We are now less than two weeks away from the start of the much-awaited IEM Rio Major in Brazil. To ease the waiting time, we have created a countdown series, where we dive into the history of all 17 Majors. Today we have reached ESL One: Cologne 2015.

 Cache, Cobblestone, Dust2, Inferno, Mirage, Train, Overpass.

DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015 was the seventh CS:GO Major tournament in the history of the game and was held from October 28 – November 1, 2015 in the Polyvalent Hall venue in Cluj-Napoca Romania. Like the previous Majors, this one also featured a total of 16 teams and a total prize pool of $250,000.

The final Major of 2015 came to an end with Team EnVyUs claiming the title on Romanian soil. It was the first ever Major final to not feature either Ninjas in Pyjamas or fnatic. The Frenchmen from Team EnVyUs defeated Natus Vincere in the grand final and took home the $100,000 first place prize.

Results for Team EnVyUs weren’t satisfying for the organization in the period 2015, so they decided to release Richard “shox” Papillon and Edouard “SmithZz” Dubourdeaux to sign Dan “apEX” Madesclaire and Kenny “kennyS” Schrub from Titan.

It turned out to be a great roster move from the organization as the new roster went on to win IEM Season X – Gamescom right after the change was made. Additionally, NBK, Happy, kioShiMa, apEX, and kennyS reached the Grand final of the following Major in Cologne but lost to fnatic. Nevertheless, the rest of 2015 ended up being a success for the Frenchmen.

They became champions in two big tournaments (DreamHack Open London and Gfinity Champion of Champions) before winning the Major in Cluj-Napoca. There, the Frenchmen from EnVyUs had to defeat some really strong teams such as fnatic, Team Dignitas, G2, and NAVI on their path to the title.

apEX and company from EnVyUs started off their playoffs run with a 2-1 victory over the Swedes from fnatic in the Quarter-finals, eliminating them out of the tournament. Next up, Team EnVyUs would take upon their fellow countrymen from G2, who secured their semi-final spot with a 2-0 victory over Virtus.pro. In the other quarter-finals, TSM lost 0-2 to Ninjas in Pyjamas, while NAVI defeated Luminosity Gaming with a 2-0 result.

The first semi-final match of the Major began with a victory for G2, who took down kennyS and company on Dust2 with a 10-16 scoreline. EnVy came back on Inferno after three overtimes, closing out the map 25-21 to force the decider. The decider of Cache saw apEX’s troops confidently close out the map 16-7 to secure themselves a spot in the Grand final, where they would face off against NAVI who came out on top with a 2-0 victory over NiP in the second semi-final.

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The Grand finalists were chosen and it was time to find out who would claim the title as Major champions. The first map of the series was Train, where NAVI started off miserably and found themselves behind 0-7 on the scoreboard. NAVI managed to pick themselves up and added six rounds of their own on the scoreboard, before EnVyUs went to halftime with a 9-6 advantage.

In the second half, NAVI finally found their footing and moved ahead to a 10-11 lead before kennyS and company answered back. The remaining rounds on the map were fiercely contested, with rounds going back and forth. However, it was EnVy who took the first map 16-14.

Cobblestone was EnVyUs’ map pick and the Frenchmen started things off strongly, cruising to a 7-0 lead with full momentum. In a similar fashion to Train, GuardiaN and company from NAVI woke up after being down 0-7 and fought to get five rounds on the scoreboard before halftime.

The second half ended up being even worse than the first for NAVI, as the Frenchmen went on to just bulldoze every attempt NAVI made to take either of the sites. A few rounds came close, but the sheer pressure of EnVy’s lineup proved to be great, and the Frenchmen managed to clinch the map 16-5 to claim the Major trophy. EnVyUs’ AWPer,

Highest rated players at DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015:

1. {cflag:DK} Philip “aizy” Aistrup (Dignitas) – 1.55 Rating

2. {cflag:SK} Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovacs (NAVI) – 1.30 Rating 

3. {cflag:PL} Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski (Virtus.pro) – 1.29 Rating 

4. {cflag:FR} Kenny “kennyS” Schrub (EnVyUs) – 1.23 Rating 

5. {cflag:RU} Georgi “WorldEdit” Yaskin (FlipSid3) – 1.22 Rating 

6. {cflag:DK} Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen (TSM) – 1.18 Rating 

