I think we won pistol and we lost. We did nothing around afterwards.
And Kudo told us, like, guys, you know this happened before. Don't get too crazy. Don't get too hectic on it.
Like, go run by one. Don't do crazy shit. Because we are very, very crazy.
I'm telling you when we get the confidence
Kills and the smokes and the flash is like nothing can stop us. I'm sitting. I don't know maybe
Barrier made of stone like straight to put in front of the PC's
It's always about that, you know, you're the loudest team inside the building one out of that
I mean for me, it's a good thing because like I'm gonna keep it short tip
But when I was inactive and when I was in the prison contract and stuff like I was looking at these games and honestly
I didn't see that much passion into the new players coming in how you guys had back in the days like a
Like in 1.6 especially I could see guys almost fighting when they were winning
You know because they're that happy to each other and we don't have this anymore for some reason
So I really want that I didn't want to get that like these people back into screaming feeling the hype
You know not punching each other, but you know you can do a slap
You can do these things because in the end like I think we're any end man playing the game
And we should just have fun, but in the same like show some man show some
Show some boys
It helps to build the unit stronger correct. I mean I'm telling you we are a unit of madman right now
and we start screaming.
I see it in his eyes right now.
I can feel it all the way over here.
I've got like a whole new impression of FOOT now.
I'm a little scared sometimes, because like,
in the beginning, it was me starting the scream.
But as the time goes on and the tournaments,
like now Jukes is taking me over, you know,
with his young voice.
And I'm just sitting next to him when I'm not screaming
and I hear him screaming.
And I'm like, oh, I like this.
But I enjoyed it.
For me, this is very good.
I like to see them like enjoying the game, screaming
and feeling the passion, because this is like,
why we are here actually.
Yeah, it absolutely is that and honestly, it's been a pleasure to have you launch. Thank you so much having congratulations on the result
They're beating up on tyloo. We are gonna go to a quick break on the other side of that
We do have g2 versus Monty. This is the Intel Extreme Masters clone major in 2026 and there is nowhere else
You should be watching country
Try and shake it off.
Same play they've done this before. Stare coming through this smoke like Ryu did.
They're looking at no one aware, but what a mist from Stare! He's taking his headset off.
Because he knows where this one's going.
Man, it almost blows himself up.
What was that? Was he feeling bad for Stare? Wanted to give him the trade?
5v4 and it should be the other way around.
Just felt awkward as well. It just feels like so many pieces of the toolkit have gone missing for Astralis right?
They're not getting these opening kills. They're constantly going against them. There's been a lot of aggression from 9z
So you never feel like you're able to run your game plan here
They will get a couple of kills in response, but it's down to Hoogsy and Fuzi
They've got five kills each in this two on three and they're worlds apart
One of them's got to get to the other there's 25 seconds left to play with in this round and with Fuzi dead at the door
Astralis's chances out the window. This is a 9z win. All they've got to do is reach out and grab it
And there's the killing blow. 9z 2-0 on day one
Statement made here from the South Americans coming in and absolutely
Smashing their way through the first best of ones. They are now straight into BO3s looking to qualify to the top 16
That would be one hell of a run here for this Prockey underdog
but it wouldn't be that first success in a Swiss system.
Quick word before the game, obviously.
I didn't talk to you since you were also welcome again back in the place,
but how are we feeling ahead of this match?
Obviously, it's a new day, it's a new draw, not a lot of preparation,
so what happened in G2 camp in these couple of hours?
Well, a bit of chill at the hotel.
Refresh and then got like one of the first rounds again in this second round
So I'm in bit of chill and then getting ready for Monte for the matchup
Just small break one. Yeah, ready to go. How are you happy with this draw?
Monte is obviously a team that can be a little bit annoying, but I think
Qualities of G2 are going a little bit above that so on the paper you should be the favorite here
But obviously it's the best of one so yeah, I mean need to go into the match confident
And that's what we are gonna do. But of course the best of one can be tricky
it's going to be about pistols, antigos, forces, like small things can happen, but I mean I think
we already played them recently in Astana it was, and then we have practiced them also a bit,
so I think both teams know some things about each other, but then again you don't have so much
time, so it's going to be trusting in our own things and going with that. Talking about small
things, it comes hand in hand with good communication, so tell me what happened in the first game.
Was it basically up the standards of G2, or did you feel like someone was slacking a little bit, maybe sleeping, because it's the first game of the stage?
So what are your thoughts on that?
I think overall we had a good start on that Mirage.
Even on CT side, even though we finished it nicely, there was some chaos with the communication, especially against some of the half-pies with tech 9s around the map and so on.
It's also like part of it is always normal. So I think overall it was it was a good map in terms of like how we communicated
How we approached the matchup
So yeah, gotta repeat some of that on these side was a bit tougher on the first match
But I mean we were able to close it out. So ready to go ready to go to zero. Yeah, ready to go to see
I will see how that goes. Good luck. See you on the server
The Intel Extreme Masters clone major 2026 is brought to you by ESL and partnership with
Intel
Acer Predator, DHL, Jax, and Zoe.
One case you're just watching the majors for the first time we're about to dive into G2
and Monty at stage 2 1-0 match both of these teams looking to step off in that 2-0 direction
and for Astralis they did just take a big ol' loss over there 13-5 so I'll just get
the comments out there in front of us you guys have anything to say about that one ouch
Yeah, ouch. I mean, I think people are probably seeing Australia's affair, but we've also seen NINSEE
have stepping up lately. So yeah, a little bit surprising, but yeah, that's a good way for them.
And with that, of course, this is the end of my pick-ups. I just want to let you all know now at home.
And so we publicly disclosed that. Let's talk about G2 Monty. What are we seeing from the G2 side?
Why are they such a threat again?
I think a lot of people are perhaps underestimating G2 a little bit. It's been a troublesome season for them.
They've really been a team of getting so close to producing some decent results, but never really getting it over the finish line.
And I think people have lost patience in them.
You know, obviously here in States 2, they are one of the predetermined favorites to either go 3-0 or at least make it through.
But in terms of G2, you know, I feel like that's a team that should have playoff aspirations.
And I think when I speak to people, when I hear the community sentiment as well,
yeah, people believe they can go to States 3, but they don't really believe them as a playoff contender.
And I think there's a case to be made that they could be.
I'm very curious to see how nerds is gonna fan out. He's had a bit of time with saw under G2 as well
To me nerds is a fantastic individual counter strike player and he's been a little hard done by his time in liquid
You know almost at a point where I feel like anyone who could put the liquid logo on their team history right now
Will be like that time doesn't count, you know, whatever you do in liquid
It just doesn't count at the moment or you don't really kind of learn until you hit rock bottom and like you're in that
So hits of wherever you need to be so like maybe hey, that's like a badge on a man
lived through team Liquid. That's the thing right but but I think Nerds is a fantastic
counter-play player. He's been playing with Saul before in Heroic where he was his coach as well and
back in the end stages as well he was there I say the superstar Peter. So I really do think that
Nerds is a player that with a bit of time here in G2 now can can finally come through and come
to his full potential. Without that like a massive a massive name also in his past with ENCE but also
in Heroic you know and that's also why he was used this and to go to Liquid to potentially take
his career to even higher highs and he had an ins. I think that Nerds had troubles with his new roles
in Liquid. I think that was the big issue and we've seen the struggles of Liquid and that doesn't
really help a player that is getting new roles as well. So I think it's great to see him uniting
with Saw once again, also uniting with some Pirates, which he had a great stand with in both
teams as well. I think the team as a whole has some really individual good players and some
really interesting players. I really love to see Heavigar. I think he's a fantastic anchor.
I love to see Mattis, I think Mattis is taking me with a big surprise, I think he's definitely
one for the future as well.
Then there's a bit of the question mark with Honda, he's the Inca leader, I think he's
taking some time to kind of grow into the role, but I do think that he has at least
the firepower and potentially also the ideas to become, because he has been notorious for
creating pistol rounds and everything for his past teams, and also having a lot of saying
being this second boy.
So I think it's just a matter of time before we see the team get into an even bigger archer
of success that we've seen.
So why does this name sound so familiar?
I mean, I put him up there with the likes of FaZe and, uh, it's Beemus.
That's the guy.
What the hell has Beemus been?
Who is Beemus?
Beemus is, uh, you know, a talent that was picked up after just having around 26th game
on his HTV account or his HTV profile.
He was brought into FaZe to go in and stand.
He was picked up and told to, uh, to come help them standing in.
And then he was signed by, uh, by FaZe to go and play alongside names like Nico, Colsera,
and Brokey and Ray for that matter as well.
A guy that is seemingly Italian at that time and then later went on to play inside of Mousesports
where he had a long time of his career.
Then he slowly faced out, you know, there was a bit of a family tragedy he mentioned himself
that he saw himself going a little bit out of the server, didn't put as much time into
council, he took a bit of a prolonged break and now having to grind his way back, having
a bit of a stand inside him to the breach where he had the majority of his time lately
and then now he's actually going back into Montibecoming and at least trying to rediscover
himself as his talent because he mentioned multiple times and said that when he was
picked up in the first part he was not good enough he didn't understand the game he didn't have the
communication it's like he's only 22 of age like he's still extremely young and I remember playing
against him for such a long time. Yeah he's a guy who just didn't give up you know a guy that as you
said came in early into face-climbing never gave up and now he finds himself in in Monty again a
team I think people underestimate a little bit there's a reason they started stage 2 they've
been quite competitive throughout the season so far. Does it almost argue to which one is more
more competitive at this motion right now, FaZe or Monty.
I think Monty is more competitive at it right now.
I'd rather have Monty than FaZe as this one.
So we're getting Mirage in the best of one with G2 Monty.
What are your thoughts? What does the map pool tell you?
Personally, I like Mirage a lot. I think that's the best map for a best of one game.
It's a map that G2 loves to play as well. We saw highlights from Nerds as well.
Obviously, on the map of Mirage, a lot of the highlights you saw from BMS.
on Mirage Light, so I think both of these teams are shaking hands on a map that is very open,
a map that allows you to express yourself as an individual, and I think we're gonna have a fun
game of Counter Strike here, Trace, but I fully expect G2 to take it up here. You really think
so? Just right away. Okay, just yes or no, Dupri? I'm trying to call for G2. Okay, we'll see if that
becomes fruition. Let's go ahead and jump right into this game. It is Mirage G2, starting on that
CT side rather and it's going to be Monty on the other.
Mirage is a map that lets you express yourself as an individual.
Very profound words there Jacob Pimp-Biddiqui.
Thank you gentlemen. We've got a bloodbath.
I think it's a gloves off, punch them up.
And I think it's one that G2 have the heavier hands.
They've been allowed to take the gloves off.
Monty maybe having to fight with one hand behind their back.
Look to prove that this season's one where they're going to try to break through alongside some of the other up-and-coming teams that are entering the game here in the second stage of Cologne.
G2? Well, we saw what they did in their first outing, and they're back on Mirage.
Like you said, that was a highlight reel of Nertz's impact right before this game goes live.
He'll be looking to do the exact same thing here to secure the 2-0 start.
It feels like a massive error out of Monty to let Maraj come through after what G2 did
and them getting to play the same map twice.
Maybe Monty could show us something super special.
I don't know man, they were just, they looked unbeatable and there's Hunter man, just by
himself, three kills already, no plant, no one sees anything, you're all dead.
What was the plan?
Monty don't even know.
Isn't this kind of crazy to let Mirage go in this veto versus G2 right now?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Like, you gotta pull off an upset here.
G2, I guess they wouldn't have seen that game.
No, sure, but you'd think the rumblings of it would be kind of echoing through the
holes of the cathedral right now, right?
Everybody's kind of talking about G2 and how hot they came out the gate.
So you're right, though.
They would have had a chance to see it.
You've got to see the score, at least.
Come in.
Seems insane, and yeah, G2 only have one round, so we'll find out if Monty can fight back.
Nertz is gonna open up off his EMP9, goes down with nothing.
with nothing. Nade should stop the plant, perfectly placed by Nertz, then you start swinging wide
into that SMG, but the Glock has got a double! Another dink. Not bad. Not bad at all from Azulu.
He'll get two kills, which is worth it with the Glock, and that's two survivors for G2,
but I think you can still see that electricity G2 are going to play this game with, just with the
speed of that retake, right? Getting into it before they even really needed to. Even with the bomb
drop, like some teams would have paused. Okay, the bomb's down on default. We know they're probably
locked in these corners. No, G2 just keep swinging, keep clearing, and in this case,
keep winning.
Yeah, they're very good at swarming. Yeah, that was a really good example of it. I'm
pressing at advantage. I mean, that's how you want to separate yourself if you know
you're the better team, and I don't think we honestly see that enough. I tend to understand
with Hunter calling and why you want to cultivate that kind of atmosphere, and Sympius misses
one, and he's actually got no support. Oh no, now the rotation. This is reshot missed.
Yikes.
Looking for the low health of gizmy rain raker actually just opened up on the underpass bush
Good on hunter to spam through and find one
But it's man advantage Monty with a bonk plant fire forces too wide as you who's got the smoke cover push
Oh, and B-mass is gonna punish you on the other end. So we talked about electricity
Well, there's a zap out of Monty quick jump into the B site did hinge of course on three missed
Sunpious op shots. Yeah, and he had both a good game and a bad
had a game on the last outing Omerash. He hit a collateral, he had some high impact,
but he also had some weird misses and you know, there's a difference between three misses
and three misses like that, which those are easy shots for a player of some prices caliber.
So they got to let that go because of it.
Monty will be quite pleased to steal one away and as he swoops in to get the op at the
end. He really wasn't blind or anything for the shots that he hit.
And it's the headshot on a rain waker.
Just waved at his screen, that's funny. Get it out of here.
Wow, there's the immediate limitations.
A couple of 5-7s floating around.
The bomb's gonna be just left in the ground for the time being, Monty.
Because those two Glock kills, actually.
Right, yep, good point.
There's two guys who could have guns.
Could have been gun pious, but now it's just a 5-7.
that
this is a dissatisfaction here
to be masterful call right now walking up through connector
Oh, but you'll drop to nothing, Sunpaius. Flustered out, M4's over towards Tetris, blinded, and Nertz still hangs on.
Palace player down, bomb knocked across. Nates for the top of stairs, just in case they kept on swinging.
Gizmi's looking to catch this little departure. Matt is on the jump up, still alive.
As long as he controls the murder hole, good on him to have not just dropped there.
That causes real concern for the rightful players.
Oh, he scams through, Ops revealed itself, Afro wants this second because he knows that Heavy God's back here still.
And now it's going to be Gizmy locked in on this bomb site.
Ten seconds, support him, bound for the pistol, but it's not even needed.
Maddox is going to drop it in the middle of all that, and the frantic departure away from the A site ends up costing Monty.
Damn, that's really rough after what just happened.
And again, those lock kills resulting in G2 not being able to rebuy on two, and somehow they still win.
It's a nice forward setup on Tetris. Totally blindsides Rainwaker against the kill.
It's a solid setup and heavy god. I mean, it's only a kill in a bit, but it's just the way he does it.
And he looks so comfortable moving around.
I just always feel like he's going to get his one.
I like this, pulling out all the stops.
Hmm, like it's heard though.
Happy God knows what you're up to, or at least has an idea as to what's going down.
Sunpias hops not to smoke it off. He lets them walk out. How'd a good angle?
Nice. Had to jump on him, missed the shot.
Heavy got thinking about turning from Palace, but then he just gets caught on the ladder.
And so two separate walkout moments here for Monty, find them in a vacant A site,
and this is really just going to call off the save.
Just about to praise that. It's funny because Sunpias kind of on the other site with a different gun,
but just kind of same issue. He dies the whole round is sacked.
to sacked yet a really good spot for an easy kill and
he had it an excellent angle it's enough angle they hold is someone comes out just
far enough that they have to worry about under balcony you see the side of their
head he has a chance at a few bullets of damage
uh... it doesn't land anything so
you know you don't really want to over analyze that spot heavy god would not
play up there
if you didn't have a teammate on the side of watching ramp
and there was even a moment where some bias at the smoke you know it originally
he was gonna smoke that off don't even need to like he had like that's going
even you know that's that's saying okay miss a shot but he could have even done
more honestly you play that again he bet he stands in the exact same spot
doesn't throw that smoke cuz he knows that he's gonna hit that shot nine
times out of ten very strange just more so that like he put the smoke away
because he relies on the aim and then still drops yeah yeah it is just such a
I should guarantee fight until it walks out ramp.
Now it feels like he wants to play with the confidence of his mechanical skill
but his mechanical skill has betrayed him now twice.
Counter-Strike gods give and take.
Attack timeout to try to stop this bleeding back to back to back to back one round wins.
Nobody able to get momentum going for themselves, but at least it is G2 on the other side of
As we saw at the double 5'7", we've got rifles in play, made possible by that save.
At least you're able to pull the plug early last round, but here we go again, peek into the ramp, Afro's ready, and heavy god hits the ground hard.
Nice little reaction there out of Afro.
It's a good push into the palace here from Nertz.
Rain waker still in T spawn as there's no eyes in mid 4G2 at the moment.
That's a really big push because they're leaving that A lurk.
So, I mean, Nertz is lodged in here to give his team a little bit more runway.
They're starting to group up for the B hit, but it is going to be a full strength fold.
This is no longer feeling like a 4V5.
No one is going to be moving nerds out of this spot.
Forty-five seconds, still a smoke grenade to try to cool off this commitment to the B site.
Late smoke now.
It pops well ahead of time.
Hunter, all he pushes forward to the catwalk, he's got a nade out just as the peek comes
through and Mattis isn't going to waste the bullet.
Right to the point, an additional smoke here inside of the apartment lands at thirty seconds.
running it today this is the right idea but nerds wait up here in halls
see what you can get from this flashbang to try to interrupt the connector commitment
this is hunter just trying to slow it down even further really let nerds have
an even easier job but hunter has actually now allowed them up through con and towards the site
keep an eye on that bomb is rain waker oh no it's really oh it's a zoo movement to cover
he at least keeps the commitment in the palace but all the kills come out g2 swift to it
fast push off of ticket short you're not able to catch the bomb carrier when
you get that challenge up from Palace but it's still just such a frantic moment
that all of Monty get mopped up. It is yeah I mean everything about that round
from G2 was like the perfect risk to take in a 4v5 Monty I don't I don't mind
them at all going back to A they would they avoided most of most of the players
that they got the Molly down on short that's what you want to do to get up
connector, but again this is the checkmate position that they had in play.
It's a great aim to compliment it too because it was being watched for a
second.
Sumpias will get another try on his AWP.
Nice trade by Sumpias. It's another aggressive opening move from G2 towards
that ramp but we do get the exit ones out oh some pious recovering vision isn't able to get
anything else because they catch him on the fallback those are excellent shots now opting to
pop the smoke open instead of chucking that onto the planter means full health bars for the three
remaining members of monty they put utility in front of mattis spam through the smoke and connect
onto nerts and then gizmy just looks to tuck and keep his head down a double t clear of the seat
And they're not worried about this.
Okay, just that wide enough.
And then that perfect tether.
Hunter comes out, kills Rain Waker, Gizmy's got his hands full.
It's a 1v3, nose two, R towards CT spawn.
Nose both are low, that direction as well.
And as he gets chipped down to 75 health,
oh, it's an insta headshot.
Smoke on top of the bomb, which is ticking pretty quickly.
Knives out from Gizmy, just Hunter up close.
And no third frag needed.
That is Gizmy from inside the site to give Monty their third.
That's an excellently played clutch man eats an aid, but predicts the reverse jump up, and then knife out is exactly what you need in that spot.
All you need is that one kill.
Man, the two players in CT spawned, not realizing someone could have been tucked in there.
Seemed like the fatal error of the round, they might have been seeing someone far back from G2 that we didn't notice.
You can eventually Hunter deep come from that direction right so yeah he might have
shouldered and then they thought the only CT was far away.
That's a big clutch to post when we have had six rounds back and forth non-consecutive
Like winning all the upset rounds, you know, like they're getting the punished rounds like this honestly could be a game
That's 7-0 based on the you know
two mechanical issues out of Sunpai as the first two and then a 1v3 clutch that they let get through
But instead now they've actually got G2 nervous
Aphros come up with an opening kill
This time he won't have an AWP. Full A play.
