In the second part of our interview with the Director of Sports at Astralis, Kasper Straube, we talk about the benching of Benjamin "blameF" Bremer, the role of Alexander "br0" Bro, and what kind of considerations they have had making Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz the new in-game leader.

You can read the first part of the interview down below.

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The curious case of Benjamin “blameF” Bremer

In-game leaders in Counter-Strike are often players who are most likely to end up at the bottom of the scoreboard with low ratings. Individually they are suffering from the fact, that they are responsible for calling out the strats, keeping up with the enemy tactics, and often find themselves in some of the most difficult positions and spots to try and shoot heads on the server. But in Astralis, Benjamin "blameF" Bremer was not following the norm. Since he took over the responsibility as in-game leader from Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander, he was the highest-rated player on Astralis and one of the highest-rated players in the world. In 2024 that trend continued with Benjamin "blameF" Bremer being rated at 1.15, while Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz is rated 1.08. Now he finds himself benched on the team.

So why was it necessary to bench the highest-rated player on the team? We asked Kasper Straube, Director of Sports at Astralis.

- As mentioned earlier, we have identified what we believe to be the reasons behind our team's underperformance. The realization that our Counter-Strike foundation was not robust enough prompted us to seek a new in-game leader. Additionally, we felt that Martin "stavn" Lund and Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard should revert to their original roles, the ones they played at Heroic, where they naturally exert more influence and assume more central positions. Given these considerations, it became evident that certain adjustments were necessary. Upon concluding that Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz both desires and is prepared to take on the captaincy, we were left with the task of determining who should assume the anchor position on the roster, acknowledging that resources would be allocated among the central roles on the team.

Q: So, Alexander "br0" Bro is brought in to be a support player?

Yes. He will be a support player to allow Martin "stavn" Lund, Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard, and Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz to take on the roles, where they can have the greatest impact. We have seen Victor "Staehr" Staehr make a big role change on the team, which he has handled superbly. He has been fantastic in doing a lot of the supportive roles. But on a modern-day Counter-Strike team, you need to have more than one to do that, and therefore by definition Alexander "br0" Bro will be a support player on the team, Straube explains.

With the recent signings of Martin "stavn" Lund and Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard from Heroic rumored to be around the $2M mark combined, it is obvious that Astralis were not going to switch out any of the new signings right away. Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz as the AWP’er and new IGL was obviously never going to be touched, which left Victor "Staehr" Staehr as the only possible candidate to change if you wanted to keep Benjamin "blameF" Bremer on the team.

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- I can fully comprehend your perspective on Benjamin "blameF" Bremer, acknowledging him as a remarkable player who is now benched. I completely agree. He is an exceptional player with high intelligence, exceptional skills, and has all the necessary qualities. However, our objective wasn't to add or maintain a certain amount of firepower or introduce additional voices. Instead, our focus was on becoming highly specific and precise about where we wanted to allocate our resources and vocal contributions, Kasper Straube points out.

- We would really like to make the team even more homogeneous in relation to playing the same type of Counter-Strike. And that is also why the choice has fallen on Alexander "br0" Bro to replace Benjamin "blameF" Bremer.

“Not Astralis.pro, but we will carve our own path”

The discussion to elevate Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz into the position as in-game leader was a big surprise for most of the Counter-Strike community who had guessed on various Danish in-game leaders as possibilities to take over from Benjamin "blameF" Bremer. All with the same playing style as a true team player, who was ready to sacrifice themselves for the greater good in any round that demanded it.

- This is the direction that I believe many anticipated us heading in. However, I also believe there are examples of alternative approaches that can prove successful. I'd like to highlight Casper 'cadiaN' Møller for his tenure with Heroic. Perhaps I'm a bit biased, but I consider it some of the best-looking CS ever played. If you turn back time to the good old Astralis era there wasn't a designated sacrifice player, but rather individuals who were willing to make sacrifices when necessary. It is probably also more the philosophy that we are looking for. We want to create a team where everyone can take the place they need, and everyone is willing to do it for each other, Straube, who has a past at Heroic, stated.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/Heroic_cadiaN_aejyqn","originalWidth":5472,"originalHeight":3648,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Adela Sznajder and ESL"}]

cadiaN and Jame faced each other in the Grand Final of the IEM Rio Major in 2022

Casper 'cadiaN' Møller and Dzhami "Jame" Ali are two of the most successful AWP’ers, who are also in-game leading at the same time. When asked about the latter, Kasper Straube breaks out in a smile.