7. {cflag:BR} Marcelo “coldzera” David (Luminosity) – 1.18 Rating 

8. {cflag:NO} Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad (G2) – 1.16 Rating 

9. {cflag:BA} Nikola “NiKo” Kovac (MOUZ) – 1.16 Rating 

10. {cflag:SE} Robin “flusha” Rönnquist (fnatic) – 1.15 Rating

Tomorrow we take a look at the MLG Columbus 2016 Major.

kennyS

apEX

kioShiMa

NBK-

Envy

The last 12 months haven’t been that successful for Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt in regards of his CS:GO career, with the two-timer Major winner only having featured in 24 official matches. In that period, he managed to get signed, benched, and cut by the Germans from MOUZ in just seven months.

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That was maybe the reason why NBK- considered retiring from CS:GO to transition into professional poker instead - Something, the 28-year-old Frenchman revealed in a recent episode of “CS Out Here”, where he explained how close he was leaving the scene just days before signing a deal with Falcons.

- I was THAT CLOSE [NBK putting his thumb and ring finger close together] going into poker full-time for the next 6-12 months – just to try getting into it and going into the circuit of playing. But then I got a call: “well look, misutaaa is in because EG didn’t want him, so if you’re interested [in joining Falcons] we do it. Three days later we were practicing everyone on the server NBK- said on the vodcast.

You can watch the entire episode right here.

One month ago, NBK- was picked up by his countrymen from Falcons together with the Vitality youngster Kevin “misutaaa” Rabier. The new duo helped the French team to secure a spot at the important IEM Road to Rio RMR event, which offers prestigious tickets to the IEM Rio Major later this year. 

Falcons is also competing in ESL Challenger Season 42 and is under the leadership of NBK-, who's their new in-game leader and captain. 

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MOUZ

Falcons have confirmed their signing of Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier and Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt. The signings comes shortly after a report from [link:{"url":"https://www.1pv.fr/news/142278-nbk-amp-misutaaa-close-to-join-falcons","isNewTab":true,"text":"1pv.fr"}] who stated what they will be joining Falcons.

The two new signings will be replacing the benched Keoz and Kyojin. Falcons have spent their last season playing in lower-tier competition, where they played some good counter-strike and found success, winning ESL National Championship France Spring 2022 and ESL Challenger League Season 41 Europe, but when they played in higher tier events, they failed to show their mark.

NBK- will bring a lot of experience to the roster, with his 14 Major appearances and 94 LAN tournaments. The other signing misutaaa will bring high-level experience, having won several titles in just two years of playing for Vitality. 

Misutaaa

Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt and Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier are set to join the French team Falcons, according to [link:{"url":"https://www.1pv.fr/news/142278-nbk-amp-misutaaa-close-to-join-falcons","isNewTab":true,"text":"1pv.fr"}]. NBK- and misutaaa are going to replace the two former Falcons players in Keoz and Kyojin. After the team was signed by the Falcons back in February, they achieved some reasonable results such as securing victories in the ESL National Championship as well as peaking at No.27 in the world rankings. 

28-year-old NBK- will bring his wealth as a tier-one experienced player, having won two Majors as well as 22 lan events in CS:GO. The young gun misutaaa also brings top-level game experience with him, after having spent two-and-a-half years with the French/Danish Team  Vitality under the wings of Danny "zonic" Sørensen. Here misutaaa won three top-tier events in that period of time. Vitality will be replacing misutaaa with Lotan "Spinx" Giladi from ENCE.

Falcons will be playing in the Major qualification when the IEM Road to Rio Open Qualifiers begin, and will also play in the ESL Challenger Leauge season 42 which starts on August 16. 

Falcons will look as follows if the transfers become reality. 

A major transfer in French CS:GO could be on the rise with Falcons looking to sign the experienced duo of François "AMANEK" Delaunay and Nathan "NBK" Schmitt. It’s the French outlet [link:{"url":"https://www.1pv.fr/news/140850-falcons-in-talks-with-amanek-amp-nbk","isNewTab":true,"text":"1pv.fr"}] who has the story, claiming to have sources telling them that Falcons have put their sights on the former G2 players.

The two players getting replaced will reportedly be Jordan "Python" Munck-Foehrle and the ex-Vitality member Jayson "Kyojin" Nguyen Van.