Last one too. Hunter tucked in sandwich. First a strike. All the flashbangs. Effective. What a snap from Hunter.
Slams that M4 up on Topimus' head. Nurtzel finished the job and heavy gone away. No time.
Yet another lickety split slide out from G2. All the right pieces in all the right places.
and then the support just props up the round.
And I think G2 went around like that and they go,
how are we letting any rounds go through?
Because they can just shut it down.
And it's also, I mean, it's not just to dunk on Monty here.
We saw how strong G2 were on Mirage just an hour ago.
They're doing pretty much the same thing,
just with a couple of more mistakes.
They look insane in terms of their aim,
their trading, how fast they're retaking,
like the communication looks like it's extremely tight.
And I'm good. I'm just shocked that you you even consider fighting them here
We won't have much fight in this one finally Monty you have to bend the knee what's crazy is this is actually just the force
This is everything they could afford
The poor gives me still walking around with a Glock
So it starts to feel like that breakthrough moment for G2
But just because of the nature of the game and winning the harder moments, let's keep
an eye on this Monty, see if Afro can get into semantics.
Expect that AK to change hands if it has to.
Four sets of Kevlar for Monty and a Nade that could have been much worse.
They'll throw that AK up.
There's no shortage of G2 players looking to come and deal with this.
Nice reaction out of a Zoo Woop, but it's a clean up from Heavy God and yet again we're
finding ourselves talking about the tethering, the timing, how quick the CTs are to get into these
plays. AK changed his hands into BMAS's possession and he toys with the offer as Hunter decides to
come back and I like that. Maintain control of the other rifles, know that somebody on Monty is
going to try to find an upgrade and allow Mattis to just come from behind and sweep this under the
rug. Just some sick chemistry where like one person peels back, it's the T's who put pressure to make
them do so but then another peeks from another choke point and the first guy
comes back and it just feels like G2 are on the same page when it comes to how
aggressive they want to play every situation and they have full trust even
having gone after he gets these two kills. Sneaking out quickly pushing to the
top of mid right after a third underpass guy comes out to try to clear him
knowing that Hunter's above and that Hunter isn't going to fall back into a
passive spot like there's there's trust because it's met with chemistry.
Oh, there's a maid for your troubles.
Molly to section them off.
And that was the first two consecutive round wins since the pistol and conversion out of
G2.
It sets them up wonderfully to now extend this lead comfortably over Monty.
What's left of the Glock train tries to move past and Hunter just gonna chop him down to
size alongside Mattis.
3 CT half for G2 guaranteed and we'll see what the next gun round looks like for Monty.
It definitely could be a bit more. We've got some set plays coming up for Monty. No off again on this round.
It'd be hard press to believe they're going to try a full A exec in the early portion of the round again.
Looks like it might be back to mid.
I genuinely don't know where you'd want to go right now, maybe a late replay.
I wouldn't try to, I honestly sound so like defeatist, but I wouldn't even try to beat
them in a default.
They're just like terrifying.
Yeah, they are grouping up. There's a big success for them.
You know, around that Sunpias missed his shots on B.
Probably thinking, can we tap back into that?
Let's see if they're going to be going for any lurks here.
Uh, I mean, they're doing this into CTs with full mid control, so everything is going to
be seen, it's going to pull Sunpias over.
Oh, flashes well, time's on Pius though, doesn't seem affected as he puts that off right back
on it.
Noz is a player down beneath, just killed Mattis.
Double scope, commitments wild and the Rain Waker is able to create more space.
Now there's damage on three.
But what an excellent way to just dropkick down the B site.
Very awkward that Sun Pius remain double scoped.
Let's see what this retake has in store.
CT's have a surplus of cash so you can definitely go for this.
for this at the very least just add up damage on Monty's exits but if you get
one now there's still time to try to pull off this Hail Mary retake. If you're
getting closer heavy gods the one with the kit so he'll have to be a part of
this you're gonna catch the market departure he's trying to move this one
up player down beneath the window they're not playing for the diffuse
they're just playing for the kills and the costs that it will have on Monty in
this next round it's a fourth on this T side secured. It was almost a little bit
early to leave it did actually feel like there was some weird world where they
try to dive it.
So I'll go to the next round.
And so it does take place to go for the simple around the B pop.
It's like, it's kind of some bias.
We can another, I think it's some biases to like electrolytes right now.
I feel like he's like, well, like, take some shots, but shit.
That stuff is just not like lining up properly.
Just some weird moments, but it's two B holds where they could have used him
a little bit more.
And I definitely don't mind the the game plan for Maud's yet, I think that's kind of how they want to
Sneak some yards in
He looks so good, but just a little off when I walk behind the players earlier
I heard him saying his nice shots are nice. He said it's too cold in here
He did say that you cold for the Sun God, and I just thought wow
There you go difference
He'll go ahead and pick up gives me warming up as this game goes on
He's not off his game. He's just got entirely on top of it
Also, it's not cold in here at all. Yeah, it's actually it's colder than Spain. It's got a perfect in here, but hey teach their own
We get this walk up from hunter towards the window looking to secure the final round of the half
There's a lot of players down there, and he'll just jump spot it to confirm. There's at least one
Mattis starts to feel frisky.
Oh, what a little fakie smoke.
Surely they're actually taking this up here, right?
And must Rainwaker's going to be turning it around.
Wow, wow, wow.
That's a very light move.
To be honest, Mattis, what's he really going to see if they, if they just keep going?
It depends on if he checks with the bench.
Oh, jumping up.
Yeah, if he checks the bench.
Huge.
Oh, but he doesn't.
He skips it.
the footsteps. He's more concerned about connectors. Oh, what a perfectly timed reposition here for
Monty. And so there's a game of foot. Azu activates inside of window. Hunter misses the window jump.
Supias quicked across the market. Oh, V-mas just waiting on this angle. Catches him unprepared with
no gun in hand. And Hunter, who opted to take this underpass route after missing the cat jump,
is going to be held well by Rain Waker.
Monty may have just done a great job of skating through to a fifth round win.
And sure enough, catching multiple G2 players off guard in his final outing on the T side.
Just looking to finally win consecutive rounds themselves.
Only done here in round 11 and 12.
And so we do still have a game on our hands.
There's the flash, that's gonna catch creeps out, they're gonna push off through, FBK gets one of the creeps with a straight out, he gets the triple!
Oh! A fanatic adopt on the edge!
Can you believe it?
G2 on another mirage outing.
When it's good, it's real good.
But they did make some mistakes here that opened the door for Monty.
A Monty, Mohan, that across this entire game thus far,
the entire team has four multi-kills combined.
Yeah, four multi-kills.
You have to watch the half to understand what happened,
but there was some very small moment.
I don't know how Monty feel about it,
But to be honest, they have set up a situation now where an upset can take place
I really didn't see much of a T side, but they got through it and they got five rounds and
Well CT side is sometimes where the real fun happens and I think g2 are gonna be a little tilted after that first half
Oh
Zulu opens up with the USP headshot. It's falls back at the connectors. That's away with it
It's the underpass players pause a second
They don't want to really run to give themselves away just yet.
Bomb is looking to go join up with its player in Palace.
I saw that, I think.
They seem prepared.
Azumu's got another one.
They may underestimate Nertz's positioning, but we'll see if the Palace player can even
push out to maybe get the bomb plant.
Nertz will strike.
They did write that off.
B-Mass and a Rain Waker come back with kills and it's a gizmy headshot to close out.
Monty now a near one round away from G2.
I'm all for it, man.
They're about to tie this up. They have no players with a positive KD. They'll start to get
multi-kills now. Some of that stuff will start changing. And man, G2. If they lose this, they'll
have a lot to think about. That is so rough because I think he's under during the break. On the good
rounds, they look like a matchup for spirit and vitality, but on the bad rounds, we're reminded
why we don't normally talk about them in the same breath, right?
You remember why some people consider them a 3-1 team.
You know they'll get there, but it's going to be a little messy, and this might be that messy moment if they're not careful.
This man's got two clutches already to his name, including a 1v3, and he also serves up a great distraction
versus these pistols. The pistols that do break through, but only momentarily before that,
Fommus mows them down, and we've got a tied game on our hands.
Oh my goodness. Okay. How long do we go? We get a lead with no one who has a positive Katie
I don't even think that might be possible unless
You know, it's like an Afro 4k or something like that right now
We'll see that'd be a funny stat though
This deep into a game no positive Katie getting a lead positive Katie that would really tell the story
Okay, the people who missed it. All right. Yeah, who missed these rounds would take an Afro 4k
We can also just spread the numbers thin elsewhere, but let's keep eyes on it rain waker nine and ten
Hunter is me gets up. Yeah, they're coming to him. They're coming to him
No
All good no problem. Is it all good bombs gonna be planted M4
Can he reach it some bias just kind of stalled out towards the bench momentarily?
Afro here's that fast flank
Yep, he's looking to deal with that before I can get to the bomb and that'll make the retake a little easier
Although this is a retake that doesn't have a kit currently on it
And they're coming in from three different choke points, so they're all equally afraid of getting deagle
Oh, that's why Sunpai is 12 and 8 with that second
Sun's out, baby. And as he just tucks back behind bench now MP9 looks for him. Afro's got it
We can't find this last one and so G2 we're gonna go right back into the lead off of the back of Sunpius with a nasty
Desert Eagle sequence Wow, so we got the Afro 3k
They don't win they don't get the lead off of this even though they probably should have and
Just like that G2 are back into it. How about that second Sunpius Eagle shot, huh? The one that rounds the wall
Oh, yeah, this was wicked that was also beautiful, but
and then rattles them
Cones are still good for Monty in this next
Deagle on gizmy we've seen them do work with less they were that close to finding a lead
But just as they almost crossed the line to take control of Mirage
She too remind him who's boss and we're reminded again of what we said when it's good. It's real good. Yeah
They just need to keep putting up moments like that
Monty should meet their maker but rain waker from site as gizmy they'll collect his desert eagle also capable
Clearly you've got a palace player look at a reposition to the bottom of the ladder is that AK inside sight looks around itself
Rain waker clipped. We've got the rebuttal back
Oh, it's the palace push that catches a zoo of two minds for a second looking in between the duels
It's damaged on all three of the remaining G2 players
But the bomb pauses and they anticipate a push that push comes their way by way of afro
inching closer we've got a player tucked in behind firebox but it looks like
heavy god wants his duel first and foremost it's just kind of now a risk
for them because the T's are playing to not show any information back but the
CT's as long as they decide to play it together they can just gamble that G2
will come back if they had left bomb starts to get closer to the site
My chief will quietly play.
Covered.
Afro's low.
BMAT strikes.
Some bias.
Oh.
He's covered by Hunter who finds that head shot.
It's just bamable at this.
Bombslaw down.
Bombslaw down.
Now he commits.
As he does, Afro is going to just peel off the support.
Misses the wall bang by an inch.
Even taking that shot allows Hunter to cross to the left.
Now it's a whole can of worms, man.
He has 7 health.
Hunter doesn't need to overplay this situation, but getting to the bottom of connector. It's the hardest possible shot for afro
I'm still worried that he's stuck in the blood that he moved
And hunter very far from the bomb now. That's fine
He can run it in this is an afro without a kit
Taps it to try to cause panic corpse in the way things get awkward
Hunter just leans back takes a late glance three kills for hunter this round another
individual moment that comes up big for g2 this op will not be saved and that is
now a two-round lead it was within touching distance for Monty but
individual moments now starting to break through from g2 yeah pausing up at
Tetris fighting around that smoke properly obviously not the best guns
here for Monty to try to defend with so fair enough even with the first kills
but three back just like that. Oh clean shot at a hunter. He's having a map so far.
G2 back into control of this game. This Monty will have to full save.
That'll tie up the clutch count for these two teams.
Oh, Miss Molly in a window.
Nurse is gonna have to do that himself now.
And it works.
You get that USP out of there, connector player peeks.
That's a second one racked up.
And G2 are on a fast track to double digits.
What was a tide game at 7 becomes a 10-7 G2 lead.
You can really feel them starting to take control.
This move by Hunter, Solo, Expedition, Edd through the B site.
Yeah.
That's great.
Look at the difference.
Everyone on G2 has a positive KD.
No one on Monti has.
And I'm not even sure if that's a good thing for G2, because again, the round score is still quite close, so...
Launty, the Punish game has been really strong. We don't know how many more mistakes G2 are just gonna throw at them.
But because they're now on CT side, they really just want to hold on to...
Just hope, to be honest, that they can deliver because...
I think it's fair to criticize them for the veto, but they really have set the stage for a real chance.
All comes back into the hands of Afro.
Three rounds to close this map out and go to sleep.
Happy if you're G2.
Steps play two games in Mirage and go to bed.
For most players, that's a perfect night.
If you win.
Feels like they're getting there.
Challenge out connector.
You have to disengage and then G2 take it over mid control by storm, they're not slowing
down here.
Nice one from Afro.
I'm liking the op whenever he's got it.
Dives back into the stairs control, they put a smoke at the top of con to threaten that
catwalk up, and it looks like Sunpires is going to start taking control of that portion
of the map.
They simply won't give up on this one idea to make this A-split happen or maybe with
the two lurks in play.
They're really keeping options open so they spread out quite wide and they have a lot of spots to catch rotations
As soon as one CT makes a mistake, maybe someone peeks the grate into short
And B-mass is stressed between connector, palace and up here in ladder room
That's what G2 are looking for to punish
But to be honest Madness could eat, could 100% shoulder peek this. Not expect Afro to be sitting on this line
Someone has to give up information soon, and this is where you can actually get locked.
Yeah, you will be the first to peek and die.
I'll throw now most frags for Monty after these two.
And looking to remain a problem for G2 to have to handle, but we get Hunter out through Khan,
Afro backs up one step too far.
No bottom, no. They just think he's there.
Rain Waker tucked in, will get cleared. Wings his duel,
does have support coming through from Ticket momentarily. He's got a double and
B-Mass there to clean up. It's a majority of life for Monty as they give an answer
back over to G2 via way of an opening Afro 2k. I'm really liking that again the
Afro AWP is looking pretty sound. They just haven't had a chance to buy it for
him all the time.
Got him in open and kill in the first half, it's doing the same here in the second.
And when there's this much time pressure, that's when your players really can just start
eating up kills.
There's almost no chance for G2, it's a clock one down.
Open out mid again.
Same type of opening gambit, Rain Laker, guy on the right side doesn't even react.
Afro maybe supposed to hold that but you'll at least respond turns over
Pops the smoke as they're right on the crink of crossing
But we get this utility to try to support it after when the connector won't be able to respond
It's good. He gives me off of the ticket. You've got a bomb plant on the other side of triple
B mass pitching in great wall bang coupled with the nade
Gizby does that on his own and we've got a heavy god clutch attempt queued up with bomb in sight in a minute to this clock
We'll find out if it's must win. He's gonna walk into his first target. He's waiting for him. Perfect for B-Mass.
And he'll be the first one to crack that positive KD. Six of the kills. Picks up the AWP.
He's on a 13-12 and it's a one-round game.
And it's a broke G2.
Just when Afro allows the Palace Walk that loses the sandwich control...
I throw a little late to react to it, at least kills Mattis before he can join the players on the site.
That gives me approach from Ticket, kills the player for free, and just has the right tools for the job to soften up and kill with the grenade the attempted planter.
And look at their reward, we've got Glocks on the majority of G2.
The save is called and that means Monty have a real chance at tying this game again last time at 7-7 now 10-all
Yeah, I'm going going for lead chances
When the pressure is at its maximum
And now I would while I would say G2 or the better team here they've you know shown form and rounds
They're also the team who have made more mistakes and Monty made
More mistakes. I don't think so. They might not have been able to keep up in some of these spots
But they're the ones handing out the punishments
All the nerds was supposed to be a farm round okay, Nade lands at least
But these are those kinds of moments that Aphro's looking to control.
Nice shot, heavy god.
These Desert Eagles capable.
Still, oh!
It's absolutely insane.
They can just guarantee these Eagle shots.
No way.
Enough's enough.
Gives me rotates through, puts it to bed, sits on top of that bomb, Mattis' P250's got
20 seconds to just try to charge these players down and you'd think B-Mass, if he loses his
teammate, it's just gonna go run and tuck.
give this guy a deagle. Don't die after time though here, Mattis. Yeah, he's actually
got a scale for this plant. It's a little awkward amount of P250 damage, but it's
afro and gizmy. Again, you know, rotating it and getting these multi-kills. Two kills
a piece, two kills a piece, two kills a piece on either side of this A site. And again,
that one's supposed to be the freebie. Monty makes sure it doesn't slip through their hands.
We indeed do have a tide game at 10-all.
It's time for Monty to shift up a gear.
These Ecos get a little bit too close to keep trading back and forth even on their CT rounds.
Let's see if they can take a lead against all odds.
fast-moving monty moves in mid
Madis has a good reason to be concerned about that smoke break
I've seen G2, one of their flubs here on T side was getting too locked into a default
and then not having a way to move into the attack.
They were all in positions where Monty were covering.
So I want to make sure they're in a more flexible position where they can play ready to trade.
So that's where they shine.
Here they go, trying to rotate to A in time.
It's at 50 seconds, those smokes come over, blocks off Top Con.
We've got Rain Waker to just tuck in, Azulu delivers one,
fired his feet, that's pressure for Azulu.
And he's gonna drop a second body before he's burnt out.
Rain Waker looks to take up the place,
some guy is catching him off,
well in between and heavy god, what a shot,
spams through the smoke, connects,
E-Mass, next, off of the ticket play.
Back to the 2v2 and it's a fast move,
Gizby wants right into the action.
Damn near kills the AWPer, drops the support, and a wallbang killed for some bias as G2
take that lead right back.
Yeah, I mean they never lose it.
They tie up a couple times, but that's it.
They maintain power in this game, and it costs Monty a lot, but I think, oh, they don't
have enough to justify buying again.
We're gonna go up against map point this time.
Gizmy had finished that kill on originally, or just swung while spraying.
He knows he did most of the damage.
You were that close.
Yeah, finest margins in this match.
One more bullet through that wallbang and Gizmy clutches again.
Completely changes the story of the map.
would have been his third clutch this map all of the clutches and a lot he has
are from him so far yeah guess we've got the sauce another example of just how
close Monty are actually getting this game
But close isn't gonna feel good for them.
No, no, when you get to play best of once in the stage.
There's no better day in the calendar to be on point.
A Monte 2-0 outing on the first day of this stage.
Man, this is quite an expensive round.
I mean for both of these teams are already a little bit low on utility for G2
Oh man, Gizmy's got to be careful. Offs coming guys. He's a good jump spot. Oh, he's lucky saw that jumping around haphazardly
This doesn't yeah, very unsafe. Don't try this at home
Now he does get away with it, but he's also
Still alone dumped his whole kit. He's totally alone. He has an MP9. I
Don't know
Hunter will be happy to try to enter this they can fully wait the smoke out
It's I mean, I don't want to say it's too early because he had no one to help
But dude no one's rotating over here, but it is a very stagnant Monty and look how deep they are on a ramp already
Yeah, this is ridiculous
Connector and they're still trying to over stack a gives me is doomed guys
He can clutch but not if he's the first to die
You'll find nothing and you can't really put it against them
I had to drop that utility because of the early warning and this is around where Monty just looks statue-esque
It's kind of a silly way to lose, I feel like, because at some point you've either got a full push that A ramp, by the way, you'll see nothing, or have some players rotate over because his smoke's expiring, he uses full kit of utility.
G2 know that they're stretched thin on how much money they have and that they aren't going to be able to refresh all their grenades.
They're probably not straight up stacking B in a spot where it could have been a B split, and that was wide open.
That's a shame for Monty, I mean at least for them they save four guns into this next
round but if that's what they were really thinking about playing for when they had a
very good chance to play for information and rotate better, you know, I don't know why
you'd want to put a priority on getting to overtime, that might have been their best
chance.
I think that's a prime example of a team like Monty that is of a different caliber than
this G2 that plays less tournaments of this quality, all of a sudden, you know, you're
one round down, playing for it, money's low, and you just kind of lose that activity,
you know?
