With Counter-Strike.


This is part 3 of DeKay's Pre-Cologne CS:GO mailbag - if you missed the first two parts you can catch up here and here.

Are there big changes coming to the Swedish CS:GO scene?

Will there be big changes in swedish cs scene? Thanks — anwaqw (@anwaqw) June 27, 2019

That purely depends on how Fnatic and NiP perform at Cologne and the Major. I can only see Fnatic replacing one player at most if things don’t pan out.

The more interesting situation is NiP because we know they’ll be adding Plopski, but Golden is effectively trying out for the team for when GeT_RiGhT hangs his mouse up. If they don’t like his leading style, then I can see them looking elsewhere. So again, it depends. I’ve always thought olofmeister would return to a Swedish team one day, maybe that happens within the next year. Who knows.


Is there any interest in kaze?

Is any org interested in kaze? — I Wish (@Zenet_Himself) June 27, 2019

Not that I have heard of.

Any updates on upcoming roster moves for Cloud9?

Any update on Cloud 9 and their projected roster moves? — Slightly Above Average Bucks Fan (@AverageBucksFan) June 27, 2019

The latest rumor I had heard and felt was legitimate was the addition of daps, TenZ, and koosta. I’m not so sure that is a certainty though, just players that were explored at one point in the recent past.

Beyond that, I can only speculate at this time, but that could change quickly. As always, I’ll report any moves they’ll be making if I find ample confirmation.

Where is smooya headed?

Any ideas where Smooya is headed? Also, do you think there could be another strong international squad aside from Faze and Mouz? — Brolobo (@zechiscute) June 27, 2019

Smooya doesn’t really have any offers that I’m aware of, but his buyout hasn’t made things any easier despite it being small.

As for the second part of the question, I think there is definitely room for another international roster but I’m not sure how competitive they would be.

FaZe have been looking for a long term in-game leader since before Karrigan even left and they’re still looking to this day. That means a new international team would have even more trouble unless they had a ton of money behind them.

How is your day?

How’s your day going? — Will Locher (@will_locher) June 27, 2019

It’s going well. I get to write about Counter-Strike and people actually read it, I can’t complain.

Could s1mple ever leave Na'Vi?

Will simple ever leave navi for good ? And which team he will join if he does so — Tejas Shetty (@TejasShetty0) June 27, 2019

I think Na’Vi is his for as long as he wants it. The crazy part is even though he is the best player in the world, he hasn’t been very demanding during his time with them since joining. It would be easy for someone as skilled as him to be frustrated with some of their performances in the past year or two, but he remains patient. It’s almost understated how much of a professional human being he has become.

I can see a world in which he never leaves, so long as they want to field a Counter-Strike team. The only way I see him leaving is if a team with a ton of potential and cash to spend reaches out at the exact moment Na’Vi is in a huge slump.

Who was on FaZe Clan's radar?

Who was faze looking at besides neo? What's the future of flusha? — Lachs (@ThisIsLachs) June 27, 2019

At that time, I didn’t really hear of any other names. He was the first name I heard and they announced soon after.


How is Renegades looking?

What do u think about renegades? Do you think they can get back to their form from the major? Do you think jks could be the first Australian player to make it to top 20? — P1psqu3ak (@P1psqu3ak1) June 27, 2019

I think they can now that Gratisfaction’s visa issues are a thing of the past (I hope). I thought they hadn’t even peaked in Katowice and had more room for improvement.

Unfortunately, that got disrupted by having to play with a stand-in soon after. Jks is absolutely good enough to make a top 20 list, but making it this year will be tough. For that to happen he will have to show out right away in Cologne.

What's the deal with Heroic?

whats the point of heroic signing NaToSaphiX if they dont let him awp (es3tag awps) — Hazemore (@Hazemore04) June 29, 2019

I don’t have any insight but my guess is that if he AWPed, the resulting roles would put more players in uncomfortable positions than they are now. It could also have been a decision made by Peacemaker, who knows. If they struggle, I’m sure they would give it a chance because you have to try everything before you give up and make a roster move.

What's the word on Wardell?

What will happen to Wardell? — Andy (@mystickrat) June 28, 2019

That comes down to how much organizations want to spend and how willing Ghost is to offload him. There is sufficient motivation on both ends of that due to how good he is, so I think someone picks him up. Cloud9 would be my pick to go get him over anyone else.

Is there speculation on match fixing?

