Berlin International Gaming (BIG) has actively been developing talents for their roster on Academy level since 2018. Yesterday the Organization revealed its new lineup for the 2021 season.

- I am very excited to see how the team will develop in the coming months under the leadership of our academy coach, Tugay, BIG CEO Daniel Finkler said in a statement.

Niklas “NIKZEj” Burmeister, Alex “DuubLex” Fominych, Thierry “Sanshine” Müller, Tim “tazmin” Maier, Tom “Sw1ft” Ruhnke.

The 2020 edition of BIG Academy delivered this spectacular highlight.

BIG Academy

With a 16-12 victory against OG Academy, BIG Academy is now 8-0 in their group at WePlay Academy League. The Germans made it all the way to the Grand Final last season and seem like an early favorite for the title this year. 

The three-time champions from MOUZ NXT have been struggling this season with a 5-5 score after ten matches. The defending champions were on a three-match losing streak before winning 16-6 yesterday against Spirit Academy, which was a key game to stay alive in group A. MOUZ NXT have two matches remaining and will probably have to win atleast one of them to make it through. Astralis Talent is leading group A.

Top four of each group qualify for the playoffs. The last group matches will be played on Sunday.

The Grand Final of the WePlay Academy League Season 4 featured BIG Academy and MOUZ NXT. MOUZ, who had won the first three seasons, took the victory in two maps and secured their fourth victory.

The action kicked off on MOUZ's pick of Nuke, and BIG Academy had a jolly time early on. The german roster took a four-round lead on the CT side, but from there on out it was all downhill. The three Poles of MOUZ NXT, 'siuhy', 'szejn', and 'mhL' took on their carry gloves and led the team to a crushing 16-6 victory.

The second map of Dust2 was much closer than the first one. No team ever had a lead of more than four rounds, and there were multiple ties and lead changes throughout the map. Ultimately MOUZ NXT managed to fight their way past 'prosus', who had a stand-out performance for BIG Academy and take the victory by a measly three rounds.

With the victory, MOUZ NXT are once again the champions of the WePlay Academy League.

BIG Academy - MOUZ NXT 0-2 | Roobet Cup 2022

6-16 (Nuke) | {cflag:PL} siuhy - 1.73 Rating / 25-13 K-D / 116.2 ADR

13-16 (Dust2) | {cflag:DE} prosus - 1.69 Rating / 31-20 K-D / 124.3 ADR

MVP: {cflag:PL} Kamil 'siuhy' Szkaradek - 1.35 Rating / 41-33 K-D / 96.7 ADR

mouz NXT

Four teams are left to fight for the title and the $45.000 at WePlay Academy League Season 4.

MOUZ NXT and BIG Academy won their respective groups to qualify directly for the playoffs, while FURIA Academy and Fnatic Rising had to go through a Play-in bracket to make it through. The playoffs are set as a double-elimination bracket.

1. {cflag:DK} Fessor (Astralis Talent) - 1.31 rating

2. {cflag:SE} phsy (Young Ninjas) - 1.30 rating

3. {cflag:DE} hyped (BIG Academy) - 1.27 rating

4. {cflag:IL} xertioN (MOUZ NXT) - 1.26 rating

5. {cflag:RO} regali (Fnatic Rising) - 1.25 rating

Season 3: 1st MOUZ NXT, 2nd BIG Academy, 3rd Astralis Talent

Season 2: 1st MOUZ NXT, 2nd NAVI Junior, 3rd Young Ninjas

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Season 1: 1st MOUZ NXT, 2nd Young Ninjas, 3rd Fnatic Rising

Fnatic Rising

FURIA Academy

Berlin International Gaming has still not found its footing after the departure of Can "XANTARES" Dörtkardeş in the middle of 2021. Nicklas "gade" Gade has been both in and out of the team since, with Josef "faveN" Baumann coming in to replace the Dane. 

The results have not been great for the former number one team in the world. The lack of firepower has been an issue for the German roster.

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Now the team is trying to adjust one more time. BIG Academy player Karim "Krimbo" Moussa will replace Nils "k1to" Gruhne on a permanent basis. The Academy player has already been playing with the main roster in the RMR qualifiers as a stand-in.

Nils "k1to" Gruhne will instead switch to the academy team.

BIG is scheduled to play in Group C at ESL Pro League next week.

Krimbo

k1to

For the third time in just as many tries, MOUZ NXT has captured the title at the WePlay Academy League.