The confident moments that have gotten them this deep against G2, a situation we didn't
really expect, and it feels like they really shriveled up in round 22.
Now, maybe that's a wake-up call, maybe they realize you can't just do that again, so this
time they do fully clear that ramp, they do it much earlier, and they start to draw back.
Thing is, there's actually somebody there to know it happened now.
Heavy God passively, outside of the ramp, wasn't spotted, and decides to still just
buy a bit of time.
We get the inner workings of a mid-set-up, we get the CTs to come make a move.
Because you push ramp, now you can go number of strong and take a risk out mid.
It's a much more active looking Monty, but will it cost them bodies here for G2 caught out in the open Monty swarming hunters
Khalil can't do it all another trade attempt and heavy God just that much shy
Sasha drop me a VP no way the op damn near does it but isn't that a much better looking Monty?
It was I did think they were all gonna die there down in mid, but at least they were going for it on the trades
Window jumping, like shot. Are you kidding me?
Why did he are you kidding me? Why did he mail it though? Why did it just land above the waist?
It's a hard fought round 24 for Monty imagine the cold era like graffiti and then I'll just second-window
It's just some pious
It's just a space door, yeah.
No, no, just, you know, they just, he just gets his own cash graffiti off there.
Oh, there are no brownies.
I feel like this, man, they ate so many flashes.
Oh, this was a brawl.
Yeah, it was a brawl. It ended up being one at a time because there were flashes that came both directions.
Um...
He knows that's naughty.
We're back in. There's an op-on only one side right now, and it's Afro.
Afro and he's very quickly positioned outside connector, but very quickly you've got four members of G2
Looking to just storm their way past them and sure enough offer the flash from Sunpires
Nerds into the upgrade Afro is gonna find his back turd. Nerds caught off by this
That's a critical shot, but gives me yet again finds himself alone
finds himself with just the M4
Blindside's heavy god stuck into the corner reinforcements inbound
It's Afro inside of the market
He'll land another and with two players left inside of the side. It's a hard-fought attempt at overtime for Monty
Sunpai is through smoke finds another oh my goodness trying to claw back this to before attempt the nades come out through window
As rain waker goes for a fast-ap flank now
We've got two low players on g2's post plan window smokes brutal flanks coming in slowly
They kind of just have to watch it slow and quiet
Sampias, he's not needed in this one, but he dies right before Hunters got the line
up to jump distractively.
Oh!
Monty, hard fought, oh team!
Man, man, they did it the hard way, but they did it, and now we get a chance to see.
With everything left on the table, out of the playbook, entirely, into overtime.
This dogfight continues.
Tying up in the 1vx's with this round.
That gives me, did a great job.
I mean, he was once again in a very tough spot in B.
They didn't know how to approach him.
He got his kill.
He delayed for a lot of time.
And the teammates came through.
You're not out of the woods yet, Hunter.
We've got an OT to call.
The least impressive round we saw from Monti's CT side was round 22 and they
clammed up over towards the ramp. They've played electric since, aggressive since,
and P-Mass keeps spotting the top of Nerds, but nothing he can do about that
with the looming threat of mid control being taken by G2. Sure enough, already
behind those boxes. You can leave Nerds. At least you know he is right there. If
Afro wants to remain risky, he could have sat there waiting for it, but they
They don't want to play that game.
They don't have back control.
They don't have the vision to fight back against the targets that they know are there.
Think B-Mass needed to just spray when he had the chance because he knew he had to leave
and so he was in and out and Nerds had no idea he was right above.
G2 blanket everything with smoke.
Oh, excuse me. Walks into that fight and wins.
He is picking his moments on this B bomb site.
One of the more aggressive setups he's had puts a smoke down,
but they are still already two players.
Now three in front of it, and that's going to catch him entirely unprepared.
B-Mass with a fast scramble back over.
He has found the timing to slide behind site.
This could go unnoticed now.
Oh, it's covered.
B-Mass down to 43.
Sunpias hits the wall bang.
E-man is still trying his damnedest, but Aphro is flying to G2, put that squeeze on a B site that gives me tried his damnedest to hang on to yet again.
I have it correct, they've tied five times in this game now, four times in this game, but Monty have not got that lead yet.
They've managed to claw it back every step of the way.
And now here we are in overtime, another attempt at aggressive mid control, but a really good passive setup to counter it.
Nice!
Take off, take off, take off, take off, take off.
Some bias ready for you this time, Gizmy.
Yeah, hey.
A little too slow to the approach.
Not a good read on that, Molly, huh?
They tied the game three times, but it's because of the streaks.
Oh, okay.
But at least that's the difference. In the first half, oh, oh, that is, oh, okay.
That's good cover there for Azul Wu.
Had their eyes on everything. A-Play's coming though, Rain Waker.
Gonna be behind some utility.
And you don't have Afro over towards Ticket.
Yeah, a little scary without Ticket Control.
Azul and B-Mass come sprinting over.
Oh, this thing could be good.
Oh, behind.
Thirds, fast reaction, deals with the stairs player.
Here comes Beemass, aggressive as he confirms the bomb carriers there, down to half health.
That is Hunter up to 22 kills.
Azulu not able to just slay both, so Afro to the clutch.
It must be a big clutch here from Afro.
He goes over the stairs, takes that upshot back.
If he nails this, he's gone to the clutch.
We got Afro finally getting his flowers after a pretty strong day of AWPing.
really nice one V2 how it was only covered on the side of stairs I guess
not expecting to go up top and some pious hits that shot but it's a leg shot
on Afro as he challenges the top of stairs
hit there again Sunpias the legs and you know after us feeling it when you
aim between two angles like that you're ready for either shot like they're just
having one of those days. So, it's 20 to 21 but all these off-brounds he's been really
delivering.
You want to tie this game for the fourth time?
Ooh, that could have been a freebie.
It's fine, it's first blood as soon as you go for the flash.
Miss-timed.
still trying to press in to get this man advantage back
they did so last round as well
recovered after gizmy's early apartment death
that's a 4v5 win to tie this game in overtime
gotta be careful about staying up here
too long
position gets spotted by gizmy here we go
And it's right back to A and quickly for G2.
And it feels like Monty are reacting quick enough, right?
We've got Rainn, Waker early to the ticket.
They kind of start emerging unannounced.
He gives up the flash trajectory.
They're gonna know he's over there,
but he does find his target.
That stalls them over towards triple.
And you've got heavy God, shaved off the palace play.
A challenge rounds the bottom of the stairs
for the highest.
It's dealt with, Nurtz activates,
but he's got nine health with this off.
Oh, he dies out to the Nade.
Monty to 4v5's in overtime to get the lead
They got the lead time in this best of one. Oh, they have the lead. Oh
My goodness, they got the league gives me with three kills
Be masses the only player with a positive KD. We could say that this deep into the game
But as a team they got the clutches
They punished all the mistakes for G2 and now they have a lead
This is a Monty who, in their entirety, had four multi-kills in that first half.
Shrung the last two rounds of their attack together for a five-round T-side pistol conversion,
and then had to answer G2's antics every step of the way.
What happened to Madis, man?
In the lead.
I think, dude, we need to look at Mathis. I swear to God, he was 11 and 3.
It was something ridiculous early on, with his score aligned.
Well, he's 11 and 16 now.
I hope I'm wrong about that. That's just so, that'd be so many...
Obviously, so many rounds in a row. You're right, overtime, anything is possible.
He was farming at the beginning of this game.
Sometimes you chase your prize and once you catch up to it, you don't know what to do.
So Monty being in the lead here also have to prove to us they are capable of a close.
Gives me an afro about to get pressured.
Hunter's sliding right under this op and gives me, he's looking up.
He's not looking forward. He's not ready for this push.
That's awkward for him.
Ooh, that's a nice great transfer out of Hunter.
Not the first one either, right?
We go back to that time over towards that Tetris climb up.
He had a nasty flick up for a damn near triple kill.
He is 25 and 17, Hunter.
Calling's not enough.
He's got to kill him, too.
G2 with an excellent opportunity
at the start of this overtime CT side
died to tie the game up again.
Take it back from Monty and put that pressure right back on him.
Nerds walk out through window disengages.
Doesn't want to offer up any free kills.
They're getting ready for the connector play,
but Hunter walks into his death.
Have you got down beneath it into the palace?
Won't be maulied out.
He goes for the wider angle.
BMAS wins the duel.
3v5 coming together now.
Sunpias has been whittled down to 44 HP off Catwalk.
Careful with that bomb.
That is slides out.
You've got eight seconds.
You're gonna need to pick that up and plant or somehow find these frags.
Oh, he got it.
It's right in front of you.
The bomb plant, I think he just got it.
Oh, he's got it now.
Retake underway.
They spray down to just the last.
He do squeeze a 14th round and a time game out of thin air.
They barely grabbed onto that.
They get their defuse in the end.
It comes down to the wire.
Obviously, the guy playing missiles is so low.
One bullet away from death, but it just feels like everything's about to go wrong.
One timeout coming in for Monty now.
Around that starts like this.
Should have never been close.
That was B-Mass with a huge error.
If there was anyone in CT, he did not want to fight them.
He had the bomb on his back.
That's where you've got to delegate someone else to take that fight for you.
sketchy match, major pressure.
But again, it's monty when the chips are down and it feels like,
ooh, they need a cl- they- they're the ones who get that.
Bring it close.
Make it uncomfortable.
Ooh.
What's that all about?
Watching for the window climb as they, ooh, that bottom connector smoke kinda draws nerds back for a second.
Hunter's got fire to speed, that's him down to 78, that's Azumu to activate through window.
They're creating some good space here. Oh, it's done pious, that's excellent.
Catches the catwalk up, Hunter.
Playing around with utility here, really welcomes it, Azumu pounce.
But Hunter's playing it right on the limit.
We've got this pushed by Mattis up in the abs, but one grenade too many.
Mattis' position is going to blindside Rainwaker, critical Afro trade flag off of what had to
be a fast reaction.
Now you know that Azubu is still in a position that could be very painful for the rotations.
Yeah, if he doesn't go too far to the right, it's actually Sunpias who needs Nurtz to try
to kill him.
Nurtz can try to get up into the ladder.
No, he's gone.
He's gone.
He's going over to the apartments.
He's going to be locked off for now.
trying to link up. But at the same time now, Azumu starts to reconsider other options and
he's really giving the crossover to Sumpias.
Yeah, he really is. He was in a spot to actually stop this. Now he's just exposed to Ladder,
but he could be trying to cut off a player who will be retaking.
Market push simultaneous. BMAS has a deep angle to try to find that flag.
Sumpias still thinking about it. Nerts activates. Azumu gets...
Oh, he shit it.
But still finds it. Nerts is the one with the two kills. Azumu's late plays been found.
He needs to bank the perfection and he gets him off of it.
What a perfect piece of utility from a slow burn of Zulu play.
It's going to be Monty to take 15.
No time for this defuse.
The perfect piece of utility.
Oh, that was beautiful.
Take their 15th round.
Three kills and the clutch for his Zulu.
And that HE, you could see his fingers
trembling as he made sure the lineup was pixel perfect,
and it was.
Already under pressure with the defuse coming through.
Maybe a bit of uncertainty as to whether that player's even been wounded enough.
I thought he misplayed this, like even exposing himself to ladder room,
but then not actually watching anything that late into a clutch. My goodness.
And sometimes the wall bang headshot or whatever or wall bang on that off shot.
Bombs drop now it's spawn. G2 trying to get loose out middle, Gizmy dives back into the cover.
I think he'll be lucky to be alive and in that activity towards top middle Monty sense and opening a timing for B
Mass to just creep out into a man is right about this
Mattis tucks in
Heavy God comes over B. Mass is gonna try to bounce but here's that peak off Mattis
He's looking to just tuck back down now into the cover
He'll go drops utility at his feet in anticipation of the Mollie top and now he's a real problem
Aphro is looking for the way to peel him off and Mattis just gets back into cover.
Oh, that one spotted. Sometimes to be watching for this. Is the bomb going to go back actually
because Azumu doesn't know that he's been seen. But he's actually made noise.
So this is the right play. He's going to be moving towards Kat. The CTs are trying to
surround him right now.
And he's already off to the Catboy.
Huge pickup on Happy Guy.
They're leaving A.
It's going to be on Mattis. And Mattis alone over towards the A site. He's waiting and he
He also just tucks back in, gives me, this is the bomb carrier!
It gives me, it went back.
Oh, you've dropped it with no support, gives me tries to depart.
Why didn't you just leave that as a lurk in that position?
Things get real sketchy now.
You set it.
Major pressure.
Monty not meant to be the winner of this past one and he's going to hit a hard shot.
Stitting, tucked down, all the way, right over top of it, 20 seconds.
He's going to have to scramble for the bomb.
He's going to run the whole way.
Finds himself 1v2.
You know Mattis is going to be so prepared on this bomb site.
is going to bank on his ability to jump out through palace. All he's got to do is jump
into default and hope he gets away with this plant. And even that time so limited, had
to go for it, had no other option, keeps the gun out. Time fizzles. We go OT2. OT, crumble
under the pressure of the chance to close this best of one.
Absolutely. They got a little too nervous right there. That was, gives me, unfortunately,
he's made a lot of good moves right here and probably figuring out that map is difficult.
I'll give him that for sure, but a zoo who he got a kill
It could have been a genius round for Monty if he gives me actually stayed on a
Because G2 were fighting on that completely
They were all trying to surround a zoo in the B site cut off the rotation for the bomb backwards
The only guy falling back was now doubting himself and realizing he was gonna have to retake the other side of the map
And gives me walked right into its crosshairs
opening up shot in for Sunpius as we start round 31.
Yeah, that was Monty trying to go for a boost over the mid-smoke.
It gets caught and a missed chance for Gizby as he has to pick up Afro's AWP,
but Hunter's still just sitting on it.
He's still peeking.
But he knew the Molly was at top boxes, unextinguished.
There's no where else that he could have been and gives me had literally just shot
an op bullet from that.
Yes, he did.
And now, oh my goodness, how this game is getting sloppy.
Uh-oh.
Is this nerves rain waker and now they have to respect that rain wakers over here, no
matter what they think might happen on the B site.
But Sunpai is still second guess is it because it was just the rain waker commitment on his
own.
There's so much time left on the round.
So even though they're making the right move by staying here, Rainmaker can be the one
to make the first steps.
Pius now considers it for a second goes back and they cross in that moment shot yep
And as he misses rain waker gets ever closer Sun Pius at least putting distance between him and the flank
I think again. He still feels it
But it's gonna catch him off rain waker full commitment to that flank a triple kill for rain waker this round
It's a double kill towards the ace site and the close on the off Monty back to the lead
Oh
My goodness
It's a great walk out from Rain Waker, again full credit to Monty here for finding ways to punish.
An opening kill for G2 with his AWP so clean, and then this mistake was really weird.
I mean, sometimes you don't know what you have for full control of, but again, like you said, after the offshot already came out, the molly was top boxes.
He literally could not have gone into that molly.
Oh, Nerds blasted.
Nade damage is also good towards Cat.
But Heavy got a punish and you've got Rainwaker doing it again.
Looking to extend back to back rounds.
He's taking control of this on his own.
And he's just dropping that Util, trying to serve up a distraction as the bomb is indeed
inbound.
More Nade damage for the other.
And as the CTs couple up inside connector, they've still also got Hunter with eyes towards
top middle.
Rainwaker just wants this cover.
A smoke grenade that's actually going to offer safety over to the bomb plant.
Gizmy's happy about that one and on top of this man advantage.
It's just wild because they have ladder room control.
Rain Waker's ready to push to transpose this smoke towards Connector,
and that's the right move because you got the CT rotation coming in.
Bomb's not posted for this.
Hunter does have a smoke, but he's so far away, so...
Rain Worker calls him out completely.
You get that peek off of the jungle side.
Afro just waiting to buy time. Hunter does strike B-mass down from middle.
What if Hunter puts the smoke on the bomb? It feels like that is what he has to offer up.
But it's gonna come up a bit short. He scoops up the kit and within that gap,
Monty strikes, now securing a two-round lead.
Yeah, they're getting better by the round and G2 are getting worse, unfortunately.
This is looking like full control of the situation. A massive shout out to Rainwaker
for his performance in these last few rounds, getting smarter and sharper as
things go by. Another palace walkout that's successful and this push again,
calling out how they would retake the site to get jungle control and then come
back to fight them as they cross back in. It was one step ahead and it was B-Mass,
the only guy who was positive for Monty. Now it's Rainwaker.
And even though I say that, you know, almost ingest that they all have a negative KD besides him
They all have 20 kills or over. It really has been a team effort on this side
You heard gives me there give flowers to rain waker insane entries indeed back to back rounds
Where he just kind of takes control the A side as if he's up to no good and can't be stopped
We want to talk about everybody contributing and kind of being beyond 20 kills.
You could say the same for G2 barring Mattis, who early on in this game had his impact.
Now we get this fast flush of Monty players up the catwalk.
Total change of pace.
And Mattis, he sits here back site, Fommas in hand, does have a smoke to try to play around.
And that flash I believe fully blinded Beemass.
This is tucked in quite nicely.
Has he gone unnoticed?
Oh, Rainmaker distracted, but he's still able to catch him.
He's got more.
Just as he comes out through that smoke, 5v2 made easy, and Monty on a clean sweep in the
second overtime, absolutely thrash G2 on the attack.
Yeah, they are aging like wine, and quickly, and Gizmy's just playing with his food now.
Yes, please.
Serve it up.
God as a knife is coming up behind him. No way. Oh, the death of Gizmy to add insult to
injury. The biggest lead they've had this map, three match points for Monty to progress to the
two zero pool. I thought no chance they'd take G2 on Mirage. That's a complete mistake. They
start off this game. G2 could have been 7-0 up. They could have closed this game. Monty never had
lead until overtime and now they've got a three round gap. A knife kill to close
out that offensive side and now they only need one more. It's now a stark
contrast between these two camps when you're pulling out times and having a good
laugh and it's gonna be Afro off the leash had a huge impact with that roaming
AWP. Last time we saw Monty on the defense and it was Monty who clambered
back from 4v5s in their OT. Well here's G2 to face the same beast.
Sampias hits the pause button. But so will Monty. B-Mas peeks out as a
tornadoes in hand. He's gonna extinguish that just to keep the health up. He just
wants to exist really in ladder room. Even if he can't spot anything it's
It's obvious that they can't just cross up Kat right now, so being smoked blind is not
the biggest problem in the world.
He's a threat to them if they go A a little bit later.
They look a little frozen in place at the moment.
They want to get rid of him, but time is not on their side.
He still has a place to stand.
Maybe, yes, he can be found.
Recovery underway.
Everyone coming towards middle.
Afro popped, nice climb through.
G2 hit that pause, but Gizmy's got more.
A double kill that brings this immediately back.
That bomb has to cross right across Rain Waker.
15 seconds and Hunter on the cross!
Wings the duel straight up.
Gizmy would have to go above and beyond from this point,
but he does have the timing to still keep this close.
He never got to reload in.
16 bullets in the same mag that set up this 2v4.
And he's got two separate duels. He protects this and wins it and still has just the same amount of health to try to finish it.
It's a heavy god position unbeknownst to him.
Is he gonna think about jumping up and his heavy guy gonna start to swing out slowly? Yes he is.
Here we have it. G2 win it out.
Ooh, close call.
By the skin of their teeth, this gives me tries to be the hero yet again, now finding himself with a positive KD.
Yeah.
That's G2's first of three.
That's a hunter with his two kills and one to save the round, save the match here.
And oftentimes we see G2 with a good start to the round, then Monty really working their way back in.
This one's the opposite. We've got Afro with the opening up kill again, and he's delivered a lot of openings.
And now that we're in overtime, we're going to just get more op presence from him.
Again, his scoreline's deceptive. I'm seeing a lot of impact.
The job isn't finished yet. You know, mentally G2 or not in the right place right now. You
can already tell. They've showed us both their A-game and their D-game in the same match.
And Monty look really locked in. Oh, Mattis eats it. Oh, no way B-Mass loses that duel.
Kinda crazy actually. Had him blind for so long.
And you catch that on a Madis who's been struggling as he has.
Oh, that's just what G2 needed.
