Vitality and Natus Vincere made it through the group stage with three straight wins to put them directly into the Semi-Finals on Saturday in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne. However, when looking at the top performers of the tournament so far, G2 sticks out despite their opening loss against SAW. In the lower bracket, G2 completely annihilated their opponents to secure a Quarter-Final spot in Cologne. Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa is one of the two new members on the roster, and looking at the stats for the tournament so far, it looks like a very good move by the management of G2.

Here are the 10 best performers in the group stage of IEM Cologne 2024:

1. {cflag:BA} Nikola “NiKo” Kovač (G2) – 1.44 rating (9 maps)

2. {cflag:RO} Mihai "iM" Ivan (Natus Vincere) – 1.43 rating (7 maps)

3. {cflag:UA} Valerij "b1t" Vakhovsjkyj (Natus Vincere) – 1.42 rating (7 maps)

4. {cflag:RU} Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov (G2) – 1.39 rating (9 maps)

5. {cflag:GT} Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa (G2) – 1.38 rating (9 maps)

6. {cflag:LT} Justinas "jL" Lekavičius (Natus Vincere) – 1.35 rating (7 maps)

7. {cflag:BA} Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač (G2) – 1.33 rating (9 maps)

8. {cflag:PL} Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak (Liquid) – 1.30 rating (9 maps)

9. {cflag:IL} Shahar "flameZ" Shushan (Vitality) – 1.29 rating (7 maps)

10. {cflag:FR} Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut (Vitality) – 1.28 rating (7 maps)

You can read more about the tournament, results and schedules on our [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/everything-need-know-about-iem-cologne-2024","isNewTab":true,"text":"tournament page"}].

NiKo

B1tGOD

m0NESY

malbsMd

huNter

Ultimate

flameZ

ZywOo

G2 Esports

Team Vitality became the fourth team to secure an extended stay in Copenhagen, advancing to the Playoffs at the Danish Major after defeating Complexity. While Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut and Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski were expected to lead the charge, both players took a backseat during the match. Herbaut has been feeling unwell in Copenhagen, necessitating Vitality to explore alternative strategies beyond relying solely on his prowess. Today, that responsibility fell to 20-year-old Shahar "flameZ" Shushan, who showcased remarkable performance, particularly on Inferno and Anubis, where he played a pivotal role in securing victory for Vitality.

Despite the defeat, the match offered some redemption for the North American team, who had suffered a crushing defeat against MOUZ the previous day. However, Complexity will still be upset that they missed a golden opportunity to take down Vitality at a time, where the reigning champions looks vulnerable.

Tomorrow, Complexity will make their third attempt to qualify for the playoffs as they enter the 2W-2L gauntlet.

Team Vitality - Complexity 2-1 (19-16, 7-13, 13-10)

Team Vitality

Team Vitality and NAVI played the first quarter-final of Gamers8 late last night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The match started with Vitality running over NAVI on Mirage. Shahar "flameZ" Shushan went 22-4 in K-D in the 16-2 win. The reigning Major champions finished off NAVI on Nuke by winning 16-11 and are now ready for the semi-finals in the $1,000,000 tournament.

Earlier on FaZe was knocked out by Virtus.pro after a three-map thriller, where Jame and company reverse sweeped FaZe by winning Inferno and Overpass 16-14, 16-14. Helvijs 'broky' Saukants had a bad day on the server, which ended up tipping the match in favor of Virtus.pro, who will play G2 in the quarter-final. VP's possible route to the final is arguably one of the toughest in recent history with matches against FaZe, G2, and Team Vitality on the card. 

Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen is the most successful CS:GO player in history having won five Major Championships in his career. 

The latest came in May in Paris with Team Vitality winning on home soil in the last-ever CS:GO Major. According to rumors, this could also be the last for dupreeh on the Vitality lineup.