In the tournament that displays the academy teams from a number of top-tier CS:GO teams around the world, MOUZ NXT has been a dominant force since day 1.

In the Grand Final of the third iteration of the tournament, it was this time BIG Academy, that was the last hurdle for MOUZ NXT. The two teams started the fight for the title (and the $45,000) on BIG's map pick, Vertigo.

Here the now Polish-dominated MOUZ NXT team had no problems taking down BIG Academy, despite some good performances from the BIG duo Karim 'Krimbo' Moussa and Marcel 'hyped' Köhn.

The match continued on Ancient. A map where BIG Academy had a 0% (out of three maps played) win record on. That didn't change today, as MOUZ just continued to swing the rounds in their favor. This time around it was the AWP'er Miłosz 'mhL' Knasiak, who had several big impact rounds to help his team to win another WePlay Academy trophy, as MOUZ won 16-9.

MOUZ NXT - BIG Academy (2-0) | WePlay Academy League Season 3

16-12 (Vertigo) | {cflag:DE} JDC – 1.32 Rating / 22-17 K-D / 85.6 ADR

mhL – 1.63 Rating / 26-15 K-D / 98.2 ADR

MVP: {cflag:PL} Miłosz 'mhL' Knasiak - 1.29 Rating / 43-36 K-D / 90.3 ADR

MOUZ NXT has the chance to win the Weplay Academy League title back, to back to back, when they go head to head with BIG Academy tonight.

Once again the MOUX NXT roster has been the best so far at the tournament, but can they do it again?

It will be BIG Academy, which will be tasked with the mission to dethrone MOUZ NXT at WePlay Academy League Season 3.

After two closely fought maps on Nuke and Inferno, it was BIG Academy who proved to be the best team against Astralis Talent. Marcel 'hyped' Köhn from BIG Academy had a feast on Inferno with multiple opening kills and a solid 30 bomb to seal the deal for BIG in the match.

BIG will play the Grand Final later tonight against MOUZ NXT, where the two teams fight for the $45,000 in first prize.

Astralis Talent is out on third place, which is their best finish in the three seasons of WePlay Academy League.

BIG Academy – Astralis Talent (2-0) | WePlay Academy League Season 3

16-13 (Nuke) | {cflag:DE} Krimbo – 1.28 Rating / 20-18 K-D / 95.2 ADR

hyped – 1.86 Rating / 34-14 K-D / 111.6 ADR

MVP: {cflag:DE} Marcel 'hyped' Köhn - 1.50 Rating / 58-33 K-D / 90.3 ADR

hyped

Astralis Talent

Who will face MOUZ NXT in the Grand Final? That is the question, that Astralis Talent and BIG Academy has set out to answer in the Consolidation Final from WePlay Academy League Season 3.

The winner will play the Grand Final later tonight.

The Academy division of CS:GO is without any doubt one of the most exciting aspects in the current professional Counter-Strike scene. Having a roster dedicated to the young prospects of this game means a faster progression for the young talents as well as them being able to further strengthen the Tier-one scene in the upcoming future. The WePlay Academy League Season 3 is beginning to become more and more intense with a Grand Final spot up for grabs as BIG Academy and MOUZ NXT locked horns. The favorites MOUZ NXT proved exactly why they are ranked as the best academy team at this current moment of time and took down BIG Academy with a confident 2-0 victory.

The first map was the choice of BIG Academy and was decided to play out on the soil of Inferno. Despite being BIG Academy’s most played map in the past three months (10 times), they are only averaging a win-rate of 50%. Today wouldn’t help the stats either, as they met a very competent MOUZ NXT side. With every MOUZ NXT player managing a positive K/D it was a phenomenal team performance that helped the predominately Polish roster get them over the line. At 16-10, BIG Academy would have to see themselves bested on their own map pick of Inferno.

The map pick of MOUZ NXT was Ancient and looking at the numbers, it makes sense. Having played the map 12 times in the past three months it seemed an obvious pick against BIG Academy that had only played the map twice in that time span. Whilst it seemed as if MOUZ NXT would have an easy time on Ancient, the Germans of BIG Academy posted a challenge from early on. Going toe to toe until the late stage of Ancient it was as close as possible between the two rosters. Ultimately, however, it was MOUZ NXT to pull through and finish what they had started on Inferno. The 16-12 victory on Ancient meant a 2-0 victory against BIG Academy and a spot in the Grand Final. 

siuhy – 1.62 Rating / 24-12 K-D / 87.7 ADR

JDC – 1.23 Rating / 25-16 K-D / 79.0 ADR

Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek {cflag:PL}| 1.32 Rating / 43-32 K-D / 83.3 ADR

Whilst it is often clear that there is a distinct difference between the regular teams and their academy division, it is still one of the more exciting aspects of Counter-Strike that has developed over the last couple of years. To have these academy rosters is what helps CS:GO find its newest prospects and will in the long turn help further strengthen the overall scene. 