Yep.
Don't let that be a sign...
...of changing tides.
But it's a fast climb from Nertz in through the window.
Bax turned unprepared for that one.
Okay.
Isn't able to finish his food.
There are real issues coming through mechanically now.
Nertz has been shot at by Gizmy.
heavy god slides out palace, spots another, but then loses his head as Azumu keeps the
rifle work clean. He's operating on his own. Bomb eventually is going to arrive from behind
him on the ramp. He's whittled down to 27 health and his teammates, taking a bit too
much time from the catwalk play, are not here to help.
Yeah, they aren't approaching him. Matt is as low as he has it off.
Azumu's not yet to consider that ramp play, so Sunpai is just slicing right through it.
And now Monty have to consider a save.
Yeah, I think they're thinking about having this off for next round. It's actually a problem
for them and they'll get away from this so G2 skate by looks sketchy but they
do have that flight coming in the entire time
maybe in their best interest to try to go for the full punish as they'll
quickly realize that Monty are going for the retake
scary for Afro
Gizby's got eyes on the window, it's not a bad place to save.
Still gonna have to fight for it.
Oh no, that's a big risk to take.
Like, I mean also Gizby could have just, I mean he was also low.
Well.
Ooh, okay, that doesn't make the odds for Monty any better.
I'll tell you that.
Raises the odds of another overtime though, which is pretty fun
By still comes through for Monty obviously final round of the CT attempted sweep
But it does lack an AWP and there's only two kits one for Afro one forgives me
Grenades light and a strong unit of G2 players take to the top of middle first
Sunpias seeking to wreak havoc, bottom middle, but there is no hyper aggression this time for Monty.
And so the bodies of G2 start to work their way inwards.
Deep Smoke's really going to give Sunpias an angle to post on.
Yeah, he's going to be able to clear it with a lot of stuff. It's an assist.
Here as they start to walk up through connector, as you will, they'll get caught off guard.
We'll be lost by this.
Cat player's got a little bit of damage in, but Sunpias turns and finds it.
Afro from jungle popped.
And so with a single point of health, Sunpaius finds impact, and with three rounds in a row, G2 find another overtime refusing to go down.
As flawless on the comeback, it's all CT side. It's all T side, excuse me, for both teams.
And it didn't feel like Monty we're gonna let this half go.
The G2 did have to dig deep and play well, play perfect, to be honest, to make that happen.
The mentality of your place in this major changes so drastically, especially in a match like this,
when it's free at some points, when you could have closed it.
It's not as if this was one-sided and one team got crushed, no.
Tied at the finish line multiple times.
Ouch.
Oh, see ya.
Nertz does find space at least in sight, but it's a full crunch coming out of Monty.
Oh, nice return.
Mattis is starting to get it together.
Yes he is, and Nertz strikes as well from inside of sight.
The site goes over into Gizmi, who's then gonna get rebounded back on by Hunter through the wallbang.
Man advantage established with that one.
Aphro scours the top of default.
You better keep yourself crouched, and that's exactly why both those G2 players stay low.
Heavy God gets hit, has to hold his nerve, does not move a muscle.
Maybe he should've.
Asero connects, and as Hunter looks to go wide, will they consider a second one in this position?
Oh, what a penis! 2v3 retake comes through for Monty! They are right back in the lead!
And it's the early damage to assist the punish on the knee that's peeking out on the side of default.
They tried to double up at firebox. It's not the right plan.
Afro was too careful about how he cleared everything.
And they'll grab an early lead.
Just a super sound peak at a B-Mass. He has not a lot of HP to be able to miss bullets.
You can see by the mics next to the names, everybody on G2 getting into this conversation.
Meanwhile, it's Kakafu to just do all the talking.
Feels like this comeback has been a collective.
4G2, you mentioned it, Matt is starting to find that return to form.
I wanna know who wins this game.
I have no idea who it's gonna be, though.
Just keep watchin'.
Surely we near the finish line.
I honestly have no clue.
First round of overtime to Monty.
Another attempt to try to deny the default.
Azul, last time, he mistimed it with the flash.
This time, he won't.
Yeah, seeks perfectly.
We've seen some Monty players miss their chance to pounce on fights like that.
Oh, what a shot.
LB's under.
Open B got that op shot.
Afro trying to sign up to the dual versus it.
But Sunpius bests him and heavy guard from that deep position.
Although bombs still quite some distance between the site.
And they're actually, you know, it's a zoo who is inside of ladder room
Sunpius, you know, he really wants to be the one to stop this as who was trying to protect that second window
But obviously be cleared just a matter of inches and Sunpius collects another free kill on a player
That's a little wider than they thought made for the bomb planter not nearly enough
Oh, it's a bias with a sequence and a half
He lays it down with four kills off shots there for Sunpius at a moment there for a zoo
Where they probably should have known better not been the site. He needs to protect that bomb coming out of the B apps
And that's the only angle
That you could hit that second window from
But that's not his full-time job and it gives me he has done a
Couple of careless jump spots on B of course were into the late hours of Mirage
You played you know the B side a ton of times you might get a little sloppy here and there, but it is a punish
And it is the round
Whoa real chances there for hunter who didn't waste the second
Swinging wide out top middle this round. We have not seen a palace push like this out of Monty
You said we're getting into the eight hours of this overtime mirage
Well, that's for new idea to happen and we get one right here right now
You're exactly right because when we switch over T2 are gonna push like this all the time
So a lot of moving parts right now for this G2 spread across the map, but it does hinge on Mattis, maintaining ladder control.
Man, but yeah, even with this push, even if it doesn't get completed, look how much support is over here on B.
We're talking four members.
He's got the perfect moment to go for the full flank.
There's like this very small chance it's ramp and connector where they're not looking,
but they kind of have to trust that they have the right read.
They have a considerable amount of map control.
Rain waker, it looks like impending doom for G2.
It gives me another they don't eat it be massed does have the cat players smoked off
He sits down beneath the window. This is gonna be a tough shot to track
They jump down he gets the first very difficult to get him out of here without Mattis coming up the catwalk
So he strikes the right time. Oh what a reaction
Sunpius snaps that up down Molly will he get off that? No bombs down
You've got a player tucked outside of market. Here's Afro on the scene one e-box fast reactions back and forth
that's maddest with the edge.
Appro's gonna have to give himself a flash
and he had a real chance, but a difficult shot
is G2 to take 20.
As pure stress, nonstop throughout that entire sequence.
It is so hectic.
Show me that some pious op shot on a Zulu sitting bench.
Oh, you could not afford to be...
He thought I have an extra half-second to aim this properly.
I got a few bullets to miss before he could really react.
No, it's incident
Afro tries his best to ate the flash miss the shot
It's a roller coaster, but you got to enjoy the ride and it starts to feel like g2r
We go back to regulation when the game got away from them. There was none of that kind of you know had like
Just the almost sarcastic size of relief now.
I mean, Monty really messed up a bunch of chances right there.
The Rain Waker flank was supposed to seal the deal,
because the information meant they were ready.
The counter flashes were perfectly timed,
but they didn't swing off them properly.
They have missed some of those swings in the past as well.
I'm sure G2 are looking forward to playing CT side once again.
Second half of the third overtime.
Sunpius finds his counterpart, deals with Aphro swiftly.
Sunpius is very much turning into the difference maker as this game's gotten longer and longer.
Nerds and heavy god pounce alongside Hunter.
Three wrong to salt as Hunter goes over top of the Cat Ledge, sits on top of the bomb.
I know Rainwaker as he just got that kill.
His A entries were massive as this game went on.
Oh, he's gonna miss this.
Oh, he got by.
He got by.
No way.
I mean, this could be a golden moment for Rainwaker.
already made a number of very cerebral plays this one he's trying to cheat a
timing he's successful they're not going to see anybody but because Mattis is
actively spotting this they're not going to count on a timing being missed
surely now the question is is he smart enough to come in and clear ladder rule
just turn that internal timer for ticks to perfection and Mattis hangs on that's
That's really great for Mattis.
That's the kind of play I feel like you go back when you saw him taper off.
That's where he kind of misses that, but he is very much back in this game.
He's got a feel for the game again.
Yeah, he's hitting way more shots now. I mean, he was at 13 kills for so long.
And with that singular CT round win, that is G2 to secure a fourth overtime.
They will have two chances to close.
Took a long time for Monty to ever find a lead, but they were kings of catching up.
Well, here you go again.
We've got a duel set up inside of the A-Ramp.
Heavy gone on a blinded Rainwaker.
No walkout entries this time for Rainwaker,
and that was a key component of Monty's success last time they were on this attack.
From the man disadvantage with the three-player mid-walkout afro at the tip of the spear.
What's the golden idea here, Gizby?
Down on numbers, but still trying to posture as if you have a lot of map control and players
covering everything.
The stock position feels like it's a spot that gets better as time goes on.
There's a player playing very tough right now with Hunter in the site as well, right
on top of this box.
late into the game. Will Monty ever consider this? They had so much to calculate and tabulate.
Best of luck to figure this out. Three players hit the ground. Afro kills Nerds out mid.
They are right here. Hunter strikes. One and done. Beautiful shot out of Mattis. He adjusts quickly.
Afro down to the 1v3. Utility pressure and Mattis decides enough to enough G2 show resilience
in the face of Monty's promise, but this Mirage, best of one, will be the road for
G2 to take that 2-0 start at the Cologne Major. Big opening opportunities for a team that has
big expectations hanging over their heads.
Almost showing there out and showing up and always fashionable, of course, it is the Intellect Stream Masters major and it wouldn't be that without a couple overtime sprinkled in there. My goodness, what a game, Jay.
Speaking about having to fight for it, for G2, I think there was a hypo-competitive game of Counter-Strike. Naturally, when you go into more than double overtime, it's a game where you can make the case that both teams can win.
I don't know about you Peter, I feel like it may sound harsh to say here, the better team didn't win, but the team with the better individuals ended up winning the game.
I think Monty played a better cohesion game as the Counter-Fight team was for G2.
They etched it out because they had the better individuals at the end of the day, but that was not a strong performance by G2, but at the end of the day it was enough.
I was just very impressed with what Monty brought to the table.
Surely, as a team, that's why they really seem to be playing the best.
I think they got a lot of their lords, specifically, as 2v1B, but also Ringway coming out on A.
And for the likes of G2, they got a lot of openings, they could really convert it,
and in the end, they just seemed like a lot of the afterplans, in the good situation,
they managed to create, kind of slipped out of their hands.
Yeah, something you gotta be careful for, of course, making things entertaining is what G2 does the best.
Which is why we brought Hunter up here to talk us all through that one.
Let's talk about that match, man, because at a certain point, you know, we're getting
to see glimpses of you guys run over the A site into the force and all that.
But what I'm saying is, you guys put it together there at the end.
Why does G2 always have to make it so damn entertaining?
I'm not sure, to be honest.
I think they played well, month overall.
We could have done better on CT side versus half, I could say.
And yeah, later on T2's hard.
They were having some good CT rounds, some misreads from me and from us overall, but
it's fine.
But the most important thing for me is the resilience where we came back on the Eastside
later after 18-15.
It was really good the way we played and the way we moved on the map and trying to understand
to listen to each other much better than it was before and that's the thing that I'm
happy about and I hope that we'll continue that way.
I think a theme for me watching that game obviously when you go into double overtime
it's back and forth, you know, a lot of tension but you had a lot of rounds where you went
up 5v4 but weren't able to convert and it wasn't necessarily you guys making
mistake but also Monta playing as you said super super well for you as an
in-game leader when you're in those situations when you're up 5v4 and you
continue to lose it round after round after round at what point do you do
have to accept that the opposition is playing well and at what point are you
like guys what the hell are we doing here yeah I'm not at least yet the kind
of IGL who is still thinking too much on the teammates I'm still kind of new in
the job, like not even a year, even though it feels like 10 years already, but yeah,
I mean losing 5v4s especially we lost a lot on city side I would say, that hurts I would
say, because on T of course one guy can kill 2 or 3 when you are going out connector or
ramp or B apps, but on CT I think we could have done better, especially in a couple rounds
I gave them back this entry frag, they were surprising me in window Azubu getting boosted
and yeah, but we'll work on it, definitely we'll have that on mind and if you wanna go
into the stage three we need to fix that definitely.
Without a doubt I do believe that we can kind of look at one of these rounds and actually
even a little more insightful than that so sit back and listen to this.
Alright.
Nothing, block you can leave.
I think I'm blocking.
I think I'm blocking.
You can block, I have one more block.
I move to B, I block ramp and I move to B.
I think I'll stay close to it.
Ash, I will just hold the window, okay?
I have bullets.
Those gun bullets fine.
I will go back after.
Yeah, I have bullets.
I have ball it's fine now go back after
you can stay if you don't ball connect and jump for you
I think they have a molly
I have a G go after
and I have flash for you
go to the smoke window
only ladder
did I smoke to something?
no not yet
I block B now
block B, flash with deep short
yes I can
I can't touch the ceiling
I will retake it
I will retake it
I smoke B
I'll be sure
I'll be sure
Fake fake fake
They are going under
They are all in me
Avar is on the left
He is going
I don't hear
I don't hear
I'm touching cover Avar
They are covering Alvaro, they are covering Alvaro.
Let's go for Conn.
I'm holding it here.
One, two, three, Alvaro.
Oh, fiesta, fiesta.
Fiesta!
Really good move.
That was a lot of things happening in one round.
It was a lot of gamble.
It was also the information that was taken by NERF that you had to gamble.
I think you were the one calling to block B and then start searching,
at least fighting for the guy on short.
as a team like this, is this G2 playing in terms of communication the best?
Yeah, I think this round was really an example of how we should look like, because even on prep
I saw and we saw as a team that they like to finish when they go B, numbers B-EPS.
So I wanted to kill this guy who is alone short or maxed too, and then after we had some guys
with them who was holding B-EPS and helping Matush. But yeah, then I heard them running away from V to under
and we had nerds and A-EPS and it was fine the way we played and then the way we went out together
together after the first kill of Nerd. So yeah, that's the way we should play and that's the way
we should communicate the world. I guess the PS2 call is like everyone to fight at the same time.
Jacob, do you have anything for this man? Not apart from the fact that I think it was a fun
game to watch and I'm glad you guys entertain us, but on behalf of your sake as well, you know,
I think there's mistakes that can be ironed out obviously, but G2 coming into this tournament,
I think a lot of us have you two to make it to stage three. Would you agree that anything but
but State 3 would be a disappointment for you guys.
Definitely. We've put a lot of work.
I think we have a great team, and we definitely deserve the Stage 3.
But it will be not easy.
There are a lot of good teams in Stage 2,
and now we are starting with Best of Trees tomorrow.
And yeah, we need to just be better even than we were today.
If we up the stakes, playoff or bust, is that a disappointment,
or is State 3 to begin with OK?
State 3 to begin with is OK.
Then after we can do one more interview and talk about playoffs.
I'm just a little bit curious, just in your own wording, because now you've finished off
day 1 and you're up 2-0, which is obviously the goal for the team and the first day the
major is always a little bit sketchy sometimes.
Are you satisfied by just going 2-0 or what do you really think has to improve for the
game tomorrow?
I mean, you know you played a lot, not too much, but best of fans are hard and if you
finish the day with 2-0 first day of major, obviously it's a good job for the whole team.
But we need to learn from the mistake that we did in Budapest past Major.
It was stage 3, but we had 2-0 after the first day, then we didn't qualify for playoffs.
So we shouldn't take anything for granted, we should fight like we were fighting today.
Every round, every map, and tomorrow we'll definitely be playing against better teams
than we were playing today.
I mean, Monta is a great team.
I don't disrespect anyone, but yeah, there are some other good teams and we just need
to be focused up all the time like we were today.
of good teams who do you have in the game in bet boom versus game religion that's
really tough game is your one game yeah yes no it's not oh yes yes it's really
tough game especially be a one I think bad boom overall is better team playing
better as a team overall they understand each other well I think boom which is
calling amazing but I think in religion he has better individuals in the team so
So, it's 50-50 to be honest, but I would give it a bit more of a bad boom.
You have to choose.
You have to choose.
Bad boom.
I would cheer for Snucks, definitely, but I think bad boom, 60-40 bad boom, let's say
that way.
Okay.
Yeah, I mean, I could go down and listen to your spirit in my VR.
I mean, you know, if you want to give us any insight there, perhaps BaitM80, you have
anything there, or should we just go to break with you?
I don't want to comment other things to be honest.
I don't like it.
I don't want somebody to listen to this interview and then feel bad.
Talked better about me because I was talking better about his team, but I think Spirit is definitely the favorite, but I will be cheering for my brother, let me.
Yeah, well, thank you so much for your time right here, and again congratulations on winning it over time.
Obviously G2 making it entertaining and for us will continue to do just that on the other side of the break.
We are looking at Bet Boom versus Gamer Legion. I did just see Bet Boom playing ping pong in the hallway.
So I'd imagine Boomaching Company are ready to get this party started in a better direction than they did earlier.
I had so many trades trading and even your eyes are lagged, Harry, do you like it?
One round.
Hold on.
Let me pull up CS stats.
Oh, wait.
My bad.
You suck.
Settle your debates, search your profile on CS stats, and turn on tracking to see all your games.
I'm almost gone.
I'm dead.
I'm on the east, I guess.
It's me, it's me.
It's me, I guess.
I'm pushing ramp.
I'm pushing ramp.
I'm pushing ramp.
I'm on B, I'm on B, I'm on B.
Modding, Modding.
I'm on kitchen.
I'm pushing kitchen.
Modding dead.
No side.
B full.
B full, suck.
Check side and come.
Come search for me, man, come search for me.
Come search for me.
I'm on the truck.
One car, one car.
Two late, two late, two late, two late, two late, don't go.
I'm on the car, I'm on the car, I guess.
Both side, both side.
I'm B.A.P.S.
Can you molot something B.A.P.S.?
I flashed default. I think I'm timing. I flashed default again.
Reckon point first. Let's get ready to play OMS.
Yeah, I'm with you.
I'm gonna peek out.
Yeah, don't see him.
C'mon!
SIG!
Nice!
Nice job!
Holy shit, they did a full gazy call.
Nice, Jack.
ourselves so but I believe we managed to reset and we're gonna play our game 0-1
obviously is not ideal start as well with the draw that you received for the
second round bad boom is someone who already beat you in a stage one pretty
heavily so what's going to change today as I said we need to play our game and
yeah it doesn't really matter I think we play it's just we are playing ourselves
and if we play our A-game or just play good we can go through free one I think
without a problem but yeah it's just about if you're gonna play our game.
I know that it's not easy to talk about this but I don't think you're yourself
very happy with your own performance in stage one. Can you walk me through what
is in your opinion happening is it is it the nerves or is it just just bad luck
in these games so big illness with I know it's a hard hitting question I didn't
want to ask you this but you you have to talk about it it's true I need to talk
about it I think the first two beer ones some I don't know black magic was
happening and I was three watching I would I don't want to excuse myself here
but I play like shit and I was a bit unlucky as well but yeah I'm trying my
best also it's not the easiest to reset after these games but yeah I need to be
really good to handle this stuff under pressure so yeah thank you for this very
very tough question and beautiful answer as well so let's see how this mindset
goes and I wish you good luck to bounce back into the 1-1 pool.
Intel
Acer Predator
DHL
Checks
And Zoe
Well, here we go. Over on that B stream, we're looking at a little bit of legacy fly quest.
If you would believe it, 5-1 up currently for fly quest for us, Bet Boom Gamer Legion
on June the 6th, 2026. It might even be just a little bit of D-Day here for one of these
two teams who have to now, now storm their way through the Swiss system. I want to welcome
it back is the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major 2026 Pimp DePri and myself being trace or
I've been called a lot worse than that. Gentlemen, with the matchup that we have in front of us
featuring Gamer Legion and Bed Boom, is it a question mark around are both of these teams
going to show up with the best showing that they possibly can today? I hope Gamer Legion will be
able to turn it around. However, from listening to that PI interview, I'm not quite certain I buy
into it. Yeah, fair. To be completely honest, it's also a rematch from stage one where you'd
We had argued that the game was not competitive at all. I think it was 13-2-13-8 in favour
of Bedboom who absolutely smacked Gamer Legion to be completely honest. So I'm having a tough
time seeing how Gamer Legion can crawl the way out of this little playing crisis they're
having at this match. Obviously they made Stage 2 and they won three games in Stage
1, but they did it in the least impressive fashion they could have.
