There are probably few things in Counter-Strike better than outsmarting your opponents. 

It could be a smart boost, a one-way smoke, or having your teammate baiting for you, to snatch an easy kill.

In this video by the Youtuber VirreCSGO, you can see some of the best big brains plays from professional CS:GO players in 2022.

m0NESY

Let's just say it like it is. If you ever stumble across one of the players on this list, you might want to reconsider joining the match!

Top 10 active players on FACEIT right now: (active = played at least one match during the last month)

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/fame_csgo_z9n7dx","originalWidth":1280,"originalHeight":720,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"png"}]

1. {cflag:RU} Pyotr "fame" Bolyshev | 5972 ELO - 1.34 K/D - 62% win rate

The Virtus.pro player leads this list, but has actually lost his last two matches against a full Danish stack including device.

2. {cflag:PL} 1jcobbb | 5818 ELO - 1.51 K/D - 59% win rate

Not much is known about the Polish player, who is not a professional player nor has a public persona.

3. {cflag:PL} Paweł "dycha" Dycha | 5806 ELO - 1.52 K/D - 67% win rate

ENCE's rifler is also among the best in the world on FACEIT, where he plays loads of matches.

4. {cflag:NL} Shuaib "D0cC" Ahmad | 5660 ELO - 1.72 K/D - 66% win rate

D0cC has a few top-tier matches on his CV, but at BLAST Premier Fall Showdown, he actually played against Heroic for "POGGERZ". Despite losing the match, the Dutchman ended with a 1.27 rating!

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/m0NESY_qicrxo","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

5. {cflag:RU} Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov | 5512 ELO - 1.44 K/D - 63% win rate

G2's sniper is still going strong on FACEIT, where he is playing regularly.

6. {cflag:BE} Milan "CrePoW" Libbrecht | 5371 ELO - 1.24 K/D - 66% win rate

The 20-year-old Belgian has been part of EC Brugge and Project Eversio, but is not an established CS:GO pro.

7. {cflag:UA} PsychoFine | 5349 ELO - 1.40 K/D - 73% win rate

Despite being from Ukraine, not much is known about this player. In 2015 he dropped 63 kills during 30 rounds at 1946 ELO!

8. {cflag:DK} Mikkel "n1xen" Borlund | 5321 ELO - 1.44 K/D - 55% win rate

The 18-year-old Dane he been on a trial at Astralis Talent last year, but not much has been heard from him on the professional scene since.

9. {cflag:UA} Igor "w0nderful" Zhdanov | 5305 ELO - 1.84 K/D - 69% win rate

Team Spirit's new AWP'er has a nasty high K/D rate! The 17-year-old Ukrainian will be tested on a Tier-1 level at IEM Cologne next month.

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

10. {cflag:FR} Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut | 5304 ELO - 1.63 K/D - 70% win rate

The two-time number one player in the world is obviously also very good on FACEIT!

22. Aleksey "NickelBack" Trofimov (Entropiq)

28. Nikolaj "niko" Kristensen (benched on OG)

fame

dycha

D0cC

CrePoW

n1xen

w0nderfu1

ZywOo

It was Portugal vs Dream Team at the showmatch before the Grand Final at BLAST Premier Spring Finals.

Playing on the "Dream Team" was degster, karrigan, m0NESY, ropz, and JACKZ, who went up against a Portuguese team where Ricardo "fox" Pacheco was leading the pack. The two teams played on the old Counter-Strike map Tuscan, which has been reworked since the good old 1.6 days.

You can see the highlights from the match here.

degster

karrigan

JaCkz

ropz

While we wait for the playoffs to begin later today we have gathered some of the best clips from the tournament in Lisbon.

[twitchClip:VastCogentEggJebaited-5euhE3CjqeNaG8F2]

[twitchClip:FancyProudMallardBudBlast-BHJleoVkNCYIBiLY]

[twitchClip:SparklingMoistChickenPunchTrees-Ut4Flhqbdjvd31Vk]

degster has been a superb stand-in for OG. His good chemistry with flameZ has been visible through the many hardcore slaps, that he gives out to his new teammate.