[link:{"url":"https://blix.gg/news/flamez-vitality-report","isNewTab":true,"text":"Blix.gg"}] reports that the departing OG Rifler Shahar "flameZ" Shushan will be replacing Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen. Here he will join his countryman from Israel, Lotan "Spinx" Giladi on the team. The website cites "sources close to the situation", but nothing official has been said or stated from Team Vitality about any roster moves. Vitality closed the first half of the season by winning IEM Rio and BLAST.tv Paris Major, while finishing second at the BLAST Spring Finals in Washington.

dupreeh's ratings at big events this year:

flameZ's ratings at big events this year:

dupreeh

A significant roster overhaul is about to happen on OG, according to sources obtained by [link:{"url":"https://blix.gg/news/og-report-niko-flamez","isNewTab":true,"text":"Blix.gg"}].

In a report, the media state that both star rifler Shahar “flameZ” Shushan and Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen’s days are numbered on the European squad, leaving them with a fractured lineup going into the off-season.

Failing to find an agreement on a contract extension, is reportedly the reason why flameZ will leave the OG squad, after having represented the organization since April 2021. Whereas, niko only played as a stand-in for Nemanja “nexa” Isakovic.

The report did not mention any potential replacements or rumoured transfers for OG. However, down below you will find a comprehensive list of the current free agents and benched players in CS:GO right now.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"most-notable-free-agents-benched-players-cs-go","isNewTab":true}]

The Legends Stage at the Paris Major will be without the presence of the powerful AWPer Abdul “degster” Gasanov and the rest of OG, after the European squad fell short in a crucial match against GamerLegion in the 1-2 bracket.

Following yesterday’s smashing 16-7 loss in the decider on Ancient, OG’s young rifler Shahar “flameZ” Shushan expressed his feelings to Adam “Dinko” Hawthorne and BLAST.

- Disappointment. You know, the feeling in the throat is bad… Ancient was a really good map for us. I think we had a lot of confidence because we beat MOUZ on Ancient yesterday, and today it felt like a shit show, flameZ said.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"three-legends-spots-grabs-this-thursday-paris","isNewTab":true}]

flameZ and OG leave Paris with only two map wins in the bag against MOUZ and GamerLegion. Something, the Israelian rifler wasn’t that impressed by, despite also highlighting some positives.

- I’m very proud of the team, considering nexa took the mental leave and niko came in. Our main goal was just to qualify for the Major, and then we made it and beat MOUZ here and we fought in the games but it was just not good enough, flameZ stated as he then was asked about the team’s progress in recent months.

- I think our progress stopped when nexa left. When nexa was out of the picture it was basically like “now we need to reconsider what’s happening”. But then I think we progressed a lot when niko came in, where we somehow saw progress going forward - right now I think we have improved a lot but in this tournament, we choked very hard.

You can watch the entire interview with flameZ down below. 

[youtube:oRb-nq2U1wE?feature=share&t=15557]

OG took down Fnatic 2-1 to secure a spot at the main event at IEM Katowice. The young squad from OG is currently led by Nemanja "nexa" Isaković who believes that one player has greatly improved and grown. Following their victory against fnatic, nexa took his time to talk well about the 19-year-old rifler Shahar "flameZ" Shushan.

- I think he is finding his own grove on the T side, we have allowed him his space to do his own plays. I give him space to do it because I believe in his ability to read the map and make the right plays at the right time. flameZ is our secondary caller on the CT side where he has a lot of responsibility because he plays the most impactful positions where you can read the map best and gain the most information, nexa said to ESL after their victory.

Watch the entire clip in the video below:

[twitchClip:CaringDistinctKalePermaSmug-3p_7bKhb7Sxrk_Fy]

Shahar "flameZ" Shushan stat line during the IEM Katowice Play-in: 1.28 Rating / 1.18 Impact / 82.3 ADR / 0.78 KPR / 77.8% Kast. 

FlameZ is currently the highest-rated OG player at the event so far. 