Yeah, it's not very convincing and I think it's been interesting to have Ash up here
throughout the game, to hear what his perspective is now that it is his older team, you know,
they're probably playing a little bit different from when he was there, but it seems like
they are relying a lot on their preparation and that was also the first game against Astralis
where they simply went to play, they played too different from what they did in Atlanta,
right?
It's like they're trying too hard to try and find an edge to have an edge over their
opponent instead of just playing this default style where they can have their individual
work off and I think that's also why we do see Pia having a little bit of a
struggle and Ash has mentioned that he's hard on himself as a player
and I've been very hard on myself as a player as well where you every time you
have a bad game you try and go back and he mentioned it himself go back in
rewatch the game see what I what what did I do what did I do wrong what can I do
better and try and find that special goal you're always trying to find that
key to unlock your potential but they still need Pia and they've needed him
with the entire tournament and he's been missing, but game leaching is in my books, the team
that has disappointed me the most so far throughout the stages.
Yeah, in those stats, I mean, we were hearing what he was saying and you know, I can understand
what your sentiment is there, Jacob.
It's kind of hard to invest a whole lot of stock and believing in some of that.
Yeah, it's just tough.
It's a tough task ahead of PR right here.
Nothing against a man.
I think he's a fantastic counter strike player when he's hitting his strides, but once you
admit tournament and your confidence is getting stripped away from you, regaining that confidence,
It takes a couple of good games and you know, safe to say right here, if Gamer Legion were
to lose, I'm not sure they have a couple of good games, you know, in order to bounce back.
So it is not due or die already by Gamer Legion, but I feel fairly comfortable saying with
what I've seen so far, as you also alluded to, Peter, that if Gamer Legion lose to BedBoom
once more, which they already did in Stage 1 and go to, that's a long way for them to
make it to Stage 3, which I think was the expectation for anyone coming into this tournament
as they currently are ranked number 10 in the world.
Yeah, here's some of the look into that matchup that we're alluding to.
Now, my question is, both of these teams found success in Atlanta, right?
So was that just kind of like them overachieving or is it something now
where we need to see that continuously done on their behalf?
I think for the likes of Gabriel, I think it might have hurt them.
And it might sound weird that it might have hurt them making the Grand Finals in Atlanta,
but it's also, it has probably skyrocketed their own expectations of how they should be doing in stage one
and then now also in stage two as a whole for the major.
And it's definitely for them good to have gotten experience on the stage and making it far into tournament.
But maybe the team has just not really been ready for the expectations of being the favorite coming out of Stage 1.
And it shows in the way that they're approaching the rounds.
And sometimes it just seems to be over-complicating things.
Like even if they get into positions where they can win the round pretty comfortably,
it's really where they seem to be struggling making the right decision.
And it's not just snacks as an in-game leader,
but in the micro level, all the players are just making questionable decisions time and time again.
Yes, questionably enough would be what map we're going to get from these two teams.
Where's the comfort zone, Jake?
I'm curious to see if they're going to change up the veto, right?
We saw Ancient, we saw Nuke, and none of the two maps was a good experience whatsoever for Gamer Legion.
So whether or not they're going to try to stay away from that or try to force the veto into uncommon territory,
that's going to be interesting for me to see if they're willing to gamble a bit.
There's also the case to be said that, listen, we already had one loss against Bed Boom on one of those maps.
In one of those maps we can now go in and figure out exactly what to do, change everything
and then replay it once more.
So it depends on the approach.
The Ancient is out of the way.
Bed Boom not interested in replaying that map and we do get another nuke on the cards.
It wasn't a map they played, it wasn't a map where Bed Boom absolutely smashed Game of
Legion but as I said Peter sometimes there's a conversation to be had about playing the
same map against the same team at the same tournament.
It may sometimes be a favor for the losing side.
Yeah for sure like that's where they really can go in and look at like what do we have
have to change what did they actually do against us that we couldn't handle and
now they they have the data they it's not a recent matchup that they will be
able to hopefully go in and change things up real quickly Jacob who do you
have a bit both okay okay a house divided we're ready to jump into the
game so I'm told it's on nuke it's gonna be bet boom versus gamer legion it's
stage two on the 6th of June and boy oh boy is it a good day for some
counter strike that it is trace and hopefully for gamers sake gamer legion
say it's a good chance to make a little inroads versus a team that absolutely
smothered them. Last time we played on this very same map and well we're quite
clear we're talking about that just days ago. That was kind of the most shocking
moment for a gamer legion that if you look at the results now at the major
aren't kind of casting as big a shadow on the rest of the opposition as we
definitely expected you know 13-11, 13-10 squeaky wins over NRG and FlyQuest
Stomp by Beth Boom. The moment they've gone up against teams of a slightly better caliber, which Beth Boom have proven to be,
Gamer Legion are kind of nowhere to be found. Four rounds earlier today versus Astralis was a shocker
for a team that's supposed to be on the up and up.
So let's see what they can do to turn it around. Problem for Gamer Legion, since they're tasked with a T side nuke to start that rebuttal.
Behind Redbox the first falls.
Zorte though kind of caught me open not able to get a disengagement going
Magnajez will find it instead two kills and that is an advantage for Betboom to
try to hang on to the site with they actually forego any kind of eyes on
A site to really go and re-clear outer and if Towson's not careful that's gonna
put him in a tough spot
no options there for him it's gonna walk backwards into his death and PR the
The man under a microscope at the moment who's coming off a very good performance is now
just looking for some consistency.
And that's not too much to ask for for someone like PR.
Spots the credit player.
But so many bodies around him, the Betboom are just going to swarm through, triple kill
Magnetjes, yet again remaining as a kind of breakout player at this level of competition.
And that'll give Bet Boom a great chance to try to convert and get these gun rounds going smoothly.
And Bet Boom, you know, they come out of Atlanta with their insane win over Vitality, obviously, and like their wins there.
It was not Vitality in there at their peak, because obviously they come up with practice and all that, but it's still a great win.
But at this major, it took out Game and Glad Eater's basically a non-match.
And then they beat Liquid, who obviously extremely hot and cold.
They're kind of their big win is game religion so far and that's what's
interesting about this this matchup right now is is it just going to be that
again. I think with the lesser pedigree of opposition like you just mentioned if
you do smoke game religion again you just show that that wasn't some fluke
from game religions be happy. Oh check this out. Oh yeah. Then at that point we
could say like okay that boomer ready for that next step up you know they've
They played versus spirit earlier today.
Only five rounds versus spirit.
Why are they both laughing?
PR was like laughing and Dilladez on the floor was like laughing.
Maybe they saw each other.
Yeah, they know it's up.
The song we slid out of heaven.
Let's watch them kill time up there with like every player they have.
Just peeping toms through the rooftops of a nuke.
But it's no longer fun and games, it's a hard commitment into a ramp room that was guarded
by two rifles.
Flemish eats a glock headshot, but he's great at sectioning off these moments, finds the
conversion of it, and that is four kills for Flemish, nice and easy, kind of gets his
game going a little bit, and that boom convert pistol for the 2-0 start.
Yeah, really freed up to take that, however he wanted to.
Get into the op here for Zortay.
Waste no time.
Mr. Mischief with the mustache.
Heeey.
We haven't got to cast that boom and we've just been watching this mustache on broadcast
for a week so...
Hey!
There's been waiting patiently for that moment.
Move it, boomage.
A little late getting out of heaven but luckily for them it's not like the A-religions smashed
their way into A.
and
all
the dangerous games yeah and it's a great shot but it's also
that was just like a cycle that happened like four times so
what else is res gonna do yeah obviously just locks in on you
you know this is you made me do this
utility sores by Zortay
Res setting up for the drop never steps into the scope
Two players cross outside and a missed hop shot from Zortay
Six bullet eight or six damage
AK Dink
Val, if you're listening, make a new sound for a six damage dink
because that's not a dink
Any dink, any headshot
It's a bink
Headshots that do less than 20 damage to have their own audio cue
Uh-oh, right into the Fp9!
Not ready for that one.
Oh!
No way, he dropped the bomb.
Yeah, it's 3v2.
Oh, that's a bad spot for that to be.
Grabbing the AK.
Everybody else is waiting on the A floor.
How do you get this back?
Oh, he got spotted.
Oh, now he's going to run around a secret.
How did your stacks go to burn?
Oh, no, my God. Stacks has burned off the bomb.
Yeah, but he can just get up to heaven now.
Boomage has to go back around into Mini
and it just sort of gives them control of the A site.
Why is he falling?
The boosted res up top.
They waited an extra second, they will slide that bomb into the back of the site, they have recovered it.
For now.
Dilladez joins up towards Squeaky, they know everything's over in the site and probably one still up in Heaven.
And Dilladez waits for that duel.
Both players with kits, but they're out of grenades and it's that low health AK that's a little worrying.
MP9 gets popped, now Dilladez knows the position of both of the remaining players.
They are stacked up in that back site.
He doesn't like his odds, unless he re-routes towards hot.
I mean, they gotta exit, so he actually has a good chance to do a little bit more damage.
Let's see how he handles it.
Just looking to be cost effective, looking to keep that AK for the next one.
Thinking about himself, actually, fair enough.
They're really just unable to get through.
It's a little awkward outside.
It starts with the Magnetge's jump spam that gets punished.
I'm trying to think, is there a more creative way that they could have approached that 2v2
situation?
Because once they let that Molly go, it was only a matter of time before Snacks gets
the bomb and goes up.
So unless Dylan does challenge more or boom edge, boom edge, Dylan does, it became up
through secret and wraps early to the back of hell or something like that while the
Molly was down, then maybe they could have kept fighting from there.
That was probably the best course of action or maybe the most interesting thing they could
have done instead of a 2v3 retake where the whole site's been given up.
Fast one. Oh my goodness.
Gotta be ready. Towson fast double entry off the AK.
Sorte finds one in the middle of all that.
But it is still man-advantaged gamer Legion.
Oh my god, we're in mess mode.
And it totally swarmed up her sight.
Snacks isn't going to get away though.
Oh my god, they left the bomb because it all was so quick.
Damn, they got those entries on the site and everything and yet, they don't feel safe.
And Hypex is very low.
They're coming through, they've got that extra smoke to just give them enough space to work through it.
Damn near, kills his teammate with a shot in the back.
Yeah, actually interesting year for Flameless, I think he's made the right move.
Oh, Res, watch that.
Nice wallbang from Sorte, he's looking to take a look back at it.
Tough place to be in versus the 73 health of Res.
Is this wallbangable from where he's standing?
No, he's not even considering that Res walked back onto the site.
So you'll let this one go gamer legion tie the game at two rounds apiece with an aggressive opening on that a site
The kind of move that I think that boom are gonna be beating themselves up for because they just weren't ready for it
Yeah, no fast speed. I got to see it
We're in the server just that line up inside main with the AK
Towson was so fast at the entry for agates amps. Very nice like little spray transfer for Towson
It doesn't feel like a head-to-head.
That should simply be one-sided forever.
These teams are too close in level overall.
Agreed.
And yet, they've played four maps against each other in 2026, a game religion of yet
to touch double digits.
One day that will change.
The question is...
Will it be at the major?
Right here right now.
AWP opens up by Zorte, the one and only gun saved last round, brought forward here, and
very quickly repositioned, could have had himself a second kill already, but at least
flusters that approach from Gamer Legion, forces a little bit of utility out, and will
keep them second guessing things for now.
That was a rare moment of movement and accuracy with an AWP.
Single off at the start of the round, now they've got Kalashnikov's stacks back turned to him in the recovery with the double.
But now what? He grabs an AK, needs his bomb, and at 35 seconds, Betboom still lingers nearby.
Banknade over towards Vlamis, missed chip damage, Dilladez is low up close, but it's going to be two survivors.
They'll go scoop up Sorte's off, and Betboom win one, coming through with a single primary weapon.
It's got to be rounds like those that are going to make the difference down the road.
Not the ones that we're going to talk about if this game gets close near the end, but
the ones that you'll think about later for sure.
It's great use of the Zorte op and all of their smaller guns to crunch lobby.
One AK, one Dalil to follow up three doodles to support them.
boom could be in for a treat
there's a dual for you
main player also getting ready
wow this is wild
just here they are looking for a fight they don't
they only have a way to get down super easily and
in case down there's desert eagles that would love to pick that up but magna jazz just
shave snacks off the round with these and sortes ready for that
eventual secret circle back
there it is
spotted
uh...
and he's gone
can't see me now
grab the AK at least that was a good distraction
Let's see if PR can find his first kill.
He guys dies downstairs.
Highpacks will collect one.
Desert Eagle on the chase.
Cover from deep spawn.
That's a potential death for Zorte and Dilladez.
Seemingly dodged.
Sure enough, Flammeis here to find the last four alive
and four to the scoreboard as Betboom lead six rounds
into this.
and it looks like a fun round that
gamer legion are playing with but they do invest in the only get the two aks out
of it and so that boom
are in for a treat they get
that round done with a kept so many alive
they get to farm up on this one
and this is where ct side gets out of hand
leveraged off of that half by when
pushing and wrapping in the lobby right so
If Gamerly turned trying to avoid what's happened in history, it has to start with winning the rounds you've got the gun advantage on.
No ifs ands or buts.
One too many glocks to handle.
That's all she wrote.
Easy conversion for Beppu again with four players up, building a real strong economy
to lean back on if, and only if, gamer legion off this pause can somehow crack back into the game.
Yeah.
Starting to wonder though, I feel like that buy might have been, I don't say wrong, but maybe
just a little bit too much, where they get deagles, two guns, and they spend a zero.
Because it even affects this one, right? You don't even have money saved for a rainy day.
obviously have enough to buy for right now but it does mean that you're you're
even even visually you look at your own economy and you go okay well now it's a
three-round gap now if we lose this we will save now it's really really rough
we won't have an opt to see for for high-packs to fight back against
That boom, don't know if they were planning to buy one anyways.
What little eco.
I don't think that would be it, we have chances to win this, we should have won these rounds.
He gets down, but he makes noise in the process.
Yeah, they're already almost out of utility, like, game religion need to make this a quick one.
Bomb still hasn't crossed. It's running out of time. Still sitting behind red box.
The smokes are fading.
Did you manage to get by? And they get by with full HP and for now it's still only Flammus lower.
Yeah, there's no double low rotation. Actually ramp is wide open. It feels like
Bat Boom know exactly what's happening though. They've got Dilla is already
wrapping into the ramp and they control vents at the moment too.
Snacks was in there past tense snacks sat in here for 30 seconds and just as he gives it up is when Pumich comes down the ladder
Snacks will return and clear it so at least he's still got that presence of mind
Dilla does strikes high pegs down and that's gonna offer up a distraction that maybe flamas can capitalize on
He knows damn well somebody's over towards the single-door waiting and telling this oh
Wow the Dilla does double headshot to just put this around on
How do you even do a straight transfer like that with the M4? That was ridiculous.
Was there any bullets in between those?
No dude, that was just like left and right. That was actually crazy.
And he's 11-1 by the way.
Oh.
It's like great, we got another life game versus our biggest rival who we never get double digits versus.
They're asking, Lord, when is it my turn?
Seemingly?
Not today.
Just not today, maybe.
What a disgusting double headshot Adela does.
There's the first one we don't see.
How many shots in between?
two bullets and then the second headshot.
Just fades it slightly. So perfect, man.
Oh, he knows.
Yeah.
He knows.
And on top of that, you know, gets the first kill as well, which really opens up that pocket of timing.
Yeah.
Sir Flammez did a shot. You saw the single-core-flank roll-side.
Finally calling for a call-side. It did nothing.
No.
Guess they didn't really have it.
Dylan does. Just press their off buttons.
Well, here's the high-packs off, but nobody else has any.
How's that happen?
Is this the roundabout?
Survived.
Survived, right, okay.
Um...
Oh, my back's gonna want to be the...
Oh, this is gonna have to be a flick up.
He's clearing the ramp.
Oh!
uh...
uh... that's going to want to be done
all this could have to be a flick up is going around
now they know
for that off is
Dilladez 11-1, he's impervious, he's in god mode.
He could do no wrong, no one can kill him.
Doesn't feel like he's gonna peek into that opera anytime soon and the pistol's getting
whittled down.
More and more means eventually I think that option's gonna try to change back to another
save.
Every timing's perfect.
That's just sitting inside of the pack. No movement beyond it.
They are going to continue to try to push forward.
Pipex gets a team kill, unfortunately, but we'll stop Gilladez, and maybe that's still worth it.
You had to pay a blood sacrifice to take Gilladez down. Fair enough.
Sometimes it's worth it.
Yeah. It was just a pawn.
You know, need a little rain? Throw someone in a volcano.
It's worth a shot.
Really?
I mean, what kind of face would Hugo make on the way down?
Probably feeling untouchable. How many rounds have they survived?
With as many players as they have.
Constantly, the majority into the next round, still with the guns from the last, and...
You can tell by the cash that Betboom are sitting on. They've got gun rounds secured until the end of this CT side.
No sweat, no problem.
Only three rounds in this half have Betboom lost more than two players.
Tough.
It's a failure to launch here for gamer legion and haunted by their previous experiences
playing against Bat Boom.
It's all compounding.
It feels like everything's starting to turn against them here at the Major.
They need to figure out a way to change that story.
I think the jessus felt pretty perfect, but also
Hasn't had to fight too much in these recent rounds
We'll see if you can get the better of the lurk play as the hot guy is under pressure
Magnet just goes to turn perfect distraction for snacks to strike sort a under we got that too beautiful quick sculpt now
The support comes in from above flammuses dead and sort a's got another chance
Love that high backs. That's awesome. Take some out at the knees and that'll be gamer legions path to a third round
Yes, sweet. I mean, very nice shot for Zortay to try to save it.
That one seemed impossible to begin with, but an even better clutch to close here.
This is nice tempo, I think, from gamer Legion.
Just that perfect distraction served up so that snacks can best magma jazz.
Wow, it is not often that you can use that crack to get a kill.
Finally, a crack that's good for you.
And with Sorte hitting the shots that he did, I don't blame you for trying to find any
possible way to not duel him.
Low HP or not.
This could be a golden ticket for Hypex.
Oh, did he did it just go underneath his feet? I mean he does have a oh
Wow, okay, well we'll see if they needed that shot
I'm not gonna give this up now, this is 20 seconds, I have to run this down, what are
to do right now feels like they're kind of giving it up which is insane they're
just stuck here in the ramp oh my that gets they think they can take hell and
head hey but then boom it reveals himself from inside of main all he's
got to do is stop them from jumping and he gives himself the flash but that does
put them on the site with time to plant what a scramble but there's still no
guarantee Towson trying to find you out or seize the climb up at a boom it's
this is gonna force boom it's his hand but it is gonna buy critical time and
He goes wide, there's this additional climb up.
Flommis missed his chance to gun you down.
And Towson goes for the reload.
He is not anticipating this flammis flank.
So it's going to fall on Hypex, doubling back around
through Hutt, 11 and 8 in the moment.
Two low players in front of him, goes to the Glock,
hits the headshot needed.
And as Flommis taps, Flommis pulls!
Hypex above and beyond!
Another clutch.
This one, just with Glock shots.
13 and 8 for Hypex.
same spot same player oh that's crazy right you can't make that up right now
trying to fit through that crawl space that's crazy he jumps over the option
He wasn't crouching, it would have hit him.
He jumped over an off-shot.
Whoa.
That's wild.
Counter-strike.
What will you see next?
This major's already had actually crazy things.
Yeah, so late.
Like jumping, deagle, headshot for ultimate.
One tap for 99 damage with the AK.
Big, the big 12, you know, 16-0.
I mean, off.
But, wow, look at this removal.
Okay, okay, you pissed them off!
Ha ha!
That boot is side to hell with your T-side.
Let's just get back to business.
Rock solid, eight round CT side,
versus a team in Gamer Legion
that is yet to get double digits versus this opposition.
Oh
I
Oh my god, it's human reactions!