[twitchClip:ExpensiveColorfulLaptopGivePLZ-EQweY0IC__RVcPHJ]

How about a running headshot entry from huNter?

[twitchClip:CarefulOutstandingCurryKappaRoss-A62Jbe3tzOx29Dk_]

Magisk made magic happen with his insane spray on Dust2.

[twitchClip:PiercingRichPorcupineHeyGuys-dvltsnR7obtpm5Uf]

BIG may be out of the tournament, but their wholesomeness belongs to the top!

[twitchClip:ManlyTardySheepPMSTwin--lkxAybvcWFtzpFG]

A beautiful ace from Misutaaa rounds of this list.

[twitchClip:VibrantSpunkyDogeUnSane-VkOPVSUw1g0UrcPY]

Magisk

huNter

Misutaaa

It has not been a year to remember so far for the fans of G2. But at BLAST Premier Spring Finals in Lisbon, the hopes of success for the team have been ignited again. The almost monumental victory against FaZe yesterday to qualify for the Semi-Finals has reminded everyone of the lethal firepower and raw talent that the team possesses.

With several clutches, Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov has been the talk of the town at the event, but looking deeper into the numbers reveals how dominating his Bosnian teammate Nikola "NiKo" Kovač has been. With an outstanding 1.41 rating after six maps, NiKo is leading the race to become the MVP of the tournament.

You can see more stats from the event down below:

Highest rated at BLAST Premier Spring Finals:

NiKo

s1mple

G2 Esports

Team Vitality

Natus Vincere

When thinking about star-studded rosters within the professional CS:GO scene you would probably think of the iconic FaZe name first. Whilst FaZe has been known to have a roster filled with the biggest stars throughout the years, there is a new kid in town when it comes to having a super-roster. G2 has nothing but big names within the roster and with the likes of "NiKo" and "huNter-" headlining the line-up, they are scary opponent to face when looking on the leaderboard. 

The newest addition to the internal super-roster of G2 is the young prodigy Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov. From the youth ranks of Natus Vincere, the now 17-year-old prodigy took a huge leap when he joined G2 and was put on the battlefield against opponents of an entirely different caliber than what he was previously used to facing. Despite this, the young Russian AWP'er has already proven that he has what it takes to become one of the world's best players. He did so, once again, at the just-finished IEM Dallas 2022 event. Whilst G2 didn't make it as far as they would have probably expected to do, "m0NESY" reminded us all how scarily good he already is and can become. 

The 17-year-old AWP'er, known for his explosiveness and incredible speed, proved that he is much more than just a flashy AWP'er. Collecting five clutches throughout the event, "m0NESY" topped the leaderboard for most clutches at IEM Dallas 2022, proving that despite his young age he is able to remain calm and collected in the most pressured situations. While he may not have been the best performing G2 player at the event, scoring a 1.06 rating, his ability to win rounds singlehandedly is what makes him such an exciting prospect. Take a look at one of the highlights from IEM Dallas 2022, where "m0NESY" picks apart four Astralis players and makes it looks easy: 

[twitchClip:ArtisticLaconicAnteaterVoteNay-a6cZCgVUYVUGsDyu]

It was a fight for survival when G2 and Outsiders clashed in the 1-2 bracket. Both teams were 1-1 after Day 1 but now faced elimination after losing against Heroic and ENCE on Day 2.

Outsiders' pick of Inferno was first up to bat, and after fifteen rounds it was as close as can be at 8-7 in favor of G2 on the defense.

The CT side was where the problems came for the CIS squad. With the save-heavy style they like to play, they were left doing exactly that as G2 were successful in a lot of their openings and reads. The convincing T side of "Aleksib" and co. brought them a 16-10 victory.

After the disappointing CT side on Inferno, the Outsiders defended better as they arrived on G2's pick of Vertigo. It was still not a huge success for the CIS squad as only "YEKINDAR" went above and beyond, and G2 led by 8-7 at the half.

The Outsiders, with their backs against the wall, suddenly found new life on the T side. The "Jame"-led squad had a lot of success around the ramp position and turned that into a huge stack of rounds despite a great showing from "m0NESY". The icing on the cake was a huge step-up from "buster", which led to a victory for the Outsiders.