- If I remember correctly, device is extremely fond of Dzhami "Jame" Ali and all that he has done as an AWP’ing in-game leader. I have no doubt that they also have some differences though. So, I don't think we should expect Astralis to become Astralis.pro. We must carve our own path, Kasper Straube emphasizes before putting full confidence behind the decision to let Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz be the new in-game leader.

- There are no guarantees, but there are prerequisites. When I joined Astralis, I engaged in discussions with all the players, including Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz. Naturally, I inquired about past experiences and his thoughts regarding the future, not just tomorrow, but in the months and years ahead. Already back then, he told me that he sees it as a natural thing that he could become an in-game leader at one point or another. He lives and breathes CS, and he aspires to continue doing so for as long as possible and he wants to do it where he wants to do it the most, and that is in Astralis.

- The primary consideration for me is that he - as every other player - has a certain number of years at the highest level. Along that time, he can either conclude an admirable career or choose to prolong it. A way to extend a career for players is to adapt like we see in a lot of different sports. When you look at his exceptional skills, his intelligence, strong work ethic, and the ability to stay abreast of developments on the server while maintaining enthusiasm for innovative gameplay, you undoubtedly possess qualities that will help you adapt into a successful in-game leader.

The new Astralis lineup is currently scheduled to make their competitive debut at the IEM Chengdu tournament in April. For now, the most important thing for Astralis is to find their feet in the new constellation.

- There's no certainty about the pace of progress. While we all aspire to secure a victory tomorrow, it's possible that it might take a bit more time before we position ourselves favorably to achieve that, Kasper Straube says.

Jame

device

cadiaN

Astralis

In the Grand Final of Roobet Cup 2023 Virtus.pro ran away with the win and the $150,000 that followed.

It was a close affair all the way until the decider map, as both Monte and Virtus.pro locked in their own map picks with 13-10 wins.

But on Mirage it was Virtus.pro in control. The deadly duo of Nikolay 'mir' Bityukov and Dzhami "Jame" Ali picked Monte apart on the map that ended very one-sided. With a 13-4 win on Mirage, Virtus.pro secured their fifth title of the year. The $150,000 in first prize is the biggest paycheck of the year for the Russian Organization that can rejoice in the fact, that it seems like Dzhami "Jame" Ali is one of the few AWP'ers currently in CS2 that performs at a somewhat consistent high level.

VP has the chance to put their hands on their 6th title of the year when they start their playoff run at Thunderpick World Championships today at 13.00 (CET) against Heroic.

Virtus.pro

October 2023 has been a new beginning for all competitive Counter-Strike players with the introduction of CS2 in all tournaments. The new game has brought several changes to the meta. AWP’ers have in general found less impact which can be seen on the ratings.

{cflag:RU} Danil "donk" Kryshkovets – 1.46 rating in 40 maps (1.28 against top 30 teams)

He is only 16 years old but has already shown his incredible potential in the new lineup of Spirit. The transition to CS2 has been smooth for the rifler, who had five maps during October with a +2.00 rating! While some of the matches have been against Tier-2 opponents, Danil "donk" Kryshkovets has been excellent against the likes of MOUZ, Complexity, Movistar Riders, and 9INE.

Clutches: 11-4 (including two 1vs2 and one 1vs4).