Commendable with Bottle in the middle of that one for Gamer Legion, who are trying to play catch up versus a team that seemingly just had their number.
But there was a tone set in that last round by BedBoom.
When they set the tempo and the pace, they smashed in that 12th round, swam through the lobby, cut down Gamer Legion, and now they'll be switching over to the attack to see what they're made of.
Trust me, guys, they're losing grounds. They're not happy with themselves. I can see it in their faces.
Yeah, let's go, boys.
Hmm, I think that's pocket watching their emotions. I think that's true until the 12th round
Yeah, you know that is he's right until the 12th round
So I think it's a bit to just kind of wash off the the distaste of giving gamer legion four rounds
Because for a moment it felt like that room had a total lockout
We'll see what the pistol winds up giving us but boom it leaves a little out there Towson
He's got sort a dead with the burritos and he'll double down as they try to exit out through that
This is a gamer legion slicing through vet boom in the pistol at a CT side that's gonna kick off with an advantage
Magnet jess has been found out so loses the element of surprise and only has a third of his health left make that 3 HP
But a second kill nothing to scoff at bomb plant now possibly. Oh, yeah, he's got it down. How bad anything here is just icing on the cake
Snacks is also low. This would be one of those unthinkable clutches
And sure enough PR silently creeps up and close and will cut him down to size for GamerLegion's fifth round win.
No stress except for letting the plant go down isn't necessarily small, especially not when it was a 1v5 for a second.
It's three rounds to come back into CT side can be fun, but it's not like it used to be on Nuke, it's not necessarily that easy.
And already the buy comes through
And on the other side of the board it's gonna be for and force to just make sure that they win this round
But they actually don't have kits
Which I personally find terrifying.
Not putting pressure down on this.
Okay, there we go.
There's some damage.
But it's a little bit just like, only a little bit of spam. No one really to catch that noise.
I'm not sure if Sex saw something yet or they're just responding to the cross-smokes.
Yeah, he just drops his smoke ahead of time.
I feel like the CTs are a little bit scared right now.
I mean, Snacks isn't a good spot to get information, sure.
That boom.
Main cautious on the approach. Now the numbers confirmed.
Snacks wants out.
So, takes half of MagnetJazz off, 30 seconds to the clock, triple control side for these pistols.
That galil of MagnetJazz hasn't gotten into the engagement fast enough to keep all the pistols up.
They're looking for the bomb, nice nade, Zortay dunks it on him from distance.
Numbers are evened out, Hypex is wounded, Flamme single point of HP.
I mean, one hell Zortay's got a deagle, it's a very manageable retake.
Oh, MagnetJazz, he's a little to be desired, Flommis no way.
One health.
All he needed, Desert Eagle on Zortay, they know that Flommis is stuck in the back of
the site.
Deagle misses his chance, he goes to swing from the back of site, now it's going to come
to the Zortay crossover.
He allows the one to get onto the bomb, catches one awkwardly jumping, and if only Zortay
had a more reliable gun to work with, this stick still down to the wire.
It's good, right?
Yeah.
If he had peaked on that cross as soon as Hypepax made it that would have been the round over
So really important that he got there at that moment
And it looks like the day is saved
And even though they have you know the one pre-move into lower with snacks just feel like they were playing slightly blind and
Didn't want to rotate to lower it was
That boom who had one idea the entire time committed to it.
There's two bomb plants for them in a row.
Surviving on two players means they don't make much money off of that win.
Not much off of kill rewards buying into M4s.
But they'll be fully loaded again and I think that boom...
They know this is risky but they kind of smell blood.
like they want to get gamer legion while their economy's a little bit hurts.
Let's find out if this is the correct risk on the investment.
Ouch.
Deadly Nade lands on Sorte, makes his scout play out, or all the more difficult.
Jumping off the flash, Mach 10 to unbreakable.
Boomage trying to fluster both ways, it's an easy couple of kills.
Oh, nice.
Oh, make it a shut down.
PR over towards ramp, lays down lead, Gamer Legion close this gap now to only one round
and they do it rock solid with five players up.
Okay, that's exactly what they needed right here.
I mean, this is a little risk from a bet boom and I guess they see that they have one save
on the other side of it anyways, but they don't even get their, you know, three kills
that they're looking for.
No bomb plant this time around.
It's a bit of PR, which is what we've been kinda asking for.
You gotta think if they're gonna change the script for their head-to-head versus Bat-Boom.
We'll have a huge part in it.
It's good scout damage. You know you stuck up there. Yeah, you're not getting away.
I begs, hopes that he won't be hard cleared.
Still pistols majority for pet boom as they hang on to this 8-7 lead for as
long as they can. Flash lands but no one panics. Both teams taking control of the
situation but it feels to me like they're considering lower more than
considering this heaven wrap.
This is kind of a fine position for the CTs to be in. Like there's no real reason
they should go wrong for Towson.
Can catch the walkout. They got a player down beneath.
Oh, but he's starting to peel back off the line as the exact takes place.
Oh man, he turned around and now res dies.
Oh, that's great.
Magno Jazz comes up a bit. Health advantage, snacks. It's a tech 9 in hand and snacks survives
it. Tied game off snacks.
Woo! Crawl up the van.
The four kills, it's actually a miracle that they got into the site, got a plant, got all those kills
in the first place, and it's almost as if Taliesin just, he kind of just didn't believe it was any longer going to be heaven.
So, Bat Boom did wait the right amount of time to create a situation where, you know, something could go wrong.
It's a very, very sound recovery.
We are ready for it, yeah? Let's go!
Yep. We are ready for the next one.
Now it starts to feel real for both Gamer Legion and PetBoo.
But these have been moments made possible by light buys, right?
Two rounds in a row where it is just scouts for Zorte.
Yeah.
Collection of pistols for the rest. This is the realest test. Best bet booms CT side will face
And we are still talking about three bomb plants, you know the real possibility of winning in a post plant for pet boom
Yeah, they're doing half the things right keeping the money low and everything and also threatening to win and
Now the question is can they close and can they be the one to win the clutch?
And can they win those clutches more so than they already have because they have all four clutch wins in this game so far are
are gamer legions. Half their rounds, one VX successes. Sometimes that can be something
that catches up to you, that just eventually slips the other way. It's the nature of the
beast. Oh, that actually betrays snacks and sorties punishes for it. Threz is going to
He flushed up into secret, he'll try to make up for it with a double kill, Boomage still
clips him, and Flumus is seizing a chance inside eight sites.
Yeah, this is massive.
I mean, Hypex, he's got teammates above him, but Flumus in a flank position, and they just
want to apply some pressure basically to get someone to move out of Heaven onto A, or for
Hypex to turn around.
Well, Flumus, clear hut.
They don't know he's in here, but they probably moved towards Squeaky, right?
Hypax starting to think about his options stomping over towards the door.
Oh, no, he shot too quickly.
Oh, No Scopes, great! They still don't know about Flamas!
Oh, the second! No way!
Oppress pinched, and he missed it with his pants, as Flamas activates like a killer.
That's an incredible spray transfer out of Flamas.
Of all the kills he was going to get in that round, it's not for sure it'd be the Hypax trade.
And Hypax had to hit two insane No Scopes to be able to pull that back.
Arras with the emergency spray down knew that he was gonna die, you know, best case was
him getting to and he did that.
After those first few bullets, you know, went astray, it felt like no way, he was gonna
clean up a second.
And now technically, a clutch to bed boom.
It's one thing to get that double spray down on a good start.
It's another to recover what was feeling like missed shots.
They have two alive at the end there.
They have flammas and, yeah.
Okay.
They're still alive towards lobby.
So they have made it a touch more money off of it.
So even though they've kept Gamer Legion's economy at bay,
it's still enough for another buy.
Fast action. Out onto the A plate. Oh, Rez in the middle of it, does catch Flammus.
And he turns around and he's still alive!
Mac 10 into the rafters, bested by the head and player.
Two versus two now. Low HP on both sides.
And it's MagnaJazz with the full bar still waiting to find Rez.
They know he's on this A floor somewhere.
They've got to gather this communication.
Snack's going to walk right into this headshot.
Slain! And they clear that corner! It's Batboom to come out on top of the 2v2, but what a frantic start!
It's crazy. It is so frantic. The trade's back. It seemed like Game Religion put themselves in such a good spot to lock that down.
That one feels map-defining, because now we get two rounds of the gap. We have a save down for Game Religion.
Rez played this spot so solidly.
Yeah, they understand the gravity of that win.
And now you do too, looking at the economy.
There is a Zeus on the field for Gamer Legion.
That's a breakthrough moment for Pet Boom via 2 vs 2.
And you've convinced Rez to give that up.
It's okay, this angle always works.
Are you doing the 28 health?
Yeah, you're just gonna hit a flick.
I love how much they try to use Heaven as much as they can on their wraps outside.
Not just going down secret all the time, it's so boring, you know what I mean?
Magnajez also just kind of off the leash running around, clearing this quickly.
Bomb is doubling back though, bomb is a part of this pack!
U.S.P. swing, sorties, oh that is sick!
You get it, I've been so hiked off a Glock versus pistol clip but that was really nice.
That was nice, have shades of wonderful right there.
So clean.
Side of lobby.
It's unarmored U.S.Ps but so clean.
I never got, never seen Connor get so hiked over a clip versus unarmored U.S.Ps.
This would be the one thing.
Watch this.
Yeah, and then.
First pop, pop.
Oh, ho, ho!
Nice!
It's just because you can feel them tightening the grip.
Just like no deaths for them there, too. It was kind of huge.
Lovely stuff.
Now a fast move into the 8th floor.
Reds in the same spot.
Yep, good to get away with it again.
We still can't find him.
They try to spam through it. Here comes the rafters support.
Towson not going to get dropped this time.
It's up to Magnojez and Zorte.
2B5, turn 2B4, but the CTs sit on top of their bomb
and there's nothing for now they can do about it maybe trying to rush one too
many times I love that is still getting value out of that spotting loving that
I'm gonna try that that's a that looked great and it was Towson coming in the
exact same timing out of heaven but this time it's two kills
The topside simulator.
But they were in actually a great position to go for another rush with the amount of
money that they have, just a small gap and...
Just that position's getting the better of them now. Two rounds in a row. They've clawed back the last 2v2.
Yeah. This one. All the more difficult.
Oh, this is weird. It's actually a good route for Magno Jazz.
Really cool pathing if you want to take a look at this late.
Yeah, like, does he figure this out? It doesn't feel like he's even thinking about it, but...
Is he safe?
No, they're just not gonna try it.
Okay. They don't realize actually, I don't want to say how winnable, if it was like 40 seconds in this spot, I'd be like, ooh, right.
Maybe somebody approaching from the left side of Mini Hypex is really not thinking about that.
He's checking though now.
Still a lot of cash on the side of Betmove. They'll rebuy with ease.
It's just a matter of whether Gamer Legion can continue to survive these tests, because
there's clearly like a cranking of the tempo here as Betgoon get closer to what they see
as the finish line.
Also, it's the rapid fly-out through the head in there from Towson, good for his double.
This time, nobody actually watching that until the hut contact, so he gets away with it.
Yeah, they actually saw Raz, but just didn't shoot at him, they couldn't tell.
I don't know how he's playing this spot, he's been very tricky.
They've fained the rush again.
Nate's in smokes out instantly for Betboom.
Has said plenty of money, so...
Even after this one, Zortay, $6,000 the surplus.
There's a whole lot of smoke outside.
They're doing it.
Gonna pop out yet again. This time Rez is not on the boxes, but rather down in fencing, so...
Hey, the floor is empty.
Yeah, you find a hole on the space.
Rez tries desperately to get up through that vent ends up being the first victim
Wow, what a call.
I think game religion are beating themselves up for having that set up this time.
Dude, that was kind of a great call out of boom-mitch.
They get the first tier of Nades out, then they get the rotation.
They come in for an upper pop, it feels like a completely different round.
Like you would have never anticipated this.
And now is this a must win retake?
They're trying.
They're going for it.
Flash is out, but they don't actually bounce off of it.
third flash that finds the farmers of the trade, doubles down, Dilladez from down beneath,
low health, PR has got him, Boomage inside of the hut, it's low, and as he runs for it,
fast swaps, head shot from the scope, Zortay under pressure, Sprintz draws you in, moves
that off forward, and we'll have three match points to work with.
Yeah, I think that, you know, that last shot is just playing with house money, just for
the style points the times already gone
but in that
game religion lose all their players they come through the nether by is not
that great
that it's crazy that they they pull back all of those kind of beautiful at a
boomage
that was really well constructed
mess with them outside pull them into
thinking about it being a lower hit had a completely taken up for site
monies mostly stayed up for game religion
there's no kids this round
tassan limited to the five-seven valley an effort for gamer legion it is still
ahead to head
that features no double digits for gamer legion that's what they fight for this
round too
it's off a man disadvantage stick area on orthodox boost up and over and sort
it makes the most of it good on p r to recover with something he's operating with
no utility one ht
And he catches Dilladez with a headshot.
Manadvantaged swings back to Gamer Legion.
Betboom's attention swings back to A.
Oh, come on, Zorte.
And he finds Rez's back, trying to press out
through that smoke, another vacant A site.
I don't know how he's finding these three on three
in that smoke down to just show that they will be planting soon.
Good spot for Zorte.
Oh, he's on it.
Ready to finish off PR.
Manadvantaged swings back to the Betboom favor.
CT burning behind the flames, but Towson still
gets the better of the offer and now gamer legion are gonna have to come
together tethered from both sides of the site one heaven still one squeaky
snacks has got boom it's down beneath him and you've got Magna Jess trying to
work back around the lobby hosting no bullets as boom it's straight to the
head straight to the point and tausen forced straight to the retake cuz
remember no kids and as he taps it trying to elicit the reaction it's those
fast steps that are gonna let him know he's not on this deep use now they'll
swing he hits the headshot his hands on the bomb again they played it down to
time he jumps back on it if only he had the kit then it's a guarantee this one
down to the wire but once again it's 10 that is too elusive
that boom will be getting more legion yet again and they do it and it won't be
double digits again another position where that boom just proved they're
better gotta give boom it's a lot of credit for that call it's the upper
hits in the end that worked out very well but he did an excellent job of
dressling it up a little bit differently. The default was tricky the
nades were tricky and the individuals were insane. This is one of those ones
where Gamer Legion they've only been beat by one team it's just Betboom every
time seemingly and you know again and again they can't get this beast off
their back so commiserations but at least they survived to try again tomorrow.
Betboom forward to the 1-1 pool. Yep there they go for Betboom
Definitely the result and definitely the form they were looking for for game
religion quite the opposite. I think that is exactly where the game religion
problems things from when we start thinking about and talking about what
it is that they're doing wrong but for the moment let's live in the Bat boom.
What's up bud? Hello guys. Welcome back. I promise we'll bring you back. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Crazy game. How did you feel? Good. Like always. This is it. You did have a little
You did play them in the first stage right where you similarly made quick work of them.
This game got a little bit closer.
I think you guys overall played well, but did you get a little bit nervous since it got that close?
Not really. I mean, overall when I knew that the map was going to be nuke,
I was a little bit confused why they picked it.
We destroyed them 32, and I knew that this is a bad pick for them.
the only reason why they got so much rounds is I believe stupid mistakes when we've been
given away entries in the beginning of the map on Nuke. I remember we gave entry on to one and
overall I mean there was lots of the clutches that for example we won last game but this game
we kind of lost a lot of them as well and because of that the score was that close but no we've been
I don't think that it was close. I've been not nervous at all.
As I hear you said, you don't think it was Game of Legends playing better than last time around,
but most of you guys, you know, maybe dropping the ball on a couple of occasions.
I think we could be both actually, I don't know.
They for sure played better than the last Nuke, and they've been more crisp at some moments, more...
I mean, there was a really good, the RISC Bible match.
For example, when we rushed in, there was nobody, and another round when we banned them.
Well, I mean, it was not the read from Bumic when I just looked out the door and we knew that I was fully clear.
That was also an important round, I believe.
And I mean, today both of the teams played great.
I wouldn't say that we played worse than last time.
I think game religion just stepped it up.
Yeah, a little bit.
And you played three maps against Game Only now.
Obviously, and coming into this tournament, I think all of us had them as one of the main candidates to make it to stage two, but maybe also state three.
Have you been surprised by how Gamer Legion have not been able to reproduce the level we saw in Atlanta?
Because they were great in Atlanta, right? But so far this tournament they've been a little under the weather.
Is that a surprise to you?
I think they played really great in Atlanta. I was surprised. They won Legacy who beat Na'Vi.
I mean, if we look at the bracket of the Gamer Legion, I wouldn't say that they beat like tier one teams.
For example, how Legacy did because they went into the playoffs by beating Na'Vi.
And I don't remember a game of religion like winning. They had a great game on ancient against NAVI, I believe.
They won it like very good, but they lost to the BO3. And yeah, they had a really great result.
The final second place in Atlanta, but still there wasn't so much like very, very good teams.
And we just playing good. This is our good map.
I'm also curious now, because you had Spirit in the first game.
We didn't get to speak to you after the first game, but playing Spirit vs. playing a team
like Game Legion, can you feel it on the server that it's a different level, it's a team
that is on a higher caliber?
I think when we went to the game against Spirit, we've been just not being ourselves, you
know, and that was probably the reason why we lost to Spirit, it was the thing in our
minds, we've been not communicating well, not playing well, I've been, for example,
I felt like my hand was made of wood, I couldn't hit a single shot, and that was a problem against Spirit, but
maybe it's the pressure, because they are from CIS and we are too, so maybe...
Yeah, I think it's just a comment of the pressure, I will say probably, that we put...
Not the pressure from Spirit, especially, it's just like from the pressure that we put on ourselves,
We don't have much pressure against GamerLegion.
I kind of want to go back just a little bit here to the game we just had versus GamerLegion.
On round 5, we're talking about early on in the game some of the stuff we were seeing in the previous game.
Yeah, I just wanted to pick up round 5. This is the round where Sota has actually saved up his ult,
and he goes to try and find Pia in back lobby here, then rotate down.
I guess this round is really important for you guys, because you seem to, this is kind of your way back.
Can you tell me about the Ram stack? Was this just sort of deciding what he wanted to do on his own?
And why did you decide to stack Ram on this one?
I mean, that was a call from the beginning, that we will stack Ram.
And I think there was a really great call to make a boost.
And I've been playing really good off the Magnus.
And since we blocked them so hard, our teammates had a chance to come behind them.
And we just sandwiched them.
You know what I mean?
And the last 2-1, I instantly created a plan that I'm going to flash, I'm going to pick and you're going to pick on me, try to trade me, and that was all.
I think the Zorta's entry has been also very important.
And I think that round got us back into the game after 2 lost rounds, especially onto 1 when we lost after 2-1 round.
I think that was a pretty important round for us to keep the advantage in the game.
And also, round 21 I think is another great example of a T-Round that is extremely well
that I wanted to be showing you guys, because it's one of those rounds you find like a pretty open bombsite.
And I'm curious to think like, is this because of, like, what type of round calls?
Is this Bumish making this one?
So, the call was to play...
Ah, wait, this one? Yeah, it's Bumish.
So, I don't remember what was before that.
So, before that, we went towards A and we lost, and that was why we went, you know,
because we've been expecting them not to be ready for this mount again.
Clearly worked. You also had a very important double kill coming here,
and then as it goes down the wire, you get to go down here, and then it's just the chase down.
Was it a little bit scary at this moment? Because making that 12th round is always important,
because then you're kind of secure all the time, so did you get a little bit nervous?
I mean, when you're inside, I'm only nervous when I'm dead,
because I'm watching my teammates playing, that I'm like,
ooh, what a lot, I'm just getting scared or something.
But when I'm actually playing, maybe I'm kind of shaking,
but this is coming not from the excitement to play,
from the excitement that I want to win, and, no, no, no, no.
And yeah, I mean, there was lots of the important rounds.
There was especially, as well, one round,
when we knew that they loved to leave A,
and there was a round when I needed to go Vents,
But instead of that, I was hiding, hiding, hiding, got my timing, tried to kill Main,
Main was clear and I just went on fully open site and got kills in Heaven when we went out there
and we won the round. I think that was important as well. I think it's just like this game was not
like last one. This game we won not from the team. There was lots of the rounds, how we won as
because there was a lot of the rounds that we won from the calls, but also a lot of the rounds from the player calls, you know what I mean?