An extremely back and forth first half is what we got on the third and final map of Dust2. The Outsiders on the T side came out on top at 8-7 after a seven-round streak of trading rounds.

G2 were done trading rounds, so after losing the two initial rounds of the second half, they went on a six-round streak, where the Outsiders in true Outsiders-fashion saved in five of them. Ths CIS squad did not find form on their T side, and after three maps G2 could hold their heads high.

G2 are now 2-2 and will play an all-or-nothing game tomorrow, while the Outsiders are sent packing.

[twitchClip:pgl_csgo/clip/MotionlessThirstyBeaverAMPEnergyCherry-HE6Nqd9RUsn_5wgc]

G2 - Outsiders 2-1 | PGL Major Antwerp Legends Stage

16-10 (Inferno) | {cflag:BA} NiKo - 1.68 Rating / 25-11 K-D / 91.9 ADR

10-16 (Vertigo) | {cflag:KZ} buster - 1.59 Rating / 23-11 K-D / 104.5 ADR

16-11 (Dust2) | {cflag:BA} NiKo - 1.29 Rating / 24-17 K-D / 90.5 ADR

MVP: {cflag:BA} Nikola "NiKo" Kovač - 1.36 Rating / 67-45 K-D / 89.9 ADR

buster

YEKINDAR

Outsiders

Yesterday a [link:{"url":"https://twitter.com/pigofps/status/1525653299659153412","isNewTab":true,"text":"video "}]of Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov surfaced from G2's matchup against Imperial, where the young AWPer exploited a smoke bug which gave him an advantageous visual through the window down mid on Mirage.

The exploit and POV video created a lot of stir in the community, especially among the pro players at the Major.

It may be the reason for VALVE’s Quick response Yesterday evening/night, where they decided to fix the smoke bug so it Can’t be used in the rest of the Major and further on. Something VALVE did through an update around 24 hours after m0NESY used the bug in the opening round of the Legends Stage at PGL Major Antwerp.

The Internationals of G2 and the Danes Heroic clashed in the day's opening match. Both teams were 1-1 before the match and were now looking for their second win.

The Bo1, which took place on Vertigo, started out well for "stavn" and the CTs of Heroic who went up 5-1. "huNter-" soon found impact, and with the Heroic squad struggling to win retake scenarios, G2 quickly found their way back into the game. Heroic led by one round at halftime.

Right out of halftime, Heroic extended their lead to four. The smiles on the faces of the Danes soon turned to frowns as G2 armed with rifles, and "m0NESY" with his AWP, strung together seven rounds. Heroic found their way back, and with nothing separating the two sides the match went to OT.

It looked great for G2 who won the first two rounds of OT, but with four back-to-back rounds, Heroic came in and snatched away the victory.

With the win, Heroic are now 2-1, while G2 move to the elimination side of the bracket.

G2 - Heroic 0-1 | PGL Major Antwerp Challengers Stage

17-19 (Vertigo) | {cflag:DK} TeSeS - 1.32 Rating / 29-27 K-D / 103.6 ADR

stavn

Heroic

After G2's loss in the opening round against NAVI, NiKo and the rest of the star-studded roster had their eyes set on Imperial to turn their luck around. 

It started as expected with a 6-1 lead to G2. But FalleN and the rest of the Imperial roster quickly caught up on the action and started to cause G2 a lot of problems. And despite an insane 1vs4 clutch from Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov (see video below), it was not enough to distance Imperial who instead took the lead at 12-11. 

Suddenly the realization began to sink in, that G2 could actually be going 0-2 and be on the brink of elimination in the very early parts of the Legends Stage. On the Livestream Nikola "NiKo" Kovač could be seen shaking his head and talking intensely during a tactical timeout. From here on G2 stepped up and won the dramatic match.

For Imperial, the match was a reminder, that the Brazilians are not done yet at the Legends Stage. It will require a flawless run from here on though to keep FalleN's Last Dance going.