[twitchClip:WiseRoundWeaselDansGame-tYjdR_8SV5EdCcqg]

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donk with 4 kills against Movistar Riders

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A runboost sets up donk for a 4k against Looking4Org

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{cflag:DK} Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen – 1.28 rating in 15 maps (1.33 rating against top 30 teams)

The most decorated player in CS:GO sets a high bar for himself in CS2 with an unreal start. The 5xMajor winner has agreed to step in for Heroic for the remaining part of 2023, but hours before his debut, chaos erupted with the benching of both stavn and Jabbi. Despite that, Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen has kept his head cool and guided his young teammates to the playoffs at the Thunderpick World Championships with some excellent performances. He has delivered a +1.00 rating in all 15 maps with the latest map against BIG as the highlight with a 1.74 rating on Vertigo and a 1.70 rating on Nuke. Yeah, dupreeh is back and we can’t wait to see, where he ends up.

{cflag:RU} Dzhami "Jame" Ali – 1.21 rating in 21 maps (1.28 rating against top 30 teams)

As mentioned in the beginning, AWP’ers have had a difficult time adjusting to the new game. Dzhami "Jame" Ali is one of the AWP’ers that has the smallest decrease in the % of kills with the AWP. In October Jame made 57% of his kills with the “Big Green” which is a drop of 8% compared to 2022. Compared to other prolific AWPers such as Helvijs "broky" Saukants (31% drop), and m0nesy (24% drop) Jame seems to have adjusted to CS2 much faster than everyone else in his position.

% of kills with the AWP in October compared to 2022

donk

dupreeh

Spirit

Heroic

Virtus.pro has announced a contract renewal of their captain and in-game leader Dzhami "Jame" Ali.

The 24-year-old Russian has been one of the most consistent performers in the last couple of years with the win at the IEM Rio Major as the absolute highlight. Now the AWP'er has set his signature on a four-year contract with Virtus.pro, who he has represented since 2019.

In a press statement, both the CEO of Virtus.pro and Jame puts words on the contract extension.

Nikolai Petrossian, CEO of Virtus.pro:  

- Jame is an exceptional player. There are very few captains with his understanding of the game, tactical thinking and level of individual skill in the professional scene. He is the backbone of our roster, so renewing his contract was one of the most important tasks related to the CS:GO roster. I am sure that Dzhami will lead our club to many more victories!”  

- I have been with Virtus.pro for a very long time, the club has become a second home for me, so the decision to extend the contract was quite a simple one. We have a great mutual understanding with the players, coaching staff and management, we all want to achieve victories and we are ready to work really hard for it. I’m happy to spend many more years with the Bears!”.

The $1.000.000 tournament is set to start from July 25th to August 6th after the conclusion of the players' break.

It is not known yet if IEM Cologne will be played on CS2 or the CS:GO platform. Yesterday ESL revealed all the teams, that are set to compete in Cologne. Here eight teams are directly qualified for the main tournament through their performances in 2023. 

Teams qualified for IEM Cologne main event:

Before the start of the main event, there will once again be a play-in tournament, where 16 teams fight for eight spots in the main event. 15 teams have been found via the ESL World Ranking, while BIG Academy will take part in the tournament after winning the local ESL Meisterschaft Spring 2023 Finals. The main team from BIG missed out on the event with just two points on ESL's ranking. Other notable teams that will not attend the tournament are Virtus.pro, OG, Complexity, Bad News Eagles.

Here are the 16 teams that will play in the IEM Cologne Play-in event:

In a dramatic match between Complexity and Outsiders it was the latter who came out victorious after a thriller ending on Inferno.

The match veto did initially favor Complexity, as Outsiders made Overpass their map of choice despite the fact, that Complexity favors the map in general.

But all of that was quickly forgotten as Outsiders won Anubis after overtime. Petr 'fame' Bolyshev was instrumental for the CIS team winning 19-15. But on Overpass the reigning Major champions could not follow up. A weak CT side let Complexity back in the game and forced the match to be decided on Inferno.

Here the momentum seemed to be on Complexity’s side leading 9-6 before the second half, where everything changed. Maybe it was the experience and the calmness of Dzhami 'Jame' Ali that kicked in, but Outsiders managed to put the pieces together in the last part of Inferno where newcomer Aleksandr 'KaiR0N-' Anashkin played a pivotal role in the defense.

Jame and company won 16-13 to qualify for the quarter-finals, where they face NAVI on Friday.