Individual skills, individual decisions that let us win this map, yeah.
So let's do this real quick because we are on a little bit of a time constraint.
They've got this whole Counter-Strike major thing going on here.
Who and how could MIBR beat Spirit?
No, no, they cannot.
All right.
I mean, especially does everybody know already the map?
I know.
I know.
No, not yet.
OK, so I know the map, and I think that Spirit will do.
I mean, should.
How do you know the map?
I've been talking to Spirit.
OK.
Oh.
You got some inside here.
Well, yeah, hold on.
Save all the gold.
We'll save the gold.
We appreciate you joining us.
And most importantly, congratulations here
on your matchup.
That does bring us to that part where we can go to a desk.
I mean, a break even.
from the desk and come back with some more major action here. Counter-Strike is surely
on the cards and so are Spirit in MIBR.
Oh, wait, my bad.
Settle your debates, search your profile on CS stats, and turn on tracking to see all your games.
We are back!
But they can walk now.
They can do a smoke.
Be ready to rotate around.
I'm coming.
Guys, I'm gonna drop you smoke.
I'm gonna go around.
I'm doing a chopper.
I'm gonna go around.
I dropped it already.
I dropped it already.
I'm gonna go and take it.
I'm gonna check out the left side.
You can even play side and right.
I will.
I don't see all the time.
Okay guys, my smoke is fading.
I'm going.
I'm jumping single, in case they can go out double, when I get out.
I'll stay next to them.
If Jiggle main and hard.
I pick on them.
No.
Are you all not holding?
I'm not.
I'm gonna spot.
I don't see.
I don't see.
Ramp.
I'm spotting outside.
There might be a way to put more smokes.
Yeah.
I go down.
Yeah, they can run out.
They're probably doing it.
Bomb as well?
Bomb B.
Double low HP.
Double out more.
Single two guys.
I'm on HP.
I pick.
I'm dead, kur-ba!
Okay, I'm down.
Watch out for ramps, I'm coming in smoke.
Tide, think!
Tide, close!
One mid ramp, I'm different from the other.
Default is low.
Flash in the middle of the single middle.
You can't push, I'm not.
Never mind.
Is he close here?
Maybe.
I'm dead.
One mid, I'm very close.
Tiff, I'm dead.
Thank you.
I'm second, I was close.
He was low, no?
I'm dead.
I'm dead.
I'm no kid, guys.
You need to move.
Mid, I'm low, move.
Thank you.
One in the left side.
Nice, you need to stick.
You need to stick, Milan.
Kaurem, take care of yourself.
Nice!
Nice play.
Fun, fun, fun.
I put the bounce flash off the wall.
Oh, I set the flash on the floor first.
Hey, Krim, can I talk to you for a second?
Welcome, obviously. Again, playing best of one, but the opponent you're facing, there's a little bit of thing going on, right?
Because, well, they are Russian and you're Russian, so is there any beef between you guys or maybe...
Did you ever play against them?
I mean, only in practice.
How are you feeling ahead of this game?
I mean, it's going to be a good game.
I think we can win it in the best of one.
We have a chance for sure.
And you know, it's our second game
and we are playing against the second
best-ranked team in the stage two.
It's also good. You know, if we win, we get a lot of
benefits, a lot of points, a lot of like,
like seeding, you know.
We want to win this game a lot.
A lot of confidence, right?
We are confident, we have nothing to lose. We just need to show our game to not be stressed and we can win this in the next one for sure.
I want to ask you because you're still technically on loan in MIBR. What's the situation there? Are we having some kind of a deal for the longer time or can you even re-deal this?
I don't want to get you in trouble, so don't answer if you can't.
I'm not sure, because right now there is no discussion going on during the major, so no one is distracted, but I don't know, maybe Long will be longer, I don't know how to say it, yeah, prolonged or something, I don't know, I don't know, no.
But there is a contradiction to it, still, yeah.
We will see, obviously, how this all goes. I wish you good luck, best of luck. I don't want to think about anything else than the game that is about to happen right now.
Team Spirit, best of one, MIBR. Let's see who takes it.
Thank you
The Intel Extreme Masters clone major 2026 is brought to you by ESL and partnership with
Intel
Acer Predator
DHL
Checks and so
Here we go. It is spirit versus M. I. D. R. in stage two, both at a 1-0 match up here
in our Swiss system. And let me go ahead and walk you back properly to the Intel Extreme
Masters, Cologne Major, 2026, again second stage, we've already been at it for quite some time here
and we're about to jive, uh yeah we're about to jive right into one really if you think about it.
I've got a bicyclist, I got a counter strike throw, uh and really many straights. So guys yeah let's
look at this one right out of the gate here from the MIBR perspective. What's the even to look at?
The game is over, we just spoke to Flamie, okay there's no way, absolutely no way MIBR can
can beat Spirit according to him. I get where he's coming from, to be completely honest.
It is a match with a massive favorite in the likes of Spirit. Also, MIBR, Peter, you and
I, I believe, dipped the first game of them, you know, we were disappointed the way they
lost the very first place in one of this tournament. They've turned it around. MIBR has looked
solid ever since the opening day of Stage 1. Again today, the first game, they beat Legacy,
quite surprisingly. They're coming in now against Spirit. It's a bit of a freebie in
a sense that no one is expecting them to win, no one is expecting them to do any good here.
I'm willing to say anything can happen to you.
Yeah, I think they will be very happy.
Obviously, when they will be extremely happy,
but even going one-on-one in day one of stage two,
I think they will be happy.
It's a team that has developed
and kind of played themselves into the tournament.
And I think the one that we kind of highlighted
that wasn't really playing well or well enough
for the team, for the life of MRPR was Insani.
I think that was, and he is needed today
for them to even have a chance.
It's also at a point now where you go up against Spirit,
You probably don't have that much expectation, you know that it's a team that is a little bit different calibre.
But at least you're going to try and make a cut for it.
The context to the numbers you see on the screen, I just want to say that right here, Trace,
is that Insani in the opening best of one game did not have a great showing.
He was off to a bad start at this tournament.
He turned it around in stage one.
He's continuing here in stage two.
Just look at the numbers, 126, 133, I know sample size is always a matter of a point of conversation.
But make no mistake I said that he very well could be the best player in the entirety of stage one
And I think he's up there in stage two as well despite having guys like you know obviously don't being the best
But everyone else you know Insani you need to understand. He's a fantastic
Counter-Strike player. Yeah for what we have on the ground today is MRBR having played legacy having won 138 on nuke
With Clem in the driver's seat at 22 and 9. He's got the most first frags. We just heard from him
About being alone with the team or what have you but it seems as though it could fit really well
I think that if they need to have a chance against Spirit, they need both Insanity and
Klim to be firing on all cylinders, I mean it's a good sign that Insanity has kind of
gotten back into form, but Klim has been phenomenal throughout Stage 1 and so far he's also been
phenomenal in Stage 2 and it's actually the fourth deadliest duo if you look at like notable
events throughout 26, they're just behind Spirit and Falcons and Vital, so it's like
a very deadly duo inside a team that we still want to be seeing more of, but it's quite surprising
that a guy that is only on loan of this team together with Insane is the fourth deadly duo
that we have. And just looking by the numbers, you know, having a 132 in stage one, he's actually
sitting close to Insane, but then even the first game here at stage two, you know, he's been phenomenal
and finding multiple openings, and it's not only with the AWP, but it's definitely also with the
Rivals. And I guess I could bring into conversation here too, and we kind of touched on this in the
the fact that stage one we have teams that are continuing on the stage two and
they do get that little bit of a hey we'll get our gears rolling we'll get
our motions rolling if your MIBR that might be in your pocket yeah perhaps you
know but now Spirit have also had that first experience in the States and I
think there's there's a conversation to be had about that but there's also
certain teams who who kind of put themselves about that if you're Spirit
if you're Dong if you're Shiro you don't care you know you've done this for so
many times you've done this for so many years that whether or not you're playing
at this setup or the setup in Cracker or the setup you know in Bucharest it
it doesn't really matter to some extent.
So I think when we're talking stage one,
sure thing, stage two, we are going in spirit,
I would almost deem it as an infected.
And it's also just, you know,
the fact that spirit looks so comfortable
in the game against BitBoom.
You know, they didn't break a sweat.
They were playing extremely well.
Donk was firing all soon as,
and that's always a very dangerous sign.
I think the only thing that I'm gonna be giving to,
to the likes of ARPR is,
if they do have that duo playing the best,
and the best of one, there's a slim chance.
There is a chance though,
and also there's a chance it's time for us to find out
where those cylinders are going to be firing on.
I mean, we always talk about cylinders firing on all of them,
but what map is it, Jacob?
Where are we going?
That's a good question.
I guess we could ask Flemish,
because seemingly he knew before all of us.
Apparently, yeah.
Apparently, yeah.
He's a man with finger on the pulse, so to speak.
We're not going to see those two, no allpars, no ancient.
Mirage was in contention,
and I'm happy both of these teams play and can play.
I'd be interested to see if anyone is willing to go there,
and Nubi's gone out of the way for Spirit,
so Spirit is saying, hey, you want to play Mirage?
Let's play Mirage, and there we go.
Lucky me, I guess, Mirage. I think that's a good thing for MIBR. Again, as I said, it's a map where you get to express yourself.
It's a map that can sometimes get a bit out of hand. You can choose to play extremely fast on the T side if you want to.
And I'll say it like this. Yes, I firmly believe Spirit are going to go into this one as a favorite.
But with a map like Mirage, with MIBR, who's completely turned it around from the first game opening game in Stage 1, I see a competitor game on hand here.
Peter, we've got Spirit starting on the CT side. MIBR, they can't afford a slow start, right?
Oh, no, like they need to be winning the pistol, then definitely also converting, you know.
They, and they need to capitalize on all the situations they can.
But Spirit is going to make it extremely hard for them to just even get to that,
because they're making very limited mistakes, and in terms of individual skill, they're just out of the roof.
Yeah, we just got to really put our finger to the pulse, I think, in this moment.
Just watch this game unfold, which is what we're going to do.
Gentlemen, thank you so much for your time and your thoughts.
We are looking down the barrel of Spirit versus MIBR at the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major.
Stage two. So let's see what are they gonna do. Double digits.
Keep your finger on the pulse and get ready for that heartbeat to increase
because Spirit on a Mirage versus an Opposition they may not respect.
Things could start to get crazy and for an MIBR that's looking to make this turn
around occur, like the Desk just said, kind of a great outing versus legacy
earlier today, all of a sudden you're under pressure. Under pressure versus a
Spirit that could just be breathing down your neck. So best of luck to MIBR.
We can all accept they are the underdog in this matchup, kicking off on the T side.
Like Peter said, the pistol and conversion could bode real well.
But let's see how much room Spirit even give MIBR to breathe.
That's a great question. Now they do have serious firepower.
I mean, Clint, like you talked about Insani on the desk, and Clint also is just one of the best players.
He's had unbelievable maps. They keep getting better, in fact.
The only thing is, they haven't played a team like Spirit, so this will be a real test of their medal early here in Stage 2.
It'll be a fun game to watch just because nobody so far at this major has played a team quite like Spirit until today.
This is the first real big dog coming down to challenge the up-encumbers that want to achieve status in Stage 3.
Spirit having just kind of lost their S-points in some of their struggles end up in this stage and they've put a
Meter stick between them and their opening matchup
Sontics leans back to near gonna pop a couple heads. He'll find himself a nice triple kill from within that cat hold
Bruno's gonna start moving through the jungle side grabbing a USP, but no bomb possession
Shiro's Barrettas tucked into this right side corner, but Donk actually gets a little space over.
He writes off the thread of that close right cubby.
Who plays there, really?
Shiro and Spirit strike first.
They do. That's a great 3k out at Tenir, who's been happy to talk about him lately.
I feel like it was cool Ash talked about him on the desk earlier, how he's changed his position 17 times.
uh...
in this team and how how versatile that he is and how impressive that is
they've not been a good thing strike it then maybe it could be that
it's not it's not good enough in any one position but
it's really starting to get comfortable really starting at bigger maps really
start to feel like the core you know
on this team i think that's gotta be helping as well with
magic's job of of calling his new role
A lot of things coming together, it feels like faster than you would expect.
Flashed off their angles, Donk eats that one, and Sony tries to emerge around the side of the stairs.
He'll be shot out of this.
Donk takes wounded, fined by Spirit's standards.
We've got rifles to mow down the attempt to cross over.
Just looking for a Hail Mary bomb plant in a moment will be LNC.
He's lost all his teammates.
This is five players up for Spirit.
They kind of ate those flashes, but still threw themselves at the cross.
That threatening presence they showed was enough to get MIBR to kind of pause a second, right?
Like a deer in the headlights, they just kind of stopped.
And in that moment, Spirit regained vision.
Once they're no longer blind, you know they're coming for you.
So 2-0, the Spirit start.
We'll see how this game starts to shape up.
But so far, so good here for Spirit.
Dupre said they need that pistol.
They need to convert, obviously.
It sounds like the most simple thing,
but it obviously is really important when we're talking about an upset.
And that'll be to near upset as he loses his head to a deagle.
That's kind of fun. Can they take out Donk too?
Oh, he just came here to stash the M4s.
You can have an upgrade.
They can smell it though. VA hit.
Yeah, they get it.
It's funny you just leave Donk here as a one-man army.
Just keeps checking intermittently over towards that climb up.
Oh, great spray control.
Donk has great spray control.
Donk looks for more.
Yeah, gets overwhelmed just by the sheer numbers.
Bomb to be scooped up from Sandwich, two versus two, M4 in LNZ's hands.
Eventually that bomb plant's gonna have to be attempted. He swings off of it, bomb dropped.
You'd think the MP9 could just tuck in, and that opens a door for Zontikz to try to get his hands on it.
They'll just pelt him with Util first, sopping him up just in case.
And now he's got a dake on magics, but that wide-stair is angled from Zontikz, so that was Donk with a triple kill.
Under siege via some pistols. Let's see what MIBR's first gun round has in store.
Like they catch him off guard, he gets the first kill, instantly adjusts as if his mouse is just in the perfect spot the whole time, center of the pad.
It's a great shot here for Klim, and actually good damage on the round overall, but they didn't get that bomb planted and took too much effort to get through down.
NOOOOO!
I don't understand what this is.
It's fun to watch Donk when he just feels comfortable the way he slips into the site.
Yeah, it feels like his sequencing's just down here perfect.
Yeah.
Here come the guns, right? First looming threat.
We'll get a real taste of what MIBR are going to be able to offer us in this head-to-head.
More early utile damage for Klim to have to stomach. Xontix gives audio over to this recently
boosted Insani.
The fire's beneath him, so he's afforded this spot.
Nope, missed that.
Nades bad.
And Sony took a step forward, but didn't fully bounce.
Now he will, and Santex wins the duel.
Quick little AK swap, LNZ, stuffed down,
in underpass, finds himself alone.
We get this trio of players from MIBR
trying to go for the AWOC out.
They wanted that Palace smoke to fade first,
so that Venom Zara could try to get in,
but Donk takes his head off instantly.
Flamber respond.
Unfortunately, it is just Clip.
clip so far and we've got Sontek's in with the finish LNZ never able to get
active into this one again it'll be spirit with the majority of life there
really are levels to this game they like they just like they didn't even know
where to look and and where they thought players were they were they just never
peeked at the times they wanted to and don't found his openings off the top of
cat did LNZ see that don't think so oh no he did man just like that he's gone
Where'd he go? Right there.
Hasn't gone too far. Not scared of the fight. 4-0 for Spirit.
Easy as you like.
Zontics chilling 3-0.
I thought maybe Zontics was gonna get caught by Insani, but when Insani activated, Zontics just kinda slid right under.
Yeah, it's actually low-key, like an off-angle, cause a guy coming in to peek the window is peeking for the guy in temple.
So it actually works out really well in Zontics.
He loves shooting for the stomach anyway.
Get him in the guts.
It's early days on this tea side,
but a great time to take a pause.
So the last thing you can afford
is letting spirit run away with this.
They can't afford it and they will.
Yeah, it's not really their choice to be honest. Oh a little stray there. I need it
now to just take a breath and refocus okay this is not our normal level okay
okay and this is not their normal level I mean I get that as good as they
Normally
Or was he saying this is not ours. Yeah, that makes sense
We can do better is what he's hoping to appreciate that
I wonder what the idea is gonna be though, obviously a hit on the cards
They want to give Donk some more practice.
Has been that very confident top stairs, Pete coming out so it makes sense to put Clem
on the angle, problem is scout.
And smoke in front of it is the utility,
the limited utility MIBR has goes in.
So they still just try to force their way
through the ramp smoke.
They do emerge, Desert Eagle's gonna go down
with nothing to near spam through the wood.
And it's docked to just lean back for a second
as this scout is still yet to find its targets.
And just perfect.
I mean, it keeps his head down,
extends up to catch the Palace push.
I mean, I don't need to, I don't need to.
it's crazy because like you know you don't even pick you don't really want to
pick top stairs if there's a ramp in a palace but it's kind of a bait like it's
such an easy peak to make but then you're exposed to literally every angle
but because his aim is so good he can't beat that it just walk down his kills
like no problem and so now it makes it harder you're a T scaling you're
expecting him someone to be a little bit more scared about doing something like
that and yet that's not what you get
There was this clip. Back in the day, it was like simple teaching one of his new Navi teammates.
Back in the day about how you can play certain angles, but there's a few players in the world
you can no longer play those angles versus. He's talking about spotting half-all and inferno.
He's like, if Niko comes and peeks this position or you're spotting on Nuke on lower,
if you stay static and hold it and it's a sliver peek, you're going to be fine versus everybody,
literally like Niko and then the couple of other rifleners that he mentioned.
And he's like, in tier one, you actually have the game plan for just those few
players as well.
Donk is obviously in that category.
Oh, Zontics has got the first this time.
You've still got a second body inside Conn.
We'll see if Tenir gets caught off by this.
Ah, he gets wind of it.
Capplay is on.
And it's on.
He will kill the Capplay, but Donk and Tenir still here.
Three to emerge out through that ramp.
Tenir is taking damage.
That's fine.
Doc rocks him with the headshots and queues up the magic swing.
If MIBR had a doc, then maybe they'd also have a chance.
Yeah, and they, you know, they do versus worse teams.
And Sony and Clem actually have been putting up there
into the bargain.
I mean, look at, let's look at Clem's ratings
over the, this stage in the last 1.09 versus Thunder down
under versus Tyler 1.06, Humble versus Liquid 1.86,
1.44, 1.50, 1.66 in their last match versus Legacy, like these are excellent, strong numbers
and we saw how much impact that he had and everything like that, but none of those names
are real practice for this match.
None of them sound quite as intimidating as Donk.
Now we get this palace fly out, at least not Spirit looking the wrong direction, doesn't
I mean, they're gonna let you get away with anything, really.
LNZ's Tech 9 topples to near.
Doc is really good right now.
15 and 2.
Yeah, I mean, you know, sometimes Doc can come into a game
and things get away from him a little bit.
You know, dies a couple of times in the first game.
He goes 3 and 6 and then he ends like 30 and 20 or something.
Yeah, you're not even getting that lucky to MIBR.
You're getting the version of Doc that is ripping your head off
from the start and will do this until the game is over.
Especially if you go through like 15 minutes.
A by the way, you're giving him all the egos, you're giving him all the rifles as well.
And you're giving him lots of practice.
And so the round wins, just keep coming, 14 Spirit.
So much pressure, I mean, that's perfect.
Oh, he'll see that, just barely.
Kind of freaking him out.
Oh, Zonk finishes off that tag.
Magic's dropping utility's feet, knows the B site's under siege.
Light up Rizzontics towards Catwalk.
It's a blind side of the apartment.
Beautiful transition.
Venomzera's Nade will catch him as he goes for the clutch.
He's got LNZ still to work with out towards middle.
He loses that support piece.
Venomzera wants the bomb plant,
and that AWP in Shiro's hands just dives back into the market place.