G2 - Imperial 1-0 | PGL Major Antwerp Legends Stage

16-12 (Mirage) | {cflag:RU} Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov - 1.68 rating / 28-13 K-D / 99.8 ADR

FalleN

Imperial

With Vitality already qualified for the Legends stage, the next two teams who would try to do the same were ENCE and G2. Everyone knows what the superstars of G2 are capable of, but with ENCE's recent form this was bound to be a banger!

G2 started the Bo3 with a great T-side on their map pick of Dust2. Their young star AWP'er "m0NESY", who had been a bit quiet in the opening games, caught fire and led his team to a 9-6 halftime lead.

It got even scarier for ENCE after the break as they got completely locked down by the G2 defense who only allowed "Snappi" and co. a single round.

Down by a map "Spinx" saw to it that ENCE got off on the right foot on the T-side of their pick: Ancient. With some individual heroics, the soldiers of ENCE took five rounds in succession to start the map. G2 managed to put a stop to the flurry of rounds that ENCE were finding, as star duo "huNter-" and NiKo" had had enough. ENCE held a tiny 8-7 lead at halftime.

The two contenders, by way of long winstreaks, kept going back and forth in momentum, and after 30 rounds not a single round separated the teams and the match went into OT. G2, who had found map point in regulation, were overrun in overtime as ENCE finally showed just how strong they can be on this map.

Mirage was chosen as the tiebreaker of this matchup between the world's #3 and #6, and after ending the last map on a bit of a low note, G2 started Mirage on a high one. The "Aleksib"-led squad grabbed seven of the first eight rounds but spearheaded by "dycha", ENCE clawed themselves back to a 7-8 half.

"dycha" kept up the high level after the break and secured a couple of rounds for ENCE early on, but after getting their economy broken, the team decided to force-buy several rounds in a row without any measurable success. G2 ended the map at 16-9 after a seven-round winstreak.

G2 join Vitality as the first teams to go through from the Challengers Stage, while ENCE will have to go through another Bo3 tomorrow.

[twitchClip:pgl/clip/GrotesqueCorrectGoldfishPoooound-R9QZ4a_vle3ifOWe]

ENCE - G2 1-2 | PGL Major Antwerp Challengers Stage

7-16 (Dust2) | {cflag:RU} m0NESY - 1.91 Rating / 27-10 K-D / 109.7 ADR

19-16 (Ancient) | {cflag:IL} Spinx - 1.54 Rating / 37-23 K-D / 110.9 ADR

9-16 (Mirage) | {cflag:FI} Aleksib - 1.64 Rating / 22-13 K-D / 102.3 ADR

MVP: {cflag:BA} Nikola "NiKo" Kovač - 1.36 Rating / 72-49 K-D / 91.1 ADR

Interesting scoreline: {cflag:PL} Olek "hades" Miskiewicz - 0.58 Rating / 28-57 K-D / 42.8 ADR

Spinx

Aleksib

ENCE

The $1,000,000 tournament is starting next week. Here 16 teams will fight to make it into the Legends stage of the Major.

The Finnish Organization will be one of the hottest going into the Major. Their win at BLAST Spring Showdown underlined their perfectly timed form. In the Challengers stage, ENCE will face 9z Team in the first round.

Player to watch: Lotan "Spinx" Giladi is playing some of the best Counter-Strike in his career. If the Israeli can perform on the big stage, he could be one of the best players in the tournament.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/trace_wmbh2k","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

trace has been promoted as headcoach on a permanent basis after several good performances.

The four-time Major winners are beginning to look good again. The signing of Asger "farlig" Jensen on the AWP and Martin "trace" Heldt as a coach has been a revelation for the Danes. For the first time in a year, it is actually looking promising for Astalis, who was only bested by ENCE in the Grand Final of BLAST Spring Showdown last week.

Player to watch: If Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke can deliver consistently on a high level, then Astralis will be a dangerous team at the Major. With Benjamin "blameF" Bremer already in excellent shape, it could be real fun for the fans of Astralis if k0nfig also fired on all cylinders at the event.