It was an unlikely hero that had to step in for BIG, as the Germans prevailed and won their Round 2 match against FURIA at IEM Katowice. Nils 'k1to' Gruhne, who previously has been benched and then promoted to the first team again, played two incredible maps to secure his team the win.

It was initially FURIA who had the upper hand in the match winning BIG’s map pick of Anubis. But that didn’t last long. BIG won Mirage and Ancient 16-9, 16-9 to seal the win and a spot in the main event at IEM Katowice. On both of the last maps, it was on the T-side that k1to impressed. On Ancient he dropped 23 kills during the 15 rounds in the first half to give BIG a huge push toward the victory.

FURIA will need to win on Friday when they face the winner of paiN vs IHC in the lower bracket. The winner advances to the main stage of IEM Katowice.

MVP: {cflag:DE} Nils 'k1to' Gruhne – 1.40 rating / 70-55 K-D / 99.2 ADR

In the last match of the day, OG came out on top against fnatic. The game was much similar to the BIG vs FURIA match. fnatic started out winning Overpass but then fell apart on Mirage and Inferno. Both times it was their CT side that let them down winning only five CT rounds in total in the last two maps. Excellent calling from Nemanja 'nexa' Isaković combined with the impressive firepower, that OG can display on the server made the difference on a day, where fnatic greatly missed the impact from their AWP’er Nico 'nicoodoz' Tamjidi.

fnatic is back on the server Friday, where they face the winner of Grayhound vs MIBR.

MVP: {cflag:IL} Shahar 'flameZ' Shushan – 1.21 rating / 53-38 K-D / 77.2 ADR

k1to

nicoodoz

FURIA

Fnatic

OG is also ready for the quarter-finals after they managed to take down the talented team in Sprout in a 19-16 victory on Inferno. With flameZ playing lights out OG saw themselves being victories despite being behind 15-14 in the end. 

OG will face fnatic, who took down Evil Geniuses in a dominant fashion. This game will take place today at 19:30 (CET).

 Shahar 'flameZ' Shushan – 1.42 Rating | 31-18 K/D | 92.8 ADR | 80.0% KAST

 Fredrik 'roeJ' Jørgensen – 1.77 Rating | 27-12 K/D | 102.7 ADR | 83.3% KAST

roeJ

Evil Geniuses

Sprout

According to the often-precise transfer insider Aleksey "OverDrive" Biryukov, OG are on the market for a new player going into the upcoming season. Something he revealed on his Twitter yesterday, leaving no hints on who’s the man to be sacrificed on the current OG squad.

The rumours of a potential roster change come after a year where OG already have made a large number of changes with no less than four new players having been introduced to the team this year.

First it was Nemanja “nexa” Isakovic in January, then a double signing in Maciej “F1KU” Miklas and Adam “NEOFRAG” Zouhar, and lastly Abdul “degster” Gasanov who arrived right after the player break. The young roster with nexa at the helm never really managed to hit the ground running despite the promising lineup.

With OverDrive stating that OG are on the lookout for a new rifler, the spotlight must be on F1KU and NEOFRAG as the most obvious players to be demoted. nexa is the IGL, flameZ has been a standout performer together with degster, being two players OG won’t sack anytime soon.

We have reached out to OG for a comment on the rumours, however, they haven't replied to the request.

NEOFRAG

F1KU

degster

nexa

For the first time since its inception in late 2019, OG has made it to a Major. The Danish Organisation qualified with a win against Outsiders at the EU RMR in Malta today.

Spearheading the OG roster was the talented Israelian Shahar 'flameZ' Shushan, who stood out in the match for his team. On the other side of the server it was a quiet day for Outsiders. Only in-game leader Dzhami 'Jame' Ali ended the match with a positive K-D.

Outsiders fall down in the 2-2 bracket alongside BIG and MOUZ. Their opponents will be known later tonight, when the “1-2” bracket games have been played.