Outsiders - Complexity 2-1 | IEM Katowice

MVP: {cflag:RU} Dzhami 'Jame' Ali - 1.28 rating / 59-38 K-D / 65.0 ADR

compLexity Gaming

Outsiders

Outsiders’ Dzhami “Jame” Ali who is one of the current top players in the competitive scene of Counter-Strike, has released a guide to the CS:GO’s newest map, Anubis. Jame’s guide to Anubis offers players valuable tips and strategies for navigating the map and dominating opponents.

In his guide, he shares his expertise and gives insights on how to effectively play Anubis, including the best positions to stand in and how to win most rounds by doing simple plays. Jame’s knowledge and experience are worth everything for any CS:GO player who is looking to take the game to the next level.

Virtus.pro/Outsiders was the first top-tier organization to make a roster change in 2023 when they announced the signing of the 18-year-old rifler Alexander “KaiR0N-“ Anashkin. Bringing in the Russian talent means that David “n0rb3r7” Danielyan now has to live with a spot on the sideline on the profiled squad.

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There has been a lot of talk and rumours surrounding the transfer due to it being so close to Outsiders’ impressive title run at the Major in Rio de Janeiro in November last year. Now the captain and IGL Dzhami “Jame” Ali has opened up about the move and the decision behind it.

- In fact, everything is clear in the announcement, Jame writes in a [link:{"url":"https://t.me/s/jametimetv/734","isNewTab":true,"text":"Telegram post"}]. There's not much to add. We needed a YEKINDAR type of player for our system to open up fully. 

- This decision is shared with everyone (players and org) (there is no other way anywhere else). Everything was open and without dirt. We are playing the next tournaments with KaiR0N-, and we will see there, Jame concluded.

A benching in CS:GO often means a goodbye. However, that is necessarily not the case here with n0rb3r7. Because in the [link:{"url":"https://virtus.pro/en/articles/kair0n-prisoedinyaetsya-k-sostavu-virtuspro-po-csgo","isNewTab":true,"text":"press statement"}] when they announced the transfer, CEO at Virtus.pro, Nikolai Petrossian, proclaimed that they are setting up a six-man lineup in some sense.

- By signing KaiR0N- and retaining the contract with n0rb3r7, the roster gets the flexibility it needs, the ability for rotation, and remains robust, which is unattainable with a stand-in model, Petrossian said.

With that being said, the organization is still ready to send n0rb3r7 on a loan if other teams show interest in the Russian/Armenian rifler.

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n0rb3r7

KaiR0N-

Halfway through 2022 Outsiders lost their absolute star player in Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis as he moved overseas to the North Americans from Liquid. To replace the Latvian powerhouse, Outsiders decided to go with an inexperienced teenager by the name of Petr “fame” Bolyshev from K23.

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Where one could think that the shoes of YEKINDAR were way too big to fill out, fame quickly proved his worth by displaying a phenomenal level under the leadership of Dzhami “Jame” Ali. Something which hasn't gone unnoticed by his team captain. 

- He is a generational player. I've never met someone like him. He is a fast learner, he's very disciplined, he always gives himself fully and as a human being, he's really a decent one. Just a simple kind of guy, Jame says in an interview with us. 

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/fame_irrnpu","originalWidth":1920,"originalHeight":1080,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: ESL"}]

IEM Rio was fame's first Major in his career - Here the 19-year-old Russian averaged a stellar 1.24 rating and played a huge role in Outsiders' impressive title run

When talking about fame’s potential and future, the Outsiders captain said the following about his strong rifler.

- It all depends on who he meets on his path. After me for example, and while here on our team, but he has a bright future and I think that he can win. Like big time. I mean every kind of tournament, every major, if he puts himself into it. But it's kind of difficult because we know a lot of examples of young players winning some huge tournaments in the early stages of their career but then something happens to them and they just don't shine anymore.

We also asked Jame about what the departure of YEKINDAR back in May meant for the team – something he actually believes had a positive effect on the team.