The French/Danish roster had one of the most difficult routes to Antwerp with matches against #1 and #2 in the world. In the end they still qualified and it did look better for the team. Most notable was the rise of Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut, who finally showcased his great talent on the new roster.

Player to watch: All eyes will be on the young Frenchman Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier. The 19-year-old rifler has suffered the most from the switch from the all-French roster to the new international one. With four events in row below 1.00 rating there will be talks about replacing misutaaa on the team, if doesn’t deliver at PGL Antwerp.

The Grand Finalist from the 2021 Major in Stockholm are looking shaky in 2022. They started well with the second place at IEM Katowice, but since then the performances on the server have not been impressive. Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač is the only player on the team with consistent performances. The alarm bells were ringing after they lost their opening match against Anonymo at the RMR qualifier, but in the end they got the job done with a win against Astralis in overtime on the decider map. We could easily see G2 make a slow start to the Challenger Stage but still qualify.

Player to watch: Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov will be playing his first major at the age of 17-years-old. There will be a huge pressure on the young AWP’er to perform on the biggest stage. So how will he do? We are looking forward to seeing him at the Major.

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

FalleN with his new teammates at the RMR tournament.

Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo’s new project got off to a great start qualifying for the Antwerp Major and then went on to also qualify for IEM Dallas. The Brazilians took down MIBR at the Dallas qualifier to prove, that they could be the second strongest team from South America after FURIA.

Player to watch: Lincoln "fnx" Lau has one of the most crazy stats in all of CS:GO. The 32-year-old Brazilian have won two Majors in his career but have only ever attended two. He has a 100% win-rate at Majors, so who wouldn’t have him on their team at a Major?

There are a lot of teams in contention for the last three spots. The Swiss Group Stage format can be brutal for teams in this echelon. Eternal Fire got the taste of it at the European RMR tournament, where they were paired with FaZe and Team Vitality along their way. This time they will face Bad News Eagles in an early key match. A win will most likely give the Turks a big boost towards qualifying for the Legends stage.

Player to watch: Ismailcan 'XANTARES' Dörtkardeş is back at a Major for the third time in his career. The Turkish rifler is coming in hot at the event with several huge performances during 2022 for Eternal Fire.

They looked really good at the Americas RMR tournament, but the big question is if that was a one-off. Since they qualified for Antwerp MIBR has lost to both Imperial and paiN. Their opening match against Outsiders will be pivotal. MIBR rarely plays against Europeans, so it is hard to predict the faith of the Brazilians at the event.

Player to watch: Jhonatan "JOTA" Willian has never played against a top 20 team in the world! So how will he do against tougher opposition?

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

shox says hello to his new teammate EliGE at an event last year

The sheer amount of experience on the Team Liquid roster should be enough to see them qualify for the next stage. But the results of the new roster have not been convincing in the past couple of months. Their last match was a loss against paiN at the BLAST Spring Showdown, which again ignited the doubters of the team. The North Americans enter the tournament with a Contender status, which has given them a tough draw in the first round, where they will face G2. We still believe that the stars of Liquid find a way through.

Player to watch: Is Richard "shox" Papillon the right fit for Team Liquid? This Major will probably give us the answer. The 29-year-old veteran has always been a joy to watch, but can he still deliver for Team Liquid?

It is a tough time for all the CIS teams at the moment. The war in Ukraine has certainly had its influence on the competitive CS:GO scene as well. Outsiders (Virtus.pro) have been a shadow of themselves. They were 0.02 seconds away from missing out on the Major, while rumors are already sending their starplayer Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis away to join a new team after the Major.

forZe and Spirit could also be dark horses for a spot in the next stage, while Bad News Eagles are the last team, that we have chosen to highlight. As the only second team in history to compete in a Major without an organization, the roster from Kosovo can play without any expectations from the outside world. A fact that can make them dangerous to face.

k0nfig

XANTARES

shox

A 1-on-1 duel between one of the best individual players in Counter-Strike history and arguable the biggest talent in recent time.

That is exactly what G2 has offered their viewers on YouTube, presenting a fierce head-to-head duel between Nikola "NiKo" Kovac and Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov. 