For AMANEK and NBK’s perspective, there hasn’t been much competitive CS:GO action in 2022 with both players being on the sideline for the majority of the year – AMANEK on G2 following Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov’s arrival, and NBK on MOUZ due to a demotion to make room for Jon “JDC” de Castro.

NBK only managed to play 25 maps over a two-month period for MOUZ before getting axed.

{cflag:FR} Steeve "Ozstrik3r" Flavigni (Coach)

AmaNEk

G2 Esports

Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt has posted a statement on his Twitter about the benching at MOUZ and his future plans. He shares that he is more motivated than ever to grind back to his best level. The 27-year-old France is sad that he didn't get more playing time at MOUZ, but he still loves playing CS, and he wants to find a team where he can forge himself an identity again and be an impactful player.

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NBK is also saying that MOUZ wants to help him find another team.

The roster mania of 2022 continues in the world of Counter-Strike. A short while ago the benching of the Frenchman Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt was announced.

The decision from the MOUZ management was not well received by NBK, who made the following statement on his Twitter after the news broke out.

The 27-year-old Frenchman has a long history in the game having played on several top teams in the past years. Experience that may now be MOUZ's biggest problem, if you ask analyst Janko "

" Paunović, who was one of the first to comment on the news.

The two-timer Major winner, Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt stay on MOUZ only lasted two months. Today the German Organization announced the change of roster on their Twitter.

Jon "⁠JDC⁠" de Castro joins the roster. The German has been a part of the successful academy team MOUZ NXT, and has already had experience playing on the main roster at IEM Katowice, where he played as a stand-in for Aurimas "Bymas" Pipiras, who was sidelined due to Covid-19.

The roster change occurred after a disappointing run for MOUZ at ESL Pro League, where they crashed out in the group stage only winning two matches.

mouz NXT

NIP remain undefeated at ESL Pro League Group A

Both MOUZ and NIP came into today’s match with confidence and a great result in the bag. Yesterday, MOUZ managed to upset G2 with a stunning victory– something NIP followed up with a likewise impressive 2-0 sweep against Entropiq. The brawl was a close one between MOUZ and NiP, but ultimately it was the Scandinavians of NiP to take home a 2-1 victory. 

The match began on MOUZ’s map pick of Inferno, which ended up being a troublesome experience for Chris “dexter” Nong and his troops. The German side didn’t really manage to obtain control of the map and that was something NIP took advantage of. Especially NIP’s T side looked solid as they rounded out the map 16-10 on the back of a 7-4 second half. 

On Vertigo things got way more competitive with both teams taking turns dominating the map. It all ended up going to OT, where MOUZ stole a map back and equalized the scoreline. It was the "Natural Born Killer" Nathan 'NBK-' Schmitt who showed some of his old magic on the map, and he ended with an impressive 37-21 K-D score.

Mirage was set as the third and last map of the series. MOUZ continued their momentum from Vertigo and catapulted themselves into a 7-1 lead before NIP managed to find an answer. The Scandinavians of NiP managed to avoid humiliation in the first half of Mirage as they finally put a stop to the aggressive MOUZ offense and secured a 9-6 scoreline at halftime. The second half was all NiP as the Scandinavian offense seemed too difficult for MOUZ to contain. Only allowing MOUZ two rounds in the second half of Mirage it was NiP to claim victory and remain undefeated at the scoreline of 16-11. 

NIP – MOUZ 2-1 | ESL Pro League Season 15 (Group A)

16-10 (Inferno) | {cflag:SE} REZ – 1.36 Rating / 20-13 K-D / 77.5 ADR

16-19 (Vertigo) | {cflag:FR} NBK- – 1.55 Rating / 37-21 K-D / 103.8 ADR 

16-11 (Mirage) | {cflag:SE} hampus – 1.60 Rating / 25-15 K-D / 105.6 ADR

MVP: {cflag:SE} Frederik "REZ" Sterner – 1.27 Rating / 68-51 K-D / 83.1 ADR

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Ninjas in Pyjamas

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

NiKo

m0NESY

torzsi

Aurimas "Bymas" Pipiras haven’t played a single minute of competitive Counter-Strike since the start of December last year, where he and the MOUZ squad were handed an early exit at IEM Winter.