Today we are blessed with more of these academy matches as the WePlay Academy League Season 3 continues with exciting brawls. To fight for a spot in the Grand Final is BIG Academy and MOUZ NXT. The loser will have to face Astralis Talent in a Bo3-series for survival at the event. Take a look at a thrilling Bo3-series between BIG and MOUZ's academy rosters as it is about to kick off.  

You can watch the brawl LIVE right here down below: 

There are many good reasons to follow CS:GO matches today.

At WePlay Academy Season 2 Finals we are spoiled with some of the most promising talents, that are fighting for the first prize of $45,000.

Fnatic

MAD Lions

forZe

Natus Vincere Junior

Young Ninjas

The WePlay Academy League Season 1 Group Stage has come to its conclusion on Sunday, after mouz NXT, Young Ninjas, and BIG Academy secured the Top 3 spots to advance directly to the seasonal finals. The Brazilians from FURIA Academy have been eliminated, and the remaining teams, fnatic Rising, NAVI Junior, Astralis Talent, and VP.Prodigy are set to play for the final spot at the $100.000 tournament next weekend.

The Swedes from fnatic Rising have been seeded the furthest in the Play-in stage after placing fourth in the round-robin, while NAVI Junior await one round behind, preparing for take upon the winner of VP.Prodigy vs. Astralis Talent.

19:00: NAVI Junior – VP.Prodigy / Astralis Talent winner

19:00: fnatic Rising – NAVI Junior / VP.Prodigy / Astralis Talent 

Take a look at some of the best highlights from the tournament right here:

NAVI Youth

VP.Prodigy

The promising talents and academy players from mousesports are currently in the lead in the Group play, with the Germans from BIG right behind them. mouz NXT have 7 victories and are looking to get another one against BIG at 17:00 (CET).

The summer break is still imminent within the professional Counter-Strike scene, which means we will have to wait a few more weeks before returning to tier-one CS:GO. This, however, doesn't mean that we aren’t presented with highly entertaining CS:GO whilst we are waiting. 

Once again we have another day of the WePlay Academy League Season 1 on the cards - a day with nothing but talent and promising up-and-comers in entertaining Bo1-series. Take a look at today's schedule down below. 

17:00 (CEST): NAVI Junior – fnatic Rising

18:00 (CEST): Young Ninjas – FURIA Academy

19:00 (CEST): BIG Academy – VP.Prodigy 

20:00 (CEST): Astralis Talent  – mouz NXT

At the ongoing WePlay Academy League Season 1, Alexander "glaVed" Pletz from BIG Academy demonstrated yesterday a phenomenal display of the powerful Desert Eagle. The 19-year-old rifler took matters into his own hands on Mirage, where he shattered his Russian opponents on the A-bombsite. You can watch the impressive play right here. 

All 'Pley of the Day' clips can be found down below. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"pley-day-juli","isNewTab":false}]

glaVed

ALTERNATE aTTaX have secured the likes of two former BIG Academy players, Karim “Krimbo” Moussa and Max “PANIX” Hangebruch, who will debut for their new organization on January 17 in the ESL Meisterschaft Autumn semi-finals.

18-year-old Krimbo was BIG Academy’s highest-rated player in 2020, averaging a 1.11 rating over 62 maps, while PANIX averaged a 1.05 rating over the same period, with the team most notably winning the 99Liga Season 15 and placing fourth in Season 16.

The signing marks the end of the first iteration of the BIG Academy project as all of their former players have signed pro contracts with teams around the world. The organization have announced that they will start scouting a new lineup heading into the 2021 circiut.

ALTERNATE aTTaX got two weeks to complete the roster with a fifth player as they are set to face off Sprout in the semi-final of ESL Meisterschaft Autumn on January 17. The squad also holds a spot in ESEA MDL Season 36 EU, set to kick off on January 18.

BIG announce new Academy Team

A new batch of talented German players has been identified.

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