The list features big stars such as Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev, Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov, Kenny "kennyS" Schrub, and many more, who have produced some highlight-worthy plays during the month of March. 

You can see the 30 most viewed CS:GO clips on Twitch here.

kennyS

When Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov decides to jump on the stream, there will be highlights - that's a fact. 

You can watch all #POTD's from this month in the article below. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"pley-day-march-2","isNewTab":true}]

With Group C underway in ESL Pro League Season 15, a picture over the group stage is beginning to take form slowly but surely. One of the headlines, all be it a disappointing one, is G2's run at the event. Having to play the first three Bo3-series without their IGL in "Aleksib", external issues posted a challenge for the G2 roster, even before any games were to be played. G2 ended with just 6 points to their name and had to see themselves out of the event after ending the group stage in fifth place. 

Despite the disappointing conclusion for G2, however, there were still some upsides to their performance at ESL Pro League Season 15. One of these was the performance from the newly signed super talent "m0nesy". Thorin states the following in regards to the young AWP'ers performance at the event and the exciting future for G2's newest addition: 

"m0nesy" ended ESL Pro League Season 15 with a solid 1.16 rating, however, their star player in "NiKo" failed to show up in the way we have come to expect from the Bosnian beast. "NiKo" ended the event with a 1.08 rating. Whilst it is a heavy responsibility to place on a single player's shoulder, the lackluster performance from "NiKo" is undoubtedly one of the reasons for G2's disappointing run. In addition to this, unfortunately for G2, there have been many external issues outside of the server due to the global pandemic and we are yet to see the roster operate under complete normality and order. 

To hear more about what CS:GO experts Richard Lewis and Thorin had to say about G2's run, as well as many other topics regarding the ongoing ESL Pro League Season 15 event, you can watch the lengthy discussion in the video posted down below: 

The last match of the day had CIS-squad Entropiq going up against the European G2, who had finally gotten back their IGL "Aleksib". Both teams were desperately looking to secure a victory, to be put in as favorable a position as possible before the last day of play.

As the first map, Entropiq chose to play Vertigo, which was somewhat of a punish pick, since this iteration of G2 has little to no experience on it. But straight out of the gate, “huNter-“ and “m0NESY” showed that they were not to be trifled with, as they led G2 to a 5-0 lead on the CT-side. Entropiq took a timeout which allowed them to turn the game on its head and go to halftime with a slim 8-7 lead.

Entropiq continued the second half where they left off in the first, and pretty quickly found themselves six rounds up over their opponents. G2 finally woke up towards the end of the map though, and with a four-round winstreak sent the map into overtime.

In overtime, Entropiq failed to convert on yet another map point and another six rounds were required. Here G2 got their first opportunity to close out the map, and they did not pass that up as they stole Entropiq’s map at 22-20.

The match continued on G2’s map pick of Dust2, where “m0NESY” continued the dominance, he had shown on Vertigo. Entropiq were luckily able to stop him halfway through the first half, which made it a much more competitive half at 8-7 in favor of the European squad.

Eager to close out the series, G2 picked up six rounds in a row after the break, with “NiKo” going absolutely ballistic. Surprisingly, Entropiq managed to put a stop to the massive slew of rounds that G2 were producing and put themselves back into contention. G2 secured their first regulation map-point of the series but were not able to convert, which meant; Yet another overtime.

After an incredible comeback in regulation, it was almost in the cards that Entropiq should win this, and after six rounds of overtime, they were able to take the win 19-17.

After throwing away that massive lead on Dust2, G2 looked shaken to start the third and final map of Nuke, going down 5-1 on the CT-side. The European squad recovered very nicely as their star players got armed with rifles, closing down the offense of Entropiq time after time resulting in a 9-6 lead for G2 at the break.

The second half brought us the force-buy wars which ended with G2 coming out on top, but the second Entropiq got control of their economy, they were right back in the game. After being down 13-8, the CIS-squad made a clean comeback with eight rounds in a row to win the map at 16-13, thus also taking the series.