Oh, the rotation though is coming back around.
Not gonna miss it twice.
on the two survivors, eight zero teams, spirits. Good luck, M.I.B.R.
Let's set some records, man. I mean, we're at the major, Donk 16 and 3 spirit, yet to
lose a round so far. And we have no idea how the stage is gonna end in terms of who the
top performers are, but this is gonna be one of the maps, could be the highest here for
dog we could do uh-huh the first ever back-to-back 0 12 16 12 comebacks oh I
see yeah odds are what it would be the odds are yeah like if the odds really
existed for that I think they still would be
it would be like zero it'd be a million to one it'd be a million to one but I put
the dollar. The scared money don't make money. Kevlar tech nines with grenades here for round
nine. Haven't been able to win any rounds. No reason to believe this will be the difference
maker. Maybe they do set a target towards B site instead. Ah, magics gets there. It's
It's a bit of a labored spray, but just the Tech 9 trying to push through the smoke awkward the entire time.
We've got the window climb up. Ooh, there we go.
There we go. Tech 9's finding a kill apiece.
Recovery's underway. Venom Zera's killed Teneer.
And so it's gonna be Donk and Magix, both wounded, versus these three.
Oh, Magix got that.
Hanging onto the frag, it's only on Magix now, but look at the bomb up in apartments at a minute.
Oh, and Magix is running here.
for the B apartments and Sonny is going to try to meet him in this hallway. He'll get
the bomb with the HP. He'll barely miss this. Oh, and that was the chance actually has to
walk it now. Just in time and Sonny just in time.
All right. So armored tech nines break through in round nine.
I mean, it should be...
Is he gonna walk?
Does he need to?
Wow, he actually...
Oh my god, he's gonna...
There's a real chance!
Stop the plant!
20 seconds!
Oh!
Bullet was his buy!
Where is Magic's gonna go with this now?
Single bullet kills him! Venom Zera, full HP!
What are you up to, Magic?
Venom Zera can slowly get away to CT and make this basically impossible.
I got an HE in for magics.
And a kit.
I mean, he has a kit, but talk about 0% chance rounds.
Go ahead and stick this one.
He drops out and sticks it. Simple as that.
Go ahead and stick this one right now.
Drops out, sticks the bomb, wins the round, 9-0.
I mean, at this point, that's too late, because...
Venom Zera throws a flash.
Okay, and he's got it nice nice and easy
Took him nine rounds, but they got there and they like the way that feels
Best of luck trying to replicate it, but hey you did it with just tech dines
Yeah, that's true like a lot of those yeah trades happen just in this default as they were spread out and oh just buy a hair
That's counter strike for you
I got a lot of blood in my mouth.
One foot in front of the other.
I appreciate the pop off after getting dunked on.
It'll be every round with mnbs.era He's been waiting.
Enjoy what you can, while you can.
See a spirit feel the need to change anything up, but
really, I think they're content to just do more of the same.
Call it a one-off.
Finish this half with 11 rounds.
That's spirit's goal.
Smoke in Palace is about to fade with three players on the
other side, so no surprise to see spirit
Look the gap.
Ramp commitment, made to open it.
Awkward, survives a little longer than you'd think.
Shiro's got a sequence going.
Donk off the top stairs again.
And Klim looking for something to shoot at.
He's got his answer.
That's Donk dead, but Klim down to 50.
Shiro closing the distance with a pistol.
Whoa, missed chance.
But Klim's still feeling feisty.
Inside of the frag goes for the no scope,
and that'll betray him.
It is spirit to answer immediately back.
Quick and easy, more of the same really with the A-pop that's coming out from my BR, but
can you really reinvent the wheel here on Mirage?
They're looking for some new ideas.
Like it's stuck in the smoke as well, trying to shoot at this, and I mean luckily for them,
Teneir's caught on the ladder, but hero's already a triple, Donk's still on stairs.
It's his fifth or sixth cameo over here.
And right back up the ramp we go.
Easy kill and the lineup. Yeah, that's how she goes.
It's a buy similar to what MIBR have won with, but this time Spirit will be on high alert.
Catching the walk up drop your bomb take total control the map and leave LNZ four kills into this game
This is not feeling like the Monty G2 upset potential not quite the same. No, I
Mean some teams come to the major
To not get o3'd some teams come to qualify for the next stage
Some teams come here to try and win the whole thing and that is a very short list of teams
which Spirit find themselves towards the top of.
Yeah.
MIBR learning that difference the hard way.
Yeah.
And there's probably a couple of names on this team
that would love to just pop off no matter what happens in this match
and just show that they can hang with the best,
but there is no one really standing out at this point.
We don't sleep 18 and 5 so it could have been even crazier half somehow.
start with the nadon lnz he is on the retreat
have an incendiary
and a frag
just to let him know we know
They refuse to play the game. Dude, they're trying.
I think.
That's the problem when you're used to the top opposition.
Tagged him on the smoke bush and he doesn't even care.
Donk fears few men.
LNZ and friends.
Not really making that cut.
We do get Climb to catch one back and a great head shot from Insane to take a man advantage
It put a slow squeeze on the round. They had a momentary man advantage
It has been reestablished thanks to BRN and now shiro in jungle off of fire at his feet
He'll stop then him Sarah's crossover
It's too quick before that Molly pushed him out and this shot gets missed
With that the bomb gets chucked down into connector at 15 seconds
You hear Shiro hit the ground bottom mid and for the man disadvantage spirit will recover
a storm of a half with an 11-1 lead.
I
We are just bros first and we are not playing our fucking game.
Like whatever we are doing from now on I want you to be fucking decisive and go together
and go fucking hard.
Because what I'm seeing right now is not RCS.
We just go somewhere, and then we just
can't freeze when we need to go out and train.
And they're getting multi-kills.
And we're missing smokes, et cetera.
Let's breathe now, everyone, refocus.
And let's fucking come back.
We have great city side on this map.
MIBR, we're at the hotel last night,
watching in disbelief alongside every other one of us
while Big made that unbelievable comeback over NRG.
And they're gonna try to harness that same energy
right here right now.
But the problem is they say lightning doesn't strike twice.
It's the same map in the same building 24 hours later.
Spirit, not NRG.
But let me set it and I agree with them.
There are times where they kind of pause, right?
You look a little scared.
You didn't kind of finish in the follow through.
And I don't blame you.
You're up against a spirit that's being spearheaded
by Donk and looks unstoppable.
So I don't know how many teams at this stage of the Major
could have stood in front of Spirit in this form
and even put a dent in them.
Unfortunately for MIVR, they're the poor suckers
in the middle of the street.
Clem's going to try to get the retake going.
That's one over Donk.
And this is a retake that features no kits.
Murderhole is a tough push.
Magics inside of Jungle traded after one.
And Sontics, he moves back around,
Catches the second, B and a Zan is going to tap that bomb once, and as he gets the ramp player confirmed, he is out of time.
This is Team Spirit with a 12-1 dismantling of MIBR.
I do really appreciate, like, on the break, hearing those.
I mean, you could just see how seriously he was taking the game, and I think for him maybe it was more about, you know,
What do we leave with when we look at ourselves afterwards as opposed to like, can we beat this team in front of us?
And I think it was kind of about standards for themselves and like, you know, how much fight can they show?
You know, you got a feel for the players. This is a very hard game to win.
These like, Spirit are incredibly on form right now. They're trading very well.
Like it's not just on, like everyone's kind of hard to kill. Shiro's 13-2, Taneer's 12-7.
This is not the one-man army at once was.
And so it is the biggest test of your your personal spirit, you know, how much how much will do you have and
Even if you can't see the victory just yet
Are you still giving it a hundred percent of your rounds?
Yeah, or have you kind of just accepted defeat in a way and if it was any other tournament, you know
Maybe it would be okay to just not be able to do that, but you are here at the major
This is just the best of one
Final event of the season, crazy your comebacks have happened most prestigious event of the year
You're not about to just curl up and take it
But it can't be forced upon you by the push out of spirit. It won't be found out at least that a trade goes back
BRN versus two is gonna just go running towards top middle and dogs gonna have his back turn
This is done for not wasting time
Spirit with an absolute sprint through MIBR
They are not here to simply progress to the next stage.
They are here to hoist the Cologne trophy.
That is their goal.
And versus the opposition in front of them today,
they have a CT side that doesn't give up
more than a single bomb plant.
They swap over to the attack and they 13-1 this team.
The cleanest of two zeros you could have possibly
hoped for of your team spirit.
The most convincing start to the major
that we've seen for any roster yet.
Yeah, just an absolute smashing delivered over here.
If you look at the side of spirit, what they were bringing to serve today.
Scary stuff, especially in consideration of Donk, finding his way back to form Jake.
Yeah, it seems pointless to dive into any of the details of this game.
At the end of the day, I think everyone who watched the game and who's wearing the glasses
like me right now could see that there was just a skill difference between two teams.
You know, a team that we have as a contender to potentially win the entire thing, to lift the trophy.
And a team that, I guess, the overall goal here for MIBR was to get to stage 2,
perhaps sneak their way into stage 3 and then that would be it, right?
So it's just a clear contrast between two teams who are simply not operating at the same level.
MIBR just got really skilled here. It's really that simple.
I think the small snippet of information that we got from Litney in one of the timeouts was that he was saying that
Hey guys, we're not playing our game right now
We're not doing the trade sufficiently not a realosing smokes and we're losing first-goers
And I think that is one of the things that spirit is just really good
You know, they don't give them any opportunity in the game
And it's also just with we have don't playing
Stairs and connector for the entire the game you keep hitting a and he gets multiple after multiple and it's not
It's gonna be a very hard time. I think now I could be wrong, but I think
We're gonna be getting mr.
Shiro over here on the desk and that's at least what it feels like
We have of course does take a little bit of journey to get here
So overall though if you are in that that spirit machine you are feeling really good
you're feeling really fluid and
If you are shiro you're feeling even better after winning that game. That was a little bit of a show for shiro
Yes
This was a really good start to the Major for you guys. Are you in your best form right now as a team?
I think now in this season, yes, I think yes. But we played two weeks training with Major and a lot of time to play, play, play.
Great, great, great, and I think we are now feeling good.
But we hope we are going to stage 3 and try to go play-off and we can see what results we can.
You look very good so far here in the best of ones.
I have a question, is it important to you guys to go 3-0 so you get a couple of days off to maybe practice more and chill a bit more hand-colonel or does it not matter as long as you get to stage 3?
Doesn't matter. We just, you know, we're just all time to practice, upgrade, upgrade, upgrade,
and we need to play more because Vitality is another level. We need to go more, more, more
team building, play, team play, you know, and we can show good case.
So you'll lose the game tomorrow, so you get some more games to play?
Yeah, if you lose tomorrow, it's okay. It's not feeling bad if you lose.
We need to go upgrade after Luz and try to go stage 3.
I think it's you guys are maybe together with Falcons and Navi,
probably the team to beat Vitality if you go to the playoffs.
Do you think that you guys had the level to just win everything, win the whole thing?
Yeah, but I don't know what I need to say, but when we play Falcons and
And Na'Vi, they're feeling good when they're playing versus Na'Vi and Falcons, but Vitality is at the next level.
If Falcons beat Vitality and going to the final, I think it's better for us.
Why do you think that Vitality is? Can you in your own words say why it's harder to play Vitality?
It's not hard, but I pick all time to anti-strat.
When we play, we don't know, understand what doing Vitality in a round.
It's so hard. I pick it's really good IGL and really good team play for Vitality.
Do you think now obviously here in Stage 2 it doesn't seem like a big issue,
but not having your coach behind you, could that be a problem in a potential Stage 3 or playoff?
I think it's not a problem, because a lot of work is going to be upgraded for the captain
and show the demo and say what we need to do.
And now it's Magix's first person who is going to play, but we have Hali and Sothvik.
It's help for Magix.
Okay.
Have you guys caught, were you able to catch any of the first stage of the Major?
Can you repeat?
Were you able to watch any of the first stage?
Yeah, we were watching, but I don't know what to say.
I was wondering if anybody jumped out off the page.
Any of the teams looked good to you in that first stage, or if it all kind of looked a
little sloppy maybe?
Yeah, that's kind of what we kind of discerned at one point, we kind of talked about that.
But yeah, pretty much anything else you want to say, young Chiro?
Thank you to everyone for supporting us, and to the soul.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
Thank you guys.
It's so hard for me.
You're doing fine.
You're doing fine.
You're doing great.
You're doing absolutely great.
For us, we continue to do the thing, which is, tell you all about the Intellect Tree
Masters here in Cologne, this major, that guy, Chiro and company.
One of the favorites, one of the front runners to be running the show here, towards the latter
stages.
We are definitely only in stage two and as it stands
How did this day fair for you Jacob? I don't care about your personal bike rider
I'm talking about like in the server
Stuff that's tangible. I'll be honest. I think anyone who's watched entire the major so far
I know we are we were much of nerves because we watched Counter-Strike in August do you know day in day out?
I think that the main takeaway for me is that I was personally a little bit disappointed in the level of Counter-Strike in stage one
I think there were too many teams who came in and didn't play with enough urgency and didn't really come in with the level that I expected
I can already see now here stage two right the level is already one or two steps about that
You see it seemed like game a legion going o2 today because they're not playing well
Well on stage one they weren't really punished for it here in stage two. You don't play well
You get punished for it. So in terms of you ask me how I feel I'm out trace
I don't know what it is with me. Why I'm such a freak, you know, but I do love to to see you tell it
i do as i'm curious myself on the brackets and you keep going about
i like that
people getting punished you know in a sense that if i don't if you don't
if you don't okay
you get you get consequences of that and i didn't see that in stage one and i'm
seeing that in states two and i did that personally i like that
it just takes i didn't see that coming
i'm gonna be honest i did not
anticipate that but what you can anticipate is more lovely counter strike
in stage two over here coming your way
uh... as this was bracket does start to take shape after day one
to free I oppose the same question to you man who's sticking out I mean I think
the the big surprise in the 2-0 bracket that's gotta be 9c right they they
took down Astralis I did not I did not see that one coming but I guess it's you
know that's what the best of ones do and I wouldn't say I overestimated what I
saw from Astralis in the first game but you know them them losing and not
find themselves in a 2-0 that's that's interesting but at least I'm happy to
see that both the favorites in my books in in terms of G2 and Spirit for that
matter also foot has all made made it there so no no pickups it's just look
at that game right there down at the bottom you know you see it on his
green Peter over there if you have you have options yeah I guess I'll just
look at it taking on game or leaving right a 3-0 from stage one against the
team that everyone is was expecting to go 3-0 they're both 0-2 one of them will
be eliminated I'll be completely honest you know I'm surprised that bait is down
there I'm also surprised game or leaving is down there but that game is a rough
One of those two teams will go out tomorrow, finishing last at Stage 2, and I think all of us and a lot of people at home had them to make it to Stage 3.
You know, rightfully so, rightfully so. I think Gamel isn't deserved to be there.
I think they've played poor throughout Stage 1, and they've played pretty poor today. Like, they make so many mistakes.
So you also like when people get punished, huh?
Yeah, maybe, yeah, maybe sometimes, but not like you do, apparently.
What?
I just I it doesn't quite matter. Let's talk about tomorrow. How about that a new day?
We'll begin here at the Intellect Stream Masters in stage two. These are some of the games that we can begin to look for to on the a stream legacy
Monty
M80 bb a little bait and a bait and switch over there with gamer Legion, you know
And it's it's unfortunate because at the same time these are two teams you look that coming in here and saying like okay
These are gonna be your hot the trotts. These are gonna be the ones that are gonna actually make an impact in a way
but as the story of the pick-ups are told across all of time, that did not happen.
So obviously we round the day out with a little bit of foot and G2 action and that's just over on the A-Stream.
That's a banger game, I'll be honest. Foot is probably one of the most exciting teams to follow how they progress right now.
G2 as well today had to fight for it in the second game, but also look solid.
Don't know about you, Peter. I could see both foot and G2 content for us part of the playoffs.
If they'll make State 3 both of them, I have no doubt whoever's going to win that game obviously in a 3-0 fashion,
but overall I see them both making to State 3 and I wouldn't be surprised if we have both of those liners also contending for the playoff.
Yeah, 100% and that's kind of what you know, State 3 deserves it and I think that both teams also have shown good enough
to actually get there. It was a little bit hairy for some situations for both teams today and I think that at least for the
The foot side was more about them being a little bit too overconfident, specifically
against the, against Tyloo.
And you know, I'm sorry to say, but G2 should have made it that close against Monty.
But you know, that is what Counter-Strike is about sometimes.
It's about the mental, but also making the lessons again.
Both teams, they, they could really, you know, play their best today.
Yeah.
Unfortunate, unlucky, or just weren't quite ready for stage two here in Cologne.
Here's the match-ups for that B-Stream.
Astralis drawing Tyloo.
We see Spirit in a 9-Z there towards the end of the day.
I'm just gonna say is it best of three spirit is probably just as scary as best of one spirit weirdly enough
Yeah, I think I see has been the biggest price of the day
You know for them to be to over I don't think a lot of people have that on the bingo card
Unfortunately for them they get a tough draw no matter what happens in that game
You know obviously them winning would be a massive surprise
But if they can even make it competitive against spirit, maybe steal away a map then there will be another huge step in in the right direction
Would you bring Flamus here? Maybe he can give us an insight of who's gonna win that game. Yeah
Yeah.
Knows everything else, Jacob.
You good?
You cool?
I'm great.
All right, good man.
Thank you very much, gentlemen.
I've got the great Danes here as they'd like to be called, and you can call that, uh,
dim that over on Twitter if you'd like.
But for us, it does do this day some justice in calling it right here.
So, stage two, day one, done so.
We'll see you back tomorrow for the Intellect Stream Masters, Cologne Major in 2026.
Can I get a hell yeah?
Hell yeah.
Hell yeah.
Thanks, Jacob.
Good night.
How about me?
Boys listen to me right now, okay cut this fucking tool shit out. All right
I know we've got some rounds, but we need to connect together. Okay, these fucking rounds right now
These last few rounds our connection. He's been absolutely fucking dog shit. Okay. I've got Johnny tilting
I've got Justin tilting boys stop fucking tilting
Get it together
Hello, hello!
Oh, come on!
Oh, Peri-up range!
That makes it nice and easy, but safe, Peri-up!
That is ludicrous!
Welcome to I am Colombo.
The bomb plant, I think he just got it.
Oh, he's got it now!
Retake underway!
They spray down to just the last.
He can't do squeeze a 14th round.
Oh, I think it's too late.
We're going to run ahead.
Oh, he's gone after it!
Is that what we're doing?
Yeah.
Let's go.
I love you so much.
Who has the previous smile of the players when you're taking pictures of them?
If I speak, I'm in big trouble.
I'm screaming from the beach, I love you so.
Jax.
And Zoe.
There is no stopping him
He is inevitable, beginning of counter strike
Now get a picture of all the easy-for-money I have
I can press him and he's not dying as you have
BABY FOR HATTER GUN!
BABY FOR HATTER GUN!
Something special to tell you is divine!
And that takes a new hundredth!
God of Exile!
We are back!
BABY FOR HATTER GUN!
She says, I know the feelings won't come right again
And what's waiting for the lightning?
You see it in, striking with your legs
And he sets off like a flame
It's all gonna come together again
It's all like, just a little time
So hold on, hold tight
Love's here in the night sky
Oh, I've got a feeling
Oh, I've got a feeling
I'm gonna walk a-down to chase the night cheese
Oh, no, never let friends like these
Oh, I've got a feeling
Oh, I've got a feeling
I'm gonna get money, get cars, get down on that beat
Oh, no, never let friends like these
Oh, I've got a feeling
And
I've got to say that it wants to try
Have a good one
Oh yeah
That is not
Got my list of things you wish to quit
Oh no
No one else will follow my hand
These lies, my head is gonna find it
He says, all right
We're all in this together, it's all right
Still a little time
So hold on, hold tight
All the fear when you're doing your right
It's like
Never had friends like me
Never had friends like me
Never had friends like me
We like to chop the donkey, chop the pig up
We like to chop the donkey, crone on my bone
We got the charm of Dona King, charm of D.O.
We got the charm of Dona King, charm of D.O.