OG - Outsiders 2-1 | IEM Road to Rio RMR (Group B)

Outsiders

The future of competitive Counter-Strike is looking bright – very bright. The increased focus and huge investment in talent and academy teams throughout the entire CS:GO circuit in recent times has made it much easier to not only discover the new up-and-coming players, but it has also made it much easier to climb the ranks as a youngster.  

In this article, we’ve taken a look at the best performing teenagers in top-tier CS:GO by listing the 10 highest-rated under-20 players in 2022 so far. And it comes with little surprise that NAVI's Valeriy 'b1t' Vakhovskiy is to be found at the very top, with the promising Ukrainian having made a lightning entry onto the scene after his debut last year. His former NAVI Junior teammate Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov is doing his best to catch up with him as the AWPer is placed right behind him.

1. {cflag:RU} m0nesy (G2) | 1.12 rating / 70.8 ADR / 1.10 Impact rating

2. {cflag:UA} b1t (NAVI) | 1.11 rating / 75.4 ADR / 1.11 Impact rating

3. {cflag:IL} flameZ (OG) | 1.11 rating / 77.5 ADR / 1.17 Impact rating

4. {cflag:RU} Patsi (Spirit) | 1.09 rating / 82.2 / 1.25 Impact rating

5. {cflag:RO} lauNX (Sprout) | 1.09 rating / 79.2 ADR / 1.17 Impact rating

6. {cflag:BR} dumau (00Nation) | 1.09 rating / 78.4 ADR / 1.09 ADR

7. {cflag:RU} fame (Outsiders) | 1.07 rating 73.5 ADR / 1.05 Impact rating

8. {cflag:DK} jabbi (Heroic) | 1.06 rating / 75.7 ADR / 1.08 Impact rating

9. {cflag:LT} bymas (MOUZ) | 1.04 rating / 71.9 ADR / 0.92 Impact rating

10. {cflag:DK} Zyphon (Sprout) | 1.03 rating / 72.5 ADR | 0.97 Impact rating

(Stats are from Top 30 matches - Minimum 30 maps played)

[slugORMA:{"slug":"highest-rated-players-2022-far-2","isNewTab":true}]

[slugORMA:{"slug":"clutch-kings-2022","isNewTab":true}]

Jabbi

fame

Bymas

Zyphon

lauNX

dumau

Patsi

We have reached knockout stage 3 of the ongoing BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2022 event and things are beginning to get heated. Fighting for a chance to qualify for the upcoming BLAST Premier Fall Finals event were OG and Astralis. On paper, Astralis were the favorites going into the Bo3-series, however, with players such as "flameZ" and "degster" you can never count out OG. It was also OG to come out on top in today's brawl as they managed to beat Astralis in just two maps. The victory sees OG qualify for BLAST Premier Fall Finals, whereas Astralis will have a second chance of qualifying tomorrow. 

The first map of the brawl between Astralis and OG took place on Ancient. Perhaps surprisingly, Ancient wasn't picked by the Danes but instead OG. Astralis is known to be a great Ancient team, especially when "k0nfig" is in form, however, with a current win-rate of 100% in the past three months (7 maps), OG have proven that Ancient is their stomping ground. Very little separated the two teams in the first half of Ancient, as the scoreline read 8-7 at halftime. Once the two rosters had switched sides it became clear that OG had the upper hand. With "flameZ" leading the scoreboard, OG managed to close out Ancient at the comfortable scoreline of 16-12. 

The second map of the Bo3-series was, of course, picked by Astralis and saw the battle continue on Mirage. Astralis have had both great and poor performances on Mirage as of late and facing "degster" on such an open map seemed a daunting prospect for the Danes. Once again it was a close affair between the two rosters. OG's defense looked solid in the first half of Mirage, however, a strong individual performance from the Danish IGL "gla1ve" meant that Astralis remained in contention. Just as on Ancient, OG came alive in the second half of Mirage and with every player on the OG roster putting up a great and cohesive performance, it was "nexa" and his troops to close out Mirage at the scoreline of 16-12, defeat Astralis in just two maps, and secure qualification for the upcoming Fall Finals event. 