- It made us train more and made us spend more time into introducing new players so it actually has had, I'll say, great impact on the team. He was the key player in our system and we actually structured our game around him. So, when you introduce new players, you going to do a lot of work, you're going to fix their mistakes and introduce them to our game.

You can read the first part of the interview with Jame in the article below, where he describes how he wants to break the misconception of him in the CS:GO world. 

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fame

YEKINDAR

Who has stood out in 2022 as the best individual player? Follow Pley.gg in the coming days, where we go in-depth with all the maps and celebrate the most versatile player of the year.

In this list, you will find the best 10 players of Overpass. A spot as number 1 gives you 10 points for the overall ranking, where we combine the seven most-played maps of the year to find the most versatile player. Here we celebrate the ability to perform well on different maps.

We have used the following metrics in our ranking:

HLTV rating vs top 30 teams in all matches in 2022 with a minimum of 10 maps played.

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Most versatile player of the year: (Inferno, Overpass)

XANTARES

s1mple

Rainwaker

sh1ro

Arguably one of the most famous [link:{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehknd5C_1MY","isNewTab":true,"text":"memes "}]in Counter-Strike, telling the story of how a certain CS:GO player learned to master the art of always saving his guns in the game – to such a degree that it became his most known attribute.

We are of course talking about Dzhami "Jame" Ali from Outsiders.

Jame is CS:GO Major winner, a powerful AWPer, an IGL on his team, and yeah; the man behind the “Jame Time”. Besides that, it can be tough to pinpoint more about the long-haired Russian from the outside perspective.

Before the start of BLAST World Final, we got the chance to speak with Jame for an interview in two parts, where he in this article opens up about wanting to change the perception of him, but also on the criticism of his and Outsiders playstyle.

Pley: Do you sometimes feel that there's a misconception of you from the CS:GO community due to the language barrier and all that?

Jame: Yeah, I feel that. That’s how it works, that’s life.

Is that something you think about or do you not care about that?

- Yeah, I think about that. I think that when I will not have to adapt to new maps [Anubius] and introduce new players to the team, then I will be able to learn English and ruin the stereotypes or misconceptions of me, but for now, it's not possible.

There are also many opinions and also criticism on you and Outsiders’ playstyle about it being too slow and boring. What is your answer to that?

- I have answered this question many, many times and I think they might be right. Because I'm not on the outside of the screen. I'm not watching the game; I'm playing the game. So maybe it is what it is and I'm sorry if someone doesn't like it.

Do you think with you winning this major that you have silenced the doubters?

- Yes, I think I did it somehow because that is how it works. All I can do is prove myself and my team with the results. So yeah. When it comes to the game itself, the only thing that matters is winning and the results. By winning, you prove that you're right and you receive money, trophies, etcetera.

Are you happy that you have been given this opportunity to play CS:GO for a living?

- Yes, I'm quite happy for me because I think it’s a really great life. But it's really great when you, just make yourself comfortable living this life - I mean, all the flights, all the media days, all the games, all the training - if you set yourself on this path, this kind of life is just pure enjoyment.

- Having no stress in the game and having no stress in life, is all I need.

- It's quite simple for me because I've never set a goal for myself and I'm just trying to be a good player as long as I can before I quit.

We will publish the second part of our interview with Jame next week. Here the Outsiders IGL talks about his new, powerful and extremely promising weapon Pyotr "fame" Bolyshev and how it actually had a great impact on the team losing YEKINDAR. 

BLAST World Finals will be the first glimpse of how the Tier 1 teams will handle the addition of Anubis to the map pool.

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For some teams such as Heroic, it will be easy to just start banning the map from the get-go as the Danes had Dust2 as their permanent ban. But for others like NAVI and Outsiders, Anubis will have to be part of their map pool to keep them from playing Vertigo and Nuke respectively.

Outsiders could be a team, who could try and take on the new map from the start. From his Telegram channel, in-game leader Dzhami "Jame" Ali has commented on the new map, and it seems like the Russian AWP'er is a fan!