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In the meantime, the German roster has been shaken up quite extensively with the arrivals of NBK, torzsi and the head coach, sycrone. The additions have meant that Bymas has moved into new roles and positions on the roster, the Lithuanian explained in a Twitter post.

- I am looking forward to finally playing the first officials with the new roster. Ever since the addition of NBK and torzsi, I’ve been put into lurk positions on the T side, and I’m feeling very confident with it, unlike in FaZe where I had no clue what I was doing most of the time. Still, a lot to learn though, Bymas wrote on Twitter.

You can read the entire post from Bymas down below. Here the young rifler also touches on his and MOUZ’ lacklustre ending to 2021 and how having it has been sitting out due to health issues.

The brand-new MOUZ side will get their debut today at 16:00, where they are set to square up against Entropiq at ESL Pro League Season 15. An event, you can follow closely here on Pley.gg.

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Bymas

Entropiq

The two-time Major winner Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt has joined MOUZ as their new fifth, completing the roster after the recent departure of Robin “ropz” Kool. The transfer also marks the Frenchman’s return to competitive CS:GO after he revealed that he was transitioning to Valorant back in late-June 2021.

The signing of NBK- is MOUZ’s third roster move this week, following the promotion of the promising AWPer Ádám "torzsi" Torzsás and the head coach Dennis “sycrone” Nielsen, who both joined the team from MOUZ NXT – the German’s successful academy team.

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One of the nationalities which is known to produce exceptionally skilled Counter-Strike players in the past is France. We have seen several well-known players from the region throughout the years such as shox, Ex6tenz, kiOshiMa, Happy, kennyS, and now ZywOo.

There is obviously something that works for the top French players. Their ability to dig deeper into the Counter-Strike scene and constantly come up with the talented individuals is simply breathtaking. The tier 2 and 3 French scene is also quite strong and that could maybe explain the reason for their ready availability of new talent.

The future of French Counter-Strike is bright mainly because of the depth in their talent and we will probably always see strong contenders from this region in the future.

Once upon a time, when France and Belgium made up one of the best Counter-Strike regions in the world, they had talented players, stacked rosters, and of course, a lot of trophies. But eventually something went wrong and French Counter-Strike fell off a cliff.

Before we take a look at our All-Stars, let’s find out who shox picked for his. The Frenchman has played with and against some hugely talented players over the years. This is his perfect roster.

France has offered many players throughout the years that have played a massive role in defining Counter-Strike, mainly since the release of Counter-Strike: Source.

NBK is France’s most decorated player and by a wide margin. With 22 trophies in his cabinet, two of them Majors and the vast majority from tier one competitions, nobody else from his region comes close. Former team-mates like apEX can boast only 15 and even Happy, who won both Majors with NBK, is an entire 9 trophies separated from his once trusted colleague.

Yet the 26-year-old has never been the best CS:GO player in his country. Nor has he ever been a great in-game leader. What he has been is the most influential figure in that space, successfully navigating roster shuffles and deciding the complexion of the best French team time and time again and returning to championship glory.

Shox is still widely regarded as one of the greatest players to have ever touched the game of Counter-Strike. His playstyle, gamesense, and aiming is unique and can’t be compared to none other than him.

The experience he has is enormous with a huge list of French teams he has represented throughout the years. When the 28-year-old is comfortable with the surroundings and teammates, he is capable of doing great things and prove why he is one of the best French Counter-Strike players.

To some, he’s the greatest CS player in the world. To others, he’s the savior his region’s been waiting for. No other player in CS:GO has received as much attention till date as ZywOo. His individual skill ceiling and his flair for aggressive and often daring playstyle makes him a treat to watch. His humble attitude and soft-spoken nature make him a hit amongst the viewers.

The 20-year-old is recognized for his ability to close out rounds once he gets the space to do so. He is a very flexible player and can play the AWP as well as the rifle.

Happy is one of the game’s most accomplished in-game leaders of all time and definitely France’s most legendary captain. A 2x Major winner and 1x Major MVP, Happy once took the Counter-Strike scene by storm and cemented his name in the history books of the very best.

In a Twitter poll by CS:GO’s official profile, fans chose Happy’s deagle ace vs. TSM at DreamHack Open London 2015 as the standout play of the decade, among many other iconic plays that occurred over the past 10 years.

kennyS didn’t have your average ascent to greatness. But the French prodigy, who grew up in the world of CS, has become synonymous with the game’s tradition of highlight plays, and even the mighty AWP itself.