Have there been any speculations about possible match fixing in any tier CS games this year? — Augustas Babelis (@De2kas176) June 28, 2019

Yes, absolutely. In China and Germany more than anywhere else. I wish I had more time to look into matches I suspect were fixed. I’ll be able to more in the near future.


What's next for xccurate?

What happens to :flag-id: xccurate? — Frøg (@FrogCS) June 28, 2019

I don’t have enough information to say really. I’m pretty sure TYLOO buyouts are pretty large, from what I remember. He might be stuck for a while if someone doesn’t want him bad enough.

What happens with MIBR if LUCAS1 doesn't work out?

If this LUCAS1 experiment from MiBR does not give them better results after the major?What’s their next move? — sid. (@siiiden) June 28, 2019

I think their next move is replacing fer and/or LUCAS1 if things don’t get better. That is just my guess though. They have to shake things up big time if it doesn’t work after this.

Are there any orgs interested in OpTic CS:GO?

What orgs seem to be interested in Optic CSGO? — Conner Rhodes (@cernersandals) June 27, 2019

I haven’t heard any solid names yet, you’ll hear from me if I do.

Will GuardiaN retire soon?

Do you think guardiaN is ready to retire? — 6nodder6 (@6nodder6) June 27, 2019

I’m pretty sure he has mentioned he wants to win a Major still, so I expect him to play another year or two. That’s not very long though in Counter-Strike and it’s not looking good with his current roster so I’m not very hopeful he can make it happen. If there was one player that I would love to see win one though, it would be him.


Is the CS:GO scene in trouble?

With so many high level pros without teams and so many notable teams without organisations backing them, do you think that the scene is running out of money? Did it grow too fast? Are the buyouts too high? Any take here? — Jonathan (@JK_Composer) June 27, 2019

Most buyouts are reasonable compared to current salaries, in my experience. The main issue I see is that many organizations expected to profit on their teams far sooner than has happened or they underestimated how expensive teams are. On top of that, teams are still terribly managed. Far too many people are unaware of roster rules until I let them know about it, for example. If that’s going on, money is likely being wasted on a ton of pointless stuff. This results in orgs coming and going the way they do.

A real sustainable organization takes time to pan out and anyone thinking esports was going to explode in a few years’ time is just delusional. If the economy takes a hit in the future, we will see ramifications but nothing I would personally worry about. I’ve never been more excited to work in this industry.

What are the possible jobs in esports besides being a player?

Jobs in eSports other than players — ravindra dhaka (@Dhk27Ravindra) June 27, 2019

Management, Writing, Production, Administration are some of the more popular areas. Follow your passion.

Could Astralis be in for a major change soon?

If Astralis keep being this 5-8'th place team they are now, do you think they will make a change after the Starladder Major? — Oliver H (@OliverandEsport) June 27, 2019

No, I don’t think so. It would take more of a drop-off to leave them considering a change that early.

What's the outlook on Oskar?

Oskar really misses the tournaments nowadays, do you think he might be leaving hr?

If so what would be a suitable team for Oskar? — Sander (@Sandeman02) June 27, 2019

With the way things ended on Mousesports with Oskar, I don’t see a larger organization taking a chance on him. He kind of wore out his welcome and word spreads fast in this industry.

Can inactive players quickly get back into their groove?

There are many tier1 players or tier2 player inactive like flusha and sunny. Do you think without any real competitive games they will ever be as good as they were? Are there any examples of big players taking such long brake and coming back as strong? — Diego Quiroga (@1diego_q) June 27, 2019

That is always a risk when you take time off, but I think sunny is young enough to pick up where he left off. Flusha is the more worrying one but I just can’t imagine a world in which Flusha isn’t a good player. He is too skilled.

Could smooya come back to BIG?

Is smooya still a possible player to comeback to big if this lineup dont work ? — marzio (@sou_o_teu_paii) June 27, 2019

I think it is very unlikely that happens.

Why are veteran teams starting to underperform?

besides not being able to change players as easily as before, why do you think a lot of tenured teams are starting to underperform? — sexhaver_420 (@Sexhaver_420) June 27, 2019

General complacency and younger talent wanting it more than them. Many tenured players naturally ease up on how serious they take the game when they get a hefty paycheck. Some clearly have fallen out of love with the game and play because it’s the one way for them to make a paycheck and uphold their lifestyle. Not everyone is like s1mple and dreams about playing the game at every single waking moment.