"I became an Anubis master, after the BLAST I will write you a guide. I really enjoy what you can do on it - this is not primitive Vertigo and unfinished Ancient, but not without bugs, of course."

Jame and the rest of Outsiders will face Team Liquid in the first round of BLAST World Finals.

You can bet on the event via our betting partners here.

Jame took over the Counter-Strike world after he took his team Outsiders to a Major victory doing the IEM Rio Major. The AWPer showed an insane performance doing the event.

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The 24-year-old IGL is best known for his funny saving strategies such as "Jame time".  Many people in the CS:GO community is spamming "Jame time" and calling it out every time players from different teams are saving an AWP.  

Does the Major MVP only safe, or is he actually a genius? Take a look at how Jame plays right here:

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The IGL role is one of the most wanted roles in CSGO. There is always been a big deficit of IGLs and especially the good ones. Those who understand to play the role can play up to 35 years old because of the big knowledge they have about the game. The pros who recently retired could still have been playing if they were IGLs.

James talks about the four parts you need to have to become a good IGL. Moral, Leadership, Macro game sense, and micro game sense. These are the four main parts you need to focus on in order to become a leader on your team, a leader who understands the way of stress tolerance as well as clock management. As an IGL you need to be able to take cold-blooded and clam dissensions in order to break the enemies team's economy. 

Check out the full video with Jame right here:

2022 is soon over and with just one month left, we want to highlight the best at throwing flashes on top of CS:GO. Flashes are the most teamplay required grenade in Counter-Strike, because it might be the winning factor in the round or the losing one if you throw it incorrectly. Sometimes you should think about using the flashes more carefully because you can blind your teammates and they won't be happy about that. You often see pros peaking on a flash or calling for a flash by a teammate, it eliminates the ankle from the opposition.

Opp Flashed is based on the average time per round opponents were blinded by flashbangs by this player.

One individual who masters the ability of selling and promoting himself is Dzami “Jame” Ali.

Right after winning the title at IEM Rio Major, meaning literally right after, the Outsiders captain was interviewed by Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere from ESL where Jame quickly saw his chance and decided to promote his YouTube channel with the quote: [link:{"url":"https://clips.twitch.tv/AnnoyingAdventurousOstrichHumbleLife-z25RXs1cZ-HpKfxs","isNewTab":true,"text":"'I will tell more on my YouTube channel'"}].

And if you take a look at his [link:{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/c/JAMETIMETV","isNewTab":true,"text":"channel"}], which he, of course, has called “Jame Time”, the method has worked out to perfection as he has gained more than 25.000 new subscribers - going from 72k to 97k subscribers in just 24 hours.

"Jame Time" subscribers and views before and after the famous plug.

Saturday 12th November – (one day before IEM Rio Grand Final):

Monday 14th November – (one day after IEM Rio Grand Final):

Numbers and stats from [link:{"url":"https://socialblade.com/youtube/channel/UCQX_6pDVek9AGxThSW2LL6Q?fbclid=IwAR1Q4EIa-v82tCrRZmAK8XWfz1RHFJGxnbULk-4pHRbEQDQyrn4esdym3IA","isNewTab":true,"text":"socialblade.com"}]

We conclude this article with the words of Jame himself. 

HLTV have updated their ranking of the best CS:GO teams in the world, with the Outsiders now leading the ranking after winning the IEM Rio Major 2022 in Brazil.

To recap, Jame and company from Outsiders took down the Danes from Heroic in the Grand final of the event with a 2-0 result to become Major champions for the first time. This victory earned them not only the top spot in [link:{"url":"https://www.hltv.org/ranking/teams/2022/november/14","isNewTab":true,"text":"HLTV’s World Ranking"}], but also $500.000 in prize earning and a slot to the highly-anticipated BLAST Premier: World Final 2022 in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Their AWPer, Jame, also received the tournament’s MVP award, his first-ever Major MVP medal.

IEM Rio Major 2022 was held from October 31 to November 13 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where sixteen teams competed for a prize pool of a whopping $1.25M.