The 25-year-old is considered to be one of the best and fastest AWPers the game has ever seen. His accuracy and precision are out of this world and it’s unusual to see a human being with such reflexes as his. kennyS also has a deep understanding of the game overall with the ability to move over the map like it is a chessboard, which allows his to express his knowledge in-game to its fullest.

shox

ZywOo

The two-time Major winner Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt announced today, that he will leave the competitive CS:GO scene.

After being benched at OG at the start of the year, NBK- will now pursue a career within Valorant.

- Counter-Strike gave me everything and I dedicated my life to it. But memories are made to stay in the past. It’s time for a change, NBK- states in a video, where the transition is revealed.

NBK- was a huge part of the French CS:GO scene in the last decade, where he notably won DreamHack Winter 2014 and DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015 Majors with LDLC and Envy.

DBL PONEY

Team Vitality

DBL PONEY was on everyone’s lips last week when they managed to do the impossible by taking down the superstars from Vitality at Flashpoint 3. In the sense of their countrymen from Vitality being the French flagship in CS:GO and possessing the prodigy Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut, the defeat was highly astounding for the CS:GO world.

And DBL PONEY didn’t just beat Vitality – They destroyed them.

The underdogs, led by Alexandre “bodyy” Pianaro, dismantled ZywOo and company by handing them two crushing defeats on Nuke (16-5) and Inferno (16-7), only giving up 12 rounds in total.

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The French Counter-Strike scene is one of the biggest in the world and has always played a huge and significant role in the history of the game. The big European country holds a rich history of legendary players and teams like G2, LDLC, EnVyUs who’ve won iconic majors titles in DreamHack Winter 2014 and DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca.

The origin and creation of DBL PONEY can also be found in correlation with these renowned organization, with DBL PONEY’s most profiled players Alexandre “bodyy” Pianaro and Lucas “Lucky” Chastang having represented G2 and LDLC in the past.

The duo has, alongside the more unknown Aurélien “afro” Drapier and Thomas “Djoko” Pavoni, played under the DBL PONEY banner since mid-February this year, where they quickly showed promising levels, despite being without an organization. The Frenchmen got a heavy boost of firepower and experience when they managed to acquire the benched G2 rifler Audric “JaCkz” Jug as a stand-in, who later on was replaced by the 2-time major winner Nathan “NBK-“ Schmitt.

Lucas “Lucky” Chastang (Rifler) | 23 years – 2021 Rating: 1.13

Alexandre “bodyy” Pianaro (IGL) | 24 years – 2021 Rating: 1.10

Aurélien “afro” Drapier (AWPer) | 21 years – 2021 Rating: 1.10

Thomas “Djoko” Pavoni (Rifler) | 24 years – 2021 Rating: 1.06

Nathan “NBK-“ Pavoni (Stand-in) | 26 years – 2021 Rating: 1.04

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The mind behind DBL PONEY: Alexandre “bodyy” Pianaro

With JaCkz on board and bodyy at the helm, DBL PONEY went on to display strong performances at different cash cups, winning one and ending 2nd in two. The Frenchmen continued their great form at the lower-ranked event ofFantasyexpo Spring, where they managed to beat strong Top 30 teams in Sprout and mousesports  - Just to lose in the Grand Final against a likewise profiled Endpoint.

Their first real taste of tier-1 CS:GO was at the closed qualifiers at Flashpoint 3 at the end of March. Despite being among much stronger and established teams, the dark horses from DBL PONEY didn’t bow down anyone. Quite the contrary in fact. bodyy and company ended up taking a spot at the main event, in front of the likes of ENCE, Endpoint, and HAVU.

A ticket, they converted into the astounding victory vs Vitality in the opening round of Flashpoint 3, which could be seen as the culmination of their hard work and dedication throughout the last 3 months.  

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bodyy

Lucky

afroo

Djoko

JaCkz

The German team took the expected win against DBL Poney, but it was not without a sweat.

They started well on Vertigo with a solid 16-9 win. But shortly after they had to concede Nuke after DBL Poney managed to shut down BIG's T-side completely in the second half. 