[twitchClip:CloudyBlazingBatHassanChop-9oaenCqK3cGEM_89]

G2 – Entropiq 1-2 | ESL Pro League Season 15 (Group A)

22-20 (Vertigo) | {cflag:RU} m0NESY – 1.35 Rating / 37-25 K-D / 87.1 ADR

17-19 (Dust2) | {cflag:BA} NiKo – 1.49 Rating / 35-25 K-D / 103.9 ADR

13-16 (Nuke) | {cflag:BA} NiKo – 1.35 Rating / 25-18 K-D / 100.9 ADR

MVP: {cflag:BA} Nikola "NiKo" Kovač – 1.23 Rating / 86-73 K-D / 91.1 ADR

Entropiq

After a swift 2-0 win yesterday at Day 1 of ESL Pro League, G2 came down to earth with a 2-0 loss against MOUZ.

In-game leader Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen is still sidelined with a positive Covid-19 test, which seemed to have a big effect on today’s match. Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač is calling the shots instead, and while it is hard from the outside to judge the tactics made by the Bosnian, the biggest problem for G2 was NiKo’s lack of impact on the server as an individual.

On Nuke last year’s number three in the world was the statistically worst player on the map leaving young Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov to carry the team. MOUZ made the best from the situation and won Nuke 16-12 after a good performance Aurimas 'Bymas' Pipiras.

On G2’s map pick, Mirage, the story didn’t get much better for NiKo. The Bosnian was once again way off his normal standards having little to no impact in the first 20 rounds of the map. G2 still managed to hang on, and while Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsás was having a feast with his AWP for MOUZ, it was still all even at 15-15 taking the two teams to overtime.

Here MOUZ and Nathan 'NBK-' Schmitt turned up the heat to distance themselves from G2 in the end winning a surprising 2-0 win. Both teams are now 1-1 in Group A of ESL Pro League. 

G2 – MOUZ 0-2 | ESL Pro League Season 15 (Group A)

12-16 (Nuke) | {cflag:LT} Bymas – 1.34 Rating / 21-13 K-D / 74.0 ADR

17-19 (Mirage) | {cflag:HU} torzsi – 1.29 Rating / 30-23 K-D / 88.4 ADR

MVP: {cflag:HU} Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsás | 1.28 Rating / 52-37 K-D / 86.2 ADR

NBK-

torzsi

MOUZ

With everything that is currently going on in the world right now, it is always cool to see players speak up about the situation and join the battle for peace. At IEM Katowice 2022, the Ukrainian superstar expressed his feelings in a heartfelt message to the crowd and everyone watching at home. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"s1mple-sends-emotional-speech-peace-fans-iem-katowice","isNewTab":true}]

Since then there have been multiple players, organizations, and teams surrounding the professional CS:GO scene that has taken action in regards to the current climate between Ukraine and Russia. One of these actions was taken by tournament organizer BLAST Premier when they decided to ban all Russian-based organizations from their events for the next foreseeable future. 

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	7	18
Maps count	17	34

m0NESY

Player stats

Articles mentioning m0NESY

Video: Smartest Pro CS:GO Plays in 2022

Who is the highest ranked players on FACEIT?

Video: See highlights from the BLAST Lisbon Showmatch

Great moments from BLAST Premier Spring Finals

NiKo leads the MVP race at BLAST Premier Spring Finals

m0NESY shows promise at IEM Dallas 2022

Outsiders eliminated from the Major

Controversial smoke bug fixed by Valve

Heroic vs. G2 thriller go the way of the Danes

G2 avoid Imperial scare and go 1-1 at PGL Antwerp

G2 Go 3-0 After Defeating ENCE

CS:GO Pick’em for PGL Antwerp Challenger Stage

Video: NiKo vs m0NESY - Who's the best AWPer?

Video: The Top 30 most viewed CS:GO clips of March

Pley of the Day: The m0nster is back! m0NESY with sick ACE on Mirage

Thorin: "m0nesy is already better than b1t was when he joined NaVi"

G2 struggles in Aleksib comeback versus Entropiq

MOUZ bounce back with upset win against G2

m0NESY: "I want peace, just peace"

Highlight: m0NESY wins unbelievable 1v3 clutch

Follow Pley