OG - Astralis 2-0 | BLAST Premier Fall Groups

16-12 (Ancient) | {cflag:IL} flameZ – 1.39 Rating / 25-18 K-D / 84.0 ADR

16-12 (Mirage) | {cflag:IL} flameZ – 1.33 Rating / 23-22 K-D / 102.9 ADR

MVP: Shahar "flameZ" Shushan 1.35 Rating /48-40 K-D / 93.5 ADR

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/flameZ_zf9bmc","originalWidth":4096,"originalHeight":2304,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

Astralis

The match began in the jungle of Ancient and was picked by Nemanja “nexa” Isakovic and OG having won their last six series on the exotic map. After a close 8-7 half in the favor of OG, the map ended up being won quite easily by the underdogs as they closed it out 16-9.

On Mirage FaZe managed to answer back after falling short on the first map. Something they did through a super strong T-side led by the Latvian machine Helvijs “broky” Saukants, who collected 16 kills (23 in total) for himself sending the series towards a third deciding map.

Inferno is always an exciting decider map, and today it was no different. OG did well in the first half to put in eight rounds on their T-side to set up a thriller ending to the match. For OG it was Shahar "flameZ" Shushan, who was leading the team with several multi-kill rounds. The Israelian had a battle with FaZe's Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken of which player would have the most impact on the server. 

At 14-10, it was again flameZ with the double kill that set up his team for success. OG won the map and match 16-11 and will face Astralis tomorrow for a spot in the BLAST Fall Finals, while FaZe will have a second chance to make it through on Sunday, when they go up against the loser of the match on Saturday.

10-16 (Ancient) | broky – 1.46 Rating / 25-17 K-D / 94.4 ADR

16-9 (Mirage) | ropz – 1.63 Rating / 26-12 K-D / 97.5 ADR

11-16 (Inferno) | flameZ 1.43 Rating / 24-14 K-D / 87.0 ADR

ropz

broky

FaZe

International rosters seem to be the future of CS:GO, with FaZe being the most prominent success story as of late. Not far behind, however, is the roster of OG. With the likes of "degster" and "flameZ", the firepower of the current OG roster is something to be feared by any opponent. 

Proving that they have something quite special brewing, OG took down Complexity at the ongoing BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2022 event, in a somewhat confident 2-0 victory. 

Whilst it seems as if OG's new-look roster has hit the ground running, there are still some things that need to be finetuned if you ask Israelian superstar "flameZ". We spoke with the rifler after their victory against Complexity, and although he was happy with the victory, he stressed the following: 

To hear more from "flameZ" you can check out our exclusive interview with the star-rifler down below: 

With Roobet Cup 2022 having just ended it is time to take a look at how the players at event managed to perform. BIG managed to take down FaZe in the Grand Final and became the champions of Roobet Cup 2022, however, there were plenty of players from various different teams that stood out in their brawls throughout the event, take a look at the top five players at Roobet Cup 2022 based on accumulative rating. 

Taking the number one spot when it comes to accumulative rating throughout the event is "sh1ro". You have probably gotten used to his name by now, and for good reason. Whilst Cloud 9 didn't make it to the Grand Finals it was by no means because of "sh1ro". The young and calculated AWP'er was not only the highest-rated player at the entire event but also managed to secure the highest kills pr. round at 0.89. Another phenomenal event from the shining star of Cloud 9. 

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/sh1ro_du5brh","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

You are probably thinking, I've heard this story, before to yourself and you are not wrong. Once again Astralis didn't manage to make it to the Grand Finals of an event, and once again "blameF" was the only player putting up an impressive performance for the iconic Astralis name. The hulk of Counter-Strike is as consistent as it gets, consistently good that is. In addition to his 1.33 rating, he was also the third-best player at the entire event at getting multi-kills. 