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HLTV’s CS:GO World Ranking – November 14th, 2022 (Top 10)

FL1T

qikert

Back in 2019 Jame and Qikert fell short of winning a Major as Astralis took down Avangar at Berlin Major 2019. But now, the four Russians F1IT, Jame, Fame, n0rb3rt, and the Kazakhstan player Qikert are joining the mighty list of Major winners. Outsiders have never been one of the big favorites before a tournament, this time was no different. However, Outsiders made history by taking down the Danes from Heroic in the Grand final of the IEM Rio Major to secure the Major title.

ESL One: Cologne 2014 | Ninjas in Pyjamas

ESL One: Katowice 2015 & ESL One: Cologne 2015 | fnatic

DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015 | Team EnvyUs

MLG Columbus 2016 & ESL One: Cologne 2016 | Luminosity / SK Gaming

FaceIt Major: London 2018, IEM Katowice 2019, StarLadder Berlin Major 2019 | Astralis

Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major 2022 | Outsiders

To win the ‘Most Valuable Player’ award at a CS:GO Major Championship is, without a doubt, one of the most prestigious accolades to grab as an individual in Counter-Strike. It’s not only a testament to one’s heroics on the biggest stage, but it’s also a beautiful way of cementing your name in the history of the game.

The latest addition to the list became Dzhami “Jame” Ali from Outsiders after his incredible performance at the IEM Rio Major 2022 where he helped his team to secure the title as Major champions by taking down Heroic in the grand final of the event.

He finished off as the third highest-rated player of the event, right behind sh1ro (1.35 Rating) and KSCERATO (1.33 Rating), but lead the leaderboard across a plethora of categories including K-D diff (+95), Deaths per round (0.46), KAST (79.6%), Total AWP kills (168), and AWP kills per round (0.54).

This Major MVP medal is Jame’s first in his career, just like the Major title. His two teammates in fame and FL1T both had great performances in the grand final, which made it a very close race in the end. It’s fair to say that both have a solid case for the award as well.

The 18th Major final never reached the same heights as the previous days at the Brazilian Major. In a one-sided affair it was Jame and his teammates that ended up lifting the big trophy after an impressive performance.

The match was delayed for almost 45 minutes due to technical issues. A pause that Outsiders seemed to handle the best. The CIS team started out strong with three straight-round wins after FL1T opened up the rounds for Outsiders. But it was another Outsiders player that ended up stealing the show. 19-year-old Pyotr "fame" Bolyshev waited for seven rounds before he landed his first kill in round 8. But from there on the young Russian rifler began to shred Heroic apart. fame has been wildly impressive at this Major and ended on top of the scoreboard with 24 kills during Mirage. Outsiders won first half 8-7 before they created a gap to Heroic during their CT side winning 16-12 to lock in the first map.

On Overpass Outsiders kept on dominating on their CT side. Despite a 2-0 lead for Heroic, Outsiders managed to shut down the Danes, who started to miss open sitters. It was FL1T and fame who stood tall for Outsiders during the first half. Now Heroic had to make another recovery like yesterday against FURIA. But nothing seemed to work today for Heroic. Again and again they fell into the traps set by Jame and his men, who looked like a team on another planet. Outsiders won the Major Championship with a 16-5 on Overpass.

Jame and qikert thereby got their revenge against a Danish team after losing their first Grand Final in Berlin 2019 against Astralis. Dzhami "Jame" Ali, Aleksei "Qikert" Golubev, Evgeniy "FL1T" Lebedev, David "n0rb3r7" Daniyelyan, and Pyotr "fame" Bolyshev are your new CS:GO Major Champions!  

Outsiders – Heroic 2-0 | IEM Rio Major Grand Final

16-12 (Mirage) | {cflag:RU} fame – 1.36 Rating / 24-17 K-D / 84.0 ADR

16-5 (Overpass) | {cflag:RU} FL1T – 2.11 Rating / 29-12 K-D / 135.8 ADR

MVP: {cflag:RU} Evgeniy "FL1T" Lebedev – 1.63 Rating / 52-31 K-D / 112.6 ADR

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	0	0
Maps count	0	0

Jame

Player stats

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