On Dust2 BIG took a huge lead at the break with 11-4. DBL Poney was handicapped by a nightmare performance from NBK- in the first half, where the experienced Frenchman only killed one opponent during the 15 rounds with an ADR of 19.9.

Though DBL Poney gained a small momentum during the second half, the big deficit from the first 15 rounds made it almost impossible 

BIG is now through to the lower bracket semi-final, where they will face device and NIP. DBL Poney is out of the main tournament but will get a rematch against their countrymen from Team Vitality for 7th place and extra RMR points.

16-9 (Vertigo) | {cflag:DE} syrsoN – 1.37 Rating / 19-13 K-D / 86.2 ADR

8-16 (Nuke) | {cflag:FR} NBK- – 1.36 Rating / 22-12 K-D / 82.8 ADR

16-12 (Dust2) | {cflag:DE} k1to – 1.46 Rating / 24-17 K-D / 97.4 ADR

MVP: {cflag:DE} Johannes 'tabseN' Wodarz – 1.17 Rating / 61-54 K-D / 91.7 ADR

Two matches were also played out today. In the fight for RMR points, FunPlus Phoenix won their match against Complexity. In the other match in the bracket, Sprout is currently playing Anonymo, and have won one map each.

tabseN

k1to

syrsoN

Will NBK- and the rest of the French ponies be able to make another upset at Flashpoint? Today they face BIG for a chance of facing Ninjas in Pyjamas in the lower bracket semi-final.

Sprout face Anonymo in the 9-12th decider bracket.

Anonymo

Sprout

There wasn't any love or friendly reunion spirits between the strong Frenchmen from Vitality and their former teammate Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt, when they met DBL PONEY on the opening day of Flashpoint 3. A matchup that ended in a major upset, with NBK- and company ripping the favourites from Vitality completely apart. 

The astounding victory became a reality on Inferno, where the former Vitality and now benched OG player presented a stellar 1.56 Rating, including this sick quad kill from graveyard. 

[twitchClip:VictoriousEnthusiasticGaurSmoocherZ-_Zkmbcy-8EV1bFtk]

A place at the upper quarterfinals was up for grabs as DPL PONEY faced Vitality in a Bo3-series at the Flashpoint 3 event. Whilst Vitality, undoubtedly, were the favorites going into the series it was clear that they weren’t the better team today. With two convincing map victories for DBL PONEY they managed to sweep Vitality and win the French derby 2-0.

The first map took place on Nuke. The map of Nuke was picked by DBL PONEY and it quickly became clear as to why they picked the map. After a dominant T-sided half the French DBL PONEY roster could walk to halftime at the scoreline of 11-4. Nothing much changed in the second half as DBL PONEY, and “Djoko” continued to dominate Vitality. Finally, they closed Nuke at the impressive scoreline of 16-5 favoring the underdogs of DBL PONEY.

The second map was the pick of Vitality and despite it being the first time for “Kyojin” to play this particular map in an official Bo3-series, they chose Inferno. Once again it was DBL PONEY who started the strongest. After a dominant CT-sided half all they had to do was close out the game and series in the second half. They did exactly that at the scoreline of 16-7 meaning that the side of DBL PONEY would take the series home with a 2-victory.  

The victory means that DBL PONEY will face the winner of Astralis vs OG in the upper quarterfinals.

16-5 DBL PONEY (Nuke) | Djoko 2.07 Rating / 134.8 ADR / 27-10 K-D

16-7 DBL PONEY (Inferno) | afro 1.60 Rating / 90.1 ADR / 21-11 K-D

[twitchClip:SpoopyDepressedPepperoniFUNgineer-mvrS8AOzBbgTkzLi]

Thomas "Djoko" Pavoni | 1.55 Rating - 40-22 K/D - 106.3 ADR - 79.5% KAST

It's fair to say that the Counter-Strike superstars have great knowledge about their co-pros, as they all play each other day in and day out. They meet in several tournaments but also on the FACEIT server, where they battle each other in mixed star-packed rosters. 

Rivalry CS:GO has sat down with some of the CS:GO elite, to ask them which players are the most entertaining individuals to watch. The answers goes from flashy players like s1mple to more emotional players apEX from Vitality. You can see the answers in the video down below.

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	9	22
Maps count	15	42

NBK-

Player stats

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