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/blameF_cwmpga","originalWidth":4096,"originalHeight":2731,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Michael Konkol, BLAST"}]

What an amazing prospect this guy is. A year ago there were few people who knew the name "torzsi" and he has done more than enough to prove himself as of late. The Hungarian AWP'er shines brightly within the MOUZ roster and deserves a mention after an amazing performance at the Roobet Cup 2022. Playing an integral part in opening up rounds for his teammates, "torzsi" was the deadliest at getting opening kills at the event, with a scarily high success percentage of 78.4%. 

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/torzsi_mmhg1z","originalWidth":4096,"originalHeight":2304,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

Whilst he wasn't the player who accumulated the highest rating among all players at the event, it is safe to say that he was probably the most influential.  Securing a well-deserved MVP title was German sniper "syrsoN" who played an integral part in BIG's victory against FaZe in the Grand Final. When "syrsoN" is hitting his shots there is no opponent out there that does not get a run for their money against "syrsoN". 

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/syrsoN_wazvij","originalWidth":4096,"originalHeight":2304,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

Finally, we have one of the most dangerous riflers in the entire CS:GO scene, "flameZ". OG have been showcasing to the entire world that they are capable of taking down even the biggest of opponents as of late, and a huge part of their success can be said to be because of "flameZ". Once again he played an amazing event scoring a high rating of 1.21 and remaining consistent throughout OG's battles. 

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/OG_flameZ_uqjthj","originalWidth":4096,"originalHeight":2304,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

sh1ro

syrsoN

blameF

torzsi

The second Bo3 of the day at BLAST Premier Spring Groups, saw the undefeated OG take on Ninjas In Pyjamas, who had eliminated the world's #1, Na'Vi, in their last matchup. The two sides now had to do fight each other for a spot in the Spring Finals.

The first team to choose a map was NIP, and they chose to play Overpass which has looked very solid for them at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups.

It was the CTs of OG that got off to the best start taking a massive early lead, with “mantuu” leading the way individually. A more deciding factor was the impeccable reads that came out of the OG side, which enabled them to stack bombsites and have very fast flanks, which led to them strangling the NIP offense. The Ninjas managed to take a measly three rounds before the break and now had to make a huge comeback.

OG continued their dominance in the second half and secured match point three rounds into the second half. OG didn’t manage to end it completely clean, as they did drop one more round to NIP, but were able to take the victory on Overpass at 16-4.

The second map up was Ancient and was picked by OG. It’s a map that has looked very strong for the new OG, and thus a very unsurprising pick.

A great start from IGL “hampus” facilitated an early lead for the CT-side Ninjas, and quickly they had secured four rounds, the same amount they managed to take through all of Overpass. But just as fast as the Swedes had taken the lead, they lost it again, to an OG that looked extremely coordinated. NIP ended the half on a happy note as they were able to take the last four rounds and go to halftime with an 8-7 lead.

The OG squad got off to a great start on their CT-side, retaking the lead with a three-round streak. With “hampus” calling a good T-side, and OG being a solid Ancient-team, the second half was very close and had several lead changes. It was the Ninjas who were finally able to pull away and secure map point at 15-12. OG almost pulled the game into overtime, but armed with nothing but pistols, NIP took the 30th round and won the map.

The deciding third map was none other than the legendary Mirage, and had NIP starting on the T-side, while OG started as the CTs.

After a nasty loss on their own map pick of Ancient, OG pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and took the first four rounds of the map, but answering right back were the Ninjas with six rounds of their own. The last part of the half was split right down the middle with OG taking three rounds, and NIP taking two, and they went to halftime at 8-7.

After switching to the CT-side NIP immediately extended their advantage to 13-7. OG started making a comeback look possible, but it was the Swedes that hit map- and match point at 15-11. The “nexa”-led squad managed to take it to the 30th round, and in the end, it was “niko” that secured overtime for OG.

Just like regulation, the start to overtime was extremely close, and OG barely managed two of the three rounds in the 1st half of overtime. The Ninjas managed to equalize after the half, but OG took the last two rounds and ran away with the victory at 19-17.

OG thereby secures a spot in the Spring Finals, while NIP will have to beat Na’Vi once again if they also want a spot in the Spring Finals.

OG – NIP 2-1 | BLAST Premier Spring Groups

16-4 (Overpass) | niko {cflag:DK} – 1.72 Rating / 21-8 K-D / 111.8 ADR

14-16 (Ancient) | valde {cflag:DK} – 1.27 Rating / 20-14 K-D / 76.2 ADR

19-17 (Mirage) | flameZ {cflag:IL} – 1.55 Rating / 32-24 K-D / 104.0 ADR

MVP: Shahar "flameZ" Shushan {cflag:IL} – 1.31 Rating / 63-54 K-D / 84.9 ADR

niko

hampus

valde

Ninjas in Pyjamas

It was a year full of ups and downs for OG's Shahar "flameZ" Shushan. On a personal level, the young Israelian made the move into Tier 1 Counter-Strike with his transfer to OG at the beginning of 2021. 

The OG rifler kickstarted his career on the top level with an impressive performance at BLAST Spring Showdown with a 1.24 HLTV score. A solid start for the former Endpoint player, who became the last piece of the OG puzzle after the exit of NBK- and ISSAA. But the OG steam blew off at the end of the year, where flameZ and the rest of the roster had to watch the PGL Stockholm from home after they failed to qualify.

- I feel like the year was really good. I had a chance to show up at Endpoint, joined OG and learned a lot of new things, and got some more experience. And now we have a new IGL, who I really believe in. I feel like this year is going to be three times better than 2021, the 18-year-old rifler explains.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"flamez-didnt-really-identify-mistakes-under-aleksib-1","isNewTab":true}]

Speaking about his goals for 2022, the Israelian doesn't hesitate with the answer.

- Individually I need to reach the top 20 (on HLTV's yearly ranking). I need to show up and show up in numbers. I need to be there for my team when they need me. Teamwise I want us to become a solid top 5 team, that will give everybody a hard time.

You can see the interview in the video below.

After the two amazing opening games of Group B, the winners' match of MIBR vs. OG was up next, and it could almost only be a fantastic game judging by what the teams showed in their opening matches. The map that was agreed upon was Ancient, the same map that OG had just played versus Astralis, and it was up to the Brazilians to show that they could do a better job than Danes did. OG started out on the CT-side, just like the previous game.

MIBR started out great as they convincingly took the pistol round, but their success was short-lived as OG were able to win the following force-buy round. Led by the flourishing duo of "valde" and "flameZ" who both had huge multi-kills, OG dominated the start of the game. MIBR kept fighting back with some great entries that also led to bomb plants, but "nexa" and "niko" had now started hard-fragging as well which made it so much harder for the Brazilians to hold the bombsites they had taken. "nexa" and co. went to the break with a commanding lead of 13-2.

The second half pistol much-needed went the way of MIBR, who were now four for four in pistol rounds on the day. Still behind by ten rounds, MIBR had a long way back into the game but managed to catch on fire with five straight rounds to start the half, before being stopped by the Deagles of OG. The Brazilians kept looking incredibly solid on their CT-side, but they were just too far behind, which meant that "nexa" and his soldiers were able to pull it across the line at 16-9.

MIBR – OG (0-1) | BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2022

nexa {cflag:RS} – 1.51 Rating / 22-13 K-D / 90.1 ADR

MIBR

OG and G2 swapped their in-game leaders shortly before the start of the 2022 season. Despite reaching a Major Grand Final with his team, Nemanja "nexa" Isaković was replaced by Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen on G2, while nexa instead found himself in charge of OG.

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Yesterday G2 got off to a good start to 2022 with three straight victories at BLAST Premier Spring Groups. But how will OG fare with their new in-game leader? We spoke with the talented rifler, Shahar "flameZ" Shushan about the upcoming event, and how he views the new style of OG, that nexa has implemented.

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flameZ

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